The Rapid Descent from State Capitalism to Protectionism

Solyndra, the poster-child for President Obama's big plans to magically convert the American economy into a "green technology" powerhouse through massive government subsidies, declared bankruptcy today.  As I've noted repeatedly here, Solyndra received a $535 million federal loan guarantee from the Department of Energy but has faced serious financial problems for over a year, so its failure is hardly surprising (unless, of course, you think that Presidential pep-talks can save a struggling business).  What's also not surprising - at least for the 12 people who read this blog regularly - is the administration's highly troubling response to Solyndra's announcement, one which perfectly demonstrates how "state capitalism" breeds economic nationalism and, in many cases, protectionism (emphasis mine):

Since 2009, the Department of Energy’s Loan Program has supported a robust, diverse portfolio of more than 40 projects that are investing in pioneering companies as we work to regain American leadership in the global race for clean energy jobs. These projects include the world’s largest wind farm, several of the world’s largest solar generation facilities, one of the country’s first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plants, and the first new nuclear power plant in the U.S. in the last three decades. Collectively, the projects plan to employ more than 60,000 Americans, create tens of thousands of indirect jobs, provide clean electricity to power three million homes, and save more than 300 million gallons of gasoline a year.

Our loan program catalyzes American innovation and private sector investment behind promising companies -- so that American workers have a chance to compete against China and other countries that much more heavily subsidize clean energy companies. While each transaction undergoes months of extensive and careful expert review to minimize risk, there will always be an element of risk with investments in the most innovative companies. The alternative is simply walking off the field and letting the rest of the world pass us by.

Solar panel manufacturing is a growing international market, with increasingly intense competition from Chinese manufacturers who are supported in many cases by interest free government financing that is much more generous than what the U.S. provides. The price for solar cells has fallen 42 percent since the beginning of the year -- even as European countries, currently the largest market for solar panels, are facing economic turmoil and have greatly reduced subsidies for solar power. The changing economics have affected a number of solar manufacturers in recent months, including unfortunately, Solyndra, a once very promising company that has increased its sales revenue by 2000 percent in three years and sold more than 1000 installations in 20 countries. As a result, Solyndra now plans to suspend its manufacturing operations and file for bankruptcy protection.

Now, leaving aside the bizarre fact that the US Department of Energy has apparently now become an investment bank and jobs program, what the bolded passages above make clear is that the Obama administration is blaming China, not DOE's bad investment decisions or the clear inability of solar power to survive without federal assistance, for Solyndra's failure.  No, it's China and its "heavily subsidized" companies who receive "interest free government financing" that caused Solyndra to collapse, so angry American taxpayers should direct their ire at the Chinese and their subsidies, not the Obama administration (and, umm, its subsidies), for Solyndra's demise and the flushing of millions of taxpayer dollars down the collective (pun intended) toilet.  It's also that dastardly China who threatens "American leadership in the global race for clean energy jobs" and "projects [that] plan to employ more than 60,000 Americans... [and] create tens of thousands of indirect jobs."  (Yes, "other countries" were also noted, but none by name, so let's not be naive here; the target is clear.)

Such a response is not only kinda pathetic (DOE also fingered the Bush administration and Congress), but also highly troubling because it could easily stoke nationalist and protectionist sentiment in government and the general public.  Indeed, by shifting the political blame to China, the press release seems intended to do just that (and, of course, to argue that future green "success" just requires bigger truckloads of borrowed taxpayer money).  But as disturbing as DOE's statement is, not a word of it should be surprising because economic nationalism and (sometimes) outright protectionism are the inevitable outcomes of state capitalism.  Indeed, I warned of this very thing just a few months ago when commenting on an op-ed by economist Art Carden on government "investment" and the President's call to "win the future":

Carden's explanation of the pernicious side effects of government "investment" deserves further discussion. He does a great job laying out how special interests inevitably distort government investment plans, but I think he glosses over perhaps the bigger problem with state meddling in the private sector: it breeds economic nationalism.

As Carden rightly notes, government "investors" (i.e., elected officials subsidizing commercial enterprises with your and my tax dollars) respond to political, rather than market, incentives and can easily throw more money (again, our tax dollars) at a project regardless of the economic return on that investment. In short, as long as the political returns - be they votes or campaign contributions - remain high, then the government investor has an incentive to keep on investing. It's this troubling dynamic that has given us more than three decades of government "investment" boondoggles in corn ethanol and other "green" technologies. (To see just how long we've sucked at "investing" in environmental technologies, Google "carter synfuels" some time.)

At some point, however, the money does run out, and that's where things can get really scary. As we've learned during the current state and federal budget crises, government funds aren't truly unlimited (thank goodness). But, even though the state/federal coffers are dry(er), the political incentives remain equally strong - government investors still have a serious political stake (read: re-election) in seeing their investments be successful. Without a limitless supply of money to throw at a politician's chosen company/industry, he will almost inevitably seek other means to ensure the political returns on his "investments." And, unlike private investors, he has at his fingertips the full force of the government to improve his investments' prospects should things go sour.

Of course, when it comes to government "investment," things almost always go sour (see above).
So not only do we get bajillions of tax dollars thrown down the toilet for government projects captured by special interest lobbying, but we also get a healthy dose of government coercion to tilt the playing field in those projects' favor. Sometimes, this coercion rears its head through top-down usage mandates like the gas/ethanol mix. More often, it appears in the form of economic nationalism - particularly trade protectionism - because in today's global economy eliminating foreign competition is one of the easiest ways to improve your investment's chances. (See, e.g., the current tariff on sugar ethanol.) Of course, when a government official can't do that, she can at least blame the foreigners for the failure of her blessed programs and convince the public that "free trade," not her programs, caused all of their economic ills.

And that brings us back to the troubling protectionist implications of the President's repeated calls for more government "investment" during the SOTU...

So if/when President Obama's "investments" in green technology and other industries fail (as they probably will), and when the federal budget (and House Republicans) simply can't tolerate even more money being thrown at these failed investments, where will he turn? Will he cut his losses and admit failure? Will he force Americans to buy/use these failed products regardless of their economic (and environmental) value? Or will he blame the country's "adversaries" (i.e., foreign competition) and attempt to erect trade barriers?

According to the [Michigan ex-Governor Jennifer] "Granholm model," it'll be the last option, and, really, we shouldn't be surprised if/when that happens. I mean, it's the natural result of an economic model based on national "competitiveness" and government "investment," now isn't it?

Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

At this point, we're clearly out of money and the House GOP isn't breaking out the credit card anytime soon, so DOE's implicit calls for more green energy subsidies are almost certainly going to go unheeded (thank goodness).   And with very-public failures like Solyndra putting a very-public spotlight on the Obama administration's green energy money pit, scapegoats are going to be needed.  On green technology, China has clearly become the President's first choice: indeed, the Energy Department has been left to implicitly deride Chinese subsidies instead of openly praising the significant proliferation in "cheap" solar power that's mentioned in its very own press release!  But one must wonder whether, if/when several other of President Obama's green poster children go belly up, will the "China blame game" be enough to salvage the President's political prospects?  Or will protectionism - and an inevitable confrontation with one of America's largest trading partners - be the administration's next move?

I don't know the answer to these questions; nobody does.  But last sentence of the DOE release could be a warning as to which way the Obama administration is leaning: "While we are disappointed by this outcome, we continue to believe the clean energy jobs race is one that America can, must and will win."

Shudder to think how they'll try to rig the game to ensure that "victory."

Volunteer Firefighter, Two Brother's Charged With Arson For Suspicious Fires In Lawrence County:

Halltown Volunteer Firefighter Cody Gossett is charged with arson

A volunteer firefighter from Halltown and two other men have been arrested for arson and burglary in connection to some suspicious fires in Lawrence County.

Christopher D. Smith (mug shot LCSO)

Twenty year-old Cody Gossett of Halltown has been charged with second-degree arson.  Christopher D. Smith, 21, and Matthew A. Smith, 23, both of Mount Vernon are facing arson and burglary charges.

Matthew A. Smith (mug shot LCSO)

Sheriff Brad DeLay says the arrests were made after investigations into several suspicious fires last October including two fires at abandoned residences, hay bale fires, and possible several other suspicious fires in the area. 

More charges are expected to be filed soon regarding additional fires as well as the possibility of charging additional suspects. "There could be charges filed on as many as five other people and we are looking into whether or not the people that have already been charged, or other's being looked at, are involved with similar incidents in Greene County this year," said DeLay.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol and the State Fire Marshal’s Office is assisting in the ongoing investigation.

Pining Away for an America of Protectionism, Socks, Ironing Boards and Poverty

When I first read this recent Yahoo Finance article on "10 American Industries Still Hanging On" by Donn Fresard, Matthew Mallon, and Justin Rohrlich, I really thought it was a parody.  On further review, however, I'm pretty sure that the piece, which laments the demise of American manufacturing and praises a few plucky upstarts clinging to survival against a pernicious onslaught of foreign competition, is real.  And you'll never guess how many of the highlighted companies manage to "survive."   Yep, good ol' fashioned protectionism:

For most of the last century, the United States dominated global manufacturing -- no country could compete with America's output.

In recent years, however, the news about domestic manufacturing has been discouraging, if not devastating. Industry surveys have shown a decline in most sectors as the US continues to lose its factories to cheaper labor markets overseas, and especially to China.

In 2010, the last remaining American flatware factory shut its doors. So did the nation's last sardine cannery. Recent years have seen the shuttering of America's last coat hanger factory, last button down shirt factory, and the entire sheetrock-producing town of Empire, Nevada -- which fell victim to the desiccated US housing market.

Surprisingly, however, there remains a handful of heroic holdouts. Bloodied, battered, but not yet down for the count, there are still pockets of US manufacturing scrappy enough to keep the lights on in the face of overseas competition. Here's a look at 10 survivors worth celebrating....

SPARKLERS: Few products say summer in America like the sparkler. But without Diamond Sparkler of Youngstown, Ohio, it would be a cold winter for domestic sparkler production. Diamond has been in Youngstown since 1985, when Phantom Fireworks operator B.J. Alan bought Chicago's Acme sparkler manufacturer and brought its operations to Ohio. At that point, cheaper Chinese sparklers had snuffed out all but three US producers. By 1999, Diamond would be the lone holdout that hadn't shifted to imports. Not because it found a way to profits, however. Besides a brief tariff-related windfall, Diamond Sparkler never been a moneymaker for its parent firm, whose owner said he bought the division because he couldn't "envision something as American as sparklers, with its association with the (Fourth) of July, not being made in this country."...

SOCKS: To get an idea of what's happened to the American sock industry, take a look at Fort Payne, Alabama. Until a few years ago, the town of about 14,000 billed itself as the "Sock Capital of the World." They weren't spinning a yarn, either: As late as 2007, according to the Hosiery Association, if an American put on a pair of socks, the odds were about 1 in 8 they'd be rolling a product of Fort Payne/DeKalb County onto their hooves. Most of the area's workforce was employed in its sock mills, which then numbered 125 to 150. Today only 20 remain, providing roughly 600 jobs, down from 8,000 just a decade ago....

What started pulling out the thread was -- you guessed it -- globalization. An influx of cheaper hosiery, imported from the likes of China, Pakistan, and Honduras, started around the turn of the 2000s. It flipped the American sock industry on its head faster than argyle came back and again went out of style. Domestically made socks went from three-quarters of US sales to one-quarter between 1999 and 2006.

Thanks to a quirk of national politics, Fort Payne caught a break in 2005, when then-President Bush needed to swing a single vote in Congress to get his Central American Free Trade Agreement out of deadlock. The city's congressman, Robert Aderholt, was a holdout against the deal, and he took the opportunity to hold the bill hostage with a single demand: Restore the tariffs, which had been lifted in 1984, against socks seamed in Honduras. The White House complied, and the duty returned at the end of 2007. The move had little effect in the long run, and sock factories are still fleeing Fort Payne for Honduras.

IRONING BOARDS: The fact that there's only one ironing board manufacturing plant left in the Unites States has nothing to do with changing tastes in laundry after-care, or the viral spread of track-suits and t-shirts, and everything to do with retail consolidation and globalization.

Located in Seymour Indiana, HPI Seymour, owned by Chicago-based Home Products International, has been around since 1942, when it started as a tool-and-engineering shop. In the 1950s it switched to ironing-board only mode, successfully marketing a range of high-end ironing boards around the world.

But today the plant, which employs 200 people (down from 400 in 2000) and pumps out 720 boards an hour, is fighting the same stiff winds that have wiped out so much of U.S. manufacturing, despite a market that sees some 7 million ironing boards sold every year. Big chains like Wal-Mart (WMT) and Target (TGT) are still customers and anti-dumping tariffs as high as 157% against its rapacious Chinese competitors have kept the lines rolling at the plant so far. But with the chains increasingly sourcing cheaper and cheaper products from Asia, and with the tariffs coming under pressure from observers who wonder if artificially high ironing board costs for 7 million consumers are worth 200 jobs in Indiana, HPI Seymour's 69-year-old history is probably nearing its end.

