May
12
2023

Hello! Hello! Hello! Hello!…

[The Canyon of His Mind]

In her syndicated column, Veronique de Rugy describes Why the Debt Ceiling Continues to Matter.

The debt-ceiling standoff has people concerned about what will happen if the U.S. defaults on its debt. I certainly hope both sides will come together to avoid this outcome. But it is still worth reminding everyone how incredibly precarious the status quo is, and why something needs to change.

You've heard the warnings about our debt levels, to the point where they might be easy to tune out. I make these all the time. When assessing how much we should worry, it's wise to look both at our current situation and where we're heading. This year, our budget deficit will likely be $1.4 trillion. What's more, the deficit will reach about $2.8 trillion in 2033. And that's assuming peace, prosperity, relatively low interest rates, no new spending and that some provisions of the 2017 tax cut will expire as scheduled.

Vero has more numbers at the link, and they are not reassuring.

Briefly noted:

  • Heckuva job, Governor. Damien Fisher reports on the lack of progress: NH State Website Still Touts Historic Marker Honoring Communist Leader.

    The “Rebel Girl” is still causing headaches for the Sununu administration a week after the governor said he wanted the state Historical Highway Marker honoring Communist Elizabeth Hurley Flynn removed.

    Despite the governor’s complaints, his own New Hampshire Department of Cultural and Natural Resources continues to tout the marker for Flynn, the former head of the American Communist Party, on its website.

    “The N.H. Division of Historical Resources is pleased to announce that a New Hampshire Historical Highway Marker honoring Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, a well-known labor, women’s rights, and civil liberties activist, has been installed at the corner of Court and Montgomery Streets in downtown Concord, near the site of her birthplace,” reads the press release, which was still online as of Wednesday.

    And, as we type on Friday, it is still online.

    Some wags refer to the Concord Monitor as Pravda on the Merrimack, and it's doing its level best to earn that nickname with its headline: Residents urge state commissioner to leave Concord historical marker in place.

    How many residents? Two.

    And they are the same ones who "urged" the erection of the marker in the first place.

    The two civil libertarians who petitioned for a historical marker in Concord to mark the birthplace of labor activists Elizabeth Gurley Flynn wrote to state officials Thursday urging them to reject calls for the placard’s removal.

    Gurley Flynn was a significant historical figure in the state and country and was much more than a Communist, they argued, which is what sparked criticism after the green marker was unveiled last week.

    I have no doubt that Elizabeth Gurley Flynn was "much more than a Communist". And George Lincoln Rockwell was much more than a Nazi. So?

    The article goes on to claim that "several [Concord] councilors said they would be disappointed if the state decided to remove the marker", but they are not named or quoted.

    But let's go see what the actual commies have to say. The People's World (direct descendent of the Daily Worker) points to the real enemy: New Hampshire Republicans want to erase Communist leader Elizabeth Gurley Flynn from history.

    Yes, this is kind of like claiming that getting rid of Confederate battle flags from statehouses in the south is erasing their history. But never mind that.

    The People's World story is pretty much the same AP story we pointed to on Tuesday, although the AP headline was slightly more anodyne: New Hampshire history marker for communist draws GOP anger. (And we observed the confirmation of Jim Treacher's observation: "When Republicans screw up, that's the story. When Democrats screw up, the Republicans' reaction is the story.")

    Beyond the headline, though, there's another small, but significant, difference between the two versions. The last few paragraphs of the People's World story:

    One marker from 2011 that was brought up during Wednesday’s meeting celebrates the 50th anniversary of the “Betty and Barney Hill incident,” during which the couple reported a close encounter with a UFO. Their experience was described in a best-selling book, a television movie, and numerous speaking engagements.

    “The UFO one I’m gonna live with,” said Kenney, the Executive Council member. “That’s a funny story.”

    A serious marker about a real-life historical figure who fought for women’s equality and labor rights is apparently too much, however.

    That last paragraph doesn't appear in the AP story. Hm.


Last Modified 2024-01-30 6:03 AM EDT