Sunshine Laws

Sunlight is the best disinfective. — Louis Brandeis

Politicians have evolved innovative ways of raising money for campaign and personal benefit: book advances, speaking fees, foundation donations, etc. Since this clearly political larg.ess often escapes public reporting, these shadowy fundings need to be disclosed by sunshine laws ... at least once a quarter ... or more often.

Big Bucks

It seems that virtually every entrenched politician is a multi-millionaire ... even if they had entered office a pauper. How do these often slow-witted people pull their enrichments off? Let me count the ways:

- Gifts and gifts-in-kind from lobbyists
- Book deals
- Kickbacks from overpaid staffers (illegal)
- Exorbitant speaking fees and go-alongs
- Syphoning money from campaign funds
- Insider stock and commodity trading
- Plush no-show jobs for spouses and relatives
- TV appearance fees
- Sweetheart real estate deals
- Fake foundations
- Fat salaries and pensions
- Pork from pork-barrel legislation
- Bribes (illegal)
- Padded expense accounts
- Free medical expenses and other allowances
- "Friendly" bank loans and loan forgiveness

It would seem that new forms of this political grease are constantly being invented. Chasing these ephemera is a frustrating and no-win exercise. The easier these money scams become, the more attractive politics becomes for low-life's. The only possible solution might be to force full annual public disclosure by politicians as to the sources of their net worth increases?

Culture Wars

The Republicans now control Congress, the White House, the Supreme Court and 2/3rds of the states' legislatures ... obviously a huge win in the political wars. This is a bit surprising since the Democrats keep winning the cultural wars ... as exemplified by Bill O'Reily recent ouster from Fox News. The Democrats, by diluting the Fox message, now have even a bigger strangle hold on the media. And since they also control Hollywood, higher education,Wall Street, most of the music business, foundations, the Internet social media and, increasingly, sports broadcasting, they are bound to make a political comeback if they can just find a few likable candidates.

Unless, of course, conservatives can somehow begin to make equivalent inroads in the cultural wars. But how? Well, the longest journey starts with a few steps.  I can think of two modest initial targets ... journalism schools and foundations. This won't be easy as these two institution are loaded with progressives. Let us look at each one separately:

- For the journalism schools, may I suggest that some wealthy conservatives endow some inspirational and conservative professors to teach courses like Journalistic Ethics or The Rule of Law or Facts vs. Opinion. Perhaps a few students might be disuaded from being proxy politicians.

- For the foundations, I would suggest that a few lawsuits might be initiated to insure that now-liberal foundations be forced to comply with their original charters ... many of which are far afield from that which they now practice. I suspect that many of those who set up foundations for noble ends are spinning in their graves over what has happened to their beloved intentions.

Just accomplishing these two started goals would be a good win in the other, equally-important battle ... the  conservatives' battle to win back the culture wars. But in any case it should be a long slogue.

My Confession

For a number of years I have been an outspoken champion of carbon dioxide as an essential gas that supports all life on Earth ... and which cannot be shown to have any important role in increasing global temperatures ... for example, see: I Told You So, Lighting One Candle, Science Dunces, The End Is Near, Damn!, Record Warming and Balderdash! among others. In other words, I am against the alarmist hysteria that is now at the center of this climate-change mania. I am therefore a classic "denier."

Now my confession: I have never received any form of recompense, directly or indirectly, from the hydrocarbon industry ... nor have any of my foundations.