State law apparently prevents Douglas County from paying Doug Ewald, the state tax commissioner, a property-tax refund he was granted by the Douglas County Board. In some corners the reaction is: Good! The big shot didn't get a favor after all.
Forget his title and look at the facts.
Ewald protested the valuation of his home. The county admitted that the square footage used to calculate Ewald's valuation was mistakenly high, and agreed to remeasure.
When Ewald signed a settlement agreement ending his right to further protest of the matter, he believed the remeasurement had been done and he was getting the best settlement figure based on the remeasurement.
But the county had not remeasured as promised. When Ewald discovered this and raised it, the answer was: Sorry we didn’t keep our promise, but you lose anyway because you signed the agreement.
Some of us on the county board thought that was wrong and the taxpayer should prevail. But apparently under state law it's the taxpayer's fault for not being nastier and having the wherewithal to see the big picture better than the government that set up and manages the property-tax protest system.
One concern was that if Ewald prevailed, other taxpayers might come forward with similar requests. Indeed, another taxpayer who had read about Ewald’s case came before the county board with a story of being bullied by a protest referee into abandoning his right to challenge his valuation.
I would not relish dozens of taxpayers coming to the county board with similar complaints. But if the county treats a taxpayer badly, the county should rectify it – regardless of the taxpayer’s social or political status, or the value of the property. Government should not ignore or bury such cases. If there a lot of them, then something is wrong with the system.
These aren’t consumers trying to get refunds in the voluntary-purchase, “let the buyer beware” atmosphere of the private sector. This is a mandatory requisition of tax dollars by the government. It is imperative that taxpayers with legitimate complaints be treated fairly. If state law doesn’t allow for that, then state law should be changed accordingly.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Bad Way for Government to Do Business
Mary Maxwell Moment
Click here for Mary Maxwell on negotiating job terms. Click below for more from Mary Maxwell.
Click here for Mary Maxwell on life in Omaha.
Click here for Mary Maxwell on thankfulness for her family.
Click here for Mary Maxwell on holiday charity.
Click here for Mary Maxwell with more Christmas reflections.
Click here for Mary Maxwell on Aunt Ellen at Christmas time.
Click here for Mary Maxwell on preparing a Thanksgiving turkey.
Click here for Mary Maxwell on seating in church.
Click here for Mary Maxwell on driving.
Click here for Mary Maxwell on shopping in New York.
Click here for Mary Maxwell on Heaven.
Click here for Mary Maxwell on Ak-Sar-Ben.
Click here for Mary Maxwell at the grocery store.
Click here for Mary Maxwell on airplane travel.
Click here for Mary Maxwell on Nebraska football.
Click here for Mary Maxwell on the accomplishment of Lewis & Clark (without a cell phone!) compared to her inability to find her pew after communion.
Click here for Mary Maxwell on exercise.
Click here for Mary Maxwell on household clutter.
Click here for Mary Maxwell on the biblical basis for cosmetic surgery.
Click here for Mary Maxwell on true friendship.
Click here for Mary Maxwell on the do's and don'ts of genuine Nebraska football fans.
Click here for Mary Maxwell on life in West Omaha.
Click here for Mary Maxwell on being cooking impaired.
Click here for Mary Maxwell on euphemisms.
Click here for Mary Maxwell on her lack of talent.
Click here for Mary Maxwell's introduction of herself.
Jimmy "The Fish" Maxwell
Click here for Jimmy the Fish on youth sports in the age of political correctness. Click below for more from Jimmy the Fish.
Click here for Jimmy the Fish on the annoying "attitude" in clothes and gifts marketed to children.
Click here for Jimmy the Fish on questionable medical diagnoses.
Click here for Jimmy the Fish on Halloween costumes.
Click here for Jimmy the Fish on various targets of opportunity.
Click here for Jimmy the Fish on ordering at the drive-through window.
Click here for Jimmy the Fish on the Nelson-Ricketts race.
Click here for Jimmy the Fish on applying for jobs.
Click here for Jimmy the Fish on UNO, the Bush assassination movie, and "The Path to 9/11."
Click here for Jimmy the Fish on the Dodge overpass, gas prices, and the start of school and football season.
Click here for Jimmy the Fish on the exasperations of air travel.
Click here for Jimmy the Fish on state quarter images.
Click here for Jimmy the Fish on brazen books.
Click here for Jimmy the Fish on car sales spin.
Click here for Jimmy the Fish on soccer.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Obama's Swift Boat Issue
Barack Obama says people are lying about his abortion record in Illinois. He sounds like John Kerry and his defenders denouncing the Swift Boat Veterans.
