Category Archives: Fiscal Freedom

(The Center Square) Ohioans are not as free as much of the rest of the nation, according to a new report released by the Cato Institute. And things are getting worse.

Thereportcalls Ohio thoroughly mediocre when it comes to freedom, ranking the Buckeye State above average in fiscal policy but poorly on both regulatory and personal freedom issues. Overall, the report ranked the state 31st in the nation in terms of freedom, a spot lower than last year and two below its peak in 2016.

It should trouble Buckeyes that their states policy regime is significantly worse than that of other Great Lakes states that have been reforming, such as Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin, the report reads.

Its in personal freedom where the report says the state fails the most. In 2016, the group placed Ohio above average at 23rd after a steep dip to 44th in 2014 and a rapid incline. Now, Ohio comes in at 40th, continuing a consistent fall since the high-water mark.

The report criticized a higher-than-average crime incarceration rate, limited legalized marijuana, continued smoking bans, strongly regulated private and home schools and a lack of sports betting.

Legislation currently sits in the General Assembly to legalize the recreational use of marijuana and allow sports betting throughout the state.

The report did call the states gun rights better-than-average.

To improve, the report suggested Ohio abolish mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent offenses, with an eye toward reducing the incarceration rate to a level more consistent with its crime rate, to increase the personal freedom ranking.

On the fiscal side, the group noted state and local debt, government consumption and public employment are all lower than average and in long-term decline.

For business, the CATO Institute calls land-use and environmental freedom the most important regulatory policy category, and Ohio does well, though it has slowly declined.

Zoning has a light touch, but the trend is in the wrong direction according to at least one of our sources, and renewable portfolio standards exist but are very low. Labor-market freedom is a problem area for Ohio. Eminent domain reform could have gone further. The state has a minimum wage that is getting worse, no right-to-work law, and strict workers compensation coverage and funding rules, the report reads.

CATO recommended cutting property taxes, along with trimming government spending on housing, community development, education and employee retirement each area, according to the report, where the state spends above the national average.

The report uses data from 2019, the most recent data available.

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Ohio ranks poorly in terms of freedom, report says - The Center Square

(The Center Square) Michigan ranked 7th nationwide in the CATO Institute's 2021 Freedom in the States report.

The rankings use 230 metrics to rank states on how their policies promote freedom in fiscal, regulatory and personal realms. The Wolverine state advanced two spots from 2018 and four since 2016.

Michigans tax burden is 5.9% of adjusted personal income, while government debt is now below average at 15.9% of income.

CATO notes that Michigan has a slightly above-average incarceration rate but has passed wide-ranging criminal justice reforms in 2017. Other policies passed in 2020 include the Clean Slate package that will likely continue criminal justice reform.

Michigans asset forfeiture law is better than average thanks to 2015 and 2019 reforms.

Michiganders legalized recreational possession and use of marijuana for adults in 2018.

Michigan beat out Minnesota (38), Wisconsin (17), Ohio (31), Illinois (37), Missouri (11) but ranked behind Indiana (6).

New Hampshire (1), Florida (2), Nevada (3), Tennessee (4), and South Dakota (5) took the top-five spots in the nation.

Policy recommendations for Michigan

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CATO: Michigan 7th freest state in the nation - The Center Square

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. The governor's budget plan for next year will drop sometime this week. But what will be in it, and can Florida afford it?

We already know some of Gov. Ron DeSantis' big ideas for the next fiscal year.

He slowly unveiled them throughout last month and, in some cases, seeks to increase spending after lawmakers passed a record-setting budget last session of $101.5 billion.

"Huge investments in education," DeSantis said during a press gathering last week. "We're doing a lot with environmental quality and water resources."

WESH

Here are some of the biggest proposals to date:

DeSantis hasn't laid out details on infrastructure, economic development or health services yet. But critics like Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, worry things like affordable housing will be left out. She calls his proposals "political."

"It's more political than substantive policy discussions, and it's a shame," Eskamani said. "He has this bully pulpit where he can really dictate the right direction for our state but he continues to use it for his own political agenda."

E.W. Scripps

Florida also has to pay for it all with less than expected.

Federal courts struck down the new Seminole gaming compact, an estimated $6 billion loss for the state in anticipated revenue by 2030. Though appeals are underway, legal experts doubt a reversal.

"[The Legislature] should have vetted the compact and the legality of it," said gaming attorney Daniel Wallach. "They trusted the Seminole tribe that trusted the governor's legal opinion and didn't do their own independent legal analysis."

Florida also has to face the new COVID-19 omicron variant. It may impact vital tourism dollars.

The governor's office said it wasn't sweating the issue, citing recent data showing domestic travel is above pre-pandemic numbers.

E.W. Scripps

Press Secretary Christina Pushaw also said the office anticipates tourism will increase moving forward, "especially if other states make the mistake of locking down again."

"People want to experience freedom and a sense of normalcy," she said in a statement. "Based on the evidence available thus far, there is no reason to panic or even to assume that the Omicron variant will be more dangerous than the currently dominant variant, Delta."

Pushaw also weighed in on the loss of the gaming compact, saying the governor is "reviewing the Courts perplexing ruling, which certainly contains appealable issues."

"Because neither the Seminole Tribe nor the State of Florida are parties to the case, it is unclear what if any immediate impact the ruling has in Florida," Pushaw said. "We look forward to working with the Tribe to ensure the future success of the Compact. We are of the position that the compact is legal, and we are subject to no court order applicable to the state of Florida at this time."

Her comments follow the tribe's decision over the weekend to "temporarily" suspend the operation of its mobile sports betting app. Operators had been hoping to keep it running, but a judge on Friday declined to grant a temporary stay.

"Despite the decision, the Seminole Tribe looks forward to working with the State of Florida and the U.S. Department of Justice to aggressively defend the validity of the 2021 Compact before the Appeals Court, which has yet to rule on the merits of the 2021 Compact," said Gary Bitner, spokesperson for the Seminole Tribe. "The Seminole Tribe of Florida, the State of Florida, and the United States have all taken the position that the 2021 Compact is legal."

