Kaulapi World

Obviously I’ve been closely following the ongoing battle over the debt ceiling, being that both me and Hana are gainfully employed by Uncle Sam, the prospect of a loss of a paycheck due to a government shutdown is something that we both pay great attention to.  I have to admit it has become a little tiring though, both while working at the office and when teleworking, I have C-SPAN going on in the background listening to the floor debates in both houses.

My overall take on the whole mess is that we need to have a serious conversation about the future of the federal budget in terms of the big ticket spending items the biggest which are entitlements and military engagements, right now the discussion has gotten so polarized on partisan lines that it is impossible to even have a meaningful conversation as to what we policies and programs we want as a nation, what is the realistic cost of those things.  I’ve spoken with folks from both party affiliations, and it seems like all they can do is blindly spout the party line, often in rapid succession.  I wanted to ask them point blank if they even understood the position that they were advocating.

As fiercely independent minded as I am, I have to say that I am leaning slightly towards the position of spending cuts making the larger proportion of the deficit solution as opposed to revenue building.  This is despite the fact being that particular party spent the last 10 years piling on to the deficit like money was going out of style.  I still think in this situation spending cuts is the way to go over revenue building.  I liken it to how an average family might deal with the prospect of hitting their limit of their credit card or general line of credit.  The most logical thing to do is to decrease spending relative to the proximity to the credit limit, if it is a few months expenses away, then maybe you spread the cuts over several months, but if you’re right up on it, then immediate cuts in spending are in order.

In contrast, the building revenue side for the typical family would be amounting to the family to just make more money.  It is important to note that longer term revenue sources would be most helpful, not merely selling some household items, or by simply working longer hours, both of which are either one-time, or temporary increases in income.  A more basic definition of revenue increases to what governments think of in terms of raising taxes when it comes to the average family is to go across the street and rob the house of the richer, more affluent neighbors.   Even if this was a widely accepted solution, it would be temporary, because eventually the rich neighbor might move out of the neighborhood.

Someone I recently spoke with seemed totally uninterested in the prospect of an actual default, or credible threat of default.  Their perspective was that congress would pass something at the last minute possibly, and it would be back to business as usual.  I find it hard to tell if people who hold that opinion are either wiser than me to the nature of DC politics, or just have their head in the sand.  It seems like a lot of crazy shit is going on right now not only at home, but around the world to be that oblivious.  To me, at the very least it would be helpful to take a moment to look around and get somewhat ready in case the shit really does hit the fan.

Came across an article about the Federal appeals court ruling upholding the health care reform law which passed in early 2010 and has been under constant legal and political challenges since then. As a novice spectator to the field of appellate law, I’m not keeping score as to how many lower courts have ruled in favor, or against the law on constitutional grounds, but I do know enough that it does raise serious legal issues that will be revisited by the SCOTUS eventually.

At the heart of the debate over the constitutionality  the health care reform law is the individual mandate, that the federal government can compel citizens to purchase a good or service, in this case, to purchase health care. Part of the reasoning as I understand it is that being uninsured has a net economic affect on the commercial transactions of healthcare, therefore it brings in federal authority to regulate via the commerce clause.  This may be due to the nature of insurance dominated health care market, but individual citizens by failing to act or purchase a good or service, are bringing the full force of federal regulation against them.

One of the more useful courses I took in law school was on constitutional law, it was one of the few subjects that I really saw an added value of the material as it applies to daily life and plays into the important historical context of how our political systems have evolved over time.  I saw such a benefit to this information that I would advocate that more of this should be taught at the lower undergraduate levels, even at the high school and intermediate levels.  Too often I come across intelligent, reasonably informed people that have a total ignorance to very basic constitutional issues, and when I say ignorance I don’t mean the ability to recite a few random facts or catch phrases, but a basic ability and interest to have a meaningful discussion about the concepts.  Too often I have seen any discussion of the courts as a legal version of a sporting event, in which one side wins and the other side loses, and the gallery doesn’t care why, just that their party won and the other side lost.

