I told a friend on the political Left some months ago, someone who posts on these pages regularly, that I was willing to make a big concession to him on a philosophical point. But events overtook it, and I quite forgot what it was I was willing to concede. Until today, when a story in The New York Post jolted my memory.

A couple of years back, I was working on a campaign challenging a long-term Democratic incumbent holding executive office.  His profligacy in spending public dollars was legendary – he spent unabashedly – and the habit ran smack into the wall of history.  He went down in flames at the advent of today’s tax revolt, despite enjoying a Democrat to Republican registration advantage greater than two-to-one.

Throughout the campaign the executive argued that sharp budget cuts would compromise “our values as a community” – he loved to use the word “values” – so as few cuts as possible should be made.  Only “waste” should be targeted, he said.  In other words, what his government had created, on top of that it had inherited, represented the aspirational best of the citizens he served.  His was a fundamentally liberal position, and he argued it to his detriment – to his credit.   (At least he stood for something.)

It is a bedrock principle among conservatives, on the other hand, that government should only provide for its citizens that which they cannot provide for themselves.  To purist conservatives, those things should begin and end with the armed forces, the post office, a highway system, public schools, and little else.  Anything additional boils down to government expropriating private resources and overreaching in its constitutional authority.  Individuals, conservatives argue, can spend money more productively and efficiently than can government.

Conservatives conceded that vision of America more than a century ago.  Government is now involved in every aspect of our lives.  Bake sales don’t pay for Little League  score boards anymore; alderman and state senators appropriate money for them.  The opera remains open because government floats it, and those riding mass transit only a pay a fraction of what their ride truly costs.  You can take those scenarios, multiply them by several hundred thousand, and still find left over areas in which government is partially or entirely footing the bill.

Which brings me to my concession.  Sort of.  Because I am asking my friend for one in return.

Today’s New York Post story touches on a rapidly emerging trend in America.  Local  governments are beginning to ask cultural institutions and other not-for-profits to pay for municipal services they have been getting free for decades.   They have to.  Governments are broke and getting broker by the day.  These institutions also are being asked to voluntarily pay things like property taxes, which their governments, in all their magnanimity, forewent more than a century ago.  But now they are desperate for cash.

This is an arithmetic trend that can only spell doom for America’s government-supported cultural programs.  What is being requested today will be demanded tomorrow.  What is being propped up with government funding today, will be left to fend for itself presently.  Those Little League score boards?  Buy ‘em yourself. Who do you think we are, Chase Manhattan?

Two points, the first being my concession and the second being my request for his:

1. Yes, the defeated executive and those who agree with him have a point.  This cutting trend will, indeed, effect things we value as Americans.  I, for one, would not like to get to a point where public subsidy for, say, a subway ride is entirely eliminated.  Poor people cannot pay $6 or $7 each way, or whatever it would cost, to get from Brooklyn to Manhattan.  Nor would I like to see public museums close.  They are part of who we are as a culture.

2.   This is happening for one reason, and everyone closely following government spending knows it. The elephant in the room is non-discretionary spending – Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and pension obligations – and both liberals and conservatives have a philosophical interest in addressing it (Peggy Noonan touches on this today.)

The cuts in discretionary spending we are now seeing – for parks, museums, seniors, education, and children — will become absolute as non-discretionary spending sucks up every available American dollar (It does already actually.  It’s borrowing is keeping us afloat.)  In other words, if we don’t do what’s necessary to pare mandated entitlement programs, there will be zero dollars left over for any other government programs we hold of value.

Liberals should recognize this first.  Everything they have built in this nation – the myriad programs that reflect their aspirational values – are at abject risk of dissolution because of entitlements.

I agree that some of those things have become fundamentally American.  So shouldn’t they be joining with the Paul Ryan’s of the world in seeking to save them?

My godfather, Jack O’Connell, was a pussycat of a man — at least where his children were concerned. When one of them had acted up in some way — I mean really acted up — my aunt would forewarn them, “Just wait ’til your father gets home.”

And when he did, Uncle Jack and child A, B, C, or D, would march grimly behind a closed door from which horrific cracking and slapping sounds would emerge, followed by stinging howls (this was the 1960’s.)

It wasn’t until after his death that everyone learned what went on back there.  The children were trained to yelp on command.  Uncle Jack would slap a pillow or crack his belt against a chair, and whichever cousin was in the dog house would cry out in pain synchronously — before muffling uncontainable laughter.

I seem to have taken a page from my godfather.  I can yell loudly and make a terribly angry face, but I cannot take the remorse. Within seconds of being stern I am overwhelmed by regret and maudlin thoughts including, “What if I die today and this is the last thing they remember of me? “

And so, like with so much of child rearing in our home, I abrogate almost all disciplinarian responsibility to my wife, Corrinne, who is half Italian and half Scottish, her latter half providing a preternatural facility to punish. If one of our children were to say, for example, “What if you die today and this is the last thing we remember of you?”, Corrinne would instinctively reply, “You better hope I die today.”

