The World Around You

Kevin Drum has an interesting interview with Paul Krugman. At one point in the discussion Drum asks about what happens if the gap between the rich and the poor in this country continues to go up? Krugman responds,

One thing that happens is you have an adversarial kind of society, you have a society in which people don’t share the same lives at all, don’t share the same values. Politically, it leads to erosion of the support for public institutions that we need.

Take this catastrophe in Alabama just now. It was a dispute about taxes, but what’s ultimately at stake is, are they going to do anything to improve that dismal primary education system in Alabama or is it going to get even worse because of the budget crisis? And the answer is, it’s going to get even worse.

It’s funny, some of the businesses in Alabama were supporting Riley’s tax plan because they actually are starting to understand that a decent education level is more important to them than a couple of points off their taxes. But it gets harder to have that sort of enlightened social policy when you have a society that’s so radically differentiated. Think of Latin America. The characteristic thing in Latin America is that they have lousy infrastructure and lousy education systems because they’re so polarized on income, and in turn that leads to low development and polarized income. You get this kind of downward spiral. And there’s something like that happening here.

No doubt!

Of course Krugman gave his perspective on the Alabama debacle in this weekend’s NY Times Magazine. This piece includes this little nugget, “Aside from the capital gains taxes paid during the bubble years, the share of income Americans pay in taxes has been flat since Richard Nixon was president.” Feel free to use that the next time someone says taxes are out of control.

Two articles in the Montgomery Advertiser reveal interesting information on our beloved Montgomery Biscuits:

I give all the credit in the world to Tom Dickson and Sherry Myers. They know how to keep interest in the team going. Tickets will be going on sale soon and that will raise the anticipation even more. I think people will be surprised at the number of tickets sold early in the process. There is more excitement below the surface than anyone realizes. The stadium looks great and is going to be a wonderful facility for the city for all kinds of purposes.

Check it out. GO BISCUITS!

The New York Post reports this morning,

CNN news chief Jim Walton had a “private converation” with reporter Christiane Amanpour after she accused her own network of being “intimidated” in its coverage of the Iraqi war.
Amanpour, a guest on last week’s “Topic A with Tina Brown” on CNBC, set off shockwaves in the TV world over the weekend when she said she thought her employer, CNN, was “muzzled” in its war coverage by a combination of the White House and its competitive position with the higher-rated Fox News Channel.

“I think the press was muzzled, and I think the press self-muzzled,” she said. “I’m sorry to say that, but certainly television and, perhaps, to a certain extent, my station, was intimidated by the administration and its foot soldiers at Fox News.”

Will Christiane suffer the same fate as Ashleigh Banfield? We shall see, but it doesn’t make what she has said any less true. Fox News has changed the tone of reporting news on television. I am not making the “liberal media/conservative media”. There are outlets that are conservative and outlets that are liberal. It would certainly be easier if they would just acknowledge that fact, as is the norm in other countries.

I contend that Fox News has fundamentally shifted the other 24-hour news stations to a pro-administration stance. The other networks are now fighting for FNC’s audience (a losing strategy), by censoring themselves when it comes to criticism of the President. This is not healthy, nor does it serve the public.

Alabamians should feel fortunate that we have been blessed with a governor of vision and fortitude. I certainly feel blessed. I didn’t vote for the man, but he has impressed me with every step he has taken since January. He has provided true leadership and has given the people of this state the most honest government they have ever seen.

Last night, the governor delivered a brilliant speech at this critical juncture in Alabama history. The highlights for me included:

That last statement was particularly moving, coming from a man who was known as the most conservative member of Congress. We are in for a difficult year in Alabama, but Governor Bob Riley is the man to get us through it and finally bring a new day in Alabama.