Whitewater, Wisconsin’s forecast is for a clear day, with a high of fifty-six degrees.
The History Channel recalls that on this date in 1965, President Johnson addressed a joint session of Congress, and called for equal voting rights for all citizens:
On August 6, 1965, Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, which made it illegal to impose restrictions on federal, state and local elections that were designed to deny the vote to blacks.
While state and local enforcement of the act was initially weak, mainly in the South, the Voting Rights Act gave African-American voters the legal means to challenge voting restrictions and vastly improved voter turnout. In Mississippi alone, voter turnout among blacks increased from 6 percent in 1964 to 59 percent in 1969.
In 1970, President Richard Nixon extended the provisions of the Voting Rights Act and lowered the eligible voting age for all voters to 18.
The full text of President Johnson’s speech is available online.
Here’s a Reason.tv post about how the government’s taking part in a conflict between UPS and FedEx.
You may have heard the UPS is in quite the fight with FEDEX. Though both are package-delivery companies, they’re governed by totally different federal labor rules. As a result, UPS’s workforce is much more heavily unionized than FEDEX’s—and more than twice as expensive.
So now UPS is trying to get FEDEX reclassified under federal law as a way of screwing a competitor. That’s horrendous, but it also makes a sick kind of business sense. And it also reveals the real villain: A government that is big enough to absolutely, positively guarantee it can screw any business. Overnight.
“UPS Vs. FEDEX” was produced by Meredith Bragg and Nick Gillespie (who also hosts). Approximately two minutes long.
Today’s forecast calls for a chance of rain, and a high of fifty-one degrees.
It’s activity night at the middle school tonight, from 7:00 to 9:30 p.m.
On this day in American history, FDR gave his first fireside chat. The History Channel’s website has the details:
On this day in 1933, eight days after his inauguration, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gives his first national radio address or “fireside chat,” broadcast directly from the White House.
Roosevelt began that first address simply: “I want to talk for a few minutes with the people of the United States about banking.” He went on to explain his recent decision to close the nation’s banks in order to stop a surge in mass withdrawals by panicked investors worried about possible bank failures. The banks would be reopening the next day, Roosevelt said, and he thanked the public for their “fortitude and good temper” during the “banking holiday.”
At the time, the U.S. was at the lowest point of the Great Depression, with between 25 and 33 percent of the work force unemployed. The nation was worried, and Roosevelt’s address was designed to ease fears and to inspire confidence in his leadership. Roosevelt went on to deliver 30 more of these broadcasts between March 1933 and June 1944. They reached an astonishing number of American households, 90 percent of which owned a radio at the time.
Journalist Robert Trout coined the phrase “fireside chat” to describe Roosevelt’s radio addresses, invoking an image of the president sitting by a fire in a living room, speaking earnestly to the American people about his hopes and dreams for the nation. In fact, Roosevelt took great care to make sure each address was accessible and understandable to ordinary Americans, regardless of their level of education. He used simple vocabulary and relied on folksy anecdotes or analogies to explain the often complex issues facing the country.
One way to see the influence of federal spending is the benefit it confers to the area around Washington, D.C. THe Washington Examiner reports that
Loudoun ranks as the richest county in the United States, immediately followed by Fairfax and Howard counties, while Montgomery, traditionally one of the wealthiest, is now 10th.
Forbes magazine ranked eight other Washington-area counties in its list of the nation’s 25 wealthiest counties, far more than any other area in the country. The rankings are based on 2008 median household income data from the U.S. Census Bureau….
Northern Virginia and Fairfax also house government agencies and employers that have been less affected by the economic downturn than biotech-heavy Montgomery, Robertson said.
While other traditionally wealthy regions such as New York and San Francisco have suffered heavily in the recession, the Washington area benefits from the presence of the federal government and its contractors, the overall high level of education, and the area’s high proportion of two-income households.
The local economy “really is built on those pillars,” Robertson said. “Really all of the region [is] poised for a period of new growth and prosperity” following the economic downturn.
There’s no similar benefit to small towns, or cities distant from Washington.
Whitewater’s forecast calls for thunderstorms with a high temperature of fifty-three degrees.
There will be a charter schools listening session at 6:30 p.m. in the library of Lincoln School tonight. At Lakeview School, it’s twin day today.