She’s that good.  A savant really.

But our four-year-old-daughter Georgia, a clever little thing, has just discovered a crack in her mother’s armor.  If Georgia is playing this, then she, too, is a savant, but in the ways of manipulation.

We have been teaching Georgia to pray, and last week, for the first time, she took us up on it.  Down on her knees she went, eyes tightly shut, fingers clasped together — with all the earnestness of a child that age — and when she emerged from her fervent prayer, her mother curiously asked her, “so what did you pray for Georgia?”

Georgia balked. (The perfect move.)

“Really, Georgia.  What did you pray for?”

“Nothing, mom. I was just praying.”

Fifteen minutes passed.

“Georgia, really, what did you ask God for?”

Georgia lowered her eyes to the ground, shuffled her feet and said, “I asked God for a nicer Mom.”

And you know what?  That mean mother of hers marched Georgia right down to the ice cream store and bought her a double scoop.

What we can’t figure out is whether the smile Georgia wore afterward was inspired by her certainty in God’s power or because she has stumbled across her mother’s Italian side.

This has to be the story of the day.

The New York Post reports that the agnostic son of a devout Christian woman facetiously prayed that his mother win $1 million dollars as proof of God’s existence.

She did.  The next day.

The son, after calculating the odds of this happening, is reportedly on his knees at this very moment.

Can you imagine the stream of prayers traveling up to heaven today?  Even the Dali Lama must not be able to get through.

If you put a gun to my head and forced me to blurt out the meaning of Memorial Day, giving me no time at all to consider my answer, I might very well shout out, along with lots of other Americans I suspect, “it marks the start of summer!”  I am ashamed to admit that, but it’s true.

I’m hell on wheels for Veterans Day.  I’ve got the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month thing down cold.  I make my daughters’ eyes roll with it every year. But Memorial Day — God help me for saying it — makes me think of hot dogs more than, say, Shilo or Appomattox Courthouse.

In fact, this morning, I had to go online to recall the history behind Memorial Day — that it originally was a day to remember those lost in the American Civil War.  Only later was it extended to include those killed in other wars.  I muttered to myself while reading about the day — like the liar I am — “of course, I knew that,” but, truth be told, much of it was a revelation to me.

Like the fact that Southern states did not celebrate Memorial Day until after World War I, when the day was extended to remembering soldiers lost in that conflict.  They did not want to honor Union soldiers killed in action on the same day they remembered their own kin. Several Southern states still have their own days of remembrance in fact.

I did not know that Memorial Day was originally called “Decoration Day” or that the Third U.S. Infantry Division places American flags at every gravestone at Arlington National Cemetery — there are more than 260,000 of them — the Thursday before Memorial Day (yesterday.) And I didn’t know that there has been a bill in Congress for years to move the national holiday to May 30th so that it does not necessarily create a three-day weekend, and become lost in travel plans.  In short, I really didn’t know anything about the day at all, other than it marked warm weather and a long weekend.

So more for me than for you, I include these links (here, here, here, and here) on the history of Memorial Day.  I promise to read them before firing up the grill, especially on this 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War.

I’ll also try to remember that summer begins on June 21st. Duh. I knew that!

The gay marriage issue is coming to a quick boil in New York State, with both sides of the issue establishing firm battle lines.

I wrote some weeks ago about the masterful campaign being run by the pro-gay-marriage side.  Marriage equality advocates had been making compelling arguments to the mainstream, without coming across as strident.  It was exactly the touch needed in a state that could go either way on the issue.

Now, sadly, angry amateurs are getting involved.   This weekend some of them are hosting a “F*ck Ruben Diaz Festival” in Brooklyn (Rev. Diaz is a Democratic state senator opposed to gay marriage.) It is utterly stupid and counterproductive. Pro-gay-marriage advocates should give freelancers like these a stern talking-to as soon as possible, before they blow a brilliant, half-year persuasion campaign.

Exclusive heterosexual marriage has been a bedrock institution for thousands of years.  Those defending it — or unsure of where they stand on the issue — should not be ridiculed.  They should be respectfully approached, just like they had been for months.  One whiff of rage will send prospective gay marriage converts right back over the fence.

Maggie Haberman writes an excoriating piece on the New York State Republican Party  in Politico today. It was precipitated, of course, by the ugly loss of NY-26 on Tuesday, the seat once held by conservative icon Jack Kemp.

What is most striking in the story is how open the rebellion within the GOP has become. The New York Republican Party was traditionally a buttoned-up affair. One never spoke out publicly about Party leadership, certainly not on-the-record. But it has become a virtual free-for-all in the press now.  Names are named freely.

That’s not a  bad thing – not in the long term.  It shows life in the Party. If there were no fight, the Party truly would be in trouble.

