Governor Gary Johnson

Governor Gary Earl Johnson is a candidate who might represent the Tea Party and libertarian movements in the Republican Party in 2012. Currently, the Tea Party out-polls the Republican Party, so Johnson may be nominated. Because President Obama's popularity has been waning while the Tea Party's has been waxing, Johnson may be elected president. He has had an outstanding record with respect to fiscal conservatism as governor of New Mexico.

Concerning his personal background, Wikipedia writes that "Johnson has advocated libertarian ideals of limited government and non-interventionism." He attended the University of New Mexico, where he worked as a handyman to make ends meet. After graduation, he built a construction firm, Big J Enterprises, which he sold in 1999. According to its website, Big J fabricates, installs and maintains piping, air handling systems and is a specialty mechanical contractor. Its clients include General Mills, Sandia Labs and Los Alamos National Laborartory.

In 1994 Johnson was elected governor of New Mexico at a time when New Mexico was 2 to 1 Democratic. In its 2002 ranking of governors' fiscal performances, the Cato Institute gave Johnson a "B" which means that his score was in the top 15% of the nation's governors (the report is embedded below). The report gave only two governors A's. There were 11 B's, 9 C's, 15 D's and four F's. The score is based on a numerical ranking, but the numerical ranking is likely unfair because Johnson was saddled with a left-wing legislature that he had to aggressively fight. In its qualitative discussion of Johnson's record, the Cato report says that Johnson was part of a "thin crop" of fiscal conservatives in 2002 and:

"On such issues as school vouchers and the right to bear arms, Johnson has shown two strong tendencies: a commitment to individual freedom and a willingness to take a hard look at the evidence. Looking at the facts, he concluded that crime is reduced when law-abiding citizens are allowed to carry guns and that kids would get a better education if their families had a choice of schools...Gary Johnson held off a big spending legislature with three budget votes in 2002."

While governor, Johnson vetoed 750 bills.

Politco.com says:

"Johnson is starting to sound like a mad-as-hell populist with an eye cast on 2012 and the building fury aimed at Washington."

Politico describes Johnson as "the next Ron Paul".

United Liberty.org says that Johnson "takes a far less restrictive view" on immigration than many on the populist right." The site quotes Joe Wierzbicki of the Tea Party Express:

“He championed personal liberty and a smaller, less intrusive government, and we applaud both his record and his efforts to continue his fight at the national level,”...(Johnson has)“generated a lot of excitement in the Ron Paul constitutionalist and libertarian sect, which is furious about the policies of both Bush and Obama and the Congress of the last three sessions.”

David Boaz of the Cato Institute notes that:

"On such issues as school vouchers and the right to bear arms, Johnson has shown two strong tendencies: a commitment to individual freedom and a willingness to take a hard look at the evidence. Looking at the facts, he concluded that crime is reduced when law-abiding citizens are allowed to carry guns and that kids would get a better education if their families had a choice of schools."

The Gary Johnson 2012 site notes these accomplishments:

* He didn't raise taxes as Governor once.
* He vetoed over 1,000 spending items.
* He cut taxes 14 times.
* In a state dominated 2 to 1 by Democrats he served two terms.
* He left New Mexico with a balanced budget.

The site describes the following as Johnson's "Seven Principles of Good Government":

1. Become reality driven. Don’t kid yourself or others. Find out what’s what and base your decisions and actions on that.
2. Always be honest and tell the truth. It’s extremely difficult to do any damage to anybody when you are willing to tell the truth–regardless of the consequences.
3. Always do what’s right and fair. Remember, the more you actually accomplish, the louder your critics become. You’ve got to learn to ignore your critics. You’ve got to continue to do what you think is right. You’ve got to maintain your integrity.
4. Determine your goal, develop a plan to reach that goal, and then act. Don’t procrastinate.
5. Make sure everybody who ought to know what you’re doing knows what you’re doing. Communicate.
6. Don’t hesitate to deliver bad news. There is always time to salvage things. There is always time to fix things. Henry Kissinger said that anything that can be revealed eventually should be revealed immediately.
7. Last, be willing to do whatever it takes to get your job done. If you’ve got a job that you don’t love enough to do what it takes to get your job done, then quit and get one that you do love, and then make a difference.

