Middle American News
Blog for September 2011

From Middle American News September 2011

Yeah, Sure: The Reassurance of Government Officials
On April 19 this year Fox Business Network asked Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner if the U.S. could lose its AAA rating. Fox reported, "There is no chance that the U.S. will lose its top credit rating, Geithner said, forcefully disputing the notion that Standard and Poor's or other ratings services might downgrade U.S. bonds from their current AAA rating." Geithner told Fox, "No risk of that, no risk."

Spending Cuts?
Almost all of the so-called "spending cuts" adopted as part of a deal in Congress to raise the government's borrowing limit won't go into effect before 2014. The first phase of the cuts would reduce spending by $917 billion over 10 years, hardly a dent in the expected trillions in spending. Virtually unnoticed in the reporting about the deal by the nation's corporate press is the simple fact that any future Congress can vote to spend -- or not to spend -- as much money as it likes. No vote in Congress today can bind a Congress tomorrow. The deal looks more like smoke and mirrors than spending cuts.

Incompetence at the Top
Does America's ruling class know what it is doing? Jay Carney, spokesman for President Barack Obama, said that government unemployment benefits create jobs. In early August, Laura Meckler of the Wall Street Journal asked him, "I understand why extending unemployment insurance provides relief to people who need it, but how does that create jobs?" Carney replied, "It is one of the most direct ways to infuse money into the economy, because people who are unemployed and obviously aren't running a paycheck, are going to spend the money that they get. They're not going to save it, they're going to spend it. And with unemployment insurance, that way, the money goes directly back into the economy, dollar for dollar, virtually." Fact Check: If unemployment insurance created jobs, the government should put everyone on unemployment insurance to cure the recession. There is no doubt that many of the unemployed need government assistance to survive; but the money they get does not create new jobs.

More Incompetence at the Top
The U.S. Postal Service last month proposed cutting its workforce by 20 percent and stripping employees of health insurance and retirement plans because it is going broke. In August the Postal Service said, "we will be insolvent next month due to significant declines in mail volume and retiree health benefit pre-funding costs imposed by Congress." In the last four years, the service lost $20 billion, despite postage rate increases, and announced it would close 3,700 post offices. It has also asked Congress to allow it to deliver mail only five days a week, ending Saturday deliveries. Despite having a monopoly on delivering 1st class mail, the government finds it hard to make a profit.

Can't Pass the Test? Abolish It
Because the government's schools can't figure out how to raise the academic achievement scores of minority students, the Feds are going to stop giving them tests. In politics, if you don't like the message, kill the messenger. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who presided over the colossal failure of Chicago's public schools before being put in charge of all federal education programs, announced establishment of a "waiver system" that will let allow school systems in all 50 states avoid the student testing mandated by the increasingly disreputable No Child Left Behind Act that requires schools to improve the academic performance of their students. Schools whose students fail are subject to sanctions, including firing teachers. School administrators and the teacher unions, terror-stricken by the requirement to produce measurable results, have been lobbying for years to get this federal testing monkey off their backs, and now they've won. With waivers, schools will get some relief from proving their competence if they agree to embrace what the corporate press described as "other kinds of education reform," which we suspect will include stuff like increased multiculturalist sensitivity classes, etc. (There might be some opposition to the plan in Congress, however. Rep. John Kline, R-MN, expressed reservations that the waiver plan might undermine upcoming congressional efforts at education reform.)

Free Stuff
If you use a cell phone and pay your bill on time, you are providing free cell phone service for the poor. Thanks to federal law, all telecommunications companies are required to pay into the Univertsal Service Fund, which pays for free cell phones and up to 250 minutes of monthly use for the poor. Amy Storey, spokeswoman for CTIA, the international Wireless Association, said all U.S. wireless carriers charge consumers a fee to recover the cost of their contribution to the fund, which is determined quarterly by the Federal Communications Commission. No word yet on whether the FCC will require consumers to pay for free cable TV service.

Blind Police
Fox News.com reported last month that some police departments can't figure out whether the numerous "flash mob" attacks by black gangs on white bystanders are racially motivated. Attacks this summer on whites by mobs of dozens of black teens that have sent many victims to the hospital with serious injuries have occured in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Chicago, Cleveland, Washington, D.C., Milwaukee, and other cities. Fox reported that "witness accounts suggest the attacks are race-based, but law enforcement officials say they have no evidence to prove it." Philadelphia Police Department First Deputy Commissioner Richard Ross, who is black, told Fox there was "no confession or anything else" to suggest the attacks were racially motivated. "You can't just simply look at the race of the offender and the race of the victim and say its ethnic intimidation," he said. "It may be, but we're not sure." Hmmm. If gangs of whites had attacked only lone black bystanders, would he have been able to figure out the racial nature of the attacks? The fact that the attackers are always black and the victims always white seems to have escaped his grasp. In a society where whites are always depicted as the oppressor, and non-whites always depicted as the victims, the befuddled deputy police commissioner apparently is no longer able to think clearly. Multiculturalist propaganda has turned the poor man's brain to mush. And he's in charge of protecting people and investigating crime. Good luck with that, Philadelphia.

Sanctuary Policy Leads to Policeman's Death
In Houston, Police Sergeant Joslyn M. Johnson is challenging the city's decision to become a sanctuary for illegal aliens. She has filed suit overturn the current sanctuary policy. Imposed by left-wing politicians and their big business supporters, the policy states that the police "shall not make inquiries as to the citizenship status of any person, not will officers detain or arrest persons solely on their belief that they are in this country illegally." The reason Sgt. Johnson is suing to overturn the policy is a compelling one. She is the widow of Officer Rodney J. Johnson who was killed by illegal alien Juan Leonardo Quintero-Perez in 2006. Before he murdered Johnson, Quintero-Perez had multiple encounters with the Houston Police Department -- including an arrest for drunk driving, driving with a suspended license, and failing to stop following an auto accident -- but he was not detained or even questioned by police for being in Houston illegally.

The Danger of Reliance on Imports Exposed
According to an official with the Department of Homeland Security, electronics sold in the U.S. by foreign producers are being preloaded with spyware, malware, and other software components that compromise privacy and security. In testimony before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, DHS Acting Deputy Undersecretary Greg Schaffer said foreign-made computer devices have been found with purposefully-embedded security risks, but he did not mention any specific examples. Schaffer said the threat is "one of the most complicated and difficult challenges that we face." One difficulty is trying to monitor the entire production chain, from parts suppliers to manufacturers and software installers. China is the suspected culprit.