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Gov. Ron DeSantis expected to announce complete 2022 budget proposals this week - WPTV.com

(The Center Square) South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem was named Best Governor in America by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a nonprofit conservative organization.

ALEC made its announcement at their States and Nation Policy Summit 2021 where Noem was a guest speaker.

The governor thanked the organization but said the award really goes to the people of South Dakota.

I trusted them to exercise their freedom and personal responsibility, and they've lived up to that trust, Noem said in a Twitter post.

Noem has not implemented strict lockdown restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic as other states have. She said in a September 2021 statement that her open policies led the states economy to rebound quicker than other states. As other states did, South Dakota received historic revenues and an influx of money from the American Rescue Plan Act and other federal COVID-19 stimulus spending.

The governor will make recommendations on how to manage the funds when she gives her budget address to state lawmakers Tuesday, according to a news release.

South Dakota has the strongest economy in America right now, but that success does not stem from government, Noem said in the release. It stems from our people and from the freedom that they enjoy. This year, as with years past, we will continue to focus on our people and their future.

Noem cited a recent report from the CATO Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based libertarian think tank, that ranked South Dakota as the fifth freest state in the U.S.

"South Dakotas fiscal policy is excellent," CATO said in its report. "The state has one of the lowest tax burdens in the country, although it has risen slightly at both state and local levels since a decade ago. State taxation is extremely low at 3.6 percent, with local taxation at 4.2 percent."

The governor is delivering her address from the House of Representatives at 1 p.m. CT Tuesday.

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Noem named 'Best Governor in America' ahead of budget address - The Center Square

OPINION:

If something cannot go on forever, it will stop. Herb Stein, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Nixon and President Ford

The socialists and communists explicitly say they want bigger government, while most free-market and libertarian-leaning people claim they want smaller government. Small government had been the standard from the American founding until World War I. In 1900, the U.S. had a total (federal, state and local) government sector equaling about 2.9% of GDP. Japan had an even smaller government of only 1.1% of GDP, the U.K. was at 11.9%, France at 14.1%, and Germany had the biggest government sector at 19.4%. Over the decades, particularly from the Great Depression in the 1930s, governments have grown bigger almost everywhere. For 2020, the Office of Management and Budget estimates that total government spending was 41.8% of GDP in the U.S., and the International Monetary Funds estimates are 45.0% for Japan, 49.1% for the U.K., 50.8% for Germany and a whopping 61.8% for France.

There have been several academic studies over the last half-century to determine the optimum size of government. Most of the studies conclude that if the government exceeds a range of approximately 15% to 30% of GDP, economic performance declines and civil liberties are diminished. All of the major economies now have government sectors far higher than optimum.

Noted Chapman University professor Mark Skousen recently wrote in Skousen CAF that in the U.S., Despite campaign promises, government (federal, state, and local) spending has increased from 35% to nearly 50% of GDP over the past 25 years and that economists have known for decades that the size of government and economic growth tend to have an inverse relationship. A new study by Daniel Mitchell, chairman of the Freedom and Prosperity Foundation, and Robert OQuinn, former chief economist of the Department of Labor, shows that President Bidens proposed Build Back Better act will significantly expand the welfare state, increasing the spending burden by 1.9% of GDP, which will reduce the economys growth rate by about 0.2% each year.

There are natural limits to how big government can get. Even the socialists and communists could not stamp out all private enterprises. Government, being a monopoly, engages in those behaviors that monopolies exhibit inefficiencies, misallocation of assets, favoritism, poor service, a failure to innovate and so forth. Without a vibrant market economy, socialists and communists do not know how to price anything. Prices allocate scarce resources and motivate future production. The famous 20th-century Austrian economists, Hayek, von Mises and others, provided logical proof of how a socialist economy could not function without market-determined reference prices.

A major reason the communist/socialist economies of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union collapsed was that they failed to innovate and increase productivity. During the later years of Eastern European socialism, the black or underground economies were growing, rather than diminishing, as the state-owned enterprises failed to provide the goods and services the people were demanding.

The Swedes provide an interesting case of the rapid growth of the government sector after 1945 until 1995 when government spending peaked out at about 70% of GDP. It was apparent to most Swedes that the welfare state was not working as advertised. A consensus developed to downsize government to approximately 50% of GDP, which has resulted in significantly improved economic performance.

In most countries, the increases in government spending are more popular than the increases in taxes to pay for all of the new and expanded programs. As a result, more and more government spending is paid for through the issuance of government debt. Eventually, the growing debt burden causes such a rise in interest payments that government increasingly borrows to pay the previous debt. At some point, a fiscal death spiral begins where the interest payments increasingly eat away at the government programs until the system collapses.

Greece is a recent example of a country living beyond its means for so long that it could no longer borrow (or inflate its currency because it uses the euro), and hence living standards have been falling sharply for much of the last decade. The U.S. and many other countries are beginning to exhibit the same problem with inflation (caused by excessive borrowing) rising faster than incomes, causing real living standards to fall. This process is likely to accelerate, and as the U.S. dollar becomes less and less as a store of value, people will increasingly look for cryptocurrency alternatives such as BitCoin, stable coins and real asset-backed physical-digital coins, such as those backed by gold, silver or aluminum.

The hyperinflations in the former socialist countries wiped out most of their debt, allowing them to start over. The bad news is most of the major economic powers are in for a painful correction, much like the Greeks have been experiencing. But once much of the real debt (through inflation) and wasteful government programs are eliminated, as they were in Poland and Estonia, for example, prosperity will return.

Richard W. Rahn is chairman of the Institute for Global Economic Growth and MCon LLC.

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How big can government get? - Washington Times

Dole is survived by his wife, Elizabeth Hanford Dole, his daughter, Robin Carol Dole, nine nieces and nephew. Image Source: Wikipedia.com

Texas Border Business

Loved as a man of the people and a leader of Americans of every stripe, Bob Dole lived the American dream. If the last century was the American Century, Bob Doles life personified it. He emerged from humble beginnings in Kansas to become a war hero, a giant of the U.S. Senate and the Republican nominee for President.

