Wannabe Congressional Spam, Part Deux

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Earlier this month I posted about a piece of SPAM I received from the campaign of Rory Blake.  Well, damnit, I just got another one from them.  Let me share it with you:

Subject: Let’s Do It!

Body:
$10 for Change

 
 This is your year: the year for change.


You can reclaim your government. You can make it once again a government of the people, by the people, and, yes, even for the people. It’s been a few years since you could say that, hasn’t it?


Yes, you
can reclaim your government, by changing it, one Congressional seat at
time – beginning with your own, North Carolina’s Sixth Congressional
District. You can help elect Rory Blake.


And if you were to do this, how much would it be worth to you?

How much would be worth to you to reclaim your government?

$10, maybe? After all, your share of the national debt is about $30,000. So $10 is not so much, is it?


Well, that’s what we need from you. Yep, that’s it: $10. Now, be honest, that didn’t really hurt, did it?

Why?
Well, let’s face it. No one knows Rory Blake’s name. But everyone knows
Howard Coble’s. So we need to get
Rory’s name out there, around the District. How? The old fashioned way:
signs and bumper stickers. And the new way: a Podcast. $10 from you is
what we need. Just click here to contribute.

$10 for Change.
Your contribution of just $10 will tell the people of this District
that Rory Blake is your
candidate. $10 will buy the signs and bumper stickers and Podcast you
need to do your part to reclaim your government. Amazing, isn’t it?
Just $10.
No joke. If everyone on our mailing list contributes $10, we’ll be able
to buy the signs and bumper stickers and Podcast we need.

Of course, we would very much appreciate a larger contribution, but, honestly, $10 will do it for now. After all, we are Democrats, not Republicans. And we are dealing with smaller vendors, not Halliburton.

When?
Now. Today. We need to start putting signs in our yards and stickers on
our cars and a Podcast on the Internet – today. Today. Click here to contribute. Now. Today.

How? This is the easy part. Actblue.com provides contribution services for Democratic candidates. Actblue
has collected millions for Democratic candidates all across America, and Actblue is collecting money for Rory Blake.
So you can trust Actblue when they ask for your credit card number. It’s quick. It’s simple: just click right here to contribute.

$10. That’s it. Not the thousands of dollars the PAC’s are giving to Howard Coble. Just $10. And all you have to do is click  here to contribute.

We can do this: $10 at a time.
To give yours, just click here.

Democracy … not corruption. That’s Rory’s promise to us. And that’s our promise to each other.

You can do this.
We can do this. We will do this.

Pass the Word.
We can make this happen. Forward this to everyone you know in the Sixth
District who wants change this year. Invite them to help make this
happen too. Tell
them to visit the campaign Web site, www.blake06.com. Invite them to contribute $10 by clicking here.


Remember, this is our country. This is our government. This is our year.

We can do this. No … We will do this. And with your help, we will begin today: click here.

I have to tell you that writing like this makes me wonder if he’s running for Congress or VP of the 10th grade class. My favorite line, besides the "Let’s Do It" cheerleading is, "Of course, we would very much appreciate a larger contribution, but, honestly, $10 will do it for now. After all, we are Democrats, not Republicans. And we are dealing with smaller vendors, not Halliburton." 

That’s the dumbest damn thing I’ve heard in a long time. Democrats don’t get big bucks from big business?  Please.  They’d be a lot smarter to play the outsider card, not the Democrat card.  Right now the general feeling is that those in power are dirty or corrupted by power regardless of their party affiliation.  They should play up their candidate’s outsider status and the fact that he isn’t a member of the club of the corrupted.  In fairness the message starts out with that theme but they can’t resist pulling the partisan card and killing it.  After all they might be able to pull in the independent or disillusioned Republican votes if they played it right.

Oh, and let me again point out that sending a partisan message to a stated independent who doesn’t even live in the congressional district their running for is probably not the best idea.  That tends to lead to pissy blog posts about how stupid you’re being.

The Mass-Affluent

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I learned alot from a three-paragraph blog post on BusinessWeek’s Hot Property blog.  For instance:

  • The Mass-Affluent: 33 million households that have investable assets between $100,000 and $1 million
  • The Mass-Affluent’s assets: 37% of their total assets tied up in real estate (23% in principal residences, 14% in investment real estate)
  • The wealthier’s assets: 21% (13% principal residence, 8% investment real estate) for those with investable assets of $1 million or more

And then there’s this scary quote:

No doubt, some of those mass affluent are the ones who were sold the
interest-only mortgages. That’s why their financial squeeze is only
just beginning as interest rates rise.

