Tax Proposals

91 - 0

That was the score of a high school football game.  From Rivals:

ESTERO, Fla. - The Estero High football staff gathered in head coach Rich Dombroski's office late Friday, almost in stunned silence.

Earlier that night, Estero lost to Naples High by 13.

Not by 13 points. By 13 touchdowns. That's right: Naples 91, Estero 0.

All-purpose back Greg Pratt helped Naples pile on the points.

The rout fallout has been growing since the game ended.

"Hey," offered Estero defensive line coach Pat Hayes after the one-sided affair, "I didn't even know 91 was a multiple of seven."

With that, the coaches all got a much-needed laugh.

A half-hour away in Naples, Eagles coach Bill Kramer—the man on the winning end—could use one of those.

He looked at the scoreboard late in the game, saw 91-0, and said he felt sick to his stomach. Kramer's team ran only 31 plays and he kept most of his best players on the sideline—for the entire game in some cases. But still Kramer knew what was coming.

Soon after the game ended, his inbox began filling with angry e-mails, some from Estero parents wondering why so many points were necessary, some from Naples parents wondering why their kids didn't play more in an effort to pad their stats.

"There's only one way to describe it," Kramer said. "Just bizarre."

The schools aren't far off in size: Estero has about 1,400 high schoolers, Naples roughly 1,700.

But the pedigree of the football programs couldn't be more different.

Estero is rebuilding from the lowest level, with Dombroski in his first year at the school and having inherited a program that had simply crumbled. Naples is the reigning state Class 3A champion, and a contender to win the title again. Naples has players committed to Division I schools like Ohio State already and a roster filled with talent at every position. Estero has no college prospects and only about 25 healthy or so players remaining on its roster.

"Some of us, most of us, well, all of us were intimidated," said Tyler Eastridge, a free safety who may be exaggerating when he says he weighs a 150 pounds.

Naples led 70-0 at the half; only four of the 1,420 games reported by member schools to the Florida High School Athletic Association this season have seen teams score more than 70 points.

"It was David versus Goliath," Dombroski said, "and David didn't have a stone to throw."

The national record books are incomplete, but a score like 91-0 won't register a blip on the list of all-time defeats. It wasn't even the most lopsided score in the country this weekend—in Ohio, Beechcroft beat Centennial 96-0, taking knees on plays in the fourth quarter to avoid triple figures.

According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, five teams have scored more than 200 points in a game, with the record believed to be 256 by Haven (Ky.) High in 1927.

Dombroski isn't blaming Naples.

"Naples did absolutely nothing wrong," Dombroski said. "We just didn't do anything right."

Kramer has been in this spot before.

In 2001, the Golden Eagles scored 63 first-quarter points and beat Lely High — ironically, where Dombroski's girlfriend teaches today—85-0, and Kramer suddenly became the target of perceptions that he intentionally ran up the score.

But in that game, just as on Friday, Naples had some of its starters not play at all, and others just for one or two series.

	Carlos Hyde paves the way

"We've been through it before and you never want to go through it again," Kramer said. "There were people ready to burn my house."

It's an unsettling time again.

The Naples Daily News ran a poll asking if Kramer and his team "should be ashamed" over the result, and by Monday afternoon, the vote was nearly dead-even: 239 no, 225 yes.

Hearing that, even Dombroski shook his head. He e-mailed Kramer on Monday to reiterate that Naples did nothing wrong, but that's hardly the only opinion swirling around Naples these days.

"My daughter plays basketball and there's a local team that's really good and when they're about to score 100, there's no polls about that," Kramer said. "When the local lacrosse team wins 24-0, where's the outrage? Or when kids win 6-0, 6-0 in tennis? We score 10 touchdowns and everybody loses their minds.

"The real irony is we've got some of our parents upset that their kids didn't play or didn't play enough. And you just say, 'Wow."'

Dombroski knew when he took the Estero job that there would be days like Friday, but he said the 91-0 thumping might help him turn the program around.

"We won't forget this. I won't forget this," said Dombroski, whose freshman program is off to a 4-1-1 start this year, a sign that better days could be ahead for Estero. "We're not going to lay down. We're going to fight for 48 minutes, every time we're out there."

So on Monday afternoon, when school got out at 1:45, the Estero High football team headed to its locker room and prepared for practice. New scouting reports were waiting for them, and soon the team headed onto the field for practice, their blue jerseys whipping in the wind as they stretched.

"Our team might not be winning or might not be on top right now," said right guard Mike Perez. "But we all have to do the best we can do. We can't forget that."

And so, they were back to work, which they'll need. This week, Estero plays Cape Coral—a team that nearly beat Naples.

http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=862709

I'm Still Not Stimulated

I overheard a few analysts on CNN earlier today talking about Congress' plan to pass a 2nd economic stimulus bill (since the first one did its job so well). I've explained numerous times on here why such initiatives aren't helpful. Government can't create wealth; it can only transfer it from Peter to Paul.

Anyway, this Democratic commentator on CNN mentioned how we need another stimulus bill that will "rebuild our crumbling infrastructure" (Is it really crumbling? Diamond Causeway and Truman look just fine to me. Hm. Whatever.), constructing new bridges and dams that will "create thousands of new, good-paying jobs" during these tough times, just like during the New Deal.

This proposal got me thinking: if "job creation" is the ultimate goal here, why don't we pass a bill that calls for the construction of 10 (or 100?) new dams in the Potomac River around Washington D.C. And let's pay each worker that helps build these new dams an annual salary of...say...$300,000 per year. Seems well-paying enough. And...oh yeah, instead of allowing the workers to use productive, high-powered industrial equipment like bulldozers and cranes, let's say they can only use...spoons. That way lots of new jobs would be required, and we'd really be able to get this economy going!!