There’s a story in the Walworth County Gazette about the legislation to allow sales of raw milk in Wisconsin, and another story from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on the same subject. Hundreds of people turned out for a public hearing in Eau Claire.
In Wisconsin history on this date, the Wisconsin Historical Society reports that in
1950 – Jerry Zucker [was] Born
On this date film producer Jerry Zucker was born in Milwaukee. With his brother David, he has written, produced, and directed a number of classic comedies including Naked Gun, Airplane!, Top Secret, Police Squad, and Rat Race. Zucker also produced My Best Friend’s Wedding, First Knight, A Walk In the Clouds, and My Life and gave the 2003 commencement address at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. [Source: Internet Movie Database ]
From Reason.tv, here’s a half-hour presentation from former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson on free market economic solutions for America. Here’s a description from Reason:
On Tuesday, February 9, in the midst of one of the biggest snowstorms in recent Washington, D.C. memory, former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson and Harvard economist (and Reason contributor) Jeff Miron talked about economic revitalitization and Johnson’s views on immigration, war, and other issues at the heart of the new organization Our America.
Reason.tv’s Nick Gillespie intros the speakers and moderates audience Q&A. Shot by Dan Hayes and Meredith Bragg; edited by Bragg. Approximately 35 minutes. Scroll down for downloadable iPod, HD, and audio versions.
The forecast for Whitewater today is for a rainy day, with a high temperature of fifty degrees.
There’s a meeting today in Whitewater of the Indian Mounds Park Committee (that group is seeking a name change to ‘Whitewater Mounds Archaeological Preserve’) at 5 p.m. today.
The Wisconsin Historical Society reports that in 1903, Clare Boothe Luce was born. She was a pioneer in many fields, and the Historical Society describes her life:
1903 – Clare Boothe Luce Born
On this date playwrite and diplomat Clare Booth Luce was born in New York. She began her career editing for Vogue and Vanity Fair. She married publisher Henry Luce in 1935. Her play The Women, satirizing wealthy New York matrons, was a success on Broadway. Other hits were Kiss the Boys Goodbye (1938) and Margin for Error (1939). She was twice elected to the House of Representatives (1943-47) as a Republican from Connecticut. During the Eisenhower administration (1953-56) she served as ambassador to Italy. Clare Boothe Luce lived in Marinette, Wisconsin for part of her life.
Private charities sometimes spend money, from wealthy private donors, on fancy parties to celebrate and encourage greater charitable giving. Whatever one thinks of those lavish events, there’s no doubt that the donors earned the money they’re spending.
Government bureaucrats can’t say the same – when they hold fancy parties, the fine evening rests not on the earnings of their labors, but on those of ordinary taxpayers who will never be invited to those sophisticated events. Fancy food, a nice venue, and entertainment paid with tax dollars is a good time only for those who attend, and of no real use to those common people who paid for the evening.
Here’s the sad situation in Washington, D.C., as Reason describes it:
If you’re a politician, lobbyist, or insider and you’re in the mood to party, check out a Washington D.C. mansion called the Sewall-Belmont House. Party with senators and celebrities at thousand-dollar-a-plate fundraisers! You might even get to ride a mechanical bull! The Sewall-Belmont House hosts so many A-list events, you might be surprised to find out that your tax dollars help fund this hotspot for Washington insiders. “Over the last 10 years, the Sewall-Belmont House has gotten over $3.4 million in earmarks,” says Leslie Paige of Citizens Against Government Waste.
Reporters often highlight the most ridiculous examples, but politicians have learned how to make their pork projects sound uncontroversial, even appealing. Just say your project will help children, senior citizens, or – if you really want to slip under the radar – direct taxpayer dough to a museum.
“Museums are one of the biggies because they sound so good,” says Paige. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) used that angle to direct a million-dollar earmark to the Sewall-Belmont House (after the Senator received an award from the Sewall Belmont House). Turns out Landrieu was just getting warmed up, because her recent $300 million “Louisiana Purchase” shot her into the ranks of pork legends.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this, laments Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), one of Congress’s few legitimate pork busters. Flake tells Reason.tv that despite pork-laden scandals that stuck some members behind bars – remember Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-Calif.) – and promises from Barack Obama to reform earmarks, spending on pork continues to swell in the giant pork party house called the U.S. Congress.
