RIP, Jude Wanniski

Jude's supply side revolution helped reverse some of the damage caused by years of Keynesian economics.

From Dow Jones NewsPlus:

Jude Wanniski, Supply-Side Economics Advocate, Dies

NEW YORK -- Jude Wanniski, a former Wall Street Journal editorial writer who coined the phrase "supply-side economics" to describe his idea that a reduction in personal tax rates would stimulate productive investment, died Tuesday in Morristown, N.J., the New York Times reported. He was 69.

The cause was a heart attack, according to a statement by Polyconomics, his consulting firm in Parsippany, N.J., the Times said.

Wanniski was a fierce and unconventional partisan who marshaled intellect and salesmanship to promote big tax cuts as the best cure for an ailing economy, a theory embraced and executed by President Reagan, the Times said.

It said Wanniski waged his campaign in thousands of articles, most influentially in editorials he wrote for The Wall Street Journal during the 1970's. Though these editorials were unsigned, he worked hard at becoming known, once calling himself "the most influential political economist of the last generation," the Times said.

The Wall Street Journal is published by Dow Jones & Co. (DJ), which is also the publisher of Dow Jones Newswires.

Since 1978, Wanniski had been president of Polyconomics, where he and his analysts advised corporations, investment banks and others. He has also been involved in political campaigns like that of Steve Forbes in 1996 for the Republican presidential nomination, which highlighted another novel economic idea: a single tax rate for everyone, according to the Times.

Are You Ready for Some Redskins Football??!!

I am.

I watched the broadcast of last night's Skins-Steelers game and I cannot wait for the opener. I know it's preseason and you can't get overly excited, but NFL aficionados know that the third preseason game provides the best preview of the regular season. Why? In the first two preseason games, coaches are evaluating all of their new players and trying new plays. By the third game, coaches want to know what their projected regular season starters look like executing regular season plays. Why isn't the fourth preseason game a good preview? Because coaches have figured it out by then and don't want any starters getting hurt before their next game, which is the first game that counts.

So Redskins fans, be happy. I will write a preview of the Redskins season here before the opener on 9/11. (As an aside, I also cannot wait to see what the NFL has in store to remember that day. League officials are usually right on top of those things.) For now, let me just say you should feel very good about this season. The Steelers were in the AFC Championship Game last year and lost a tough one to the eventual Super Bowl Champs. The Steelers did it with a rookie quarterback last year, who played with the poise of a ten-year veteran and who should be even better this year. The Steelers did it with a smash-mouth running game that was tough to stop. The Steelers did it with the number one defense in the NFL last year.

What did the Redskins do against that juggernaut? The Skins defense, led by Assistant Head Coach Greg Williams, shut the Steelers down. Do you want to know what happened to The Bus? It ran into the Griffin train all night and its wheels came off (Bettis: 4 rushes 8 yards before he left the game with an injury).

Do you want to know what happened to Rothslslis-whatever-burger? He was 6 for 15 with 57 yards and a pick with no touchdowns. The Steelers vaunted offense managed to score three points. That shouldn’t surprise Skins fans because they saw what Williams’s defense did last year. Yesterday that defense got LaVar Arrington back for the first time since September and he wreaked havoc despite only being on the field for a couple of plays.

On the other side of the ball, the Skins showed great improvement. Portis played for the first time this preseason, carried the ball 8 times for 48 yards (that’s 6 per pop) and looked unstoppable. Maybe those extra twenty pounds of muscle will help him in Gibbs’s between-the-tackles-system. Patrick Ramsey, who looked average earlier in the preseason, came through when it counted. He engineered a beautiful drive at the end of the first half to tie the game and he did it sans Portis.

Ramsey looks like he’s finally getting comfortable again and that might be because he knows he has the best offensive line in football. You don’t believe me about the O-line? Well, that was a quote from Troy Aikman last night and he’s correct. Besides Pro Bowlers Samuels and Thomas on the left side, they have made a major upgrade at Center by signing free agent Casey Rabach from the Ravens. Factor in that they get Jon Jansen back at right Tackle after missing all of last year, and they have Dockery at right Guard with a year of experience under his belt (and both could be playing in Hawaii in February), and that is the best O-line in football. And, don’t even get me started about how Boss Hog Bugel is the best O-line coach in the league.

More later.

Seriously, Booing Ramsey Won't Help Him Develop

Mike Wise of the Washington Post picks up on the theme that I posted last week (on Carlos Beltran): Booing only hurts your team.

Booing Won't Make It Better, Hopefully Time Will

By Mike Wise
Saturday, August 20, 2005; E01

Patrick Ramsey embarked on another wild ride, another engaging yet flawed performance that has to make Joe Gibbs think...

...But you people, the ones who have an abundance of patience and tolerance for the homespun coach but none for his players, what's with you?

You create handmade placards that read, "In Gibbs We Trust," but siphon that trust away from the player who needs it most.

You whoop and holler for a defense already considered among the NFC's best. But you jeer a revamped offense that still has nearly a month to find its bearings.

Marcus Washington, good. Patrick Ramsey, evil.

