Saturday, February 28, 2009

Buying a home in Boulder

Boulder is an expensive place to buy a home - a 3BR home normally goes for $400-500k.  Folks often live in nearby places like Louisville, where prices can be half that in Boulder (I think).

The recent housing crisis, as far as I could tell, hasn't affected the Boulder market - prices here stayed about the same.  Now there's definitive proof this is indeed the case: a local realtor, Neil Kearney, writes that Boulder ranks 17th nationally in APpreciation!  The annual home price appreciation is 2.99% in Boulder, compared to a nationwide DEpreciation of over 8%.  He even has a graph...

So if I want to keep living inside Boulder - I have to keep renting.  Oh well.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

On Twitter now!

So finally - after even my sister* signed up - I now Twitter.  The best line award, though, goes to SA in response to my saying so on FB: "Did you twitter that you were going to update your facebook status?"
Twitter seems better suited to quick thoughts... even more abbreviated than blogging!  Like my getting pissed at Senator Judd Gregg claiming POTUS is raising taxes on *everybody* - right after POTUS announces no raise for people earning less than $250k.  Same content, quicker, still not worth following...?

*My sister is no technophobe - but she only recently started blogging ;-)

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Obama's State of the Nation address

Just watched Obama's first address to Congress.  Pretty good, I thought - and I went through two beers cheering him (even stopped drinking about 2/3-rds of the way through!)
Most important: "Get a high school diploma - for your country!"  Encouraging every American to get at least a year of education after, whether 4-year/community college, vocational training, etc.  And another push for his "tuition subsidy for community service" idea.  Asked Congress to get the Hatch-Kennedy bill to his desk (what is that about?)
Second - health care reform can't wait any more, not a hundred years after Teddy Roosevelt first said reform must occur (at least, I think the Teddy R reference was to health care reform!)
Third - renewable energy sources, with equipment made here in the US (not batteries from Korea).  Shame that China is apparently spending more on energy than anyone else (IIRC.)  I wonder if that will worry folks about protectionism...
Of course, talk about the economic stimulus plan, details for the housing and banking recovery plans.  Especially reducing yearly mortgages by $2000/average American family.  Mentioned that Minnesota has 57 police officers on the roads due to the ESP.
And reducing the federal deficit by half during this term - but emphasizing repeatedly that folks making less than $250,000/year would not see a tax raise (a campaign promise).

I liked the address, obviously!

Bobby Jindal's up.  Sounds weird, like an exaggerated American accent.  The usual Republican clap-trap.  Computers for the Feds - that provides more business for companies and their suppliers and workers!  And as the POTUS points out, Jindal's complaining about 1-2% of the ESP, and using that to paint the rest of the effort with a broad brush.
Jindal's talking about $4 gas - saying we need to improve energy efficiency, increase renewable energy, and "drill, baby, drill!"  Guess what - the ESP tries to do that, at least two of the three.  Too bad he won't admit it.
Jindal's spouting boiler-plate Republican theology ("he will raise taxes!" - nevermind what Obama said about the 250k limit, see above), without addressing the actual POTUS speech, clearly playing politics.  Sad.

Update: Here's the full SOTN address:

Politics in the guise of science?

John Tierney writes in the NYT about Roger Pielke's assertion that scientists pretend to be neutral experts, while pushing their own political agenda through their research.  The best example, of course, is climate change - where Tierney suggests members of the public have differing solutions due to "conflicting values about which sacrifices are worthwhile today."
One of Pielke's solutions, which he says is research not being funded, is to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, as an alternative to a proposed "cap-and-trade" system.  To quote from the NYT article:

"Yet research into this strategy has received little financing in past budgets or the new stimulus package because it doesn’t jibe with the agenda of either side in the global-warming debate. Greens don’t want this sort of “technological fix”; their opponents don’t want to admit there’s anything to fix. And neither side’s advocates will compromise as long as they think that science will prove them right."

Two things:
(1) Removing CO2 from the atmosphere is inherently less efficient than controlling these emissions at the source.  That is the same reason that (I believe) solar energy will never provide the end-all solution to the energy crisis - there's lots of it, but too dilute to be effectively trapped.  I don't know what assumptions or methods Pielke used; I think I have mentioned this problem to Pielke at a seminar he gave at CU, and he might have acknowledged this fact.
(2) Trapping CO2 from the atmosphere - who pays?  I am not sure, but it could be everybody.  The French, who use a lot of nuclear energy (that doesn't emit CO2).  Or even people within the US, who use wind energy or other alternative energy sources that don't emit CO2.  At least with programs that prevent CO2 emissions in the first place, we know who pays - the emitter, and the users of that emitter's product.

