Speed Gibson

A caller to Rush yesterday, noting the absence of the Feminists, the ACLU, etc regarding Terri Shiavo, said Terri apparently isn't "their kind" of woman. It's like Paula Jones, she said. I would add Kathleen Willey, Juanita Broderick, and still to this day - the women of Afghanistan and Iraq.

I wonder. What if Terri were, say, the daughter of Barbara Streisand? Judy Woodruff? or John Kerry? Is there any doubt how vastly different an otherwise identical case would be covered or perceived?

The Minneapolis Star Tribune urges that we fix Medicare first, since it is now experiencing negative cash flow, "cashing in" the "bonds" in their "trust" fund. But as with Social Security, there is no trust fund here, either.

In fact, the Medicare tax has virtually no relation to Medicare benefits. You turn 65, you're covered. There is no difference in benefits based on what you paid in. And yet, no one really complains about the Medicare tax.

Partially, this is because many aren't even aware of it, and many more think it's just the 1.45% shown on their pay-stubs. But the true rate is nearly double that due to the "employer" match that you really also pay.

I also believe that part of also is that it's the flattest tax in the land. There are no exemptions nor caps. Everyone pays the same percentage on earned income. There are no returns to file. And at less than 3%, there are bigger fish to fry like Social Security and Federal Income taxes.

What the Star Tribune wants, of course, is a tax increase. And you know, I might not object all that strongly. If we stop pretending Medicare is an "earned" benefit, admitting it is just a socialist welfare program, the need for this tax really goes away. Just pay for it out of the general tax collections, primarily the income taxes.

But in this age when fewer and fewer actually pay Federal income taxes, I like the idea of making sure everyone pays something. I'd rather just cut Federal spending, but that's clearly not going to happen no matter who runs Congress or the White House.

There once was a city built near the top of a cliff. From time to time, a child or two out playing would wander too close to the edge and fall over. The town fathers gathered and came up with this solution: build a hospital at the base of the cliff. Monday's Editorial "Learning Gap: Improving college readiness" is similar thinking.

As you may recall, Minnesota's colleges have been reporting that 30 percent of freshman from Minnesota high schools need remedial instruction in mathematics or English. The solution? Test them earlier:

Under [this program], 10th-, 11th- and 12th-graders ... will take the placement test that ... area community colleges give to entering freshmen. That sensible option will tell high school kids exactly what they already know (and need to learn) to be ready for college.

Nowhere in this Editorial do they express an iota of curiosity as to the source of this "disturbing achievement gap." If you don't know why the students are falling behind in the first place, mere testing solves nothing.

I think this Editorial is almost funny. Haven't we been repeatedly lectured about how testing is unreliable? Yet these tests will tell the students "exactly" where they stand. And haven't we been repeatedly told that standardized tests result in "teaching to the test," not real learning? But apparently that's OK in this case. In fact, it's exactly the solution they're hoping for - somehow get these marginal students past those annoying college entrance exams without making any significant changes or admitting any responsibility. The problem, you see, lies entirely with the students as characterized here.

Rather than waste money on this self-serving, head in the sand idea, I propose this:

If a freshman at a Minnesota college - public or private - holding a Minnesota high school diploma is found to need remedial course work, the college bills the entire cost of those classes to the school - public or private - that issued that fraudulent diploma.

I actually heard the second hour of today's edition first. After services and a nice Easter dinner, including doing the dishes, I was thinking about a nap. But I decided to watch a little golf instead, and got the idea of listening to KSTP with the TV sound down. Annika Sorenstam was running away with the LPGA event, so I settled for the taped highlights from The Players Championship, the weather not co-operating again today. I then listened to the 2-3 pm hour via Replay Radio, watching more golf.

Today, it was Wendy Weiner. She made a pretty good joke about Joe O'Brien calling her to say he wanted her to be "The Next Big Thing" as if referring to her weight, admittedly higher than she'd like. She has a good radio voice and voice skills, certainly the equal of the Poli-Chicks and I mean that as a compliment. But basically, she babbled for two hours.

I say "she babbled" rather than "she is a babbler" because the first-time jitters would turn most of us into radio Jell-O. This is just style, though. My largest question in investing an hour remains, "did I learn anything?" Today, I did not.

