Lucid Links:

Sweat — “‘Conservative’ O’Brien seeks upset in secretary of state race.” It’s odd that the Dayton Daily News headline writer put “conservative” in quotes — as if there’s some doubt or something. There isn’t.

Feedback I’m getting from Northeast Ohio tells me that Upper Arlington Jon, who pretends to represent Kettering but doesn’t bother to actually live there, has reason to be concerned. Polls? Jon, whatever your polls are telling you, add at least 10% for O’Brien for fired-up turnout.

The contrast between these two candidates could not be more stark, and the implications could not be more obvious: A vote for Jon Husted is a vote for a continuation of unprincipled, crony-based, go-along-get-along ORPINO (Ohio Republican Party In Name Only) business as usual that is largely responsible for leading this state to the edge of the cliff. A voter for Sandy O’Brien is a vote for the sensible conservatism that can save it. Husted can empty his $2 million war chest over the airwaves during the next three weeks, but he can’t change that reality.

Update: The best indicator that the DDN and Bischoff would prefer Husted, besides the unusual gushing (“an ambitious, hard-worker”) is the fact that after all the huffing and puffing the DDN engaged in during the fall of 2008 about Husted’s non-presence at his alleged home in Kettering, Bischoff didn’t write a word about it. That is THE reason — besides the DDN’s clear preference, which is almost sufficient reason by itself — why absolutely nothing else Jon Husted says or does matters.

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They’ve only needed to do this for about 15 years, if not more – Per WaPo’s Federal Eye Blog, the Government Accountability Office says that “The U.S. Postal Service’s current business model “is not viable” and the mail agency should make deeper job and wage cuts, hire more part-time staff and consider outsourcing operations …”

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An Inconvenient Development — “UN process in danger unless world agrees on climate change; The United Nation process is in danger of collapsing unless countries are able to agree on the best way to stop global warming by the end of this year, the outgoing head of climate change negotiations has warned.” 190 nations are trying to figure out a way to enforce the worldwide scam known as “global warming.” Unless we’re about to enter the Dark Ages of critical thinking, collapse should be inevitable.

*********

Lightning Links:

• “Lefty Group Tries to ‘Infiltrate’ Tea Parties with Offensive Signs – Will MSM Take the Bait?” — If there was an organized effort by the right to do this to the left, it would make the evening network news. As it is, the establishment media won’t cover the “Crash the Party” folks, but will instead quietly whisper, “You go guys! And let us know when you have something.”
• AP Survey — “AP survey: Recovery to remain sluggish into 2011.” They’re starting to sound like Herbert Hoover.
• Related, at the Seattle Times, via the Tribune Washington bureau and The Washington Post — “Millions of unemployed may never recover” (HT Instapundit). Key stat: “Fully 44 percent of the nation’s 15 million unemployed have been out of work for more than six months.” I believe that the full stats would bear out the following: “Adult males, teens, and minorities among hardest hit.”
• Astroturfing for America, letters to the editor edition. Since the Organizing For America e-mail involved was from Joe Biden, I wonder how many recipients even opened it.

From Atlanta:

Kwame James had to wait nearly 10 years to be sworn in as a U.S. citizen, a long time compared with the time he spent helping subdue would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid on a trans-Atlantic flight.

James, now 32, wore a gray pinstriped suit and blue tie at Thursday’s ceremony in Atlanta, which ended years of immigration limbo that began after he helped thwart the terror attack aboard a Paris-to-Miami flight in December 2001.

The 6-foot-8 basketball player — who had played two years in high school in the U.S. and four years at Division I Evansville — was napping when a flight attendant roused him. Ten rows back, Reid was scuffling with passengers and the crew after he tried to ignite explosives hidden in his shoes.

James helped tie up Reid with belts and headset wires, and took turns holding Reid by his ponytail with another passenger until the plane could land in Boston.

Nearly 10 years later, James would rather talk about how happy he is to be a new citizen and his passion for music.

“I became a citizen of one of the best countries in the world and I am very happy,” he said. “All the things that people come here for, that’s what I’m here for, the opportunity. You can come from nothing and become something here, just through hard work.” …

Go here for the rest of the story.

Scott Rasmussen has just completed a poll whose results are not likely to get a lot of coverage from the Associated Press, the New York Times, or the Big 3 networks. Its core finding:

Sixty-six percent (66%) believe that America is overtaxed. Only 25% disagree.