Robert Joseph Dole was born July 22, 1923, the second of four children born to Doran and Bina Dole of Russell, Kansas, a small town on the plains of western Kansas. Like so many Kansans of the time, the Doles lived precariously amid the Dust Bowl and Depression of the 1930s. A $300 loan from a Russell banker enabled Bob to enroll at the University of Kansas in September 1941. Thereafter he scrambled to support himself while pursuing his studies and lettering in football, basketball and track.

Shortly after Pearl Harbor, Dole left the University of Kansas to join the Armys Enlisted Reserve Corps. Called to active duty in June of 1943, he entered officer candidate school at Fort Benning, Georgia. Soon he was on board a troop ship headed for Italy. In February 1945, Second Lieutenant Dole was sent to fill a vacancy in Company I Third Battalion, Tenth Mountain Division. This famed Division was tasked with dislodging German troops from deeply entrenched positions in the Apennine Mountains north of Bologna.

On the morning of April 14,1945, Dole led his platoon up the heavily mined slopes of Hill #913. While retrieving the lifeless form of his platoons radio man, Dole was severely wounded by enemy fire. His right arm was shredded, and his collarbone crushed. Paralyzed from the neck down, Dole lay where he fell for ten hours, until he could be evacuated to a field hospital in Pistoia, Italy. Ahead of him stretched 39 months of hospitalization, progress and setback, characteristically borne with intense determination and self-deprecating humor. Dole drew inspiration from the Rodgers and Hammerstein hit, Youll Never Walk Alone, a song he played endlessly. It would become a personal anthem. He was hospitalized with two veterans who would become close friends and colleagues in the Senate, Daniel Inouye (HI-D) and Phil Hart (MI-D).

Unable to use his right arm and barely able to walk, Dole was treated bychief orthopedic surgeon and lieutenant colonel at the 297th General Hospital, Hampar Kelikian, an Armenian immigrant resettled in Chicago, Dr. Kelikian offered his services to badly wounded servicemen at no charge, his way of repaying his adopted country for the blessings of freedom. After a grueling series of innovative surgeries, Dole recovered the use of his left arm, though not his right. This life changing surgery left Dole with an unlimited admiration for Dr. K. To help defer related expenses, the people of Russell, Kansas established the Bob Dole Fund. Friends and neighbors placed whatever they could give in an old cigar box located at Dawsons drugstore. The cigar box remained a treasured possession throughout his life.

Returning to Kansas to recuperate, Dole married his physical therapist, Phyllis Holden, in 1948. While still a student at Washburn Law School in Topeka, he was elected to the Kansas House of Representatives in 1950. Rather than seek re-election, he returned to Russell, entered private law practice and was elected District Attorney. In 1954, the Doles welcomed the birth of their daughter, Robin. In 1972, he and Phyllis divorced.

Dole won his first congressional race in 1960. Over the next eight years, he established a reputation as a staunch fiscal conservative who also supported the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Years later he would count among his proudest achievements serving as floor manager in the Senate for legislation authorizing the birthdate of the Reverend Martin Luther King as a national holiday. Dole was instrumental in Representative Gerald Fords election as House Minority Leader early in 1965. At the same time, he established an enduring relationship with future president Richard Nixon.

In 1968, Dole was elected to the U.S. Senate, succeeding Frank Carlson (KS-R). His support of President Nixon earned him the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee, during which time he traveled 500,000 miles on behalf of candidates, but his independence and sharp wit did little to endear him to Nixons senior staff. He was replaced, following the 1972 election, by George H.W. Bush. Ironically, fallout from the Watergate scandal and President Fords controversial pardon of his disgraced predecessor nearly cost Dole his Senate seat in 1974.

On December 6, 1975, Dole married Elizabeth Hanford, a member of the Federal Trade Commission and former deputy to President Nixons Special Assistant for Consumer Affairs, Virginia Knauer. Mrs. Dole would go on to enjoy a distinguished career as Assistant to the President for Public Liaison and Secretary of Transportation for President Reagan, Secretary of Labor under President George H.W. Bush, President of the American Red Cross, and U.S. Senator from her home state of North Carolina. She established and heads the Elizabeth Dole Foundation to raise awareness of the enormous contributions and challenges of the 5.5 million military and veteran caregivers young spouses, mothers, dads, and other loved ones caring for Americas wounded warriors at home. The Foundation provides solutions and services for these hidden heroes by leading a powerful coalition spanning the public and private sectors, nonprofit organizations and the faith community.

In 1976, President Gerald Ford selected Bob Dole to be his Vice-Presidential running mate. Immediately after the GOP convention in Kansas City, the new ticket made its first joint appearance at an emotional homecoming in Doles beloved Russell. Although the Ford-Dole ticket closed a massive gap of over thirty points in public opinion polls, it narrowly lost in November to former Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter and Minnesota Senator Walter Mondale (D-MN).

With Ronald Reagans landslide presidential victory in 1980, Dole, for the first time, was part of a Senate majority. As chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, he helped shape and enact the Reagan program of tax and spending cuts. His Senate colleague, Don Nickles (R-OK), later pointed out that when Dole became chairman, tax rates were as high as 70 percent. By the time he finished his work, they had been reduced to 28 percent. And the economy responded with record growth through the rest of the 1980s.

Senator Dole was an early and fervent opponent of deficit spending in the Congress, warning of the dangers of accumulating deficits on the floor of the U.S. Senate and in his Senate and presidential campaigns. In 1982, when America faced massive inflation producing deficits, Senator Dole, working with his friend, Budget Committee Chairman Pete Domenici (R-NM), developed and fought for enactment of historic deficit reduction and the passage of the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act. Enactment of this legislation allowed Chairman Volker to reduce interest rates and again led to a period of economic prosperity. Dole won praise for his leadership on behalf of debt reduction and his mastery of tax reform, as well as foreign affairs and agricultural issues. Known as a champion of farmers and ranchers, he served 27 years on the House and Senate Agriculture Committees.