PENCILS: Without tariffs against Chinese imports, you might as well erase pencil manufacturing from the ledger of American industry. And even since the US government took anti-dumping action against Chinese exporters in 1993, China's dominance of the industry here has barely slowed: American companies in 2008 produced only 14% of pencils sold stateside, whittled down by half from just four years prior.

Newell Rubbermaid's Sanford, have closed plants that employed hundreds in the past few years as they shifted production to Mexico and elsewhere. Other companies largely retreated into specialty graphite utensils, like colored and drawing pencils. "The yellow pencil basically became a Chinese commodity," Jim Weissenborn, whose family has owned General Pencil for 150 years, explained to Bloomberg news in June. "We've had to become a very boutique type of business in order to survive."

SNEAKERS: New Balance is the only major player in athletic footwear that still operates American factories, and it's hanging on by a shoestring as free-trade negotiations with Vietnam loom. The privately held Boston company has 1,000 US workers in its five New England plants, whose $10-and-up hourly wages are a quaint holdover in an industry that imports 99 percent of its product. "The company already could make more money by going overseas, and they know it," 35-year-old floor leader Scott Boulette told the Washington Post. "So we hustle."

But all the elbow grease in Norridgewock, Maine, won't keep New Balance competitive if an expected agreement with Vietnam eliminates the tariff on imported shoes, typically around 20%. The region's legislators are trying to carve out an exemption to keep New Balance's factories open. The firm's competitors like Nike and Reebok, though, seeing an opportunity for higher profits on imports and, displaying little sympathy for the scrappy northeastern holdouts, have banded together to fight the duty – or "shoe tax," as they call it. "For products that are no longer produced here and haven't been produced here for decades, there's no sense for consumers to be paying it." said Nate Herman, of the industry's lobbying group....

Sigh.  Where to begin?  Well, first let's start with the little fact that the American manufacturing sector as a whole is actually doing quite well, as these two charts (recently mentioned here) make perfectly clear:

Source: BEA

Second, let's recall that lots of American manufacturers, particularly those like Caterpillar who use low-cost imported inputs and depend on foreign demand, remain very successful.   Indeed, IndustryWeek's recently-released "2011 IW 50 Best Manufacturing Companies" lists plenty of American manufacturers who are dominating, even in this tough economy.  And although some of these companies utilize foreign facilities, many of them, like #1 ranked hard-drive manufacturer Western Digital out of California, have significant US production facilities and are hiring.  And considering that most high-tech goods are duty free because of the Information Technology Agreement, we can be pretty darn sure that Western Digital didn't make it to the top of the IW list by lobbying for government protection from foreign competition.

Odd that the authors didn't think to mention these globally-dominant firms, eh?

Third, the authors fail to mention that many manufacturers are returning to the United States because cheap labor couldn't trump the myriad benefits of domestic production.  Meanwhile, many US companies depend on  exports and foreign demand, particularly in this anemic US economic recovery, to keep their domestic doors open.  In short, "American" manufacturers are coming back to the states, and the very "globalization" that the authors repeatedly deride is actually a boon to the US economy.

Finally, the article above makes clear that many of the companies that the authors praise only exist here in the United States because of ridiculously high tariffs.  Thus, their "success" is government-induced and comes at the expense of American families and businesses who have been forced by the US government to pay higher prices for shoes, socks and other basic goods.  And even with massive government protection, the companies still can't compete.  Thus, we've all been forced to subsidize (through higher prices) failing US companies that will never, ever be competitive again.

By contrast, many of the globally-dominant companies listed in the IW 50 (or the broader IW 500) don't require government tariffs or subsidies.  But these companies aren't manufacturing basic, labor-intensive things like socks and pencils; they're mainly in high-end, high-tech, capital-intensive industries like aerospace, IT, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, biotech and heavy machinery.  And they're doing it very, very well.

I don't mean to disparage America's sock/pencil-makers, but the basic and obvious reality is that US companies have an extremely difficult - if not impossible - time competing on the lower-end of the manufacturing spectrum (even with massive government assistance).  At the same time, they're succeeding at the industrial top-end where education, technology and productivity - things at which the United States still excels - are more important than things like cheap manual labor.  And, of course, they're also succeeding through globalization and, yes, even outsourcing (see, e.g., Apple).  So to glorify the uncompetitive industries and the government protectionism that keeps them (barely) alive, while ignoring the successful American firms that don't need state assistance is more than just misleading and nonsensical, it's also harmful - if the authors somehow convince Americans to embrace protectionism and uncompetitive, inefficient American industries, we'd all be worse off.

As Cafe Hayek's Russ Roberts eloquently put it today in response to a trite NYT op-ed on the same subject: "Making stuff the cheapest way is the road to prosperity. Trying to find expensive ways to make stuff (because it once was a good idea but no longer is) is the road to poverty."

Why do Fresard, Mallon, and Rohrlich want us to run down that road?

Mastermind In Murder Plot Sentenced To 25 Years, Boyfriend Scheduled To Be Sentenced In November

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The final two suspect in a 2008 contract murder in Springfiled have pleaded guilty.

Theresa Rash and her lover Jeff Bloom acknowledge that the state has enough evidence to secure a conviction in the murder for hire death of Rash's husband, Stepehen E. Rash.

Prosecutors say Theresa Rash hatched plan to kill her husband

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Theresa Rash's boyfriend and alleged co-conspirator Jeff Bloom

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According to court records, the plot to kill Rash on December 8, 2008, was put in motion by Theresa Rash who wanted her husband killed for verbally abusing her and because she wanted to be with Bloom.  The conspiracy was put hatched about a week before Stephen Rash was found dead on his kitchen floor.  He had been bludgeoned with a pipe and his throat had been slashed.

As part of the plea agreement, Theresa Rash was sentenced to 25 years in prison.  Bloom is scheduled to be sentenced on November 3rd.

Alexandrea McNeeley

First-degree murder charges were dropped against Theresa Rash's daughter, Alexandrea McNeeley and her boyfriend Troy Christiansen, and replaced with conspiracy to commit murder charges in exchange for their cooperation against their co-defendants. 
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They were let out of county jail pending the resolution of the other cases and will be sentenced soon, according to Greene County Prosecutor Dan Patterson.

Troy Christiansen

Five months ago William Reed was found guilty for his part in Rash's murder and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. 

William Reed was sentenced to life in prison

After a bench trial last month, Judge Tom Mountjoy found Rusty Amoss guilty for his role in Rash's murder.  He was also sentenced to life in prison.