It would be hard for anyone to avoid talking about Terri Shiavo; indeed, everyone on talk radio is. I will credit Wendy for trying to not make it two hours of this. I will credit that she tried to add to, rather than repeat the many points of view. But we as news junkies, talk radio addicts, and bloggers, had heard her views expressed by others before.

Good as her oral and verbal skills were, I have to give her a D on my KSTP grading scale:

A: Jason Lewis
B: Bob Davis
C: Dave Thompson
D: Chris Krok
F: Ron Rosenbaum

You would infer correctly from the above that I believe KSTP has yet to recover from the loss of he who is now "Charlotte's Mr. Right."

Perhaps Easter, with its promise of life and redemption, is a good time to die, if there is such a time. Bob Casey, the Minnesota Twins' public address announcer for all 44 seasons to date, died last night of liver cancer. He was 79.

One by one, so many of the names and faces I grew up with are passing on. I think I started noticing this in 1957. I remember to this day Douglas Edwards on the CBS Evening News noting the death of Oliver (Norville!) Hardy. I must do a post or two about Mr. Hardy and Mr. Laurel sometime, the best comedy duo of all time, IMO.

It will be a little different at the ball game this year, even on the broadcasts. But I guess even announcers have to eventually hand the bat to someone new.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune Editorial Pages seemed a little thin today. Perhaps because of the Easter holiday. Or perhaps because some of their material again found its way into other "news" sections.

The Metro Section has a "puff" piece (pun intended) on the smoking bans soon to take effect in Hennepin and Ramsey Counties. The article extols the proposed benefits and even comes up with some new ones, all along the lines that we're too stupid to make these choices ourselves. The many counter arguments - scientific, medical, legal, moral, and economic - are barely mentioned. There is always a clause missing from these glowing tributes of how clean the air will now be in these establishments: "those that remain in business." I fear greatly that at least one of our favorite "mom and pop" diners we frequent will be among the casualties.

The Business Section has a "puff" piece on Ethanol. Again, the massive evidence against it, some even from liberals who fear environmental damage from growing too much corn, is barely acknowledged. The past and present subsidies are also barely acknowledged. The laws prohibiting "pure" gasoline sales in Minnesota are also barely acknowledged. There was a sidebar about "Unintended consequences" but this only discussed the effect on commodity prices for corn and livestock. The "Opposition is strong" portion within the article is similarly oblivious to the major problems of producing and burning Ethanol.

With second-hand smoke, there are at least some tangible benefits, though already available under existing law. For Ethanol, there are no tangible benefits, not to the general public anyway. Indeed, there are only tangible drawbacks, such as increasing our dependence on foreign oil.

For Governor Pawlenty and Senator Norm Coleman to be pushing higher Ethanol production by mandating higher consumption is at best just politics. But I think it's worse. I think they know better. But of course, they are presented as thoughtful, forward thinking public servants on this issue.

This is why bias in the Editorial Pages matters, as many have said. If the Publisher and Managing Editor are content with publishing poorly researched, poorly reasoned, and often poorly written articles there, why should they care when the same happens elsewhere in the paper?

Finally, pound 15, the last for March, is done. This took a bit longer than I would like, largely because of the scale recalabration I mentioned that added a pound or two. But while I got more exercise, I also did eat a little more than budget. All in all, I still got the job done and I am seven days ahead of plan.

April requires a 6 pound loss.

March 2005 averages:

Calories consumed: 2,695
Exercise calories: 191
Fat: 105 grams (35.2% of calories)
Sodium: 4.6 grams
Fiber: 18 grams

Our friends on the Minneapolis Star Tribune are back again with another editorial on Social Security. Let me begin by applauding the very civil tone used this time, unlike the previous rants.

They focused on a proposal to raise taxes by "8 percent" and cut future benefits by 8 percent. I'm going to take that 8 percent tax increase to mean 8 percent of the current tax, meaning an additional 1 percent. Somehow, this doesn't seem at all enough. Or did they mean 8 percentage points worth of tax increase? Republicans also often confuse percentages and percentage points the same way, in speaking of private accounts.

But the premise under all of this is that the trust fund is real and it isn't. Taxes will have to be raised further (or other spending cut - fat chance) to "redeem" the "bonds" "held" in the "trust" fund.

This must also the basis of their claim that private accounts "have nothing to do with Social Security's solvency" which of course is false. Look at Chile's experience. Finally there is a twisted inference that private accounts would be funded by public borrowing from the otherwise solvent "trust" fund.