Some questions I have for Governor Johnson are as follows:

1. What are three things he learned from his company that could be applied to the federal government?

2. To what degree does he see it possible to cut the federal budget? How will he go about cutting?

3. What is his position on the bailout and TARP?

4. What is his position on health reform? On how to control health care costs?

5. What is his position on the Fed? On the gold standard?

6. What is his position on the Middle East?

7. What is his position on (a) Afghanistan, (b) Iraq, (c) terrorism?

8. What is his position on states' rights and state sovereignty?

9. What is his position on Social Security?

Fiscal Policy Report Card on America's Governors: 2002, Cato Policy Analysis No. 454 ...

Genetics and the Jews

My father sent me this JLTV video about John Entine's book "Abraham's Children". Geneticists' findings include the following:

-Arthur Koestler's claim that Ashkenazie (eastern European) Jews are descended from the Khazarian Empire is probably false.
-75-80% of Jews on the father's line have Middle Eastern genes and 50% of Jews on the mother's line have them. The difference is due to intermarriage when Jewish males settled in foreign areas, for instance, during the Roman era.
-70-80% percent of people named "Cohen" and so claim to be descended from Moses's brother Aaron have six genetic markers that trace back 3300 years, consistent with this claim.
-the African Lemba tribe in remote southern Africa that practice a variant of ancient Judaism have the same genes. More than 50% of the Lemba priests have the same Cohen markers that trace back 3300 years. Plus, the chief of the tribe is named Hymie Horowitz (just kidding).
-Jews have IQs that average between 7 and 17 points above the world average. If looking at verbal-only, Jews average an IQ 23 points higher than average.
-Into the 1400s Ashkenazie Jewry numbered between 15,000 and 25,000 people. Today, they are 80% of world Jewry despite a large percentage having been killed in the holocaust (most American Jews are Ashkenazie).
-The same gene that causes 40 Jewish-specific diseases may also cause higher IQs. If someone has two then it can result in disease, but if someone has one then it can result in higher IQs.

I can't help but wonder if the most virulent kinds of anti-Semitism that appeared in eastern Europe and Germany are related to the rapid growth of Ashkenazie Jewery between 1400 and 1900. In 1400 there were at most 25,000 Ashkenazie Jews in eastern Europe. In 1900 there were many millions.

200th Blog on New National Association of Scholars Site

Ashley Thorne, the coordinator of the National Association of Scholars blog, to which I have been contributing, just sent this message:

>Hi Professor Langbert,

>Hope your semester is off to a good start. I just wanted to let you know that your blog entry on “The Price of Academic Integrity” was the 200th post of the NAS blog. Thanks for all your good blogging!

- Ashley

Ashley adds that:

>Since creating the blog in late September, we have posted over 200 entries and received nearly 10,000 views. We’ve been linked by Joanne Jacobs, the History News Network, Campus Reform, and Minding the Campus.

>We have touched on many different themes, from student learning outcomes to online education to Climategate. Our most frequently used categories are Diversity, Political Correctness, Sustainability, and Academic Standards. There are now 27 of us signed up as authors, with 8 or 9 contributing regularly.

If you haven't seen the NAS blog yet, please take a look. They've got a great list of contributors, including Candace de Russy. NAS is a wonderful organization.

I've reproduced my blog on "The Price of Academic Integrity".

The Price of Academic Integrity

>News Busters, the blog of the Media Research Center, reports that the National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR) has stated that Michael Mann, a Penn State climatological researcher involved in the recent e-mail scandal, received “$541,184 in economic stimulus funds last June to conduct climate change research.”

NCPPR has issued a press release criticizing the Obama administration “for awarding a half million dollar grant from the economic stimulus package to Penn State professor Michael Mann, a key figure in the Climategate controversy.” The release states that Professor Mann is currently under investigation by Penn State Univesity “because of activities related to a closed circle of climate scientists who appear to have been engaged in agenda-driven science.”

Republican Excitement Grows

My in-box is overflowing with messages from friends about a number of developments, bad and good. My neighbor, a life long Democrat, just sent me this message about the Democrats' and Obama's yucky health care reform courtesy of Newsmax:

>Dear Reader:

>Time is critical. Americans all over the country are fed up with the Obama administration. They don't want his radical healthcare program.

Citizens from states like Massachusetts, Nebraska, Florida and others are rising up as never before.

Even in liberal states such as Massachusetts citizens are showing their outrage over the Obama-Pelosi-Reid alliance and it's dismal record at creating jobs and inability to protect us against terrorism...