Rusty Amoss will spend the rest of his life behind bars



Guitars, Catfish and the Rise of Regulatory Protectionism in America

Ever since the advent of the WTO, and the GATT before it, governments' ability to use tariffs, quotas and other straightforward forms of trade protectionism has been limited and, in many cases, subject to retaliation by other WTO Members.  Indeed, such limitations on trade protectionism were the goal of the WTO's "channel and bind" strategy - "channel" all trade barriers into easily quantifiable tariffs, and "bind" them at agreed maximum levels.  However, as I've mentioned here before, these basic WTO disciplines also are subject to broad "exceptions" (under GATT Article XX and XXI) for things like national security, public health, safety and the environment.  Thus, regulatory measures can often (but not always) pass WTO muster, even though they restrict international trade.  These exceptions are widely recognized as necessary to protect WTO Members' sovereignty, and I think that they do serve that important purpose in most cases.  On the other hand, these exceptions also create an extremely ripe opportunity for WTO Members to use health, safety, environmental regulations as a backdoor means of protectionism.

The most high-profile example of the problems created by regulatory protectionism is probably the recent attempts by some US and EU government officials to impose carbon tariffs on imports from countries that haven't adopted sufficient economy-killing climate change mitigation measures.  Carbon tariffs, much like global warming itself, appear to be dormant right now, but that hasn't stopped the United States from pursuing other climate change-related regulatory measures and imposing many other kinds of regulatory protectionism over the last few years.

The most recent and publicized instance of this troubling trend came in last week's anger-inducing news that the federal government raided Gibson Guitars due to alleged violations of the Lacey Act, recent expansions of which prohibit trade in certain protected woods and create an extremely onerous "strict liability" (i.e., you're guilty even if you didn't intend to break the law) compliance standard:

Federal agents swooped in on Gibson Guitar Wednesday, raiding factories and offices in Memphis and Nashville, seizing several pallets of wood, electronic files and guitars. The Feds are keeping mum, but in a statement yesterday Gibson's chairman and CEO, Henry Juszkiewicz, defended his company's manufacturing policies, accusing the Justice Department of bullying the company. "The wood the government seized Wednesday is from a Forest Stewardship Council certified supplier," he said, suggesting the Feds are using the aggressive enforcement of overly broad laws to make the company cry uncle.

It isn't the first time that agents of the Fish and Wildlife Service have come knocking at the storied maker of such iconic instruments as the Les Paul electric guitar, the J-160E acoustic-electric John Lennon played, and essential jazz-boxes such as Charlie Christian's ES-150. In 2009 the Feds seized several guitars and pallets of wood from a Gibson factory, and both sides have been wrangling over the goods in a case with the delightful name "United States of America v. Ebony Wood in Various Forms."

The question in the first raid seemed to be whether Gibson had been buying illegally harvested hardwoods from protected forests, such as the Madagascar ebony that makes for such lovely fretboards. And if Gibson did knowingly import illegally harvested ebony from Madagascar, that wouldn't be a negligible offense. Peter Lowry, ebony and rosewood expert at the Missouri Botanical Garden, calls the Madagascar wood trade the "equivalent of Africa's blood diamonds." But with the new raid, the government seems to be questioning whether some wood sourced from India met every regulatory jot and tittle.

It isn't just Gibson that is sweating. Musicians who play vintage guitars and other instruments made of environmentally protected materials are worried the authorities may be coming for them next....

The tangled intersection of international laws is enforced through a thicket of paperwork. Recent revisions to 1900's Lacey Act require that anyone crossing the U.S. border declare every bit of flora or fauna being brought into the country. One is under "strict liability" to fill out the paperwork—and without any mistakes.

Conservatives and libertarians are rightly incensed by this kind of regulatory adventurism and its effects on US businesses, but what the article above leaves out is that, as noted in a recent Heritage Foundation study, the Lacey Act's legal requirements and strict liability standard are so severe that the law - intentionally or not - has crippled trade in both illegally-harvested and legally-harvested wood products.  And this protectionism has occurred mainly to the detriment of small importers and developing country exporters who simply can't afford to jump through all of these hoops (or risk even trying to do so).

Unfortunately, the Lacey Act is not alone.  For example, the WSJ reported last month that a little-known provision in the Dodd-Frank financial "reform" law, which bans trade in "conflict minerals," is causing harmful unintended consequences for poor African miners engaging in legal commercial behavior:

The world is in the midst of a commodity boom, but in a mineral-rich and desperately poor corner of Africa exports of tin, tantalum and tungsten have fallen by more than 70% since last summer. These are not the effects of war or natural disaster--although the region suffers from all of that and more--but rather of what local small-time miners are calling "Obama's embargo."

The African miners are basically right about the source of their troubles, though if they want to be more specific with the blame they might also call it the McDermott embargo, after the Democratic Congressman from Washington state. Jim McDermott is one of the architects of the Dodd

The goal of Section 1502 is to cut off money to those responsible for the fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and by those lights the sales collapse shows that it's working. A spokesman for Mr. McDermott tells us that if the trend persists, they hope to see a similar drop in the rate of carnage. Over the past dozen years, more than five million people have been killed and more than 200,000 women raped in the fighting between rebel groups and government forces.

Section 1502 requires companies that use these minerals--they have applications in everything from electronic gadgets to medical devices--to disclose whether they, or anyone along their supply chains, source their minerals from Congo or any of the countries at its borders. If so, their SEC reports will have to detail the steps they're taking to not "directly or indirectly finance or benefit armed groups" in the region. If companies cannot demonstrate such steps, they will have to declare on their websites that their products may be funding African atrocities.

Behind the scenes, companies are working to soften the rules. Some industry groups are also putting in place systems that will let them continue to source from central Africa while telling the SEC their supply chains are "conflict free." But the logistics of guaranteeing this on a large-scale are daunting, and many suppliers find it easier to leave central Africa entirely. A case in point is the procurement policy of the H.C. Starck group, which affirms that it rejects all raw materials from the region, "even if we are offered material with allegedly official certifications from other state authorities."

Shifting all sourcing to places such as Canada or Australia may drive up industry and consumer costs somewhat. But as Verizon points out in a letter to the SEC, "For the foreseeable future, it is going to be much easier to demonstrate that the minerals are from somewhere other than the DRC Zone, than to prove that minerals mined in the DRC Zone are responsibly sourced."

The highest price is being paid in central Africa, where millions of people, and 16% of the Congo's population, are dependent on small-time digging. By all accounts most of the money from central African mining goes to these artisanal miners. Soldiers and rebels do pocket some of the proceeds, and that's a depressing reality.

But mineral operations also provide the local population with centers of commerce, with cash to pay for supplies and workers and easily traded goods. As money from the mines becomes increasingly scarce, Congo's warlords have moved on to targeting the banana trade. Perhaps conflict-free bananas will be the next object of activist enthusiasm.

