4/23/07 - Where Were You When...

There are a few events in the timeline of a nation that all men remember. I'm not talking about the marvels and milestones we reminisce with warm fuzzy nastalga like landing on the moon or the fall of East Germany. Im referring to the horrific events of a nation that stick in our collective and individual memories and create a sort of national post tramatic stress syndrome.

Where were you when... Those simple words evoke images of plane crashes, bombs, untimely death, natural disasters, and the other unforeseen calamities that rocked our world.

Where were you when...

the towers fell? 9/11/2001

Kennedy was shot? 11/22/1963

Princess Diana died? 8/31/97

space shuttles Columbia (2/1/2003) and Challenger (1/28/1986) exploded?

OJ Simson took that long slow drive in his Ford Bronco? 6/17/1994

Pearl Harbour was bombed? 12/7/1941

Now we ask each other: Where were you on 4/16/2007 when Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 at Virginia Tech?

Somehow these memories fail to tear us apart. Instead they inspire and unite us. We are Americans. We share the same history, the same memories, and ultimately, the same fate. So when the next disaster strikes 300 million voices will crying out together, and for that one moment we will be one. Perhaps that is why we remember so vividly.

It matters not at all where we each were. Yet this is the thing we each want to know, and what we remember most ourselves. I was in Iowa at a bus stop watching a TV, a movie with incredible special effects of buildings falling. Where were you?

4/16/07 - Imus in Morning

Imus has been destroyed by the media hyped response to his racial and sexist remarks. This is a very curious response that is hard to explain. The easy answer is that he deserves it, he dug his own grave, he had been bashing minorities, terrorists, women, and anyone else that put a burr under his saddle and finally it caught up to him. But there is a stink to this that has me digging deeper.

My conservative spidy senses are tingling. To my knowledge Imus is generally liberal. Libs don't throw their own under the bus unless the they have a *@#% good reason. So why would they, unless....

Believe it or not, Democrats sometimes make racist comments. Democrat representantive Steny Hoyer has made racial slurs about a black republican. Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd, and former klansman, has used the 'N' word. Somehow they keep getting elected and I have not heard any call for their impeachment.

Allow me to share a conspiracy theory. It's possible, just slightly possible, that democrats intend to use this as a war cry to regulate conservative radio. Democrats are pushing for what they call the Fairness Doctrine to force radio stations that present radical viewpoints to provide equal time to opposing views. You can also find info about the Fairness Doctrine at Wikipedia. Are dems sacrificing one of their own just to begin the attack on conservative radio news?

Some conservatives (like Rush Limbaugh) see a possible Clinton connection. Hillary Clinton responded to the Imus fiasco. Is this retaliation for his calling her "satan"? Could the Clintons have orchestrated the whole thing? If they did then maybe he was right.

4/14/07 - Illegal Immigrant Tarriff

Illegal immigration has become the hot potato subject of the year. Politicians dodge the issue. Reporters wax philosophical on the plight of these poor individuals. And a few conservatives propose purchasing the great wall of China and stringing it on or southern border. On this issue I think everyone is nutts.

First let me state the obvious that I think most Americans know in their guts. Bush is right: these are hard working and generally honest people who deserve our respect and compassion. But he is wrong to propose any type of amnesty. We can't lock them all up and we can't ship them all back either. It's a real pickle.

But I have a solution. I call it Immigrant Terriffs. When a product is imported from a country determined to have an unfair advantage over our local production the government often levies a tarriff to level the playing field. We need to do this with immigration. Illegal immigrants accept a lower wage for work Americans hesitate to do. This benefits consumers by decreasing the cost of goods but harms workers who find their wages cut because of this influx of willing workers. Since most consumers are also workers we find that the only benifit is to business owners, the retired, and individuals in fields in which illegal immigrants do not compete. The most effected fields are the construction trades and farming where illegal workers are accepted as a necessary evil. An Immigrant Tarriff would force the illegal immigrants wages up along with those in the entire trade, essentially raising the wages of legal employees and making them more appealing to employers.

First the government should guarantee that all immigrants who voluntarily register with INS will not be deported. They will receive some form of temporary residancy card which permits them to live and work in the U.S. for a limited time. They will have to pay a fee, preferably by payroll deduction and report to the INS regularly. They must also submit to fingerprinting and DNA testing. And of course they would have to file tax returns and pay social security just like the rest of us. Anyone who does not comply will be deported.