The Patent and Trademark Act Amendments of 1980commonly known as the Bayh-Dole Actgave universities, nonprofits and small businesses the ability to retain ownership of patents on inventions resulting from their federally funded research. Heralded byThe Economistmagazine as possibly the most inspired piece of legislation to be enacted in America over the past half century, Bayh-Dole created a highly efficient route through which valuable research could be translated into actual use by patients and consumers. The field of medicine was truly revolutionized through Bayh-Dole.

After a national commission had failed to reach agreement, working in partnership with Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (NY-D), Dole crafted landmark legislation in 1983 to preserve the Social Security System from bankruptcy. This remains the last overhaul of the program, preserving it for decades. A master of legislative cooperation, Dole worked to fashion many landmark pieces of legislation. For example, long concerned about the plight of those experiencing hunger in America and worldwide, he partnered with his longtime friend and colleague on the Agriculture Committee, George McGovern (SD-D), to create the Food Stamp program and the International Food Aid Program. Continuing his lifelong efforts to combat hunger wherever it exists, Dole joined Senator McGovern to promote a global school lunch program and other hunger and nutrition initiatives. In 2008, Dole was co-recipient, along with McGovern, of the World Food Prize. Their efforts were recognized again in 2013 when Dole and McGovern were co-recipients of the newly named McGovern/Dole Leadership Award.

Senator Dole was a passionate advocate for the rights of individuals with disabilities throughout his public service and his personal life. Caring for the disabled was the subject of his maiden speech in the Senate. He partnered with Senator Nancy Kassebaum (KS-R) and Tom Harkin (IA-D) to secure enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990 providing millions of Americans with public access and employment opportunities that were previously foreclosed. He also worked to ensure that those disabled who sought to return to the workforce continued to qualify for Medicaid, so that they received the health care they needed to be productive members of society. Dole has fought long and hard for Senate ratification of the International Treaty for People with Disabilities. The purpose was clearly to apply Americas great leadership in ensuring that the values and enormous assistance provided through The Americans with Disabilities Act were expanded worldwide.

Senator Dole also sponsored numerous legislative initiatives benefiting Americas veterans, such as the Veterans Benefits Improvement Act and the Veterans Health Care Administrative Flexibility Act.

Doles strong commitment to fairness and opportunities for women, according to Senator Olympia Snowe, was an integral part of who Bob Dole wasthe Retirement Equity Act of 1983, his Sexual Assault Prevention Act, the Violence Against Women Act, and his authorship of the Glass Ceiling Commission. This first Federal commission created the most comprehensive report on how business could make full use of Americas human capital.

In 1984, Dole succeeded his friend Howard Baker (TN-R), as Senate Majority Leader. Elected six times by his colleagues, Dole would serve as Republican leader (Majority and Minority Leader) for twelve years, under three Presidents: Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Clinton. He was the longest serving Republican Leader until June 12, 2018 when Senator Mitch McConnell took the title. According toCongressional Quarterly, Senator Dole proved a point that badly needed proving at the time: the Senate could be led. Ronald Reagan agreed. His title of Leader is not just a job title, its a description of the man, President Reagan said. He was renowned for his ability to produce results through bipartisan efforts, like the creation of Hospice. His fingerprints were on almost every major legislative initiative during his tenure as Republican leader.

During this period, Dole also made history by appointing Jo Ann Coe to serve as the first female Secretary of the Senate, while Sheila Burke broke the glass ceiling as his Chief of Staff. His respect for Senate employees led to his being named repeatedly as the nicest of the 100 Senators. Finally, in 2018, Dole was presented with the Congressional Gold Medal. This award was a result of legislation, cosponsored by all 100 members of the Senate and passed in the House of Representatives and then signed into law by President Donald Trump. It noted that throughout his life-long service to the country, Bob Dole has embodied the American spirit of leadership and determination, and serves as one of the most prolific role models both in and outside of politics.

Having conducted a brief, unsuccessful campaign for president in 1980, Dole geared up for a more serious run in 1988. As Vice President Bushs principal opponent, Dole won the Iowa caucuses, but lost to Bush in a fiercely contested New Hampshire primary when he refused to sign the infamous No-New-Taxes Pledge because of his concern about deficit spending. In time, the two men developed a strong working relationship and friendship, with President Bush later calling Dole a great Republican Leader, as great as any in the past.

In 1996, it would be Doles turn. Nominated to run against a popular President, Bill Clinton, Dole presented himself as the most optimistic man in America. Having resigned his seat in the Senate and his position as Majority Leader in order to devote his full energies to the campaign, Dole gradually narrowed the incumbents large lead, but on November 5, 1996, he came up short. A few weeks later President Clinton awarded Dole the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of his contributions to the nation.

Dole, who for years came to work with his miniature schnauzer, Leader, championed humane legislation, advocated for animals in crisis, and brought critical attention to important animal welfare issues. In 1984, he was presented with the ASPCA Award for Humane Excellence for his consistent commitment to protecting animals in research and other vulnerable animals. After leaving the Senate, he remained active in animal welfare causes, while doting on his beloved miniature schnauzers, Blazer, Leader III and Walter.

Dole was now more visible than evera much sought-after advisor, advocate, political commentator, Super Bowl pitchman, and best-selling author. Millions of television viewers were introduced to his legendary sense of humor through his post-election appearances onThe Late Show with David Letterman, Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan OBrien,andThe Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

Senator Dole remained an outspoken champion on behalf of Americas veterans, people with disabilities, and millions living in hunger, both at home and abroad. For years, he quietly visited patients in veterans hospitals across America. As Special Counsel to two law firms in Washington, he provided advice on how Washington really works. For six years beginning in 1997, he was associated with Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson and Hand. He joined Alston & Bird in 2003.

In 2009, Dole partnered with three other former Senate Majority LeadersTom Daschle (SD-D), George Mitchell (ME-D) and Howard Baker (TN-R) to create the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington. Together they developed the Leaders Health Care Project, a series of recommendations on reform of Americas health care system.