Now, for all I know, Pielke might just be advocating that these alternative ideas are not being funded as (in his opinion) they should be (at worst, he could be complaining that his research isn't getting funded).  At the very least, they deserve to be looked into, for sure (including seemingly crackpot ideas like putting scattering aerosol into the atmosphere).  And some removal of CO2 from the atmosphere might well be essential; controlling future emissions may not be enough, as CO2 currently being emitted (or emitted in the past) sticks around for a 100 years.

The best solution is to prevent the problem from even occurring ("prevention is better than cure"), and hence reducing CO2 emissions at the source remains, as far as I am concerned, the main solution.  And as for the "values" debate - that is just a divide between people who believe this Earth is their God-given right to abuse as they please, and other, more sensible people.

That's not politics in the guise of science - it's plain common sense.

Friday, February 20, 2009

That cartoon...

The New York Post recently published a cartoon by Sean Delonas, showing cops shooting a chimp, and one of the cops saying "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill."
This has provoked outrage among many people, including musician John Legend, the National Urban League president Marc Morial, Barbara Ciara (president of the National Association of Black Journalists), and the Rev. Al Sharpton.  [All listed in the CNN story are African-American.]  Their point - the chimp represents President Obama (Blacks are often racially taunted by a comparison with apes), and the cartoon encourages his assassination.
The Post subsequently apologized - sort of.  To the people who were offended, but not to those who apparently are regularly opposed to the Post and were (according to the Post) just using the opportunity to beat the Post.  The cartoonist has claimed he was just trying to say that the economic stimulus bill was written by monkeys (who, apparently, are not intelligent.)

The first thing I thought of when I saw the cartoon (admittedly, through a story describing the protests) is that the chimp represented President Obama.  It's not just Blacks who are subject to the chimp comparison - so are aboriginals.  Indian spectators have taunted Australian cricketer Andrew Symonds with a monkey chant (local police tried to explain it away as "praying to the monkey god, Hanuman" - but the picture defeats this lame defense.)
Then again, I do not live in the northeast, and I am not consumed by the mauling-chimp story.

Still, in this day and age, where the Internet has made most local papers global, particularly a prominent rag like the NY Post... using such localized news to comment on an issue of national importance is, at best, plain stupid.  At worst...

On the other hand - does freedom of speech trump everything else?  Yes - but that won't stop me encouraging a boycott of the NY Post unless it apologizes without caveat.  That too, is freedom of expression.

Friday, February 13, 2009

The chutzpah of Republican Congressmen

Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the Senate minority leader, on the economic stimulus package:
"This is not the smart approach... The taxpayers of today and tomorrow will be left to clean up the mess."
Senator John McCain (R-AZ) described the ESP as "generational theft." [link]

I will try to find Harry Reid's response during the stimulus conference between the House and the Senate on Wednesday, to similar allegations made by Republicans at the conference - it was just beautiful, and I don't like Reid all that much.

In short, and using more colorful language than Reid: Where the f*** were you the last eight years?

All together now: IRAQ WAR + BUSH TAX CUTS = GENERATIONAL THEFT.  So STFU, EVERYBODY (including Democrats), unless you have better ideas than just tax cuts (which failed to stimulate the economy last year; most people saved or paid off debt.)

[And I haven't even mentioned the $70 billion PORK pushed by REPUBLICAN Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) in the form of the AMT patch - something the non-partisan CBO says will NOT stimulate the economy, and which has received the lowest grade of D- for stimulus effectiveness from the Tax Policy Center at the Brookings Institute. (via CJR)]

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Remove the AMT patch from the stimulus package!

This is a message I sent to Senator Bennet (D-CO); a similar message was sent to Senator Udall (D-CO) and Congressman Polis:
"I was a canvas captain in North Boulder for the Obama-Udall campaigns, and am glad we were able to win the election. I hope to work for your successful re-election in the future.
The compromise economic stimulus package includes a 1-year Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) patch. However, these short-term fixes to the AMT have been an annual feature for a while now. If the AMT patch was not included in the current, one-time, special stimulus package, the AMT patch would be passed by Congress later in the year anyway!
Including the AMT patch increases the cost of the stimulus package*, and has driven many worthy spending projects, particularly in education, out of the stimulus bill.
The AMT patch was forced in by Senator Grassley (R-IA), who isn't even voting for the stimulus bill!
I strongly urge you, Senator, to remove the AMT patch from the stimulus package, and avoid cuts in useful spending, particularly funding for NCLB, Head Start/Early Start, and Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service."

* Should have noted - by $69 billion!

