A4 Wednesday, May 16, 2012
OPINION
Can Johnson get into the election spotlight?
SANTA FE — If Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson can catch a break in the next few weeks, he could shake things up big time and have a lot of fun doing it. We can figure Johnson will not have to be listening to his party establishment telling him what he has to say. He won’t have highpaid advisers walking back statements or explaining what Johnson really meant. The libertarian philosophy is a consistent one and Johnson always has been in step with the philosophy. Essentially people and businesses should have the liberty to do what they want as long as it doesn’t hurt others. And if they mess up their lives while doing their thing, they have a personal responsibility to fix the problem. Government isn’t going to help. It’s really very simple. It involves a lot of tolerance of people’s differences and a lot of
EDITORIAL
JAY MILLER
INSIDE THE CAPITOL
toughness about personal consequences. It means being fiscally conservative and socially liberal. Maybe that doesn’t seem to fit but if Libertarians had a vote for every time I have heard people describe their personal philosophy that way, they would be a large and powerful party. Libertarians have mastered one part of our political system quite well. They usually qualify their presidential candidate on all 50 state ballots. But they’re not good at raising money. Unlike Democrats and Republicans, they have little influence to sell. I realize that is not
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why people donate to candidates, but it does seem to help. Obtaining federal election funds would be a huge help and that could happen soon. If Johnson were able to score 5 percent of the vote in November, it would help the party tremendously and make the 2016 picture much rosier. But 1.1 percent is the best a Libertarian presidential candidate has ever been able to do. The only other time Libertarians ran an experienced politician for office, it was U.S. Rep. Bob Barr. He only garnered 0.4 percent of the nationwide vote. But Barr was controversial and abrasive. Gary Johnson is a much nicer guy. He treats his opponents with respect and does not run negative campaigns. The challenge for Johnson now is to hit 15 percent in some national polls. His big hurdle there is to be included in the polls. Last year, Johnson scored 2
percent in some national Republican polls, which should have been enough to get him on stage, but then the polls quit listing him. Gary Johnson must somehow crack the mainstream media, left and right, in order to get into the debates. Both sides seem to be afraid of him. That includes the major polling firms. Johnson can make the presidential race much more interesting if he is given the opportunity. Occasionally third party candidates do break through. Ross Perot did it in 1992 with 16 percent of the vote. And most notably, Teddy Roosevelt, running on the Bull Moose Party ticket in 1912, finished second with 27 percent of the vote, beating Republican incumbent William Howard Taft. Democrat Woodrow Wilson won that race. In polls that do include Johnson, he currently is running between 6 and 9 percent. If he can get some decent news cover-
age, that figure could go up. He is now handling questions very deftly and makes for a good interview. How is Johnson doing in his home state? Last fall, he finished first among Republican candidates with 23 percent of the vote. He hopes to take New Mexico again in November. It will be difficult. By then supporters of the two major party candidates will have become so polarized, they won’t want to risk throwing their vote to a third party candidate. For now, Johnson is visiting state conventions and town halls preaching a message of minimum government and maximum freedom. His attitude about winning it all still is high. He says he and his fiancé are looking forward to a White House wedding. (Write to Jay Miller at 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505; by fax at 984-0982; or by e-mail at insidethecapitol@hotmail.com)
JPMorgan at it again
For the vast majority of Americans — 99 percent, to borrow a phrase — banking is commercial and relatively simple. A checking account, a savings account, a credit card or two. A mortgage, a smallbusiness loan or a line of credit for daily business cash flow. B u t at t he 1 p e r c e nt l eve l , w h e r e investment banking is done, banking is extraordinarily complicated and extraordinarily rewarding. The risks, as the nation discovered in 2008, are hideous, but that’s what the public is for. This is why JPMorgan Chase’s admission Thursday that it had suffered a $2.3 billion loss and an $800 million gouge in its earnings from unmonitored derivatives trading is so distressing. The bank was playing with house money, not client money, and at least some of it was commercial deposits insured by the federal government. It was as if the 2008 financial meltdown had never occurred. It was as if JPMorgan never had accepted (and paid b a c k ) $ 25 b il l io n in f e d er a l b a i l ou t money. It was as if the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill never had been written. It was as if JPMorgan, the nation’s biggest bank, had realized that as a “Systemically Important Financial Institution,” it is officially too big to fail and will do whatever it damn well pleases. To be sure, Thursday’s announcement included expressions of regret for “errors, s lo p p i ne ss a n d b a d j u d g me n t ” f r o m Jamie Dimon, the bank’s chairman and CEO. But Mr. Dimon also was defiant; he has been a leading critic of efforts by U.S. and international banking regulators to crack down on risky trading behavior. At the heart of these efforts is the socalled “Volcker Rule” that will go into effect in two years. That is, unless Congressional Republicans and compliant regulators succeed in further gutting it before the rule is finalized. