Can a City Exclude Non-Residents from Its Parks?
Grosse Point, an exclusive suburb of Detroit, has city parks, as most cities do. Apparently, it has tried to exclude non-residents from using its parks. The Michigan Tax Tribunal has ruled against the city, saying that it must open the its parks to "the public"--anyone who wants to use then, in effect, since the city makes no property tax payments. The Detroit News offers a survey of reader responses today.

I haven't read the original story, and this is the first I have heard of this particular case--though not of the complaint. If a city is concerned that its facilities are burdened from use by outsiders, or if it wants to make sure that only the people who pay for a facility use it, then maybe they ought to find a way of charging user fees.
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Is the American Dream Good Policy?
It's almost the end of the day and I haven't posted anything. That's due, in large part, because I spent most of the day working on the house. It's days like these which make me wish I had kept a copy of an article I once read questioning the high value that U.S. policy places on people owning houses. (This is carried out not only through the home mortage interest deduction on income taxes, but also through the government sponsored enterprises of Fannie Mae and her sisters, which serve to further boost house ownership.)

The point of the missing essay, as best I can remember, is that time and money, both being limited, may sometimes be best spent on activities other than mowing the lawn, pulling weeds, trimming shrubs, painting walls, and any of the multiple maintenance tasks involved in owning a house. I don't know I agree with the author (since I remember only a portion of the article), but I sometimes think of that article whenever I find myself in a long fix-up day around the house.
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Sloppy Psychoanalysis from a Distance
The old line was that while liberals have no head, and conservatives have no heart, it turns out that conservatives have no (sound) head, either. At least that's the buzz about a study (pdf) published in the journal "Psychology Bulletin" (2003, v 129, no 3, 339-375), published by the American Psychological Association. The concluding abstract of the article states that "the core ideology of conservatism stresses resistence to change and justification of inequality and is motivated by needs that vary situationally and dispositionally to manage uncertainty and threat."

To quote one of the people mentioned in the study (conservative writer George F. Will), well.

What to make of this?

An article in the Daily Californian (published at the Univeristy of California, Berkeley, home of two of the four authors of the study) noted that some people had sent letters to the study authors complaining about a "comparison in the press release grouping conservatives like former President Ronald Reagan and radio host Rush Limbaugh with Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini." Ya don't say?

And again, quoting the Californian, "The study also raised questions when the press release compared authoritarian leftist leaders like Joseph Stalin, Fidel Castro and Nikita Khrushchev with conservatives. " (I thought conservatives were the ones who practiced guilt-by-association. McCarthyism, you see. Perhaps the authors are conservatives?).

Not surprisingly, the Californian notes that Berkeley removed a link to the press release that announced the study.

In the last day or so, the folks over at National Review have been digging into the study. Jonah Goldberg came out with an op-ed on the study today, and readers of "the Corner" (the magazine's blog of staff and invited writers), several of them psychologoy students, have offered critiques of the study. Since the National Review server is currently offline for some reason, I will add a few comments.

- The study said that conservatism is an ideology, yet what it studied was pscyhological temperment. Not the same thing. On the one hand, it's understandable that the authors studied the psychological underpinnings of an important movement. On the other hand, it's simply untrue to think of it only as a temperment.

- What do conservatives want to conserve? Affirmative action? Government that shows no sign of shrinking from its near-record place in American life?

- Liberals are subject to many of the traits studied in the test.

- The study is a meta-analysis, which means that is particularly prone to problems of validity. (The Corner is good on this).

More later.
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Let Mary Take Care of Your Child--and Let Jane Pay Taxes to Cover Costs
In Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich signed legislation that makes it easier for people to get taxpayer-funded day care. Calling "early childhood education" an issue of civil rights, fairness, and equality, the governor approved of the legislation, which "is the first step in a three-year plan to make preschool available to every at-risk 3- and 4-year-old in the state." (Starting schooling at age 5 isn't soon enough, apparently.)

