Officer Darren Wilson deserves justice too

The violence, media frenzy, statements by public officials, and involvement of federal officials following the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri on August 9, 2014 by Officer Darren Wilson is creating an environment in which Officer Wilson’s right to due process and equal protection under the law may be jeopardized.

The shooting of Michael Brown by Officer Darren Wilson must be thoroughly and fairly investigated.   Every American has an interest in ensuring that police use appropriate force when executing their duties.  In cases where the use of force is fatal that requirement for scrutiny goes up.  When the victim is unarmed the standard is even higher in determining justifiable or unjustifiable homicide.

Climate change thoughts

Like so many issues today climate change has been politicized.   A movement more akin to a religion blames every calamity on climate change and questioning of their conclusions is treated as heresy. Those in opposition reject any evidence of warming with cynicism rather than healthy skepticism.  It is hard for a citizen to form a solid opinion on such an important topic.

A serious effort to better understand the issue through a review of related literature makes it clear that the science is not as open and shut as some believe.   That does not mean there is not climate change, or that we should not act to address it, but there are too many failed predictions and unanswered questions to conclude the “science is settled.”  For example, the first Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report of 1990 predicted temperature and sea level rise that has not come to fruition.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) reports in the “The Sun and Climate” report that the Earth has warmed .99° F since 1860, and about half of this could be due to increased solar radiation.  However, .648° F of the .99 F° increase occurred from 1970 – 2000.  Solar radiation change can only account for .198° F of the .648° F increase; “the rest could be due to greenhouse warming or some other cause.”

Crippling our children with debt

The U.S. must address deficit spending and the national debt in a rational manner in the near term or face a reckoning in highly unpopular but unavoidable and debilitating reduced benefits, increased taxes, or a combination of the two.  A looming rise in interest rates to historically normal levels will exacerbate the situation.   A divided nation must debate fundamental philosophical positions about the size and role of government and find an acceptable path forward before circumstance forces bad choices.

The national debt is made up of two components 1) debt held by the public (foreign an d domestic) in the form of Treasury securities and 2) IOUs held by the federal government that are owed to other federal government accounts such as Social Security.  The principal on debt held by the public is about $13 trillion and the annual interest payment is $218 billion.  The principle on IOUs held by the federal government is about $5 trillion and the annual interest payment is $146 billion.

The unholy alliance of concentrated power

Concentrated political and economic power in the federal government and very large corporations is a threat to liberty and opportunity.  Further, political leaders have formed a relationship with corporate and other special interests whereby support flows from one to the other resulting in distorted access, policy, law, and regulation.

Political leaders of both parties seek financial support for election and personal enrichment.  It is about them – not the American people.   The combination of concentrated power in government and corporations, and the alignment of interests between the two are a significant danger.

The expanding mass of government in its physical bureaucracies and the body of laws and regulations it propagates, increasing centralization to the federal level,  and growing power within the executive are clear threats to liberty.  Corporate consolidation through mergers and acquisitions has created behemoths of economic power and political and social influence that also threaten liberty in a manner that often goes unnoticed by the public.

Following the Great Recession of 2008 there was an outcry about banks that were “too big to fail.”   It was expected that the issue would be addressed through legislation commonly called Dodd-Frank, but today more assets are held by fewer banks.  The too big to fail banks are in fact bigger today.  The five largest U.S. banks (JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and Goldman Sachs) have assets in excess of $11 trillion.   Five banks hold 56% of all banking assets in the United States.

Less like a president than a king

The Supreme Court ruled recently in a rare unanimous decision that President Obama exceeded his authority in making three appointments to the National Labor Relations Board.  The ruling was reflective of a long brewing constitutional conflict – the unchecked expansion of federal executive power.

Executive power expansion began soon after the republic’s inception and accelerated in recent decades to a new level.  The core constitutional “balance of power” principle may be at risk.

Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. authored “The Imperial Presidency” in 1973 and coined a phrase that is increasingly used to describe presidents since Reagan.  A Google search for “imperial presidency” returns 84,000 hits for Reagan; 130,000 for Clinton; 188,000 for Bush (may capture both); and 225,000 for Obama.

Presidential Action Recommendations for the Border Crisis

Kris W. Kobach, Secretary of State for Kansas, appeared on CNN on July 17, 2014 to discuss the crisis of unattended minors arriving at the southwest border of the United States.  He made three very important recommendations for action by President Obama that require no legislative action and rest within his executive authority.

I have researched the foundations of Secretary Kobach’s comments and recommend them as further action the President could take to resolve the crisis at the border without legislative action, but has not:

1. Issue a Section 212F Proclamation using the authority vested in the President and expressed in a previous proclamation on August 4, 2011.  That Proclamation stated, “NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, by the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, as amended (8 U.S.C. 1182(f)), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, hereby find that the unrestricted immigrant and nonimmigrant entry into the United States of persons described in section 1 [DESCRIBE CRISIS POPULATION] of this proclamation would be detrimental to the interests of the United States.  I therefore hereby proclaim that:  The entry into the United States, as immigrants or nonimmigrants, of the following persons is hereby suspended:  [DESCRIBE CRISIS POPULATION]

Is the Unemployment Rate Meaningful?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported earlier this month that 288,000 jobs were created in June and the unemployment rate decreased to 6.1%.  Headlines in response to the June report were positive.

A look beyond the headlines reveals that unemployment and under-employment remain in an unhealthy state.  The BLS “U6” report is a broader measure of unemployment that includes those marginally attached to the labor force.  The U6 unemployment rate was 12.1% in June and may represent better the condition of the job market.

The labor participation rate in June was a disappointing 62.8%.  The labor participation rate is the percent of the working age population that is actually working or seeking work.  In June, 156 million of the 248 million people of working age were working or seeking work.  146 million were employed and 9.5 million were unemployed – generating the unemployment rate of 6.1%.