The proposed House budget cuts are the target of some much-deserved criticism; criticism that it is coming from both progressives and religious leaders. The House budget makes severe cuts to several programs that serve low-income Americans, including Medicaid, funding for student loans, funding for food stamps, funding for child care.
For decades, Republicans have regarded America’s poor with an almost pathological animosity. The Republican narrative of poverty is one of laziness, weakness, and other character flaws. In other words, if you’re poor, it’s your fault. What’s more, Republicans have demonized the poor, portraying them as welfare queens and king who feed like parasites on the labor of hard-working Americans. All of this, of course, is a myth. Most low-income families are working families who struggle to meet the basic needs of life.
Republicans characterize these cuts as necessary to pay the costs related to post-Katrina recovery, as well as to bring spending under control. Let’s put aside the fact that Katrina funds are a one-time expense that will have little effect on the deficit. I’m all for a balanced budget, but I have sincere doubts about conservatives’ sincerity in this matter. Why? In the next phase of budget planning, the House will consider a $70 billion tax cut package. Even with $50 billion in cuts (the target established in the House), that still leaves a $20 billion deficit.
These proposed cuts have nothing to do with fiscal responsibility. They are a naked display of a cruel and selfish ideology, perpetuated by a party that has abandoned all principles of responsible governance. They also illustrate the utter contempt these lawmakers must feel for so many of their fellow Americans.
But there is hope. The scope of these cuts is making many moderate Republicans nervous. In the end, they might be enough to restore some sanity to our nation’s budget priorities.

I voted early in Minneapolis’ upcoming election today. The mayor is up for reelection, as is the City Council and the Library and Park Boards. I’m lending my support to the incumbent mayor, R.T. Rybak. Rybak was handed a city budget in shambles when he came to office, but he has done a commendable job of putting the city on surer financial footing. He has also spearheaded several neighborhood revitalization projects in areas that desperately need them, particularly the North Side. I also like his energy and his ability to promote Minneapolis as a livable, increasingly diverse city.
His challenger, Peter McLaughlin, simply hasn’t given me sufficient reason to believe that a change is necessary. I’m also not thrilled with McLaughlin’s recent second-guessing regarding the established Hennepin County smoking ban.
It will be a close election, but I’m looking forward to seeing what Rybak can do for the city with another four years in office.

Civilization IV and Age of Empires III (or AoE 3 in geekspeak) were recently released and I’d like to give them both a spin. But I know if I do that, work on the book will grind to a halt. Because it’s impossible to play “a little” of either game. When you sit down to play one of these games, you can actually feel hours of your life being sucked out of you. It feels kind of weird at first, but you get used to it. Hmm…maybe if I just play on weekends…no, no, I must not give in. But once the book is done, I’m going to take a month or two off of any writing project and get my game on (but don’t worry, blogging will continue).

It’s great to see Democrats playing hardball with the Republicans. Today’s strategic decision by Minority Leader Reid to call for a closed-door Senate session refocuses the media’s (and the public’s) attention on the war, just when the Bush administration was hoping to take back control of the news cycle. I’m beginning to admire Reid’s skills as a tactician. The focus on Iraq comes at an appropriate time, given the fact that October was an especially bloody month for American forces stationed there. The Republicans will undoubtedly try to portray this as a Democratic “trick” or “stunt,” but I think most people are beginning to feel like they were bamboozled into this war. And the Democrats are learning how to use that public frustration to their advantage.

The other day, I was going through some of my e-mail archives. I’m something of a digital pack rat and I tend to save e-mails that I think I might want to read again someday. My archive goes back to 1998 (it would go back further, but I seem to remember some kind of system crash that caused me to lose a bunch of older messages) and going through it has evoked a mixture of nostalgia and embarrassment. There are the tentative e-mail exchanges with potential employers while I was still a law student, the back-and-forth between my brother and I as we planned for a trip to Los Angeles, the silly little newsgroup flame wars I got into as a way of proving how intelligent and clever I was, the messages from the med student on whom I had a galaxy-sized crush (and my carefully composed and wincingly overearnest replies), the random correspondence with friends and family as we made plans for a dinner or a weekend visit or a marathon evening of gaming on my computer, the messages from friends and colleagues I haven’t seen or thought of in years.
When I’m gone, I like to think that my e-mail archive will be the best available record as to what kind of person I was. It does a pretty good job of recounting the transitory ephemera of my adult life, as well as illustrating the more immutable passions and eccentricities that made me…well, me. Maybe some distant descendant will collect all of this crap and make a school report out of it or something.