Gary Crooks

It’s become quite evident that public safety unions are different from any other. Among the reforms suggested for the Spokane Police Department are body cameras, which would provide a record of encounters between police officers and the public. David Harris, a University of Pittsburgh professor who has studied them, told The Spokesman-Review that officers initially balk at their introduction but eventually rely on them.

The reaction to Mitt Romney’s tax burden of 15.5 percent is predictable. Distressing, but predictable. The rich are not like you and me, according to the tax code. Why is this news? Keep in mind that it was capitalism huggers, not “class warriors,” who forced Romney to divulge that information. So can we talk about this without resorting to rhetorical distractions, such as “envy” and “punishing success?” Good.

(SCENE: FBI headquarters, Washington, D.C. The year is 2112. Frank Columbo III, head of the Cold Case Unit, enters the office of the director carrying a thick manila folder.) FRANK : Pardon the interruption, sir, but I thought I should bring this old case to your attention.

It just isn’t working out. The differences are irreconcilable. It’s time to call it quits on this failed social experiment. Despite the efforts of well-meaning people, the institution of marriage has been torn asunder. The guilty parties meant well, but the pairing of men with women may not be natural. The data certainly suggest this.

Skip the political junk food. Exercise the mind. Tighten up that thinking. New Year’s resolutions or a political pledge? Doesn’t matter; just sign on the dotted line. Here are some memes, themes and schemes that are merely empty calories. Resist them to become a better you.

You’ve probably heard of the obesity epidemic among children, and the likely causes: junk food, video games and a general lack of exercise. But here are a couple more reasons that you may not know: Many parents don’t think their chubby kids are overweight, and the chances that their pediatricians will break the news to them are slim and none. Dr. Aaron Carroll, an associate professor of pediatrics and the associate director of Children’s Health Services Research at Indiana University, shares the sobering news at his excellent health care blog, The Incidental Economist.

The press wants to know the real reason U.S. Rep. Barney Frank is leaving, but I’m more interested in why incumbents want to stay. With Congress’ approval rating at a record low, partisanship at an all-time high and progress at a standstill, what’s the point? Can’t be that much fun raising money for the next race.

In this book report about a girl waiting to hear from her working mother who is away from home, my 11-year-old daughter delivers a Thanksgiving message. Her fifth-grade teacher handed me this essay on Tuesday. My column appears on Sundays, so please excuse the tardiness of this holiday message.

You’ve seen the Business Beat in the Sunday paper, right? It’s a list of people who have been hired, promoted and honored. Good for them. But in this challenging economy, it doesn’t quite capture all that’s happening. So, in that vein, here’s the rest of the story (all names and circumstances are fictional): Bob Harper, a reduction specialist, has been let go at Trim the Fat, a weight-loss clinic and management consulting firm. Prior to working there, he collected Beanie Babies and unemployment checks.

We keep hearing that it isn’t right to judge an entire police department based on the actions of a few. True, but it would sure help if this alleged good-cop majority could send some signals that it isn’t happy with the public-relations crimes perpetrated by colleagues. Two years ago, some tone-deaf Spokane Police Department officers celebrated the acquittal of Jay Olsen in the courtroom. One shouted, “You’re coming home!” Olsen was the drunken, off-duty officer who chased down Shonto Pete and shot him in the head, violating many police policies.

Prediction: The next “freedom” issue will be tire studs. November rolls up on Tuesday, meaning it’s the first day motorists can drive around on the little road rippers. In Idaho, those liberty-loving showoffs could don the metallic comforters on Oct. 1. And you thought rutting season was confined to elk.

Why can’t we have smart, successful business leaders lift up the hood of government, diagnose the problem and fix it? We’ve certainly had a number of them run for president, or at least think about it. Lee Iacocca, Ross Perot, Donald Trump and Herman Cain come to mind. So, why are we saddled with these career politicians who have never signed the front of a paycheck?

So what’s the difference between letting the economy breathe free, and crushing its sternum with the anvils of Marxism? A few percentage points in marginal tax rates, if you listen to congressional debates. The Bush tax cuts reduced the top income rate from 39.6 percent to 35 percent, and the 36 percent bracket to 33 percent. For capital gains, the rate was dropped from 20 percent to 15 percent. According to the alarmists, reversing this and other cuts would set the country on the road to serfdom, otherwise known as where we were before 2001.