The Swift Boat Veterans resented Kerry's thin basis for his Purple Hearts and targeted him for political attack when he made incendiary false statements about American military forces' actions in Vietnam. Kerry thought a compliant media would help him marginalize the cranky wackos.
Jill Stanek, a nurse from Chicago, has led the effort to hold Obama accountable for his opposition, as an Illinois state senator, to the Born Alive Act. The bill said a baby who survives an abortion should receive medical care.
Obama said the bill would have undermined Roe v. Wade. That alone is a crappy reason, but the bill was amended to mirror a federal bill on the same issue that even hardcore pro-choicers supported.
Obama said that was a lie. But now the documentation being produced shows that the Born Alive sift boaters were right.
Obama has picked the wrong fight. I hope the pro-life community leadership goes after him as tenaciously as the Swift Boaters went after Kerry. Elitists such as Kerry and Obama think they can manipulate -- or ignore -- reality as they see fit. Often, with the help of the media, they can.
But occasionally a populist force breaks through, bursts the bubble, and makes the elitist pay. That's what I'm rooting for.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Possible Blow to Amendment
Show me the . . . invisible donors?
It's the proposed amendment to the state constitution that would end racial preferences in admissions and hiring at government institutions. So far, opponents of the amendment have hurt their cause with a panicky approach marked by over-the-top ads.
But now Ward Connerly, the California businessman promoting similar amendments in several states, is resisting demands that his side disclose its donors.
Almost all the money funding the campaign for the amendment is coming from outside Nebraska. The Nebraska Accountability & Disclosure Commission is leaning on Connerly to identify the donors.
Apparently the letter of the law does not require out-of-state donors to reveal themselves. Connerly says allies have been harassed and threatened in other states when they have been revealed as supporters of efforts to end the racial preference system commonly called affirmative action.
I hate campaign finance restrictions. I think money should be wide open in politics with every penny in plain view of the public. Let voters decide if a politician is getting too much money from certain sources, or from the wrong sources.
I wonder if this will damage public support for the amendment.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Coming Soon to a Neighborhood Association Near You : Hal Daub
I sat in on a neighborhood association meeting last night right around the corner from my house. It was the first of a series of meetings with mayoral candidates. Last night it was Hal Daub. What a tour de force.
I am of course partial to former guests of the Check with Chip radio show, but I can't imagine another candidate with Hal's depth of knowledge on a range of issues. That doesn't mean other candidates wouldn't make a good mayor of Omaha. But when you consider the big picture, the block-by-block picture in our neighborhood (with which Hal clearly was familiar), and the conscientious tenacity the office requires, well, that's why I say it's Hal's race to lose right now.
With Hal Daub in the race, the standard of competence will be set high in this mayoral campaign.
The only issue that didn't come up (though I left before session was over) was Daub versus Daub.
I have said before on the air that a supporter of Hal captured the dynamic when Daub and Mike Fahey were locked in a close contest for mayor in 2001. The Daub supporter said: "It's like every race Hal has ever run. The issue isn't his opponent. It's Daub versus Daub. People say: 'Hal Daub may be the sharpest, most productive mayor we've ever had, but do I want another four years of the contentious soap opera at city hall?'"
Of course people sometimes forget that 5 of 7 city council members also were not re-elected in 2001. Hal had a rough council to work with.
But the fact remains that the Daub versus Daub issue is floating out there.
I also have said on the air that the Hal Daub who encouraged me to run for the county board and whom I have gotten to know in recent years is not the same Hal Daub that governed the city as mayor.
Judge for yourself. Hal said he was about a third of the way through his tour of 100 neighborhood associations before the end of September. He has a notebook and pen and is listening and taking notes as well as talking.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Petition Candidate Trying to Oust Fremont Mayor
Carl Schaffner called my show to talk about his race for mayor of Fremont. It's no joke.
When the Fremont City Council deadlocked 4-4 on an ordinance targeting illegal immigration, Fremont Mayor Skip Edwards broke the tie by voting against the ordinance, which killed it.
That prompted two people to jump in and challenge Edwards, who is up for re-election Nov. 4. Wesley Homes is trying to win as a write-in candidate. Schaffner wants to get his name on the ballot, so he's out collecting signatures on a petition.
I have great sympathy for Schaffner's project. I petitioned my way onto the ballot in 2000 to run for the state legislature. It's hard. You really have to want it and you really have to work it.
Edwards said he voted no because, regardless of what one thinks of the proposal, Fremont would have been subjected to expensive and protracted legal challenges to defend it. He said other cities have not been able to win similar cases.