In addition to the dams, we could build hundreds of new bridges too. And parks. And monuments. And pyramids. This would eliminate joblessness and the economy would really get a good jolt! Times might be tough now but it's okay because Washington can save us all with full employment by creating millions and billions and gazillions of new jobs! Who's with me?

More Than 100 Reasons to Vote Against Barack Obama

Check out this Catholic priests' blog (sorry for the association to religion, Ryan) for 100 Reasons to Vote Against Barrack Obama.

McCain may be a poor choice, but he's better than the alternative.

Barak Obama and the American Flag

I just received the following in a forwarded email. Does anyone know if the below was truly said? I can never be sure with forwards.

If so, what a son of a bitch Obama is.

Perhaps there are SOME out there who are beginning to get 'the picture'. The following is a narrative taken from Sunday Morning's televised "Meet The Press'. and the author is employed by none other than the Washington Post!! Yeah......the Washington Post of New York and Los Angeles Times fame!! Must say that I'm dually impressed.................. From Sunday's Televised "Meet the Press" Senator Obama was asked about his stance on the American Flag.

Obama Explains National Anthem Stance Sun, 07 Sept. 2008 11:48:04 EST, General Bill Ginn' USAF (ret.) asked Obama to explain why he doesn't follow protocol when the National Anthem is played.

The General also stated to the Senator that according to the United States Code,
Title 36, Chapter 10, Sec. 171... During rendition of the national anthem when the flag is displayed, all present except those in uniform are expected to stand at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart. At the very least, "Stand and Face It"

Senator Obama Live on Sunday states, "As I've said about the flag pin, I don't want to be perceived as taking sides, Obama said. 'There are a lot of people in the world to whom the American flag is a symbol of oppression. And the anthem itself conveys a war-like message. You know, the bombs bursting in air and all. It should be swapped for something less parochial and less bellicose. I like the song 'I'd Like To Teach the World To Sing.' If that were our anthem, then I might salute it."We should consider to reinvent our National Anthem as well as to redesign our Flag to better offer our enemies hope and love. It's my intention, if elected, to disarm America to the level of acceptance to our Middle East Brethren. If we as a Nation of warring people, should conduct ourselves as the nations of Islam, whereas peace prevails. Perhaps a state or period of mutual concord between our governments.

When I become President, I will seek a pact or agreement to end hostilities between those who have been at war or in a state of enmity, and a freedom from disquieting oppressive thoughts. We as a Nation have placed upon the nations of Islam an unfair injustice.

My wife disrespects the Flag for many personal reasons. Together she and I have attended several flag burning ceremonies in the past, many years ago. She has her views and I have mine". Of course now, I have found myself about to become the President of the United States and I have put aside my hatred. I will use my power to bring CHANGE to this Nation, and offer the people a new path of hope. My wife and I look forward to becoming our Country's First Family. Indeed, CHANGE is about to overwhelm the United States of America.

WHAAAAAAAT the Hell !!!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you heard it right. This could possibly be our next President.
I, for one, am speechless.

Dale Lindsborg,

Washington Post

UH....OHHH!!!

This is a 6 minute recap of a House Committee hearing on the housing crisis. I know it's long but it keeps getting better, and better, and better.

What you will find is that the Republicans on the committee almost universally question the liquidity of the assets of Fannie and Freddie, call for more regulation, and warn that American taxpayers will eventually have to pay for irresponsible lending.

Democrats, on the other hand, are "pissed off" that they would spend taxpayers' money to question the "outstanding leadership" of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which did not need to be fixed since they were "not broken".

Why were the Two-faceacrats so deep in the tank for the lending institutions?? Simple. A cornerstone of their neo-socialist policy is that every single American should own a home. In the interest of fairness, the Bush administration was a willing participant in this dangerous game. In defense of weak economic numbers, one of the first talking points out of the White House has been "...but minority home ownership is at record levels".

This crisis is a "result of greedy Wall Street fat cats"??? Maybe so, but ONLY with a wink and a nod from the hammer- and sickle-toting Left.

"Irresponsible lack of regulation on the part of Republicans"?

Get your popcorn ready.

The Quotable Connolly, War on Terror Edition

In wake of the worst attacks on our homeland, Americans wanted to feel reassured that our nation's best and brightest were there to protect us. And Chris Connolly was there to provide that reassurance to all 18-22 year-old females at Bird Dog one Saturday night in October of 2001:

"Hey baby. They sendin' my unit ova to Afghanistan this week on a top secret mission to find Bin Laden. This is my last nighta freedom. You look like you need a yayga-bomb."

Quote of the Week

Sir Charles Barkley is always there to give a great quote when necessary.

Quote of the week from Sir Charles Barkley:

"Poor People have been voting for Democrats
for the last 50 years... and they are still poor."

The Palin Problem.

The problem with Palin is not her doing, but rather the problem lies with McCain holding her back. If the problem is not corrected before November, expect higher taxes in 2009.

The Mishandling Of Sarah Palin
By Andrea Tantaros
Republican Political Commentator

To many political insiders it is apparent that the McCain campaign has mismanaged Sarah Palin.

The first female governor of Alaska broke onto the political scene a confident, competent contender. She was a take-no-prisoners, fearless female who cut through the bull to do what’s right, no matter which corrupt politician is in her way. The evolution over the past few weeks from what the world originally witnessed until now has been staggering and paints a picture of a woman who seems quite the contrary.

With each passing day Palin appears increasingly mishandled and marginalized, two crucial characterizations that are not her fault.


There is something about her disposition that signals she isn’t allowed to be who she really is, or who she wants to be. Any good press staffer knows that in order to maximize the mojo of your candidate you must accentuate their assets, not hide them. And anyone with a functioning brain knows that when you’ve got a good thing, you use it. Palin could be the only candidate on the ticket this fall that comes out of this financial crisis without mud on her face. She could be an effective surrogate for McCain calling for reform in Washington and Wall Street but instead they’ve chosen to stifle her voice.