Meanwhile, the butchery continues, with recent reports of government troops raping more than 100 women and children over a three-day spree in the Congo's South Kivu region. If all the money from minerals dries up, these killers will not shy from even more atrocious means to fund their ambitions. As for Western policy makers, Section 1502 is a useful lesson in how well-meaning attempts to "do something" in Africa unintentionally harm the innocent without touching the guilty.

So to recap: a little-know provision of a national financial reform law has caused imports of African minerals to collapse.  Meanwhile, this regulatory protectionism, and the carnage in Congo that it was intended to prevent, continues.

Your tax dollars at work, folks.  Sigh.

But wait, there's more: the Journal reported in February that the USDA is considering reclassifying Vietnamese "catfish" in order to subject it to far more onerous importation and inspection requirements.  And, gee, you'll never guess what would happen if USDA's proposed rule takes effect:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is seeking public comment on its proposal to classify the pangasius as a "catfish." A lot rides on that name. The 2008 farm bill specifies new safety inspection on imported catfish so onerous it would amount to a ban for at least several years while foreign fishermen struggle to comply. Pangasius is the target because it has a similar taste and texture to American catfish but is cheaper—the main reason American catfish farmers have tried for years to ban the imports.

The problem is that the pangasius is an entirely different species of fish. In an earlier bout of protectionism, Congress even passed a law making it illegal to call pangasius "catfish" for marketing purposes. Since that hasn't deterred American consumers from buying pangasius, Washington is willing to call the Vietnamese fish a catfish again if that makes it easier to ban.

This would be funny if it weren't so costly and probably illegal. On health-and-safety grounds, both the 2008 law and USDA's moves to enforce it make little sense. Vietnamese pangasius, like all fish imports, already is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. There have been no reported safety problems with the Vietnamese imports. In contrast, USDA has no experience regulating fish despite its history overseeing meat, and catfish will be the only fish species under its regulatory purview....

As for the illegality, stricter regulation is unlikely to pass muster at the World Trade Organization. Trade expert James Bacchus, in an opinion commissioned by fish importers, argues that the U.S. would likely lose if Vietnam sued precisely because FDA regulation already is effective. Trade judges would conclude the only reason to change the regulation was protectionism, and they'd be right. A former Democratic Representative from Florida, Mr. Bacchus was the chief judge of the WTO's appellate panel for eight years.

USDA has yet to announce its intentions with respect to the final rule on catfish pangasius, but it's clear that the proposed rule would amount to an effective ban on a perfectly safe, fairly-traded product that Americans really want.

And so much for Obama administration efforts to encourage healthier American eating habits, eh?

Another law to watch is the Food Safety Modernization Act.  The Act also imposes  new verification and other requirements for US importers and foreign exporters of all types of foods.  The FDA has yet to promulgate the new regulations that will implement the new trade provisions, so the law's overall impact on food imports and domestic food prices remains to be seen.  However, a recent study by Texas A&M University estimates that the programs will be extremely costly:

FDA will likely pursue a strategy of passing as much costs as they can/are allowed to the domestic private sector. Importers will have incentives to pass the costs of compliance verification on to their sources of supply. Foreign governments interested in increasing their country’s exports could end up bearing the costs of developing new export-oriented programs....

The FSML will place substantial costs on the private sector. These costs will have substantial structural impacts. They will also raise food prices. These declaratory conclusions are based on economic logic/theory backed by analyses of the impacts of the implementation of virtually identical food policies and programs by FSIS/USDA, for similar programs implemented by the LGMA, and by research indicating the impacts of food safety import regulations.

So the law will inevitably lead to higher food prices for American families and higher compliance costs for developing country farmers - a classic protectionism exacta.  (Meanwhile, the law's also raising serious concerns about domestic enforcement.)

Now, although I'm clearly not a fan of intensive regulatory adventurism (particularly in this economy), I don't mean to question the trade intentions of these particular regulations - well, not all of them, at least.  But it's undeniable that they are creating real impediments to lawful trade and needlessly harming American businesses and consumers, as well as poor foreign producers and exporters.  And, of course, these onerous regulatory trade barriers appear to have increased rapidly during President Obama's time in office, so one must necessarily ask the obvious question:

Is this all one big coincidence?

I honestly have no idea, and I also don't know whether these new regulatory measures, or any others out there, meet the requirements for one of the aforementioned WTO exceptions and thus are allowed under global trade rules.  But I'm quite sure that, as regulatory protectionism proliferates in the United States, other nations are undoubtedly going to go through the WTO dispute settlement process to find out.

Springfield Authorities Investigating Apparent Homicide, Suspect Now Charged:

Clarence L. Smith is charged with murder, assault and armed criminal action (mug shot GCSO)

Authorities in Springfield are investigating an apparent homicide in the northwest part of the city.

One man is dead, and at least two other people suffered injuries during a knife fight in the 1300 block of Mt. Vernon Street about 4 p.m. Sunday.

A woman, who appeared to be bleeding from her leg, was treated at the scene and another woman said she was stabbed in the arm.

Corporal Matt Brown says the man is being questioned about the incident that is being investigated as a suspicious death.  “It’s a possibility it could be upgraded to a homicide at some point,” he said.

On July 12th authorities were called to a murder/suicide four houses away from Sunday's stabbing.

UPDATE 08-29-11:

Clarence L. Smith, 55, has been charged with second-degree murder for the death of  39 year-old Terry Lynn Brake, two counts of assault and three counts of armed criminal action.  Authorities say Smith allegedly "snapped" when he found out Brake and his ex-girlfriend were dating. 
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He is being held without bond. 

Terry Lynn Brake

Former McDonald County Jailer Facing Additional Sex Charges, Allegations Former Prosecutor Refused To Charge Surface:

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Terrie Zornes is accused of raping female inmate in 1994 (mug shot McCSO)


A former jailer in McDonald County who allegedly made sexual advances on an underage girl last year is now facing rape charges related to a female inmate almost two decades ago.

Terrie Zornes, 47, of Pineville was charged last week with forcibly raping, Sheena Eastburn, a 17-year-old inmate who was being held on a murder charge in March of 1994.

Zornes is scheduled to be arraigned in Associate Circuit Court in McDonald County tomorrow (08-29-11) on the forcible rape of the inmate.

According to court documents, Zornes worked as a jailer between Jan. 1 and March 1, 1994, and had “complete authority over the inmate and her environment and welfare at the detention center. (The inmate) was ordered into the property room for sexual purposes, and due to her confined status lacked the ability, authority and mental capacity to resist for fearing for her safety and well-being.”

The statement alleges that Zornes attempted to alter surveillance video that showed him arriving and leaving the women’s pod of the jail, but that he failed to alter a clock visible in the video.

