Street Light at 13th Avenue and Mill Creek Parkway

In the wake of another accident on Mill Creek Parkway last weekend -- this one took the life of a 77 year-old woman -- a resident has posted an online petition requesting a traffic study and consideration of a full stop light at that intersection. Currently there is simply a blinking yellow yield light.

I have signed it and I urge others to do so as well. Link to petition.

Edit: Yes, I am aware that I misspelled Clinton on my entry. Been a long week.
----------------
Now playing: 1990s - "You're Supposed To Be My..."
via WOXY

Meanwhile, Back at the Statehouse...

Sen. John Putney, R-Gladbrook, has become the third Iowa senator to retire in a few weeks.

Putney was elected in 2002 and is in his second term. He is head of the Iowa State Fair Blue Ribbon Foundation, and said he'll focus his time and energy on the State Fair after he leaves office.

He joins Senate Republican Leader Mary Lundby, of Marion, and Sen. Thurman Gaskill, of Corwith, in announcing plans to not seek re-election.

All three are veteran lawmakers who would be overwhelming favorites to win another term in office, and their decisions mean Republicans will have to defend at least three open seats in next year's election.

Democrats grabbed control of the Senate in last year's election by a lopsided 30-20 edge. They also control the House by a 53-47 margin and hold the governor's office. That gives Democrats control of state government for the first time in 42 years, and Republicans are struggling to recover.

Of the 25 Senate seats that will be on the ballot next year, Republicans must defend 14 while 11 Democrats are on the ballot. None of the Democrats facing re-election have announced plans to step down.

Progressives are presented with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to cement a veto-proof majority in both houses of the legislature.

We need to focus on finding good candidates in all districts. And in January when the legislature convenes, we need to apply pressure to this new legislature to follow-up on the wishes of the people that put them there: to pass VOICE with mandatory limits and to produce some meaningful health care reform, for starters. Then they can get down to the serious work of finding a way to fund the maintenance of Iowa's roads and bridges in the future.

----------------
Now playing: Chicago Public Radio
via FoxyTunes

Tidbits for the End of Summer

I've set a personal record for monthly billings this month so, I'm a bit bushed. I'll be making some major posts soon. In the meantime, here are some tidbits that will be of interest to regular readers:

One of the best sources for inside information on energy policy has called it quits. Policy Pete has hung 'em up. His last post should be at the link above. As far as I know, Pete -- whose pseudonym I have cursorily attempted to break through to no avail, but whose domain is owned by, Grand Finandels Trust, a company that seems to abide by the old WASP slogan, "A person's name should appear in the paper when they are born, when they marry and when they die." --is apparently a player in in the energy and financial sectors. Hopefully he will keep his archive up in perpetuity. It's links will remain a treasure trove of resources on energy policy. And for what it is worth in regards to my last post on the Magic Number for Peak Oil being 86.13mdb in 2006, Pete's pick is: 107mbd in 2017. You pays your money and you takes your chances.

If you are going to go and make one of the centerpieces of your political career anti-homosexuality and you have irresistible urges to engage in intercourse with members of the same sex you should probably consider a job in the private sector. What is it with these guys anyway?

If have that feeling, as I often do, that despite "reasonable" raises over the past six years or so you feel like you actually have less to spend, then you are probably right. Barry Ritholtz at the Big Picture wraps up some recent findings in Real Income Fails to Rise for Most of the 2000's. Remember, the Fed's inflation statistics measures inflation ex-inflation

Hang in there. A site redesign is in the works and a major post coming early next week.

----------------
Now playing: This Picture - "Naked Rain"
via WOXY Vintage

Peak Oil Magic Number: 86.13 MB/D

Over at The Oil Drum the latest International Energy Association energy production estimates have been parsed and posted.

The key figure is on worldwide liquids production and demand. Liquids include crude oil, liquid natrual gas, ethanol, etc. The case for peak production is pretty clear. In July of 2006 world liquids production hit 86.13 million barrels per day (MB/D). It has not hit that level since. Estimates are that global production will continue to hover in the "peak plateau" range of between 85 and 86 MB/D through 2009-10 before tapering off as Saudi and Mexican production begins to deplete.

Key producer Saudi Arabia retains its 2005 C&C peak (Fig 10), which is the same as the peak year for world C&C (Fig 2). Saudi Arabia C&C production has now dropped to 8.6 mbd which is 1 mbd less than its peak in 2005. It is now almost a certainty that Saudi Arabia passed peak C&C production of 9.6 mbd in 2005 (Figs 9,10).