Ramussen’s post contains many other choice nuggets (access to the full results requires a paid subscription).

Here are just a few of the more interesting items (not presented in the same order as in the original post):

When thinking about all the services provided by federal, state and local governments, 75% of voters nationwide say the average American should pay no more than 20% of their income in taxes.

However, the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that most voters (55%) believe the average American actually pays 30% or more of their income in taxes.

Lower income voters are more likely than others to believe the nation is overtaxed.

Eighty-one percent (81%) of Republicans believe the nation is overtaxed. So do 73% of voters not affiliated with either major party. Democrats are evenly divided on the question.

Among those who consider themselves part of the Tea Party movement, 96% believe the nation is overtaxed, and only one percent (1%) disagree.

Currently, only eight percent (8%) believe their taxes will be cut during the Obama presidency, while 46% expect a tax hike.

Not surprisingly, the tax issue provokes a wide gap between the Political Class and Mainstream Americans. Eighty-one percent (81%) of Mainstream American voters believe the nation is overtaxed, while 74% of those in the Political Class disagree.

The only “surprise” may be the result among low-income voters. But it may be, despite seemingly endless brainwashing to the contrary, that they understand that excessive taxation can hold back the economy and job growth. At a more basic level, lower-income individuals and families are more affected by visible taxes on specific goods and services such as cigarettes, gas, and sales taxes on product purchases in general.

As to Rasmussen’s finding on the Political Class, the problem is that the vast majority of establishment media members are either de facto members of the Political Class, or have sympathy for them — which is why the chances of the press doing much with Rasmussen’s polling results appear to be very low.

Cross-posted at NewsBusters.org.

Associated Press writer John Flesher is one bitter guy.

Flesher, along with whoever (possibly Flesher himself) came up with the headline for his Saturday report on Bart Stupak’s decision not to run for re-election in Michigan’s 1st Congressional District, tells readers that:

• Tea Partiers are poor winners.
• The residents of Stupak’s district are federal money-grubbers who can be fooled by candidates holding the right position on “hot-button issues.”
• Based on a poli sci prof’s contention, Stupak (pictured at top right with his wife in an AP photo) would “absolutely” have won as all the evidence he needed to “prove” the nine-term congressman’s re-electability.

Here are the opening paragraphs from the flailing Flesher:

If Flesher really thinks that Tea Partiers are gloating, he is dreadfully out of touch. The sentiment is more like, “One down, hundreds to go.”

As a later paragraph notes, Stupak did not stay on the right side of the abortion issue in his supposed health care “compromise.” What Flesher doesn’t flesh out is that a betrayal of this nature on what is clearly a “hot-button” issue with so many 1st District voters would properly be characterized as a game-changer, and effectively threw the race wide open.

As to the receptivity of 1st District residents to federal largesse, two thoughts:

1. It’s one thing to be open to it when the government isn’t hemorrhaging over $1 trillion per year as far as the eye can see; it’s quite another matter given the federal fiscal decay of the past 18 months or so.
2. Perhaps the only ones who ever liked the largesse were its direct recipients. It’s quite possible that 1st District voters either didn’t pay close enough attention, thought the amounts involved relatively minor, or were okay with it as long as Stupak remained pro-life (which effective on March 20, he ceased being).

As to Stupak’s supposedly certain re-electability, the Cook Political Report mostly agrees, but makes two observations (bolded) that arguably throw that supposed certainty totally out the window (link goes to first three paragraphs currently at the site’s home page; additional access requires paid subscription):

Without Stupak on the ballot, however, expect a free-for-all. This geographically huge district is as politically mixed as they come. In fact, no district voted more narrowly for President Obama in 2008. Here, deep roots in the community matter more than party affiliation. When Stupak (who is from Menominee on the Upper Peninsula) first won this seat in 1992, 54 percent of 1st CD residents lived on the Upper Peninsula. Due to population loss and redistricting, 53 percent of residents now live south of the Mackinac Bridge. Prior to Stupak’s election, Republicans had held this seat since 1966.

