Latest Russmo

Great stuff from Russmo, as usual. Be sure to keep it in mind when reading Dr. Schansberg's article, below.

Libertarian Disaster Analysis

Dr. Eric Schansberg has summed up many of my own thoughts on government & Katrina in a few short paragraphs, in his latest Libertarian Writers Bureau article.

Afterthoughts on the Aftermath of the New Orleans Flood
by Eric Schansberg

A month after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, the debacle of the ineffective levees surrounding New Orleans, and the disappointment with the government's relief efforts, let's look back at the lessons we should have learned from this disaster.

The disaster was much more about the flood than the hurricane. Many people seem to be missing this point. The over-estimation of Hurricane Rita's predicted impact is one symptom. Another side-effect is that, relatively speaking, the damage wrought by Katrina outside of New Orleans was ignored by the media. When we think about the devastation of hurricanes, unfortunately, we're far more likely to remember flooded New Orleans than flattened coastal Mississippi.

The blame game never ends—and rarely takes a break. It was good to see the Democrats and Republicans wait, oh, a few hours before they started blaming each other. Instead of a dispassionate analysis of the debacle after the dust had settled, we were mostly left with partisan hacks throwing mud at each other almost as soon as they could grab a handful.

All levels of government bear some blame for the debacle. The federal government could have responded quicker and better. But state and local plans were woefully inadequate and their implementation was inept. Anyone who tries to ascribe blame to only one level of government is remarkably blind or politically motivated.

The federal government bore too much blame and is now trying to bear too much responsibility. Why do people expect the federal government to be the chief solution to an essentially state and local problem? The federal government is not especially competent; it's out of their jurisdiction; and it's not as if they don't have enough to do already! And not surprisingly, local officials want boatloads of federal taxpayer dollars while being given as much control as possible over how those resources will be spent.

Far too many people depend on government far too much. Let me get this straight: government failed at all levels—before, during, and after the disaster—so the solution is to get the government much more involved. Hmm…Moreover, for the last 40 years, the federal and state governments have been busy subsidizing bad decisions by individuals through public policy. The result: many people have been left unable to make decisions to promote their own well-being—or unwilling to do so, knowing that the government would probably bail them out. Natural disaster plus government ineptitude plus sin nature equals a debacle of biblical proportions.

Politicians really enjoy spending taxpayer money. President Bush has said that he wants to spend $200 billion post-Katrina and cut spending elsewhere so that overall spending does not increase. He might as well say he'd like to see cows fly. The few Republican fiscal conservatives in Congress have run with this charge by proposing 'Operation Offset"— a plan to reduce pork-barrel highway spending and to postpone the recently-passed prescription benefit for seniors. For their efforts, they have already been brow-beaten by the House leadership. And Bush has repeatedly shown that he has no stomach or backbone for fiscal discipline.

Your taxes will rise dramatically. Bush says that he is committed not to raise taxes. If so, this means an increase in the national debt—in other words, higher future taxes. At this point, Congress is now looking to spend $250 billion—over and above the amount that private insurance will pay in claims. This turns out to be more than $3,300 in taxes from the average family of four—and almost $200,000 per person in the New Orleans MSA before the flood. Honesty and candor would require a mention of the spending's impact on taxes. Unfortunately, another Category-5 hurricane is more likely.


D. Eric Schansberg
Professor of Economics
Indiana University (New Albany)
Adjunct Scholar, Indiana Policy
Review and the Acton Institute
Author, Turn Neither to the Right nor to the Left: A Thinking Christian's Guide to Politics and Public Policy

What's In It For The Taxpayers?

The Indy Star ran an article today on the lavish nature of the soon-to-be-built Colts stadium.

Fireplaces in club lounges. Pool tables in the quarterback suites. Wireless Internet access throughout. A little more room in the seat.

The nearly 500-page stadium plan released Monday details how nearly every inch of the new building will look and be used -- from the size of potted plants to the width of the seats.

Why not make it lavish? After all, the taxpayers are paying for it! Interestingly, the article's headline reads, "What's in it for the fans"? The better question is in my headline, "What's in it for the taxpayers"? Certainly not a thank you, as Sam Goldstein pointed out in the Sunday Star.