Schaffner says the ordinance was right for Fremont, and the mayor and council should have gone ahead with it.
Click here for a story in the Fremont Tribune about Schaffner's campaign.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Echoes of Berlin 1936?
Behind that Orwellian Big Brother smile, it's still China. This has that Goebbels totalitarian propaganda feel to it.
I'm still hearing people buzzing about the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.
I had an event that evening. I got home a little after 8 p.m. and found my wife and children gathered in front of the TV watching the spectacle from Beijing. What I saw was amazing. The colors, the special effects, the dramatic music, people seemingly skating upside and gracefully floating through the air. Fireworks befitting the people who invented them. And my family said I missed the best parts of the ceremony.
I watched for 10-15 minutes, but I had to walk away when the beaming general secretary of the Chinese communist party took center stage at the stadium and held forth. He represents some of the most brutal oppressors in the world.
I've heard people marvel at the Chinese getting 15,000 volunteers to function together so flawlessly. Turns out most were members of the military and special forces. Nothing wrong with that, but it is a significant distinction.
A darling 9-year-old girl appeared to be singing a patriotic welcoming song as the Chinese flag was paraded into the stadium. Turns out she was a lip-syncing substitute. The 7-year-old girl who actually sang the song was bumped into the background because wasn't cute enough.
When flack about it began appearing on Chinese Internet sites, the government swooped in and started editing or shutting down the sites.
The American female gymnasts melted down and missed their shot at a gold medal. Turns out the ages of the gold-medalist Chinese female gymnasts are at issue.
Oh, and it turns the fireworks footage was spliced together in advance. What you saw on the screen was fake. It was not what was happening live.
Fudging, cheating, and spinning for PR reasons cuts across cultural and political lines. But I sense in the media a desire to show how wonderful an alternative socialist society can be. I'm a capitalist and I'm not buying.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Don't You Understand? John Edwards Is the VICTIM
There's only one Bill Clinton, thank God. John Edwards is finding out the hard way.
I heard Edwards whine about his hardscrabble upbringing, and how the amazing success and adulation he experienced as a lawyer and politician distorted his perception of himself and reality. He lost perspective and came to believe he was so special that he could do anything with impunity.
It wasn't his fault. He is not a bad person. The rest of the world loved him too much and damaged his character.
Oh, please note that his wife's cancer was in remission at the time of the infidelity that has come to light. And he is NOT the father of the other woman's child.
Even in victimhood he was virtuous.
I hope this knocks this cheesy fraud is off the national stage for good.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Check with Chip Is Moving!
The Check with Chip radio show is moving to AM 660 KCRO. Bigger signal. Bigger audience. I'm excited.
Salem Communications owns KOTK, KCRO (religious programming), and KGBI (contemporary religious music). KOTK is going to change its format. The good news for me is that Salem likes my show and wants to move it to 9 a.m. Saturdays on KCRO starting August 30.
Something had to change because KOTK carries Iowa Hawkeye football, which begins August 30 and knocks me out of my Saturday 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. time slot.
Same show. Same studio. Same drill. Nick the producer will help me put one foot in front of the other. We'll just broadcast it on 660 AM instead of 1420 AM.
The regular KCRO listeners will have to adjust to having an outright sinner broadcasting in their midst, but the Lord came for the sinners, right?
Friday, August 08, 2008
Tomorrow's Agenda Starts Here
The topics will range from local to global.
Robert Nelson of the OWH has a column on a high school baseball coach who kicked two players off the team for drinking, then was overruled by a local board. I'm with the coach on that one.
Governor Dave Heineman and Attorney General Jon Bruning have joined forces to fund a PAC to get Republicans elected to the state legislature. I don't have a problem with it. I'm just stunned. Those two have been adversaries.
The late Alexander Solzhenitsyn predicted much of what has happened to the spirit of Western society.
The New York Times reports that a liberal activist group is threatening to harass donors to conservative political causes and prevent "swift boating" of Democrats. Why do liberals use "swift boat" as a negative term? All the swift-boat veterans did was tell the truth about John Kerry.
Thursday, August 07, 2008
Are You Any of These Readers?
Regular listener Donna shared this quick review of newspaper readers.
1. The Wall Street Journal is read by the people who run the country.
2. The Washington Post is read by people who think they run the country.
3. The New York Times is read by people who think they should run the country and who are very good at crossword puzzles.
4. USA Today is read by people who think they ought to run the country but don't really understand. They do, however, like their statistics shown in pie charts.
5. The Los Angeles Times is read by people who wouldn't mind running the country -- if they could find the time -- and if they didn't have to leave Southern California to do it.