“Stupid in America” is Pretty Smart

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John Stossel is my favorite TV news guy.  I don’t always agree with him (usually do though) but I find his reporting to be thoughtful and I enjoy that he takes on everyday issues from a kind of common-sense point of view.

Earlier this year he took on public schools in his piece “Stupid in America” and once again I found myself agreeing with him.  He points out that we pay way too much for sub-par education and he feels that the best way to fix the problem is let parents choose the schools their kids go to.  Amen, brother.

Each year we get to see a multitude of new teachers via our kids.  You can always tell which teachers are engaging the kids because those are the subjects they talk about.  Usually, but not always, their grades are better in those classes but they always LEARN more in those classes.  Fortunately we’ve found the vast majority of their teachers to be at least average and some to be very good.

When we moved here we limited our search to a very finite area because of the schools.  It was the number one driver of our decision and we were fortunate that we had the flexibility to choose our location based on school performance. If we didn’t then I’d want the opportunity to get my kids into a decent school on my own.  Hey if I’m going to pay the bills (taxes) then I should be able to say where I’m getting the service.  And if you don’t give me that choice then you should set it up so I can be part of the hiring/firing process.  One way or another there needs to be accountability and the best way I know is the free-market system.  Perform or go out of business.

Our school system, Winston-Salem/Forsyth County, is actually pretty progressive, providing parents with the opportunity to pick between two or three alternate schools if they don’t like their child’s “home” school. They call it “controlled choice.”, and they even provide busing to the alternate schools. It’s not perfect because you’re still stuck if all the choices stink, but still it’s better than most school systems I’ve heard of. 

I’d personally like to see a system similar to what they have in western Europe (it’s described in Stossel’s piece) where each student basically has a price tag on them.  The school that attracts that student gets that student’s funding, so the schools are highly motivated to keep their customers, the students’ parents, happy. With that one fundamental change I think you’d make things like “No Child Left Behind” unnecessary since the parents would be able to leave the underperforming schools behind.

Unfortunately I think there will be ice skating in hell before that happens.

Another Reason I Love Jon Stewart

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The first time I remember seeing Jon Stewart he was hosting some short-lived late night show on CBS (I think it was CBS) and I just stumbled across it.  All I remember is thinking, “Damn that guys short” and “Damn that guys pretty funny.”  So when he took over the Daily Show I made sure to watch and have been rewarded ever since. 

Thanks to Patrick Eakes I just found the commencement address he gave at William & Mary in 04.  It has what is now my favorite quote about the war:

We declared war on terror. We declared war on
terror—it’s not even a noun, so, good luck. After we defeat it, I’m
sure we’ll take on that bastard ennui.

Of course with his first name you know he has to be brilliant; we “Jon” folks are a pretty sharp lot.

NC Rep. Compares Himself to Jesus, Kind Of

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The North Carolina legislature is working on reforming its ethics rules (I know, it’s an oxymoron) and they raised the reporting threshold for gifts from nonfamily members to $1,000 and gifts from anyone who does business with the state to $500.  Those that support the higher threshold said that they wouldn’t be influenced by less money than that, and in the best quote of the day Rep. Drew Saunders (D) of Mecklenburg County said:

“Even the baby Jesus accepted gifts, and I don’t think it corrupted him.”

Huh.  I think someon needs to remind Rep. Saunders that he’s no Jesus.

Is the Prerequisite for Being Nationally Syndicated That You Be a Total Moron?

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I was reading my Winston-Salem Journal this morning when I came across Cal Thomas’s op-ed piece titled "Morale Slippage in Iraq".  To be blunt this piece of horse dookey is something I’d expect from my middle-school kids.

The entire piece is about the supposed decline in morale among insurgents in Iraq, and it is based entirely on:

…documents authored by an al-Qaida operative and seized by U.S. soldiers during an April 16 raid in the Yusufiyah area (12 miles south of Baghdad) offer hope to the American side that success may be closer than we think.