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker insists that banks should be prohibited from proprietary trading — trading with bank money instead of making trades on behalf of specific clients. Banks succeeded in watering it down when the Dodd-Frank bill was before Congress; those efforts continue as regulatory agencies continue writing the final version. Mr. Dimon insists that the $2.3 billion l o s s was ca us e d b y t r ad er s m ak i n g “hedging” trades — insuring against potential losses on other trades — rather than proprietary trades involving the l arg e r b a n k po r t f ol i o . T h e c l ai m i s absurd. It’s obvious that Bruno Iksil, the socalled “London Whale” at JPMorgan’s Chief Investment Office, wasn’t investing for specific clients when he took on $100 billion in credit default obligations, bett i ng o n t h e u p w a r d p er fo r m an c e o f “Markit CDX.NA.IG.9,” an index tied to what other investors thought of 121 corporate bonds. N o , h e w as d o in g w h at i n v e s tm e n t bankers do, trying to create profits and bonuses out of thin air by betting on derivatives that have only remote ties to actual money, don’t create any jobs and serve no actual social purpose. The Whale’s huge position attracted hedge fund harpooners. They drove the price down by betting against him, and also betting against the very bonds within the index fund. JPMorgan’s $2.3 billion loss is their gain, and as hedge fund managers, they’ll pay taxes of 15 percent on their gains, not 35 percent on earned income. The Republicans want to keep that deal in place, too. Americans have very short memories, but this is the primrose path that led to recession, epic income inequality, deeper deficits and lingering high unemployment. Remember? Guest Editorial The St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Romney’s stellar performance
LYNCHBURG, Va. — It was not exactly the belly of the beast Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney visited recently on a picture-perfect commencement day at “the world’s largest Christian University,” but his appearance was a test as to whether the conservative school, founded by the late Jerry Falwell, would embrace a devout Mormon. And Romney passed. The more than 30,000 assembled in Liberty University’s stadium to hear his commencement address not only applauded him when he proclaimed that marriage was a
Doonesbury
DEAR DOCTOR K: I have diabetes. Lately I’ve had some new, unpleasant symptoms. My doctor says they’re due to diabetic neuropathy. What is this? And what can I do about it? DEAR READER: Diabetic neuropathy is nerve damage that results from diabetes. The most common symptoms of neuropathy are tingling, burning, other unpleasant sensations or a loss of sensation. The most common type of nerve damage from diabetes is peripheral neuropathy. It affects the peripheral nerves that extend from your spine to your arms and legs. This condition lowers your sensitivity to touch and pain, especially in your feet. It increases your
CAL
THOMAS SYNDICATED COLUMNIST
relationship between one man and one woman but also when he appealed to a “common purpose” in pursuit of shared goals, regardless of theological differences. While President Obama is all about coolness, Romney is the sober grown-up. Republi-
ASK DR. K UNITED MEDIA SYNDICATE
risk of serious foot injury because if you develop sores on your feet, you may not feel any pain. Pain is a warning sign. Without it, you may not notice the sore, and as a result it may get worse. People with diabetes have a hard time healing sores because their circulation is poor. With diabetic neuropathy, a simple cut or blister on
cans support Romney not because of his personality, but because he credibly addresses our shared critical challenges. Mark DeMoss, president of the DeMoss Group, an Atlanta-based public relations firm, and also a member of Liberty’s board of trustees and a Romney adviser, introduced Romney. DeMoss’ late father, Arthur S. DeMoss, was a generous donor to the university in its early days. DeMoss said of Romney, “I suspect I won’t agree with Mitt Romney on everything — but I will tell you this — I trust him. I trust him to do the right thing, to do the
the bottom of the foot can become so severely infected that it won’t heal. If the sore won’t heal on its own, the only solution may be an amputation. That’s why it is so important for people with diabetes to take care of their feet. You must carefully check your feet every day and treat any foot injury immediately. See your doctor about any wound that doesn’t heal. People with diabetes also can suffer from neuropathy in parts of the body other than the feet. Nerve damage can lead to problems with digestive, bladder, bowel or sexual function. This is from damage See DR. K, Page A5
moral thing, to do what’s best for our country. I trust his character, his integrity, his moral compass, his judgment and his perfect decency. And finally, I trust his values — for I am convinced they mirror my own.” That’s a better endorsement than some evangelicals give each other. In an interview following the commencement, I talked with Romney about his campaign and about the recent Washington Post story that claimed he took part in a bullying inci-
See THOMAS, Page A5
25 YEARS AGO
May 16, 1987 • Pvt. Clay B. LaRue, son of Mr. and Mrs. Keith LaRue of Capitan, has completed U.S. Army basic training at Fort Bliss. La Rue studied drill and ceremonies, weapons, map reading, tactics, military courtesy, military justice, first aid and Army history and traditions during his training. He is a 1982 graduate of Capitan High School.