No thanks for people footing the big bill

I was just watching the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Downtown stadium and I heard Mayor Peterson thank a wide range of people for their support in getting this boondoggle. The only group the mayor forgot to thank was the long-suffering taxpayers of Marion County and now most of the surrounding counties.

We have funded facilities for professional sports teams and still have storm sewers that do not function, and our public safety professionals are in jeopardy of losing their jobs. We have given tax breaks to corporations who leave town without consequence while many homeowners are at risk of losing their property due to outrageous tax increases.

I would ask Mayor Peterson and the tax-and-spend Democrats and Republicans on the City-County Council to keep this in mind. The Libertarian Party of Marion County certainly will over the next two years.

Sam Goldstein
Vice Chair, Libertarian Party of Marion County
Indianapolis

Giving Drunken Sailors a Bad Name

How far out of control is spending in the Republican-controlled halls of government? In very current articles, Alan Greenspan, Pat Buchanan, Robert Novak, and even local GOP shill Greg Garrison call out the Republicans on spending.

Garrison's article is largely incoherent rambling. In between, he managed to accurately sum up the thoughts of anyone who voted Republican in 2004 and isn't living in complete denial:

But his stewardship of the people's money and his vision for the role of government in our lives have left me more than disappointed with his leadership of Congress and his direction of his own administration.

Or, as Glenn McCoy's recent cartoon summed up...


The Noblesville Daily Times ran the McCoy cartoon and the Garrison article on the Viewpoint page today. The drumbeat is growing. Per Buchanan, at World Net Daily:

The Taft-Goldwater-Reagan-Helms Republicans were prepared to pay the political price for saying "No." But just as the Democrats of the 1930s found the formula for permanent power in "tax and tax, spend and spend, elect and elect," as Harold Ickes Sr. put it, the Bush Republicans and Big Government conservatives of the 1990s believe they have found an even surer formula for permanent power: "Cut taxes, spend and spend, elect and elect."

Per Novak, at Town Hall, discussing the treatment given Indiana's Mike Pence for daring to be a fiscal conservative:

Pence was far more discreet in Tuesday's session with his party's leadership, but that did not save him a going over, led by two powerful committee chairmen: Rep. Don Young (Transportation Committee) and Rep. Bill Thomas (Ways and Means
Committee). The harshest treatment of Pence, however, was administered by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who does not like his rank-and-file members depicting a free-spending Republican Party.

Even though Pence is correct, and it's absolutely true. It is incredible to think that President Bush has not used he veto power even once... until you recall and consider the formula identified by Buchanan above. Republican leaders like Tom DeLay don't want fiscal conservatives to be shown enough of the Goldwater-Reagan legacy to think carefully about it. They want fiscal conservatives to waste their votes on the GOP on the mere, fading memory of those legends, despite the reality of the spending actions of the Republican-led Congress.

Mona Charon, the American Conservative Union, Matt Towery, the Cato Institute... these aren't the liberals calling out the GOP. Five years of denial is enough for them.

The real question is: have you had enough? Isn't it enough that the GOP has ushered in more real liberalism than the Democrats could have? Isn't it enough that no Democrats had to be elected President, or gain control of Congress, in order to have their agenda so thoroughly advanced?

When you've had enough, and have decided that you are serious about smaller government, with lower spending, the only sane thing you can do is back Libertarian candidates (or become one), and vote Libertarian.

Libertarians Oppose Estate Taxes

I check the Noblesville Daily Times every day, even when I am out of town, as I am now. I found an article in the op-eds that just infuriated me. It made the assertion that planning and saving for the purpose of providing for your children and grandchildren somehow made the poor poorer.

The Daily Times ran the thing, and it deserved a response. This topic deserves a Republican response, but typically, they are absent on all things economic anymore. I submitted a Libertarian response, and NDT printed it, with a nice headline of their own:

Estate tax is unjustified government intrusion into
inheritance

The headline announcing Marian Wright Edelman's column on the estate tax, "Permanent repeal would hurt poorest", (Viewpoint, Noblesville Daily Times, Sept. 20) helps one understand the misguided economic thinking of the Left and the threat such "thought" poses to individual liberty and financial security.

