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Cato Dispatch for June 23, 2008

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(Links to outside sources were active as of the date of this dispatch; however, not all news sources maintain links to current stories indefinitely. Some links also may require registration.)

Opposition Withdraws from Zimbabwe Runoff

"Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew Sunday from Zimbabwe's presidential runoff election under the might of a vicious campaign of political violence by President Robert Mugabe, saying that 'we cannot stand there and watch people being killed for the sake of power,'" The Washington Post reports. "Tsvangirai's decision ends an electrifying challenge to Mugabe, who over 28 years has led his once-bountiful country into economic ruin, then unleashed an onslaught of state-sponsored torture, beatings and killings after he lost the first round of voting in March. Election officials deemed a runoff necessary because neither candidate got a majority of votes, and they set the date for Friday."

In "The Spiral of Zimbabwe," Marian Tupy, policy analyst at Cato's Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, writes: "The political and economic situation in Zimbabwe is spiraling out of control, but the government of the Zimbabwe African National Union -- Patriotic Front seems determined to hold onto power no matter what the cost. The time is ripe to impose an arms embargo on President Mugabe's murderous regime. In order for the embargo to work, however, more pressure will need to be applied on Southern African states in general and South Africa in particular.

'The presidential election was never likely to produce a resolution to the crisis in Zimbabwe. Mr. Mugabe, after all, made it clear that he will not leave power so long as he lives. As such, an increased international pressure on the Zimbabwean government has never been as needed or as likely to succeed as it is today."

Homeland Security Announces REAL ID Grants

"The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced today Fiscal Year 2008 REAL ID Demonstration Grant awards totaling nearly $80 million to assist states in improving the security of state-issued driver's licenses and identification documents," Government Technology reports. "The grants will fund state-specific projects like improving the physical security of licenses, upgrading facility security, and modernizing document imaging and storage. Funding will also be provided for the development and testing of a verification hub that will enable states to query federal and non-federal document-issuing authorities and verify applicant source documents." 

Jim Harper, Cato's director of information policy studies, comments: "The Department of Homeland Security is throwing good money after bad. Congress should immediately rescind this spending and repeal the national ID law. In May, the deadline for state compliance with the REAL ID Act passed without a single state meeting the national ID law's requirements. Now we see that the DHS's grant-making process is in collapse, and it can't even buy state participation. Many states have barred themselves by law from implementing REAL ID, and grant applications from other states were described by an insider as 'very poor.' A large chunk of the funds going to one state for a driver surveillance 'hub' amount to a no-bid, non-competitive contract. Though it would barely dent the enormous cost of implementing REAL ID, the $80 million being spent is $80 million wasted."

Obama Campaign Has Ethanol Connections

"Mr. Obama is running as a reformer who is seeking to reduce the influence of special interests," The New York Times reports. "But like any other politician, he has powerful constituencies that help shape his views. And when it comes to domestic ethanol, almost all of which is made from corn, he also has advisers and prominent supporters with close ties to the industry at a time when energy policy is a point of sharp contrast between the parties and their presidential candidates."

In "Wishful Thinking Is No Magical Energy Elixir," Cato senior fellows Jerry Taylor and Peter Van Doren write: "Ethanol will not lead to energy independence. If all the corn produced in America in 2005 were dedicated to ethanol production (and only 14.3 percent of it was), U.S. gasoline consumption would have dropped by only 12 percent. For corn ethanol to completely displace gasoline in this country, we would need to appropriate all U.S. cropland, turn it over to ethanol production, and then find 20 percent more land on top of that.

"The truth is that if ethanol has commercial merit, it doesn't need the subsidy. And if it doesn't, no amount of subsidy will bestow it."

Jacob Grier, editor, jgrier@cato.org