This is why I pound on this trust fund business. It underlies all of the Left's arguments, that given the large "surplus" currently there, only a little tweaking is necessary. But the truth is, every dollar paid out next month has yet to be collected. As the worker/retiree ratio drops from 3.3 to 2.0 over the coming years, a lot more will need to be collected, a lot more than an 8 percent increase.

Eric Black's last article set the real-world rules regarding reform. The Editorial Board should send out for a copy of their own paper before reprinting their fantasy-world view of this important, urgently needed, and overdue reform.

As I noted last week, I'm rather late to this Terri Shiavo issue, having taken the headlines at face value. With bloggers like Bogus Gold setting me straight, I have spent the past several days trying to make up for this, drawing from a number of national news sources, plus commentary by Limbaugh, Prager, Hewitt, Ingraham, and others. I am astounded at the number of misrepresentations, contradictions and false statements being published or aired. If nothing else, can't Terri Shiavo's death be put off another few days while we sort this out?

No says her husband of record, Michael Shiavo. And no says the Minneapolis Star Tribune in tomorrow's editorial. As always, the high level of abusive rhetoric tips us off that the facts are few and far between. Consider these words and phrases from it: strange political kidnapping, mad story, right-wing radicals, totalitarian fibfest, brazen intrusion, absurd political drama, right-wing infotainment, silly obstructionist game, and vulgar, tyrannical escapade.

There is such a thing as righteous anger, but you had better have your facts right. But consider these characterizations offered as fact in the editorial:

• "... permanently unconscious woman ..." Obviously false, as many doctors have confirmed.
  
• "... despite her expressed wishes ..." As Soucheray might say, "uhh, we don't know that." We have only Mr. Shiavo's word on this, and he has impeached himself.
  
• " ... has no meaningful brain function." Those "reflexive grimaces" are meaningful to us, thank you very much. But let's wait for the MRI and other tests that should have been performed, shall we?
  
• "... there is no medical dispute ..." Not when all of the doctors of opposing views are not allowed to testify in court.
  
• "... permanent vegetative state ..." Again, false as many doctors have confirmed.
  

The only possible justification for forcibly ending Terri's life would be if she had made a verifiable declaration to that effect when of sound mind. That we do not have, just the husband's account of a private conversation, one favorable to him. That and given the parents' willingness to assume all future support obligations, means there is simply no need to hasten her demise.

After all, if she is oblivious to reality and beyond all hope, what difference does it make to err on the side of life?

Here I go again, reviewing the third installment of KSTP AM's "The Next Big Thing" - Sundays from 2-4 pm. (The title for these posts is from the movie Airplane II if you're wondering.)

This week, I'm guessing at the name and/or spelling, perhaps Aaron Clary? He called his show the Economics Supper Club, borne of his frustrations with ignorant reporting of economic news over the years. I was pretty excited at first because 1) it was just one host, which I prefer to tag teams as a rule and 2) this is a good niche topic area for such a program.

He allowed his lack of radio skills to be a little more obvious than necessary I thought, but did a decent first 30 minutes or so. But then it started getting off topic, being ever more about him. He openly admitted he thought it was OK for someone else to make DVD copies for him rather than buy them and add to the liberal actor's residuals. Why buy the paper when it's free online?

Look, I disagree with these sorts, too, but I pay for what I consume. I even subscribe to the Star Tribune. I grinned appreciatively when an older caller gently chastised him for rubbing his nickels a little too tightly together, in that you really can't focus your spending all that tightly.

So for the reasons initially stated, he started off with an A, but for the reasons later stated, I felt he wound up with a B-. Unlike the previous weeks' hosts, however, I'm not sure he would improve much above that level with a weekly show.

Eric Black published part two of his series on Social Security today. I reviewed part one's "Deciphering the 'Crisis' Code" when it appeared on Sunday, March 6.

Today, we have "Social Security: Pension? Welfare?" which begins:

If you're going to figure out whether (and how) you want to change Social Security, it might be useful to start by understanding what it is now.

Is it an investment program, an insurance policy, a welfare program, a government pension or, as some critics assert, a giant Ponzi scheme?

This is a great compound question and this article provides good answers, starting with:

Is it an investment? No.

Your payroll taxes aren't saved to pay your benefits later.

Absolutely right. Continuing:

Is it insurance? Partly.

