Amy Ridenour's National Center Blog

The Root Features Project 21 Commentary on Green Policies Hurting Blacks' Bottom Line

2008-10-08T19:33:00.001-04:00

By David Almasi:

As cooler weather approaches, there are indications that it is going to be both a cold and expensive winter. Scientifically-monitored sunspot activity and the wise Farmer's Almanac both predict it will be cooler than normal, and the federal government is predicting the cost of heating a home will be a lot higher.

Already earning less than the average American household, black and brown households will take the biggest hit unless something is done - now and over the long-term - to bring down energy prices.

Project 21 Deneen Borelli has a new commentary that was published today on The Root, a black-focused web site jointly operated by The Washington Post and Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. of Harvard University.

Deneen points out how policies promoted by radical environmentalists and their political allies on Capitol Hill are keeping us from tapping into America's rich natural resources and freeing our nation from foreign energy dependence:
Failing schools, crime and single-parent households are just a few of the challenges facing urban communities. Now, thanks to radical environmentalists and their supporters, a bunch I like to call "Club Green," they must face soaring energy as well...

Despite the hype about wind power and boasts about other renewable energy sources, 85 percent of our nation's energy comes from fossil fuels. Energy from renewable sources such as wind and solar only currently provide about 7 percent of our power and cannot replace fossil fuels anytime soon.

In its September 2008 report, the federal Energy Information Agency predicted a 25 percent rise in heating oil prices and a 17 percent rise in natural gas prices this winter as well as a 9.5 percent projected increase in electricity costs in 2009. Adding to that, gasoline still hovers near $4 a gallon, and the public demands more domestic energy production. A recent Rasmussen poll of likely voters found that 67 percent supported new offshore fossil fuel exploration.

Our nation is blessed with an abundant supply of natural resources. The problem is that Congress, at the demand of Club Green, blocks access to these resources at the peril of families.
To read the full Deneen's commentary, click here.

This post was written by National Center for Public Policy Research Executive Director David Almasi. To send comments to the author, write him at info@nationalcenter.org. Please state if a letter is not for publication or if you prefer that it be published anonymously.

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Sean's Back

2008-10-08T19:26:00.001-04:00

One of my all-time favorite blogs, Everything I Know Is Wrong, is back after a two-year hiatus.

Welcome back, Sean! I was just about to give up and delete your blog from my bookmarks. Glad I didn't.
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Slavery Apology and Reparations Debate Neglects Pressing Matters of the Present Day

2008-10-07T12:51:00.001-04:00

By David Almasi:

A commentary by Project 21 staff research associate Stephen Roberts about the reaction to a recent congressional apology for slavery was published by The Washington Times this past Saturday.

In his commentary, Roberts discusses the need to get past the slavery issue in order to address present-day problems facing black Americans. Reparations further muddle the pursuit of modern progress. Roberts writes:
With this diversity of outcomes in mind, how are activists and lawmakers dealing with an apology for slavery? They are doing what they do best - playing politics...

In calling it just "a large step," Mr. Cummings skillfully leaves open the door to ask for more - namely, reparations. A Toledo Blade editorial made clear the apology cost nothing, calling it "an empty gesture" of "little use to the victims [it is] meant to make feel better." Quoted in the Final Call, Professor Michael Eric Dyson said: "Reparations are certainly one of the signals that America can send if they are serious about reconstituting American culture..."

The problem with the apology debate - and the ensuing racial backbiting - is the consequent neglect of the pressing matters of the present day. Columnist Christopher Caldwell notes there are no more slave owners or Jim Crow laws. Segments of black America, however, are currently trapped in cyclic poverty. What can be done for them that does not involve historical naval-gazing or polarizing stereotyped groups that no longer technically exist?
The entire commentary can be read by clicking here

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Steve Milloy Picks Apart Paulson Plan on WBAL at 1:30 on Thursday - Listen Live!

2008-10-02T11:25:00.001-04:00

By David Almasi:

Steve Milloy, a director of the National Center's newly-announced Free Enterprise Project, will be a guest of Clarence Mitchell IV on WBAL radio in Baltimore this afternoon at 1:30 pm eastern. Steve will discuss his comments yesterday warning Congress that it would be unwise to grant excessive new powers to Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson and other cabinet officials (and their successors) under any financial "bailout" legislation.

You can listen to Steve from anywhere in America by going to the WBAL web site and clicking the "Listen Live" tab that can be found at the top left of the page.

In a release on the topic of Paulson and the bailout yesterday, Milloy noted:
Paulson should not be given more opportunities to punish his enemies and promote his friends. Engineering the sale of Bear Sterns at a fire sale price and allowing Lehman Brothers to go bankrupt while making efforts to save Goldman Sachs should raise serious questions about Paulson's personal agenda. Having served in the Nixon Administration it seems Paulson took careful notes in the creation and execution of an enemies list. Let's not forget that under Paulson's leadership Goldman Sachs made millions by creating the mortgage crisis.
The full press release can be read by clicking here.

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Billionaires Seeking Welfare

2008-10-01T11:36:00.001-04:00

Billionaire Warren Buffett famously says taxes should be increased.

Well, no wonder! He's trying to get on -- if he isn't already on -- the moral equivalent of welfare himself by buying into Goldman Sachs at a time when that firm's former CEO is lobbying Congress furiously for a tax-funded bailout package that will benefit Goldman Sachs.