“This altered video did show a lapse in time on the clock on the wall in the video,” according to the probable cause statement.
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A source close to the investigation says, "Former Sheriff Don Schlessman personally went to former prosecutor, Joseph Schoeberl, and informed him of the allegations and asked him if he would charge Zornes with misconduct of a jailer.  He refused because he wanted a conviction or a plea in the murder case."

In an interview with The Ozarks Sentinel, Schoeberl, who is now an Associate Circuit Court Judge in Jasper County said, "To the best of my recollection I do not recall anything being brought to my attention where she [Eastburn] was the victim of a rape in the county jail while I was prosecutor.  Why wasn't this ever brought up to her capital defesne team?  She had some of the best attornies in the state."
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Sheena Renea Eastburn is now asking the court for mercy

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Authorities recently learned of the alleged rape of Eastburn, who a jury found guilty of the first-degree murder of her husband, while investigating another case.  Eastburn, who is now 35, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.  However, she has filed a motion asking the court for mercy and to commute her sentence to life WITH the possibility of parole.

On Tuesday, his trial on charges of enticement, statutory sodomy, sexual abuse and sexual misconduct with someone under 15 is scheduled to begin. 

Prosecutors allege in that case that Zornes sent a fourteen year-old girl porn and made sexual advances on the teen between September and December of 2010.  The girl told authorities that Zorn tried to molest her while they were in a creek and he later exposed himself to her and made the girl touch him.

In one text message, he reportedly said, “I’m sorry, babe, but if we can’t be together then I’m going to have to get tough with your mom.”

Couple Busted In Fraudulent Adoption Scheme Tied To Joplin Tornado:

Lisa Joan Wing said she lost everything in May tornado

A couple who said the were victims of the deadly tornado that ripped through Joplin in May are facing charges of felony stealing and forgery in an alleged fraudulent adoption scheme.

On August 24th the Joplin Police Department was notified that Lisa Joan Wing, 29, and Lonnie L. Riddell, 30, had provided false documents to a Baltimore, Maryland couple that was supposed to adopt the couples baby and the adoption agency involved.  The couple from Maryland had given Wing and Riddell almost $3,000 to help with rent payments, cell phone bills, food and clothing.

During the investigation it was learned that Wing and Riddell , who had also made arrangements with another couple from Arkansas for $10,000 in exchange for the baby, traveled from Tulsa, Oklahoma after the May 22nd tornado and claimed they were victims of the disaster and sought help from the community in an interview with KSPR news in Sprngfield.

Wing is being held in the Joplin city jail on $7,500 bond - charges are pending against Riddell.

The baby is now in protective custody of DFS.

Cassville Man Charged In Girlfriend's Murder:

Jimmy Joe Nelson has been charged with murder

A man from Cassville has been charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action for the death of his girlfriend last week.

Prosecutor Johnnie Cox says Jimmy Joe Nelson, 40, slit 43 year-old Vicki Leigh Clark's neck and she bled to death during a fight last week (08-17-11) at the couples apartment in Cassville.

Barry County Prosecutor Johnnie Cox

According to the probable cause statement, Nelson called Clark's boss and told them Clark killed herself about 2 a.m. - Clark's boss then notified authorities about 11:00 a.m.  Investigators say Clark had defensive wounds on her hands and arm. A folding knife was found  lying on Clark's neck when she was found.

Neighbors say the couple fought on a regular basis and Nelson would lock Clark out of the apartment....sometimes when it was freezing outside.

Nelson was arrested last night at a residence in Barry County without incident and is being held in the Barry County Jail on a $250,000 bond.

Do Free Market Policies Lead to a "Race to the Bottom"? (Hint: No)

The recent entry of Texas Governor Rick Perry into the Republican presidential race has produced a stampede of bad op-eds and blog posts from Democrats and other liberals seeking to discredit him and/or Texas' amazing successes.  There are a lot of bad hit-pieces out there at this point - and a lot of great rebuttals (see, e.g., here, here, here, here and especially here) - but for my money the worst so far is today's Politico op-ed by Delaware Governor Jack Markell, who warns that Governor Perry's radical, free market ideas would lead to a "race to the bottom" in the United States:

Perry argues that if the nation adopts his approach to business development — based on less regulation, less taxation and less litigation — the economy “will absolutely take off like a rocket.”

Perry’s priorities are not unimportant. But there are lots of countries with no regulation, little taxation and no real threat of litigation — usually also where wages are low and much of the wealth resides with a tiny slice of the elite.

That’s a lousy model for middle-class Americans....

The model favored by Perry is fueled by low-wage jobs, which creates a race to the bottom. The middle-class model involves competing with other countries in a race to the top — to attract research and development operations, high-end manufacturing, design shops and the like.

Now, leaving aside the fact that it's a total myth that the jobs created in Texas are all low-wage "McJobs," or that Perry adopted some sort of scorched earth campaign against government spending - on education, infrastructure or anything else - during his tenure as Governor, I'd like to focus tonight on Governor Markell's main message: that fiscally conservative, free market, "tea party" policies have lead to a "race to the bottom" around the world and would inevitably do the same here in the United States.  Is that really a credible premise?  Are the free market countries championed by fiscal conservatives all banana republics with "low wages" and tremendous income inequality?

In short, no.  Not at all.

Indeed, had the Governor even done the most basic of research, he would have seen that the most "free market" ("free-marketest"?) countries in the world, praised by conservatives and libertarians alike, are also some of the wealthiest, most modern and, in many cases, most "progressive."  For example, the Heritage Foundation's Index of Economic Freedom, which examines countries against a series of fiscally-conservative benchmarks (e.g., low taxes, limited regulations, free trade, small government), lists such backwards, downtrodden places as Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Canada, Ireland, Denmark in its top ten "most free" countries.  Indeed, the only country that could possible meet Governor Markell's misleading description is Bahrain.

Meanwhile, the libertarian Frazer Institute's Economic Freedom of the World Report, using similar measures of economic freedom (including limited government), lists most of the same countries that Heritage's Index identified: Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand, Switzerland, Chile, Canada, Australia, Mauritius, and the United Kingdom.  What horrible, dangerous countries!

Oh, wait.

On the other hand, the countries that rank near the bottom (or, on Gov. Markell's apparent scale, the top!) of these lists are such liberal paradises as Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, Myanmar, Zimbabwe and Libya.

Sign me up!

In all seriousness, this simple example makes it abundantly clear that the Governor has no idea what he's talking about when he says that, if President Rick Perry turned the United States into some sort of "tea party paradise," it would inevitably turn into a third-world disaster zone.  The world's real free market paradigms, according to the very fiscal conservatives that Governor Markell openly derides, are some of the richest, healthiest and most developed countries in the world.  Considering that a simple Google search makes this fact abundantly clear, the Governor's either really slow or really disingenuous.

