America Being Spied Upon!

Friday, June 14^th, 2013

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

IN OBAMA’S WORLD, WHO ARE THE BAD GUYS?

My regular morning coffee group gets to the nuts and bolts of what’s wrong with America each morning as we hash it all out over strong chicory and beignets.  Quite frankly, the nation would be better served if members of congress would just heed the advice of our over 70 gang who collectively have a lot of common sense.  All of us are a bit surprised over the outrage regarding the Obama Administration’s “secret surveillance” program that has apparently been going on for years.

Senate majority leader Harry Reid from Nevada summed it up very well: "Right now I think everyone should just calm down and understand that this isn't anything that is brand new, it's been going on for some seven years…”  What Reed is saying reflects the same warped view that’s been expressed by way too many voices in both political parties.  If our representatives standby and allow the government to abuse power long enough, it becomes okay. We just suck it up, and allow one constitutional provision after another to get thrown under the bus.

Spying on all of us by the government as well as by the private sector has been going on for some time.  Like it or not, you are being digitally frisked and strip-searched every hour of every day.  Your smartphone, computer, all other electronic communication devices pour out digital bits and bytes that are collected by more groups than any of us can imagine. Even your cable connected TV or DVD player sends out information on what programs and movies you watch.

Just test out the collective system.  Do a bit of trolling on the Internet and check out some possible purchases.  Then go to Facebook, or any of the other numerous social media sites, and, voilà -- your potential purchases magically appear on your computer screen.  Remember Gene Hackman’s movie back in the ’90s called “Enemy of the State?  Hackman plays the role of a National Security Agency analyst, and he tells the attorney played by Will Smith, “the agency has been in bed with the telecommunications industry for decades, and they can suck assault drain off the beach.”

But should a government agency have access to so much of what used to be considered your private information?  We used to allow and expect law enforcement and security agencies to go after the bad guys.  But the net now ensnarls everyone.  The Obama Administration, we now find out, has put in place a system that gathers data on virtually every aspect of your life, including your emails, your phone calls, your video chats, photographs, connection logs and just about every communication that you make.  If they are supposedly going after the bad guys, then you and I -- all of us -- are being profiled as bad guys.

The foundation for so much of this government over reach is the so-called “Patriot Act,” passed by a weak kneed congress following the 9/11 attacks.  Those readers who

regularly follow my columns know that I’ve been writing about the atrocities emanating from the Patriot Act for years.  As I wrote back in 2005:  “"Simply put, the Patriot Act is one of the most egregious acts against basic rights and liberties that we have witnessed in our lifetimes. This appalling law has, for all practical purposes, driven a stake through the heart of the Bill of Rights.”

There were some members of congress who raised strenuous objections to this loss of freedom.  Then Senator Obama opposed the Patriot Act and railed that the surveillance policy in place by the Bush Administration "puts forward a false choice between the liberties we cherish and the security we provide.  This legislation gives people no rights to appeal the need for such a search in a court of law, and no judge will hear their plea; no judge will hear their case.”

Stephen Aftergood, director of the Project on Government Secrecy at the American Federation of Scientists, summed up Obama's change of heart this way: "Clearly, he took a critical stance towards surveillance as a senator. That has been all but absent from his policies as president.”  Obama now, following in the Bush era’s footprints, seems to feel that there is nothing wrong with using executive power to bend the law.  That is, as long as he’s the executive who’s doing it.  Remember the 1971 song by the Who, Won’t Get Fooled Again?

Meet the new boss,

Same as the old boss.

Obama tells us to trust him (cause you know,) he needs all of us “to not question the government and help them prevent terrorist attacks.”  Forget the constitution.  We need to rely on government paternalism.

The New York Times, normally an Obama mouthpiece, editorialized:  “President Obama issued the same platitude he has offered every time he is been caught overreaching in the use of his powers:  Terrorists are a real menace and you should just trust us to deal with them because we have internal mechanisms (that we are not going to tell you about) to make sure we do not violate your rights.”  Are you persuaded?  My coffee buddies certainly aren’t.