Since Stupak’s name will be forever associated with Barack Obama’s, Nancy Pelosi’s, and Harry Reid’s statist health care leglislation, the fact that Obama barely carried the district became extremely relevant on March 20, and likely obliterated whatever value the “deep roots” factor might have had, at least in the upcoming election. Though the southward population shift Cook cited might negate it a bit, the fact that the district had a Republican congressman for a quarter of a century before Stupak’s first general election victory in 1992 is more than a little useful to know. Flesher’s omission of that point gives away his agenda.

Also missed by Flesher is the fact that many in the 1st District had already begun to turn on him as a result of a videotaped statement he made last year in Cheboygan (at roughly the 1:10 mark of the video):

Stupak: I don’t want to see abortion in there, and I’ve to get a chance to vote on that somewhere along in this process. But that doesn’t mean, and if I lose that vote, that doesn’t mean I vote against the whole bill then.

Questioner: It doesn’t.

Stupak: No. (part of the audience boos)

Stupak unequivocally repeated and restated his position later in the video. The crowd reaction was clearly negative. It would be hopelessly naive to consider this episode irrelevant. To ignore this incident in a report about Stupak’s district and his political standing a reelection bid is journalistically negligent.

What is absolutely true is that John Flesher and his supposedly quoteworthy pal David Carlson are pushing against a tide of truths pointing in the opposite direction.

Absolutely, schmabsolutely.

Cross-posted at NewsBusters.org.

That’s how it rolls in Flint, Michigan (HT Instapundit, who also linked to this backgrounder).

Maybe it’s a way to economize on the costs of mass bulldozing.

From the Chronicle of Philanthropy (HT to Jill at Writes Like She Talks via e-mail; this is as of about four weeks ago, so the numbers are probably a bit higher):

March 16, 2009

Nine weeks after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, donors have contributed nearly $980-million to support relief efforts.

Donors gave approximately $66-million of that total in response to a star-studded telethon that was broadcast on major television networks in January. Organizers awarded $35-million in grants on February 5.

Among the results:

• ActionAid has raised more than $419,000 as of March 2.
• Action Against Hunger has raised more than $2.8-million as of March 2.
• Adventist Development and Relief Agency had raised $5.8-million as of March 16.
• The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee had raised more than $6.1-million as of March 16.
• American Jewish World Service had raised more than $5-million as of March 2 for its Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund.
• American Red Cross had raised approximately $369-million as of March 16, including $6-million from the Hope for Haiti telethon. More than $32-million was pledged to the Red Cross via text message.
• AmeriCares had raised more than $12.5-million as of March 16.
• Brother’s Brother Foundation had raised $676,000 as of March 16.
• CARE USA had raised approximately $15.6-million as of March 16.
• Catholic Medical Mission Board had raised $1.3-million in cash as of February 3. The organization has also received donations of medicines and medical supplies worth $10.6-million.
• Catholic Relief Services had raised $106.7-million as of March 16.
• ChildFund International had raised $450,767 as of February 16.
• The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund had raised more than $37-million as of March 16.
• The William J. Clinton Foundation had received more than $14.5-million as of March 16.
• Concern Worldwide US had raised $2.8-million as of March 16.
• Cross International had raised $4.6-million as of March 16.
• Direct Relief International had raised $4.8-million in cash as of February 12.
• The Doctors Without Borders U.S. operations had raised $50.2-million for work in Haiti as of February 17. The organization had also received $16.2-million for its general Emergency Relief Fund.
• Feed the Children had raised $1-million as of March 2.
• Fonkoze USA had raised $1.7-million as of March 2.
• Friends of the World Food Program had raised $10.3-million, including $6-million from the Hope for Haiti Now telethon, as of February 17.
• Habitat for Humanity had raised more than $2.6-million as of March 16.
• The Humane Society of the United States/Humane Society International had raised more than $1-million as of February 2.
• International Medical Corps had raised more than $5-million as of February 17.
• The International Rescue Committee had raised $5.8-million as of March 12.
• Internews Network, a nonprofit group that promotes journalism abroad, received $200,000 from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to help the news media in Haiti recover from the disaster and broadcast critical information about the relief efforts.
• Islamic Relief USA had raised more than $2.1-million as of March 2.
• The Lions Clubs International Foundation had raised $2.4-million as of March 16.
• Lutheran World Relief had raised more than $5.7-million as of March 2.
• Medical Teams International had raised $2.5-million as of February 3.
• Mennonite Central Committee had raised $4.5-million from donors in the United States as of March 12. The group had raised another $7.6-million in Canada.
• Mercy Corps had received $14-million as of March 10.
• Operation USA had raised $910,000 in cash as of February 12.
• Oxfam America had received $22.5-million as of March 16, $8-million of which came from the Hope for Haiti Now telethon. Internationally, Oxfam has raised more than $100-million, an amount the organization says will be sufficient to carry out its five-year recovery program.
• The Pan American Development Foundation had raised more than $1.61-million as of February 23.
• Partners in Health had received donations totaling $66-million as of March 16, including $8-million from the Hope for Haiti Now telethon.
• Plan USA had raised $1.3-million as of February 12. The group’s international affiliates had raised $29.3-million.
• Population Services International had raised more than $171,000 as of March 2.
• Project HOPE had raised $1.4-million in cash and pledges as of March 2.
• Relief International had raised more than $376,000 as of February 3.
• The Salvation Army had raised $14.8-million as of March 16.
• Save the Children USA had raised $21.3-million as of March 16. The organization’s international affiliates had raised an additional $35.1-million.
• The U.N. Foundation had raised more than $3.4-million as of February 12.
• The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee had raised more than $1.68-million as of March 12 for four grassroots charities in Haiti.
• The United Methodist Committee on Relief had raised $14.5-million as of March 11.
• The University of Miami had received $4.4-million as of March 2 for its relief efforts in Haiti. The university runs a community health program and other projects in Haiti, and more than 100 of its doctors, nurses, and other staff members have traveled to Haiti since the earthquake.
• The U.S. Fund for Unicef had received $56.5-million in cash and pledges as of March 16. That figure includes $6-million contributed as part of the Hope for Haiti Now telethon.
• World Vision’s U.S. operations had received $32.5-million as of March 9.
• Yele Haiti Foundation has received $9.1-million, which includes $1-million from the Hope for Haiti Now telethon.
• Food for the Poor and Operation Blessing declined to share information on their fund-raising results.