Monday, February 9, 2009

Non-DC Republicans in support of the ESP

The Republican mayor of Carmel, IN, James Brainard, supports the stimulus package:

As does Governor Jim Douglas (R-VT).  I'd probably put Governor Douglas with Senators Snowe, Collins and Specter - GOP remnants in Blue states (IN barely went for Obama).  But it also reflects a sensible approach - try something, to paraphrase FDR.
Unlike inside-the-beltway-idiots Michael Steele and John McCain, who either want their bill (all tax cuts, gut SS/Medicare, with a token nod to infrastructure spending), or none at all.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and the AMT patch

One Republican Senator has actually added $69 billion to the House bill - Chuck Grassley (R-IA) got an "avoid Alternative Minimum Tax" line into the ESP, and the Obama administration has agreed to this.  But guess what - all these years, the AMT has been "patched" by Congress on an annual basis. [Wiki, CNN]
So why not just leave that AMT provision for another day, as has been done all through the Bush presidency?  That automatically brings the cost of the current, one-time ESP down by $69 billion!
Various cuts have been proposed by a bipartisan Senate group led by Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Ben Nelson (D-NE) to bring the "cost" of the ESP down by ~$100 billion.  This includes $40 billion in aid to states for fiscal stabilization (which might help avoid laying off of state employees, possibly including teachers), $600 million for NCLB, $2 billion for "Health Information Technology", $1 billion for Head Start/Early Start, and $2 billion for broadband (Internet infrastructure - the roadways of the future).  So if the AMT patch was not included in the cost of the stimulus package, these items could have been retained without increasing the cost beyond $800 billion.
And the worst thing is, Senator Grassley has not announced his support for the current bill either - Collins, Snowe and Specter are the only Republicans to back it.  So - the Democrats should cut the AMT patch out of the ESP, and let these other worthies back in!

New Gingrich on the Obama approach to the ESP

Just watched one-time Republican House speaker Newt Gingrich on George Stephanopoulos/This Week.  Newt says the Obama administration could have either tried to be bipartisan and worked with the Republicans in making the ESP, or be partisan and say "we don't need the GOP" - but not the "zig-zagging" between the two.
First, I don't see where the Obama administration has zig-zagged its way between strategies.  Second, a bipartisan bill was what the Obama administration wanted - but it was the fault of Republicans that this didn't work out.  Republicans wanted the same old failed strategies of the past eight years - tax cuts and more tax cuts*.  It takes two to tango; intransigent Republicans didn't want a bipartisan bill, they wanted a Republican bill passed by a Democratic President.  The Obama administration had no choice but to face this reality, and accept it.

*Particularly, as Newt pointed out, cuts in Social Security and Medicare taxes, programs which the Republicans have wanted to gut forever.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Ron Paul on the ESP

Ron Paul, the lone anti-war GOP Presidential hopeful (but weirdly, anti-abortion rights for a libertarian), apparently thinks the economic stimulus package is "pure spending."  He is proud of the House Republicans for not voting for the ESP, and thinks Senators Collins (R-ME), Snowe (R-ME) and Specter (R-PA) "caved in and went with the Democrats" by agreeing to vote for the ESP.
To be fair, Paul says Republican actions over the past eight years are also to blame for the current economic crisis, and Republicans can't blame Democrats for it.
However, the problem is that Ron Paul is not in government and is not responsible for the consequences of his proposed actions - let the stimulus be provided by "market forces, by individuals, by businesses making proper decisions" and not by the federal government (which, presumably, should only concern itself with preventing women from having control over their own bodies.)
Besides, in case Paul forgets, the current economic crisis was caused by "market forces, by individuals, by businesses making [im]proper decisions" - and there's no guarantee that these verisame idiots have seen the error of their ways.  For instance, the $18 billion in bonuses to Wall St executives and junkets - (indirectly) paid for by tax payer bailout money.
Memo to Ron Paul: Either come up with a better, new idea, or STFU.

Pork in the ESP

Senator John McCain and other Republicans keep charging that the stimulus bill is packed with "pork" - presumably spending on Congressmen's pet projects in their different states/districts.  McCain et al. claim this is wasteful spending that increases the budget deficit (never mind that the same people supported the Bush tax cuts, which lead to the existing huge deficit in the first place).
Here's an idea - how about cutting out all portions of the bill that send such "pork" to the protesting legislator's district/state?  "No funds for Arizona!"
McCain presented an alternative plan that was composed mainly of tax cuts (defeated by the Senate), and Mitt Romney apparently claims that the ESP stimulates the government, not the economy (which, presumably, needs only tax cuts, and more tax cuts).  Memo to McCain (and Romney) - you LOST.  You put forth such plans and "pork" was the signature issue of your campaign, compared to the "not big or small government, but better goverment!" rhetoric of Obama.  And guess which path the American people chose?  That's right, NOT YOURS.  So stuff it!