More on Buffett benefiting from a bailout in a Lawrence B. Lindsey article here
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Ted Stevens Gets a Jury of His Peers

2008-09-26T08:14:00.001-04:00

From The Hill today:

Despite having served in the Senate for four decades, longer than any Republican in history, 12 jurors and four alternates hearing his criminal case have acknowledged knowing little about Stevens.

I guess they never served on Appropriations.

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Project 21 Chairman Mychal Massie on Federal Bailout Controversy

2008-09-25T16:01:00.001-04:00

By David Almasi:

Mychal Massie, the chairman of the Project 21 black leadership network Project 21, has this to say about our nation's current financial mess and those willing to do anything but let free market mechanisms bring things back to normal:
Our nation's current financial turmoil should be no surprise to those charged with overseeing our financial system, yet those yelling the loudest about our not being prepared seem to have been the ones with their heads in the sand the longest.

Case in point: When the Bush Administration suggested a regulatory overhaul of the housing finance industry in 2003, Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) said: "These two entities - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - are not facing any kind of financial crisis. The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing." (Source: "New Agency Proposed to Oversee Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae," New York Times, September 11, 2003) The Fox News Channel is broadcasting a similar pronouncement by Frank made in 2005.

At the time, Frank was the ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee. Today, he is the chairman. He is part of the crowd seeking the bailout that will probably cost taxpayers well over a trillion dollars to correct. It could and should have been prevented by something he refused at the time to acknowledge.

To add further insult to this epic fiscal injury, lawmakers and members of the Bush Administration are seeking ways to game the free market to correct the very problem that government negligence allowed to happen in the first place.

It is unwise for the government to presume American taxpayers do not have a breaking point. It is a misrepresentation of that which is being proposed to portray this - as they are - as a "recovery plan." It is a "bailout," and a wholesale bailout of industries ad nauseam at that.

It is simply unfair and unjust for taxpayers to essentially be the financial safety net for those responsible for foreseeable economic misdeeds on a gargantuan scale.

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More Physicists, Fewer Fullbacks: Project 21's Robinson Commentary in The Root Sets a New Mission for Black Colleges

2008-09-09T10:55:00.001-04:00

By David Almasi:

This week, the White House is focusing attention on historically-black colleges and universities (HBCUs) with an official week of commemoration and a conference sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education.

Project 21 member B.B. Robinson, Ph.D. is marking the week by calling on HBCUs to commit more resources to train students in science and technology to meet the growing demand in those fields. This, Robinson believes, will help foster further black prosperity and help equalize employment opportunities.

Since this will obviously drain tight budgets, Robinson offers a suggestion: HBCUs should cut back their athletic programs.

In his commentary on the subject, which was published by The Root - a black-focused web site jointly operated by The Washington Post and Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. of Harvard University - Robinson wrote:
Among black students in particular, there is a distinct technological training deficit. According to Science and Engineering Indicators 2008 from the federal National Science Board, only 8.4 percent of college graduates in 2005 who received degrees in science and engineering were black.

There has been a slow and steady increase of black science and engineering graduates over the surveyed period of 1985 to 2005, but this black progress was nonetheless outpaced by Hispanic and Asian gains.

Compounding the problem of so few blacks receiving science and engineering degrees is that a consistent rate of over 30 percent of incoming black freshmen over the years regularly intend on pursuing such majors while less than a third actually obtain a degree...

Given that their budgets and access to resources are limited, how can HBCUs increase their science and technology focus? They should not "Rob Peter to pay Paul." They should simply take "Peter" out of the equation. The HBCUs' Peter is money-losing athletic programs.

HBCUs should consider converting resources set aside for athletic programs into resources for scientific research and development...

For the future of black America, HBCUs and the nation, it seems appropriate that HBCUs turn their athletic and competitive swords and spears into productive and scientific plowshares and pruning hooks.
To read the full Robinson commentary, click here.

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Project 21 in Washington Times

2008-09-08T23:45:00.001-04:00

Project 21 members and staff have been published in the Washington Times' op-ed page several times recently. Fans of the group may wish to click on one or more of the following:

"Speed-Limit Myths" - Project 21 chairman Mychal Massie takes on Senator John Warner of Virginia's trial balloon favoring a federal mandate to lower speed limits. After explaining who/what really would benefit from such a policy (hint: not the environment, but it involves something green), Massie suggests that "it might be better if Mr. Warner just drove off into the sunset. If only he could go a little faster."

"History is the Final Judge" - Project 21 member Ak'Bar A. Shabazz asks, "if we disregard the calls for freedom and democracy in places such as Tibet, where are we placing ourselves as it relates to world history?," and quotes Martin Luther King, Jr., saying "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

"Property Rights" - Project 21 research associate Reece Epstein examines the government's use of eminent domain power in a predominately black city to take choice land from small businesses in order to sell it to large ones. He says, "Self-professed champions of the poor don't help when they oppose eminent domain reform. Doing so simply allows government to take from one and give to another - at the expense of communities - just to rake in tax dollars."

"Let Them Eat Cake" - Project 21 member Kevin L. Martin calls on Congress to allow more oil drilling, saying "There may be a day when we all have electric cars, but the one I have right now doesn't have a plug, solar panel or hydrogen converter. It takes gasoline. While I don't object to the possibility of alternative energy sources in the future, I know that most Americans own cars that need gas and live in homes that are powered at least in part by coal. When the elites stifle access to plentiful power, the financial burden is a lot smaller for them. They can afford to pay more for a hybrid car and rave about getting better gas mileage. They can also feel better about their indulgences when they buy imaginary 'carbon credits' that give them the moral authority to use more energy than they want to allow the masses. Like Marie Antoinette, they think the rest of America can 'eat cake' like they can. Sadly, we can't."

