My Page: Christian Probasco
Winter, to me, means skiing or at least memories of skiing, sledding and four-wheeling in southern Utah, when I seem to have most of the wilderness to myself. But I tell my wife, “Winter is death.” [more]
Obama garnering more democratic votes in Utah than any other candidate since 1968, when Hubert Humphrey was on the ticket. 35 percent of the vote went to Obama while 65 percent went to McCain. [more]
Why healthcare isn't likely to get well soon
The Sick and the Well
McCain and Obama offer stark choices for improving our broken healthcare system. McCain suggests a small tax credit that might begin to bring some healthcare costs down and Obama wants a systematic political overhaul, which will ultimately result in some rationing. Both plans are especially unpalatable in the West, where most people would prefer to pay fair market prices for individual medical services. But the political system that should be abetting the market in delivering fair prices has been manipulated by special interests to the point where most health care is out of reach of most individuals.
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Taxpayer Bailout: Ownership Society?
Thanks for the Bailout, America!
In my last blog I wrote, “It seems to me that the real lesson of 9/11, besides that terrible things can happen to innocent people, is not to depend too much on law enforcement agencies for your safety, or for rescue.”
That’s law enforcement agencies. But as for the government itself—well, who knows? The government bails out and bestows privileges on special interest groups, which includes everyone but working folks. But somehow we got in! We put some money down on a reasonably priced house in rural Utah at the height of the boom and our loan was approved by a major mortgage company which then cratered spectacularly. Seemed like bad timing, especially with the interest rate we had to pay, but that we were approved at all may have been because of Bill Clinton's and George Bush III’s push for more housing of the indigent. The “push” that resulted in looser standards for lenders and ultimately, bizarre financial instruments that couldn’t possibly have worked, except in theory.
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Making Sense of the Senseless
The Real Lessons of 9/11
Several articles have already been published under the above title. Former Alaska Senator and supposed libertarian Mike Gravel had this to say about the lessons we should have learned: [more]
FROM THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN
The Election: Views from the Long Tail
I was in Denver while the DNC was running its course but I literally steered clear of the main event. When the helicopters began circling like flies and cops with radar guns took up positions on every on/off ramp east of town, and the traffic slowed until it was stuck, I drove my rig out of the city on back roads. That was my DNC experience: avoiding it. [more]
Jim Stiles, editor of Moab, Utah’s Canyon Country Zephyr, has a long, well-researched article in the latest issue about “How the Mega-Rich are Co-opting Environmentalism and Turning IT into a Big Business too.” Among those who come under scrutiny: David Bonderman, venture capitalist, contributor to various environmental groups, board member of the Grand Canyon Trust, the Wilderness Society and the World Wildlife Fund and committed enemy of the environment itself, through his other holdings, such as European discount airline Ryanair.
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interview
Grilling Terry L. Anderson, Free-Market Environmentalist
Terry L. Anderson is one of the most original and controversial thinkers in the West. Executive director of the Property and Environmental Research Center (PERC) in Bozeman and cochairman of the Hoover Institute’s Property Rights, Freedom and Prosperity Task Force, Anderson is also one of the pioneers of “free-market environmentalism.” He coauthored a book by that name with Donald Leal in 1992 (Palgrave Macmillan), and has also authored or coauthored over thirty other papers and books, including The Not So Wild, Wild West: Property Rights on the Frontier (Stanford University Press), and the CATO Institute study, "How and Why to Private Federal Lands." [more]
On May 16th, Circuit Court judge Tena Campbell ruled that Kane County did not have the right to erect 39 trail markers on roads running through the Escalante National Monument and the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area that had previously been closed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
Campbell’s ruling was partially based on another District Court ruling in 2001; Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) v. BLM, in which it was noted:
“The established rule (is) that land grants are construed favorably to the Government, that nothing passes except what is conveyed in clear language, and that if there are doubts, they are resolved for the Government, not against it.”
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The handling of the raid of the Yearning for Zion Ranch polygamous compound in Eldorado, Texas, and the subsequent detainment of the entire community continues to draw strong reactions here in Utah. Connor Boyack, a website designer in Lehi, Utah circulated a petition calling for the release from custody or foster care of all Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) women and children gathered up in the raid, and an apology from the State of Texas. The petition received 2000 signatures before he forwarded it to Texas Governor Rick Perry, along with a letter noting, [more]