Even the congressman who authored the Patriot Act has some real concerns over the abuses happening today.  Representative Jim Sensenbrenner, a Republican from Wisconsin, said this week that the National Security Agency went way beyond its authority when it obtained a secret order to seize the log records of millions of Americans.  “As the author of the Patriot Act, I'm extremely troubled by the FBI's interpretation of this legislation,” he said. "I have always worried about potential abuses of the Patriot Act. Seizing phone records of millions of innocent people is excessive and un-American.”

As I headed for coffee today, I dug out my 30-year-old copy of George Orwell’s, “1984.”  The cover was a bit tattered, the pages had yellowed, but the message still rings true.  “There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment. It was even conceivable that they watched everybody all the time. But at any rate they could plug in your wire whenever they want to.”

There is a Latin motto that reads, “Scientia Est Potentia” -- Knowledge is power.  But when the government is able to gather up the reams of data that profile, and even define every aspect of your life, such knowledge and such power forces “we the people” to give up freedom for supposed security. The government is only working for our good?  Tell that to my friends over coffee.  They’re very skeptical.  Just like me.

Peace and Justice

Jim Brown

Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide.  You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at http://www.jimbrownusa.com.  .   You can also hear Jim’s nationally syndicated radio show each Sunday morning from 9 am till 11:00 am, central time, on the Genesis Radio Network, with a live stream at http://www.jimbrownusa.com.

Little Confidence in the Political System!

Thursday, June 6th, 2013

Las Vegas, Nevada

WHY YOUNG VOTERS ARE DISENGAGED FROM POLITICS!

Do young voters really care about who runs their local, state and federal government?  Whatever buzz inspired younger voters to support Barack Osama in 2008 has been severely diminished by the gridlock in Washington.  Voters under thirty (and the rest of us, for that matter) have witnessed nothing but conflict and partisan politics while the economy languishes and major problems go unresolved.  The idealism of youth, many would argue, is being replaced by a cynicism towards those in charge, and this includes the President right down to the local level.

Recently, I sat down with a number of young people in New Orleans who are living in an upbeat, revitalized part of the city called the Warehouse District.  Some of the Crescent City’s more famous restaurants along with new upscale shops and warehouses that have been turned into apartments and condos are located in this area. Similar neighborhoods, filled with young people, can be found in cities across the country.

These young people told me that they are just not that interested in politics at any level.  In the 2012 election, the turnout among registered voters below 30 was a bit less than 50%.  But half of all young voters have not registered.  So that means a turnout of less than 25%.  This was a slight drop from the 2008 election.  But many young voters tell pollsters, “yes I vote, but it really won’t make much of a difference.” As one 28 year old told me in New Orleans, “Government is just not relevant to what I’m trying to do.  You hear all these promises, but nothing really changes.  I don’t think any politician can make a difference in my life.”

Another young man, who is developing a graphics design company, said he could sum up the problem in one word.  “Engagement.  There’s a disconnect because most elected officials don’t engage with the people they represent. They tell us things, they do all the talking, but they never seem to listen.  We have no way to express ourselves.  There is no interaction.”

Software pioneer Tim O’Reilly echoed these thoughts in an article in TechCrunch magazine, where he wrote: “Too often, we think of government as a kind of vending machine. We put in our taxes, and get out services: roads, bridges, hospitals, fire brigades, police protection…. and when the vending machine doesn't give us what we want, we protest. Our idea of citizen engagement has somehow been reduced to shaking the vending machine.”

This vending machine analogy is a good one.  Not only do you often not get what you want, both the machine and government have made the decision of just what you can buy or get in the first place.  You are at the mercy of the information that the system allows you to have.  Oh, but you, as a citizen, have the right to access whatever information you want…right?  Public records and all?  A free flow of information, right?  Hardly.

Freedom of information has been a hallmark of American democracy since the nation’s founding.  Make the information available, and then let the public decide. But the way it should be and the way it is in practice is not always the same. In the ‘70s, when I served as a Louisiana State Senator, I authored and enacted into law what at the time was considered to be the strongest open meetings and public records legislation in the country.  And today, we have the technology – the Internet, the huge online data bases, and the cloud -- that should make access to this information we need to make good decisions about our government so much easier.

