Volume 1 number 3, March 1999 TEOTWAWI: Politico-Financial Musings Life Check It’s nearly springtime in Ester and the livin’ appears easy. The market has just gone to new highs and a 10,000 Dow is just around the corner. I hope the market has the good sense to wait until this fall, or even next year, or like Sweet Virginia, we’ll all be scrapin’ the euphoria off our shoes. Depending on which guru you are listening to, the market is either 25% overvalued, priced for perfection, or just getting started on its journey to a 20,000 Dow. One global strategist of note has a model portfolio that is something like 80% US Treasuries, 10% commercial real estate, and a 10% short position in JGB’s (Japanese Government Bonds). Our Goldilocks economy (neither too hot, nor too cold) plows ahead, preceded only by our equity markets. Locally, the mines are about six weeks from starting up, and the resort is already shopping for summer help. The skiing is at its absolute peak. Enjoy it while it lasts—all of it! Explanation, not Defense As much as I abhor what the social conservatives have done to the Republican party, I can not find fault with them simply because they have been playing by what have always been the rules. Put yourselves in their political shoes for just a minute. They cannot hope to compete with the power of the corporate purse for the mind and votes of mainstream Republicans. Legitimate churches (with no broadcast revenues) use their tithes and donations for good works and to sustain themselves. The social conservatives lack special interest advocacy funds that come disguised as union dues (and if anyone thinks that education of children is a goal of the NEA, ask yourself if the goal of the UAW is to build better cars). So after being paid lip service by successive Republican leaders, they fell back on the only thing that they could do. They went out and usurped the party at its very roots. Tip O’Neill once said that all politics is local, and they have proven him correct. By controlling the candidates, issues and platforms from the local living room, caucus and precinct level, they have assured that delegates to the convention are equipped with the litmus tests required by the movement. While the moderates and fiscal conservatives that make up the rest of the party were scratching their heads about this phenomenon coming from their right, they found their most attractive unifying issues co-opted from the left by the current administration. The party is left with the contradictory stance of wanting smaller government and more personal responsibility, yet dictating moral and behavioral actions that, whether you agree with them or not, are intrusive and not at all the job of government. Wolves in a Sheep’s Facility? Since it’s a private facility running under contract to the State Department of Corrections (one of the most questionably managed divisions of state government), it’s hard for folks to keep tabs on what’s happening at the North Star Center. Does anyone remember when the plan was being sold to area residents? It was to be a "Halfway House," used only for incarcerating drunk drivers and rehabbed non-violent offenders during the last six months of their terms. I’d love for somebody to prove me incorrect (I know columnists aren’t supposed to say that), but I have been hearing that some of the worst felony offenders convicted in Fairbanks are being sent to this minimum-security work-release hotel straight from the court system. The growth of pseudo-Atco units behind the facility is evidence enough that it is full to the rafters. Anyone care to check it out? Mark G. Simpson is Director of Park and Recreations for the Ester Community Association and Commissioner of the EFL. He has lived in Ester for 20 years. | ||
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