I’d like to point out that this problem was observed over a month ago on my Web site, with a column that urged the McCain campaign to “let Palin be Palin,” long before any other outlet addressed the issue. Since then we’ve seen the campaign relegate her into a defensive bunker, and when she emerges, she seems unsure, and uncomfortable with the message she’s been fed. Some would argue the messenger is flawed. Or perhaps the message is broken, boring and regurgitated, three things that Sarah Palin is not. My money’s on the latter.

Palin was comfortable with the media until she met the McCainiacs, who have all but declared a jihad on the mainstream media. After McCain announced she was his pick for Vice President, his camp was inundated with requests from media outlets, as expected. These inquiries were rebuffed and ignored. The McCain camp has even ignored inquires from a prominent women’s magazine and its millions of curious and valuable readers.

Many of the former Bush aides that now surround Governor Palin suffer from extreme paranoia. They behold an obvious insecurity that manifests itself in stubbornness and incessant bullying. Most of all they approach tough situations from a position of weakness rather than strength. Rumors swirled that many of these same staffers were worried she would get asked about abortion thus they declined every interview offer. Sarah Palin, in my opinion, is someone who is so morally grounded in her positions she doesn’t shy away from tough questions. Something many Beltway buffoons should learn a lesson from.

Another lesson: Sarah Palin is a force to be reckoned with. She is the antithesis to the elitism that often plagues politics. She is someone who has common sense and a cause. She deserves to speak her mind and engage with the people she hopes to represent. And she deserves a team around her that will capitalize on her strengths, not try to run from them. Let her shine in the McCain camp, before it’s too late.

Bailout Blunders

I'm convinced after the developments of these past few weeks that on economic issues, George W. Bush could well end up being the most left-wing, unrepublican president we've had in our lifetimes. I was happy to see Republicans in the the house finally stand up to him, rejecting Monday's $700 billion bailout bill, but this was more theatrics than anything else: the Senate will easily pass the same bill tonight which the House will rubber stamp later on.

One thing I keep hearing on the networks, both from liberals and alleged "conservatives," is that taxpayers could somehow "make money" on this deal, so it's really a "buy-in" that we should all be excited about. Well here's a question for them: if these securities and assets are such a good buy and have so much potential, why are we forced into purchasing them? Why hasn't the private sector snatched them up already? And most importantly, from a philosophical standpoint, why does the federal government even have the authority to confiscate $700 billion in our incomes for this purpose in the first place?

If you get a few minutes today, please email Saxby and Isakson's offices and tell them to vote against this monstrosity. Trying to keep asset prices artificially inflated instead of allowing the market to do its job by liquidating them is what's kept Japan in a recession for the last 18 years. Failed government policies is what got us into this mess in the first place; we must allow the free market to lead us out of it.

Personal Income and Outlays Increased in August

The American economy is still strong and growing, albeit a slower pace.

Americans' personal income increased $61.5 billion in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $12,267.1 billion, according to figures released by the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis on September 29, 2008. Revised figures for July show a decrease of $69.0 billion. Personal outlays in August increased $4.0 billion, to $10,614.3 billion, after an increase of $14.4 billion in July. Personal consumption expenditures increased $3.9 billion in August, compared with a July increase of $14.2 billion. Personal saving was $103.6 billion in August, compared with $201.0 billion in July.

Why We're In The Mess We're In

This prophetic news article comes from the September 30, 1999 New York Times (hat tip: Coyote Blog):

In a move that could help increase home ownership rates among minorities and low-income consumers, the Fannie Mae Corporation is easing the credit requirements on loans that it will purchase from banks and other lenders.

The action, which will begin as a pilot program involving 24 banks in 15 markets will encourage those banks to extend home mortgages to individuals whose credit is generally not good enough to qualify for conventional loans. Fannie Mae officials say they hope to make it a nationwide program by next spring.

Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, has been under increasing pressure from the Clinton Administration to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income people and felt pressure from stock holders to maintain its phenomenal growth in profits.

In addition, banks, thrift institutions and mortgage companies have been pressing Fannie Mae to help them make more loans to so-called subprime borrowers. These borrowers whose incomes, credit ratings and savings are not good enough to qualify for conventional loans, can only get loans from finance companies that charge much higher interest rates -- anywhere from three to four percentage points higher than conventional loans.

''Fannie Mae has expanded home ownership for millions of families in the 1990s by reducing down payment requirements,'' said Franklin Raines, Fannie Mae's chairman and CEO. ''Yet there remain too many borrowers whose credit is just a notch below what our underwriting has required who have been relegated to paying significantly higher mortgage rates in the so-called subprime market.''

In moving, even tentatively, into this new area of lending, Fannie Mae is taking on significantly more risk, which may not pose any difficulties during flush economic times. But the government-subsidized corporation may run into trouble in an economic downturn, prompting a government rescue similar to that of the savings and loan industry in the 1980s.

"From the perspective of many people, including me, this is another thrift industry growing up around us,'' said Peter Wallison a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. ''If they fail, the government will have to step up and bail them out the way it stepped up and bailed out the thrift industry.''

Just one more example of the insidious effects of government intervention in the free market. And now we all have to pay for it, to the tune of $700 billion.

The Nonsense of Global Warming

Paul Johnson 09.11.08, 6:00 PM ET
Forbes Magazine dated October 06, 2008

August was one of the nastiest months I can remember: torrential rain; a hailstorm or two; cold, bitter winds; and mists. But we are accustomed to such weather in England. Lord Byron used to say that an English summer begins on July 31 and ends on Aug. 1. He called 1816 "the year without a summer." He spent it gazing across Lake Geneva, watching the storms, with 18-year-old Mary Shelley. The lightening flickering across the lake inspired her Frankenstein, the tale of the man-made monster galvanized into life by electricity.