Most of the ire is focused on State GOP Chairman Ed Cox, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the open revolt soon spread into each of New York’s 62 counties.  It should.  It is the counties, after all, where leadership has become most calcified.  These individual power fiefdoms need to be roiled to let in new opinion and energy.  A good half of the county chairman need to be outright overthrown.

Once that is done, though, the Party will need iron-hand central leadership to put the pieces back together.  Death for the Party would be a widespread 100-Years-War situation.

In the meantime, New York public unions solidify control over the Democratic Party.  Indeed, the lock-step Democrats are beginning to look like the Republicans of old, and vice versa, with Republicans now a pathetically fractured lot.

Those Democrats should be in real trouble in around 2036…

http://youtu.be/zxdj-ZwKNZ0

I really don’t mean to pick on Joe Biden.  I actually like the guy; I would love to hang out with him for an afternoon.

Even when Biden makes a gaffe, he shows likable qualities in doing it — like the time he said Hillary Clinton would have been a better VP pick than him.  If it weren’t for his politics that might have won my vote.

And, yes, George W. Bush gaffe reels are far funner. But today is Biden’s day, so here are some highlights.

Vice President Joe Biden bizarrely employed quotes spoken by President Kennedy 50 years ago to slam Republicans today for opposing tax increases and proposing reductions in federal spending.

The Kennedy quotes, though, had nothing to do with today’s situation, or anything like it. Biden plucked JFK quotes seemingly out of thin air to fit his argument of the day.

Here is Biden today as quoted by Politico:

“Just as there were naysayers in 1961, there are naysayers in 2011 – not only in the public at large, but also in the political system. They say we can’t afford to invest. I say we can’t fail to invest.”

Biden then incongruously blurted: “we would have never reached the moon”, before randomly reciting a quote from  Kennedy’s 1961 inaugural address: “In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than in mine, rest the final success or failure of our course.”

Mr. Biden never fails to confuse and entertain.

Here is a JFK quote directly pertinent to the debt and tax issues of today.  It was spoken to the Economic Club of New York by President Kennedy in 1962, and appropriately cited earlier this month by House Speaker John Boehner (R) in his remarks to the very same club:

‘Our true choice is not between tax reduction, on the one hand, and the avoidance of large federal deficits on the other. It is increasingly clear that no matter what party is in power, so long as our [needs] keep rising, an economy hampered by restrictive tax rates will never produce enough revenues to balance our budget — just as it will never produce enough jobs or enough profits.’

In other words, the only way to grow our economy sufficiently to pay our debts is to keep tax rates low.

Then 20-year-old Biden must have missed that speech.

UPDATE: How could I have neglected to include this terrific irony? Neil Armstrong today writes that President Obama is killing off the space program.  Say it ain’t so, Joe!

Buoyed by its outdoor ban on cigarette smoking, the New York City Department of Health is now seeking to ban Mike’s Hard Lemonade in New York City stores, and pre-mixed alcoholic beverages like it, because they are popular among teenagers.

It’s back assward thinking: How about stopping teenagers from buying Mike’s Hard Lemonade instead? After all, it is illegal to drink alcohol in New York if you are under the age of 21.  But rather than enforce current laws, the City is looking to create new ones — as usual.

Should we also outlaw mixers that make cheap vodka potable? Maybe professional sports should be banned in New York, too, because of underage gambling?

Who do these Health Department types think they are? I mean, really.

I’ve always loved the story, however apocryphal, of how North Carolina acquired the moniker “The Tar Heel State.” According to legend, North Carolina troops came under withering fire in an early Civil War battle. Retreating Confederate soldiers marveled at how the North Carolina regiments stood and fought in the face of adversity. “Those North Carolina boys fight like they have tar on their heels,” a general hoping to rally his retiring troops reportedly shouted. The nickname stuck fast, too.

Republicans panicking over the loss of NY-26 yesterday — the seat prematurely vacated by former congressman Chris Lee — need to emulate those Tar Heel soldiers now. They need to stick firm to what’s right for the country, not scatter at the first sign of blood.

Early indicators of that stand-and-fight posture are not encouraging. Here’s how the senior member of New York’s Republican delegation reacted to yesterday’s loss in The New York Times today:  “It’s a Republican district with a solid Republican candidate,” said Representative Peter T. King, a Republican from Long Island. “What went wrong? We definitely have to determine the extent to which the Medicare issue hurt us.”

No tar there.

Congressman Paul Ryan’s Medicare reforms became a significant issue in the NY-26 race because Democrats successfully frightened seniors in the Western New York district, convincing them that the plan would take away their health care. It wouldn’t, of course, but it would likely save future generations of Americans from economic atrophy. Republicans needed to make that clear, and they did not. Rather than walk away from reforms now — that they know are necessary — the GOP needs to sharpen its arguments for why such reforms are essential.

The first step toward doing that is getting the Wesson oil off their feet.