The Immigrant Tarriff must be substantial enough to compensate for the financial burdens illegal immigrants force on the U.S. including such costs as hospitalization, school tuition, and imprisonment. There should be system protections against fraud such as immigrants claiming unemployment to exempt themselves from payment. If each of the over 20 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. were charged $50/month the government would earn an extra 12 billion annually! That ought to wet the whistles of even the most philanthropic bleeding heart liberal congressman.

Care to check the numbers? Illegal Immigration Counter

4/13/07 - Presidential Taxes

President and Mrs. Bush filed their taxes. They paid $186,378 for an earning of $765,801. They donated $78,100 to churches and charitable organizations, including the volunteer fire department in Crawford, Texas, where they own a ranch. No scandal. No undue profits. No partial return. Libs are bummed.

I got curious about presidential taxes so I Googled presidential taxes and found tax returns for many of the past presidents and other politicians available at Presidential Tax History.

Conspicuously absent from the list is former Vice-President Al Gore. Perhaps he does not choose to disclose his taxes (no crime there) due to the past reports on his lack of charity and earnings from dubious enterprises like mining his farm near Carthage, Tenn. This is certainly not a crime or even a scandal. Most politicians are hypocrits to one degree or another. Gore has been accused of hypocracy so often it no longer even makes a good punchline.

Tax scandals are hardly exclusing to the left. I find it remarkable that Vice President Cheney chooses to release his tax return this year. Some might remember that last year he found a loophole to apply general charitable giving to the Katrina Tax Benefits.

I am tired of tax scandals? In fact, I am tired of taxes. It's time for something new. A better tax system has been proposed (The Fair Tax). Under the fair tax system even illegal aliens would pay their share. Tax attorneys could no longer find loopholes for their wealthy clients. And best of all, we will all see what percent of our money the government was taking.

Ahh, therein lies the catch. Liberal Representatives (and many so-called conservatives too) will never support a system that discloses the tax burden. Liberal congressmen believe that society is incapable of self governance. It lacks the compassion and direction to find its way. Society must be led, provided for, and protected. These services are expensive. Most people would object to the financial burden if they knew how much it truely costs. Thus leaders oppose any system that threatens to enlighten the public.

Currently we have dozens of hidden taxes. We pay income tax, sales tax, property tax, fuel tax, sin tax, excise tax, Capital gains tax, Social Security tax, death tax, gift tax, usage taxes and fees, and tariffs. The Fair tax system would eliminate income tax. The lost revinue would be compinsated by raising sales tax. Taxes would be self regulated by the consumption difference between poor and rich. No more IRS audits. Fewer tax attorneys and accountants. Less burocratic waste.

Alas, it will never happen. Politicians and opposition groups will find some fault. They will run ad campaigns ridiculing fair taxes. They will say that somehow it robbs the poor and benifits the rich. They will deceive the masses and like mice after the pied piper we will willingly follow. Oh the sweet music of empty promises, political double-talk, and unconfrounted lies.

4/10/07 - Rant 1

I was born long enough ago to feel a clear patriotic pride in my US heritage. I still remember covering my heart and standing at attention before the flag to repeat those now so debated words. "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." I still feel that welling sense of pride when I hear those words.

I wonder how many people understand the true heritage of the Pledge? It is a historical curiosity that the creator of the Pledge, Francis Bellamy, was a socialist. The Pledge was actually a publicity stunt to sell flags to schools, but it stuck and was adopted by the U.S. Congress (with a few modifications) on December 28, 1945. The original Bellamy Salute, resembling a Nazi salute, was also changed to the right hand over the heart. Curious.

Do schools still say the pledge? Do you know? Do you care? Do students still feel that pride in America? Do you care? I am grieved by the apathy of the young today. Patriotic zeal has been replaced by political correctness and enlightenment. We are no longer Americans. We are merely citizens of the world. Can you argue that this is a gain and not a loss?

4/8/07 - Every Blog Starts Somewhere

No one today is conservative or liberal. We are all independant, centrist, bipartisan or some other vague term to hide our true affiliation or leanings. Conservatives and liberals are mocked and ridiculed by the opposite side as heartless, blind, ignorant, and self centered, and sometimes it is true.

I am highly conservative on issues of taxation, military, social services, and patriatism, yet I disagree with conservatives on some issues of justice, law, and personal freedoms. Does this make me an independant? I prefer to think that my views do not support labels. I am not conservative. I am not liberal. I am not centrist. Labels mean nothing. Only the truth matters.

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