The real absurdity here is that Congress doesn't seem to realize that an Arab-owned company's management of America's ports is just a taste of what is coming. Greater foreign ownership of U.S. assets is an inevitable consequence of the reckless tax-cutting, deficit-ballooning fiscal policies that Congress and the White House have pursued. By encouraging the United States to consume more than it produces, these fiscal policies have sucked in imports so fast that the nation is nearing a trillion-dollar annual trade deficit. Those are IOUs on America's future, issued by a spendthrift Congress ....
Here's how bad it is: The worst thing that could happen to the United States, paradoxically, would be for Arab and other foreign investors to take us at our xenophobic word and decide that America doesn't really want foreign investment. If they pulled out their money, U.S. financial markets would plummet in a crash that might make 1929 look like a sleigh ride.
Any takers?
The test subjects on both sides of the political aisle reached totally biased conclusions by ignoring information that could not rationally be discounted .... Then, with their minds made up, brain activity ceased in the areas that deal with negative emotions such as disgust. But activity spiked in the circuits involved in reward, a response similar to what addicts experience when they get a fix ...
The study points to a total lack of reason in political decision-making.
"None of the circuits involved in conscious reasoning were particularly engaged," Westen said. "Essentially, it appears as if partisans twirl the cognitive kaleidoscope until they get the conclusions they want, and then they get massively reinforced for it, with the elimination of negative emotional states and activation of positive ones."
Notably absent were any increases in activation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain most associated with reasoning.
The tests involved pairs of statements by the candidates, President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry, that clearly contradicted each other. The test subjects were asked to consider and rate the discrepancy. Then they were presented with another statement that might explain away the contradiction. The scenario was repeated several times for each candidate.
The brain imaging revealed a consistent pattern. Both Republicans and Democrats consistently denied obvious contradictions for their own candidate but detected contradictions in the opposing candidate.
"The result is that partisan beliefs are calcified, and the person can learn very little from new data," Westen said.
End the use of continuing resolutions. Adopted at the end of fiscal years when Congress does not complete appropriations bills, continuing resolutions usually authorize the government to continue spending at current levels. If Congress had to get its work done on time -- if the only alternative were a chaotic government shutdown -- it would. Then Congress would have less reason to loiter in Washington doing mischief.
Forbid appropriations to private entities. Government money should flow directly to government agencies -- federal, state or local. And those agencies should be required to formally testify that local projects receiving national funding serve essential national needs. Appropriations that are, in effect, cash flows from individual representatives to private entities are invitations to corruption. Federal money directed to private entities was what ex-representative Duke Cunningham (R-Calif.) was bribed to deliver.
So, end 'earmarks.' They write into law a representative's or senator's edict that a particular sum be spent on a particular project in his or her state or district ....
Often, earmarks are included in neither the House nor Senate version of an appropriations bill but are inserted surreptitiously and at the last minute in the report of the conference committee -- and the House rule against this is routinely waived.
... The area turns out plenty of resumes that the companies want to see. Local officials drafted a study to show that 4,566 computer science degrees were awarded in the past five years by colleges within 100 miles of Lebanon, including Virginia Tech, Radford University and James Madison University. Area community colleges promised to tailor their courses to fit (the companies') needsI have wondered for a while why more of this wasn't going on. As broadband connectivity becomes the norm in rural areas within the next few years (WiMax is by many accounts finally ready to take off), farmshoring plus increased good-old-fashioned-telecommuting could mean potentially significant changes to the tech economy.
I once read somewhere that, 'going into a combat zone is a one-way door since the person that leaves is not the same person that returns.' This new person returning is committed to being a better husband, father and friend. I have felt the pain of leaving all that I hold dear, and I will not take it for granted again
So what would lobbying reform look like? First and foremost, disclosure. Under the current rules, lobbyists report sketchy information infrequently. When they're first hired by a client, they file forms stating that fact and the issue they've been hired to lobby on. Twice a year they update that with forms listing the amounts they've been paid (rounded to the nearest $20,000), the issues they've lobbied on and the part of government they've lobbied.
To get a sense of how unhelpful this information is, consider this from the official filing instructions: "Disclose only the houses or agencies, such as 'Senate,' 'House of Representatives,' 'Department of Agriculture,' or 'Executive Office of the President,' rather than the individual office."
Real disclosure would require lobbyists to identify the specific offices they contacted, if not the individuals themselves. It would have lobbyists detail the meals or entertainment or other gifts they provided to the targets of their lobbying. It would apply to the massive sums spent on grass-roots lobbying -- ginning up the folks back home -- that are not reported at all. It would shine light into obscure corners such as favored charities and presidential libraries, where lobbyists can direct donations that aren't likely to be revealed.
