Deconstructing Planned Parenthood’s Failed “Forensic Analysis” Report

On August 27, Planned Parenthood released what they claimed was a “forensic analysis” report on CMP’s published investigative footage. In reality, the report is a pseudoscientific production by Fusion GPS, a political opposition-research company that has no forensic certifications. While the report, which contains multiple errors, set out to delegitimize CMP’s video evidence, it only provides evidence of the opposite: the report admits that “This analysis did not reveal widespread evidence of substantive video manipulation” and that it “shows no evidence of audio manipulation.”


Read more at the Center for Medical Progress Read More......

Oregon Doesn't Have to Go the Way of Greece

Oregon’s non-partisan Legislative Revenue Office (LRO) provides the members of the Legislative Assembly with unbiased research and analysis on issues related to taxation and school finance. It issues a report regarding Oregon state finance in February of each odd-numbered year.

The report offers a plethora of information regarding how the state taxes its citizens and spends its revenue. This document is readily available online so policymakers and taxpayers alike can learn what is being done with the billions of dollars that the state government annually collects and distributes.


Read more from Oregon State Senator Doug Whitsett Read More......

Re: Ballot Measures 68 and 69

LETTER SUBMITTED TO THE GAZETTE-TIMES (Has not been published, yet), 5/7/2010 by John Detweiler, Treasurer, Benton County Republicans - We need to read the sections on measures 68 and 69 in the May election voter pamphlet carefully. The "estimate of financial impact" for both measures says, "There is no financial effect on either state or local government expenditures or revenues." The text of measure 68 -- page 37 of the voter pamphlet -- Article X I-P Section 2 tells us that the money to repay these bonds may come from the general fund including taxes levied to pay the bonds. The text of measure 69 -- page 44 of the voter pamphlet -- Paragraph 1, the second section 1 (3) tells us that an amount of money matching the debt incurred by the borrowing institution may be appropriated from the general fund if specifically designated by the Legislative Assembly.

We have enough trouble allocating our sinusoidal general fund. In up years we start new programs that cannot be sustained and wring our hands in the down years as we cut these programs. If enacting these measures results in more bonds being issued, the payments may compete with other things funded by the general fund. Read More......

Obama Health Reform and Wait Times Visualization

PoliticalMath,, 7/4/2009 - In 2006, Massachusetts passed health care reform that implemented a number of policies that are now being mirrored in the Obama health reform plan. The president has repeatedly claimed that his plan will lower health care costs but not decrease health care quality. This visualization looks at how the Massachusetts plan has panned out in terms of cost and wait times.

This visualization depicts a checkup, not emergency care. See resources and more on Political Math's analysis Read More......

Washington Post co-hosts online debate on rescue plan

In the Tanks: A Debate on the Financial Rescue Plan

[Washington Post] [w]ith Andres Martinez. Wednesday, February 11, 2009, Hat tip: John Detweiler

The Post partnered with Andres Martinez of the New America Foundation to host an online dialogue with Washington think tankers on the administration's announced strategy to stabilize the nation's financial system.

Andres Martinez (New America): The markets are underwhelmed by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner's plan. But the policy response to the nation's credit freeze and the need to "bail out" the overleveraged financial sector is precisely the kind of subject that gets our adrenaline flowing at think tanks. So what do we think? Any surprises here? Is the administration doing enough (or too much) to fix the problem? These aren't easy questions, and I'm still not entirely clear on the overriding narrative of Geithner's plan. I can explain the stimulus to my four-year-old son, but I'd be hard pressed to explain the financial rescue to him -- or anyone else.

Dan Mitchell (Cato Institute): Geithner's bailout proposal is very disappointing. The economy is in a ditch in large part because of misguided government intervention. The best option would be to allow markets to operate. Unfortunately, Geithner has decided to continue the failed Paulson policy of hindering markets. He wants to prop up bankrupt institutions. He wants to hinder the natural and necessary reallocation of resources out of weak sectors of the economy (in this case, housing and finance). And he wants to create a "public-private" enterprise that almost surely will be a vehicle for ongoing -- perhaps permanent -- interference in private markets. Read entire exchange at the Washington Post...

Related article:
01/22/09 Washington Post: A Rush-and-Shush Rescue by David Ignatius (Hat tip: John D) Read More......

LETTER: Despite costs, hiring four new Corvallis officers is important

Corvallis Gazette-Times LETTERS, February 10, 2009 by John H. Detweiler

How valuable are three minutes? Someone is trying to break into your house and you have just called the cops. If the cops can get to your house three minutes faster, it might save your life.

The Corvallis Budget Commission has $600,000 available to spend in the next fiscal year. Choices are going to have to be made because there is insufficient money for everything. One of the choices is to hire four patrol officers.

Hiring these officers absorbs almost one-half of the funds available. However, a very important — if not the most important — function of government is to protect its citizens; a function surely more important than hiring an administrative specialist for the senior center or subsidizing the aquatic center.

The Corvallis Police Department funded a study that collected the data required to analyze the time a citizen waits for service. However, the contractor did not actually compute the waiting time as a function of the number of patrol officers. Therefore, I did. I found that with 29 officers — the current staffing — the mean time a citizen waits for service is 6.6 minutes. If we hire four more officers, the mean time a citizen waits for service of 3.5 minutes — a reduction of 3.1 minutes.

My analysis can be found at www.peak.org/~detweij.

Readers who have had to call, or think they may have to call, the cops need to contact their city councilors and ask them to fund the four officers.

John H. Detweiler, Corvallis Read More......