So who will you vote for in the Methuen Mayoral primary scheduled for September 20th? There has been some great back and forth between the candidates, and the first test is almost upon us. Please get out and vote on Tuesday September 20th. The polls are open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
http://modpoll.com/poll.js?pid=agdwb2xsMmdvcg0LEgRQb2xsGMvphggM&theme=white&width=200
Much writing about the Ron Paul-Wolf Blitzer exchange at the last Republican debate relative to health care insurance. Blitzer asked Paul, who is a straight shooter, about a hypothetical where a younger man chooses not to buy health insurance, but has a medical emergency occur that he cannot afford. The question is what happens to such a person under a Republican health care system. Ron Paul’s answer, while evasive, gave a broad hint that we just cannot take care of everyone, and that freedom has consequences. When Blitzer asked if that means the person should be allowed to die due to lack of financial resources Paul refused to directly answer, saying that charity would take care of such an individual. So what is the right answer to the question?
Let him die?
Impose an individual mandate so there are no free riders?
Treat him at taxpayer expense?
Is there a fourth option I have not thought of?
What lesson should be taken from the scattered cheers for the let him die option?
Your thoughts?
Tonight is the Methuen Mayoral debate, which will be happening at Mann’s Orchard Farm Stand at 7:00 p.m. The doors will open at 6:30. If you have comments or questions please feel free to send them via twitter to the hashtag #methuenvotes. I am on the questioning panel, and feel a lot better about asking the questions rather than answering them. Hope to see you at Mann’s tonight. The Tribune story on the race is here, with video of the four candidates included.
While the United States continues its domestic quarrel over how to resolve a sputtering economy and deal with large deficits the European Union is showing that division, stupidity and reckless behavior is not limited to American policy makers. With Greece tottering, as it has been for many months, the Europeans continue to bicker, with the Germans reluctant to throw good money after bad by providing additional capital to Greece. The Greeks have been kept afloat by European (German) largess, as well as the IMF. But the loan packages have only managed to kick the can down the road (sound familiar?). The Europeans are rapidly running out of road, and they have not managed to address the underlying fact that Greece is bankrupt and unable to pay it’s sovereign debt obligations. The Greeks need to devalue their currency, but that is not possible since they are a part of the Eurozone and don’t have a currency. So the political stress on the Euro, with taxpayers in Germany rebelling against bailouts, could cause a rupture that leads to a disintegration of the Euro and some major bank failures if bondholders are thrown to the wolves. European banks are major holders of Greek debt, and the ripple effect of a Greek collapse could reignite a banking crisis that reaches the U.S. The impact likely would spread beyond Greece, as the Italians and Spanish are seeing the market force them into higher interest payments on new debt. A Greek collapse could suck those countries into the vortex as well.
The Greek situation shows the utter disregard for basic financial sanity that many countries have exhibited. The financial elite, who run central banks and the major financial institutions worldwide, are guilty of much more than incompetence here. An imbecile could look at the Greek financial numbers and see ruin coming several years ago. And yet the Greeks were allowed to keep going until they crashed, and now may take down half the eurozone with them. We may have problems, but we are not alone. U.S. policy makers should be paying close attention.
Newton Mayor Setti Warren, after a very strong appearance, won the Methuen Democratic Committee straw poll this morning. Mayor Warren came early and left late, and gave a great talk to the assembled Democrats. Elizabeth Warren finished second to Mayor Warren in the balloting. Congratulations Mayor Warren, and thank you for taking the time to come to Methuen again.
I have endorsed Setti Warren in this race.
The Republican debate last night was quite entertaining, and gave a peek of what is to come in the next few months. Some observations:
Michelle Bachmann was invisible. Most analysis gives her low marks, not because of anything she said, but because she seemed to just not be a part of the flow. Some of that is attributable to the moderator bias to gravitate towards Perry/Romney, but she did nothing to get in the fight. For me she was the biggest loser of the night.
Mitt Romney did a very good job, in my opinion. The question is where are Republicans these days? Mitt is still running a general election campaign, offering Republican voters a more mainstream, buttoned down candidate who does not reject science, wants to save Social Security, and says that President Obama may be a fine person. Do the Republican primary voters prefer this approach? Or…
Rick Perry did a good job, in particular at the start, of mixing it up with Romney. But he savaged Social Security, offering no assurances to go with his denunciation of the program as a “ponzi scheme”. Perry badly fumbled the global warming question, showing an inability to articulate a coherent position. The question at issue was “has human activity contributed to global warming”? Perry wanted to talk about the fact that he disagrees with the solutions proposed by many Democrats to the problem, but that wasn’t the issue. The issue was simply the science. I think Perry’s answers, notwithstanding my own criticism, appeal to many Republicans. He gave a solid answer on the death penalty (audience cheering at the mention of the many Texas executions shows where the Republican primary voters are), and his advocating blunt language will also have Republican appeal.