This summer's atrocious weather tempted me to tease a Green whom I know. "Well, what about your weather theory now?" (One of the characteristics of Greens is that they know no history.) He replied: "Yes, this weather is unprecedented. England has never had such an August before. It's global warming, of course." That's the Greens' stock response to anything weather-related. Too much sun? "Global warming." Too little sun? "Global warming." Drought? "Global warming." Floods? "Global warming." Freezing cold? "Global warming."

I wish the great philosopher Sir Karl Popper were alive to denounce the unscientific nature of global warming. He was a student when Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity was first published and then successfully tested. Einstein said that for his theory to be valid it would have to pass three tests. "If," Einstein wrote to British scientist Sir Arthur Eddington, "it were proved that this effect does not exist in nature, then the whole theory would have to be abandoned."
To Popper, this was a true scientific approach. "What impressed me most," he wrote, "was Einstein's own clear statement that he would regard his theory as untenable if it should fail in certain tests." In contrast, Popper pointed out, there were pseudo-scientists, such as Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud. Marx claimed to be constructing a theory of scientific materialism based on scientific history and economic science. "Science" and "scientific" were words Marx used constantly. Far from formulating his theory with a high degree of scientific content and encouraging empirical testing and refutation, Marx made it vague and general. When evidence turned up that appeared to refute his theory, the theory was modified to accommodate the new evidence. It's no wonder that when communist regimes applied Marxism it proved a costly failure.

Freud's theories were also nonspecific, and he, too, was willing to adjust them to take in new science. We now know that many of Freud's central ideas have no basis in biology. They were formulated before Mendel's Laws were widely known and accepted and before the chromosomal theory of inheritance, the recognition of inborn metabolic errors, the existence of hormones and the mechanism of nervous impulse were known. As the scientist Sir Peter Medawar put it, Freud's psychoanalysis is akin to mesmerism and phrenology; it contains isolated nuggets of truth, but the general theory as a whole is false.

The idea that human beings have changed and are changing the basic climate system of the Earth through their industrial activities and burning of fossil fuels--the essence of the Greens' theory of global warming--has about as much basis in science as Marxism and Freudianism. Global warming, like Marxism, is a political theory of actions, demanding compliance with its rules.

Those who buy in to global warming wish to drastically curb human economic and industrial activities, regardless of the consequences for people, especially the poor. If the theory's conclusions are accepted and agreed upon, the destructive results will be felt most severely in those states that adhere to the rule of law and will observe restrictions most faithfully. The global warming activists' target is the U.S. If America is driven to accept crippling restraints on its economy it will rapidly become unable to shoulder its burdens as the world's sole superpower and ultimate defender of human freedoms. We shall all suffer, however, as progress falters and then ceases and living standards decline.

Out of Balance

When I'm driving to my country home in Somerset, I pass two examples of the damage Greens can cause when their views are accepted and applied. Thanks to heavy government subsidies, many farmers switched from growing food to biofuel crops--perhaps the most expensive form of energy ever devised. The result has been a world shortage of food, with near starvation in some places, and a rise in the cost of food for everyone. We're now getting wise to this ridiculous experiment; shares in biofuels have fallen, and farmers are switching back to their proper work. But the cost has been enormous.

The other thing I pass is a new windmill, spinning slowly around. Windmills were the great invention of the early Middle Ages--man harnessing nature and using it to replace muscle power. When I was a boy more than 70 years ago there were still a few windmills, but nobody doubted they were on their way out. The thought of going back to wind power would have seemed preposterous. Nevertheless, under pressure from Greens this has happened. Wind power is a grotesquely expensive and inefficient form of energy, and the new windmills are hideous things, ruining the landscape and making an infernal noise.

Marxism, Freudianism, global warming. These are proof--of which history offers so many examples--that people can be suckers on a grand scale. To their fanatical followers they are a substitute for religion. Global warming, in particular, is a creed, a faith, a dogma that has little to do with science. If people are in need of religion, why don't they just turn to the genuine article?

Biden: Wealthy Americans Must Pay More Taxes To Show Patriotism

Joe Biden has informed us how our wealthier citizens can become more patriotic.

Presidential Candidates' Tax Policies in a Nutshell

I have copied and pasted the following summary from CCH Tax Research NetWork.

Whichever candidate is elected in November, there are likely to be big changes proposed to the tax code. The presidential candidates' proposed tax policies include changes to individual and business income taxes, the estate tax and Social Security. For individuals, Sen. Obama would provide expanded credits for families, savers, homebuyers and clean vehicles; Sen. McCain would double the personal exemption to $7,000 and extend and index the increased alternative minimum tax (AMT) exemption amounts.

On the business side, both Obama and McCain seem to support reducing the corporate tax rate; McCain proposes a corporate tax rate of 25 percent. However, the candidates differ on the estate tax with Obama favoring the status quo, a top rate of 45 percent and a $3.5 million exemption, while McCain proposes a top rate of 15 percent with a $5 million exemption. The candidates also differ greatly on the issue of Social Security: Obama favors the current structure, with an increase in the payroll tax to pay for it, and McCain favors personal accounts for younger workers.