"The Civil Rights Shakedown: Myth or Reality?" - Project 21 fellow Deneen Borelli takes a look at shakedown allegations against Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson and describes her own effort to urge a corporate board not to be part of such a process. Deneen wrote, in part, "Frustrated by what appears to me to be a long history of Mr. Jackson and Mr. Sharpton using semi-subtle campaigns to pressure corporations to donate, I spoke up at the JPMorgan shareholder meeting. After Mr. Jackson spoke, I took his place at the microphone and asked Mr. Dimon and his board: 'Will there ever be a day where you will stand up and say 'No' to Mr. Jackson and to his demands and messages of victimization and divisiveness? This is the United States of America, and this is not the 1960s. People should be hired based on their talents and they should be retained based on their results. There should not be color-coded hiring in the United States.' Shareholders clapped. But, unlike Mr. Jackson's, my question went unanswered."

"Gaining Access with Identification" - Project 21 research associate Reece Epstein turns the Voter ID debate into a civil rights issue -- but maybe not in the way you think: "The bottom line is that someone without proper identification is out of step. And those who want to keep them there are out of line."

"Black America is Still Not Free" - Project 21 research associate Reece Epstein reviews the new book "Sweet Release: The Last Step to Black Freedom" by psychologist Dr. James Davidson, Jr.: "...although he criticizes liberals, Davidson is quick to note he is no conservative. He writes: 'My behaviors and ideas [are] anything but conservative. Trying to improve one's social and economic lot by rejecting traditional societal and black community standards for achievement seemed antithetical to [being] conservative.' The apolitical goal of Sweet Release is to create advancers: 'What you seek is simply not in the 'hood. It never has been, and it never will be... We must now move beyond our own remaining chains, beyond the mental barriers that keep so many of us constrained in our thoughts and deeds.'"

"Governance drives this crisis" - Project 21 associate and Initiative for Public Policy Analysis executive director Thompson Ayodele asks, "Hunger is an everyday problem in Africa. What can be done about it?," and answers, in part: "For one thing, a better governmental infrastructure and incentives can stimulate production if done right. Anything that would dampen competition, and thus lower the incentive to produce, should be avoided. When these programs are instituted, they must be administered with professionalism and transparency."

"Too few Watts: 'Segregated News' is Not the Answer" - Project 21 chairman Mychal Massie isn't too thrilled about former GOP Congressman J.C. Watts' plans to create a black news television channel: "...the question begging an answer is what exactly constitutes 'black news.' There are things that happen to black people in black communities that don't really have an impact on the rest of America, but that doesn't mean they should be provincial to black America. News happening in America is American news, and it should be everyone's concern."

"Jesse Jackson Outrage Strategy: No Dough, No Go?" - Project 21 staff director David Almasi and research associate Justin Danhof wonder why Jesse Jackson never challenged XM Satellite Radio for alleged racial insensitivity for a gold tooth ad similar to one run by Toyota which Jackson did protest. They ask: "Remember when Jesse Jackson challenged XM Satellite Radio for its racist advertising? Probably not, since it never happened. Why he didn't is the question." Could it be because Toyota has more money?
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Project 21's Borelli on WWOR-TV this Sunday

2008-09-04T23:05:00.001-04:00

By David Almasi:

Project 21 Fellow Deneen Borelli will discuss presidential politics and race this Sunday on WWOR, the New York-area television superstation.

Deneen will be a guest on the "New Jersey Now" program that will be broadcast at 12:00 pm eastern on September 7. She is scheduled to address the issue of how race may play in the upcoming presidential election (and if it should at all) with host Brenda Blackmon and former New Jersey lawmaker Leroy J. Jones, Jr.

Outside of the New York City media market, WWOR can be found on the Dish TV satellite system on channel 238. Additionally, WWOR is carried on many local cable systems - sometimes under the name MyNetworkTV.

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Detroit Mayor Finally Removed from Office, Project 21 Member's Suggestions Finally Acted Upon

2008-09-04T22:51:00.001-04:00

By David Almasi:

After months of controversy, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick (D) finally admitted his guilt this morning and resigned from office. He pleaded guilty to two felony counts of obstruction of justice related to his lying under oath during a police investigation into his political inner-circle.

In addition to Kilpatrick's resignation, he is expected to serve up to four months in jail, five years of probation, up to a $1 million in fines and at least a temporary revocation of his law license.

Back in April, Project 21 member Tara Setmayer wrote a New Visions Commentary entitled “Haters Didn't Hurt the Hip-Hop Mayor, He Did” that points out how politicians have a duty to live up to the public trust. If they want to live fast-and-loose, as Kilpatrick did, Setmayer noted that public office is not the place for them.

Among other things, Setmayer wrote:
From Marion Barry to Eliot Spitzer and Richard Nixon to Mark Foley, character and integrity - or the lack thereof - know no party affiliation or skin color.

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, "King Kwame" or the "Hip-Hop Mayor" to some, is yet another example of a politician drowning in his own narcissistic sense of infallibility. The opportunity to earn the public trust is a privilege, and politicians often forget who they are working for.

