Voice in the Wilderness

Regime Change Begins with the Department of Education

I was unable to watch President Bush's State of the Union address this evening, but did read the transcript. Here are my initial thoughts....

"But our enemies and our friends can be certain: The United States will not retreat from the world, and we will never surrender to evil."

I love that line. No moral equivalence, no waffling. True and to the point.

"The Iranian government is defying the world with its nuclear ambitions - and the nations of the world must not permit the Iranian regime to gain nuclear weapons. America will continue to rally the world to confront these threats."

Translation: Get with the program or we're going to clean your clock. Some Europeans are even talking tough about Iran.

"It is said that prior to the attacks of September 11th, our government failed to connect the dots of the conspiracy. ...Previous presidents have used the same constitutional authority I have - and Federal courts have approved the use of that authority. Appropriate Members of Congress have been kept informed. "

Translation: Stop whining about the NSA wiretaps. If I didn't do it, you'd say I wasn't "connecting the dots".

"Our government has a responsibility to help provide health care for the poor and the elderly, and we are meeting that responsibility."

Where's that in the Constitution? Sometimes the Prez is a little too "Big Government" for me.

"We will strengthen Health Savings Accounts - by making sure individuals and small business employees can buy insurance with the same advantages that people working for big businesses now get."

HSA's can help break the entitlement mentality around health care. Reforming the tax code to provide the same incentive for consumer-directed health care.as employer sponsored health coverage is a very, VERY good idea. It can help put the self-employed and small businesses on more equal footing with big businesses.

"We must also change how we power our automobiles....."

The whole passage about energy policy sounded good, but is the need to increase research or remove barriers that have prevented private investment into new energy solutions? This smells like another big government subsidy, but at least it's not AlGore's enviro-harem scarem.

"American Competitiveness Initiative"

These education ideas sounds nice, but these goals are going to be hard in the face of the entrenched, collectivist public education regime. That's where we should focus our next "regime change" efforts!

"...and discouraged by activist courts that try to redefine marriage."

Wow! During the SOTU, Presidents usually couch such controversial comments in "code words" to targeted constituencies. But with 19 states passing defense of marriage amendments by huge margins and 43 having statutory language to that effect, maybe it is not so controversial afterall.

"Human life is a gift from our Creator - and that gift should never be discarded, devalued, or put up for sale."

Whoa Nellie! He's bringing the thunder now! Preach it, brother! A friend told me some of the Dems stood during this line. Red State Donkeys aren't stupid. Last two elections have been harsh school masters: cross the President and suffer on election day. Besides, I suspect some, deep down, agree with GWB on cloning, marriage, sanctity of life, but have heretofore been cowed by the Dem Kook Base. Now the wrath of constituents has sharpened their vision, stiffened their spines, and reset them on the straight and narrow (see the Roberts and Alito confirmations). 2002 and 2004 may prove more valuable than we yet realize.

"Will we turn back, or finish well?"

Another "line in the sand"....GWB must be a distant relative of Col. William B. Travis.

I'll have to watch the video, but overall the text seemed tight. It stressed visionary themes have seen in the past, to good effect. Still a little "Big Government-y" in places, but overall the themes and specific recommendations resonate with me.

I know that I could get tarred-and-feathered for saying this in Texas, especially in Austin these days, but I shook my head when I saw that UT is looking at a ‘substantial’ raise for Mack Brown. They’ve got to be kidding, right? Apparently not. And I don't know why I was surprised. Mack’s already getting the $100,000 raise written into his 10-year contract; and his current 2.159 mil salary is more than I’ll make in my lifetime. Of course that still isn't as much as Bob Stoops makes at 2.4 mil or Pete Carroll makes at 3 mil, but it's still a lot.

The reason for the bump in pay is that he won the national championship. I have a couple of problems with that premise. First off, Mack didn’t win the championship game, the players did. If UT Athletics want to put more into the football program to recognize their NAtional Championship, there are other ways to do that. They could increase athletic scholarships? Or better yet, how about giving raises to the classified staff who work for the football program and support Mack so that he can coach a winning team? I’m guessing he wouldn’t be as effective as a coach if he had to prepare the many reports the NCAA requires to verify player eligibility, or do his own typing, or answer all of the calls that come into the UT Football department. Most classified staff at UT don’t get paid that well even though they work just as hard as the coaches, but that’s another tirade for another blog.

The second problem I have with it is that if winning a national athletic championship is worth a salary of 2.5 million, then the UT Baseball coach is getting rooked. The Longhorn baseball team is the current defending National Champions, and I don’t think Augie makes the 2.5 million proposed for Mack. I also don't see the baseball team getting the same recognition as the UT basketball team, let alone the football team. John 34 essentially makes the same point in his Statesman blog “Red Headed Step Child”.

Sure Mack deserves recognition for his part in the National Championship win, but I don't think that means he deserves a 2.5 mil salary.