Individual Income Taxes

Obama proposes a $1,000 tax credit for families with incomes between $8,000 and $75,000 ($500 for individuals). He would extend the current marginal rates for the lower tax brackets and proposes to eliminate the federal income tax on seniors with incomes below $50,000. He suggests a universal mortgage credit of 10 percent, up to $800, a $4,000 refundable education credit, and expanding the existing Savers Credit to more taxpayers and making it refundable. He also proposes an expanded earned income tax credit (EITC), an expanded Child and Dependent Care Credit by making it refundable, and an expanded tax credit for clean vehicles. To pay for these tax breaks, he proposes restoring the 36- and 39.6-percent tax brackets, raising the capital gains and dividend tax rate to 20 percent for families with incomes over $250,000 ($200,000 for individuals) and restoring the phase-out for itemized deductions and exemptions. He also supports simplified tax returns for many filers and would also extend and index the increase in AMT exemption amounts.

McCain wants to make the Bush tax cuts permanent, including the lower marginal rates and capital gains and dividend rates. He also proposes gradually doubling the personal exemption amount to $7,000. He would pay for these proposals by eliminating congressional earmarks and with unidentified cuts in government spending. He has proposed simplified tax returns for many filers. He would also extend and index the increased AMT exemption amounts and has proposed an election for a separate and simplified alternative tax system.

Business Income Taxes

Obama generally supports corporate tax reform and hints of corporate tax rate reductions for domestic business activity tied to repealing other business tax breaks and closing loopholes to pay for the rate reductions. He also proposes to eliminate capital gains taxes on small businesses. Loopholes Obama has identified include clarifying the economic substance doctrine, increasing capital gains reporting, eliminating special tax breaks for oil and gas companies while expanding the renewable production tax credit, taxing carried interests as ordinary income, and what is described as the CEO pay loophole. He would also reform international tax loopholes and crack down on international tax havens. Further, he proposes making the research and development credit permanent.

McCain has proposed reducing the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent, banning taxes on internet sales and cell phones, and permitting full first-year expensing for capital acquisitions. These tax breaks would be paid for with spending cuts or corporate loophole closers, identifying some of the tax breaks for oil and gas companies and repealing the domestic production activities deduction. McCain has also proposed expanding the research and development credit and making it permanent.

Estate Tax

Obama would preserve the estate tax as in effect in 2009: a 45-percent top tax rate and a $3.5 million exemption.

McCain wants to preserve the estate tax with a 15-percent top tax rate and a $5 million exemption.

Social Security

Obama would preserve the existing Social Security structure but help cover the growing deficit by imposing a payroll tax of four percent (two percent each from employer and employee) on incomes over $250,000.

McCain has proposed adopting personal accounts for younger employees, similar to proposals by the Bush administration.

Health Care

Obama proposes targeted health care tax credits including a health care credit for small business. He proposes a new health insurance exchange to provide health insurance, paid for by employers who do not provide employee health insurance.

McCain wants a refundable tax credit of up to $5,000 for families to be paid for by treating employer-provided health benefits as taxable compensation to the employee.

By Jeff Carlson and Stephen K. Cooper, CCH News Staff

Halfway There

Only six more months to go!

Meet tonight at Kevin Barry's for shenanigans.

Celebrities chime in on Palin

Some of the Hollywood elite have been expressing their views on the nomination of Sarah Palin by the GOP. You can find a lot of them here.
But I think Pamela Anderson's hard hitting critique should really pull in those borderline votes Obama's way: "I can't stand her. She can suck it."

How To Give a Real Convention Speech

Give 'Em Hell, Sarah

Best running mate pick in modern history. Not exaggerating. Is it too late to flip the ticket and put McCain at VP instead?

September Talking Points

- BC defeated what is probably the best 5A team in Savannah Thursday night. In other words, had the Cadets decided to play in 5A this year, they'd at least go 8-2, possibly 9-1. With that comes a guaranteed playoff spot, Saturday morning front page headlines, rekindled local rivalries, higher attendance with more games at Memorial Stadium, and a program and student/alumni body that feels a lot better overall about itself and can walk with swagger around town again.

- John McCain's pick of Sarah Palin for VP was a masterstroke of political genius. Ms. Palin not only appeals to moderate women voters, but also to me. She's pro-gun, pro-life, pro-drilling, fiscally conservative, and hot. She's also a sharp and fiesty debater, so it should be fun to watch Biden try to take her on. I've never been a McCain type of guy but I may be more likely to vote for him now just because of her.

- Georgia might be #1 but they are going to catch hell against pretty much every opponent after Central Michigan. Kentucky just got done devouring Louisville. Alabama skewered Clemson last night. And Florida put Hawaii to worse shame than the 'Dogs did back in January. Tech and Vandy may even be formidable.

- And finally, Hurricane Gustav will likely hit parts of New Orleans some time tomorrow. Everything is starting to look familiar but history should not repeat itself because Louisiana has a real governor this time around.

Post-Denver

I was luckily able to catch most of the major speeches from the DNC this week in Denver, Colorado. I must say I now feel far more educated, enlightened, and hope-filled in the wake of hearing some of the most narcissistic, self-aggrandizing greatest orators this country has ever had.

The first thing I quickly became aware of is that things are bad right now. Really bad. We've got single working moms with no health care whose minimum-wage jobs just got outsourced living under bridges next to veterans with blown-off arms who can't afford food for their uninsured kids who will never be able to afford to go to college. And all of these people were doing great until, of course, George W. Bush came into office. It wasn't until W entered the White House and decided to make all of these people poor that our national nightmare of the last 8 years began.

Now I've never met or seen any of these downtrodden folks, but this is probably because I live in The Landings. It's probably because I whiz past Butterbean Beach and Thunderbolt Bridge too fast to notice all of these hopeless souls living under there that have never had it so bad. But don't be thrown off: these people are out there. Somewhere. Trust me. And one thing's for sure: something needs to be done. Now more than ever, we need a man with a plan. As a young, educated white person, I feel guilty and I really, really want somebody to step up and fix things. Poverty, the environment, the economy. All of these things have gotten worse during the last 8 years, I guess, so it's clearly time for action and shared responsibility.