Mary Taylor, CPA, does (HT Right Ohio):

State Auditor Mary Taylor says an Ohio Budget Commission proposal unveiled this week by auditor candidate Dave Yost could create a conflict-of-interest problem for the office.

“We would be concerned that there might be an independence issue if the legislature were to approve legislation…that required the auditor of state to participate in any budgeting process, and then after the fact would be required to go in and audit,” Taylor said Friday during a taping of ONN’s Capitol Square, which will air Sunday at 10 a.m., noon, and 7 p.m.

Taylor said some of those concerns could be alleviated by the disclosure required by current auditing standards.

Yost this week proposed creating the commission, consisting of the auditor, state treasurer and attorney general, to complete revenue estimates to be used as the basis for the two-year budget. His Republican primary opponent, Seth Morgan, and Gov. Ted Strickland, each opposed the plan, citing concerns about damaging the independence and credibility of the office.

So does Seth Morgan, CPA (at April 7 blog entry):

Dave Yost’s proposed budget commission taints the credibility and independence of the Auditor of State’s office

Yost is proposing to create a State Budget Commission consisting of the Auditor, Treasurer and Attorney General for state fiscal planning and to increase accountability. However, there are deep concerns with Yost’s proposal that would call into the credibility and independence of the office of Auditor of State.

“This is a great example of the difference between having a CPA as Auditor of State and someone who served as auditor of county. A CPA like the Ohio Auditor both work to ensure independence and objectivity whenever issuing audit reports. A county auditor has no responsibility to issue such reports,” said Seth Morgan, CPA.

“To have the Auditor of State who is tasked with issuing an objective and independent financial audit report being involved with placing their credibility on the estimates of the revenue itself creates the appearance of a lack of independence in issuing that financial audit report. How does the Auditor of State first tell the citizens of Ohio what the revenues will be and then issue a report on the revenues themselves without being tainted by the fact that their credibility is already on the line?” said Morgan.

Mary Taylor and Seth Morgan could not be more correct.

Dave Yost and ORPINO (the Ohio Republican Party In Name Only) could not be more wrong.

Sorry, Dave. Sorry, Kevin DeWine. That’s the way it is.

Darn that Mary Taylor. She just keeps doing the right thing, from voting against Bob Taft’s tax increases to calling out the our current governor’s book-closing, financial-reporting sloth. Now she’s saying that an independent auditor should remain independent. Imagine that.

