Adjacent articles in the latest New Yorker deplore “consumerism” among the American revolutionaries and the modern Chinese. You wonder how a magazine so concerned about manifestations of consumer desire would support itself. Surely it struggles along on a shoestring, preaching the message of austerity and simplicity to sincere but poor readers. In fact, however, these laments about consumerism in societies vastly poorer than our own are sandwiched between lush full-page advertisements for Chanel watches, Samsung home entertainment centers, single malt Scotch, Grey Goose vodka, Cristal champagne, David Yurman jewelry, German automobiles, and Norwegian Cruise Lines. The articles themselves appear on pages lined with small, elegant ads for Jay-Z’s book-ebook-app, tours of Wales, monogram rings, Aeron chairs, European berets, cashmere caps, and a remarkable number of expensive psychiatric facilities, perhaps specializing in the treatment of cognitive dissonance.
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Lame Duck Won’t Create Race-Based Government After All
Good news out of Congress this week (and by good news, I mean they didn’t screw things up any more than they already are): The infamous Akaka Bill, which would create a “Native Hawaiian” government for purposes of racial preferences and other unconstitutional goodies, will not be a part of the slimmed-down legislation that funds the government until Congress gets around to passing an actual budget. (For background, see my op-eds here — for which I was attacked by Hawaii’s Governor-Elect Neil Abercrombie — and here, and watch the Cato Capitol Hill Briefing. And for coverage of a related recent Supreme Court case, see these two blogposts and Cato’s amicus brief.)
Three weeks ago, there had been fears that the Akaka language would be inserted into the omnibus spending bill (see Roger Clegg and Hans von Spakovsky blogging at NRO’s The Corner). Had that been the case, it would’ve been an outrage for several reasons:
- This is a new Akaka Bill. The text was only introduced in November and was apparently the result of a backroom deal cut between the Hawaii’s senators and lame-duck Governor Linda Lingle in July, but which did not become public until after the election.
- There have never been any hearings on this language — not in the House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee, not in the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, and definitely not in Hawaii. No testimony has been heard about how this particular bill will divide Hawaii, on the constitutionality of the new provisions, how Hawaiians’ civil rights will be affected, or how the tax base of Hawaii will be diminished.
- This is an abuse of the process. It is completely inappropriate to use a must-pass spending bill to avoid debate, amendment, and public scrutiny on an unrelated matter of such grave constitutional and practical importance.
- Sen. Inouye (D‑HI) previously denied that he planned to use the appropriations process to avoid public scrutiny of the bill, so this would have been a 180-degree reversal.
Perhaps bowing to the above kinds of arguments, what actually appeared in the mega-bill was a “study” that the Secretary of the Interior had to conduct in conjunction with “those offices designated under the Hawaii State Constitution as representative of the Native Hawaiian community,” to make recommendations to Congress “on developing a mechanism for the reorganization of a Native Hawaiian governing entity and recognition by the United States of the Native Hawaiian governing entity as an Indian tribe.” In other words, this was getting the ball moving, establishing facts on the ground, etc.
Fortunately — for many reasons unrelated to race-based government — the omnibus went down in flames (the first tangible victory for the Tea Party, before their congressmen even assumed office?) and with it the aforementioned “study.” The new streamlined “continuing resolution,” which I’ve skimmed in its entirety — just 36 pages! — still includes various legislative gems but there is no mention of the Aloha State.
That’s a good thing: we seem to have escaped the spectre of race-based government yet again — but be aware that the Akaka Bill lurks in the background of every Congress, ready to ensnare those who think it’s just about “parochial” Hawaii issues that have nothing to do with the “real world.”
Cigarette Taxes and Smuggling
The Mackinac Center’s Michael LaFaive and Todd Nesbit have released a new study on the ill-effects of raising cigarette taxes at the state and local level. Cigarette tax hikes have become a popular choice for spend-happy state policymakers looking for money in these tough economic times.
Also check out their accompanying video on the topic:
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Who Should Defuse the Korean Bomb?