The Occupy Wall Street protests carry different meanings for different people. Lately, I’ve been mindful of a Clinton-era slogan that was tailored for frustrated people who “work hard and play by the rules” but couldn’t get ahead. Since then, it’s only gotten worse … for most people. The rules are quite different on the rarefied rungs of the career ladder. I’ve long been bemused by the rationales for exorbitant CEO pay; rationales, by the way, that only apply to top executives, and only American ones. The excuses can be distilled thusly: “If you want the best, you gotta pay the best.”

Rather than field questions from the media on the Otto Zehm case, the mayor’s office decided to grill itself. This leads me to my own frequently asked questions on FAQs. Should FAQs be issued by elected leaders?

Apparently one of the big constraints on the U.S. economy is its inability to produce sufficient levels of soot and mercury. As part of a jobs initiative, House Republicans are pushing legislation called the TRAIN Act that would derail new standards aimed at curbing these emissions. What’s really going on is an attempt to leverage an economic crisis to gut unrelated regulations. Or, as Roger Noll, co-director of the Program on Regulatory Policy at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, said: “The effect of regulation on jobs has nothing to do with the mess we’re in. The current rhetoric about regulation killing jobs is nothing more than not letting a good crisis go to waste.”

It was Pogo who told us, “We have met the enemy and he is us.” Now POGO has come along to essentially confirm this. The Project on Government Oversight, a nonprofit government watchdog, reports that the federal government isn’t saving money by contracting out work. In fact, the government could cut spending significantly if it returned those tasks to its own workers.

The Wednesday debate among Republican presidential candidates was held at the Reagan Library, which features the airplane the Gipper flew on as president. It’s no surprise that all of the candidates, except for Jon Huntsman, crowded onto the very tip of the right wing, but it’s strange that they would express their adulation for a president who traveled comfortably in the middle. I can envision a couple of Ronald Reagan’s retorts to some of the candidates’ comments.

(Saw this question posed at the New York Times website: “Is America ready for more old men?” The life span between men and women is narrowing, so the Times asked some experts about the ramifications. I fear it will mean more rants like this): Have you seen this cockamamie idea for phasing out good old-fashioned light bulbs? It was even signed by President Bush. Jeebus! Just when you think you know someone. Those bulbs were good enough for Tommy Edison, a true AMERICAN!!! patriot, but not good enough for the so-called progressives who want to “SAVE THE PLANET.” What have they invented – aside from the bottomless glass of whine?!

While awaiting a doctor’s appointment, I picked up a copy of People magazine and skimmed its cutting-edge journalism. This is odd, because I’m not a People person. Anyway, one item consisted of an archived photo of actress Olivia Wilde and the enlarged text of a tweet in which she reveals that she only shares her bed with her dog. To those who view journalists as “content providers,” this must be a dream. The subject writes the item. Somebody grabs an old photo. And, just like that, news! No pesky reporters occupying desks, running up the phone bill, using all the notebooks or clamoring to be paid.

Until recently, the incessant debt limit chatter hadn’t really scared me, because Congress wasn’t going to refuse to raise it, right? I’m not crazy about the nation’s finances, but we’ve always figured it out without burning down the house. Then I made the mistake of bursting this state of semi-blissful indifference by exploring what it would actually mean if we bumped into this ceiling. First off, we hit our heads in May, but the Treasury secretary pulled some MacGyver-like maneuvers to squeeze out three more months of space. What was his trick? Financial duct tape — borrowed, of course.

To listen to some of the solutions to our moribund economy, you’d think that back in fall 2008 employers were suddenly hit with a wave of taxes and regulations that forced them to lay off workers. At the same time, many workers must’ve left of their own accord and are subsequently enjoying their jobless selves, what with those “cushy” checks they receive from “unemployment assurance.” Hence the calls to cut taxes, repeal regulations and turn off the spigot of jobless benefits (among other areas of government spending), so that job creators who are yearning to breathe free can finally exhale and start hiring folks. If these are truly the barriers to job creation, you have to wonder how the unemployment rate was so low before the Great Recession.

Politicians in love with supply-side economics and budgeting often discount the findings of the Congressional Budget Office, because its “static” analyses fail to capture the “dynamic” effects of tax cuts. Jobs will be created. People will work more. The tax base will broaden. The gross domestic product will grow. All of these activities, they say, will work to offset the fact that government will take in less revenue for a while.

“Checkbook journalism” has long been decried as a corrupt practice, and rightly so. By paying people for interviews, journalists potentially tarnish the truth because sources may feel compelled to say what they think the media want to hear. Or, they may just tell part of the story and hold out for more cash. It’s a slippery slope that leads to embellishment, distortions and lies. Plus, after media outlets have plunked down dollars to get an exclusive, they aren’t going to be too interested in potentially undermining the story by double-checking the veracity of their paid informants’ claims.