For this I blame mostly the hyper partisan nature of our political system where the party line, whatever it is, is often substituted as the ultimate truth on constitutional issues when more often it is something in between.  Case in point, the latest ruling is I think the third major ruling on the health care reform law that has come out in the last year, but it is the first to go in favor of the administration, the other two or three opinions ruled the law as unconstitutional.  Now supporters of the law will use the most recent ruling as evidence of not just the constitutionality of the law, but as a validation of it, regardless of any understanding of the issues involved.

Something that I’ve been coming to terms is the concept of keeping these cases outside of the court in the first place, especially on ones that challenge things so fundamental as constitutional issues.  Just as the failure to pass a budget to keep the government operating without continuing resolutions, maybe the volume of constitutional challenges to laws is a failure of legislatures to educate themselves about the constitution, or at the very least have an open and thoughtful debate on issues.  Litigation is supposed to be a last resort for non-violent conflict resolution, we should only go there if we can’t work things out through more effective and civil ways.

Cut both hands picking up a broken bottle in the sink. The little guy is walking around the place, very confident in his movements. Went to a coffeshop late at night, kids running around everywhere. Something about completing a mission before the reinforcements arrive at the compound.

Always interesting dreams while on seahorse duty.

About 5 hours to the shutdown deadline, and it seems like it’s a done deal. I’ve already been issued my official furlough notice until the federal government agrees on another continuing resolution or long term budget. I’m permitted to report for work on Monday, but just to secure personal property and set up away messages for email and voicemail. It is not clear when we will be allowed back into the office again.

Apparently it is a federal crime to even log in and check my work email in a shutdown, the federal government is prohibited from receiving volunteer labor without an appropriation, so even if i felt like continuing working on principle basis, I could actually get sanctioned or fined. From a workload standpoint, this only makes it harder whenever we are allowed to go back to meet the work deadlines. It is a very stupid and inefficient way to run things, but that is a whole other discussion in itself.

Hana on the other hand has to report for work, but will be in a non-pay basis. It is unclear at this time whether either of us will get paid retroactively, which makes this whole thing even harder on the household budget. Fortunately we’ve prepared an emergency fund that we can draw on for the time being, although if this thing goes on long enough, I’ll have to get a little creative with our finances. Hopefully once everyone accepts the shutdown is a reality the focus will shift away from issuing press statements and blaming the other political party, and will move toward brokering a deal that everyone can live with.

Looking on the brighter side, in meantime I’m preparing for a transition to be a stay at home dad full time, which given our current schedule isn’t too much of a change. I actually will welcome being able to sleep in a few more hours now in the morning. Hopefully the weather will be nice enough I can start taking the little guy out to the park or around time more. If I can’t work, I might as well take advantage of the situation. Some other little projects around the house might get some attention.

A number of vivid recurring dreams to make note of involving trains and train stations. The significance of trains can be a number of things or so I understand. To me personally these dreams suggest a number of things going on in my mind lately.

One dream I am walking alone down a snowy city street towards a train station located at a specific intersection. I’m headed someplace with a sense of urgency, but mostly because I’ve made this trip several times before in the same dream, everything seems to come back to this station. Because its snowing, I figure its on the east coast someplace. What also sticks out is the station itself, it’s above ground, with the trains entering and departing coming in out of a side tunnel on heavy rails before going underground again. I am the only one headed to the station, possibly because its so late at night, or maybe because nobody else is headed in direction that I am. That being said, the fact that the train station even exists means that others have been down this path just as I am about to, just not too many right now. This dream in particular was so vivid that when I woke up I researched the intersection and street name in a number of major large US cities and was amazed that it actually exists.

The second one is vaguer, I am on a crowded platform waiting for a train going back in the direction that I once came from, the train operator either overshot the station, or was diverted due to some track work. I am pretty irritated at the prospect of having to backtrack, but try to keep a good attitude about it while I wait with numerous other passengers fuming on the platform. When the train finally comes I notice its a older model, like something out of the 1950s streetcar varieties, I board the train a little distracted with the nostalgia of the appearances, and grab a seat. As we go along our way, the train engine dies and we are stranded on the tracks. Frustrated, I and the other passengers look out on the train tracks as the other modern cars zoom by, the other passengers rubbernecking at us poor saps.