One-third of Social Security checks -- the disability and survivor benefits -- closely resemble insurance. But the biggest and best-known portion of Social Security -- the retirement benefits -- fits the insurance metaphor awkwardly.

A very exact and accurate answer to this somewhat subjective point. Next:

Is it welfare? Barely.

If Social Security did pay benefits only to seniors who would be poor without them, it would be a lot less expensive, but its political status would change from that of a "middle-class entitlement" to that of a welfare program.

Welfare programs redistribute money from the upper and middle classes to the poor. Social Security redistributes funds from workers to retirees, but many of those who pay FICA taxes are poorer than many of those who receive benefits.

Three in a row! Again, Mr. Black is correct, with excellent reasoning and composition.

Is it a pension? Pretty close.

In terms of how it fits into the life cycle of a typical American, the pension metaphor may be the strongest.

A typical pension, the old-fashioned "defined benefit" kind that was more common in the days before 401(k)s, provides a stream of monthly income when you retire.

The amount is based on how long you worked for the company and how much you made, but is not related to investment performance.

Right again. Finally,

Is it a Ponzi scheme? No, but those who choose to embrace that rather alarming metaphor can point to two similarities.

...

Like Ponzi, Social Security doesn't invest the money it takes in; it passes along new contributions to those who paid in earlier. Like Ponzi, Social Security works best when the group paying in is larger than those getting benefits.

...

But the government has options for keeping Social Security going that Ponzi lacked. Social Security can remain solvent by raising taxes, cutting future benefits or possibly by capturing investment-type returns.

That makes it five for five in my book, a solid, well-reasoned article sure to annoy the extremists on all sides. The only point I might take issue with is this:

And, they argue, since most payroll tax collections are already spoken for, you can't divert them into investment accounts unless you come up with trillions of dollars to maintain benefits to current retirees. If you take the cost of borrowing those trillions into account, the transition to a new system becomes less attractive, even if you score it as an investment.

But I'm sure that transition costs will be the subject of a later installment in this series, so I'll wait until then to comment. By the way, I heard a guest on Air America say, without contradiction or even a question, that the transition costs were over five trillion dollars. The largest estimate I had heard to date was two trillion.

Last time, I gave Eric Black a B, mostly because he had a little trouble with the "trust fund" concept. Today he gets an A.

I received an e-Mail from Cook's Illustrated with a recipe for Corned Beef and Cabbage. Most store-bought corned beef was basically just salty said their experts, and the real thing isn't that much more difficult.

So per instructions, I bought a 5 pound brisket Saturday, dry rubbed it with a blend of kosher salt and various spices, then put it in a large zipper bag. It spent the remaining days in the refrigerator curing, with a large heavy pan with additional weight pressing it down. I flipped it each night.

This afternoon, I cooked it in my grandmother's stockpot for about 3 hours then removed the meat to a warming oven. Thirty more minutes more cooked the vegetables in the broth: potatoes, turnips, parsnips, carrots, small onions, and of course a whole head of cabbage.

I have to say it was wonderful fare for this St. Patrick's Day supper. The meat was flavorful and fork-tender, the vegetables just right. For some reason, I thought this recipe cooked the cabbage with the meat for hours. Here, it was just 15 minutes at the end, the reward being perfect texture - done, flavorful, but not mushy.

And we have half of it still for leftovers.

I've heard and read many headlines regarding Terri Schiavo. But I tuned out the broadcasts and passed over the articles and blog posts, figuring it was just one of those unfortunate cases. The kind where the person has been in a coma for months or years, with no real prospects for recovery. Yes, once in a great while the patient recovers, at least for a while. But barring a living will, I am very sympathetic to such families and their desire for closure. Conservatives tend to overplay such cases in my opinion, so I skipped over the details.

Well, some additional news has come out. Bogus Gold has a good account. I retraced this story, finding it's not at all what I expected, as you likely also know by now. So I then questioned where I got this expectation. The answer is a sympathetic media that lumped this case with the cases I described above.

We know from the coverage of Dr. Jack Kevorkian's trial and conviction in 1999 how the MSM feels on such issues. He was charged with second-degree murder for "assisting" a patient with suicide, and it was clear that we were to consider this a miscarriage of justice. This case may not be all that analogous but the media's handling of the story is certainly consistent with that of "Dr. Death" who is now in prison.