Should the descendents of the person who has worked, planned, and saved for the purpose of providing for them be punished only because the offspring of the poor were not so cared for by their own? What message does the Left send in opposing estate transfers? It can only be that planning and thrift are to be discouraged at the penalty of theft, and that a lack of planning is to be encouraged and rewarded.

Your money was earned by you. It should be directed at your passing by you and you alone. The state should have no claim on the money you earned, merely because you pass away. Nor should the poor and their apologists, who would use the state as the means to steal what you earned. The well-to-do have not merely hit life's lottery. They have made the life choices that result in the creation of wealth. These choices should be encouraged by all public policy, including estate policy.

Edelman makes the assertion that working hard and saving for the purpose of ensuring a more secure future for your children and grandchildren somehow worsens another person's lot in life. In fact, the poor's lives are utterly unchanged by this action. It is absolutely true that the descendents of the person who worked, planned, and saved benefit enormously from such forethought. What makes that a bad thing? That such people will not be dependent upon the welfare state, and therefore, will have no need for the Left and their statist politicians?

Republicans should be at the fore in removing the immoral estate taxes from the books. Unfortunately, they are mired in a directionless muddle on all things economic and drifting ever leftward, moving away from their fiscal conservatism. We hear precious little from them on this subject.

Libertarians grasp these concepts completely, which is why Libertarians oppose all manner of estate taxes.

Mike Kole, Fishers

Kole is a Libertarian candidate for Indiana Secretary of State. He is the former chair of the Libertarian Party of Hamilton County.

Who Causes Price Gouging?

In a few days, when gasoline pump prices soar again, the public at-large will be blaming gas retailers of 'price gouging'.

Understanding that prices are always a function of supply and demand, what happens if the public decides to stock up? That's right, the prices go up faster because the supply diminishes faster. By the way, Consumer, what you are doing is called HOARDING. From Norm Heikens' excellent Indy Star article:

Experts say gas prices could rocket above $4 a gallon, and oil refiners hope consumers won't worsen already-tight supplies by filling tanks like they did during Katrina, when demand shot up as much as five-fold at some locations, said Marathon Petroleum Co. spokeswoman Linda Casey.

Not since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks had Casey seen such hoarding, she said.

Casey is at the bat. She describes the behavior correctly. Don't complain about high prices, especially if you participated in the hoarding that led to the scarcity that drove up the prices.

Greetings From Hilton Head

I am on a vacation with Isabel at Hilton Head, while Ame attends a medical conference. You gotta love the medical profession. They know where to hold a conference!

My blogging activity may be a little short, but I'm still keeping tabs on Indiana. For instance, I'll direct you to Rob Beck, who attended and testified at yesterday's hearing on Eminent Domain at the Statehouse.

Hamilton County Meeting

Hamilton County Libertarians met tonight for a business meeting at Barley Island in Noblesville. This is the same restaurant we put on the front page of the Noblesville Daily Times, thanks to our pro-restaurant/anti-tax pub crawl.

Chair Rob Place had an excellent agenda, including a focus for the 2006 ballot, a possible Fair Tax presentation & discussion, and one of our members' outreach to a significant PAC. Sheri Conover Sharlow came down from Grant County to discuss her campaign for US Representative in the 5th District. She'll be running against Dan Burton, and looking for the support of Eli Lilly employees and their families & friends.

Rob allowed me to speak about my Secretary of State campaign. The photo captures my credit card merchant's display. I let everyone know that I am serious about all aspects of campaigning, including fundraising.

Media's Blind Eye

There was plenty of media coverage for the Colts' stadium groundbreaking, and all of it extremely favorable. Not like there was much questioning of the validity of the project as a matter of public policy from the media during the mostly Republican campaign to raise taxes for this private project, but the questioning period is clearly over.