But in spite of the advanced technology, little by little, particularly at the state level, questionable barriers have eroded the access to public information.  High copying fees, long wait times, locked government data bases, the refusal to produce requested documents based on bogus security issues, and capricious personal decisions have thwarted the public’s right to know.  Many of these obstacles are put in place by public officials wanting to conduct their business in secret.  Many citizens, particularly the younger, more idealistic voters are turned off by what they see as political cynicism.  They rightly feel that the information is paid for with their tax dollars, and that they have the right to see it.  Too many elected officials are offering only the vending machine, where in a world of the cloud and other advanced technology, most of this information should be easily available to whoever cares to access it over the Internet.

My young voices in New Orleans were unanimous in feeling that the agenda of most bureaucrats and elected officials is to keep the status quo.  One young woman put it bluntly:  “Look, we’re all into networking and building businesses with new technology.  Most of us see government not as a help, but as a hindrance.  We just need for them to open up their information base, then just get out of the way and leave us alone.”

Another young man asked, where’s innovation, where’s the creativity in government?  He quoted Einstein’s thoughts that “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”  “I have a number of bright, imaginative friends that are doing some really cool things and creating value,” he said. “Where’s the vision in the public sector?”

Knowing that I’d been Louisiana’s chief elections officer as Secretary of State back in the ‘80s, my group zinged me over the archaic election process, “You can do about anything on line at home, around the clock.  You can text, call an 800 number to vote on American Idol.  But voting?  Long lines, limited time, hanging chads; why so many barriers?  That’s so last century!”

What these young people are saying is that the boundaries need to come down. No more toleration of the vending machine.  Make government a two way street.  Let technology put many decisions -- more power of government -- in the hands of citizens.  Will this inspire younger voters back into the participatory fold? Will politicians stand in the way of what they will perceive as radical change?  And if they do, are we just going stand by and allow the gridlock of partisan politics and the alienation of young voters to continue?

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“I'm not afraid to shake up the system, and government needs more shaking up than any other system I know.”

Ann Richards

Peace and Justice

Jim Brown

Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide.  You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at http://www.jimbrownusa.com.  You can also hear Jim’s nationally syndicated radio show each Sunday morning from 9 am till 11:00 am, central time, on the Genesis Radio Network, with a live stream at http://www.jimbrownusa.com.

Tornado Damage and Public Funds!

Thursday, May 30^th, 2013

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

TORNADO ALLEY-ADVICE FROM WIZARD OF OZ!

In spite of all the turmoil and tragedy visited on the little town of Moore, Oklahoma last week, one fact stands out:  Every family with a storm cellar survived.  No one who went to underground protection was killed or even injured. For the rest who tried to find protection above ground, it was a crapshoot.  So why isn’t it mandatory that all structures in tornado prone areas, especially schools and other public buildings, have storm shelters?

Moore is in the part of the country that is known as Tornado Alley and City planners, know well that “below – ground shelters are the best protection against tornadoes.”  Yet there is no specific building code that requires them.  On the City of Moore web site, the recommendations are quite clear in stating “every residence should have a storm safe room or underground cellar.” 

Tornadoes are nothing new in this part of the country.  In the Moore area alone, four major tornados have hit since 1998.  In 201l, a major tornado swept through southern Missouri and Oklahoma causing some two billion dollars in damages.  In fact, some 22 tornadoes have struck in or near Moore, killing more than 100 people since the town was incorporated in1893, according to the National Weather Service.

So why are storm shelters not required where tornadoes are so prevalent?  One reason is cost.  A basic shelter can run several thousand dollars.  And a good number of poorer citizens live throughout this area.  There are federal programs that offer rebates for storm cellar construction, but the dollars are limited.  Yet spending  $2000 to save one’s life seems like a no brainer.  But there are also political considerations.

Several Oklahoma legislators have introduced bills requiring so-called “safe rooms’ built with reinforced concrete, or better yet, underground shelters.  But they haven’t had much success.  “This is a red state,” said State Representative Richard Morissette of Oklahoma City. “People don’t like anything that is mandated. You don’t like it when the government says they have to do something.”

And most would agree.  That is, as long as the rest of us are not affected.  But as we speak, Oklahoma members of congress are adding up the damage and preparing to ask taxpayers to pony up for all the costs.  Initial estimates have soared past the $2 billon mark and are rising daily.  There will be a good bit of insurance coverage, but we can still count on significant federal dollars to be asked for and paid by – you and me.