The paper quotes a Head Start teacher (i.e., someone on the government payroll) as saying "You can't expect parents to improve themselves if every time they get a raise they won't qualify for welfare." Why not? I imagine that most people think that "improving themselves" would include getting off of welfare. Apparently not.
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Democratic Governor in Wisconsin Blasts Republican Predecessors on Taxes
While Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle enacted a large tax increase on property, he (rightly) blasted his Republican predecessors for poor budget choices. The new budget cuts state spending (and 2,292 state jobs). It does not raise state income, sales or corporate taxes, though it does raise tuition, fees, and removes a property tax cap.

According to the Journal-Sentinel of Milwaukee, "Doyle said he had to slash state spending brutally because former Republican governors and legislators refused to balance the budget and made the deficit worse by spending all future revenue, including one-time income from selling tobacco settlement payments from cigarette manufacturers." Despite the reputation of former governor, Tommy Thompson, as a tax-cutter, Wisconsin ranks 14th in the country in terms of total tax burden per capita, according to the Tax Foundation.
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Teacher Unions Win Big in Wisconsin, Family Choice Suffers
It's payback time! The Wisconsin teachers union backed Democratic candidate Jim Doyle for governor last year, and yesterday, he paid them back, putting his veto on a measure to expand the school choice voucher program, which is currently limited to 15 percent of the enrollment of the Milwaukee Public Schools.
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Word of the Day
This from an email friend of mine ...

Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.
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Library Porn Controvery May Renew Local Independence
In an editorial today, the Detroit News applauds the Plymouth, Michigan library system for deciding against using internet filters on public computers. "Let the federal money go," says the library director. "The federal money we would receive would not cover the costs to change the policy."

The News says that "there are substantial First Amendment issues involved in censoring computers used by adults." Well. Filters in libraries do not forbid the production of porn or anything else, nor do they restrict the viewing habits of anyone in their own home, so it's hard to say that this is censorship. Or at the least, censorship that is anything new.

When a librarian declines to stock ... to make up a title, "The Joy of Sex with Barnyard Animals" on the shelves, it's called editorial judgment. Why does it become censorship if the library installs a filter that blocks the presentation of a similarly-themed web site in the library?

In any case, the News is correct citing one good effect of libraries reacting in the same way as the Plymouth library: we may yet learn self-reliance at the local level, rather than depending on federal funding (and accepting federal strings that inevitably come along.)
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Connerly Not All Alone in Move To Abolish Place of Race
Ward Connerly, of the American Civil Rights Institute, has decided to launch a campaign to place an anti-racialist constitutional amendment in the Michigan state constitution. He is set to get an agreement with a firm to start collecting the necessary petition signatures. According to the Detroit Free Press, he has collected roughly two dozen state legislators to take his side. Naturally, the Democrats, the official party of grievances and affirmative action, will oppose such a measure, but it's uncertain how many Republicans--ever fearful of being labeled racists--will sign on.
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Don't Steal, the Government Hates the Competition
You've heard the cynical remark,"don't steal, the government hates the competition"? Well, at least one element of government hates competition: government-school employees, as represented by their unions. The Wisconsin Education Association Council is set to file suit to block two new charter schools from opening in the state.
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Why Not Cut Wasteful Spending Now?
Illinois's governor, Rod Blagojevich, has said "We think there's plenty more to cut" in the state budget. The Daily Herald also notes that he is confident that should a new budget gap emerge, more waste can be cut. "I think there's a lot of that in government, and we just want to find that and root it out."