Some libertarians attempted to get the attention of the media and passersby with pickets. Here is Kevin Fleming's account:

Fred Peterson and myself stood at the corner for approximately 90 minutes. Fred's sign read "Sewers not Stadiums" and mine read "Cops not Colts". The first two reactions we got were negative. One guy wanted to debate why we were there, and another woman yelled sorry about your luck. After this the reactions were extremely positive including three passing police officers, one ambulance driver, and one water company driver giving us the thumbs up. I would say overall there were 35 to 40 thumbsup signs we received. We had three people ask why there weren't more protesters there including one woman who blocked traffic to do so.

We had our photograph taken by someone who worked for a couple of newspapers but would not say which ones. Had a reporter for the Louisville Courier Journal interview us also. Then we had a good conversation with the traffic control officer at the end, he too wondered why there were not more protesters but we found out the he too is a Libertarian and agreed with us wholeheartedly. I think Fred left disappointed because the local media ignored us, but I guess I'm used to it, so I have to say I think it was well worth the effort.

Update: The Louisville Courier Journal ran an article on a stadium proposal in that city, with the telling headline, "Arena Favored, But Not Tax Paid". I think the sentiment was identical here in Central Indiana, which is why the County Councils voted on it and not the citizens. The Libertarian position is not anti-Colts or anti-stadium. The Libertarian position is private ventures should be privately funded, and, public health and safety are top priority- especially in times of budgetary distress.

Think About It

Fiscal conservatives often have a hard time enunciating their care for fellow man while in the process of trying to guard the purse strings. This is as evident in the wake of Katrina as ever.

It's simple, though. The burden the Bush response will put onto every American for generations to come is who fiscal conservatives are looking out for. If you believe in doing best by the majority, as so many Americans do, then this should be easy logic to follow, and therefore begin to question the enormous pricetag to this bailout.

Here's a good way to understand the scope of the $200 billion Bush will spend to show that he is compassionate: That amount represents $400,000 per displaced household. $400,000!!! From Stephen Moore, in the Wall Street Journal:

Conspicuously missing from the post-Katrina spending debate is a question for some brave soul in Congress to ask, What is the appropriate and constitutional role here for the federal government? Before the New Deal taught us that the federal government is the solution to every malady, most congresses and presidents would have concluded that the federal government's role was minimal. One of our greatest presidents, Democrat Grover Cleveland, vetoed an appropriation for drought victims because there was no constitutional authority to spend for such purposes. Today he would be ridiculed by Ted Kennedy as "incompassionate."

We all want to see New Orleans rebuilt, but it does not follow that this requires more than $100 billion in federal aid. Chicago was burned to the ground in 1871; San Francisco was leveled by an earthquake in 1906; and in 1900 Galveston, Texas, was razed by a hurricane even more ferocious than Katrina. In each instance, these proud cities were rebuilt rapidly and to even greater glory--with hardly any federal money.

What's amazing to me is that the Left continues to scream about how cheap the GOP is. I know that the screaming merely reflects political strategy. It's completely disingenuous, but utterly effective. The objective of the Left is to create socialism, and as Bush & DeLay also move left with their spending, if the call is to keep moving further, Bush & DeLay merely help the Left achieve their objective without even having elected majorities. It's quite brilliant. Bad for the country, but brilliant strategy.

What point is there to electing Republicans who do little but forward the Democrats' agenda? Fiscal conservatives need to change their ways and vote Libertarian.

Anniversary of Note

The date September 9th of any year has always jumped off the calendar for me, especially seeing it noted 9/9. The reason is that on 9/9/1980, at the age of 12, I took on my first daily newspaper route. We received a weekly bill for the papers we bought and then re-sold. Every bill had the carrier's start date printed on it. My 25th anniversary recently passed, and I didn't want it to slip by without comment.

Remember the old newspaper carrier, who delivered the paper at 6am, putting it inside the box, or the screen door, per your instructions? That was me, the paperboy. We didn't toss the paper from a moving car. We walked from house to house and delivered the paper to a place convenient to the customer, even if it was a little less convenient to us.