Complete details available at the links to The Oil Drum above. Here is the picture that is worth 1000 words. Click to enlarge.



----------------
Now playing: Touch And Go - "Would You Go To Bed With Me?"
via FoxyTunes

From the mouths of the All American Division...

Seven active duty paratroopers in the 82nd Airborne Division pen a must-read Op-Ed in the Sunday New York times,The War as We Saw It:

Viewed from Iraq at the tail end of a 15-month deployment, the political debate in Washington is indeed surreal. Counterinsurgency is, by definition, a competition between insurgents and counterinsurgents for the control and support of a population. To believe that Americans, with an occupying force that long ago outlived its reluctant welcome, can win over a recalcitrant local population and win this counterinsurgency is far-fetched. As responsible infantrymen and noncommissioned officers with the 82nd Airborne Division soon heading back home, we are skeptical of recent press coverage portraying the conflict as increasingly manageable and feel it has neglected the mounting civil, political and social unrest we see every day. (Obviously, these are our personal views and should not be seen as official within our chain of command.)

...

A few nights ago, for example, we witnessed the death of one American soldier and the critical wounding of two others when a lethal armor-piercing explosive was detonated between an Iraqi Army checkpoint and a police one. Local Iraqis readily testified to American investigators that Iraqi police and Army officers escorted the triggermen and helped plant the bomb. These civilians highlighted their own predicament: had they informed the Americans of the bomb before the incident, the Iraqi Army, the police or the local Shiite militia would have killed their families.

A courageous speaking out by these gentlemen. It will be interesting indeed to see what politicians and the chattering classes make of this in the next week. Will these men be hung out to dry? Will they become celebrity darlings of the anti-war movement?

Or might the honest opinions of serving grunts finally begin to bend the support of that faithful few in Congress upon whose continuing support the Bush Administration's war plans increasingly depend?

Whither the GOP

Watching the continuing pissing contests between Rudy and Mitt about who is "tougher" on immigration is really quite sad. The entire GOP nomination contest thus far seems like a race to the bottom to corner the market on the religious fanatic and crypto-fascist voting blocs which, apparently are now necessary to secure the Republican nomination.

All to the good in my opinion. The Republican party in its present form could use eight, twelve or sixteen years in the political wilderness.

Former John McCain political strategist, Patrick Hynes, takes a magnifying glass to his own party's increasing fragmentation.

First, let’s be clear, American conservatism has devolved from a movement into an identity group. After my client Sen. John McCain decided not to attend this year Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) a great many of my friends demanded to know why. Now, these were my friends and I knew which of them did and did not support Sen. McCain (or were ever even likely to support Sen. McCain), so I countered their demands with a simple question: But you don’t like Sen. McCain and you have said you would never vote for him under any circumstances; why would you even want him here? Without exception the reply came back as some variation of the following: Because he needs us and if he expects us to support him he needs to come to us, we’re not going to go to him.

This is the language of an identity group, not a movement. This is the identical sentiment expressed by the NAACP when Bob Dole decided not to speak at their conference in 1996. My conservative friends were not the least bit interested in John McCain’s 24-year pro-life voting record or his stalwart fight again corrupting pork and profligate spending. No, they were interested in being shown respect.

But respect is a two-way street, which brings me to my second point: Identity-group conservatives have shown a shocking lack of respect for fellow conservatives who stray on a particular issue or two. I have personally had my patriotism questioned by (ex-) friends because I believe in a comprehensive approach to immigration reform. National Review infamously lambasted non-Iraq War supporting conservatives as “Unpatriotic” in 2003. A healthy movement can withstand the occasional division on key issues; a chauvinistic identity group cannot...

Of course, winning the War on Terror - whether in Iraq, Afghanistan, Boston, New York or wherever — is vitally important. I’m not warning my conservative friends off the idea of furthering the cause of global freedom; but we need to acknowledge that the public is simply not with us on the Iraq War and growing more distrustful of us by the day on the broader conflict against radical Islamism. If we are going to insist that national security is one of our two signature issues, we ought to, at the very least, have credibility on it...

When it comes to our issues matrix in the present political environment, I have to be the bearer of bad news to my rightwing friends: The party of torture and immigration restriction is not a majority party and doesn’t have much of a future.