So why hasn't he done more of it to date? Says the Herald, "The governor also has emphasized on the trip that he was elected to be governor, not the state's top accountant, and doesn't want other parts of his job to be lost in the budget glare." I suppose that means more symbolic ribbon cuttings and listening tours?
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If Somone Swears and No One Listens, is it Still a Profanity?
In the suburban Chicago village of Lisle, a park district employee made a recorded message about the department's events. Apparently flustered about something, he said "Oh, damn," which made it onto the tape. That was a month go, and just now the district is hearing about it. Either profanity is so ingrained in public life that it didn't sufficiently bother anyone who called, or nobody called in the first place. Neither is a good sign.
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Tax Increases, Program Cuts
Stateline.Org has another article of interest today, surveying a report by the National Conference of State Legislators. Of the states, 31 have made program cuts while 17 have raised taxes (two are still wrangling over budgets and thus were not included in the report). Collectively, all states have overrun their budgets by 10 percent, resulting in an initial budget gap of over $78 billion. Oklahoma Sen. Angela Monson (D) detects a philosophical change towards using more fees, to charge people for the cost of services they actually use.
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Legitimizing Spam
Thirty-five states have passed laws regulating or attempting to ban spam. But all they've done, perhaps, is legitize the practice. As quoted by an article in StateLine.org, a Chicago-based law professor says "What most of the state statutes do is legitimize spam as long as you don’t also commit fraud.” Delaware has an "opt-in" law, the kind favored by folks who think that legislation is the answer to this problem. But the state has yet to prosecute a single person under its measure.
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Affordable Housing
Guest appearance by Adrian Moore (ok, his mass email) from the Reason Public Policy Institute, on a new study concerning the price of housing.

In "The Impact of Building Restrictions on Housing Affordability [pdf file]," the authors argue that in the most of the country housing prices are very close to construction costs. Where prices are high relative to construction costs, economic analysis shows that the major culprit is restrictive zoning. They also point out that many popular policies, like “smart growth” policies to increase density, affordable housing mandates, and subsidies, don’t do much to help. Attacking zoning and other regulations on housing is the best way to make homes more affordable.

RPPI, by the way, has their own compilation of studies on housing, zoning, land use and sprawl.
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Dams if You Do, Damned if You Don't
The Army Corps may or may not have done its job right over the years. As it is, farmers and barge operators have come to expect certain water levels, maintained by the use of the Corps' system of dams and locks. In fact, a federal court judge in Nebraska has ruled that the Corps must maintain water levels high enough to make navigation possible.

Now, groups has come along preferring the shoveltail swallow (or whatever) have persuaded another federal judge that the Corps must lower water levels on the Missouri river, to encourage nesting areas. The Kansas City Star quotes a Justice Department official: "These orders are mutually exclusive, and the corps can't comply with both."
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County Freezes Pay
Members of the Waukesha County board in suburban Milwaukee vote to freeze their pay for the next two years. It's not going to save the taxpayers much--$26,000 over the next two years--but the symbolism of restraint is commendable. As corporations are suspending matching funds to employee 401k accounts, raising copays on health insurance, suspending raises or even cutting pay, some politicians understand that enriching themselves isn't the best thing to do right now.
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Government Jobs Cut
Yes, it does happen. Illinois is cutting down some jobs in the offices of the attorney general and secretary of state, among others. Of course, this being Illinois, you can't help be wonder about the political and patronage calculations going on behind the scene. Greg Blankenship, a Springfield-based blogger of Illinois politics, has not been impressed with the protestations of the State Treasurer, and argues that governor "Hot Rod" may upset enough people that he may actually bring about some policy changes in the state. The Land of Lincoln does need a shakeup in its political debates, which are not based in policy as much as which set of party hacks will be able to stuff their wallets (or enjoy the perks of office) next time around.
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ET is for Aliens
ET, of course, was an alien. Now, ET may be for aliens. The federal government is using Michigan as a test ground for using electronic tethering as a way to monitor illegal aliens who are awaiting deportation hearings. These electronic bracelets, which lets someone else monitor a person's movements within a specified area, are popular for certain prisoners who are nearing the end of their sentences. It make make some sense to apply this technique to aliens, rather than enduring the expenses of putting them in prisons, which tend to be much more costly (on the order of 10 times much, from what I remember from past research.)
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Speed Traps or Revenue Traps?
The Michigan legislature decided to meet its budget crunch (in part) by increasing fees on motorists who violate traffic laws. A scholar at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy gives plenty of reasons why this may not be a good idea, including the fact that it could corrupt police departments and clog court dockets.
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Toy Cop Cars
Today's Wall Street Journal (online subscription required) reports on seatbelt enforcement in the state of Washington.