Of course, we were hoping for tips. We made 4 cents per paper Monday through Saturday, and 20 cents per paper on Sunday. 44 cents a week was ours out of a weekly charge of $1.50 to our customers. If the service was good, I would often see a tip greater than the expected profit- $2 tendered, and I could keep the change. Today's carriers are generally adults. They take several routes and work on volume, with no expectation of tips, and moreover, no expectation of getting to know the neighbors.

It frosts me to get a wet newspaper today. The carriers wrap the paper in a plastic bag, but because they toss it from a moving car onto concrete, the bag rips open, and if its raining, the paper gets soaked and ruined. We prided ourselves on delivering dry papers without using bags, and while running through the rain. (Yes, you can begin the "It was better in my day, son!" routine now.)

I crabbed about having to get up at 5:30 every morning, but I look back fondly at the experience. I did get to know everybody in the neighborhood. I did learn how to do a job, even on the days I didn't feel like it, or when the weather was lousy. I learned how to manage purchases and inventory. I learned how to make customers happy- all at the age of 12. In sum, it was a valuable experience.

I have unfortunately learned that most morning newspapers no longer employ kids for delivery. As employers, they would rather not deal with liability and child labor issues. Parents would rather not have their kids out in the wee hours, for fear of the boogey-man.

It's too bad. As you can see, I learned very important lessons as a young independent contractor. It was better training than a fast food job, because I had to know my route. If I bought too many papers, I was cutting into my profits. Not enough, and I disappointed some customers. That's training and responsibility that mere burger flipping doesn't provide.

By the time I was 16, I also had three other part-time jobs in addition to the paper route. I loved working and making money. But the work ethic was formed on the paper route, some 25 years ago.

No More Pork?

Tom DeLay's comments that there is no fat to cut from the Federal budget have gotten the lampooning they so richly deserve. But will the mutiny by fiscal conservatives from within the GOP ever take place? Comments as absurd as these certainly should be launching some sort of overthrow from within, if it is ever to happen.

Alas. Get over it. No takeover will be forthcoming. The fact is that the Republican Party is not the party of smaller government, lower taxes, and general fiscal conservatism. That's the Libertarian Party. Fiscal conservatives need to do the reality check on themselves if they are sticking with the GOP. Wake up and smell the sodium pentathol!

Or, at the very least, take a look at The Truth Laid Bare's Porkbusters page, where you can see the pork itemized, in all its grisly detail.

Hat tip to Kevin Fleming!

Saturday's Campaign Trail Notes

Yesterday was a day that felt like a full campaign day, with two excellent events to participate in.

The first was the annual La Plaza event in downtown Indy. Ame & I have attended this event before, as we enjoy Latino culture. Conveniently, Ame was also involved with the event this year, staffing a booth for her employer, distributing new baby kits to anyone who had an infant or was pregnant.

I was glad to have former LPIN staffer Robert Butler over from Ohio to help us speak Espanol. I can get around town, ordering meals or finding the train station, but curiously enough, I cannot speak Spanish regarding politics. We'll have to remedy that. Big thanks to the Marion County Libertarians, and to former gubernatorial candidate Kenn Gividen, all of whom participated here.

The Mariachi band insisted that I take their guitar. I protested that I really only know how to play a few chords, and barre chords. They enjoyed a good laugh.

Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson stopped by our booth, and Sam Goldstein asked him to take the World's Smallest Political Quiz. The Mayor asked what would happen if he scored Libertarian. We told him he could bring in his $25 membership fee and attend Monday's meeting at Shapiro's. This prompted a huge round of laughs.

The second event was a radio appearance on WXNT. Guest host Andy Horning & I engaged listeners and callers in a great conversation about the role of the Libertarian Party, especially for fiscal conservative who aren't getting what they bargain for with the two older parties.

Andy Horning, as guest host fill-in for Greg Browning.

Be Careful What You Grandstand For

As always, the Law of Unintended Consequences must be considered prior to any political grandstanding.

The opponents of President Bush, in their eagerness to portray him as aloof and uncaring in New Orleans, have gotten an over-the-top response. The result will be an enormous addition to the deficit spending they had also been correctly attacking the President for. Per today's Indy Star editorial:

President Bush in his nationally televised speech Thursday night clearly was determined to prove he has empathy for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Perhaps too determined.