You know who you are, the pathetic lot booing Ramsey in a 24-17 preseason loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, cheering him, booing him some more, shuffling out of FedEx Field thinking the job may now be Brunell's to lose.

You people. It wouldn't be so bad if the jeering did not begin on the team's second possession of its second preseason game. But that's where we are with this franchise...

...Co-workers and season ticket holders gave Ramsey no credit for learning the subtleties of a slightly tweaked system, learning the nuances of an overhauled receiving corps. He hit five receivers, including two not on the team a year ago, for 190 yards on nine completions. Ramsey looked less robotic and more freewheeling, more natural and less skittish when the pocket broke down.

"One thing I observed after the picks," said David Patten, whom Ramsey hit with three passes for 109 yards, "he was still upbeat. He still took charge in the huddle. Bottom line, Patrick Ramsey is our starting quarterback. We believe in him. We trust in him. We hold him accountable."

You people, the same ones who booed Brunell less than a year ago, the same people who chanted "We want Ram-see!" until you finally got him, now you want Gibbs's proclaimed starter wearing a headset again? Either this is a Philly envy thing or you people are more fickle than Jude Law.

NJ Democrats' Dirty Tricks Again?

Hat tip: Enlighten New Jersey

Newsday: UMDNJ says files sought by FBI were stolen

August 19, 2005, 11:37 AM EDT

NEWARK, N.J. -- Files that were to be surrendered to federal investigators examining the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey's political contributions were stolen during a break-in at the school, university officials said.

The theft took place July 30 or 31...

"...It looks like it may very well have been an inside job," Petillo told the newspaper, noting that it appears the thief used a university swipe card to enter the Newark building housing the university affairs and government affairs departments. Some locked doors were pried open, he said...

...The country's largest freestanding health sciences university has said it has been complying with FBI subpoenas issued in June seeking records of all political donations it made since 2000.

Investigators also are interested in millions of dollars in no-bid contracts the school awarded to politically connected firms...

The probe followed reports by The Star-Ledger, including that UMDNJ gave a $75,000 consulting contract to a fundraiser for then-Gov. James E. McGreevey.

Carlos, Carlos, Carlos

Any Mets fan who bood Carlos Beltran this year should be ashamed of themselves. Carlos is a true five-tool player who has played selflessly ALL year. Coming back to play last night with a broken bone in his face is just the latest example of how he puts his team ahead of regard for his health and his statistics.

While we're on the subject, as a former Mets season ticket holder I think I am qualified to say that Mets fans do more to hurt their team's winning percentage than any fans in baseball. It is almost as if, when gathered at the stadium, they become a mob and lose all baseball intelligence. How else can you explain the wild swings from boos to cheers and back again (even in the same game) for virtually every Mets player that has played at Shea in the past ten years? It wasn't always that way.

Sometimes, Mets fans, when a guy grounds out to second, he's doing his job. Cardinals fans understand that and will cheer that player when he moves a runner over to third with less than two outs. It's one of the reasons that the Cardinals attract solid players to play in St. Louis for less money than teams on the coasts are willing to pay.

When Edgardo Alfonzo played for the Mets, he would do all of the little things to help the team win (like hit behind the runners) even when it hurt his statistics. Yet, few Mets fans cared when he was allowed to leave as a free agent; least of all the Wilpons. Now, in Carlos Beltran, they again have a player like Alfonzo. Will Mets fans give him the recognition he deserves?

Charges of Voter Intimidation and Suppression Against Democrats

This post is a continuation of my prior post on the findings of vote suppression by the American Center for Voting Rights in the 2004 Presidential election. The ACVR findings need no further comment from me:

While Democrats routinely accuse Republicans of voter intimidation and suppression, neither party has a clean record on the issue. Instead, the evidence shows that Democrats waged aggressive intimidation and suppression campaigns against Republican voters and volunteers in 2004. ...a careful review of the facts shows that in 2004, paid Democrat operatives were far more involved in voter intimidation and suppression efforts than their Republican counterparts. Examples include:

Paid Democrat operatives charged with slashing tires of 25 Republican get-out-the-vote vans in Milwaukee on the morning of Election Day.

Misleading telephone calls made by Democrat operatives targeting Republican voters in Ohio with the wrong date for the election and faulty polling place information.

Intimidating and deceiving mailings and telephone calls paid for by the DNC threatening Republican volunteers in Florida with legal action.

Union-coordinated intimidation and violence campaign targeting Republican campaign offices and volunteers resulting in a broken arm for a GOP volunteer in Florida...

...The record indicates that in 2004, voter registration fraud was mainly the work of so-called “nonpartisan” groups such as Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) and NAACP National Voter Fund. Examples include:

Joint task force in Wisconsin found “clear evidence of fraud in the Nov. 2 election in Milwaukee,” including more than 200 felon voters, more than 100 double voters and thousands more ballots cast than voters recorded as having voted in the city.

NAACP National Voter Fund worker in Ohio paid crack cocaine in exchange for a large number of fraudulent voter registration cards in names of Dick Tracy, Mary Poppins and other fictional characters.