The next thing I realized is that Barack Obama, a first term senator from Illinois, is the man for such a job. He can and will single-handedly fix all of the country's ills if we would just allow him. Obama is a superb leader because he is both bold and humble. Bold because he is willing stand up to those miserly business owners and taxpayers and tell them it's time to step up and pay more than just a meager 40% of what you take home. Humble because he only needs to evangelize in front of 80,000 jubilant supporters to hear him refer to himself in the first-person plural, proclaiming that "We are the change we've been waiting for."

He also has a proven track record on leadership filled with real-world accomplishments, like being a United States Senator in 2005, being a United States Senator in 2006, and being a United States Senator in 2007. And finally, he's black. I mean c'mon, even if you're not Democrat, wouldn't it just be cool if we had a black president? Kind of like Tiger Woods!

In closing, I was in tears last night, much like the hundreds of thousands who turned out in Denver. I was gripped by sheer elation as I listened to one man's personal hopes, dreams, and ambitions for acquiring power. And now more than ever I am filled with hope that government can and will solve all of society's problems, even ones that may not exist in the first place.

It's time...

The long wait is finally over.

It Ain't Easy Bein' Green...

This jackass was busy smelling his farts when he wrecked his Prius.

BIG IDEA!!!

I'm too lazy to upload a picture to grab your attention, so I just used caps in my title.

We leave the Weather Channel on in the lobby at work and after hearing about our newest Tropical Storm, Gustav, I got a pretty good idea.

I know the National Weather Service is obviously a government organization, but there's money to be made when it comes to the naming of storms. Why not sell the naming rights? Obviously, the big brands wouldn't go near an advertising medium that has the ability to level cities and kill people, but gambling sites and other niche market startups could snap up some great exposure with a storm named after their company.

While Quaker Oats would suffer immensely from a Hurricane Cap'n Crunch fiasco, think of the potential customers that could be reached with endless weather coverage of Tropical Storm Xango or Hurricane GoldenPalace.com. If some entrepreneur could figure out a way to secure the naming rights from the National Weather Service, he'd make a mint.

... AND THAT'S MY BIG IDEA!!!

Who Dat Tryin' to Beat BC?

Today was the first day of school at BC, so I thought I would give the BMBS readers a preview of the 2008 football team.

Quarterbacks B-
JR Alex Hunt has the unenviable task of replacing one of the all-time great QBs to wear the maroon and white. Hunt is built just like the departed DeFilippis, however A.J. was slightly taller and a little more agile. Luckily, Hunt will not be relied on to make plays. With a stable of talented running backs, his job will be to simply manage the offense. Look for FR Michael Summers to see a good amount of playing time as well. Summers is an extremely talented athlete from Statesboro that many are tabbing as a future blue-chip college recruit. It will be interesting to see how Coach Herndon handles the QB battle between the experienced junior and the talented freshman.

Running Backs A+
The Cadets return the best backfield they have had since the late 90s. SR Caleb Collins runs like a greased pig. He is incredibly quick, shifty and his small stature allow him to hide behind the line. JR John Williams is the thunder to Collins' lightening. Williams has excellent vision and the ability to break tackles. Adding depth will be SR Cam White and SO Aric Brown. These two are talented enough to start on most teams in this area.

Offensive Line C+
The OL suffered the biggest hit to graduation as SR Joey Rutherford is the only returning starter. Rutherford was an All-Region performer in 2007. SR Alex Miles was the only other lineman to see action last season. SO Bradley Wilkerson would have been a regular last year, however he was relegated to the JV and Freshmen teams. Wilkerson is a giant and is a potential D1 recruit if he grows a few inches. JR Tommy Dodsworth has a very large frame and could have a breakout year if his work ethic improves. SO Luke Pashke will fill the last spot at tackle. Originally a linebacker, Pashke was the best candidate to fill the void at tackle. The Cadets have very little quality depth on the OL.

Tight Ends & Receivers B-
SR Joseph McCuen looked to be a potential All-Region TE in 2008, however a broken arm will sideline him for most of the season. JR Andrew Whelan has been forced into the starter's role and lacks the strength and pass-cathching ability McCuen had. JR Joey Friess returns as the slot man. I don't know who will play receiver this year. I am guessing RBs Cam White and Aric Brown might be split out and QB Michael Summers may also see some action. It doesn't really matter, though. Hunt is not much of a passing threat, so I doubt BC throws the ball more than five times a game.

Defensive Line A-
SR Clinton Joyce return for his third year as a starter and SR Timmy Smith returns as well. With Bill Brasky-esque stature, Smith surprised a lot of people last year and might draw some interest from some D1 schools. The Cadets will likely rotate a few people at the other DL spot. I expect JR Andrew Johnson to see a lot of playing time.

Defensive Ends C+
The Cadets lost two good DEs to graduation. JR Colin Oxnard and SO Kavie Rutherford will be the starters in 2008. Rutherford has the potential to be an All-Region performer by the time he graduates.

Linebackers A-
SR Stephen Danello is lone returning starter, however JR Taylor Robinson did see a good amount of playing time last year. This will be one of the best LB tandems in the region.

Defensive Backs B+
SR Dennis Green and JR Matt Shay have the potential to be All-Region performers. Green is a great cover man and Shay will knock you head off from his safety spot. JR Howie Pavlo was forced into a starting role last season due to injuries. Pavlo is small, but quick and tough; a lot like Kevin Sheahan. The remaining slot is up for grabs. SR Wynn More, JR Cody Davis, JR Will Summerlin, JR Kirk Long and JR Stephen Humphrey will all compete for playing time.

