Of Stadiums, Public Funds and "Pull-Tab" Machines
December 22, 2004
It turns out Washington, D.C. is not the only city facing stadium financing issues. Indianapolis is running around in the same circle according to Joshua Clayborn of In The Agora.
Now, I love the Colts largely because I am a Tennessee Vols fan, and I love Peyton Manning. But Indianapolis Star writer Bob Kravitz’ thoughts (as quoted by Joshua) are priceless:
You think of all the pressing public services that go unfunded in this city and state, and yet, when it comes to a big, honking pleasure dome for our football team, our government is bursting with creativity.Consider the irony: Our mayor, Bart Peterson, came into office riding a white horse named Family Values, promising to rid the streets of Sodom — sorry, Indianapolis — of porn shops, lingerie modeling boutiques and other monuments to degradation and debauchery.
Now, here he is, just a few years later, an expanded convention center and a new stadium in his sights, and he’s gone libertarian on us. Today, he wants pull-tab machines, or basically slot machines, which eventually will turn into full-fledged casinos. What’s next? Legalize prostitution and use the tax proceeds? How about decriminalizing marijuana and putting those tax dollars to good use, maybe for schools or infrastructure?
That about sums up my disagreement with taxpayer funding of stadiums (with due consideration of the definition of the term “public services”).
Sphere: Related ContentPlanned Parenthood Private Funding Down: Government Funding Up
December 22, 2004
David Limbaugh reports that Planned Parenthood’s private funding has seen steady decreases recently. But they are still turning a profit on abortions and other services and their government funding is “taking up the slack.”
Time to fight this issue in the states.
Minnesota legislators put forward a “Taxpayer Protection Act” in their last legislative session which would have restricted government money from being directed toward organizations which refer women to abortion providers. In Minnesota, a judicial opinion restricts funds from going directly to abortion providers, but this is not the case in every state.
Other states in which tax dollars are given to abortion providers are CA, NH, VA, IN, and others.
The good news is that when states add restrictions like parental consent laws, abortion rates decrease noticeably. Reductions in funding are a necessary next step in state policy initiatives.
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UPDATE: Thanks La Shawn Barber for linking your post on the moral and spiritual foundation for preserving innocent life in the womb. I link you proudly from this site.
This post caused a big stir in the Rocky Top Brigade; of which I am a member. Those comments can be clearly seen if you follow the “comments” hyperlink below.
CE Petro, a fellow RTB member, has posted this response to my arguments. Because my response to her could not be fully posted in the comments section there, I offer them below.
You have given us all an interesting discussion on the matter of a woman’s choice to pursue abortion. There’s just one item you have neglected to address . . . . It’s the question of whether a “fetus” is a human life. What of its rights and choices.That is the nexus of the irreconcilable nature of the pro-choice/pro-life debate. We who believe a baby is a life beginning at conception will never concede that point. Those who believe the woman has a choice to terminate the pregnancy until birth will not easily change their beliefs either.
Notwithstanding the speciousness of your theory of the origin of abortion restrictions in this country, you do make some valid points about the difficult decisions women must take in their child-bearing years. But in my mind and the majority of others in this country, those difficulties do not begin to compare with the neglected rights of a child which cannot answer for his or her self: a child created by God and in His image.
It’s one of the great paradoxes of life: the joy of childbirth can only be had through great pain and suffering. Thus childbirth becomes a parable of life as well.
Life is a question not merely of the means toward ends but of the sacrifices one must make to survive and obtain the blessings which alone bring joy. Nothing is free. Our own freedoms in this country have come only through blood and travail. But that is the price of life.
Having two sons, I know the sacrifice I must make by subordinating many choices I could have otherwise made to provide nuture and care for their physical and spiritual well-being. But the extra effort necessary to do so and the frustration it sometimes causes is but dust compared to the great joy I receive in my heart every day I have the privilege to watch them grow to “honorable manhood around [me].”
Tennyson said, “Life is not idle ore/but iron dug from central gloom . . ./and battered by the shocks of doom,/to shape and use.” Though we pro-lifers recognize the challenges of a woman in the midst of a crisis pregnancy, we cannot reconcile easing that trial by the taking the life of another.
It’s a choice we just cannot make.
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UPDATE II: More comments and replies from the CE Petro post:
From mataliandy:Sphere: Related Content“At what point do the rights of a being that has no ability to recognize and participate in life on its own supercede those of a being who is a full participant in life, contributing to the good of its friends, family, and community?”
My response:
You have proposed a “value of life” issue I believe is disingenuous at best and at worst mere hubris.
The divine origin of life theory presupposes value upon all born (or unborn) into this world. And here is the rub: it’s tough for those who cannot countenance this belief, like yourself, to comprehend the seriousness of this issue to those of us who do.