6. The Boston Globe is read by people whose parents used to run the country and did a far superior job of it, thank you very much.
7. The New York Daily News is read by people who aren't too sure who's running the country and don't really care as long as they can get a seat on the train.
8. The New York Post is read by people who don't care who's running the country as long as they do something really scandalous, preferably while intoxicated.
9. The Miami Herald is read by people who are running another country but need the baseball scores.
10. The San Francisco Chronicle is read by people who aren't sure there is a country, or that anyone is running it; but if so, they oppose all that they stand for. There are occasional exceptions if the leaders are handicapped minority feminist atheist dwarfs who also happen to be illegal aliens from any other country or galaxy, provided of course, that they are not Republicans.
11. The National Enquirer is read by people trapped in line at the grocery store.
12. The Seattle Times is read by people who have recently caught a fish and need something in which to wrap it.
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
The Millionaire Mansion Case, Again
Why does the county board keep reducing the valuation the county assessor keeps trying to place on the Witherspoon mansion?
The owner won his appeal. The county assessor came right back the next year and tried to jam the valuation back up where it was. And the next year. And the next year. And every year.
Nothing has happened. The home has not been sold. It has not been improved. Meanwhile the Watanabe mansion in regency was recently shown to be hugely overvalued.
A taxpayer who wins in a system that completely favors the government deserves to enjoy his victory.
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Bo Big Red?
Can't tell anything from the hype, but I'm feeling the Big Red fever coming on.
Fall camp has opened. The stories are the same every year, just change the names. There's a bit of a twist with a new coaching staff, but even that story line has been cliched to death.
Bo Pelini did kick a guy off the team with legal troubles who was going to be a main player at one of the weakest positions on the team, defensive tackle.
If I gulp the red Kool-Aid I can see 10-2 in the crystal ball. In less optimistic moments I see another 5-7 campaign.
How do you see it?
Monday, August 04, 2008
Omaha Royals Must Be Doing Something Right
It was like sitting in a sauna Saturday night at Rosenblatt. Yet my girls and I still had a good time.
The trendy position seems to be nonchalance toward the Omaha Royals. They might leave Omaha? Yawn.
My two girls, 10 and 7, each earned a ticket to the Aug. 2 game through the city library's summer reading program. It also was "faith and family" night with fireworks and a concert following the game. An announcer said the 11,044 attendance was the largest Saturday crowd of the season.
The atmosphere might have been different if there had been a more typical 2,000. I've been to Rosenblatt on nights like that. But on a night when it was so hot and humid that it felt like the inside of the Lied Jungle across the street even after the sun went down, my daughters wanted to stay. They knew there was a fireworks show, but I figured we would last 5 innings at the most.
It was a tight ballgame moving along at a good clip. The crowd groaned the groan of frustrated parents when the Royals blew a 3-1 in the 9th and the game went into extra innings. Even then, my girls wanted to ride it out.
At these types of promotional night we usually see people we know. Didn't see a soul we knew, but the girls were content with dad. I'll enjoy that while it lasts.
The concourse, no comfortable breezeway to begin with, was absolutely stifling. I broke a sweat waiting in the concession line. But the Royals really work hard to please the fans. It was a classic minor league night at the ballpark, complete with goofy fan contests between innings. I could stand the sound system turned down a bit, but the field and stadium looked great.
I don't get excited about fireworks anymore, but the postgame show had some kick to it. Maybe its because they weren't shot very high in the sky and we were sitting in a raised grandstand. It seemed as if the were exploding right in front of us.
Walking to our car after the game, the 10-year-old who during the day had fussed about not wanting to go to the game announced that she wanted to come back for another game.
Friday, August 01, 2008
You Won't Believe This One
I recently came across a compelling pro-life statement written in 1977 for the National Right to Life Committee. See if you can guess from a few excerpts who the author was.
Here we go:
The question of "life" is The Question of the 20th century. Race and poverty are dimensions of the life question, but discussions about abortion have brought the issue into focus in a much sharper way.
How we will respect and understand the nature of life itself is the over-riding moral issue.
I was born out of wedlock (and against the advice that my mother received from her doctor) and therefore abortion is a personal issue for me.
There are those who argue that the right to privacy is of higher order than the right to life. I do not share that view. I believe that life is not private, but rather it is public and universal.
If one accepts the position that life is private, and therefore you have the right to do with it as you please, one must also accept the conclusion of that logic.
That was the premise of slavery. You could not protest the existence or treatment of slaves on the plantation because that was private and therefore outside your right to be concerned.