Former ACORN worker said there was “a lot of fraud committed” by group in Florida, as ACORN workers submitted thousands of fraudulent registrations in a dozen states across the country, resulting in a statewide investigation of the group in Florida and multiple indictments and convictions of ACORN/Project Vote workers for voter registration fraud in several states.

Charges Of Voter Intimidation & Suppression Made Against Republicans

On August 2, The American Center for Voting Rights published its findings of voting irregularities in the 2004 election. The following is an excerpt from a section that examines Democrats' charges of voter intimidation by Republicans:

Democrats have traditionally alleged that Republicans engage in voter intimidation and voter suppression campaigns targeting minority voters. The 2004 presidential campaign was no different.

Charges of voter intimidation and suppression against Republicans typically refer back to allegations of such activity in New Jersey in the 1980s. In 1982, the Republican National Committee and New Jersey Republican Party signed a Consent Decree in federal court pledging that they would not condone any tactics that would intimidate Democrat voters. The Consent Decree was part of a settlement in a civil lawsuit brought by Democrats alleging that a Republican “ballot-security task force” frightened some minority voters...The RNC denied these allegations and agreed to a “Consent Decree...”

...The New Jersey consent decree...has provided Democrats with a platform from which to charge Republicans with voter intimidation in elections since 1982. While a review of the consent decree provides historical context to charges of voter intimidation and suppression made against Republicans today, this report evaluates such activity occurring during the 2004 campaign. Of course, allegations mean little if not supported by facts. An internal Kerry-Edwards/DNC manual obtained by the press in October 2004 urged Democrat operatives to launch “pre-emptive strikes” alleging Republican voter intimidation against minority voters, regardless of whether evidence of such intimidation actually existed...

...Any effort to suppress or intimidate any voter from freely participating in our election process is reprehensible. All credible allegations of such activity should be seriously investigated by the appropriate law enforcement authority and, where found to have occurred, prosecuted. It is, however, equally reprehensible to use false charges of voter suppression or harassment to motivate some segment of the electorate...

Lest you conclude that the ACVR is some right-wing front group, I have attached the bio of its Board Chairman:

Brian A. Lunde, Board Chairman

Brian A. Lunde has served at the highest professional levels within the national Democratic Party. Since beginning his political career as a field coordinator for the 1976 Jimmy Carter for President campaign, Mr. Lunde has served as Executive Director of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), as Campaign Manager for the Presidential bid of Senator Paul Simon, and as Director of two winning campaigns for the DNC Chairmanship (Chuck Manatt in 1981 and Paul Kirk in 1985).
Mr. Lunde currently serves as General Manager at Edelman Public Relations in Washington, D.C., where he leads Edelman Issues Advocacy, the firm's grassroots and issue management division. Mr. Lunde founded Helping Americans Vote (www.helpingamericansvote.org), a nonpartisan group helping corporations and trade associations educate employees about new voting rules such as vote-by-mail and early voting. A graduate of the University of South Florida, Mr. Lunde resides with his wife and two daughters in Arlington, Virginia.

The next post will examine what the ACVR thinks about the way Democrats conducted themselves.

Joe Gibbs Apologizes

...Asked about the Cowboys as fans screamed questions at him Friday, (Redskins coach Joe Gibbs) jokingly said: "I know we don't have any Dallas people here. They're the ugliest people in the world..."

He later apologized. He meant to say that Dallas fans are FUGLY.

Corzine's Red Herring

"The public will have to decide if public officials can have private lives."
--Jon Corzine

That statement, made by the junior Senator from New Jersey, is an obvious red herring.

As most of you know, the former investment banker spent $60 million of accumulated Goldman Sachs bonuses to buy his seat in the US Senate and now wants to spend some more to buy NJ's Governorship. I have no problem with politicians spending their own money on legitimate campaign expenses, but legitimacy is in serious question in several specific instances in both this race and in his past senate race.

The quote above was Corzine's response to critics of his $470,000 payoff to Carla Katz, the President of Local 1034 of the Communication Workers of America. As many Jerseyans know, the CWA is the union that represents NJ State employees; you know, the very employees that will not only report to a Governor Corzine, but who tend to vote en masse, especially when their President tells them for whom to vote. Is it any surprise that Ms. Katz has already endorsed Corzine for Governor?

Why is this quote a red herring? As viewers of this blog read on July 18, Corzine also had an affair with Ms. Katz. Corzine is trying to cover up the stench of corruption that follows NJ Democrats around like the odor from a Linden landfill and turn this smelly mess into a criticism of his "private life." What a joke. If Corzine were a true New Jerseyan he would know that landfill odor trumps herring odor every time.

Let's hope that Tigerhawk and other conservative NJ Bloggers (if you are out there, help me find you) stick together to push this odor back on Corzine where it belongs.

Could Madison have been any clearer?

"Each State, in ratifying the Constitution, is considered as a sovereign body, independent of all others, and only to be bound by its own voluntary act. In this relation, then, the new Constitution will, if established, be a FEDERAL, and not a NATIONAL constitution."

-- James Madison (Federalist No. 39, 1788)

Reference: The Federalist


Could Madison have been any clearer? The Federalist Patriot delivers great quotes like this one to your inbox every day and also has a terrific newsletter. I highly recommend both.