The question then becomes one of whether it’s reasonable that a community or state meet certain construction standards in order to be eligible for federal funds.  Without some reasonable mandates, do we stand by and let areas of the country prone to weather related damage come to congress time and time again without them taking measures to mitigate

the damage that they know, sooner or later, is inevitable?  This is an issue that many areas of the country face, including the entire Gulf Coast and particularly my home state of Louisiana.

In years past, many Gulf Coast residents passed on flood insurance, did not consider building code requirements, and waited for FEMA dollars to help rebuild their homes or businesses. Back in the 90s when I served as Louisiana’s insurance commissioner, I had a fellow stop me one day and ask about my projections for the coming hurricane season. “I hope we get one down here this year,” he told me. “We sure could use some of that federal money to fix up my fishin’ camp.”

That was the attitude along the Louisiana coast, in Moore, Oklahoma, and up along the New Jersey shore.  That’s what the federal government does. Fix things up because that’s how the system works.  But the rules, for good reason, have changed. In Louisiana and other hurricane prone states, new building codes have been put in place. There are requirements that if you live along heavily flooded areas, you are required to build your home high off the ground.

And if you don’t, there are consequences.  You will not be eligible for federal flood insurance.  There is no private insurance to cover water damage from floods.

A homeowner’s only option is to buy federal flood insurance.  And quite frankly, if you live in a flood prone area down in this part of the country, you’re crazy if you don’t.  Many lenders will refuse to makes loans on a property that doesn’t carry flood insurance and that has failed to adhere to recent stronger building codes.  And many insurance companies still require inspections to be sure they property has followed all these new requirements.

These new requirements are reasonable and just.  It would not be fair for the rest of the country to continually pick up the cost of rebuilding weather damaged areas, if people living in those areas are not willing to reinforce and mitigate so as to limit future damages as much as possible.  So if such requirements are reasonable along the Gulf Coast, then aren’t similar rules and codes totally justifiable in Tornado Alley?

The property owner is free to choose.  Ignore such mandates if you will.  Don’t let the government tell you what to do with your property, but then don’t ask the government for a federal handout if your property is damaged.  If you want taxpayers all over America to lend a hand, you have to do your part and follow the rules.

In the Wizard of Oz released Seventy-four years ago, Auntie Em and Uncle Henry knew that when an Oklahoma tornado is coming your way, you head for the storm cellar.  Dorothy didn’t make it.  Neither did many of those who had no storm shelter to seek out in Tornado Alley.

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“And suddenly a great wind came from beyond the desert construct the four corners of the house, so that it fell upon the young people and they died; and I alone had escaped to relate these things to you.”    Job 1:19

Peace and Justice

Jim Brown

Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide.  You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at http://www.jimbrownusa.com.  You can also hear Jim’s nationally syndicated radio show each Sunday morning from 9 am till 11:00 am, central time, on the Genesis Radio Network, with a live stream at http://www.jimbrownusa.com.

A Wild Louisiana U.S. Senate Race in 2014.

Thursday, May 23^rd, 2013

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

 WILL JINDAL AND LANDRIEU FACE-OFF IN SENATE RACE?

Two seasoned political pros, who have lost a bit of their luster, may make the same big grab for political limelight in Washington. And what would be a surprise to many, they just might be racing against each other.  Incumbent Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu, the state’s longest serving statewide elected official is hoping to extend her career in Washington for another six years.  And Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, who has lost a good bit of his traction on the national scene and is looking for a place to land, may be taking a close look at challenging Landrieu next year.

The Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, headed by Ohio Senator Rob Portman, has profiled Landrieu as the most vulnerable Democrat up for re election in 2014.  Control of the U.S. senate is at stake and the numbers bode well for Republicans.  Of the 35 senate seats to be decided next year, 21 are presently held by Democrats.  Six Democrats have announced their retirement, including long serving veterans like Montana Senator Max Baucus, Michigan’s Carl Levin and Iowa’s Tom Harkin.  So the Republicans see an opening that could allow them to take over the senate leadership.

Polls show Obamacare is losing support, giving Republicans a strong position against Democrats, and the issue seems to have legs.  And history is on the side of Republicans.  At no time has a sitting president’s party gained senate seats. In fact, in more recent elections, Democratic losses have averaged six seats.  So the GOP, with some justification, feels buoyant over their chances to regain control.  Landrieu’s defeat is a key to the Republican effort, and one can expect that major out-of-state dollars will be abundant in supporting her Republican opponent.