Shortly after the 1996 presidential election, University of Kansas (KU) Chancellor Robert Hemenway approached Senator Dole with a request that he entrust his papers, accrued over 35 years of Congressional service, to KU. Eager to build upon the research potential of this collection, the University envisioned a public policy institute that would actively engage the public, while enabling students of all ages to discover how they might best serve their neighbors and their nation.

Senator Dole agreed, after first making it clear that he wanted no personal monument. Rather, he favored creation of a non-partisan forum, dedicated to public service, training for leadership and the concept of politics as an honorable profession. Today, aligned with his wishes, the Dole Institute of Politics promotes political and civic involvement, especially among young people; encourages civil discussion on important issues; and provides opportunities for interaction with presidents, other political leaders and policy makers, campaign organizers and more. Senator Elizabeth Doles papers are also being housed at the Dole Institute of Politics.

Nothing he did in later life gave Dole more satisfaction than his leadership role in realizing the long-deferred dream of a National World War II Memorial on the Washington Mall. For the better part of a decade, he spearheaded with Fred Smith of FedEx and the help of many, a massive $185 million fund-raising effort to underwrite the Memorials design, construction, and maintenance. By the time of its dedication in June 2004, Senator Dole had become, for many Americans, the face, voice and personification of what Tom Brokaw called The Greatest Generation. This extraordinary effort was recognized by the U.S. Senate and resulted in a plaque, placed next to the Memorial, recognizing his leadership and enormous contributions. In subsequent years, Dole continued his involvement, as Honorary Advisor to Honor Flight Network, which flies World War II and other veterans to Washington who, for financial or medical reasons, would not otherwise be able to experience their Memorial. Over the years, Dole and his wife Elizabeth personally welcomed thousands of veterans as they arrived at the World War II Memorial. In June 2009, Bob and Elizabeth accepted President Obamas invitation to accompany him to Normandy for ceremonies marking the 65th Anniversary of D-Day.

In 2015, Senator Dole accepted the position of finance chairman of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission to honor forever another humble son of Kansas, WWIIs Supreme Allied Commander and the 34th President of the United States. In recognition of Doles leading role in bringing much-needed momentum to the campaign, President Donald Trump appointed Dole to the commission in 2019. The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial was officially dedicated along the National Mall the following year.

Throughout his career, Dole campaigned tirelessly for candidates at every level of government. Following the attacks of September 11th, Dole joined forces with former rival Bill Clinton to co-chair the Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund. He also served as Honorary co-chair of the Presidents Council on Service and Civic Participation, part of President George W. Bushs USA Freedom Corps.

In 2007, Dole co-chaired with Secretary Donna Shalala, the Presidents Commission on the Care of Americas Returning Wounded Warriors, established in the wake of revelations about inadequate care afforded to some Iraqi war veterans. The Commission offered groundbreaking recommendations on the management of care for our wounded and injured service members.

Doles best-selling World War II memoir,One Soldiers Story,chronicles his harrowing experience on and off the battlefield. It was written to provide the lessons learned through his struggle to survive and to inspire todays disabled veterans with the knowledge that they, too, can live productive and fulfilling lives. He also authored the booksGreat Political Wit: Laughing (Almost) All the Way to the White House, Great Presidential Wit: I Wish I Was In The Book, andUnlimited Partners, an autobiography co-written with his wife, Elizabeth.

At ages 90 and 91, Dole made eleven trips to Kansas. The purpose of these visits was to thank voters in all 105 counties for giving him the privilege of serving eight years in the House of Representatives and 28 years in the U.S. Senate.

In 2019, General Mark Milley, then Chief of Staff of the Army, launched an effort to promote Senator Dole from Captain to the honorary rank of Colonel in the U.S. Army. The Senate voted for the promotion unanimously. It was passed by the House of Representatives and signed into law by President Trump. General Milley, speaking at the promotion ceremony, highlighted the fact that only three individuals in American history had received such an honorGeorge Washington, Meriwether Lewis of Lewis and Clark fame, and Bob Dole.

Renowned as a man of complete integrity and trustworthiness, Bob Doles word was his bond. He privately established many charitable endeavors, including Washburn Law School Scholarships for People with Disabilities; Fort Hays State University Scholarships in memory of his sisters; and the Bina and Doran Dole Scholarship Fund for Russell, Kansas area students with disabilities.

Dole is survived by his wife, Elizabeth Hanford Dole, his daughter, Robin Carol Dole, nine nieces and nephews and their families.

Data source:Doleistitute.org

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He Lived the American Dream - texasborderbusiness.com

WASHINGTON, Dec. 06, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FTI Consulting, Inc. (NYSE: FCN) today announced the expansion of its Risk & Investigations practice within the Forensic and Litigation Consulting segment with the appointment of three professionals in Chicago, San Francisco and So Paulo.

Fredrik de Mar joins FTI Consulting as a Senior Managing Director, and Nathaniel Hein and Juliana Palma join as Managing Directors. Their arrivals further enhance FTI Consultings Risk & Investigations practice in the Americas as businesses face a challenging operating environment, with 83% of leaders at large companies across the G-20 reporting their organizations either facing or expect to come under some type of investigation in the next 12 months, according to the 2021 FTI Consulting Resilience Barometer survey.

FTI Consulting is a trusted, independent partner to help clients manage investigations and institute compliance and governance programs that proactively prevent them, said Andrew Rosini, Co-Leader of the Risk & Investigations practice at FTI Consulting. Our clients depend upon the expertise our teams bring to help them protect value and their freedom to operate. The addition of Fredrik, Nathaniel and Juliana will enhance our ability to provide those services wherever they may do business.

Mr. de Mar, who is based in San Francisco, brings more than 20 years of management consulting experience advising clients on supply chain strategy, supply chain risk management and operational performance improvement. His sector expertise spans the healthcare, life sciences and technology industries. Prior to joining FTI Consulting, Mr. de Mar was the West Coast lead for the Operations & Supply Chain practice at Russell Reynolds Associates.

