Tag Archives: politics

Zhang Dejiang Inspects

Posted on by
Reply

Zhang Dejiang, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, and so the number three man in the People’s Republic of China’s government is on an inspection tour of Hong Kong this week.  The Wall Street Journal‘s op-ed on the matter has a surprisingly naïve subtitle: …it’s a chance for China’s No 3 to hear local voices.

There’s this instead, though.

Officials say that 6,000 police will be on patrol and equipped to lock down roads and walkways whenever Mr Zhang moves about during his three-day stay.

And

Media interviews won’t be allowed during official events.

And the kicker:

The private purpose of Mr Zhang’s visit is to “inspect” Hong Kong, as state media put it, and to consider whether to give Mr [pro-Beijing Chief Executive of Hong Kong Leung Chun-ying] Leung a second five-year term.

Because Zhang and the PRC government will decide that, not the citizens of Hong Kong.

Doesn’t look to me like there’s much listening going on.

Greece and Loans

Posted on by
1

There is a kerfuffle going on just now among Greece, the IMF, Germany—mostly between Germany and the IMF.  The IMF wants to freeze interest rates on Greece’s loans for the next 30-40 years—so that Greece can pay up.  Germany is demurring from this, saying that’s not paying, that’s just delaying things.  Of course, the IMF is saying this about other nations’ loans; the IMF isn’t a current participant in them.

But there’s a misunderstanding at the center of the kerfuffle, and it has nothing to do with fixed interest rates or their duration.

[German Chancellor Angela Merkel] and many of her lawmakers believe that, without the IMF, the eurozone wouldn’t be able to enforce rigorous fiscal and economic overhauls in Greece in return for loans.

That might be difficult with the present round.  However, Germany, nor any of its fellow eurozone participants are obligated to loan to Greece, especially if the latter defaults on the current round.  The example of not lending further would be a valuable object lesson.

Of course, that also would take less timidity than Merkel, et al., are showing presently with their demand for IMF cover: on a default, Greece might leave the eurozone, and Europe is very much afraid of that.

Railroad Job

Posted on by
Reply

…that the rest of us can look forward to under a Clinton administration?  That would certainly be a continuation of the last seven-plus years.

The Nevada State Democratic Convention Saturday night didn’t exactly fall apart so much as it was terminated by the Clinton Chair of the thing as that person simply ended the convention and walked out.  With a number of unresolved questions, except by her fiat adjournment.

Clinton now has 20 Nevada delegates to Sanders’s 15 when their new delegates are combined with those awarded after the caucuses.

But there was immediate backlash as the results were announced, with many Sanders supporters crying foul over their reported exclusion from the process.

And [emphasis added]

Leslie Sexton, a convention credentials committee co-chair, took the microphone just after the final results were read and said she had a minority report but was not allowed to give it.

The crowd started up loud chants of “Let her speak” and “Recount,” and after a few minutes a Democratic National Committee (DNC) member gave her the podium.

Sexton reported that nearly 64 Sanders delegates to the state convention were excluded from the convention process.  The Vermont senator only had 33 fewer delegates than Clinton in attendance.

Sexton added

The credentials minority report is based on the challenge of 64 Sanders delegates.  Contrary to the procedures and precedents set by the committee, nearly none of these 64 people were presented with the opportunity to be heard by the committee or to demonstrate that they are registered Democrats.

Without the opportunity to be heard, no delegate could be stricken.  The actions of the credentials committee violates the spirit of the Nevada state delegate plan, which encourages full participation in the democratic process, and it violates the spirit and values of our state and our nation.

Nevertheless, Convention Chair Roberta Lange simply gaveled the Convention to a close and left on the instant.

Sexton is, unfortunately, naïve.  This is democracy, Progressive style.

A Good Reason to Leave

Posted on by
Reply

The International Monetary Fund said a British vote to leave the European Union could have significant and negative effects on the UK economy, the latest contribution by an international institution to the fierce debate over Britain’s future in Europe.

If the IMF thinks it’s a bad idea, it’s probably a pretty good idea.

More seriously, the IMF is making its assessment on this basis:

…a vote in the June 23 referendum to leave the EU could “precipitate a protracted period of heightened uncertainty, leading to financial market volatility and a hit to output.”

The uncertainty and ensuing volatility and output hit are non sequiturs.  Of course there’ll be turmoil during the transition.  There’s turmoil in any major transition.  That’s not a reason to do or not to do anything.  The reason, the valid reason to do or not come solely from the new régime post-transition, when things have stabilized again.  For the IMF to obfuscate like this is for the IMF to show itself unserious.

Long-term costs could be substantial?  This is purely speculative, at least as much so as the other side’s claims that long-term gains could be substantial.  And, frankly, the gains are more likely than the costs.  For one thing, the decisions leading to gains or costs will be solely those of the Brits, and not anything imposed on them by an extranational body that is not focused exclusively on what’s good for Great Britain.  For another thing, the Brits will lose the costs of a bureaucracy that depends badly on not just consensus within a single Parliament, but on consensus across nations that don’t share the same values regarding social, political, or monetary philosophy.

And Great Britain will be able to go back to a free market economy of its own devising, and not be straitjacketed by the social democratic economies of the continent.

The Feds Want to be in your Child’s School Bathroom

Posted on by
Reply

…right along with anyone else confused about who should or should not be there.

The Obama administration will send a letter to every public school district in the country telling them to allow transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that match their chosen gender identity, as opposed to their birth certificate.

President Barack Obama (D) threatened in his letter to withhold Federal funding for those school districts impertinent enough to not comply with his decree.  South Dakota v Dole might have an impact on his threat, but Obama has never let legitimacy get in the way of his edicts, and this is another lame duck/what’re-you-gonna-do-about-it-in-my-last-8-months example.

The Obama letter includes this gem:

As is consistently recognized in civil rights cases, the desire to accommodate others’ discomfort cannot justify a policy that singles out and disadvantages a particular class of students[.]

The class of students that consists of straight boys and girls don’t matter, though.  They need to check their privilege at the bathroom door.