I'm guessing the latter, but, well, you never know.

But, hey, maybe the Governor has some fantastic ideas of his own that could somehow trump the centuries of proven prosperity that free market capitalism has repeatedly provided across the globe:

Building a sizable, vibrant and growing middle class requires great schools, a highly trained workforce and an attractive and exciting quality of life. That’s why initiatives like common core standards, heightening our focus on STEM education (science, education, engineering and math) and investing in our state and national parks and open space continue to be so important.

Yes, nothing will get this country back on its economic feet faster than Government spending (sorry, "investment") on our state and national parks and, umm, "open space."  We're saved!

Ugh.

No wonder liberals are openly wishing for an alien invasion.  They've clearly run out of earthly ideas.

Jury's Verdict Overturned In Rolland Comstock Wrongful Death Lawsuit:

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Rolland Comstock in his beloved home library

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The judge who heard the wrongful death lawsuit of Springfield attorney Rolland Comstock has thrown out the jury's verdict saying it was "so inconsistent as to be self-destructive."

The jury had awarded Faith Stocker, and her siblings, $125,00.00 citing "aggravating circumstances" for the July 2007 death of her adopted father Rolland Comstock.  Stocker brought the case against her biological mother Alberta Comstock.  The jury did not award Stocker any punitive (punishment) damages.

Alberta Comstock in June during wrongful death trial (courtesy Springfield News-Leader)

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In a memorandum accompanying his decision, Cordonnier cited case law barring punitive awards when no actual damages are assessed and pointed in particular to an opinion filed this month in the Western District Court of Appeals “reconfirm[ing] Missouri’s adherence to (that) general rule.”



Comstock's Greene County mansion



The Comstock's were divorced in 2005 after thirty eight years of marriage and were involved in a bitter dispute over the sale of Comstock House, the mansion that sits close to McDaniel Lake that they both dearly loved.
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Comstock was found dead on the floor here.  One of the gunshots went into the wall

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When Comstock was found shot to death on the dining room floor of the mansion Rolland Comstock's estate paid Alberta Comstock $250,000 for her share of the house.  Alberta Comstock and her son, Michael, have been named persons of interest in Rolland Comstock's death - although no one has been criminally charged for his murder.

In his ruling, Judge Coronnier also declined the defenses request for a new trial.

Body Found In Rural Taney Confirmed As Rusty Porter:

Taney County Coroner Kevin Tweedy says he has received confirmation from a forensic lab in Texas that the human remains of a male found murdered in rural Taney County last month are those of Rusty Porter.

This comes on the same day funeral services for Porter's wife, Becky, were held.

Becky and Rusty Porter went missing from their home near Willard last April.  After an exhaustive three month search a Taney County deputy, acting on a tip, discovered the couples bodies about two miles from Cedar Creek Road.  The area is surrounded by the dense woods of  the Mark Twain National Forest and the nearest house is approximately two miles away.

Authorities have not said what specifically what led the investigation to Taney County, but early on in the investigation Arnott said the couple had ties to the Branson area.  "We've been searching that area on and off for some time with ATV's and watercraft.  Let's just say that there is no way we could have picked that area without some specific information leading us there," Arnott said in July.

Becky Porter was positively identified by dental records and Rusty Porter was identified through medical records, MRI imaging and DNA.  Rusty Porter had undergone surgery for a spinal/brain tumor last fall. 

Tweedy says the forensic lab is still attempting to determine the cause of death and help investigators "with a timeline."  He says he expects the bodies will be released to family members within the next few weeks.

~Developing~Christian County Authorities Investigating Human Remains Found Behind Clever High School:

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Jeffrey Pinegar has been missing since he allegedly robbed Family Pharmacy in April

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Authorities in Christian County have opened a suspicious death investigation after human remains were found by someone walking on a heavily wooded trail behind Clever High School Monday evening (08-22-11.)  Students started school in Clever on August 17th.

Investigators believe the remains, that appear to be those of a man based on clothing and identification found with the remains, may have been there for about four to five months based on decomposition.
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Investigators at scene near where remains were found (courtesy KOLR)

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Sheriff Joey Kyle says his office is assisting Clever PD and the Highway Patrol in the investigation and currently does not have any active missing person investigations that match the remains.

There is speculation that the body could be that of Jeffrey A. Pinegar, 47.  Pinegar was charged with robbing Family Pharmacy, that was housed in a trailer adjacent to Murfin's Market, in April of this year. Authorities say Pinegar stole 510 pills that included Oxycontin, Hydromorphine and Alprazolam.

The high school sits across the street from Murfin's Market and Pinegar has not been seen since the robbery.

Sheriff Kyle says, "There's the potential that it could be him.  I'm not going to confirm it or deny it."
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Southwest Missouri Forensics will conduct an autopsy on the remains tomorrow in Springfield to possibly determine a cause of death.  It will take DNA and dental records to make a positive ID.
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UPDATE 08-26-11:

Authorities confirmed today that the body found was indeed Jeff Pinegar.  It will take toxicology reports to reveal the cause of Pinegar's death.

Right Now, pt. 3 [UPDATED]

It appears that the mainstream media are finally - finally - realizing that, as I've said for the last month, the President's repeated calls on Congress to move pending FTAs with Korea, Colombia and Panama "right now" are more than a tad misleading.  On Saturday, the WSJ editorial board joined me in openly questioning the President's claims:

President Obama says he wants to get the U.S. economy growing, so here's a tip that may help: In order for Congress to ratify free-trade agreements, the White House must first send the signed deals to the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue.

On his three-state tour in the Midwest this week, Mr. Obama repeatedly told audiences that the Korea, Colombia and Panama free-trade deals would all be law by now if not for an obstructionist Congress. Passing the deals is something Congress "could do right now," he said.

Except that's not true. Congress can't pass the agreements "right now" because it doesn't have them. They are still sitting on the President's desk. Seriously.

When finally confronted with this obvious-yet-unreported hole in the President's arguments, White House spokesman Josh Earnest was, well, less-than-prepared to explain:

If you are surprised to learn this, you are not alone. White House deputy press secretary Josh Earnest only learned the news on Friday during a press conference. Asked why the FTAs haven't been sent, he responded, "We have not sent them over?"

That was followed by what might be called an awkward moment. "I will say this—I mean, there has been an active dialogue that's been underway between the United States trade representative, other members of the Administration, with the appropriate Congressional leaders in the committees of jurisdiction. We are in a place where we have seen Republicans advocating for passing these free trade agreements for quite some time," Mr. Earnest explained. He also pointed out that "these three trade agreements combined would create or support about 70,000 jobs here in the U.S."