All of this would seem to indicate that:

• An ever more desperate ORPINO and Yost, its unfortunate lackey, have both realized that their game of musical-chair cronyism is backfiring.
• As Matt at Right Ohio noted, “… there is clearly a distinct Kevin DeWine/Jon Husted camp, which Kasich/Taylor are not in. And a serious Republican Chairman probably wouldn’t allow this to happen a few weeks out from a primary when it hurts the Ohio GOP’s endorsed candidate. This is about as open as Mary Taylor and John Kasich can be with quietly endorsing Seth Morgan for Auditor. WOW.”

“Wow” indeed.

Following a Morgan primary victory, Kasich’s, Taylor’s, and Morgan’s first order of business should be insisting that ORPINO find a serious Chairman … immediately.

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UPDATE: WoMD has also been on the case.

…. for Poland.

The establishment press has for decades and almost without exception insisted that FDR’s sacrosanct legacy of Social Security can go on and on with only minor tweaks, and that if trouble looms, it’s way out there in 2040 or so when the “Trust Fund” is depleted. The problem is that during that time the federal government has raided the annual surpluses generated by “Trust Fund” which now consists almost entirely of IOUs from the rest of the government. Meanwhile, annual surpluses, where tax collections exceed benefits paid and which were well over $100 billion just a couple of years ago, have vanished, and aren’t coming back to any significant degree.

Another mythology is under development: That the just-passed ObamaCare legislation has “saved” Medicare. The Social Security/Medicare Trustees report is being delayed until June 30 to incorporate the effects of the recently passed ObamaCare on the health of Medicare. It will supposedly tell us that the life of the Medicare “Trust Fund” has been magically extended by about a decade. (Raise your hand if you think the Trustees are under immense political pressure to issue a favorable verdict regardless of the facts.)

In his Tuesday coverage of a government official’s leak to the Associated Press about the report’s delay in advance of the official administration announcement, the AP’s Martin Crutsinger spun these and other fairy tales in his stout defense for the fiscally destructive programs. But in doing so, he perhaps inadvertently revealed that Congress and the administration had no idea of the true future impact of ObamaCare.

Here are key paragraphs from Crutsinger’s report (footnotes are mine, and are explained later):

AP Source: Report on Social Security delayed

The Obama administration is delaying release of the annual report on the financial health of Social Security and Medicare so that the new report can reflect the impact of the recently passed health care overhaul.

An administration official told The Associated Press that this year’s trustees report will be delayed until June 30, three months later than it usually comes out.

… In January, Richard Foster, the chief actuary for Medicare, estimated that the Senate bill which passed on Christmas eve would extend the life of the Medicare hospital trust fund by 10 years. The legislation that finally passed Congress was the Senate bill but with revisions approved to win House support.

… The new health care law seeks to guarantee health insurance coverage for nearly all Americans while cracking down on insurance industry abuses. (1) It also promises to reduce federal deficits by an estimated $143 billion over a decade. (2)

… Last year’s report of the trustees for Social Security and Medicare, the government’s two biggest benefit programs, said that the Social Security trust fund would be depleted by 2041 and the Medicare trust fund would be depleted by 2019. (3)

The trustees warned that the financial pressures would begin much sooner when the programs begin paying out more in benefits each year than they collect in taxes. Officials with the Congressional Budget Office say that Social Security will start paying more in benefits than it collects in payroll taxes this year for the first time since the 1980s.

Supporters of the new health care overhaul believe it will have a favorable impact on both Medicare and Social Security, extending the life of both trust funds. (4)

The benefits would occur in large part through lowering health costs by expanding the pool of people buying insurance coverage. (5)

Comments:

(1) — One of the supposed “insurance industry abuses” is denial of medical claims. The trouble is that the health care provider with the highest percentage of claims denied is …. Medicare. What reason is there to expect that ObamaCare will be any different?

(2) — The deficit reduction claims, treated as “certified” by a compliant establishment media, assume no “doc fix.” The CBO’s blog post about its deficit-reduction conclusions says: “the sustainable growth rate mechanism governing Medicare’s payments to physicians has frequently been modified to avoid reductions in those payments, and legislation to do so again is currently under consideration by the Congress.” Here’s a plain-language numerical translation obtained from the Pacific Institute by Jeffrey H. Anderson in an Investors Business Daily op-ed piece:

Unless ObamaCare cuts doctors’ pay under Medicare by 21%, and never raises it back up, it will increase deficit spending by $58 billion from 2010 to 2019 — and by over $100 billion from 2015 to 2019 alone.