Anyone aware of Mayor Kirkpatrick's tenure shouldn't be surprised. Arrogance and a sense of entitlement are a recipe for disaster, especially when the resources of an entire city are at one's disposal and "yes men" who occupy high-ranking city positions act as enablers.
She added:
I'm sick and tired of people saying the very serious felony charges are the product of an overambitious prosecutor's witch-hunt over a sexual affair. Let's not forget that Mayor Kilpatrick not only took an oath to uphold his office with honor, but another to honor his marriage. He has apparently failed miserably at both and has only himself to blame.

We all make mistakes, but part of learning from those mistakes is accepting responsibility for them. This often requires paying a heavy price.

No one is above the law. Not even Mayor Kilpatrick. Not even in Detroit. No matter how large the entourage, how luxurious the vehicle or how flamboyant his clothing, he is still a public servant accountable to the people of Detroit.

If the Hip-Hop Mayor wants to live the lifestyle of a 50 Cent, he needs to relinquish his public office and become a member of G-Unit on his own time - not on the taxpayers' dime.
This post was written by National Center for Public Policy Research Executive Director David Almasi. To send comments to the author, write him at info@nationalcenter.org. Please state if a letter is not for publication or if you prefer that it be published anonymously.
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A Funny Quote

2008-08-29T23:32:00.001-04:00

David Ridenour shares his appreciation of a recent Mark Steyn column:

This comes from Mark Steyn in the latest edition of Hillsdale's Imprimis. Steyn describes how, in order to ensure that Muslims aren't offended, local British councils are banning workers from displaying Pooh's Piglet on their desks, British banks have stopped giving away piggy banks, and all sorts of other absurdities.

Here's Steyn's funny quote...
As Pastor Martin Niemoller might have said, 'First they came for Piglet and I did not speak out because I was not a Disney character, and if I was, I'd be more of an Eeyore. Then they came for the Three Little Piges and Babe, and by the time I realized the Western world had turned into a 24/7 Looney Tunes, it was too late, because there was no Porky Pig to stammer, 'Th-th-th-that's all folks!', and bring the nightmare to an end.

Okay... Maybe Pastor Niemoller won't have put it exactly that way.

This post was written by National Center for Public Policy Research Vice President Ridenour. To send comments to the author, write him at info@nationalcenter.org. Please state if a letter is not for publication or if you prefer that it be published anonymously.

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Ron Bailey on CWRA

2008-08-26T10:45:00.001-04:00

Ron Bailey of Reason magazine takes a look at Congress' flawed Clean Water Restoration Act, quoting from this National Center paper by Peyton Knight.
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The Chicago Annenberg Challenge's Mysterious Files

2008-08-21T01:45:00.001-04:00

As an executive of a non-profit foundation I read with interest the article by Stanley Kurtz of the Ethics and Public Policy Center about the mysteriously flexible ownership of 132 boxes of files of a now-defunct non-profit called the Chicago Annenberg Challenge.

Mr. Kurtz wishes to review these files, which are in the possession of the Richard J. Daley Library at the University of Illinois at Chicago (a publicly-supported institution), because he is researching the relationship between a former member of the Weather Underground, Bill Ayers, and the junior U.S. Senator from Illinois. Both men were officials of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, a non-profit organization, before the group closed in 2001.

A bit of a mystery has developed because the Daley Library, having not long ago gone out of its way to make the Chicago Annenberg Challenge files available to Mr. Kurtz for his research, suddenly withheld its permission. The ins-and-outs of the story are best learned by reading Mr. Kurtz's article, but the short version is that a concern by the Daley Library that it does not have the legal right to display the material has suddenly emerged. The library told Mr. Kurtz it was working with the donor to resolve this problem, but it declined to tell Mr. Kurtz the identity of the donor.

Mr. Kurtz then speculates that, among other possibilities, Mr. Ayres himself, a former CAC executive, may be the donor.

That's the part I noted with interest, because I don't think he is likely to be. Bill Ayres could only legally donate the CAC documents to the Daley Library if he had legal ownership himself. Odds are that he doesn't have it and never has.

Under the tax laws, if a non-profit goes out of business, it must transfer any remaining assets to another non-profit. It can't just give its assets to a person, unless the assets are transferred as taxable compensation and properly declared, or it is returning a contribution (which would be irrelevant here).

If Bill Ayres has the physical property of a closed non-profit, he MIGHT properly have it because he took the files as part of his taxable compensation (or because he bought the property from the non-profit for its fair market value), but the odds that he did so are not great. Few employees accept old files as taxable compensation, and few non-profit executives would want to pay cash for 132 boxes of a dying group's old files.

Buying the non-profit's property would be particularly dicey for Ayers, too, because as an executive of the non-profit, he's an "insider," and thus subject to stiff penalties if the IRS ever were to determine that he bought assets from the group for less than its fair market value. So if he bought the files he would have incurred a legal (tax) risk to do so, only to then donate -- however ineffectively -- the files he'd just bought to the Daley Library. It's just not likely that he took a risk to buy the files, just to give them away.

IF Ayres actually is the "donor," he probably kept the files when he shouldn't have (itself unlikely because 132 boxes of files wouldn't be convenient to cart about), and then gave them to the Daley Library. If that's the case, he wasn't entitled to keep them nor to give them to the Library, and the Library has stolen property. If this is the case, Ayres wouldn't personally have the legal authority to give or not give consent over whether the files now are open for public viewing, and under what conditions, because they aren't his files and never were.

