Walter In Denver

Cross Purposes

Sometimes lost in the debate over national ID cards is the fact that we already have at least one national ID, that being the Social Security card. Employers are required to check those cards, so it's very difficult to be employed in a legal business without one.

One of the many agencies harrassing businesses is the INS, which wants to verify legal residency status of every employee. This is one of those bureaucratic requirements that makes having employees that much more expensive and perilous for employers, as businesses which have faulty paperwork can be subject to hefty fines even if their employees are legally eligible to work.

I've met a quite a few people who would like to see the feds combat illegal immigration by increasing penalties for employers who hire illegal immigrants. Some of these same people are also against national ID cards, and I don't think they realize they are arguing against themselves.

You can be against national ID cards or for increased employment screening, but not both. If you pick the latter be prepared to carry that ID card and be forced to use it often.

Scare Tactics

The most contentious of issues leads to the most heated rhetoric, and Reason magazine mentions a bit in the May issue. Julian Sanchez cites (no link yet) data from the Center for Reproductive Rights, analyzing the prospects of abortion prohibitions if Roe v Wade is overturned. The Center lists 21 states "most likely to ban abortion" in that scenario. To my surprise Colorado makes the list.

That's surprising to me, because Colorado voters have a record of strong support of legalized abortion. In 1998 a state constitutional amendment to ban partial birth abortions made the ballot, and it went down 655,723 votes to 617,977. In 2000, Colorado voted on amendment to require a 24 hour waiting period for abortions. It was trounced, 1,020,029 to 664,411. The only vote that could be construed as anti-abortion was a 1998 amendment to mandate parental consent for minors having abortions, which passed 707,021 to 581,481. (all vote numbers via the Colorado Secretary of State website.)

The Center's state-by-state report, available here (pdf), notes that Colorado has a pre-Roe abortion ban, limited by some state supreme court decisions. Given that Colorado has easy ballot access for constitutional referenda and amendments, it's certain that even if the ban were reinstated the voters would quickly decide the issue. If Colorado voters won't ban partial birth abortion, there's no chance they will vote for a wider abortion ban unless there is a massive change of opinion among the voters.

I'm not as familiar with the situations in the other states listed by the Center for Reproductive Rights, but their analysis of the Colorado situation is bad enough to bring their conclusions into question. It also means there may be little change to the legal status of abortion in the U.S. if Roe v Wade is overturned.

Welfare Reform

The weakest widely used argument against Social Security reform is the one about the stock market being too risky to trust retirement funds. Government employees exempted from Social Security routinely have pensions invested in the market. House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer talked to The Wall Street Journal recently-

The No. 2 Democrat in the House said that he is in favor of private accounts as an "add-on" to Social Security. He also said that Social Security trustees--one of whom is Labor Secretary Elaine Chao--should be given the authority to invest Social Security funds in the stock market and other high-yield financial instruments. Instead of personal accounts, Mr. Hoyer is envisioning public accounts controlled by the government and used to raise funds for Social Security, much the way Calpers invests funds to pay for California state employee pensions.

Too risky for you and me to opt into, but just peachy for the feds to put everyone's money into. The issue isn't risk, but who controls the money, and what the welfare state will look like for years to come. Preventing funds from being diverted to private accounts means keeping Social Security as more of a welfare system.

^{As you should know, the only reform I can really endorse is to truly privatize the system, i.e. let people opt out entirely.}

Opportunity

Since the blogging gig doesn't seem to pay well, perhaps I should form a conservative think tank:

Before long, folks like Norquist and Abramoff were talking up the virtues of international sons of liberty like Angola's Jonas Savimbi and Congo's dictator Mobutu Sese Seko - all while receiving compensation from these upstanding gentlemen, according to The Legal Times. Only a reactionary could have been so discomfited by Savimbi's little cannibalism problem as to think this was not a daring contribution to the cause of Reaganism.

Soon the creative revolutionaries were blending the high-toned forms of the think tank with the low-toned scams of the buckraker. Ed Buckham, Tom DeLay's former chief of staff, helped run the U.S. Family Network, which supported the American family by accepting large donations and leasing skyboxes at the MCI Center, according to Roll Call. Michael Scanlon, DeLay's former spokesman, organized a think tank called the American International Center, located in a house in Rehoboth Beach, Del., which was occupied, according to Andrew Ferguson's devastating compendium in The Weekly Standard, by a former "lifeguard of the year" and a former yoga instructor.

I think I have the credentials.

Geoblogging, a Continuing Series

The BBC is airing a drama based on the possibility of a volcanic super eruption at Yellowstone.

This has been a long running topic around here.

First spotted at The Agitator.

1st Class Citizens

What criminal charges do you suppose you would get if you held the police at bay in an hours-long standoff?

Well, if you are an Aurora, CO cop holding other Aurora cops at bay the answer is absolutely none.

Of course the rest of us don't get those sort of privilege. Different penalties for different classes of citizens, it seems.

Fore!

Mt. St. Helens isn't the only active hill burping out fiery stuff these days.

This is Popocatepetl, just outside Puebla, MX. I have some family members there who get to see this live and in person. You can find updates and a live cam here.

Taking Care of the Light Work

You may have seen this silly thing Robert Locke wrote for The American Conservative, titled Marxism of the Right, referring to libertarianism.

I just finished reading Scott Scheule's fisking of Locke's article. Fisking isn't a strong enough word. Annihilation, razing, obliteration, those all work. I had a good laugh, and you should, too.

North Korea, From the Horse's Mouth

Hugh Hewitt and many others have been spending much time critiquing this article from the L.A. Times. Staff writer Barbara Demick uncritically brings us the ramblings of a North Korean 'businessman' giving us the Party line. While most commenters have been taking Demick to task for failing to do any meaningful analysis of the North Korean's statements, what jumped out at me were the fellow's own words.

He also said that U.S. criticism of North Korea's record on human rights was unfair and hypocritical. In its annual human rights report on Monday, the State Department characterized North Korea's behavior as "extremely poor." It said 150,000 to 200,000 people were being held in detention camps for political reasons and that there continued to be reports of extrajudicial killings.

"Is there any country where there is a 100% guarantee of human rights? Certainly not the United States," the businessman said. "There is a question of what is a political prisoner. Maybe these people are not political prisoners but social agitators."

While Westerners tend to stress the rights of the individual, he said, "we have chosen collective human rights as a nation…. We should have food, shelter, security rather than chaos and vandalism. The question of our survival as a nation is dangling."

Damning words as far as I'm concerned. There are no such things as collective human rights, and the disastrous results of ignoring individual rights are hard to hide, try as they might. The average North Korean has far less food, shelter and security than the average American. I bet those many thousands in prison camps would be happy for some chaos to replace the security they enjoy now.

As for the vandalism, we might have more here, but there it makes a bigger impression.

Tabor Talk

From the local Libertarians:

The JeffCo and Denver LP affiliates have collaborated to have Penn Pfiffner host a lecture on TABOR at the offices of the Independence Institute tomorrow night, Wednesday, March 9th, 7pm at 13952 Denver West #400 (directions). If you have picked up a newspaper anytime in the past few weeks you will have read hundreds of reasons why TABOR must be dismantled, how TABOR has wrecked Colorado’s economy, how TABOR infests our homes, causes chronic wasting disease, and contributes to diaper rash.

I'd like to make it, but don't know if my schedule allows. Pfiffner is one of the good guys.

Ides of March

Also happens to be Eat an Animal for PETA Day. The question I have - which animal is most appropriate?

Back From Vacation

and mi hermano Jim Henley has a new look for his blog. Including a dog. Dogs are always a good idea.