A reporter persisted and asked, "Well, when are you going to send them over?" "But I can tell you that there's no reason—I mean, there's agreement here about the benefits of these trade agreements getting through the Congress, both here at the White House and Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill. Mr. Earnest referred reporters to "Congress or the USTR on the legislative mechanics of this," adding that "there is bipartisan agreement on this and it's something that we should move on really quick."

You have got to be kidding me.  The transcript of Mr. Earnest's revealing comments is available here.  Given Earnest's total ignorance on the process of implementing the FTAs, it's pretty clear that the White House doesn't have a concrete plan on how it will advance and finalize the agreements once Congress returns from recess.

In Mr. Earnest's defense, maybe that's because members of the President's own party are openly bragging about how they're going to submarine the trade agreements:

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) is strongly considering offering his China currency bill, co-sponsored by Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe (Maine), as an amendment to a standalone worker-retraining measure that is expected to begin movement through the House and Senate next month, a Senate aide told The Hill.

Brown would offer his currency legislation -- which would direct the Commerce Department to treat currency undervaluation as a prohibited export subsidy -- to a streamlined version of a Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) bill worked out in late June by the White House, House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) and Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.).

“Extending Trade Adjustment Assistance is an important step to respond to job loss caused by foreign competition. But addressing unfair trade practices like Chinese currency manipulation can prevent job loss by ensuring a level playing field for American manufacturers facing a flood of cheap Chinese imports,” Brown said in a recent statement. “With up to 2 million jobs that may be hanging in the balance, Congress must take action immediately.”

The Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) have agreed to allow amendments to the TAA bill and require a 60-vote threshold for the adoption of amendments, making it more challenging for the upper chamber to change the measure.

Adoption of the Brown-Snowe amendment would further complicate passage of TAA and likely draw out completion of the trade deals with Colombia, Korea and Panama, as the White House hasn't agreed to accept any other changes....

Earlier this week, in a speech to the United Steelworkers, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said China's currency manipulation must be addressed before sending the trade deals up to Capitol Hill....

Other lawmakers and U.S businesses have expressed concern about the currency issue, which they say China deliberately undervalues to benefit Chinese exporters along with the lack of regulatory transparency, policies that favor Chinese domestic domestic businesses and a lack of protection for U.S. intellectual property....

Earlier this month, the White House and congressional leaders reached a general agreement to pass TAA, an Obama administration demand, along with the trade deals, although there are still several process issues that remain to be worked out.

One avenue is for the House to approve a Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) bill, which expired in December, followed by Senate approval of GSP with the attachment of Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA), a program that helps workers hurt by trade deals.

That amended bill would return to the House and then Obama administration would submit the three pending trade deals with Colombia, Korea and Panama.

The House would then hold four separate votes, one each on the trade deals and another on the TAA-GSP measure. The trade package also could include the Andean Trade Preferences Act (ATPA), which may wind up in the Colombia accord.

Then the four bills would go to the Senate for final approval.

Given the small number of legislative days in September, this process would likely not be concluded until October.

Clearly, congressional passage of the FTAs will require an airtight plan and strong White House leadership in order parry House and Senate Democrats' attempts to attach a China currency "poison pill" (or anything else) to the TAA, GSP or FTA legislation.  Mr. Earnest's cluelessness on the procedural basics surrounding the FTAs hardly inspires confidence that the President's team has all of these important details worked out.  And unfortunately for US exporters and consumers, the White House is quickly running out of time - Congress returns from recess on September 6.

Hey, remember earlier this month how the FTAs were as good as finished?  Yeah, me neither.

UPDATE:  The Washington Post's Glenn Kessler joins the WSJ in finally noticing that the President's "right now" schtick is misleading, giving his statements "One Pinocchio" in his FactChecker column:

The administration has clearly played a balancing act, trying to attract Democratic support without losing significant Republican backing. We’re not going to judge who is more right on the history leading up to this point, but we do think it is a highly selective recounting of that history for the president to suggest GOP lawmakers are blocking the deal because they are putting party before country. There is actually strong support for these agreements within the Republican Party — just like there is strong support for trade adjustment legislation among Democrats.

There may be a philosophical dispute over aid for companies harmed by free trade, but the administration in the end is responsible for making passage of TAA a condition for submitting the trade deals. Moreover, Obama leaves the distinct impression that Congress is sitting on the bills, when in fact they have not yet been officially submitted for consideration.

Kessler doesn't quite understand that the White House is arguing over the passage of a $1B TAA expansion, not the old TAA program, and he's pretty kind to Obama for giving him only one "pinocchio" for his repeated, and clearly erroneous, claims that GOP obstructionism is holding up the trade agreements.  But it's still nice to see that even sympathetic media are opening their eyes to the administration's rampant FTA distortions.

Arkansas Doctor Charged With Rape Of 7 Year-Old:

Dr. Byron Kevin Beaver (mug shot FCSO)

A doctor from Conway, Arkansas has been arrested on two counts of child rape and two counts of sexual assault of a seven year-old girl.

According to The Log Cabin Democrat,  Dr. Byron Kevin Beaver, 39, turned himself in Friday evening after he learned of the allegations and is scheduled to appear in court on Monday. The mother of the child alerted authorities once she learned of the alleged incident.

A dispatcher with the Faulkner County Sheriff's Office says Beaver is still in jail on $500,000 bond.

Dr. Beaver has a wound care practice in Morrilton.
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UPDATE 08-23-11:

Beaver's bond was reduced to $50,000 and he has bonded out of jail.

In keeping with the terms of his release, Beaver is required to wear an electronic monitoring device and will be on house arrest. However, he will still be allowed to work at his wound care practice in Morrilton and attend church.

~UPDATED~Stone County Authorities Searching For Marionville Man Not Seen Since Leaving Mental Hospital:

Marty Lynn White (mug shot SCSO)

Authorities in Stone County are searching for a Marionville man who allegedly pulled a gun on his sister in a drunken dispute last week.

Forty five year-old Marty Lynn White was arrested and taken to a hospital in Springfield.  He was then transported to a mental facility in Fulton and has not been seen since his release.

White, has been charged with exhibiting a weapon in a threatening manner and discharging a weapon while intoxicated, was also charged with harassment last week in Crane, according to Stone County Prosecutor Matt Selby.

UPDATE 08-21-11 @ 1:42 p.m.:

According to Stone County Detective Tim Gideon, White is currently being held on a warrant at a maximum security mental health facility within the Missouri Department of Corrections.  He will be transported back to Stone County once he is released.
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UPDATE 08-23-11:

White has also been charged with felony domestic assault.  He has been transported back to the Stone County jail and is being held on $60,000 cash only bond.