Mr. Hein, who is based in Chicago, has more than a decade of forensic audit and accounting experience at Big Four firms. He has conducted internal investigations, monitorships, financial restatements, M&A due diligence, anti-fraud risk assessments, complex litigation support, and post-acquisition integration and disputes. He most recently served as Controller at Simms Fishing Products LLP, where he was responsible for accounting, budgeting and forecasting, financial compliance, and the design and operation of financial internal controls.

Ms. Palma, who is based in So Paulo, has more than a decade of experience in complex forensic accounting and fraud investigations in Latin America. She supports clients on compliance matters, including risk assessments, internal control improvements, monitoring and M&A due diligence. She joins FTI Consulting from Control Risks. She also has prior experience as a Fraud Investigation Manager at BRF S.A., one of the worlds largest food companies, and as a Corporate Internal Auditor at SCA, one of Europes largest private forest holding companies.

The appointment of Mr. de Mar, Mr. Hein and Ms. Palma continues FTI Consultings recent investment in the Risk & Investigations practice. In May, the firm announced the addition of Gustavo Galizzi as a Senior Managing Director in So Paulo, where he leads the Forensic and Litigation Consulting segment in Brazil and focuses on complex investigations, disputes and regulatory matters.

About FTI ConsultingFTI Consulting, Inc. is a global business advisory firm dedicated to helping organizations manage change, mitigate risk and resolve disputes: financial, legal, operational, political & regulatory, reputational and transactional. With more than 6,600 employees located in 29 countries, FTI Consulting professionals work closely with clients to anticipate, illuminate and overcome complex business challenges and make the most of opportunities. The Company generated $2.46 billion in revenues during fiscal year 2020. In certain jurisdictions, FTI Consultings services are provided through distinct legal entities that are separately capitalized and independently managed. For more information, visit http://www.fticonsulting.com and connect with us on Twitter (@FTIConsulting), Facebook and LinkedIn.

FTI Consulting, Inc. 555 12th Street NW Washington, DC 20004 +1.202.312.9100

Investor Contact: Mollie Hawkes+1.617.747.1791mollie.hawkes@fticonsulting.com

Media Contact: Matthew Bashalany+1.617.897.1545matthew.bashalany@fticonsulting.com

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FTI Consulting Adds Senior Risk & Investigations Professionals in the U.S. and Brazil - GlobeNewswire

This time last year, Professor Neil Ferguson observed how Chinas draconian anti-Covid restrictions had influenced the response to the virus across the Western world not least the UK. We couldnt get away with it in Europe, we thought, said the epidemiologist, dubbed Professor Lockdown. But after Italy shut down we realised we could.

When Covid-19 first emerged as a global pandemic in early 2020, Prof Ferguson had assumed, like the vast majority of government advisers, that severely restricting freedoms would be deemed unacceptable by the British public. Controlling where people go and who they meet was seen as a non-starter in a liberal democracy. How wrong that turned out to be. Not only did people accept the lockdowns, but there was a level of enthusiasm for them and a level of derision for those who questioned them that astonished those of us who had thought that the UK was a nation committed to liberty.

It is not clear, yet, that we are heading back to the dark days of truly draconian anti-Covid measures. But the early signs arent good. In response to the new omicron variant, the ratchet has slowly been tightened. Ministers have re-introduced compulsory masks on public transport and in shops. Travel controls are back, with compulsory PCR tests plus quarantine when returning from red list countries. And, from tomorrow, there are mandatory pre-departure tests for everyone aged 12 and above.

So far, the public has been willing to accept these measures. Many of them are, wrongly, deemed to be minor; and most people just want to do their bit. But if ministers decide to go much further in the coming weeks, can they assume that the public will offer their unquestioning support once again? This time, Im not so sure. Something has changed in Britain. Having stoically endured three separate lockdowns, there are clear signs that the publics support for harsh anti-Covid restrictions is fast diminishing.

Take the results of YouGov polling from last week. Over two thirds of voters in England oppose the closure of pubs and restaurants, with roughly the same share against anti-Covid restrictions on leaving home. Three in five, meanwhile, reject controls on the number of indoor home visitors. It is true that attitudes towards closing nightclubs remain borderline totalitarian, but if you had asked these same questions in January, you would have found overwhelming majorities in support of any and all restrictive measures. Previously seen as eccentric, lockdown scepticism has quietly become mainstream.

There are several reasons for this. The first is an obvious one. After almost two years of disruption and a mass vaccination programme that has covered the vast majority of the population, many people quite rightly wonder what else can be done to protect the vulnerable against severe illness and death. At the moment, the omicron variant does not appear to be the terrifying new threat that some have made it out to be, either. While more infectious than previous variants, the early signs are that it causes onlymild symptoms. Proving that, while determining if existing vaccines work against it, could take weeks. Butthe World Health Organisation saidover the weekend there have been no omicron-related deaths, despite thevariant being detected in at least 38countries.

Meanwhile, the costs of lockdowns have become far harder to ignore. The fact that GPs made hundreds of thousands fewer suspected cancer referrals during the pandemic, in part due to fewer face-to-face consultations, was last week highlighted in a National Audit Office report. The impact has been devastating, says Macmillan Cancer Support, given related delays in the treatment of life-threatening conditions, including among the young. The relentless focus on Covid, the NAO concluded, means that by March 2025, some 12 million people around a fifth of the UK population could be on an NHS waiting list, caught in the lockdown-related treatment backlog.

The lives versus livelihoods debate which characterised previous lockdowns in which those who opposed restrictions were damned as selfishly concerned solely with the health of the economy is therefore being exposed as the nonsense it always was. The damage done to childrens mental health and education when schools close is now undeniable which is why Childrens Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza yesterday pleaded with ministers to keep schools open. Thetragedy of six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, murdered by his stepmother, has also highlighted thepressure lockdown puts on vulnerable households.

And now we have enjoyed a real taste of freedom. Until last week, England had faced no legal Covid restrictions since Freedom Day in July. And while a fourth wave of existing variants had sent European nations back into full or partial lockdowns, the UKs gamble seemed to have worked. Covid-related hospitalisations and deaths are still a fraction of where they were this time last year.