“Pork Party House” is written and produced by Ted Balaker. Producer: Hawk Jensen; Host: Nick Gillespie; Field Producer: Dan Hayes; Associate Producer: Paul Detrick; Additional Camera: Meredith Bragg; Production Assistant: Josh Swain; Music: “Get What You Want?” by Beight (Magnatune Records).
Jack Hunter writes at The American Conservative that libertarianism is real conservatism. That’s true, as a conservatism before the right became interested in big public programs and meddlesome interference with private lives.
(There’s a way, of course, that we seem bold compared with a stodgy, government-dependent right. That’s why those unfamiliar with libertarian principles think we’re radicals. We’re not; some have simply forgotten the depth of America’s tradition of personal liberty. We’re not radicals; America’s respect for liberty only seems radical in a world of government meddling and intrusion.)
It’s true that libertarians believe that government solutions are less effective and productive than private ones. It’s also true that business sometimes colludes with government to pressure other businesses. It’s an unfair partnership by which some businesses take opportunities from others, all the while allowing government to claim that it supports business.
Government favoring some businesses over others is neither fair nor efficient.
Here’s an eminent domain abuse story from New York that highlights one aspect of the undesirable partnership between government and business:
Freddy’s in Brooklyn is a happening place that has been named one of the city’s best bars by the Village Voice, Esquire, and The New York Times.
Unfortunately, Freddy’s – and the surrounding neighborhood – is smack-dab in the footprint of the Atlantic Yards project, a multi-million-dollar, 22-acre development that is intended to create “an urban utopia” in the language of developer Bruce Ratner, and a new, publicly subsidized home to Ratner’s Nets, who currently play NBA basketball (if you can call it that) in New Jersey.
But don’t mistake Atlantic Yards as one more instance of the market-driven transformations for which New York is rightly famous. It’s actually the latest case of eminent domain abuse, where private property is seized by the state on dubious grounds and then immediately handed over to private interests for private gain.
In this case, the Empire State Development Corporation has designated the thriving area as blighted to facilitate the taking of privately owned houses and businesses without having to pay full market value. Ratner, whose partners in the venture include rapper Jay Z and the Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, stands to pocket hundreds of millions of dollars on the deal, all thanks to the brute force of the state.
This week, a Brooklyn Supreme Court ruling tossed out the eminent domain objections of residents and property owners who had held out for six years and Ratner plans to break ground on the site on March 11, if not before.
The workers and patrons of Freddy’s, however, are not going gentle into that good night. They’ve pledged to engage in civil disobedience and chain themselves to the bar when the bulldozers and wrecking balls come for their favorite haunt. A state sentator has even declared that she’ll lay down in front of the demolition machinery. The awful 2005 Supreme Court decision in Kelo, which held that governments can seize property to increase potential tax revenues, may have paved the way for Atlantic Yards, but Freddy’s is the next last stand in an ongoing battle against eminent domain abuse.
Produced by Dan Hayes, who conceived, shot, and edited the video; Damon Root, who researched the legal issues and did logistics; and Nick Gillespie, who co-wrote the piece and hosts.
Whitewater’s forecast calls for a rainy day with a high temperature of forty-four degrees.
This afternoon, from 4 to 6 p.m., there will be a listening session on a charter schools program at the Cravath Lakefront Center. Earlier, at 3:15 p.m., there will be a PTO meeting at Lincoln School. At 6:30 p.m., there will be a P.A.T.T meeting at Washington School.
In history on this date, in 1862, the ironclads Monitor and Virginia fought to a draw off the Virginia coast, near Hampton Roads. The New York Timesreported thereafter on the clash:
Fortress Monroe, Saturday, March 8 – The dullness of Old Point was startled today by the announcement that a suspicious looking vessel, supposed to be the Merrimac, looking like a submerged house, with the roof only above water, was mowing down from Norfolk by the channel in front of the Sowel’s Point batteries. Signal guns were also fired by the Cumberland and Congress, to notify the Minnesota, St. Lawrence and Roanoke of the approaching danger, and all was excitement in and about Fortress Monroe….