The third dream I am in a packed crowded train station where the station managers have set up hundreds of registration tables everywhere, checking names and ID numbers. The table are everywhere, in the station, by the ticket counters, even on the platform itself, blocking access to the very train that I notice hasn’t even arrived in the station yet. When it is my turn to talk to the station manager I realize that my name doesn’t come up in the database at first, while secretly I am glad because I am not in any rush to catch this train, I wouldn’t mind waiting until the next one comes that is less crowded. Besides, I haven’t had time to pack for this trip yet. Right before I decide to walk away and let the next person in line come up, the station manager finds my name and copy of my driver’s license which he shows me. The picture was so dated I smile at sight of seeing an old familiar face from many years ago, smiling back at me. I end up walking away from the station, knowing that I can catch this train later if I still want to one day.

Earlier this week the president announced a 2-year freeze in pay for federal employees, a move that has stirred up quite a bit of discussion, from the rapid approval of recently elected tea party candidates and other republicans who are suddenly fiscal conservatives, to the ire of federal employee unions and big government democrats.

However after the dust settled, and people started digging into the details of the plan, it became apparent that this is not much more than a symbolic gesture at trying to address the budget deficit, and actually may be a very bad policy move for Obama, as well as anyone who is expecting the economic recovery to continue along.

First not what the pay freeze is, but what it isn’t, in other words, what positions/agencies are exempt from the freeze: Lets start with the military, judiciary and the entire legislative branch, including congressional members and their staffs, partly due to the separation of powers, as the president has power over the executive branch only. The freeze also does not count for what is known as step increases and grade increases, which is when an employee is given a raise due to completing years of federal service, or applying for a position with more responsibility, which is for all respective purposes is meets the conventional definition of a “raise” in itself.

Then there are the overall budget implications that the pay freeze has in the aggregate, I’ve read anywhere between $28B to $30B over the next 5 years, meaning about $4B tops for 2010. All it takes is to google the amount of total expenses and outlays for the federal government to see that this is peanuts to the total. The big pieces of the pie are in entitlement spending, social security, medicare, public assistance programs.

I suppose a more meaningful cut might be to cut federal salaries or the workforce. This is worth discussing, but like everything else, where to cut, and more importantly, what is the most politically acceptable area to cut? FBI agents? Agriculture and food safety inspectors? The diplomatic corps? USAID? enlisted military members? How about at the banking and financial regulators? Judgment calls all around, but without taking a partisan angle on where I personally think we should cut, I’ll say that over the past few years I’ve seen my own share of waste, fraud and abuse.

The economic argument that this will result in an anti-stimulus is the one that I’m most interested in considering. Because the cuts are coming from reducing salaries for as much as 15% of active participants in the real economy, this will have a counter effect of the recent stimulus efforts made by the current administration. And its not just the $28B-$30 of lost consumer spending, but since we’re talking about anticipated salaries going forward, there will be a collateral effect among some federal employees to delay large purchases, decrease consumption, and build cash reserves. In such a consumption based economy, this is by definition an anti-stimulus.

Brief disclosure: I currently work for Uncle Sam, although my salary, even including liberal interpretation of non-salaried benefits puts me several tens of thousands below the numbers I’ve seen thrown around recently as an “average” federal salary. I also started working in the public sector way back when it was considered foolish to take a pay cut over more lucrative positions in the private sector.

Brief update, a just shy of couple months off of seahorse duty now. Been getting the hang of things with the new work schedule, so far so good. I am officially a morning person now, waking up at about 4am during the week, and for consistency purposes, 6am or so on the weekends. For the most part I’m liking the change, I find myself super productive at work now, it being so quiet. The biggest surprise is that I actually function quite well as a morning person, a significant change from all the years as a night owl.

Been noticing sparse, but interesting crowds on the early train, and around the city at 5am. Mostly early morning commuters, with the occasional late night party person who seems to have missed the last train the night before. I also noticed that there is everyday there is a large group of homeless congregating nearby a shelter a few blocks from my office. I hadn’t even noticed it was there in all the years I’ve been walking by it. Even in the past few weeks I’ve noticed the crowd getting bigger, is it the weather getting colder or the economy?