Another area that concerns me greatly, namely because I know how it has been used with regard to race, is the psycholinguistics involved in this whole issue of abortion. If something can be dehumanized through the rhetoric used to describe it, then the major battle has been won. Those advocates of taking life prior to birth do not call it killing or murder, they call it abortion. They further never talk about aborting a baby because that would imply something human. Rather they talk about aborting the fetus. Fetus sounds less than human and therefore can be justified.
What happens to the mind of a person, and the moral fabric of a nation, that accepts the aborting of the life of a baby without a pang of conscience? What kind of a person and what kind of a society will we have twenty years hence if life can be taken so casually?
It is that question, the question of our attitude, our value system, and our mind-set with regard to the nature and worth of life itself that is the central question confronting mankind. Failure to answer that question affirmatively may leave us with a hell right here on earth.
The author? Rev. Jesse Louis Jackson.
Click here for the entire article, and the commentary by the person who found the article in the files of the National Right to Life office.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Property Taxes : Goal Is to Get it Right
Something really poisonous was said about property taxes at Tuesday's county board meeting.
A lawyer speaking on behalf of a client said the client told him that when the client, in the course of protesting the valuation increase on her home a few years ago, noted with surprise how much the valuation on her home had increased, she was told that there was "pressure to produce more revenue."
In other words, the directive has come from county government to stick it to taxpayers, push up those valuations, and get more property tax revenue flowing into government coffers.
The county assessor, Roger Morrissey, was in the chamber when that story was told. When the lawyer finished his presentation and left the podium, Morrissey engaged him in a rather animated conversation. They took it outside the chamber and continued in the hallway. Someone inside got up and closed a nearby door to block the sound of that animated conversation.
I guessed that Morrissey was worked up about the "pressure" comment. So was I. I left my place at the commissioners' table and joined the conversation in the hallway outside the chamber.
I figured Morrissey was saying that the lawyer should produce a name or else make such assertions about someone in the assessor's office making such a statement.
Turns out, according the lawyer's client, that it was a referee reviewing her protest. That's one of our people! The county board hires professional appraisers to serve as referees and review valuation protests. The whole point is to bring in neutral professionals who have no interest in winners and losers. They just apply their professional judgment and come up with what they believe is the right number.
The building of the county budget and the setting of the county's property tax rate happens in a whole other universe separate from the protest process. The referees do not get commissions or any other kinds of rewards based on results. There is no pressure or incentive of any kind. Referees get the same fee no matter specific cases play out.
I can only guess that the lawyer's client misunderstood what was said to her. Quite frankly, it's hard to believe that any referee would be stupid enough to say such a thing. More importantly, it's not true.
We have enough taxpayer frustration with the property tax system. We don't need the situation unnecessarily poisoned with such an unfounded assertion.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Note of Thanks to Fahey
I wrote a thank-you note to Mayor Mike Fahey.
Mike,
You're still mayor for 10 months, but your announcement prompts me to thank you for your support when I was trying to get something moving on city-county merger. I was surprised by the mixed reaction -- in some cases rather hostile -- from the city council, but you jumped in and used the mayor's bully pulpit and resources to try to make something happen.
State Senator Mick Mines, our strongest ally at the state level, resigned from the Legislature, and I'm now in the minority on the county board when it comes to merger. I am nonetheless grateful that you invested your political capital in the effort when there seemed to be an opportunity.
All the best as you finish your tenure as mayor.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
An Unintended Self-Portrait?
State Senator Ernie Chambers wrote a column in the Omaha Star criticizing Jesse Jackson.
Here's an excerpt:
Arrogance, insensitivity, bombastic hyperbole, self-centeredness to the point of egomaniacal narcissism -- in short, typical preacher-traits. Po', po', pitiful Jesse is afflicted with them all.
Does anyone else find unintended humor in that statement?
Monday, July 28, 2008
Is That a Bat or a "W"?
A recent column in the Wall Street Journal said the new Batman movie is a favorable review of President Bush's conduct of the war on terror. Saints preserve us, Commissioner Gordon, something positive on that issue coming out of Hollywood?
I am a curmudgeon on movies. I don't go to many. I often don't like the ones I see.
I am more willing to take a chance on a robust battle between good and evil. And when my 19-year-old son invites me to see the movie at an I-MAX as his guest, I'm in.
I also was intrigued by the WSJ column contending that "The Dark Knight" is breaking records for attendance in part because it reflects positively on the war on terror.
I imagine many people still haven't seen the movie, so for now I'll just encourage you to see it. We'll talk about it on Check with Chip.
Click here for the column.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Obama Banking Committee Gaffe Can't Be Ignored
Barack Obama's mind works in strange ways. Or maybe it isn't so strange.
