Burma save

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By Carter Bundy Last week, fellow columnist Jim Kadlecek got it almost right when he said we should give money to the Red Cross instead of political campaigns. I doubt he could have anticipated just how timely his first point would be when he wrote the column within hours of the Myanmar (Burma) cyclone. He didn’t get it all right, though. First, where he got it wrong: Politics can be good Politics and government action can change billions of lives for the better, including in ways in which the Red Cross also helps. Except with much more money and reach. Continue Reading

The issue that never was

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By Carter Bundy We all know we’re in the middle of an historic year. The Dem primary is like nothing we’ve seen in decades. We’re in the middle of epic economic and foreign-affairs struggles. Both Dems have extensive position papers on all kinds of issues, and even McCain, while lacking detail, has taken strong stands. Somehow, though, in the middle of this dramatic year, none of the leading candidates is talking in any depth about an issue that impacts our economy, our judicial system, our culture, our law enforcement, our health, organized crime, foreign affairs and the military: the war on drugs. Continue Reading

Four wrongs make a right (-wing presidency)

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By Carter Bundy Three absurdly unfair sets of rules in the Democratic primary process are going to leave whoever is not the nominee feeling robbed. In turn, the unfairness of the process will lead some Dems to resist uniting behind the eventual nominee. If enough do so, Dems will have locked up a third term for George Bush’s terrible policies. The first three wrongs are all history, and neither Obama nor Clinton are to blame for them. The rules were set up decades ago, and there’s nothing that can be done before this August’s DNC Convention in Denver. Continue Reading

Choice in Pennsylvania

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By Carter Bundy Here in the Philadelphia suburbs, Hillary – and Democrats generally – are on a roll. Bucks and Montgomery counties, once Republican strongholds, are now represented by Democrats in Congress. In the area where I’m currently working, one representative supports Hillary, the other Barack. To a large degree, this is part of a natural shaking out of party affiliation following the 60s. Lyndon Johnson predicted that Democrats would lose the South for at least three generations following his signing of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights acts. Continue Reading

Mark the mercenary

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By Carter Bundy The Clinton campaign received an unexpected boost this week when Mark Penn finally got dumped. Penn is widely considered a brilliant political strategist. Further, there’s nothing wrong with having varied opinions within a political campaign or an administration. The current administration is living proof that groupthink can be a major contributing factor to disastrous economic and foreign policies. But Penn’s beliefs, actions and priorities are far more problematic than simply a normal healthy disagreement over issues. Continue Reading

Saving capitalism

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By Carter Bundy As I’ve said many times here and elsewhere, capitalism is terrific. Adam Smith has it exactly right when he says the invisible hand of the market will generate the right products in the right places, creating prosperity. At least in most areas of our economy, market forces are quite effective. Education and health care, where profits and society’s need for widespread positive end results are often inherently in conflict, are two notable exceptions. But – and y’all had to know there was a “but” – near total deregulation, combined with lack of enforcement, is a disaster for not only consumers, but for capitalism itself. Continue Reading

Mirror, mirror

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By Carter Bundy It’s said in politics that the extreme right and left often are very similar. With all respect to conventional wisdom, that’s patently false when it comes to substance. For example, the far right’s unwavering support for military action is hardly the same as a pacifist’s position. Likewise, the far right’s insistence on slashing billionaires’ taxes is a far cry from the far left’s insistence on investing billionaires’ taxes in programs for the poor. But in an important sense, political polar opposites frequently share something in common: a certainty of their positions that leads them to tear down – by any means – anyone with whom they disagree. Continue Reading

Don’t surround yourself with yourself

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By Carter Bundy This week is an unusual one, because the religious calendar and political events seem to have converged in an unusual way. For the last week, the controversy over Barack Obama’s pastor has led many Americans to question what it means to be a member of a particular church. The furor over Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s sermons was so great as to cause one of the three finalists for most powerful person on the planet to essentially put his campaign on hold while he penned his thoughts that arose from the controversy. Obama’s speech, to his great credit, didn’t focus on the narrow question of the relationship between pastor and flock. Rather, he dealt with bigger questions: How do – and how should – we interact with those who are different from ourselves? Continue Reading