"Blogosphere" or "Blogsphere"
December 22, 2004
I want to clarify the use of world “Blogosphere.” I know it is common to use the word as I spelled it in the previous sentence. I disagree with that spelling and prefer “Blogsphere”–removing the “o” in the middle–largely for phonetic reasons. I hope to have a major impact on the internet by eliminating the more common spelling. I guess it’s just the Noah Webster in me
UPDATE (2/14/05): Outside the Beltway has a renaming contest. I have submitted this article as my suggestion.
Sphere: Related ContentSimply……WOW!
December 22, 2004
Erick Erickson linked this on his site.
Simply Amazing!
Sphere: Related ContentBush presses for reform on border policy
December 21, 2004
Frankly, we can do both Mr. President. But let the reader decide.
Read more here.
Sphere: Related ContentWill Conservative Leadership Prevail in the 109th Congress?
December 21, 2004
La Shawn Barber appropriately questions whether Republican leadership in Congress will follow through on the Conservative mandate expressed in the November elections. We should all be concerned about the follow through.
She cites an article in which Cong. Mike Pence, R-IN, Chairman of the House Republican Study Committee says, “The election was a mandate for conservative leadership in Washington . . . . Its a new day . . .and a new Congress.” And then she opines,
“Yes, but will conservatives accept the mandate and get things done? It’s not a matter of whether the Democrats will try to gum up the works. They will. Do conservatives have the courage to do what’s right?”
Knowing Mike Pence, at least the Study Committee will be standing for the agenda. But he may end up, as J.C. Watts did as leader of the Republican Caucus, butting against a brick wall of leadership which is too politically minded for its own good.
Let’s hope Mike and his committee members prevail upon the “Committee of the Whole.”
Sphere: Related ContentIt’s A Bad Day
December 21, 2004
Shot In The Dark posted this link. Very terrible looking.
But it was all a hoax.
Sphere: Related ContentNews and Blog Roundup
December 21, 2004
TOP STORY: 22 Soldiers Killed in Mosul, Iraq. 22 U.S. soldiers were killed in Mosul, Iraq when insurgent terrorists fired a missle at a mess hall on the American base there. Outside the Beltway has the story. This on the heels of Tony Blair’s visit to Baghdad.
More On Blair: Confessions of A Political Junkie wonders why we are supposed to like Blair when he is pushing Great Britain into the European Union. Erick has other news updates too.
Red State America = Coke America: Erick points out Jonah Goldberg’s link to this map which shows another view of Red State America. It turns out that Southerners ask for a “Coke” and not a “Soda” or a “Pop”. I think I’d like a Coke, thank you. Jeff the Baptist and Commonwealth Conservative have more.
Pro-Life Republicans on Judiciary: Oh! And so I don’t forget, Outside the Beltway also notes the appointment of two more pro-life Senators to the Judiciary Committee. It’s good news for tough battles to come for the President’s judicial appointments.
Yahoo! Refuses to Help: Mark Kilmer notes that Yahoo!, Inc. will not allow the parents of a slain U.S. soldier in Iraq to read the decedant’s email standing firm on their policy not to give out customer passwords.
The Declining Dollar: Jay Reding has some cogent comments about the declining dollar against the European currencies. What goes up must come down he says. And with high unemployment and slow growth in Europe, the return of the dollar is inevitable. I believe when you factor in what I believe will be the positive investment effect of Social Security reform and the remarkable rate of growth in our own economy, Jay’s thesis seems to me to be right on target.
Our Top Ten Allies: The Diplomad, a conservative group of US Foreign Service Officers, picks our Top Ten allies around the world. I am sure not all in the State Department or the Democrat Party (except Joe Lieberman) agree with these.
Iraqi Attitudes: Back of the Envelope reports that Sunnis in Iraq, though happy to be free, are “humiliated” by the fact that Americans freed them from Saddam. Put’s an interesting light on the situation there.
Rumsfeld’s Signature: Though many are crying foul about the fact that the Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld does not personally sign condolence letters for killed American servicemen in Iraq Power Line shares a letter from a family of a Marine stationed there. They don’t seem to believe it is important. But sadly, now that that the Secretary has committed to sign any future letters, he’ll have a busy evening tonight signing twenty more.
The Blogsphere Shines: La Shaun Barber praises the way bloggers have changed the way news is delivered in her article on National Review Online.
Sphere: Related ContentFox Knows Its Red State Base
December 20, 2004
Confessions Of A Political Junkie noticed it too. FoxNews is consistently showing Christmas clips with relevant verses of scripture. The are also highlighting the Bah! Humbug attitude swirling in the public square.
Sphere: Related ContentNews Roundup
December 20, 2004
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