The Good, The Bad and the Tragedy

The Good
Today a Wisconsin judge (Dane County District Judge Maryann Sumi) temporarily blocked the anti-labor bill passed by the Wisconsin legislature from going into effect.  The ruling was based on the the hasty conference passing of the bill being in violation of the state's open meeting laws.  The bill can be brought up again by the state senate.  Wisconsin Republicans have indicated that rather than try to repass the law or compromise, they will appeal the ruling.

The Bad
House Republicans voted to end funding of National Public Radio.   Only 7 Republicans voted no, 1 voted present.  All Democrats voted no.  The right-wing has been trying for years to cut funding.  This emergency measure was rushed through after an NPR executive made some comments critical of Tea-Party extremists in an edited sting operation by a right-wing "muck-raker".  The efforts to cut off federal funding for the CPB and NPR are unlikely to move past the House since both the Senate and the Administration are opposed. 

The Tragedy
These battles over domestic spending pale when compared to some ongoing international tragedies.  The earthquake/tsunami/nuclear power plant disaster in Japan continues to worsen.  The devastation is incredible and the loss of life heart-breaking.   Meanwhile, a small crew of technicians remained on at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station trying to prevent a major catastrophe.  These are true, brave heroes and our thoughts and prayers are with them.  (See coverage in the New York Times.)

Long-term the effects will ripple around the world.  The impact of the triple disaster on Japan's economy will affect every indstrialized economy.  The learnings from the power plant disaster need to be analyzed and the risks assessed before moving forward with nuclear energy as an alternate to our primarily carbon-based energy.  The simple truth about nuclear power is that you cannot remove all risk from a complex system.  You can reduce the likelihood and you can reduce the impact should an accident occur.   Whether the remaining risk (the 'residual risk' in risk management terminology) is worth taking is a political and social decision that we all need to be engaged in.

Cost of War

Besides the lives lost, there is an enormous financial cost to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  As of today, the total cost of the wars since 2001 in Afghanistan and Iraq to the United States stands at about $1.1 trillion.  This is a major contributor to the budget deficit and one place where we can and should begin cutting immediately.  The proposed Afghanistan war spending for 2011 is $107 billion.  This is $47 billion dollars more than the total of the draconian House Republican budget cuts in domestic programs. 

The House Republican budget cuts would destroy 700,000 jobs.  Exiting Afghanistan would not.

The House Republican budget would endanger our health and safety due to cuts in key environmental and safety programs.  Exiting Afghanistan would save lives.

On the bad news front (bad for everyone except Karzai, the Afghan leader) Defense Secretary Gates said today that the US may continue to keep troops beyond 2014.  AP quotes him: "Obviously it would be a small fraction of the presence we have today, but I think we're willing to do that." 

Not me.  I don't want one penny more spent or one more life lost in this misguided war in the "Graveyard of Empires".