The most recent coverage of the Dutch "Groningen protocol" for "mercy" killings including infants was more balanced and questioning, but again, the sanctity of life was ... negotiable ... by many press accounts in this country.

So while I'd prefer a state law response since this involves the criminal code, I understand and support the efforts underway to save the far from comatose life of Terri Schiavo.

I heard Dennis Prager mention this, and Powerline linked it. Ann Coulter asks "How many people have to die before the country stops humoring feminists?"

She begins with the tragic case of the recent Atlanta courtroom shooting, where the 200 pound suspect overpowered a much smaller female guard, taking her weapon and firing. Coulter then turns to our master statistician, professor John Lott, Jr, who documents how adding females to the Police forces increases shootings and invites assaults on the police.

It's a must read. People are literally dying in the name of political correctness.

Policy Guy found an article contending that consolidating smaller public school districts into larger ones doesn't save money. Quite the reverse, claims author Dr. John T. Wenders who studied this in Pennsylvania.

King at SCSU posted a somewhat related piece from the Wall Street Journal, documenting the huge expansion in the teacher ranks. Diminishing returns suggests that the more teachers you need to hire, the lower the average quality.

I look at Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Anoka-Hennepin and wonder what would happen if we divided them into smaller districts. What if we said no school district could have more than one high school, for example? Granted, nothing short of full competition can save the public schools, but wouldn't this be a step toward that direction? I think so. The larger the district, the further between parent and distict.

Let's see. The Legislature wants to move ahead with the Northstar Corridor rail line, but we have no idea what price the BNSF railroad will agree to. They want 20% ethanol, even though currently prohibited by Federal law as a pollutant. Turning 21? Want to have your "first" drink at midnight? No, those wise Legislators who got caught drinking on the job last session say no, you must now be 21.0009132 years old, when your urge to binge drink miraculously subsides. Repeal no-fault auto insurance, which, surprise! surprise! has raised our rates, not lowered them as promised? That would put too many lawyers out of work, only we were supposed to need fewer of them, right? By the original logic, wouldn't this increase the case load?

On a slightly more serious note, Senator Dick Day, who by State records owns the land speed record between St. Paul and Owatonna, introduced a bill to require that we "keep right except to pass" on our multi-lane highways. Many, including Senator Bachman and car expert Paul Brand are applauding.

When I was in Driver's Ed, we were not taught "keep right except to pass" regarding freeway driving. Instead, we were taught that the right-most lane was for merging, for those getting on or off. If that's not you, move over, to let others merge more easily. That makes far more sense, at least in urban traffic. As a member of the Minnesota Highway Patrol once told me, why build extra lanes if you're not going to use them?

Senator Day, Mr. Brand, we all know very well what we're talking about here - your need for speed. Rather than a silly law that if followed would further increase urban congestion, let's address the real problem: not enough lanes. If we had at least three lanes, the merging traffic could use the right lane, I could use a middle lane, and you speeders could take your chances in the left lane.

I listened to "Race to the Right" via Replay Radio today, originally broadcast Sunday March 13 from 2-4 pm on KSTP-AM, as the second installment of the experimental "Next Big Thing" series. This week we had Tony Garcia and Marty Andrade, from www.racetotheright.com, apparently not yet a MOB site. They did a short stint on the Patriot II last fall, every other Sunday afternoon according to their site.

Anyway, I'd say they did a little better than the first week's contestants, as their experience would suggest. But too often they fell into a rut of talking to each other, not to us in the audience. One of them, nameless here, was a little guilty of letting his ego get in the way.

I think the "dual host" concept seldom works well in radio. You have to have just the right blend, like Saturday Morning Sports Talk, or the Northern Alliance Radio Network. But as talented as "Rookie" is, Joe alone is usually better than Joe plus Rookie. Mark O'Connell would be better off without Ron Rosenbaum, who adds little beyond his arrogance. As I noted last month, Cyndi Brucato on KSTP-TV news as a single anchor is surprisingly good without those scripted twin anchor transitions.

The boys took Ron Ebensteiner to task regarding his choice of deputy, and had a predictable interview with Senator Bachman, mostly on the Academic Bill of Rights proposal. But I can't give the overall product more than a C+, compared to a C- last week.

Happy Anniversary to the Northern Alliance Radio Network. You have kept me both entertained and informed, often while I'm out walking for exercise. It was a little too chilly this Saturday, so I listened at home while cleaning.