...You can help this effort by Going Here Now.

The site to which you are directed shows this video:



The famously dynamic and lovely Raquel Okyay, congressional candidate and leader of southern Ulster County, reminds us that:

>A win on Tuesday for Scott Brown, needless to say, will be a big win for the Republican party and a win for those of us fighting against healthcare "reform".

I urge you to do whatever you can to help Scott Brown win.

>Read my commentary here.

In her blog Raquel notes:

>One does not have to be a political mastermind to see what is happening in America today. Glenn Beck’s claim that the Obama administration’s goal is to transform the Nation in a way that mirrors Hugo Chavez’ take- over of Venezuela, indeed, has validity. The amount of government control and over the top spending that the Obama White house and the Democrat controlled Congress have assumed in one year is unprecedented and will take many years to salvage...

>State Senator Scott Brown is running his campaign against “wasteful government spending and higher taxes.”

>...The American people are angry that the President promised that these negotiations would be aired on C-span at least eight times on the campaign trail, and so far, nothing. No one really knows what the final bill will entail, but everyone knows it will raise health insurance costs, and it will ration care.

Phil Orenstein, up and coming party leader of Queens County, New York forwarded a link to the Go West Blog, which "proudly supports Lt. Col. Allen West's candidacy for Congress." West is running in Florida and is a wonderful candidate.

Glenda McGee attended the Kingston, NY Tea Party meeting on Monday night and George Phillips's announcement of his congressional candidacy yesterday. McGee is fighting cap and trade and keeps getting her photo on newspaper covers. One article was about the Tea Party from Oklahoma and they put her picture on the cover even though she lives in the Town of Olive!

Even President Barbara Bowen of the left wing faculty union of the City University of New York, the Professional Staff Congress, and her lieutenant Mariah Berger, have sent around e-mails urging the union's left-to-liberal college faculty membership to make calls in opposition to the bogus health care bill's tax on union benefit plans:

>Dear Professor Langbert,

>Thank you for your response. In her email yesterday President Bowen urged PSC members to take action in support of fair health care reform and in opposition to the proposal to tax “Cadillac” health plans. This position on health care reform is that of the union as a collective, after debate, discussion and a democratic vote. We understand that not all individual members share these sentiments, however, and we appreciate your comments. We respect and value your views and Barbara Bowen thanks you for taking the time to share them.

>Sincerely,

>Moriah Berger

That e-mail really tickled me. I doubt that there are more than ten unions more left wing than the Professional Staff Congress. I also doubt that there was a higher Obama-to-McCain voting ratio in any union in the country than in the Professional Staff Congress. But even the Grasmcian Marxists are complaining about Obama now.

Here is the union president's, Barbara Bowen's, e-mail:

>Dear Colleague,

Today is the labor movement’s National Call-In Blitz to demand fairness to working people in health care legislation. I am asking you to take a minute or two to call your US Representative and Senator today. The AFL-CIO’s call-in line will connect you immediately: 1-877-323-5246. Tell your representative that you support fair health care reform but that you oppose the plan for a 40 percent excise tax on so-called “Cadillac” health plans.

Taxing benefits is bad policy and bad politics. Benefit cuts and increased consumer costs are NOT health care reform.

The Senate bill would impose an excise tax paid by employers on benefit plans exceeding $23,000 for family coverage and $8,500 for individuals. CUNY faculty and staff would not be immediately affected by the proposed excise tax, as our current healthcare benefits fall below the threshold in the Senate bill. But the benefits tax is designed to apply to more plans, and more people, every year. The cap on benefits grows much more slowly than the rate of medical inflation. A plan under the cap today could easily be over the cap tomorrow and subject to a 40 percent excise tax. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 20% of employee health plans would be affected within 3 years.

The theory underlying this provision is that employers will reduce benefits to avoid paying the excise tax and presumably pay their employees the balance that would have gone to insurance. These increased wages, taxed as regular income, would be used to finance health reform. Assuming employers would voluntarily pass on savings to their workers—a long shot at best—the most likely result will be a reduction in the quality of employee health benefits.

This is a critical week for influencing the final shape of the legislation. PSC members, like millions of other Americans, hoped and fought for single-payer health reform. But this is our chance to make the current bill as fair as we can make it. Please call or email today: http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/healthcare010810.

We are now closer to reform than we’ve been in generations. We can’t stop now.

In solidarity,
Barbara Bowen
President