Commander Hood passes along this must read on the relationship between John Edwards and former aide Andrew Young.
A little teaser:
Young sometimes described himself as Edwards’s “special assistant” and dreamed of serving in an Edwards White House. Other aides, with a combination of disgust — and, perhaps, a bit of envy — referred to him as [...]
The news service Capitolwire (subscribers only) is reporting that PA House Democrat leaders are admitting they don’t have enough votes to pass the state budget deal, give all of the tax increases.
Some members, like Rep. Josh Shapiro, have stated they won’t vote for the sales tax on admission to concerts, play, museums, and the like. Others oppose leasing more state lands for natural gas drilling.
Senate GOP leaders Dom Pileggi says that this would put the Pennsylvania budget “back to square one.”
Ken Lewis of BofA to step down before the new year.
Who called it many months ago?
The Politico’s lengthy exploration of the relationship between John Edwards and his former aide, Andrew Young, is compelling and more than a little weird. Absolutely must-reading for any students of North Carolina politics – or narcissistic…
School Auditing Legislation Called For in Light of WESD Controversy
By State Representative Kim Thacther,
(Salem) School auditing was the focus at today’s meeting of the House Interim Committee on Education. State Representative Kim Thatcher (…
Continuing with the theme of the good and the not-so-hot, today I’d like to ask readers to offer any insight on Walla Walla High School and H.M. Jackson High in Mill Creek.
Why these two?
Walla Walla scored an above average 7.0 in 2008 on the Report Card’s 0-10 scale and has held a steady upward trend since its 6.3 in 2004. They’re doing something right over there. I don’t know about you, but I’m curious…
On the other end of the spectrum we have Jackson High School. How do they explain their drop from a very respectable 7.8 in 2004 to a 5.8 in 2008? Here’s a school that needs to answer some tough questions. Again, I put the question out to the cyber-forum.
Thoughts?
(Cross-posted at http://flunkedsolutions.com/blog/)
Ed Cone cites Thomas Friedman’s column in discussion of the ‘dangerous stuff’ that’s being written about our president.
But here’s what jumped out at me when reading Friedman’s column:
Sometimes I wonder whether George H.W. Bush, president “41,” will be remembered as our last “legitimate” president. The right impeached Bill Clinton and hounded him from Day 1 [...]
My new Reason.org column explores the moves in Arizona and California to sell and lease back state buildings in return for cash to spend on deficit reduction. While “sale-leasebacks” are a valuable tool, I argue that these states are just looking for a “quick fix” and are not approaching it in a way that derives long-term economic benefits:
Instead of making politically difficult decisions on budget cuts, priorities, and core vs. non-core government functions, Arizona and California policymakers are almost abandoning fiscal responsibility and making a desperation play for quick cash. [...]
In the end though, even a flawed sale-leaseback program is preferable to the alternative. No one will argue that this is a desperation play. But many taxpayers would still prefer a desperation play to tax increases or taking on more bonded debt, IOUs and the like. Taxes and debt will only dig the fiscal hole deeper, and sale-leasebacks beat those approaches any day. In that light, the proposed sale-leasebacks offer a last firewall of sorts against billions in tax increases and additional public debt that would be another blow to fragile state economies.
It’s just unfortunate that it had to get to this point. What would truly be innovative would be to significantly reduce the size and scope of government, which neither state’s governors nor legislatures made any real traction on this past session. It’s long past time for policymakers to dispense with the illusion that there’s some easy and painless way to navigate the recession and start making tough, but necessary, decisions to rein in government spending.
» Reason Foundation’s Annual Privatization Report 2009
» Reason Foundation’s Privatization Research and Commentary
The Novato Sanitary District board recently voted 4-0 to approve a contract with private water company Veolia Water to turn over the operations of its new $90 million wastewater treatment plant. While privatization is often sought primarily to achieve cost savings, the Novato Sanitary deal illustrates other benefits of privatization. The arrangement will offer the district access to management expertise that might not be available in-house, and will transfer the risk of regulatory compliance from the district to the company.
According to a Marin Independent Journal article about the deal,
District general manager Beverly James hailed the contract as making Veolia responsible for regulatory compliance and fines incurred for non-compliance, as well as liability protection, guaranteed operating costs and long-term stability. “We feel that we have negotiated a fair contract that protects the district’s interests,” James said.
The compliance and liability issues have been a big concern for the district, as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is currently conducting a criminal investigation of apparent environmental violations that occurred in the district in 2006 and 2007. The district could potentially face fines if the EPA finds that violations did, in fact, occur. Under the terms of the Veolia contract, the company would not be responsible for any fines related to violations prior to the deal taking effect.
“This business has gotten too complicated to continue running it with our hometown staff,” said board member Bill Long. “This is a new era where you can get a million-dollar fine, and the people of Novato do not want to be exposed to those kinds of fines.”
Other Resources:
» Reason Policy Brief: Frequently Asked Questions About Water / Wastewater Privatization
On my way back from participating in the Independence Institute’s press symposium on Canadian Medicare, I took the opportunity to swing by the Everett, Wash. Labor Temple. Located just north of the Comcast Arena on Lombard Street, the Temple reportedly was the home of things ACORN in Snohomish County.
No kidding!
So, without further adieu, let the pictures tell the story:
The building: The entrance:
First thing you see (nice and big so you can read it):
Funny…I thought ACORN chief Bertha Lewis said no more new business until all the problems had been fixed. Maybe she had her fingers crossed when she said it.
Then it was up to the second floor to find…
ACORN’s office: Right next door:
Across the hall (again, nice and big so you can read it):
Bet the Christmas parties on the second floor are real humdingers, don’t you think?
Tell you anything? Make you want to ask some questions, say, of SEIU, Local 925 or of State Representatives McCoy and Dunshee?
The Piper