NFL Officiating: An Editorial

The National Football League has made its bed.  And apparently more are lying in it than ever.

Despite the constant furor and debate over bad calls, long periods of inactivity, and basic misunderstanding of the game of football, much less the professional version, the replacement refereed games have resulted in an 8 percent rise in viewership over last season. 

Conclusion:  some people enjoy watching self-inflicted meltdowns and disasters.

The basic issue, according to the NFL, lies in the referees' union demanding pensions. 

A Bloomberg Businessweek writer argued that this made the NFL dispute much like the Chicago teacher strike.  This is a terrible analogy.  One group is employed by a heavily indebted, bloated carcass of a government run institution.  Its product is already bad and has zero credibility.  Frankly, a lot of people can meet the standards of hiring and retention of Chicago schools.  The National Football League earns tens of billions in revenue, which all estimates see rising.  Only 120 officials work for the league.  They must maintain the most rigorous standards of professionalism.  NFL officials also must have superior mental and physical attributes to even obtain a position.  Argue all you want about the relative value of teachers and professional football officials.  Only a handful of people can officiate an NFL game well.  And those that do play a huge role in making the organization profitable.

NFL officials have argued that most of its employees have no pensions.  The best answer is, so what?  A lot of people can answer the phones, sweep the hallways, make coffee, perform maintenance.  Very few people are qualified to coach, play, or officiate games.  Therefore, they deserve more consideration than the office secretarial pool.  Every business fears the obligation of pensions handed out willy-nilly.  Such a burden sank U.S. Steel.  But the NFL has no obligation to pension everyone.  Just the people who make the game run smoothly.

Beyond that, the NFL could even do as some states have and offer to give all new hires 401ks and preserve the pensions for current officials. Toss in a good raise for all of them. This would seem to be a sound compromise.

Otherwise, continue watching the game attract people who want to watch bumbling and buffoonery, instead of its peculiar kind of violent ballet.

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Maryland Pro Gambling Groups Take Shots At West Virginia

Perhaps it is fitting that the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Antietam has arrived.  An advertising border war has erupted between Maryland and West Virginia.  While one major casino company seeks to protect its stake in its operation in Charles Town, another has turned to bashing West Virginia to garner Maryland support.

The question:  whether or not Maryland should amend its law to allow MGM to build a casino at National Harbor just east of Washington DC on the Potomac River. 

The effort has pitted MGM resorts against Penn National Gaming.  Penn could benefit from the proposed law's expansion of gaming because it operates a casino in Perryville, Maryland between Baltimore and Philadelphia.  It also, however, operates the massive flagship gaming center Hollywood Casino at Charles Town.  Both sides have invested a combined $20.5 million

“We’re prepared to spend what is necessary to make sure the truth about Question 7 is not drowned out by a barrage of misleading ads put up by a company protecting its West Virginia casino,” said Gordon Absher, a spokesman for MGM.

The "Vote No on 7" website emphasizes that MGM Resorts would receive tax breaks while Marylanders have seen the state raise taxes and fees.

 In 2010, nearly $900 million was spent at West Virginia casinos. Almost a third went to the state in taxes. Maryland saw almost $30 million spent.  Understandably, they would like to cut into the Mountain State's gambling largesse.

At stake is the Montgomery County, Maryland market.  This provides the bulk of Charles Town's business. MGM wagers that it would naturally turn to an in-state casino.  Even if the measure passes, it is still much easier for residents there to travel over exurban expressways to West Virginia, rather than fight D.C. sprawl to get to National Harbor.

Some have argued that the proposed National Harbor casino will struggle to compete in other ways.  While West Virginia allows operators to keep nearly 46 percent of revenues, Maryland only allows 33.  This would put MGM at an immediate disadvantage, on top of having to deal with Maryland's stricter regulations and higher taxes.  To counter this problem, it would have to sell National Harbor as a premier convention destination, despite the problem of not being connected to the area's Metrorail.  

