Nov. 10, 2009 - The Death Penalty

John Allen Muhammad, the sniper who kept the Washington region paralyzed by fear for three weeks in 2002 as he and a young accomplice gunned down and killed 10 people at random, has been executed by lethal injection.

I don’t have a strong death penalty position as it relates to the argument that it is a deterrent. I do have a STRONG feeling in how it is delivered.

A more just punishment would have been to set Muhammad free. I would tell him that some time in the next 50 years he may or may not get taken out by a sniper. He may be pumping gas (like some of his victims), he may be shopping at the Home Depot (like some of his other victims), you just never know.

Death row inmates get too many appeals, too many courtesies, and live way too long after their punishment has been determined. We have death row inmates that claim that they are too fat to be injected. We have others that argue that lethal injection is inhumane. REALLY!!!!

Muhammad died a painless death and had time to make peace with it, UNLIKE HIS VICTIMS.

The only words the executioner should say when he is done is, NEXT!!!

November 5, 2008 - Election Epilogue

In advance of this election season, I read two books about Barack Obama.

The first book, authored by Obama, and was titled, “The Audacity of Hope.” A great title, but a thinly veiled policy tome. Almost a work of fiction

The second book, “Obama Nation,” was penned by Jerome Corsi. It became a source of talking points used by Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. It would have been easily dismissed except, Obama never held a press conference to address any of the allegations within the book. Many of the book’s facts were validated by the press, but were never fully investigated.

My epilogue of the election is as follows.

What we saw was a great “Campaign.” It had slick marketing, catchy tag lines (Yes We Can!!!), and pseudo Presidential seals. They eliminated anyone playing the race card by dealing it themselves.

The mainstream media endorsed the Obama run and that advantage could not be overcome.

Last night, people were trying to invoke a popular Martin Luther King, Jr. quote to explain Obama’s election.

It came from MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech from August 1963:

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

The REALISTIC issue is that Obama WAS elected because of the color of his skin and NOT by his character. How can you explain that 95% of African Americans supported Obama?

If 95% of the whites had voted for McCain, Obama would have lost. All of the McCain supporters would have been labeled Racists. The riots that would have resulted would have made the Rodney King outbursts look like a Birthday Party at Chucky Cheese.

The numbers validate the thesis that Obama was JUDGED by the color of his skin by at least one voting faction.

I believe Obama did not win because of his ideas but because:

- He had a better campaign organization

- He was able to register MANY people that have never voted before. Even Oprah endorsed their active recruitment of crack heads. (see video)

- He was able to exploit early voting laws and possibly introduce voter fraud in order to further his candidacy.

- He successfully (but incorrectly) linked John McCain to George W. Bush. I’ll blog about the misrepresentation of Bush’s record in a separate blog.

In retrospect, it is amazing how close McCain made the race given the playing field.

I'm only highlighting the irony with the parallels being drawn between MLK and Obama. I'm not a RACIST but a REALIST.

Sometimes the “EMPEROR HAS NO CLOTHES.”

January 28, 2008 - PPM - Tax Rebates

This week’s PET PEEVE MONDAY was a no-brainer. Marketed by politicians as a “tax rebate” it is only class warfare and the redistribution of wealth. Whenever you take money from one class of people and give it to others, IT IS NOT A REBATE.

First, it is not a tax rebate, because Congress is proposing that $300 will go to those who earned at least $3,000 last year but did not make enough to pay income taxes. By definition, to receive a rebate, you need to have originally paid. This portion of the proposal is GOVERNMENT WELFARE.

Those who earn up to $75,000 as an individual or $150,000 as a couple will get $600 each.

Those who make over $150K, or the top 5% of all income earners, pay 60% of all the federal taxes. It’s ironic that this demographic will NOT be receiving rebate checks. They don’t even get a thank you.

This is nothing more than an election year stratagem. It is the redistribution of money from one class to another. Politicians are pandering to the poor and middle class by trying to buy their votes. Using political stunts to stabilize the economy is a mistake. The Federal Reserve's 75 basis point cut in the fed funds this past week will prove far more effective.

In my opinion, NO TAX REBATES ARE WARRANTED. The economy and stock market are in need of a correction. Ask any economist about the negligible effect of this $150 Billion cash grab on our $12 Trillion GDP. I fail to see how borrowing another $150B (with interest) from China so Joe Consumer can buy a flat screen TV from China will offset a recession.

Greed and incompetence caused the sub prime mess and real estate crisis. This spurred the onset of this recession. People bought multiple spec homes hoping to make a quick buck. Others bought houses they couldn’t afford at artificially low interest rates. Yet they want their government to bail them out. This pattern of continually rewarding aberrant behavior is wrong. What ever happened to personal responsibility?

I find it discouraging that I took out student loans, paid them off in full and on time, got a job, PAID TAXES, and now am told that I’ve been too responsible and too successful. NO SOUP (or rebate) FOR YOU!!!

There has never been a more opportune time for a flat percentage income tax or even a national sales (consumption) tax. Let’s implement some real reforms – starting with the oppressive and egregious tax code.