It's unusual that any newspaper suggests one interest group should do without in favor of a priority item. It's refreshing when it does.

But fiscal reality can't be ignored, and the federal deficit will soar beyond all reason without further thought about how to pay for the president's and the nation's generosity.

One cache of gold worth mining: The $286 billion highway bill that Congress approved in July. The president and Congress should insist on revisiting the legislation, packed with more than 6,300 pork-barrel projects worth $23 billion. Congress could, for example, save more than $430 million simply by canceling work on two bridges in Alaska that will serve few people and little purpose.

Back home in Indiana, Congress should tell the Indianapolis Children's Museum to no longer count on $12.5 million stuffed into the highway bill for building new loading docks and a visitors entrance. A tough loss for the museum? Sure. But it never made sense for the federal government to give a local museum money in the first place. That, and other federal handouts around the nation, can in no way be justified now in light of the massive and expensive emergency on the Gulf Coast.

How great to read the words "fiscal reality can't be ignored" in a major American newspaper! Of course, it would have been vastly better had the items identified here not been in any spending package from the beginning. Alas, this is the Federal government, as brought to you by a Republican majority in both houses, where pork barrel-r-us, Tom DeLay's recent absurdities notwithstanding.

Radio Reminder

I'll be joining Andy Horning on WXNT's Greg Browning show Saturday at 4pm. Andy's filling in for Greg Browning for the full show, from 3-6pm. Remember that if you want to listen from outside the greater Indy area, you can do so by getting the streamed signal from WXNT's website.

Our Libertarian Newspaper, II

The Noblesville Daily Times continues to be a very satisfying read, as they continue to include libertarian content. Today's edition contained Sheri Conover Sharlow's op-ed on full-day kindergarten. Excerpt:

All-day kindergarten's defenders say that its effects carry on long after the kids have turned the yarn tassels on their construction-paper mortar boards. American students'' standing among those of other countries has fallen behind, and we must do everything we can to put our kids back on top. That includes all-day kindergarten.

However, studies cited by the Goldwater Institute, Thomas Sowell and others suggest that any education advantage of all-day kindergarten disappears by middle school, even among so-called at-risk children. Besides, our nation's elementary students with only half-day kindergarten already compete on even footing with students of other nations. Our students stay near the top until middle school. Seeing as our nation's education shortcomings start in middle school, putting the burden on kindergarteners seems misdirected.

While I tend to think of it as one more year of warehousing of kids, Sheri urges flexibility and parental involvement. That latter is always the most important key to education, in my book.

Who Would Lead The Investigation?

It seems that Indiana's Attorney General Stephen Carter has issued a news release- at taxpayer expense- urging our Senators Lugar and Bayh to support the confirmation of John Roberts to the Supreme Court. Indy Star report.

Indiana ethics rules prohibit state employees from engaging in political activity while on duty or acting in an official capacity.

The news release troubled Sheila Suess Kennedy, associate professor of law and public policy at the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs in Indianapolis.

"I don't know whether it is unethical, but I don't think it is appropriate," said Kennedy, a former Republican candidate for Congress and former director of the Indiana Civil Liberties Union.

I'm with Kennedy. There's nothing wrong with an elected official having an opinion and making an endorsement, so long as the taxpayers aren't paying for it. Carter should make amends with an apology and with a reimbusement to the state from his own pocket or his political committee, which has a balance of over $68,000, according to the committee's filings with the Secretary of State.

Indy Star Asks

What is your favorite political blog? I see that this blog has been named on the Star discussion, thanks to one "Lazarus Long", and I appreciate that very much. (Lazarus Long is one of Robert Heinlein's many fictional characters.)

My favorites, at the moment:

LPIN State Chair Mark Rutherford's blog. I really enjoy being connected to the activities of my fellow Libertarians statewide. Mark shows that we are up to a lot of good. From here, I link to Mike Sylvester of Fort Wayne, and fellow Hamilton County blogger Rob Beck, among others.