My guess is that Ayres isn't the donor at all, even if in his capacity as an official of a non-profit he once played a role in their transfer to the library (I have no idea if he did). I further suspect that no individual person donated the files. I believe they were donated either by the non-profit Chicago Annenberg Challenge itself or by the non-profit to which (as Mr. Kurtz reports) the CAC transferred its remaining assets upon its closure, the Chicago Public Education Fund.

The Chicago Public Education Fund is a non-profit, as is the Daley Library. As such, it would have been perfectly legal for the CAC to give its files to the Chicago Public Education Fund, and for the Chicago Public Education Fund to, in turn, give the files to the library. A CAC-Daley Library transfer would have been equally legal and quite understandable, as CAC executives may have seen the files as part of the group's legacy, and may have have wanted the group's work to be remembered.

Such a donation of files to the Daley Library could have been arranged by Bill Ayres himself or someone reporting to him in his capacity as a CAC official, but even if Ayres personally carried all 132 boxes from CAC offices to the library on his bicycle, the donation legally would have come from the non-profit.

Now that CAC is closed, any authority any CAC executive or officer had as a CAC official over CAC assets has evaporated. So, unless its staff knew nothing whatsoever about the law, the Daley Library would not now contact Ayres or any other ex-CAC official acting in that capacity to get a signed "deed of gift" or to request permission to do anything whatsoever with the CAC files.

If the Chicago Public Education Fund truly was given all of CAC's remaining assets when CAC closed, as Mr. Kurtz's article says, and if the CAC files weren't properly or fully gifted to the library (as library official Ann C. Weller implied to Mr. Kurtz), the files probably belong to the Chicago Public Education Fund.

A list of the Fund's board can be found here.

As the Fund is a non-profit barred from electoral activity, the Fund's board presumably would want to be very careful not to make any decisions regarding document access that are less than scrupulously neutral.

If, on the other hand, the Daley Library owns the files (as it apparently believed it until very recently), its governing board will face the same need to be scrupulously neutral on political matters, assuming the University of Illinois system operates as a non-profit to which donations are tax-deductible under federal tax laws, as many universities do.

Hat tip: Scott Johnson at PowerLine.
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Happy Birthday to Newsbusters

2008-08-09T17:48:00.001-04:00

Congratulations to Newsbusters for turning three!
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Animal-Loving Trauma Surgeon Defends Homicide Attempt on Family of Medical Researcher

2008-08-04T13:26:00.001-04:00

A medical researcher's house is firebombed with the parents and two young children inside, and a spokesman for the Animal Liberation Front responds, saying the researcher's "children are old enough to recognize the consequences" of their dad's work with mice.

The ALF spokesman is -- get this -- a trauma surgeon. More on him at the ActivistCash.com website.

Fortunately, no one was killed -- this time.
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Project 21's Borelli on Civil Rights Shakedowns in Philadelphia Inquirer

2008-07-28T19:00:00.001-04:00

By David Almasi:

An article critical of activists Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson by Project 21 Fellow Deneen Borelli was published Friday in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Said Deneen:
Al Sharpton is making headlines again, but it's not for one of his crusades. Instead, Sharpton, his National Action Network (NAN), and several major corporations that have donated to NAN have been subpoenaed in recent months by federal investigators.

While Sharpton's attorneys reported Tuesday that the criminal probe over millions allegedly owed in taxes by Sharpton and NAN has been dropped in lieu of civil action by the IRS, federal authorities remain tight-lipped over the status of any investigations.

Critics have long accused Sharpton of obtaining corporate contributions by threatening racial boycotts.

Sharpton denies this, saying "That's the old shakedown theory that the anti-civil-rights forces have used against us forever."

But there's plenty to wonder about. In November 2003, according to the New York Post, Sharpton picketed a DaimlerChrysler air show, threatening a boycott. After the company began sponsoring NAN's annual conference in 2004, however, Sharpton bestowed an award on it for corporate excellence. General Motors and American Honda also began giving to the group after similar threats.

Sharpton's not alone. Critics of Jesse Jackson claim he has perfected the art of the shakedown. Suspicions persist, for instance, about motives behind repeated generous contributions from mortgage giant Freddie Mac to Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. As the National Legal and Policy Center has reported, "Jesse Jackson's relationship with Freddie Mac began in 1998 when Jackson accused Freddie Mac of racial discrimination and encouraged major shareholders to sell their stock. Freddie Mac began financial support for Jackson's organizations and his criticism of Freddie Mac stopped."

Freddie Mac donated $150,000 to a Rainbow/PUSH conference earlier this month, even as Congress was debating a bailout of the struggling firm and Fannie Mae, a bailout that the Congressional Budget Office says might cost taxpayers as much as $100 billion.

A 16-year crusade against Anheuser-Busch for not having enough minority beer distributors ended with Jackson's sons being awarded a lucrative Chicago distributorship. Businesses that Jackson has criticized, including Toyota and NASCAR, have become sponsors of his annual Wall Street Conference...
Deneen then discussed her own experience challenging Jackson directly at the recent JPMorgan Chase and Company shareholder meeting. To read more about this or hear Deneen in action, click here.

To read the full Philadelphia Inquirer commentary, click here.

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Privacy Fetishists Strike Again

2008-07-27T23:29:00.001-04:00

Pardon me for venting a little, but this story about a Vermont librarian who prevented five state police detectives from temporarily taking a public library's computers as part of their effort to rescue the then-missing (since discovered to be murdered) 12-year-old Brooke Bennett infuriates me.