The NARN was one of three factors that got me into the blogosphere. I would therefore like to name a "NARN" personality of the year from that perspective, and the winner is Mitch Berg. His radio skills made the NARN sound professional from week 1. He writes a great blog, my first read of the Northern Alliance. And he is wonderful host at MOB events at Keegans.

Thanks so much Mitch and NARN for a great year re-inventing week-end radio.

Hewitt made a good point yesterday. Why pay 6 and 7 figure salaries to network news anchors? The ratings are down and continuing to fall. And Chris Mathews - who gets more attention from Laura Ingraham than the general public - why pay him several hundred thousand?

Rather has officially retired as part of his plea bargain no doubt. Now the "search" is under way to find his "successor" on the CBS Evening News. Why not start fresh with a fresh and inexpensive face? If you posted the job on Monster.com, say at $125,000 plus limo, wardrobe, some meals, I bet you'd have hundreds of qualified news readers applying, and thousands less than qualified. Qualified means can read the prompter, good looking, good hair. Maybe a woman this time? Maybe a minority? Maybe even a conservative?

CBS News could go off the air and no one would notice in that the market has a wide number of alternatives. The job should be priced as such.

Per Nihilist, my site is 32% evil. Looking at the list, I see I'm in good company.

Still, it seems a bit high to me. After all, I gave up fisking Nick Coleman in 2005. I don't use or even quote anyone using any of George Carlin's seven dirty words. I defended the Star Tribune more than once, even when it meant disagreeing with Hugh Hewitt. I even said at least one nice thing about government.

I see that Our House rated 38% evil. Given the abundant evidence that Lady Margaret is 0% evil, that means David "Dr. Evil" Strom can be at most 76% evil. There must be some good in him after all.

The weather was splendid on Sunday afternoon and I went for a long walk, just over 9 miles. I used the opportunity to hear the first installment of "The Next Big Thing" on KSTP-AM 1500. This is an audition / amateur hour where you can get a two hour gig with a good audition tape.

Today, it was a pair of young hopefuls named Dave and Huna. They were clearly nervous the first 30 minutes, then began settling in. In their second hour they gave us in the blogosphere a pretty good snub, preferring the 150 year tradition of honest MSM journalism! They should have auditioned for Air America perhaps, but mostly they just sounded a little young for the job.

I remember the first few NARN shows. With Mitch Berg's experience and leadership, the NARN hit the ground running, and look at them today. Andy Willoughy is getting shoved aside so the boys can sell cars and cigars.

I appreciate this morning's effort to provide a base for discussing Social Security, specifically as to the reforms sought by the Bush Administration. I also appreciate the risk the Minneapolis Star Tribune takes in publishing such specifics, given the intensity of the debate so far. But while I think this was a good article overall, there were enough problems in the analysis to make me think this should have been placed in the OpEx section.

First off, Staff Writer Eric Black points out that the word crisis is a bit much, as used by both President Bush and former President Clinton. He cites the dictionary definition of crisis and the current cash flow figures. Fair enough; point made.

Next, however we read:

There's a colossal side debate about whether the Social Security Trust Fund contains real assets (what could be a safer investment than a U.S. bond?) or is a giant scam (because you can't save for the future by lending money to yourself and spending it).

I wouldn't have used the word scam in this context; it's either an asset or it isn't. Scamming is a human activity. Writer Black holds his cards up, but his later use of "redeeming" and "cashing in" plus the sidebar statement that "The Social Security trust fund currently holds bonds with a value of $1.7 trillion" (emphasis mine) implies he's in the asset camp .

Let's use the dictionary technique again, to look up trust fund. Merriam-Webster says (in this context): a property interest held by one person for the benefit of another. First, note that the property (cash) must be held. That is not the case here; the money is spent on other government programs. Second, note that a trust is a two party transaction. That is also not the case here. Since you as either a taxpayer or recipient have no specific or even general claim on this "trust fund" there is no second party. There is only the Federal Government. Intra-government spending is of no account to either a worker paying taxes or a retiree receiving benefits.

A good analogy would be a married couple, where at the beginning of the year the wife "invests" $1,000 in her husband's trust fund for spring rest and relaxation. He gives her a "bond" paying 5% per annum, then spends the money on Twins tickets, golfing, new jogging apparel, maybe a cold brew or too. He "redeems" the bond at the end of the year, paying her $1,050. What just happened to Mr. & Mrs Jones, Inc? Absolutely nothing. At no point during this transaction did their net worth or liquidity change as a result of bundling these expenses into a "trust" fund.