Special Teams B+
FR James Deal (yes, grandson of Coach Harry Deal '45) is the best kicker BC had had since Scott Shelton. If he continues to improve, he will draw D1 interest as a senior. QB Alex Hunt will likely handle the punting duties and will do a good job. RBs Caleb Collins and John Williams will be a dynamite set of return specialists. Kick coverage was a problem for the Cadets last year and is the only reason ST did not receive an A.

Handball: And You Though Soccer Was Retarded

While I fully accept that my love of the beautiful game of soccer is not shared with other members or readers of BMBS, I have to point out that things could be a lot worse.

Take, for instance, Handball. This game appears to have been developed by people with no athletic skill whatsoever. The few rules of the game are lazily enforced and dribbling is merely a suggestion. The object of the game is to move the ball down the court, using your hands, and throw the ball into the goal which is being guarded by a goalkeeper. Essentially, when you're in the attacking third, the best strategy is to throw the ball to a spot the keeper can't get to, like the bottom corners, top corners, or a girl's house.

This game is played all over the world by people who lack the coordination to play real sports and Wikipedia claims the sport has over a billion players worldwide. I tried getting onto more reputable league and governing body sites, but I can't read Turkish or Korean.

Teams usually score 50 to 70 goals in a game, so watching Handball is even less exciting than the NBA, if that's possible.

And this is an Olympic Sport.

Eat it, France

Unfortunately this is the best quality version available on YouTube at the moment. Still worth watching, though.

Phil Hartman Fridays

Culturally Appropirate Health-Care (by Don Boudreaux)

The Latest From Cafe Hayek

Posted: 06 Aug 2008 10:15 AM CDT,

Here's a letter that I sent today to the Washington Post:

La Clinica del Pueblo's Mauricio Silva boasts that his clinic supplies "culturally appropriate health care" (Letters, August 6). I love this idea! And I presume that in this age in which diversity is celebrated and all cultural preferences are equally respected and protected, I can receive my own culturally appropriate health care.

In my culture - call it individualist - I am not forced to pay for anyone's health care and no one is forced to pay for mine. I'm free to choose to buy health-care insurance as long as it isn't forcibly subsidized. And persons in my culture are mortally offended at the prospect of being forced to participate in any collective scheme of health-care financing or provision.

I call upon all persons who respect diverse cultures to stand up for mine, which today is endangered - to help me and my fellow individualists protect our culture from forcible assimilation with the dominant one that is arrogantly trying to strip us of our unique cultural folkways.

Sincerely,

Donald J. Boudreaux

Personal Income and Outlays Increased in June

From looking at the raw data, the U.S. economy has slowed... but is still strong. Don't let liberals tell you the economy is in ruins when in fact it is still growing.

Americans' personal income increased $6.8 billion in June, according to figures released by the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis on August 4, 2008. Revised figures for May show an increase of $219.3 billion. Personal outlays in June increased $60.8 billion after an increase of $80.2 billion in May. Personal consumption expenditures increased $57.1 billion in June, compared with a May increase of $76.5 billion. Personal saving was $275.9 billion in June, compared with $547.0 billion in May.

Who Dat Tryin' to Teach BC?

A member of the Class of 2001 was hired on Friday to fill the recently vacated position of Biology teacher. Now, from the choices below, pick who you think the new teacher is. (Joe, you cannot play since you already know the answer.)

A. Adam Clary
B. Brennan Lemieux
C. Michael Jefferson
D. Jordan Meadows

Ferrell Fridays

Farley Fridays

If people want to murder their children, South Dakota will inform them of the consequence.

South Dakota Law Goes Into Effect: Women Must be Told They Are "Terminating the Life of a Whole Separate, Unique Living Human Being"

By Jenna Murphy

PIERRE, SOUTH DAKOTA, July 22, 2008, (LifeSiteNews.com) - This past Friday, a law mandating that South Dakota's physicians tell all women seeking an abortion that they are "terminating the life of a whole separate, unique living human being" went into effect.
Though the state law was passed in 2005, Planned Parenthood successfully challenged the legislation in the courts, causing a preliminary injunction to be established that prevented the law from being put into effect.

That injunction, however, expired on Friday, and now all physicians performing abortions at the Planned Parenthood clinic in Sioux Falls - the state's only acknowledged abortuary - must present the client with the specific language as it has been formulated by law. A woman must certify in writing that she understands no earlier than two hours before the procedure is conducted (Slevin, Washington Post, 7/20).

The law also mandates that a woman who seeks an abortion must be told that she is willingly putting herself at a higher risk of suicide and depression and that in choosing to end the life of her child she is terminating an 'existing relationship' that is protected by the US constitution and that her "existing constitutional rights with regards to that relationship will be terminated."
Another related law took effect on July 1, requiring doctors in South Dakota to ask a woman seeking an abortion if she wants to see a sonogram of her baby.

About 700 abortions are performed in South Dakota each year.

Although 32 states have informed consent regulations, South Dakota is the only state that includes the reference to an unborn baby as "a whole, separate, unique living human being."

Soaking The Fat Cats

On the campaign trail, one thing you're guaranteed to hear from the Obama team is how the evil rich have gotten away with paying little or no taxes during the last six years because of the Bush tax cuts.

The only problem with this claim is that it's completely false. In fact, the exact opposite is true: the rich already pay all of the taxes. A recently published study by the non-partisan Tax Foundation demonstrates this: the nation's wealthiest taxpayers now pay a higher percentage of the tax burden than ever before. As of 2006, the wealthiest 1% of wage earners paid a whopping 40% of the nation's tax burden, up from 36.9% in 2004, while earning only 22% of the country's income. Yesterday's Wall Street Journal goes into greater detail.

So the liberal redistributionists are correct to say that a plurality of the gains made during the last 7 years have gone to those at the top, but they conveniently fail to mention how those at the top are now forced to pay a percentage of the tax burden that nearly doubles their share of the national income.