Baby is growing up quickly, getting bigger, stronger louder and much more aware of his surroundings. Hana has started him on solid foods, which I think he enjoys immensely. With the new schedule I noticed that I see baby a lot more than his mother except in the late evening hours when I’m about ready for bed – something I’m still getting used to. It’s all worth it though, wouldn’t trade it for the world right now.

Just another early morning start to day 16 of what I am coining “Seahorse Duty” aka burning my annual leave to take care of the little guy while Hana goes back to work full time. Only a few months but I think I’ve gotten a good hang of things now, like everything in life there is a learning curve involved, I think one of my strengths is the ability to respond to situations and adapt my approach over time. With a newborn I think this is especially true.

Been reading up on the various milestones that babies are supposed to be hitting, and the little guy seems to be on target for the most part, and extremely early on a few of them. It really is something how life totally changed once he was born, I’ve converted to an early morning schedule now figured out various routines to make sure he is fed, washed, rested, and happy, sometimes at the expense of my own comforts. When he was first born I must’ve lost about 10lbsm running on empty and since I started the seahorse duty I’ve probably lost another 5lb or so all because I was running around so much.

Haven’t been keeping up with the journal as much as I have my hands pretty busy lately, which leads me to wonder whether it is time that I should be shifting gears in what to write about going forward. For the most part this journal has served as a mental release valve while I was in school which no longer applies, it has been more of a dialogue with myself and a way of documenting life events rather than a blog. Although along the way I’ve seem more than a few examples of posts that might’ve been good blog posts like the ones I’ve come to read regularly.

I also suppose taking care of the little guy is another form of learning, this time outside of the classroom and much more meaningful, although I’m not really sure if I want to blog just about my seahorse duty exclusively.

Wanted to take a reflective look back at what I got out of the law school experience, roughly one year after taking the July bar, in no particular order:

Intensive academic study doesn’t intimidate me. Not like ever really did before, but after going through the gauntlet 8+ semesters and the bar exam, it really doesn’t now. I have a better sense of some of my own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to academic study.

I’m even less infatuated with the end product as opposed to the process. This is even with the final tuition bill, and unknown monetary payout of the degree.

In many ways I’m more articulate now in my opinions and viewpoints, this includes being more focused on what really matters to me and what is just fluff. I call this knowing better how to pick battles, so to speak some things aren’t really worth discussing.

More committed than ever to the goal of remaining objective to facts and arguments presented and not superficial points raised to distract and confuse. My shibai/BS detector is stronger than ever. Better able to read and dissect arguments and separate the wheat from the chaff.

I have a much better understanding of the U.S. Constitution and greater respect for the original foundational system of government was established and how it has developed over the years to account for a changing and growing society.

Have a much better respect for the rule of law and its purpose in maintaining civil society, and place an even greater value for civil liberties and concern for government policies and the social movements that erode them. See now both how extreme conservatism is too rigid to the fluid nature of humanity to change over time and reinforce corrupt power structures as well as see now the hypocrisy of extreme liberalism to reinterpret things to the extreme that it compromises core values.

More bi-partisan/non-partisan and independent minded than when I started. Not as likely to put institutions, individual persons or ideology on a pedestal. More respect to the countering viewpoint, especially when it is a minority opinion. More willing to genuinely consider alternate opinions, at the very least respect them enough to consider them before deciding that I don’t agree. Not as much of a bleeding heart as before, more focused on policies that empower rather than enable dependence on the state.

More of a realist than idealist now. Not out to save the world anymore as much as to try to make an incremental difference in areas I have control over. Part of this is that I am no longer as naive to the corruption and hypocrisy that exists in all systems and institutions. More aware of waste, fraud and abuse at all levels of government.

More than ever willing to question the status quo more while accepting that often times the world simply is what it is.

1:15am and the little guy is resting. Had an eventful first day, as did his mom and dad. Glad he came out alright and without any major mishaps. He’s a hairy little guy, got a full head of hair, wandering eyes already thinking about what just occurred. I’m tired but happy.