It might be convenient for some politicians for the Covid emergency to continue indefinitely. Certainly, for No 10, omicron has crowded out sleaze allegations. Yet, while some voters remain clearly frightened of Covid, broader support for harsh lockdown measures appears to be melting away.

People know that two years of restrictions have left the UK in a perilous economic situation. Many are wise enough to realise that tightening them would again crush the UKs recovery, playing havoc with fiscal balances. It would also further stoke inflation, deepening the emerging cost of living crisis, while doing further damage to pandemic-stricken sectors such as aviation and hospitality.

They also know that some of the people who have been keenest on restrictions have got it wrong, again and again. Back in July, as Freedom Day beckoned, Ferguson declared it was almost inevitable daily infection rates would hit a record 100,000 and could peak at more than 200,000 after restrictions were relaxed. In the event, daily cases barely topped 30,000 and have remained steady since.

So something has changed. If the Government thinks it can take the UK back into lockdown without a very clear and demonstrable reason, then it needs to think again.

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The public has turned against the excesses of the lockdown fanatics - Telegraph.co.uk

The lecture titled "Bangabandhu centenary lecture" looks at the journey through the lens of Bangabandhu's vision for an independent Bangladesh which he promised would evolve into a just society. I will explore how far we, as a nation and people, have so far moved to realise Bangabandhu's promise and what parts of his promise remain to be kept in the days ahead.

Bangabandhu's vision

Bangabandhu epitomised his vision for Bangladesh before the people of Bangladesh at the conclusion of his epic declaration of 7 March 1971,

Ebarer Sangram Amader Muktir Sangram

Ebarer Sangram Shadinater Sangram

Many people have pondered on the distinction between the struggle for independence (shadinata) and the struggle for liberation (mukti). Bangabandhu was perhaps clearer in his mind about the distinction. He visualised the struggle for independence as a struggle for the establishment of a sovereign nation-state.

But his call for liberation extended the struggle beyond the realisation of independence toward the more transformative mission of liberating the people from not just the unjust bondage of Pakistani rule but from the injustices inflicted on the common people of Bangladesh over centuries. Years of subordination denied the people not just their democratic rights but held them captive within an unjust social order.

Bangabandhu's commitment and struggle for self-rule was ultimately realised through the emergence of an independent Bangladesh. Bangladesh survived the trauma of our bloodstained birth and moved forward over the next half-century to significantly elevate its economic fortunes, experience a remarkable social transformation and reconfigure its place in a more globalised world order.

Little of this would have been possible had we not managed to resurrect ourselves as a people from the ashes of the liberation war to construct a nation-state, build its institutions and establish our presence in the committee of nations.

In the course of building a nation-state Bangabandhu projected his vision for realising amader muktir sangram through the four foundational pillars incorporated in the Bangladesh constitution, presented to the nation within a year of our national liberation; Democracy, Nationalism, Secularism, Socialism.

Bangabandhu's lifelong struggle for self-rule, followed by his heroic endeavour to transform his movement into a functioning nation-state, did not go in vain. Within his short life span, he had created the structure of a fully functional nation-state. But all his achievements remained a work in progress.

Promises kept

After liberation, Bangladesh was well behind Pakistan in most areas of the macro-economy, we had experienced levels of poverty and lower levels of human development in areas like education and healthcare. In the next fifty years, Bangladesh has moved well ahead. Higher rates of growth have moved Bangladesh's per capita income, which was 61% below that of Pakistan in 1972, to exceed Pakistan's PCI in 2020 by 62%.

Such rapid rates of growth have been realised through Bangladesh's higher rates of savings and investment as well as its higher level of exports which were all well behind those of Pakistan's in 1972. As a result, today, Bangladesh's foreign exchange reserves are more than double those of Pakistan while our external debt/GDP ratio is half. We are no longer an aid-dependent country. Our aid/GDP ratio is now around 2% whereas Pakistan has required periodic bailouts from the international community. Bangladesh's infrastructure development has also moved ahead in areas like power generation where our capacity, which rapidly expanded in the last 10 years, is nearly double that of Pakistan.

In the area of human development, Bangladesh's human development indicators (HDI) were below those of Pakistan in 1990 but are now well ahead. Bangladesh has managed to lower its population growth rate so that today our population levels are lower than that of Pakistan. At the same time, due to better health provisioning, Bangladesh's life expectancy which was well below Pakistan in 1972 is now 5 years above them. Similarly, in the area of education, specifically in terms of years of schooling and literacy rate, we have now moved ahead.

As a result, Bangladesh's levels of multi-dimensional poverty, which was once higher than that of Pakistan, is now below it. Perhaps the most dramatic advances have been registered by the women of Bangladesh whose gender development index has not only moved well ahead of Pakistan but also India.

All these indicators of progress have served to validate Bangabandhu's vision of an independent Bangladesh, in full command of its own destiny, would be able to move ahead more rapidly than under the dominance of Pakistan.

Bangladesh's progress is not merely measurable in statistical terms but is manifested in the major structural changes in the economy and social transformation which have taken place as a result of our liberation. Bangladesh has transformed itself from a largely agrarian society, exclusively dependent on growing paddy for subsistence and jute as a cash crop, where agriculture was the principal source of both GDP and household income.

Today the GDP contribution of industry exceeds that of agriculture, more than 50% of household income derives from non-farm sources. Our exports, now largely dependent on manufactures of RMG, have grown exponentially while remittance from overseas migrants has emerged as our largest foreign exchange earner which has strengthened our balance of payments.

These remarkable changes in our economy have been driven by the emergence of a dynamic entrepreneurial class which is represented not just by the RMG entrepreneurs and corporate business houses but extends across a much broader social spectrum.

This, inter alia, includes medium, small and micro-entrepreneurs, women from poor rural families who have participated in the micro-finance revolution or have travelled to the urban areas to contribute their services to fuel the rapid growth of the RMG sector, the NGO's who have promoted more inclusive growth, the migrants who have taken great risks to travel across the world in the service of their families and a new generation of IT entrepreneurs.

Promises to keep

While Bangabandhu's expectations from shadinata may have been realised, his expectations from amader muktir sangram, which would take us towards his vision of a just society, remain part of the promises that we, as a nation, need to honour in his memory.