Celebrating Spitzer

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By Carter Bundy When Homer Simpson sells his soul for a donut, he gets a lawyer to fight for him in front of a “jury of the damned.” The devil, presiding over the trial, turns out to be religious zealot Ned Flanders. Ned, seeing Homer’s shock, responds coolly: “It’s always the one you least suspect.” And it’s funny. As happens so often, the Simpsons gets human nature exactly right. A friend e-mailed me that “the most righteous guys are the ones you have to worry about.” Well, there hasn’t been a stronger crusader against prostitution and money laundering in America than Eliot Spitzer. And that’s where the fun begins. Continue Reading

First quarter recap

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By Carter Bundy This January 3rd, Virginia Tech’s football team was favored against Kansas in the Orange Bowl. The Hokies folded, though, proving that picking winners before the game ends is not the same as playing the game. The even bigger story that night was the record number of Iowans who skipped the Hokie implosion to kick off this year’s presidential primary season. With Hillary Clinton dominating Super Tuesday II, the primary game is far from over. There seems to be a widespread, and very understandable, feeling that the superdelegates shouldn’t overturn the will of the voters. Continue Reading

McCain’s ace in the hole

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By Carter Bundy I don’t like most Republican policies. But there are plenty of well-meaning Republicans who I do like, and I respect ones who are honest about their positions and their reasoning. For example, I vividly recall one day last year when GOP Sen. Rod Adair and I were in agreement that New Mexico’s Public Employee Retirement Association needs to actively fight for shareholder returns against insider deals that erode shareholder value. It’s memorable because I’m pretty certain it’s the only time we’ve agreed on a major issue at the Roundhouse. But the guy tells you where he is, thinks through his positions, stands up for what he believes in and doesn’t mislead anyone. Continue Reading

Why do you care about politics?

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By Carter Bundy Over the last six months, I’ve been inspired by both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. But their “first” status isn’t the main thing that inspires me, nor are the speeches. What has moved me about both, more than anything, is that each has fought for, and staked out for the future, a series of policies that dramatically alter the current trajectory our country is on. Each of them would reverse Bush policies in everything from foreign affairs to fiscal responsibility to civil rights. They’d also add policies which, if implemented, would signal the re-emergence of America as a worldwide leader in progressive policies. Continue Reading

Election enigma

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By Carter Bundy This year’s Democratic caucus is nothing new. As happened in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections and the 2006 First Congressional District race, we are simply the state that has had the closest election in America. Truth is, the election is so close that, as with our elections in those three years, we’d still be counting long after Election Day no matter how the caucus had been run. Were there mistakes? Sure. Continue Reading

Flopping: a lame, losing strategy in America

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By Carter Bundy Ever wonder why World Cup soccer hasn’t caught on in America like it has in the rest of the world? Or why legions of Americans despise Duke basketball? There are plenty of reasons for both, but what they have in common is that Americans can’t stand flopping. The Italian Azzurri – World Cup champs – are horrible to watch. Sure, they’re brilliantly talented players, but if someone breathes on them from 10 yards away, they go into something slightly resembling a serious seizure. Continue Reading

The other Nuevo Mexico

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By Carter Bundy New Mexico has the name, but Nevada is pretty close to a real New Mexico. In Nevada, there’s a huge first-generation Mexican-American population that does the hard work that makes Las Vegas so popular. The food, the cleanliness, the rapidly-developing infrastructure and room availability – none of it happens without first-generation Mexican Americans. Last Saturday, they gave us all a lesson in what it means to be an American. I write this not as a Hillary supporter (I am, although I think highly of the other candidates as well), nor as a member of a union that did a lot of good work in Nevada with our members (humbly, I think we did). Continue Reading