The author’s name is not known, but his conclusion about the lack of progress by the insurgent-terrorists is revealing.

So let me get this straight; in a nationally syndicated column you’re going to predicate your entire argument that the insurgents are getting bummed out and we need to stay the course (i.e. ignore the ignorant pessimists calling for us to withdraw) on a document by an unknown author?  For all we know it could have been written by a lovelorn jihadist who’s figured out he misses his girlfriend.

Look at it from the other direction: what would you think of the intellect of someone who based their assessment of the enemy’s outlook on the writings of 18 year old Private Joe Smith from Boise, ID who’s pissed off that he’s frying his butt of in Iraq and happens to think that President Bush is an idiot and that his officers are a bunch of idiots and no one knows what they’re doing  You’d laugh your butt off.

Thomas goes on to list some specifics from the captured writings like:

The documents reveal "The Mujahidin do not have any stored weapons and ammunition in their possession in Baghdad" and that there are as few as 30 or 40 insurgents in some areas compared to "tens of thousands of the enemy troops."

"The only power the Mujahidin have," says the al-Qaida operative, "is what they have already demonstrated." That consists of sniper fire, "planting booby traps among the citizens and hiding among them in hope that the explosions will injure an American or members of the government."

Since the source is unknown how the heck are we supposed to know if this turkey even knows what he’s talking about.  Again it could be some kid who’s reporting what he’s heard through the grapevine.  And of course there’s also the possiblity that this is disinformation but Thomas never considers that.

I’ve never been a fan of Thomas, but as time goes by I’m beginning to wonder if he really can be as obtuse as his writing suggests.  Sadly, I think so.

Repairing the Healthcare System

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I don’t have any suggestions for repairing the healthcare system, but I’m hoping this blog does.  The blog’s author is the father of Brad Feld who is one smart dude and prominent blogger.

From his first post:

However, in 2006, the patient and the physician are generally listed last among “important” stakeholders by government, insurance companies, hospitals and policy makers.

Since
the patient is most important stakeholder. The patient should be in the
forefront of policy making. The physician is second.  All the other stakeholders are in reality simply facilitators for the patient and the physician. Everything done in the healthcare system should be done for the benefit of the patient first, and not for the economic bottom line of the other stakeholders. After all it is the patients’ healthcare system! Is it not?  The demand for repairing the healthcare system and action to fix it has to be made by the patient,

Economist on Immigration

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Over at Marginal Revolution there’s an “Open Letter on Immigration” (found via Freakonomics) that I found pretty interesting.  The part that really caught my attention was this:

Immigrants
do not take American jobs. The American economy can create as many jobs
as there are workers willing to work so long as labor markets remain
free, flexible and open to all workers on an equal basis.

Immigration
in recent decades of low-skilled workers may have lowered the wages of
domestic low-skilled workers, but the effect is likely to be small,
with estimates of wage reductions for high-school dropouts ranging from
eight percent to as little as zero percent.

While a small
percentage of native-born Americans may be harmed by immigration,
vastly more Americans benefit from the contributions that immigrants
make to our economy, including lower consumer prices. As with trade in
goods and services, the gains from immigration outweigh the losses. The
effect of all immigration on low-skilled workers is very likely
positive as many immigrants bring skills, capital and entrepreneurship
to the American economy.

Reading this made me feel a little dumb.  I fell for the weak argument that immigrants take Americans’ jobs, and hand-in-glove, the counter argument that they take jobs that no Americans will do.  Well, when you think about it immigrants have to eat, they need shelter and they have to travel to the job.  In other words they are consumers and they definitely do create jobs just by being here.

Now I’m not getting into the politics of illegal immigration here, but I do think find it interesting that it is so easy to accept at face value so many of the arguments on both sides of the debate.  We all know this is a complex issue and it only gets worse if we don’t use our noggins and get all the pertinent information.  Making decisions based on bromides won’t help anyone.

If Your Wife is Nutty You Might Want to Get Her Help

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If you’re made uncomfortable by stories of wives forcefully removing their husbands bollocks then you may not want to read this story.  Apparently the wife in this story is bi-polar and thought her husband was cheating on her.  According to the husband that caused her to:

“I mean she just grabbed me all down there and yanking and yanking and tearing me up with those fingernails.”

That was followed by a medical procedure that no man wants to think about: reattachment surgery.