The average rate of usage in the state of Washington is 93 percent; in King County (Seattle), the number is 95 percent. Nationally, it's 75 percent. So it's not as if there are a lot of people not wearing seatbelts. Still, the state prompts local police departments to do more, offering grants of up to $1,000. The most amusing (?) incentive is a miniature model police car "for officers who wrote more than 40 seat-belt tickets during a three-month period."

With anything as intrusive as primary seatbelt laws and as silly as toy cop cars, you'd expect the federal government to be involved. And they are. Prodding the states into more aggressive enforcment is Jeffrey Runge, the administrator of NHTSA.

Of the 42,850 people who died in traffic accidents last year, 19,103 were not wearing seatbelts. Some of those 19,103 would be alive had they been wearing seatbelts. But not all, for 23,747 people were wearing seatblets--and still died. Seatbelts are no guarantee of survival.

NHSTA estimates that on a national basis, 4,200 lives would be saved if seatbelt usage increased to 90 percent from 75. That's less than one in five of beltless fatalities. In other words, the easy gains have already been achieved--some through law enforcement, most (I hope) from people realizing that a seatbelt is better than nothing, and that driving without out is, well, stupid.

Still, NHTSA and state governments, prodded by the feds and others, keep moving towards primary seatbelt laws, and belt-only enforcement.

A resident of Washington organized a petition drive (since failed) to repeal that state's primary enforcement law when he learned that some police officers could get toy cop cars for hauling in a fixed number of tickets, or faced quotas for citations or traffic stops for seat belt laws.

Of the 50 states, 18 have a primary law; 31 have a secondary law, and 1--New Hampshire has no seatbelt law. (Cynics may remark that New Hampshire's state motto should be "Live Free and Die.")
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ACLU: Pro-Troll League?
A man and his girlfriend are claiming a constitutional right to be trolls--that is, live underneath a bridge. Naturally, the ACLU is involved.
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New Screening Facility at Minneapolis Airport Caught in Bureaucratic Tussle
Remember when airport security was so important that it had to be taken away from airlines, airports, and security contractor? Congress gave it to federal government workers (who, incidently are unionized and thus more difficult to fire in case of incompetence.)

The St. Paul Pioneer-Press reports that the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) has delayed a decision to build a new facility for baggage screening. It's projected to cost $60 million. MAC and Twin Cities-based Northwest Airlines say that since security is now a federal function, no local funds should be used.
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Music to Conduct War By
I don't deal much with foreign policy on this blog, but from the desire to have a focus. Still, it's worth taking an occasional detour, like today.

The folks over at The Corner blog of National Review are conducting, a contest, of sorts, to see who can come up with the song most appropriate to the deaths of Uday Hussein and his brother Qusay Hussein

Here are the entries so far:

Another One Bites the Dust, by Queen
Burning Down the House, by Talking Heads
Highway to Hell, AC/DC
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Logs, Specks, Eyes, and Conflicts of Interest
Writing in National Review, James Justin Wilson charges the head of the American Conservative Union with betraying conservative principles for the sake of the clients of his lobbying firm. It's a good story of the perils of mixing policy and profit.
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Democrats for School Choice
Well, at least one. Sen. Diane Feinstein writes in the Washington Post today that she is inclined to let Mayor Anthony Williams conduct a voucher program for (some) students in the District of Columbia. Since DC is ultimately governed by Congress, what the senator from California thinks about vouchers has some importance. She recites the miserable statistics--$10,852 per pupil spending each year results in 10 percent of fourth graders reading at "proficiency"--and suggests that a mayor ought to be free to experiment. But as results in Cleveland and Milwaukee have shown, school choice is an "experiment" only in the sense that it isn't widely used. But it works, and should work again in DC, if Congress and President Bush can come to an agreement on a school choice program.
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Read My Lips: No New Prisons
In brief, that's the message of Wisconsin's governor Jim Doyle.