From the AP:

Children's librarian Judith Flint was getting ready for the monthly book discussion group for 8- and 9-year-olds on "Love That Dog" when police showed up.

They weren't kidding around: Five state police detectives wanted to seize Kimball Public Library's public access computers as they frantically searched for a 12-year-old girl, acting on a tip that she sometimes used the terminals...

We all have a moral responsibility to help one another in life and death situations. There's no exception for government employees, whether librarians or dogcatchers. In fact, a heightened duty of care obligation may exist for public servants.

Privacy on any matter that is not literally life or death is less important than possibly saving a little girl's life.

How much of a narcissist does a library patron have to be to imagine that other people really care what he's gazing at? (For goodness sake, Mr. Narcissist, if we really care to know what websites you visit, we'd just stand behind you and watch you surf. It's a public library, after all!)

Anyhow, a public library's computer is owned by the government. Anybody who doesn't want the government to know which websites he visits ought not use a government computer to visit those websites.

P.S. The AP story above also is noteworthy for a profuse blast of whining excessive even by generous Vermont feminist standards:

"What I observed when I came in were a bunch of very tall men encircling a very small woman," said the library's director, Amy Grasmick, who held fast to the need for a warrant after coming to the rescue of the 4-foot-10 Flint.

Gimme a break. While a little girl was in what proved to be mortal danger, the chief public librarian frets that policemen are tall.

Honey, Brooke Bennett had the scary role in this story, not Judith Flint.

Hat tip: Best of the Web
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On Michael Savage and Autism, an Appeal for Calm

2008-07-23T00:44:00.001-04:00

Those of us who follow talk radio and/or autism-related issues are aware that a campaign has sprung up calling for the firing of syndicated radio host Michael Savage.

Speaking on his July 16 broadcast, Savage claimed that 99 percent of autism cases are fake; that they actually are examples of kids misbehaving and bad parenting.

According to Media Matters, Savage said:

I'll tell you what autism is. In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out. That's what autism is. What do you mean they scream and they're silent? They don't have a father around to tell them, 'Don't act like a moron. You'll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don't sit there crying and screaming, idiot.' " Savage concluded, "[I]f I behaved like a fool, my father called me a fool. And he said to me, 'Don't behave like a fool.' The worst thing he said -- 'Don't behave like a fool. Don't be anybody's dummy. Don't sound like an idiot. Don't act like a girl. Don't cry.' That's what I was raised with. That's what you should raise your children with. Stop with the sensitivity training. You're turning your son into a girl, and you're turning your nation into a nation of losers and beaten men. That's why we have the politicians we have.

In response, Savage says his comments were taken out of context by Media Matters. He explained his views more fully this week, telling Jacques Steinberg of the New York Times, for example, that the 99 percent fakery figure was "hyperbole." On his own website Savage called on people not to make a rush to judgement about his views based solely upon the charges of critics. He added that his comments were actually in support of truly autistic children, who, he said, lose out on services and funding they need because money is "pilfered by those who are not autistic." "The truly autistic child needs as much help as he or she can get," he said; what he opposes is "fakery."

Nonetheless, calls for Savage to pay a severe professional penalty continue. A big advertiser stopped advertising, a seven-station radio network in Mississippi dropped the show, and there have been calls for Savage's firing.

The group AutismLink circulated a letter Monday evening saying it is calling on autism organizations to sign a petition calling for Savage's firing. Tuesday afternoon the group circulated the following list of organizations and individuals it said have called for Savage's firing:

AutismLink, National Autism Organization
Autism Centers of Pittsburgh
FEAT of the Carson Valley, Minden, NV
National Autism Association
Mary D’Angelo, Parent, St. Louis Missouri
Autism Society of West Virginia, South Central Region
Henderson Homeschoolers
Las Vegas Special Needs Homeschoolers
Autism Society of York PA Chapter
Janice Bachert, New Berlin, WI
Mary Neumeier, Walden, NY
Aware4Autism, PA
Autism Connection, Marion Ohio
Autism Society of , Harrisburg, PA Chapter [sic]
Daniel J. Cavallini, Attorney at Law, Indianapolis, IN
FEAT (Families for Effective Autism Treatment), Louisville
Mary Pat and Steven Cantando, New York
Queens County Parents Autism Coalition (QCPAC) in Queens, NY
Autism Resource Network, Inc., Hopkins, MN
Brookings Area Autism Support Network, South Dakota
Autism Show U Care
Autism Spectrum Support Group of Lebanon County, PA
PEACE (Parental Encouragement for Autism in Chidren Everywhere), Lakeland FL
The FUZZ Foundation, Indianapolis, IN
Organization for Autism Spectrum Information & Support, Inc., Ohio
Lyme-Autism Organization, Portland, OR

My sense of this is that those who are calling for Savage's firing should calm down. Savage clearly has sympathy for children disabled by autism. His greatest offense was that his disgust over what he believes is people using autism for financial gain encouraged him to exaggerate the extent to which autism is overdiagnosed and the ease with which genuine autism (which presently is incurable) can be cured. The hyperbole was not helpful, but it should not be confused with an attack on the genuinely disabled.
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Government Pirates: The Assault on Private Property Rights and How We Can Fight It

2008-07-22T10:43:00.001-04:00

David Ridenour shared news of a new property rights information resource with the National Center for Public Policy Research's email list last night:

Dear Friend,

I'm writing to tell you about an excellent new book – and exceptional resource – that will be released tomorrow, "Government Pirates: The Assault on Private Property Rights and How We Can Fight It." It was written by my friend Don Corace and I had the privilege of getting an advance peak at the book.