Can Perry be a good general election candidate? Romney is going to be selling hard on the
electability issue. Will the Republican primary voter go with their heads, or hearts? It is a two man race here, with all due respect to the other candidates. Still intrigued by the media fascination with Jon Huntsman. He has gotten more media attention than any other candidate in history polling at 1% for months. When Herman Cain is trouncing you in the polls it is time to accept reality.
A new WBUR poll shows Senator Scott Brown leading all potential Democratic opponents, with newly minted candidate Elizabeth Warren closing to within nine points of Senator Brown. Brown led Elizabeth Warren by a 44% to 35% margin. The survey matched Brown against all of the prospective Democrats, with Brown not managing to break the 50% mark against any of them. In a match-up with Mayor Setti Warren Brown led by a 46% to 28% margin. Against Alan Khazei Brown led by a 45% to 30% margin, and against Bob Massie by 45% to 29%. I did not see any cross-tabs posted, but the name recognition numbers tell the story. Elizabeth Warren has not been heard of by 44%, Setti Warren 65%, Bob Massie 56%, and Alan Khazei 52%. All the Democrats, including Elizabeth Warren, have a long way to go in terms of basic name recognition. That will cost lots of money, and it better be done before the Scott Brown financial juggernaut has an opportunity to create the narrative against the nominee.
So it is early yet, and the poll is not all that valuable a tool. But the Party insider drumbeat for Elizabeth Warren gets louder by the minute. Her appearance at the big Labor breakfast as keynote speaker was warmly received, but had to be offensive to all of the other declared Democratic candidates for Senate. None of them were invited to speak, and the figleaf that Elizabeth Warren is not a declared candidate is just so much nonsense. The breakfast organizers should have been fairer to the other candidates, all of whom have been strong labor supporters. I guess that will just have to be sorted out during the upcoming campaign.
I have endorsed Mayor Setti Warren in this race.
The U.S. Post Office has been putting out the alarm bells, with the Postmaster holding out the prospect of the Service becoming insolvent and closing. The Post Office has seen sales drop by 22% over the past five years, with a corresponding inability to cut costs, reduce employee benefit expenses, or raise prices sufficiently to stop the hemorrhaging of cash. Postal contracts with labor prohibit layoffs, political pressure is applied when post offices are scheduled for closure, and the health and pension benefits for labor are quite generous. Despite the obvious need to slash costs, and maybe raise some prices beyond what the law currently allows Washington has made this into another prime example of their dysfunction and inability to make tough decisions. Solve the trillions in federal deficits? This group in Congress can’t even figure out how to solve a relatively simple business problem that faces the U.S. Postal Service. They give dysfunction a bad name.
So what do you need to do? Reduce costs, first by allowing additional job reductions that reflect the decrease in business. Don’t want to do that because you do not want to break the union contracts? Then pay!!!!!! Subsidize the costs of the additional unneeded workforce with federal tax dollars until you can reduce the force by attrition. But they don’t want to cut, and they don’t want to pay.
Allow the Post Office to change the health plans offered to employees to reflect the market. Don’t want to do that because you do not wish to offend the Postal Workers??? Then pay!!! Subsidize the portion of health care benefits above what the Post Office should be paying with federal tax dollars. But again, they don’t want to cut, and they don’t want to pay.
Reduce service. The Post Office wants to reduce delivery from six days a week to five days a week. But Congress does not want that either. The rural Senators have an objection: From the New York Times.
Senator Susan Collins of Maine, like many lawmakers from rural states, vigorously opposes ending Saturday delivery, which would trim only 2 percent from the agency’s budget. Ms. Collins, the ranking Republican on the committee overseeing the postal service, said the cutback would be tough on people in small towns who receive prescriptions and newspapers by mail.
“The postmaster general has focused on several approaches that I believe will be counterproductive,” she said. “They risk producing a death spiral where the postal service reduces service and drives away more customers.”
No service cuts Senator Collins? Then subsidize that two percent of budget with (yup) federal tax dollars? But again Congress does not want to cut, and they do not want to pay. Geez Senator Collins are we subsidizing the rural parts of the country with Post Office dollars? We do not wish to offer subsidies any longer, so either cut that service or pay.
The Post Office needs to be freed from the dysfunction of Congressional oversight. They have a business that could be making money, not losing it. The massive pre-payments for retiree health care are a huge burden for the Service, but are reflective of the costs that will eventually have to be borne. Better to recognize them now. Raiding the pension fund, which the Post Office believes is over-funded makes no sense either. The problem could be solved by a first year MBA class at any major university. Maybe Congress ought to give this issue to the MBA students at Wharton. They would produce a workable result long before Congress will. Read the New York Times story here. Read the Post Office White Paper on cost reduction here.