I gave Obama a pass when he was caught bragging about visiting 58 states. Clearly he meant 48, as evidenced by his expression of regret for not being able to visit Alaska and Hawaii.
The recent reference to a bill produced by the Senate Banking Committee is a different deal.
Here's what he said: “Just this past week, we passed out of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee - which is my committee - a bill to call for divestment from Iran as way of ratcheting up the pressure to ensure that they don’t obtain a nuclear weapon.”
He was OK saying "we" when talking about action by a Senate committee, but then with a dash of pride he added "which is my committee." MY COMMITTEE? He doesn't even serve on that committee, never mind chair it.
If John McCain said something similar there would be whispers of old age and senility and dementia.
It's impossible to dismiss "my committee" as a brain cramp or slip of the tongue or verbal typo or some other innocuous mistake. Obama is in such a secure bubble with a fawning media that he figures he can go for anything and get away with it. If it backfires, the media will ignore it or bury it.
Dave Nabity on Check with Chip
His Nabship, Count Nabula, The Nabinator -- he's all that and more and he'll be my guest on Check with Chip this week.
Yes, he's the Dave Nabity who ran for governor in 2006. The longtime jazz drummer has a new group playing regular local gigs. Dave now runs a political action committee through which he is supporting candidates that embrace the same message of fiscal responsibility Dave championed while running for governor. He still pops up in the news on a variety of matters. Who knows what mischief he will have gotten into by the time we visit on Saturday.
Somehow he finds the time to run Nabity Business Advisors.
Don't miss Dave Nabity on Check with Chip!
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Lee Terry Working Hard for Catholic Vote
Lee Terry wants to make sure pro-life Catholic voters know he is the congressional candidate whose position on stem cell research coincides with that of the Catholic Church.
Terry's previous Democratic opponents have been strong pro-choicers, so he has enjoyed significant crossover support from pro-life Democrats. The Terry campaign says about 25% of Democrats have voted for Lee over the years, and most of them are pro-life and Catholic.
Jim Esch is campaigning as a pro-life Catholic Democrat. Thus it might appear that pro-life Catholic Democrats now have a Democrat they can support. Maybe some pro-life Catholic Republicans are attracted by a pro-life Catholic candidate. Hey, finally a Catholic for whom I can vote!
It's a serious concern for the Terry campaign. Without that crossover pro-life vote, the race becomes a toss-up.
The Terry campaign has recruited a volunteer to coordinate an outreach program in Catholic parishes. His name: Chuck Maxwell. That's CHUCK, not Chip. He's my dad. He's also a lifelong Democrat, part of that 25% that has been voting for Terry.
The plan is to develop a network of "captains" and "footsoldiers" in Catholic parishes to arrange endorsement post cards and develop lists for mailings targeted to Catholic voters. The goal is to get the message to pro-life Catholics that Lee Terry is the genuinely pro-life candidate in the congressional race.
In the 21st century, saying "I'm against abortion" isn't enough to get the pro-life seal of approval. The push is on to treat humans at the embryonic stage as raw material for research. Some researchers want to harvest stem cells from embryos, which destroys the embryos.
Terry has been rock-solid on not destroying embryos for stem cell research. After being endorsed by the local right-to-life group, Esch flipped his position in the final week or two before the general election in 2006 and advocated destruction of embryos.
I wonder what would have happened in 2006 if Esch had not flipped. I imagine there were a lot of Chuck Maxwells, Democrats longing for a pro-life candidate, poised to vote for Esch until the flip.
I know Jim Esch. He's a good man. I consider him a friend. As Creighton Prep graduates we travel in some of the same circles and have mutual friends. We visited at the beginning of his 2006 campaign to talk about stem cell research and his position was the same as that of Catholic Democrats of Nebraska: no cloning or destruction of embryos for stem cell research.
I contacted him when the news broke that he had changed his position. I asked if I had misunderstood him. He said no, but after much thought and prayer he concluded that he needed to change his position.
That's his right. My friendship does not depend on someone's positions on political issues. My wife and I don't agree on every issue!
But in a competitive political race in which the pro-life Catholic vote could be crucial, voters for whom the pro-life issue is paramount need a clear picture of the facts.
If you want to help on this project, please call the Terry campaign at 691-0333 and ask for Chuck Maxwell.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Learning Community Looks Ominous
Have you looked at the field of candidates running for the Learning Community Coordinating Council? It could be a tax-and-spend free-for-all.
I live on the southern edge of a North Omaha council district. So far three candidates have filed in my district: State Senator Ernie Chambers; a black man named Melvin Muhammad who has been endorsed by Chambers; and Metro Community College board member Dave Newell, a white liberal Democrat. Two of them will be elected to the council. None of them would be shy about pressing the "tax" button.