Doyle objects to "incarceration without rehabilitation," and on the surface, it's hard to disagree with him. It would be great if prisoners were rehabilitated. Some nonprofit groups, such as Prison Fellowship, do a good job of helping prisoners straighten out. But it's a choice that each prisoner must make, and it's unrealistic, and dangerous, to forswear any new prisons. There are, however, several ways of improving prison functions while reducing costs, such as contracting out selected operations (food service, education) or even the entire operations of a prison. There are planey of ways to try to reduce recividism, such as expanding work programs (to teach discipline and give inmates a skill they can use outside) and bringing in nonprofits such as Prison Fellowship. The state should also look at how many prisoners are taking up cell space as a result of minor drug crimes, or, the latest craze in criminal justice, white collar crimes. Prison ought to be (largely) reserved for those who threaten public safety through acts of violence.
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Uncle Sugar Comes Through
Detroit Free Press columnist Chris Christoff evaluates the recently concluded budget battle in Michigan. The result is that Governor Jennifer "Granholm will soon become the first Democratic governor in the United States to finish next year's budget and wipe out a deficit without a general tax increase."

It would have been great if the politicos had used this occasion to implement some fundamental reforms in state government, along the lines advocated by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. But that--or perhaps a tax increase--was headed off by an infusion of cash from the feds. Says Christoff, "It can't be overstated how much the $700-million windfall from Congress contributed to the peaceful, early end to the budget debate."

State employee unions now have a choice: accept $250 million in wage concessions, or layoffs. The harm that will befall state employees in either case--lower salaries, or trying to cover the work of those laid off--is yet another reason why selective pruning of government functions would have been even better than increasing fines for traffic violations (the Republican response) or depending on a bailout from Washington (the bipartisan response).
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Surcharge for "The Rich" at U Cal Berkeley?
The University of California-Berkeley is floating a proposal to levy a surcharge on families with incomes exceeding $90,000 a year. As Powerlineblog.com notes, students will know right away what sort of lessons they will encounter in college--and their parents certainly will, as well.
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Mental Health Treatment by Government
The Detroit News has a several-part series on state and county mental health systems. As you would expect, they are stories filled with sadness. One man, for example, was refused treatment by a county agency after his house burned to the ground. He was no longer a county resident, someone reasoned. Some state-run hospitals have been closed--a good thing, in general--but private hospitals and community service programs have not yet expanded to pick up the slack.

Though it is a few years old, this study from the Reason Public Policy Institute is a good place to start in looking for non-state run alternatives for mental health treatment. Having visited two people who have spent weeks, if not months, in one of Michigan's state-run hospitals, I can only say that successful reform can't come quickly enough.
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Heads Up on Head Start
Congress is considering a pilot program that would let some states, under a pilot program, take over the federally-run Head Start programs in their states. "Child advocacy groups" (wow, who can oppose them, eh?) fret that states won't have the same high standards.

The Heritage Foundation notes that academic gains that are achieved with Head Start disappear after a few years under the current system, and lauds the Bush proposal to add an academic component to the program.

That may be better than the status quo. But then again, the constitutional authority for state capitals--let alone Washington DC--to be involved in childrearing is rather thin, at best.
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Conceal-Carry Bill Introduced in Wisconsin
Legislation establishing a process to issue conceal carry permits, under which county sheriffs would issue licenses to carry concealed weapons to state residents 21 and older who pass criminal background checks (and a safety training class as well), has been introduced in the Wisconsin legislature. This follows a ruling from that state's supreme court that "he state constitution guarantees homeowners and shopkeepers the right to carry concealed weapons on their own property, and the justices' call for a permit system." The governor is opposed to the measure, but the court called on the legislature to establish a permit system of some sort, in light of its ruling. As the National Center for Policy Analysis points out, crime has declined in right-to-carry states.
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