Chaos Cannot Sustain Itself.

Jon Stewart's monolouge from September 20, 2001. His first broadcast after the disasters of September 11. I'm pretty sure I saw this when it was on, but those days were pretty weird. But it is worth watching again to remember how amidst all the sadness there was a lot of hope for a better America.

Hat tip to Democratic Underground. Stewart may come off as a clown and many will deride him as pandering to know-nothing slackers. But I think that behind all the sophomoric humor there are some very serious, very smart people who love this country very much. Sometimes one can only get away with saying the kinds of things they do about those in power if it is hidden behind a veil of "harmless, juvenile humor." He's dead serious here though.

Stewart: The view from my window used to be the Twin Towers. Now it is the Statue of Liberty.




----------------
Now playing: Maps - "It Will Find You"
via WOXY

Bush's Real Legacy:

The biggest taxer, the biggest spender in history. David Boaz at the CATO institute -- yes, that CATO institute -- crunches the numbers.

----------------
Now playing: Ella Fitzgerald & Duke Ellington - "Satin Doll"
via FoxyTunes

Petition Drive 101

For those from out of town, the Clinton Community Schools wish to extend the Instructional Support Levy (property tax assessment) a further one percent to a 9 percent rate. This translates into 26 cents per $1,000 of assesed value. On a $200,000 home, that's $52.00 per year. $52 per year, per homeowner to help fund the schools.

More background here, all the financial details, here.

There are those who feel that any tax increase no matter how small, no matter in what cause is one more small step towards Communism. They announced a petition drive to force a referendum on the tax increase, as is their Constitutional right, nay duty to do. Of course, they knew full well that no city referendum has passed in Clinton since the original ISL Levy passed on its second attemt in 2002. And there is one nearly every year.

When the petitions were submitted<, well, things weren't quite as cut and dried as they seemed as today's article shows:

On Aug. 6, a petition was filed by community members, with Board Secretary and District Business Director Gayle Isaac to submit the following resolution to the voters: “Shall the Clinton Community School District, of Clinton, Iowa, be authorized to levy a 1 percent increase from 8 percent to 9 percent, the assessed rate of 26 cents per $1,000 property evaluation and to also increase to 8 percent the state income tax surtax rate from the support of the Instructional Support Levy; with the collection of the levy commencing July 1, 2008, through June 30, 2013.”

The petition has to have 401 valid signatures. But according to Clinton School District Superintendent Randy Clegg, the petition was worded incorrectly and the petition did not have the required number of signatures.

...

“Their petition actually calls for an election on an instructional support program that is worded in such a way that it will not work,” he explained.

The petition also failed to be presented with the required 401 signatures of eligible voters as required under Iowa Code Section 257.18(2).

The petition was forwarded to the Clinton County Auditor, Commissioner of Elections, Charlie Sheridan. He reviewed the petition to determine if it contained the required number of signatures. An analysis provided to the district showed that only 374 verifiable signatures of eligible voters were on the petition.

During tonight’s meeting, the board will go into closed session as provided in Section 21.5(1)(c) of the open meetings law to discuss strategies with counsel. When the meeting reopens, Clegg said the board will act on a resolution to invalidate the petition.

Does anyone know how many signatures the committee claimed to have? Shocking I know, but the Herald seems to have omitted this salient fact.

410 are required but how many did they claim to have turned in? The article says the Auditor only validated 374. That's a six percent miss.

Six to ten percent is pretty average for a petition drive. People sign twice (deliberately or not) non-eligible people sign ("Here, have my cousin from Sabula sign too!"). So in order to guarantee a good petition drive, you should have, say at least 10 percent more signatures than you need.

Of course, turning in more signatures shows political muscle, so lots of groups will go out of their way to deliver two or three times the required number. But, 28 days is a tight schedule, so I can see where just getting the bare minimum for comfort was the best doable option.

So, a ten percent cushion would mean submitting at least 442 signatures.

If the signature count isn't good enough, then arcane arguments about resolution language are moot. Of course, if one were in deadly earnest about this issue, one would probably also have an attorney familiar with ballot language at least have a look at it first.

The petition language thing is (I suppose) legit. Although I think what it is really about is a big middle finger from the School District to the petition organizers. It is the School District saying, "We can pay for lawyers. Can you?" Hardball? Certainly. Suitable for Clinton? Most would say no, but a great man once said, "Politics ain't beanbag."