Fear of war has become a new constant for the Korean peninsula. On Monday South Korea initiated a military exercise in the Yellow Sea and North Korea threatened to retaliate. Seoul went ahead without any response from the North, but the region retains the feel of a bomb with an unstable fuse.
In the short term Washington has no choice but to uphold its alliance obligations to the South. However, Pyongyang’s increasingly erratic behavior offers a dramatic reminder of the most important cost of the unilateral security guarantee: the threat of war.
The alliance was created at a different time in a different world—1953, after the conclusion of a war which had devastated the peninsula. Only U.S. military support preserved South Korea’s independence. Since then the South has developed economically and is well able to protect itself. The U.S. should begin turning over defense responsibilities to Seoul, with an expeditious withdrawal of all American troops. The defense treaty, with America’s promise to forever guard the South, irrespective of circumstance, should be turned into a framework for future cooperation in cases of mutual interest.
The U.S. no longer can afford to maintain Cold War alliances as if the Cold War still existed. Commitments like that to South Korea are expensive, since they drive America’s military budget. More important, as we see in Northeast Asia, alliances also increase the possibility of war for the U.S. It is time to update America’s military commitments to reflect today’s world.
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Breastfeeding and the Government
The media is reporting on a new study that finds long-term benefits to kids of breastfeeding.
Yet if health experts agree on the advantages of breastfeeding, why does the federal government subsidize mothers to use formula through the $7 billion Women, Infants, and Children program?
The WIC program is run by the Department of Agriculture, which summarized the subsidies as follows (page 1):
…infants participating in WIC consume about 54 percent of all formula sold in the United States. In most states, WIC participants use food vouchers or food checks to purchase their infant formula, free of charge, at participating retail grocery stores.
It’s true that in addition to handing out free formula, WIC administrators counsel women on the advantages of breastfeeding. But the counseling apparently isn’t working if WIC infants consume more than half of all formula. I am told that breastfeeding isn’t easy, so if you give moms a free alternative, many of them take it.
This is one of many examples we see of the government’s right hand working against its left. The Army Corps of Engineers destroys wetlands, while other federal agencies protect them. Milk and sugar programs push up food prices, while other programs subsidize food costs. Politicians complain about energy companies gouging consumers, yet federal ethanol policies push up energy costs.
The winners in each case are the political class — high-paid government administrators, members of Congress, and the groups hooked on federal subsidies. The losers are the rest of us — average taxpayers and consumers.
For more on federal food subsidies, see here.
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This Week in Government Failure
Over at Downsizing Government, we focused on the following issues this week:
- Downsizing Government was featured on C‑SPAN.
- Unfortunately, because government has come to dominate road construction, most citizens probably don’t stop to consider that the private sector can provide superior alternatives.
- Evidence that higher education subsidies are counterproductive handouts.
- The omnibus abomination makes it easy to understand why Congress’s approval rating is at a new low.
- The United States is #1! We now have the highest corporate tax rate among the 34 wealthy nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
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GAO an Aggressor in War on For-Profits? At Least Someone Cares
Today, AEI’s Rick Hess and Andrew Kelly have a piece at Inside Higher Ed highlighting serious evidence of dirty-dealing in a highly influential Government Accountability Office report on for-profit colleges. Hess and Kelly’s piece is well worth a read and I’m glad they’re on the case.
Unfortunately, theirs is about the only cry of alarm over apparent bias at the supposedly incorruptible GAO — potentially a huge story — I’ve seen since I wrote the following last week:
Now, though much needs to be determined about why the myriad changes to the report were made, I wouldn’t be terribly surprised to learn that people at the GAO have actually been in on the crusade to demonize proprietary colleges. I also, unfortunately, won’t be surprised if no one pays attention to any of this, and the shameless, responsibility-dodging war on for-profits continues unabated.
Sadly, so far my fears have been realized. Other than Hess and Kelly no one, especially in the mainstream media, is giving this story any of the attention it deserves. Apparently, if someone who’s honest about trying to make a buck is being beaten in an alley, it’s easier just to look the other way.