Bangladesh's economy has registered impressive growth and poverty has been reduced but income inequalities and social disparities have widened. This represents an unjust distribution of the gains from our development and an inadequate recognition, in terms of policies and public support, of the larger constituency of social forces which have also driven our progress.

This widening of social disparities owes not just to policy and allocative deficiencies but to unjust governance in various spheres, where laws already enacted are not decisively acted upon, policies are not fully implemented and regulations are weakly enforced.

These deficiencies in governance originate both in the incapacity of the government to discharge its commitments and in the emerging political economy where an increasingly powerful business elite, patronised by the state, is empowered to influence policies and public action.

In consequence, public policies, in the way of fiscal policies and subsidies, along with public expenditure priorities tend to favour the business elite at the expense of less privileged social groups.

Economic and social injustice, originating in state actions, are compounded by the depreciation in the quality of our democracy, manifested in the weakening credibility of our electoral process, the erosion in the freedom of the media, unfair access to public services and inequitable protection under the rule of law as well as from law enforcement.

The capture of our electoral institutions by the business elite, the dominance of money and force in our electoral contestation have further moved us away from Bangabandhu's vision of a just democratic order where the voices of the less privileged members of society could be clearly heard in our institutions of governance.

In conclusion, I suggest that much can be done towards bringing greater justice to the governance process if the ruling regime remains committed to realising Bangabandhu's vision of a just society. Ensuring the rule of law for all, implementing policies and enforcing regulations, remain within the domain of a well-intentioned government and do not require revolutionary upheavals.

The move to realise more substantive advances towards a just society may need structural changes which require new legislation, even constitutional amendments, supported by changes in the balance of power which accommodates the needs, rewards the contribution and gives voice to the less privileged segments of society.

This is an abridged version of Rehman Sobhan's "Bangabandhu centenary" lecture presented at the inaugural session of a four day international virtual conference on 50 years of Bangladesh.

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50 Years of Bangladesh: Retrospect and prospect - The Business Standard

With everything else going on the likely imminent demise of Roe v. Wade, the revelation that Donald Trump knew he had tested positive for the coronavirus before he debated Joe Biden, and more I dont know how many readers are aware that the U.S. government was almost forced to shut down this weekend. A last-minute deal averted that crisis, but another crisis is a couple of weeks away: The government is expected to hit its debt ceiling in the middle of this month, and failure to raise the ceiling would wreak havoc not just with governance but with Americas financial reputation.

The thing is, the federal government isnt having any problem raising money in fact, it can borrow at interest rates well below the inflation rate, so that the real cost of servicing additional federal debt is actually negative. Instead, this is all about politics. Both continuing government funding and raising the debt limit are subject to the filibuster, and many Republican senators wont support doing either unless Democrats meet their demands.

And what has Republicans so exercised that theyre willing to endanger both the functioning of our government and the nations financial stability? Whatever they may say, they arent taking a stand on principle or at least, not on any principle other than the proposition that even duly elected Democrats have no legitimate right to govern.

In some ways weve seen this movie before. Republicans led by Newt Gingrich partly shut down the government in 1995-96 in an attempt to extract concessions from President Bill Clinton. G.O.P. legislators created a series of funding crises under President Barack Obama, again in a (partly successful) attempt to extract policy concessions. Creating budget crises whenever a Democrat sits in the White House has become standard Republican operating procedure.

Yet current G.O.P. attempts at extortion are both more naked and less rational than what happened during the Obama years.

Under Obama, leading Republicans claimed that their fiscal brinkmanship was motivated by concerns about budget deficits. Some of us argued even at the time that self-proclaimed deficit hawks were phonies, that they didnt actually care about government debt a view validated by their silence when the Trump administration blew up the deficit and that they actually wanted to see the economy suffer on Obamas watch. But they maintained enough of a veneer of responsibility to fool many commentators.

This time, Republican obstructionists arent even pretending to care about red ink. Instead, theyre threatening to shut everything down unless the Biden administration abandons its efforts to fight the coronavirus with vaccine mandates.

Whats that about? As many observers have pointed out, claims that opposition to vaccine mandates (and similar opposition to mask mandates) is about maintaining personal freedom dont stand up to any kind of scrutiny. No reasonable definition of freedom includes the right to endanger other peoples health and lives because you dont feel like taking basic precautions.

Furthermore, actions by Republican-controlled state governments, for example in Florida and Texas, show a party that isnt so much pro-freedom as it is pro-Covid. How else can you explain attempts to prevent private businesses whose freedom to choose was supposed to be sacrosanct from requiring that their workers be vaccinated, or offers of special unemployment benefits for the unvaccinated?

In other words, the G.O.P. doesnt look like a party trying to defend liberty; it looks like a party trying to block any effective response to a deadly disease. Why is it doing this?

To some extent it surely reflects a coldly cynical political calculation. Voters tend to blame whichever party holds the White House for anything bad that happens on its watch, which creates an incentive for a sufficiently ruthless party to engage in outright sabotage. Sure enough, Republicans who fought all efforts to contain the coronavirus are now attacking the Biden administration for failing to end the pandemic.

But trying to shut down the government to block vaccinations seems like overreach, even for hardened cynics. Its notable that Mitch McConnell, whom nobody could accuse of being a do-gooder, isnt part of the anti-vaccine caucus.

What seems to be happening instead goes beyond cold calculation. As Ive pointed out in the past, Republican politicians now act like apparatchiks in an authoritarian regime, competing to take ever more extreme positions as a way to demonstrate their loyalty to the cause and to The Leader. Catering to anti-vaccine hysteria, doing all they can to keep the pandemic going, has become something Republicans do to remain in good standing within the party.

The result is that one of Americas two major political parties isnt just refusing to help the nation deal with its problems; its actively working to make the country ungovernable.

And I hope the rest of us havent lost the ability to be properly horrified at this spectacle.

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Opinion | How the G.O.P. Became Saboteurs, Threatening a Government Shutdown - The New York Times