 Right now, that main Republican challenger is Congressman Bill Cassidy, who represents a south central district centered round the state capitol in Baton Rouge.  Cassidy is a medical doctor and well respected as a liver specialist who created free dental and health care clinics for the working uninsured.  This, plus the fact that his wife, Laura, is also a doctor, engenders a great deal of family respect throughout the state. Interestingly, of the six congressmen who presently represent Louisiana in Washington, three are medical doctors.  The bottom line is, that on paper, Cassidy will give Landrieu a real run for the money if the race comes down to the two of them.

 Landrieu certainly has her share of problems.  Try as she may to play the role of a Louisiana caring moderate, she won’t be able to shake the Obama tie at a time when the President is now under siege and is likely to be so right up to the senatorial election.  Louisiana’s other Senator, Republican David Vitter, easily beat a democratic Congressman two years ago by simply continuing to hammer home the fact that the President and the congressman were both Democrats.  Landrieu will carry the same albatross in a state that overwhelming went Republican in this past presidential election.

Landrieu is under criticism at home for rarely returning to Louisiana, choosing to spend most weekends in her multi-million Washington, D.C. home.  And some party loyalists wonder how loyal a Democrat she really is.  Landrieu is under criticism by her own party for passing over qualified Democrats for a number of federal appointments.  Her pick for a recent opening on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals was an obscure non-democratic assistant prosecutor who rarely votes in local elections and who has repeatedly given Republican Senator David Vitter campaign contributions.  Her selection for a new U.S. Attorney in New Orleans also is not a democrat.  Party officials, for obvious reasons, are puzzled by her bizarre choices.

So can Governor Bobby Jindal still be a part of the senate campaign scenario?  Some observers think the Jindal team has become frustrated over Jindal’s lack of traction on the national stage.  Simply put, he has lost his home field advantage.  While the Governor crisscrosses the nation in pursuit of respect on the national stage, problems continue to mount at home.  His popularity in Louisiana has plummeted into the mid-thirties, lower than any Bayou State governor in memory.  The courts have been particularly unkind, declaring many of the Governor’s pet education and finance reforms unconstitutional, and he has been raked over the coals in the business community for a back door effort to significantly raise the state sales tax that presently is ranked as one of the highest in the country.

Recently, Jindal is staying closer to home in an effort to stem a legislative revolt.  In the meantime, he has neglected opportunities to gain favor with big Republican dollar givers throughout the country.  Just last week, at the last minute, he cancelled a speech to the Manhattan Institute, a group of major national campaign contributors who play a major role in early campaign giving.  Reports from the meeting were that donors were livid over Jindal being a no show.  He offered to send his education secretary John White, and that caused even more consternation.

So what’s a pouting Governor to do?  Consider the options.  Since he is term limited in the next governor’s race, and losing steam on the national scene, Landrieu and the Senate race just might be ripe for the picking.  Jindal’s political alter ego, a fellow named Timmy Teeple, abruptly departed the Cassidy for Senate team recently, and is looking for a place to land.  Trying to elect his old boss may be an attractive alternative.

Surprisingly, Landrieu would much prefer a Jindal race rather than being hounded by Cassidy.  All of Jindal’s warts have been in public view for a good while, and Landrieu feels she has plenty of ammo to paint Jindal as another failed incumbent.  So instead of running from Cassidy, she can run a campaign directly against Jindal.  In other words, hold your nose and vote for the lesser of the two evils.  And the question remains as to whether Cassidy will step aside or stand toe to toe and challenge Jindal for the run -off spot.

Stay tuned!  Far from being a two party, two horse race, this campaign has a long way to go to the finish line.  And because of the national implications, it will be closely observed all across the country.

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 A mob is coming here in six months to hang the other ninety-five of you damned scoundrels, and I’m undecided whether to stick here with you or go out and lead them.”

— Huey Long, U.S. Senate floor speech

 Peace and Justice.

 Jim Brown

 Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide.  You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at http://www.jimbrownusa.com.  You can also hear Jim’s nationally syndicated radio show each Sunday morning from 9 am till 11:00 am, central time, on the Genesis Radio Network, with a live stream at http://www.jimbrownusa.com.