The book details a series of property rights horror stories, some that you've no doubt heard about, such as the Kelo v. City of New London eminent domain case, and some that might be unfamiliar to you.

Corace tells the story, for example, of Jim and Tom Stephanis, who fought the City of Pompano Beach to build a hotel on a 1.3-acre site where their restaurant once stood. They fought the city for 31 years, during which time the Pompano government officials stonewalled the project through bureaucratic shenanigans and frivolous lawsuits. The city even deliberately violated a court order. The Stephanis brothers won nine consecutive lawsuits and numerous appeals before a chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court intervened, ordering an appeals venue change and hand-picking the judges who would hear the case – a highly-irregular and controversial move. This was the turning point in their battle and the Stephanises ultimately lost millions they'd invested in the project. Within a year of their final blow – the U.S. Supreme Court refusing to hear their case – Jim Stephanis suffered a major stroke. Today he works as a wine manager for a liquor store. His brother, Tom, is retired.

Government Pirates provides especially good insights on how government and outside special interests collaborate to take away Americans' property rights. As a successful real estate developer, Corace has seen this process up-close, first-hand.

If you'd like to take a look at sample pages of the book or see where you can tune in to hear Don Corace talking about the book (he'll be on Hannity and Colmes this week, for example), check out the Government Pirates website. Journalists and bloggers can download a press kit or email publisher HarperCollins here. To pre-order Government Pirates right now, go here.

This book is not only a must-read, but a vital reference book for your library. I encourage you not only to purchase it, but to tell others about this truly important contribution to the property rights movement.

Best,

David A. Ridenour
Vice President

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David Ridenour will be on KSLR Radio

2008-07-21T16:04:00.004-04:00

David Ridenour will be on KSLR Radio's Adam McManus Show in a minute or two. Listen live here. Topic: ethanol mandates and energy.
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Media Flocks to Gore Speech on Energy; Mostly Ignore His Use of Gas-Guzzlers to Get There

2008-07-18T00:07:00.006-04:00

Americans for Prosperity video shot outside Gore's speech

Apparently complacent about criticism from the Tennessee Center for Policy Research that his family's energy use at his Nashville home is more than 19 times greater than the average American household's, Al Gore has committed conspicious energy consumption once again.

In Washington D.C. Thursday to deliver yet another speech warning Americans about global warming caused, Gore believes, by excessive use of fossil fuels, Gore handed yet more evidence to critics who believe he's a hypocrite.

He did so by traveling to his speech in what almost certainly was an unnecessary entourage of three luxury gas-guzzling vehicles -- two Lincoln Town Cars and a Surburban SUV -- one of which was kept idling outside for twenty minutes, apparently to keep the interior cool for the driver, Mrs. Gore and the Gores' adult daughter.

We know this because the free-market group Americans for Prosperity took a video camera to the speech to film not only the Gore family's vehicle choices, but to interview Gore acolytes who declined sponsors' advice to walk, ride a bike or take public transportation to the speech. (You can see the group's very funny four-minute video online here -- my favorite part is the woman who tries to claim a taxi is public transportation.)

Gore's speech received a significant amount of media attention. I surveyed articles from major news sources (except for the Huffington Post, I excluded opinion columns) to see how many journalists covered Gore's decision to take three luxury gas-guzzlers to a speech decrying the use of fossil fuels.

Here's what I found in the first eleven news stories about this listed on Google News:

John M. Broder, New York Times, "Gore Urges Change to Dodge an Energy Crisis" - no mention of vehicles, but a very flattering picture of Gore

Dina Cappiello, Associated Press, "Gore: Carbon-free electricity in 10 years doable" - no mention of gas-guzzlers, but nice quote from Gore: "The answer is to end our reliance on carbon-based fuels..."

Steven Mufson, Washington Post, "Gore Urges Fast Energy Makeover" - ended the article by mentioning it and added a cute anecdote: "As people filed out of the hall, three black cars waited for Gore and his entourage. A young woman walked up to the first one, a Lincoln Town Car, and stuck a handwritten note on the windshield: 'I wish I were a Prius.'"

Zachary Coile, San Francisco Chronicle, "Gore challenges America to switch to renewable electrical energy by 2018" - no mention of luxury cars, but a nice quote from Gore about their use: "We're borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet. Every bit of that's got to change."

BBC News, "Gore challenges US to ditch oil" - no mention of cars

Nitya Venkataraman, ABC News (online), "Gore Wants Sweeping Energy Policy Change" - cars not mentioned

J.S. McDougall, Huffington Post, "Gore's Goal: What You and I Can Do" - no mention of Gore's energy use, but this comment by the author: "...we Americans will have to think small -- not globally, not nationally, not even statewide. This begins with your town. Your house. Your car. You. And me." (Not Gore?)

David Stout, International Herald Tribune, "Gore asks U.S. to abandon fossil fuels" - no mention of Gore's three luxury vehicles, but Stout noted that Gore was "no doubt aware that his remarks would be met with skepticism in some quarters." (I wonder why?)

Nadine Elsibai, Bloomberg, "Gore Urges U.S. to Develop Carbon-Free Electricity (Update2)" - no mention of Gore's own energy use, but quoted Gore saying "It's time for us to move beyond empty rhetoric."