In the rest of the field for the other districts I see a few names that might exercise fiscal discipline, but I see more who are likely to bring a whole new level of pain to the property-tax payer.
Remember, this body will have property-taxing authority. It's a super-board governing the 11 public school districts of Douglas Sarpy Counties. It will levy a property tax on the 2-county, 11-district tax base and put the revenue into one common pile. The council then decides how to distribute it.
To avoid fights, members will simply make the revenue pie big enough to satisfy everyone's appetite. Starting with Chambers, there will be some big appetites on that council.
Anyone who challenges the taxfest will be denounced as anti-child and anti-education.
This is depressing to think about.
Candidates have until August 1 to file.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Why Are Speculators the Scapegoats for Gas Prices?
A faithful Check with Chip listener forwarded a commentary by Dick Morris about the need to crack down on oil. I must be missing something because I see the fuss about speculators as a smokescreen generated by politicians to hide the real problem: their unwillingness to permit more oil drilling and progress in nuclear energy in America.
The Morris commentary did not connect enough dots for me to understand how rising prices for future oil contracts push up prices for what is available today at the gas pump.
Even if there is a connection, speculators react to market forces -- and forces inhibiting market evolution. If you won't tap your own oil reserves and you won't increase your nuclear capacity and the rest of the world is developing a bigger appetite for the same oil supply on which you rely, then speculators correctly conclude that the price of oil is going to rise.
President Bush starts to show some backbone about tapping American off-shore reserves and, what do you know, the price of oil futures and the price of gas at the pump go down.
Get mad at speculators if you want, but the polices of American politicians have created the current distorted market.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Don't Settle for Small Potatoes
What should the state do with a projected $100 million budget surplus?
The governor says give it back to the people. That used to be my reaction. And politicians love it. Hey, we're giving tax dollars back to you, the suffering taxpayer.
The problem is that the rebates are relatively minuscule. And they are sporadic at best. If there happen to be some unexpected surplus dollars lying around, they are tossed to the people. But you will be gouged again when times get tough and the revenue goes down.
Nebraskans should not settle for this game any more. Put the surplus in the rainy day fund to cushion the blow from future drop-offs in revenue. Then get to work on serious budget reform, the top-to-bottom audit that is overdue in Nebraska.
Don't be bought off with occasional goodies. There won't be meaningful and sustained tax relief in Nebraska until the state does what other states have done -- overhaul the entire budget.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Who Really Cares About "the Children"?
K-12 education always exposes the elitist frauds.
Where was Chelsea Clinton while President Bill Clinton vetoed legislation allowing low-income children in Washington, D.C., to escape hellhole public schools with vouchers? Chelsea was safely tucked away in an elite private school.
Here was John McCain's take on Barack Obama's rejection of private school vouchers for low-income Americans:
"All of that went over well with the teachers union, but where does it leave families and their children who are stuck in failing schools? No entrenched bureaucracy or union should deny parents that choice and children that opportunity."
Where do Obama's children attend school? An elite private school in Chicago.
Makes me sick.
Home Instead Senior Care's Operation Medicine Cabinet
Here's what you need to know:
WHAT: Disposal of expired or no-longer-needed medication. Simply drive up and give your medication to Douglas County Sheriff’s deputies, who are donating their time to serve the community. Or stick around enjoy juice and donuts provided by Alegent Home Health and Hospice.
WHEN: July 19, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
WHERE: 78th & Dodge, north side.
WHY: Safety, personal and societal.
Some senior citizens have a half-dozen or more prescriptions. They become confused about which ones to take and which should be discarded. They take the wrong medication, or they get frustrated and skip them all together.
The number one cause of hospitalization for senior citizens is a mistake involving medication. Operation Medicine Cabinet encourages people to sort through their medication and prevent such occurences.
For society, Operation Mecicine Cabinet will guarantee that medications are disposed of without entering the water supply or leaching out of landfills. The Douglas County Sheriff will properly destroy medication collected at Operation Medicine Cabinet.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Marine Says Iraq Looks Promising
I spent a good chunk of Sunday night visiting with a U.S. Marine who said the situation in Iraq is much more positive than portrayed in the media.
There was no setup and he didn't know my view. I just invited him to start talking and I listened.
His name is Brian Reed. He's a nephew of my brother-in-law, Dave Reed. You heard Dave on Check with Chip a few weeks ago discussing the dairy farming business from the milking parlor on what we affectionately call "Reed Acres" in reference to my city-girl sister, Mimi, marrying Dave 15 years ago and plunging, a la Zsa Zsa Gabor on "Green Acres," into farm life.
