Ebola: fear and loathing

When it comes to #Ebola the thing we should really fear is fear ... oh, and #politicians. http://shar.es/100H6z  via @sharethis

Justices sent clear signal on same-sex marriage

http://www.recordnet.com/article/20141011/OPINION/141019937/101035/A_OPINION

The economic development incentive game

Stockton, Calif., alleged to be in the running for the multi-billion dollar Tesla battery plant, lost out when the Fremont, Calif.-based electric-car maker picked Nevada for its new plant. Of course, the Silver State handed over the keys to the state treasury as an incentive. In doing that, Nevada officials did what elected officials across the nation do all the time in the name of economic development. The question is should they.
I wrote about this topic in a Sunday column for The Record. It can be found at: http://www.recordnet.com/article/20140913/OPINION/140919847/101128/A_OPINION

This should shock no one

A few thoughts about Stockton I wrote for Sunday's Recordhttp://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140803/A_OPINION0604/408030315/0/SEARCH:

But what if they'd been Muslims?

A little Sunday morning snipping about the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby ruling. http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140706/A_OPINION0604/407060311/-1/A_OPINION

If only Gov. Perry had self-control he thinks gays lack

Texas Gov. Rick Perry had another "oops" moment last week when he compared being gay to being an alcoholic. It's all a matter of self-control, he said. Oh, and he said it in front of a San Francisco audience during a business recruiting trip.
Yeah, Gov, and blue eyes are a matter of self-control too.

 Gov. Rick Perry at the Iowa State Fair

But Perry is not one to miss a chance to double down on stupid remarks. Or perhaps just throw some red meat toward the Texas Republican Party that recently adopted a platform recognizing "reparative therapy" for gays. By the way, that "therapy" has been discouraged by the American Medical Association and outright banned by California and New Jersey (If Texas Republicans think "reparative therapy" can turn gays into straights, it follows that they must believe that the therapy can be crafted so that straights go gay. Somebody should ask).
Monday, Perry was on CNBC's "Squawk Box" where he was dismissive about the ire generated by his remarks before the Commonwealth Club of California.
"I understand," he said. "People have different opinions about that."
To Perry, being gay is a "lifestyle" -- perhaps, like being left-handed? -- that he said he does not "condone" nor "condemn."
And he insisted the issue of gay marriage is a states' rights issue (feel free to conjure your own code language here).
"Texas has made the decision on that already by a vote of over 75 percent," Perry said. "They said that marriage is between one man and one woman. And I respect that. And I respect whatever they want to do in California and New York."
Sure you do, governor. Intolerance and inequality are OK in Perry's world as long as supported by a majority vote.

Student loans get no credit from GOP

Senate Republicans this week blocked a measure that would have let students refinance their debt just like homeowners and businesses do every day.
The GOP leadership, in the person of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, complained that Sen. Elizabeth Warren's legislation did nothing to address student debt and in fact was nothing but an election-year ploy to make a campaign issue.
Of course, the Republicans didn't offer any legislative alternatives to address the crushing $1.2 trillion student loan debt that economists, real estate agents and bankers fear is hampering economic growth. The average student borrower now carries $25,000 in debt, a figure that increased 70 percent between 2004 and 2012.
Recent graduates struggling to pay their college loans likely aren't out buying cars or houses.


Sen. Elizabeth Warren               

Warren's bill would have let people with federal and private loans issued before 2010 refinance at 3.85 percent. That's the rate Congress set for federal student loans a year ago.
The proposal actually won a majority of Senate votes, 56. And three Republicans, Susan Collins of Maine, Bob Corker of Tennessee and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, voted with Democrats. But under the Senate's arcane rules, a majority isn't a majority. Warren needed 60 votes to advance the legislation.
Republicans simply weren't going to back a bill that called for a new tax on millionaires to offset the cost of lowering interest rates on students. Fine. Warren said she's willing to find other ways to pay for it. But from across the aisle her offer was met with silence.
Student debt is among the few things that can't be dismissed by bankruptcy, the theory being a lender can't repossess an education. That's fine too.
What's not fine is subsidizing businesses with tax dollars or loaning money to banks at virtually zero or allowing companies to avoid U.S. taxes by off-shoring their operations solely for the dodge. And it's not fine to do that while refusing to make low-cost loans available to the next generation of doctors, lawyers, teachers, engineers, academics and, ironically, business leaders.