CNN, "Energy crisis threatens U.S. survival, Gore says" - no mention of cars, but did mention the Gores' high energy use levels at home: "Gore's return to the political arena has drawn increased scrutiny, particularly of his energy use. In 2007, the Tennessee Center for Policy Research chastised Gore for 'extravagant energy use' at his Nashville, Tennessee, mansion. Gore subsequently has installed solar panels, a geothermal heating and cooling system, compact fluorescent light bulbs and other energy-saving technologies in his home." CNN gets credit for mentioning the Tennessee Center for Policy Research's research about Gore last year, but CNN reported the Gores' installation of alternative energy sources without noting that the Gores' home energy use went up an additional ten percent this past year despite these installations.

Elana Schor, The Guardian, "Gore calls for end of using fossil fuels for electricity in US by 2018" - no mention of cars

Of eleven news articles, one mentioned the gas-guzzlers Gore used to get the to event and one mentioned that Gore has been criticized for "extravagant energy use" at home.

Final tally (I'm counting CNN): two mentioned Gore's personal behavior; nine did not.

Cross-posted at NewsBusters, where comments are enabled.
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Cap and Trade Carbon Policies Could Increase Emissions, Says Justin Danhof

2008-07-16T09:59:00.001-04:00

Cap and trade policies ostensibly designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions could have the opposite effect, says the National Center for Public Policy Research's Justin Danhof in an op-ed published today by the Christian Science Monitor.

That's because of an established principle of behavioral law and economics explaining that when a stigmatized behavior is turned into a commodity that can be bought and sold, that behavior tends to lose the stigma associated with it.

Writing in the Monitor, Justin describes a social science experiment in which parents were fined if they arrived late to pick up their children from child care. After the fine was imposed, the number of parents arriving late increased, because guilt associated with arriving late had been replaced with the opportunity to buy the right to arrive late, guilt-free. "Parents," says Justin, "were no longer 'arriving late,' but rather, purchasing extra child-care hours."

Justin continues: "A similar situation could occur under a cap-and-trade regime. Under cap-and-trade rules, the government places an artificial cap on the amount of carbon each regulated facility may emit. Facilities producing more carbon than they are allowed are required to purchase additional credits to make up the difference. The opportunity to purchase these credits creates a market where none previously existed. As in the example of the fined parents, the purchase of the right to emit greenhouse gases would likely reduce any stigma associated with doing so. Emission levels, consequently, could rise."

Justin says there are real-world examples of this principle at play in the global warming arena: "Al Gore says the risk of catastrophic global warming is so great that Americans should act immediately to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. Yet his home uses 20 times more energy than the average American home, according to the Tennessee Center for Policy Research. That's OK, the former vice president assures us, because he purchases offsets to ensure that he lives a carbon-neutral lifestyle... If Mr. Gore could not purchase offsets, would he feel more pressure to reduce his energy use? The likely answer is 'yes.'"

The article goes on to cite works by Santa Fe Institute researcher Samuel Boles and columnist Charles Krauthammer, and to review the results of Europe's cap and trade program before concluding: "The social stigma of carbon emissions grows stronger each day. As this stigma grows, companies are increasing their investments into research and technologies to reduce and store carbon. If Congress removes the stigma associated with these emissions by assigning a price to them, it may not like the results."

The complete article can be read on the Christian Science Monitor website here or via http://tiny.cc/4HhHG. To send Justin Danhof a comment, write him at info@nationalcenter.org.
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Businesses Strike Back

2008-07-16T00:46:00.001-04:00

In an op-ed in the Charleston Daily Mail Tuesday, David Ridenour writes about a business that is fighting back against unfair lawsuits in a creative way:

West Virginia isn't "almost Heaven," but "almost Hell" where its judicial climate is concerned.

But finally, there's some good news on the horizon. After years of being battered by the state's bizarre system of jackpot justice, sucker-punched businesses are beginning to strike back.

In late May, the West Virginia Supreme Court, historically a good friend of the plaintiffs' bar, voted 5-0 to deny a request by two major natural gas providers - Chesapeake Energy Corp. and NiSource - to hear an appeal of a dubious $405 million jury verdict that found the companies underpaid landowners.

At issue was the firms' practice of deducting production and marketing costs from the royalties they paid.

The Roane County trial court inexplicably found that leases specifying that the royalties are "an amount one-eighth of the price, net all costs beyond the wellhead" and "less taxes, assessments, and adjustments" are ambiguous.

Ambiguous or not, the court interpreted the language in favor of the owner.

A week later, Chesapeake Energy countered with an eye-opening announcement: It was canceling a $35 million commitment to build a futuristic regional headquarters on the outskirts of Charleston's airport.

Chesapeake spokesman Scott Rotruck tied the decision directly to the high court's denial of an appeal request that would have been granted pro forma in most states...

Read the rest here.
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Project 21 Chairman Mychal Massie on the Death of Tony Snow

2008-07-14T15:49:00.001-04:00

Project 21 Chairman Mychal Massie asked that we pass along his comments on behalf of Project 21 on the passing of former White House press secretary, columnist and Fox News Channel host Tony Snow this past Saturday:

America has lost a true patriot and is the poorer for it.

Tony Snow was the perfect embodiment of what a newsman should exemplify. A fighter to the end, while we mourn his passing, we applaud his victorious example.

Project 21 extends our most sincere condolences to his family, friends and the great nation he served selflessly.

Project 21 speaks for everyone at the National Center for Public Policy Research as well. Tony Snow was a great American, and he will be sorely missed.
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