(3) — As noted, Social Security’s “Trust Fund” consists almost entirely of government “bonds,” i.e., IOUs from the rest of the government. The rest of the government is running annual trillion-dollar deficits on its own, and its ability to pay when those bonds are being redeemed — something that is just beginning to occur — is suspect.

(4) — Supporters “believe” the reports will show favorable impacts? These people just enacted a de facto a slow-motion government takeover of one-seventh of the economy, yet they don’t know, and apparently have no idea? The truth is, they don’t care. As John Dingell said, it’s all about how to “control the people.”

Even if ObamaCare were to have a favorable impact on Medicare (doubtful, as shown in item (2)), why Social Security might be better off is a bit of a mystery. Then again, maybe the curve that is being bent downward is the decades-long increase in life expectancy. This would be accomplished by incorporating criteria for who does and doesn’t deserve medical treatment developed by “Zeke the Bleak” Emanuel.

(5) — ObamaCare will supposedly repeal the law of supply and demand. Too bad that law originates in human nature and how the world really works, and not in Congress, where the mistaken belief is apparently that increased demand reduces prices. The number of covered patients seeking care will increase by at least 10% (far more if illegal immigrants are allowed in). Even if the supply of medical providers stays the same — a dubious proposition — either prices will go up, or rationing will occur.

That’s a lot of fantasy to put into one AP report. Expect much more in future weeks and months.

Cross-posted at NewsBusters.org on April 11.

From Washington:

Apr 9, 2010 / 06:10 am

A collection initiated in January by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to help victims of the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti has raised nearly $59 million dollars to date.

Since Cardinal Francis George and Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York made an appeal for donations the day after the natural disaster, the USCCB has collected $58.7 million in aid from American Catholics.

“I cannot even begin to say how thankful we are to all the people who have so selflessly given to help the people in Haiti,” said Archbishop Dolan, who is chairman of Catholic Relief Services (CRS). “It is an amazing example of love and faith in action.”

“CRS, with over 300 staff on the ground in Haiti, started helping people immediately,”Archbishop Dolan related. “They have been providing food, temporary shelter, hygiene kits, water and sanitation services around the clock for tens of thousands at parishes, makeshift camps, and other sites throughout the Port-au-Prince. In the long run, CRS will be there with the Haitian people to help them rebuild.”

CRS has also received funds outside the special appeal collection from corporations, schools and individuals and foundations. “Together with a portion of the proceeds from the special collection, these additional funds will allow CRS to help save many lives and bring back hope,” the New York archbishop added. …

Go here for the rest of the story.

…. while the Politico fantasizes:

Rep. Bart Stupak to retire, putting seat in play

Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), who had a central role in the health reform fight as the leader of anti-abortion Democrats, plans to announce Friday that he will not run for reelection, a Democratic official said. Without Stupak on the ballot, the seat becomes an immediate pickup opportunity for Republicans.

Who are they kidding? Thanks to Betraying Bart, it was already “an immediate pickup opportunity for Republicans.”

Gosh, I thought the bogus Obama Executive Order was going to protect him? What a fool. What a tool.

Stupak — and any other Democrat who claims to be pro-life — didn’t, probably doesn’t, and maybe never will understand that anyone who is seen as pro-life by the far left is considered mere roadkill on the way to their socialist utopia, where a supposedly benevolent state decides who lives or dies based on criteria similar to those of Zeke the Bleak Emanuel.

Pro-life pretender Steve Driehaus, take note.

How to reward regular-season excellence in an expanded format.

_____________________

Note: This item went up at Pajamas Media and was teased here at BizzyBlog on Wednesday.

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Butler University’s storied run to the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I men’s basketball championship game makes a powerful argument for keeping March Madness as it is. But if the field is to be expanded, the performance of the Bulldogs and many of their feisty mid-major conference counterparts points the way to doing it right.

Although it’s not official, it is becoming more clear with each passing day that the NCAA intends to expand March Madness from its current 65-team field to 96. The issue has moved from if to when in a surprisingly short time.