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Republicans adding CRAP to the ESP

Senate Republicans are delaying passage of the Obama administration's economic stimulus package.  Senators Lindsey Graham and John "I don't know much about the economy" McCain, among others, claim the government is spending too much, and have proposed alternatives more heavy on tax breaks.  Recent Republican proposals, perhaps sensing public support for the ESP, are proposing a somewhat populist "help for homeowners" provision.  Centrist Senators like Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Susan Collins (R-ME) are trying to whittle down spending in the current ESP. (NYT story)  I have written earlier about some silly expenses as well.

One Republican Senator has actually added $69 billion to the House bill - Charles Grassley (R-IA) got an "avoid Alternative Minimum Tax" line into the ESP, and the Obama administration has agreed to this.  But guess what - all these years, the AMT has been "patched" by Congress on an annual basis. [Wiki]
So why not just leave that AMT provision for another day, as has been done all through the Bush presidency?  That automatically brings the cost of the current, one-time ESP down by $69 billion!
UPDATE: Various cuts have been proposed by a bipartisan Senate group led by Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Ben Nelson (D-NE) to bring the "cost" of the ESP down by ~$100 billion.  This includes $40 billion in aid to states for fiscal stabilization (which might help avoid laying off of state employees, possibly including teachers), $600 million for NCLB, $2 billion for "Health Information Technology", $1 billion for Head Start/Early Start, and $2 billion for broadband (Internet infrastructure - the roadways of the future).  So if the AMT patch was not included in the cost of the stimulus package, these items could have been retained without increasing the cost beyond $800 billion.
And the worst thing is, Senator Grassley has not announced his support for the current bill either - Collins, Snowe and Specter are the only Republicans to back it.  So - the Democrats should cut the AMT patch out of the ESP, and let these other worthies back in!

Sunday, February 1, 2009

GO STEELERS!

After this morning's semi-disappointment - Federer losing to Nadal in the Australian Open - the day ended well with the Steelers' sixth Superbowl victory, beating the Arizona Cardinals 27-23 in a thriller.
The game was good, almost erasing memories of SB XL.  The Steeler defense held the vaunted Arizona offense in check for most of the first half, with James Harrison's 100-yd interception return for a touchdown the highlight.  The Arizona O-line held off the Pittsburgh blitzers almost all day, except for crucial plays - a couple holding calls, a sack, and a forced fumble to end the game.  Coach Grimm (ex-PIT) did a good job; ARI QB Kurt Warner also got rid of the ball quickly.   Arizona wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald did a great job in their second-half comeback; he will be a star for years to come.
But - the star was Ben Roethlisberger, PIT QB.  Even though he didn't shine like Warner, Big Ben came good when it counted - scrambling to avoid ARI defenders (the PIT O-line collapsed often, as expected) and making amazing throws.  Hines Ward made some good catches at the beginning (he was obviously still hurting from his injury in the AFC game two weeks back).  But slowly Santonio Holmes took over, and on the final drive, won MVP honors.  The best play of the game - over the Harrison INT-TD - was Big Ben's pin-point throw to Holmes over three Arizona defenders, a replica of the previous incomplete play, except at the opposite corner of the endzone.
At the end, it was good to hear Mr Rooney (a strong Obama supporter) thank President Obama and Steeler fans for their support - something to cheer da 'burgh in these desperate economic times.

The Pittsburgh Steelers.  The greatest franchise in football history, and we couldn't have better owners than the Rooneys.  Here's to more rings under 37-year-old Coach Mike Tomlin, a great pick by the Rooneys.

Blast those ESPN commentators!

Got up in the middle of last night, and got to watch the final three sets of the Australian Open between Federer and Nadal.  Nadal won, of course - an amazing feat after his epic semi-final.  I feel really sorry for Federer - he just doesn't seem to be able to beat Nadal these days.
But at the end, instead of showing the trophy ceremony, the ESPN commentators - I think Brad Gilbert, Darren something, and another guy - just kept talking and analyzing the match.  One of them even said "the ceremony is going on..." Why the heck would you not show it?  Frustrated, I switched off the TV.
Turns out, Federer broke down during the ceremony - he probably couldn't figure out how he lost (the fifth set was a complete disaster.)  A great champion showing his very human side - and I didn't see it because of the idiot commentators on ESPN.
I hate ESPN.