Liberty For Sale. Tim West leads the discussion for an incrementalist approach. I've said many times here that if Libertarianism is to be an all or nothing proposition, we can expect to get nothing.

Reason Hit & Run. Continuously updated, and loaded with sharp wit.

Blogcritics. While I haven't contributed lately, I still enjoy popping in to get a finger on the pulse of bloggers at any given moment. Also, a strong Cleveland flavor as proprietor Eric Olsen hails from the North Coast- my former stomping grounds.

Another Radio Guest Appearance on WXNT

Greg Browning has recently returned to Indy's airwaves, on Saturday afternoons from 3 to 6. Already the guy is taking a day off. Where do I sign up?

Enter guest host Andy Horning, who asked me to appear on the show this Saturday. Tune in to WXNT 1430-am. For those outside the broadcast area, listen to the streamed signal, available on the WXNT website.

9-11 Thoughts Unchanged

I have had plenty of time to sort out my thoughts and feelings on the terror strikes of four years ago, and the rebuilding.

The Pentagon has been rebuilt. I imagine and hope that if the White House, the Capitol, Washington Monument, or any other D.C. landmark were struck (heaven forbid) that these would all be built to the original specifications, except maybe reinforced or otherwise made stronger.

Thus, my dissatisfaction with the treatment of the World Trade Center and the Twin Towers.

The following essay has been revised only slightly from my posting on Blogcritics last year. The sentiment is 100% unchanged.

My feelings about the terror attacks three years ago are as fresh as the day after. My palms still sweat when I think about it. When I saw the first images on TV, before the second Tower was struck, my mind was on the ground in Manhattan, where I had a dozen friends working and making their homes. I felt that sick choking feeling until I knew each of them was okay. Then I felt raging anger.

Even though the attacks weren't personal, I felt as though they were. My friends being in Manhattan was just part of it. The World Trade Center was a personal favorite of mine. I thrilled to the sight of them from any angle, but especially when viewed from atop the Empire State Building, or from the Statue of Liberty. I am a capitalist, and no place on earth defines capitalism better than Wall Street and southwestern Manhattan.

So, try as I might to like the proposed designs for the memorialized World Trade Center site, I still absolutely detest them. The memorials fail to memorialize what the Towers were about.

They were selected for destruction by the terrorists for being symbols of capitalism. The Twin Towers were the defining skyscrapers in the defining skyline of the world's definitive financial center. To stand today at the Statue of Liberty and look across the River is to feel the void like a lost love as much as to see the void.

There was a lot of talk in the days following the attacks that the American people must not allow the terrorists win, that we must proceed in the spirit of that hated capitalist mantra, 'business as usual'. How right that common wisdom was.

Well, THE TERRORISTS HAVE WON. It isn't that they ended business as usual. Thankfully, that has resumed. But the premier symbol of capitalism is gone and won't be replaced.

I know that the primary focus of the memorials is those who lost their lives at the site. I have every interest in the world in seeing a fitting tribute paid to them. However, I would be sure to include the spirit that was attacked.

If I was in charge of the process, I would give the greatest tribute to those firefighters who ran up the stairs and to the people who perished while conducting business as usual. I would rebuild the Twin Towers IN EXACTLY THE SAME PLACES UPON WHICH THEY ONCE STOOD, with all dimensions exactly as before save one: the buildings would finish one story higher.

To let the terrorists know that they will not win, they must be given the symbolic 'up yours' that they gave to the American Spirit. Raising the Twin Towers for all to see is the greatest pair of raised middle fingers the haters of America would ever see.

THAT would be the greatest tribute to those who died in the World Trade Center attacks. No candles or mirrors or list of names will EVER come close to honoring them- or the American Spirit- as new Towers would.

In contrast, observe the treatment given the Pentagon, the greatest symbol of the American military. While the scale of destruction visited that building was not nearly as total as that brought to the Twin Towers, what was damaged was repaired and fully operational without any hesitation or debate. Business as usual prevailed at the Pentagon.

It shows you symbolically what is sacred in our country (the military) and what is subject to demolition by group-think (capitalism).