Understandably, there is a great deal of opposition. Veteran sportswriter John Feinstein summed up the general sentiment succinctly Monday morning in the Washington Post, writing: “This NCAA Tournament is about as close to a perfect sporting event as happens in the jock pantheon.”

The motivation behind the expansion is clearly money, and there’s not necessarily anything wrong with that, depending of course on how it’s used. If extra money from an expanded tournament helps schools keep minor sports programs going, great. If it only contributes to the major-school head coach salary excesses we have seen recently, a problem USA Today cited last week as “creating a strain on school budgets,” that would be a problem.

The most important objection to growing the field in 2011 or shortly thereafter has really been relevant  since 1985, the year of March Madness’s last major expansion. Until then, it was usually the case, as it should be, that if your team didn’t win its conference’s regular-season championship or its post-season tournament, or have an exceptional won-lost record, it probably wasn’t going the Big Dance. Though it has given us lots of Cinderella stories, that 1985 expansion has also enabled a lot of mediocre teams to get in for one and only one reason: membership in a so-called major conference. Extending invitations to teams losing as many as 10, 12, or 14 games during the regular season has diminished the value of winning a conference championship, and on balance has not been fair to mid-major schools with better winning percentages.

ESPN Radio’s John Stashower raised the ante on this objection during his April 3-4 shows, worrying that “no will pay attention to college basketball until March.” If the expansion simply serves to add more mediocre major-conference teams to the mix, he will probably be right. I’ve heard predictions that the Big East might place as many as 13 teams in the tournament if the NCAA opts for more of the same in an expanded format. That’s ridiculous.

Here’s how to address the mediocrity problem, expand the field, and create what I believe will be a whole new level of interest and excitement:

1. All conference regular season champs get in, and get a first-game bye. It just so happens that there are 32 conferences, which works out beautifully.
2. All conference tournament winners get in. If the conference’s regular season champ also wins the conference tournament, or if the conference doesn’t play a post-season tournament, the regular season runner-up gets in (with tie-breakers established in advance so no one has to play an extra game, just as in the National Football League).
3. The remaining 32 teams get selected at large, and must play on the road, visiting the home court of one of the conference tournament champs or second-place finishers just named.
4. The winners of each of the 32 games in Step 3 must play their second game against a conference winner — on the conference winner’s home court.
5. Because of travel logistics, it would probably take all of the first week to complete Steps 3 and 4.
6. Week 2′s festivities would be held at four regional venues. Eight teams at each venue would play over a period of three days (Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday, or Wednesday-Friday-Sunday) to determine the Final Four participants.
7. The Final Four would be played as it has been.

The beauty of this approach is that conference regular-season champs would only have to win six games to become NCAA champion, as is the case now. Everyone else would forced to play seven games — deservedly so, because they didn’t win their conference. The home-court advantages in the early games are just rewards for achieving some form of success in conference play.

The 32 at-large teams would have a much tougher road to the Final Four, but they should. They’re not proven winners, regardless of their conference affiliation.

This format would be fair to all conferences. Butler, Northern Iowa, and several other mid-major teams this year, George Mason in its Final Four run a few years ago, and to a lesser extent many other mid-major teams in recent years have proven that there’s no good reason to disrespect any conference. Money isn’t a good reason, either. The approach I have outlined would in my opinion yield far higher TV ratings and spark an increase in casual fan interest that would be far greater than a more-of-the-same expansion plan. Also note that my approach actually adds four days of games (two each in the first and second weeks) instead of the two days currently under consideration.

Leaving 32 open slots is plenty for the so-called major conferences to get their mediocre teams into the field without excessive dilution (but don’t forget to include a few leftover mid-majors with very good regular-season records). By my count, 24 teams made the tournament this year without winning their conference championship or conference tournament, while three deserving mid-major conference or conference tournament winners were turned away. This means that only five more big-conference schools would have received invitations this year if my suggested 96-team approach had been in place.

It seems that I have a heavy-hitting ally for at least part of this approach. Mike Krzyzewski of the championship game-winning Duke Blue Devils has come out publicly in favor of a conference’s regular-season and tournament champions receiving automatic bids in an expanded format. Coach K, if you give ‘em home-court advantage in their first NCAA tournament game, I’m sold.