BASEHOR, Kan. - The Wall Street Journal editorial in the August 6-7 edition, titled Repatriation Games, extolls the economic miracles that would abound if U.S. multi-national corporations were allowed to "repatriate" their foreign-earned capital to the United States at atrociously low tax rates. New York Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, in spite of his everyman-champion image, is a shill for Wall Street and has proposed a one-year, 5.25% repatriation rate. Economist Allen Sinai, in the same editorial, is reported to have estimated that there is more than $1 trillion abroad waiting to be repatriated -- if only the rates go down.

Unfortunately, the editorial leaves out one inconvenient fact when it comes to the argument that repatriation of foreign capital will produce jobs: lack of customer demand.

BASEHOR, Kan. - The August 3 Wall Street Journal opinion piece Bill Clinton Does 'Jim Crow', seems to present a straw issue with little substance in the larger scheme of things.

I realize that some on the Left see any attempt by charlatans like Kris Kobach to impose voter identification as un-American, but is this really an issue that Progressives want to go to the mat on?

If I have to produce ID to set up a bank account, write a check at a retail store, get on an airplane, rent a car, stay in a hotel, or even obtain a library card, I can't for the life of me see why I shouldn't have to produce identification if I'm going to exercise my most fundamental right as a citizen. I understand the argument that, as a fundamental right of American citizenship, the right to vote should not be infringed.

BASEHOR, Kan. - The poor Republicans. They've been in such a hurry to run to the microphone to denounce anything that runs afoul of their cherished "no taxes, no regulation" ideology that they've neglected to notice that they're increasingly becoming irrelevant as a party of ideas. In a sign that those cracks are growing ever larger, Senator Tom Coburn, (R) Oklahoma, submitted a bill for consideration that would eliminate tax subsidies for the ethanol boondoggle, something that Grover Norquist, head of Americans for Tax Reform, said amounted to a tax increase.

Fareed Zakaria, in his recent Time Magazine opinion piece, wrote about conservatives' outmoded ideology, saying,

Consider the debates over the economy. The Republican prescription is to cut taxes and slash government spending -- then things will bounce back. Now, I would like to see lower rates in the context of tax simplification and reform, but what is the evidence that tax cuts are the best path to revive the U.S. economy? Taxes -- federal and state combined -- as a percentage of GDP are at their lowest level since 1950. The U.S. is among the lowest taxed of the big industrial economies. So the case that America is grinding to a halt because of high taxation is not based on facts but is simply a theoretical assertion. The rich countries that are in the best shape right now, with strong growth and low unemployment, are ones like Germany and Denmark, neither one characterized by low taxes.

BASEHOR, Kan.- Kimberley Strassel, in a November 12 Wall Street Journal opinion piece, desperately exhorted the Republican Party to hold the line on earmarks.

I say "desperately" because she admitted that it will be extremely difficult to align big-business Republicans who want every bit of pork and special interest legislation they can gobble up, with the Tea Party, which claims it wants no earmarks at all in the name of fiscal conservatism. What's truly telling from Strassel, whose everyday invective makes her sound like an Ann Coulter wannabe, is this:

Republicans are not going to be able to repeal ObamaCare, are unlikely to be able to permanently extend the Bush tax rates, and will struggle to roll back the worst Obama regulations. But an earmark ban is one exception they can fulfill. Immediately.

BASEHOR, Kan. - In the past 12 hours, through a conversation at a party, and a magazine article, I've had confirmation of something that's been bothering me for months.

Last night I sat and talked with a woman whom I've met a couple of times before at parties. While we've never talked politics before, last night we discussed our feelings and attitudes about the current situation with the Federal government, and politics in general. She allowed as how she generally votes for Republican candidates, although she does her homework and votes for the candidate rather than the party. She said that, of all the politicians she could think of, the one who impressed her the most was Bill Clinton. She went on at some length about his intellectual brilliance, policy wonkishness, and command of seemingly trivial details that made the difference in so many arm-twisting sessions with political opponents. And, despite her grave disappointment in his philandering, she still gave him the benefit of the doubt when it came to governing. My response, which I've made numerous times before, is that even the most conservative among the American people would much rather trust a philanderer than they'd trust someone who'd steal their money and tell them it was for their own good--i.e., Republicans. She laughed and said that she agreed.

BASEHOR, Kan. - In this month's Harper's magazine, the magazine's Washington editor, Ken Silverstein, puts together a scary picture of what right-wing Republican, Tea Party, no-taxes governance in action looks like.

Look no farther than Arizona.

BASEHOR, Kan. - I'm torn. I can see both sides of an issue that's very dear to me: General Aviation flying, particularly from small community airports. As a smartaleck once said, "If a man can see both sides of a problem, you know that none of his money is tied up in it." Well, that's me: I don't have any money tied up in it directly. But, as a taxpayer and a community supporter, I do have money tied up in it.

There's a major effort underway in General Aviation (GA) to save as many small- and medium-sized airports as possible from shutting down and, at the same time, to protect the users of those airports from increased fees and taxes. General Aviation, by the way, is a term that refers to just about anything other than scheduled passenger service by the airlines.

BASEHOR, Kan. - Congress has provided funds through the Citizen Corps to assist local communities in quick response to emergency situations--particularly when first responders may be overwhelmed. These local programs, called Community Emergency Response Teams, allow groups of trained citizens to literally "care for themselves" by being first on the scene when disaster strikes. They're able to self organize and provide immediate assistance to their friends and neighbors while waiting for first responders. A multi-part training program is available, free of charge, to those who are interested.

BASEHOR, Kan. - In these days of federal, state, and local public services funding cuts, there is a great deal of activity centered around citizens helping themselves during natural or man-made disasters. When public services fail, citizens must be prepared to "do it themselves."

When you mention emergency coordination for widespread disasters, the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA usually come to mind. But there is another group of people with a long history of emergency service -- and one that predates DHS and FEMA by several decades. And that group is amateur radio operators.

BASEHOR, Kan. - It's 23:00 hours. Do you know where your American officers are?

We had our farewell dinner with our Indian officer and his family last night. Wednesday morning they're off on their way, back to India. One of the main topics of our dinner was the similarity among people everywhere in the world. The same problems, concerns, annoyances, and daily trials that unite us all as human beings. But a troubling issue we discussed in our meal was this, according to the officer we sponsored: out of the 47 foreign officers in a cohort of 61 for this rotation, all 47 foreign officers joined in to create a Facebook page to commemorate their joint experience. Of the 14 American officers in the cohort, only two joined in the effort. Two.