Guess I've had my fill of Ohio politics for now, there's not the spark yet on the national scene from Coingate. Of course, it took "Fair Share" here in Maryland a little while to become prominent as well.
So today was a fun day in DC. Actually, any day that Howard Dean is at a microphone is a fun day. I still remember the primal scream in Iowa and thinking, "Boy, Rush is going to have a field day with that tomorrow." Not only did he, it was the end of the Deaniacs in 2004.
But Dean and the liberals today stated they had three goals, well, those besides denying Bush everything from Social Security reform to judge nominees to UN ambassadors.
The first goal is to make pensions portable from job to job. This seems like a good idea on the surface, except that makes for a transfer of one company's assets to another. I actually have a small pension from one of my old employers that I am partially vested in. Would my new employer want to go through the hassle of taking care of a fund that I'm only getting $66 a month from when I turn 65?
Seems to me it's aimed at two constituencies: nervous union members who see their pension funds raided all the time because companies mismanage them (then try to get the government to cover the costs), and squishy moderates who pine for a lite version of Social Security reform without actually privatizing it. It's sad that some people lose their pensions, but to me it's not the government's job to replace them. Unfortunately, from time to time big companies do cease to exist or go bankrupt, and placing your money in their hands is a risk. This was why the 401.(k) plans started in the first place, and why I save my own money and dictate where it goes. In fact, my old company phased out contributing to their pension fund while I was there.
If the liberals want to make pensions portable, why then are they against private Social Security accounts, which would achieve much the same purpose? Could it be because they can't raise business taxes to punish achievers while bailing out mismanagement?
Goal number two is much simpler, and is already in effect in some circles: making Election Day a national holiday, or changing it to a weekend day. The dirty little secret is that it already IS a paid holiday for union members, particularly those in the UAW. Yes, every even-numbered year you can count on Detroit to take time off from building cars to pimp for Democrat candidates. Obviously it works in Michigan, since they voted for Kerry in 2004 after ending a 12 year GOP run in the governors' office in 2002 and defeating GOP incumbent Senator Spence Abraham in 2000. To make it nationwide assures a base of union thugs ready to vote early and often for the D's.
Honestly, how long does it take to vote? I have voted in every election except two since I registered as a 17-year old in 1982. The ones I skipped were because I sent my absentee ballot application to the wrong address while I was in college and the other was a primary in the city I was about to move away from. And it's not like there's not been Democrats working the polls against me when I did. (That was always fun, arguing politics with them...both of us convinced we're right.)
And the third idea about a "paper trail" after electronic balloting is actually a good one - but it should be left to the states as is proper rather than by federal government mandate. Besides, we all know what happens with paper ballots in places like, say, Florida.
I guess what I would like to see is actual ideas of substance, but unfortunately, these ideas seem to be hard to come by at a liberal gathering. There was a time and place for many of the programs and ideas that were done by Democrats, but the problem is now that they're bloated big-government programs that are outmoded and need to be replaced.
So we have one more day of Dean and his friends flapping their jaws, trashing President Bush, and generally creating more hot air. Meanwhile, those of us who work and pay taxes will continue living our lives despite their not-so-bright ideas.