Remember the new "Official Cost of Government" where we were supposed to use Personal Income Growth, not the Consumer Price Index to gauge government spending? Now, we are told that because the birth rate is now low, we don't have as many children to raise, and therefore our "total dependency" is currently declining. It will raise later in the century but still fall short of 1960 levels.

The only source cited for this "Total Dependency" approach is the Economic and Policy Research think tank, who by embracing Paul Krugman can safely be considered a liberal institution. The large graphic with a vague "those who defend ... its current form" reference implies a much broader acceptance of this metric, but names no one else. Allow me to translate: since you have fewer children, you can afford higher Social Security taxes.

Finally, under the sub-heading "If you are working" we have the oft-repeated misconception that: "The payroll tax takes 6.2 percent of your wages and an equal amount from your employer." Once again, if you follow the money, you realize that you, the employee, really pay both halves, over 11% of your true gross income. The only advantage to you is that the employer portion is intrinsically not subject to other income taxes.

All in all, this article is still a worthwhile read, even if it does probably belong in the OpEx section. As I've said to those who would try to boycott or blogswarm the StarTribune into submission or bankruptcy, we can still learn from such articles. For example, the point about "total dependency" is helpful both intellectually and as a heads-up for what our opponents will be saying later in this debate.

On balance, I give Staff Writer Eric Black a B.

I just got my blood test results from my annual physical. Everything's fine, except ...

Let me back up. I have been taking medication for my blood pressure that finally crossed the marginally high line a couple of years ago. Each prescription refill comes with two pages of warnings, among them that I not eat too many bananas or other potassium-rich foods. This medication can raise potassium levels and very high levels can be fatal. Fair enough. I get it.

So what do I see? My blood potassium reading was 3.2, below the 3.5 minimum. What does my doctor write alongside?

"Eat more bananas."

Mr. Sun is now up early enough so that my 2-3 hour walks can switch from Saturday afternoon (listening to NARN, of course) to Saturday morning. So, out I went this past Saturday about 7 AM and found myself listening to Air America, featuring a replay of their "Morning Sedition" program.

I was quite impressed, immediately wondering why KTFN (950 AM) put Nick Coleman on instead during the week. This is the type of show Air America could be successful with. Hosts Mark Riley and Marc Maron, a radio veteran and a stand-up comic know what they're doing. There are no hems and haws and ahs and buts like Al Franken. The humor, some aimed at themselves, didn't always work, but on balance, it was a very professional-sounding product.

To be sure, that doesn't mean they're accurate or credible. They interviewed authors who claimed that over half of those on death row may be innocent. No reaction, not even outrage; just acceptance. Still, it was pretty good radio, certainly much better than the current local host AM 950 features instead.

I noted in the paper today the passing of Sue Rockne, longtime DFL activist. She gave us many memorable Friday nights on the Almanac couch in the 1990's. She was as liberal as they come and just as wrong, but I still couldn't help liking her.

I think it was because she convinced me that she really believed in her causes for their intrinsic merits. Too many of her successors only seem to value them as campaign issues.

Sue Rockne's smile, intelligence, and spirit will be missed.

Last month it was Speed Week at Daytona, with a number of NASCAR events leading to the Daytona 500. This month, it's Education week, starting with an OpEx suite of articles, the rally at the Capitol Monday, the Star Tribune's account today, including another confused op-ed by Minnetonka City Manager John Gunyou. (Note: give KSTP-TV a star for covering it very honestly - and briefly on Monday night.)

We'll no doubt see more feature and opinions the rest of this week, maybe another splash to wrap up next Sunday, with fresh money from the latest tax receipts forecast now in play.

But don't lose sight of what's happening. Failure gets you money in the current system. Test scores still falling? Achievement gap widening? Graduation rates are down? Truancy is up? Losing students to home schooling? We need more money! Running out of books and supplies? Overly generous pensions underfunded? Building and grounds run down from neglect? We need more money!

Suppose a well-run district had none of these problems and just wanted an inflation increase of 2%. What would be their chances of getting that ahead of a poorly run district with many of the above problems asking for 7% more? If anything, the prospect of losing existing funds "they don't need" is the most likely result.