Brian is stationed in North Carolina and is in his home state of Michigan on leave.
We visited around the fire pit at Steve & Elaine Reed's home while adults and children roasted hot dogs and marshmallows.
If you listen to talk radio, you won't be surprised to hear Brian's take. Brian, 12 years in the Marines, was matter-of-fact but insistent that he has seen progress in his two tours of duty in Iraq. He has been stationed in places that you have heard about in the news, places that used to be really nasty for American troops.
He did not accept the contention that the people smiling, waving, and thanking Americans for being liberators by day are trying to kill them at night. He said the greater problem is that the majority is supportive but is terrorized by the terrorists. The risk is especially high for anyone suspected of aiding the terrorists.
Brian did not minimize the challenge or make grandiose predictions. But he said the John McCain scenario -- properly construed as a lasting American military presence in a stabilized region similar to post-war Germany or South Korea -- is feasible.
I hope he's right.
Meanwhile, I thank Brian for attacking at its source the evil enterprise that would love to ruin the type of Sunday evening peaceful freedom we enjoyed at "Reed Acres."
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Starboard Tack
Barack Obama and John McCain are being derided by critics for their flip-flops on issues. It's true. Both candidates are flipping and flopping. But there is a pattern that ought to cheer conservative hearts.
Obama: embraces public financing, then discovers the joys of competitive free-market political fundraising and rejects the limitations of government-managed campaign finance; vows to never abandon down-with-America pastor, then does so; said DC gun ban was constitutional, then said Supreme Court ruled properly in finding it unconstitutional; out of Iraq in 16 months, then calls for "deliberate" disengagement with no specifics; NAFTA was bad, but now it may be good.
McCain: sponsored immigration bill that was rejected by the populist majority, then announced he "got the message" and changed position; switched from no to yes on off-shore drilling for oil; has called for closing Gitmo, but blasted Supreme Court for giving Gitmo detainees constitutional rights; opposed Bush tax cuts, but now says they should be preserved.
Do you notice a pattern? The changes in policy are shifts to the right. That's where the national majority is. That's where the candidate wants to be to have the best chance of winning. I find that very encouraging.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Omaha Royals : Maybe I'm the Problem
The Royals might move to Sarpy County? The Royals might move to Texas? Say it ain't so!
But I ask you the same question I ask myself: When was the last time you went to a Royals game?
4th of July doesn't count. You went for the music and fireworks.
I can't remember the last time for me. I think it was with my boys on a night when we had coupons they had earned in a summer reading program. The older son is now in college, so it had to be at least 8 years ago.
Baseball is my favorite sport. I enjoy Rosenblatt Stadium. I like having a Triple A team.
Would I be more likely to go to a Royals game at a new ballpark? Probably not.
That's a serious problem for the Royals. A guy who loves baseball and lives 10 minutes from Rosenblatt -- 5 minutes from the site of the new ballpark -- is ambivalent about attending a game.
I can't blame management for considering a move out of Omaha.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Compelling Presentation of Drilling in ANWR
The remission of my McCain Derangement Syndrome has been aided by John McCain's declaration that the U.S. should drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. An anonymous e-mail about drilling in ANWR is making the rounds. I checked it out at Snopes.com.
I don't know who or what Snopes is. I don't know why Snopes should be considered neutral and authoritative, but it is considered a go-to source for checking the validity of claims made in e-mails and web sites.
Snopes calls the presentation "scant and one-sided," but seems to grudgingly acknowledge the validity of the pictures and facts presented.
Click here to see the presentation on the Snopes web site.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Reminder : Check with Chip Is on at 9 a.m. Tomorrow
Fire up the Comrex Hotline! Check with Chip comes to you live from the road via the miracle of modern technology.
The Omaha Royals have a doubleheader tomorrow, which means they start at 12:05 p.m., which means the pre-game show comes at 11:45 a.m., which means KOTK wants me to start at 9 a.m. on go until the Royals come on the air. It's 45 bonus minutes!
It's also another live broadcast from a remote site. Where? You'll have to tune in tomorrow to find out!
"Raising Kids in the Media Age" by Jay Dunlap
One thing we did not discuss was that, in his book, Jay offers practical suggestions for developing healthy family habits when using media.
Establish boundaries -- content as well as time -- for children using media. Be available to spend time with your children in those hours that used to be sucked up by media. Make a family video.
Jay explains it all in more detail in the book.
I recommend the book even for people without children at home because Jay provides observations about how media affect all of us, not just little ones. The book