Another issue is the subtle undercurrent of negativity aimed at the Mountain State.  The D.C. market has seen several ads run during NFL Sunday broadcasts trying to stir Marylanders' anger against West Virginia.  They argue that Maryland gamblers going to Penn National casinos pay for West Virginia police and schools.  Some even wrongly insinuate that the Wyomissing PA  company is somehow based in West Virginia.

Marylanders will go to the polls in November to vote on a variety of issues besides electing candidates.  They also will vote on gay marriage, the drawing of a congressional district, and gambling expansion.  All of these will bring social conservative voters out, while the leads enjoyed by Democrats in the state, including Obama, will likely dampen liberal turnout.

Although the outcome remains in doubt, it is certain that MGM's house money will continue to bet that bashing West Virginia will help support its efforts.


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Department of Homeland Security Continues to Face Problems With Anti-Terrorism Measures For the Chemical Industry

The chemical industry currently employs 22, 500  in Kanawha and Putnam Counties alone and has a total economic impact of over $5 billion dollars.  Regional planners, according to Vision 2030, seek to add more small to mid level chemical related firms in the region.  Clearly the industry is in the Charleston area to stay.

But so is terrorism.  According to the Heritage Foundation, of the 51 known attempts by Islamic based terrorists, three have involved chemical facilities, or an attempt to seize hazardous materials. 

This week, Congress will examine the Department of Homeland Security's Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program.  CFATS stems from post 9/11 concerns about the security of chemical facilities, but took nearly six years to enact.  It did address somewhat the serious problem of prevention and, if the worst happened, containment of an attack on a chemical plant.

Critics argue that the standards in place are costly, confusing, and fail to take into account local conditions.  A federal "one size fits all" solution has created too many problems, mainly because the government refuses to give businesses the information that they would need to comply with the standards.

The foundation of CFATS is a system that rates plants based upon their potential risk.  The Heritage Foundation reported in August that not only will the DHS not tell a firm why its facility is placed in a certain tier, they also discovered that the rating process was flawed.

Additionally, every firm must provide a safety plan to the DHS.  In five years, just a single plan has been approved.  The Department has failed to hire and train inspectors equal to the task, therefore, it cannot intelligently evaluate these plans.

Department witnesses on a congressional hearing on September 11th (scheduled by coincidence) fired back at critics, stating that 2,700 facilities have eliminated, reduced, or modified stockpiles of dangerous materials.  Representative John Shimkus, Republican Chair of the Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy, recognized the value of the CFATS statute. But he also said "I do not support waste, fraud, and abuse -- and it seemed we had a bipartisan consensus on this point at the last CFATS hearing . . .For all the support Congress has given over the years, CFATS should have more to show than repelling ropes, hazmat suits, and delayed implementation."

CFATS is one of the priority issues Congress wants to solve prior to the election.  It is up for renewal on October 4.  Few would oppose its renewal, but many are advocating for revising implementation.

Some push for a stronger role for the EPA.  Greenpeace submitted a petition with over 60,000 signatures requesting that the agency be empowered to act.  Blogger John Deans wrote "the Obama Administration has consistently testified in favor of strong policies on chemical disaster prevention. Now it’s time for them to stand up to Big Chem’s lobbyists and implement the authority they have to prevent chemical disasters as Congress intended."  Greenpeace believes that the federal government is best suited to protect local communities from the effects of terror attacks.

Others propose a wider ranging solution, believing that if one federal agency has not done the job, then two agencies with legal authority would only be worse.  Heritage Foundation researcher Jessica Zuckerman notes that

 The security of the high-risk chemical facilities is a collaborative endeavor. Facilities that possess chemicals capable of causing catastrophic disasters might benefit from a degree of federal oversight, while private-sector facilities themselves have a vested interest in providing security for their facilities. State and local governments also have a vested interest, as any disaster or catastrophe would occur directly in their jurisdiction. The three must work together to enhance U.S. chemical security.

The collaborative approach promotes partnership between the federal government and the parties with the most vested interest, local government and the chemical industry itself.

In any event, only a few weeks remain until either an improved law is passed, or CFATS disappears.

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