Play to win or go home.

The hearing was tonight. More as it develops.

Edit The wife informs me that this article from last week tells me that 475 signatures were handed in. That's a whopping 25 percent miss rate. So, pretty sloppy work on the petition drive. You have to police that stuff. It's not total signatures, it's total valid signatures.

Still, if the School Board had any inkling they were that far off the mark, why bother to play hardball with the petition language?

----------------
Now playing: Duke Ellington - "Mood Indigo"
via FoxyTunes

Presidential Candidate Extravaganza in Clinton, Aug. 18

Rep. Polly Bukta's annual corn boil, which is always the political event of the summer in Clinton County, will be even more of a must-attend this year. She has wrapped up Sens. Clinton, Biden and Dodd as well as John Edwards. Sen. Obama has promised "a major surrogate," but not himself. Hopefully, the Obama campaign will send out the Senator's wife who is supposed to be a rather compelling person and speaker in her own right.

In addition to the presidential candidates, most of the regional statewide office holders will be in attendance. Congressman Bruce Braley will also be there.

All in all, a fine day to eat some food and pigeonhole your elected officials about whatever is on your mind.

The event has become so large that is has moved from Rep. Bukta's home to Alliant Energy Field. Noon to 4 p.m. $10 gets you some corn and a bevvy. The ball park will be serving its usual fare at the concession stands. No reservations required. Children 12 and under are free.

----------------
Now playing: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - "Whatever Happened to My Rock 'n Roll"
via FoxyTunes

Real Energy Bills Pass the House

H.R. 2776, The Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act was passed in the House in a rare Sunday session. The vote was 215 - 191 with five Democrats and all Republicans voting nay. Link to roll call. Next step the Senate.

Key provisions of H.R. 2776:

• Extends through 2012 the tax credit for the pro more...duction of electricity from renewable resources (e.g., wind, closed and open-loop biomass, geothermal energy, small irrigation power, municipal solid waste, and qualified hydropower).


• Allows a new tax credit for the production of qualified plug-in hybrid motor vehicles. Defines "qualified plug-in hybrid vehicle" as a motor vehicle weighing less than 14,000 pounds that meets certain emission standards under the Clean Air Act and that is propelled to a significant extent by an electric motor that draws electricity from a rechargeable battery.

H.R. 3221 was re-titled at the last minute, The United States-Israel Energy Cooperation Act. (ed. - I have no idea.) It passed on Sunday also on a mostly party line vote, 241 - 171. (Link to roll call.

This bill contained the Udall Renewable Energy Porfolio Standard. Link to bill.

Earlier in the year the Senate had rejected a bill with an RPS provision. So conference committee is where the sausage will finally be made.
----------------
Now playing: Sugar - "Helpless"
via WOXY

House Energy Legislation Update

The CAFE standards seem to have been pulled from consideration. The renewable energy portfolio standard (former H.R. 969) has been added as an amendment to H.R. 3221, a general energy bill being sponsored by Speaker Pelosi.

The Oil Drum will have all the developments. Check the comments.

----------------
Now playing: Joan As Police Woman - "I Defy"
via WOXY

Motion on Energy Bills in the House.

Two major energy bills are headed towards floor votes in the House probably Friday, Aug 4. I haven't yet sorted out what amendments were made yesterday. This is one of those Congressional doozies, a 700-plus page bill of high complexity that will have a lasting impact on the future of the nation. Lawmakers will thus only have about 48 hours to familiarize themselves with its provisions.

In all likelihood we will be seeing two major provisions:
1) Higher CAFE (mandated fuel economy) standards for autos and trucks.
2) A national renewable energy portfolio standard for utilities.

Full coverage, including links to the bills and info on amendments are over at The OilDrum. I'll be weighing in later as the actual provisions become clear.

Update, 3:30, Aug. 2: The national renewable energy portfolio bill is H.R. 969 sponsored by Rep. Tom Udall (D NM-3). Not sure of its particular status. Comments on TOD say it has been pulled, but Grist Magazine says it is scheduled for a vote on Friday. Also on deck is the larger energy and tax bill, H.R. 2776 from Rep. Charlie Rangel (D NY-15).

Open Congress will have your legislators' contact information (as if you didn't already know it).

----------------
Now playing: Dappled Cities - "Fire Fire Fire"
via WOXY