Government

A Deliberative Congress?

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Think Progress reports this from CNN:

More and more, Congress is acting less like a deliberative legislative body, and more like a political campaign. We’ve been seeing the politicization of every aspect of government.

Pshaw! Nothing new here.
These folks have apparently been operating under the delusion that congress has been a deliberative body anytime during the past couple of centuries.
Most vote changes have occurred in the the hallways and offices of the congressional office building; and, yes, in quite a few DC bars and restaurants. These changes as well as some that have occurred on the floor typically fall under the labels of arm twisting, back scratching and purchase rather then deliberative debate.
Don’t expect this to change. They don’t represent you.

Via.

One Too Many

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Some folks are getting tired of all the candidates debating each other. Personally, I like to listen to, even participate in, complex, nuanced debates about important issues. I’m looking forward to this happening sometime.
Still, I have a bit of empathy for this yearning for a simpler process:

Man, I am tired of debates. Pakistan has the right idea: instead of 16 presidential candidates, or however many we have these days, just one. And no vote of the actual, you know, people. Says Generalissimo Musharraf, “Democracy means majority, whether there is opposition or no opposition.” So much more succinct than the Federalist Papers.

Yet, one is still too many holding this type of office.

It is time to start getting serious about No One for president!

Criminalizing Identy Theft

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Canada has the right idea:

The Canadian government plans to criminalize identity theft to give police the ability to stop such activity before any fraud has actually been carried out, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said Tuesday. He said he would introduce legislation targeting the actual gathering and trafficking in credit card, banking and other personal data for the purposes of using it deceptively.
Identity fraud is already a crime in Canada, but gathering and trafficking in identity information generally is not.

Personal data is just that: personal data.
Canada and every other legal jurisdiction needs to go a few steps further and recognize that personal data belongs to you and that no one can have legitimate access to this data for any purpose without your express permission.
The related definition of personal data needs to be very broad and even in situations where one has given their permission for use the boundaries around this use must be very tight. Examples:

  1. using a credit card to make a transaction should trigger the legitmate use of a bank using that information to bill you but nothing more.
  2. Placing a cell phone call should trigger the legitimate use of the carrier using that information to bill you but nothing more. Any other records of where you have been that a cell company may be able to collect should be unusable by anyone for any purpose without your consent.

None of this has to be complex. A simple statement that it is a Class x felony to gather, possess or use someone else’s personal data without their consent should do.

The onus must be on the users of personal data to prove they have a legitimate use.

Yes, Applaud These Kids

This entry was posted in Anarchism Federal Government Government on by

Ed Brayton encourages us to applaud these kids and I am happy to join him.
They are certainly taking a step in the right direction.
However, why are they reciting any pledge at all?
The only ones who should be reciting a daily pledge are our servants: government employees everywhere.
As I wrote here a couple years ago:

..there is a group who by dint of their position should recite a pledge…probably several times per day. That would be the set of government employees, elected, appointed or hired, throughout the world. Our servants: congress critters, kings and queens, premiers, secretaries of desks and states, governors, presidents, soldiers, firepersons, police, mayors, etc.
They, each and everyone, in every government job throughout the world should start their day with something like:

I pledge allegiance to the people of name your jurisdiction and swear to protect their lives, help them maintain their liberty and assist them in their pursuit of happiness.

…and repeat it frequently throughout the day and once again before going to sleep at night.

Free individuals are under no obligation to recite pledges of allegiance of any kind.

A Failing Grade for the US Post Office

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We recently left home for a week and used the USPS online tool to have our mail held.
We gave them the stop date and the restart date and printed out a nice form confirming all the relevant information.
How did they do?
Not well!
They delivered mail for at least two days after the stop date and the restart date has gone by and we are still waiting for mail to arrive….
This level of performance may earn one a high school diploma but out in the real world the grade is failing.
Unfortunately, the USPS has a monopoly on certain types of mail. This needs to change!!

There is some competition and even though I’m a bit of a Luddite when it comes to electronic bills I will confirm our evaluation of the USPS by moving a 4-5 monthly and quarterly items to electronic delivery or payment.