The scariest part of all of this new data goes left unstated, however: the bottom 50% of wage earners now pay only 2.7% of the federal tax burden. This, of course, allows them to vote themselves benefits they won't have to pay for and to support tax increases that won't affect them.

Senator Obama claims he'll raise taxes on the rich so he can give more cut taxes to "the people that actually need them" (i.e., lower income earners). But how do you cut taxes on people that don't pay any in the first place?

Truth, Justice and the American Woman

On the front page of the SMN this morning was this article, detailing the debut of The Dark Knight in Savannah. Featured in the article is Gordon "Batman" Varnedoe, a cousin of mine. In the article, Batman exclaims that he stands for "truth, justice and the American woman." I believe we here at BMBS can lay claim to the same ideals.

Batman is not Gordon Varnedoe's only personality. He has also impersonated Elvis, General James Oglethorpe and Tomochichi.

Farley Fridays

Whip Inflation Now (WIN)

Yes, this is another economics post, but you don't have to be particularly interested in economics to be angry about what's going on across the country right now. Today the labor department announced that the consumer price index shot up 1.1% just this past month, and yesterday it was announced that the producer price index rose at the fastest rate in a quarter-century. In other words, prices everywhere are increasing at a rapid pace. Granted, things aren't as bad today as they were during the 70's, but we could well be headed in that direction unless monetary policy changes course.

To fully grasp this issue, one must understand what causes inflation. Politicians and liberals in the media will usually blame evil companies, sinister speculators, greedy oil CEO's, and Kevin Barry's bartenders for the general rise in prices we're seeing. Others will resort to the traditional Keynsian explanation and blame "rising demand" among consumers (recall WIN lapel pins with Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter telling people to stop buying so much stuff and to turn off their thermostats). This is to be expected, because government officials and their experts are always going to attack private business and citizens instead of placing the blame where it truly belongs: on themselves.

It is crucial to understand that the true definition of inflation is not a general rise in prices, but instead an increase in the money supply. Rising prices are thus the effect of inflation, not the cause. Once we see things this way, it is much easier to understand the inflation problem and why our anger should be aimed at Washington and the Federal Reserve, not at the private sector.

How Inflation Happens

So just how and why does our government increase the money supply? Well, first think of all of the savings accounts across the country. All of the deposits people make out of their paychecks that they don't intend to immediately spend. Banks, of course, lend these deposits out to borrowers. So let's call this entire pool of savings the loanable funds market.

Now loans, just like any good or service, have a price, which is determined by the supply and demand for these loanable funds. We call this price the interest rate. When savings are low and demand for loans is high, interest rates are high. By the same token, when savings are high and there is less demand among borrowers, interest rates are low.

What the Federal Reserve does, in the name of "stimulating" economic activity, is print new money out of thin air and use it to buy treasury bonds from the banks, artificially increasing the supply of loanable funds. This, of course, decreases the interest rate. The Fed has a "target" rate that it shoots for (currently it's at a paltry 2%), and so long as the target rate is exceeded by the true rate that represents the relationship between savers and borrowers, the Fed must continue printing money and injecting it into the banks to keep the target rate from rising to what it would otherwise be under normal conditions. Since September of last year, the Fed has pumped an exorbitant amount of new money into the system to in order reduce the target rate from 5% to its current 2% target today.

You don't have to be an MIT grad to understand that this process erodes the value of the dollars in our wallets. It is a corrosive charade that eats at our savings, promotes prodigality, penalizes thrift, and distorts economic decision-making. By pumping more paper money into the system, the paper money becomes more and more worthless. This is what is meant by the idea that inflation is "always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon." To better help illustrate, imagine you and some friends are playing monopoly, buying and selling properties between one another, when, all of a sudden, every player is given an additional $1,000 out of nowhere. What happens? Obviously, the price of each property traded is going to rise because people are going to be willing and able to pay more.

How to Cure Inflation

The only way to stop prices from rising is to stop printing money and extending "fake" credit to the banks, allowing the interest rate to return to its real, natural level. In the short term, this reckoning will be painful: as rates rise, many of the projects previously undertaken will become unprofitable. Some workers may lose their jobs, borrowers will have to pay higher interest rates on their credit cards, and a sharp recession will take place. But in the long term, everyone will benefit. All of the malinvestment will be cleansed out and liquidated and people will have more incentive to save instead of spend. True, sound economic growth can resume and the dollars in our pockets will retain and even gain in value.

For a real-life example of this, look no further than the early 80's. After a decade of easy and loose money, with the printing presses running at full speed to keep interest rates low and annual inflation near 20%, Reagan came into office and gave Fed Chairman Paul Volcker the green light to finally stop money creation and allow interest rates to float. This led to devastatingly high double-digit interest rates, which induced a sharp, deep recession in 1981-1982. Farmers, mortgage brokers, and basically anyone dependent on credit or employed in the finance industry took a hard hit. But by 1983, the dragon of inflation had been slain and the economy was back on sound footing. Interest rates began to naturally decline as people began to save more and as prices stabilized.

The question is, does the Fed and our government have the same courage today as Messrs. Reagan and Volcker did 30 years ago? Do they have the guts to end the party era of cheap credit and let the inevitable hangover start to run its course? Let's hope so, unless we want to see a nightmarish repeat of the dreaded 1970's, an era when Keynsian fallacy dominated economic thinking and the only thing good was BC Football.

Awesome New Show

Some of you may know that I'm typically the last one to catch on to TV shows. I just discovered Arrested Development and it was cancelled over two years ago. Last night, however, I caught the first episode of HBO's new miniseries, Generation Kill.

The show is based on a book written by Evan Wright, who moved in with a group of Marines to tell their story. In the first episode, entitled "Get Some" we meet a platoon of Marines from the First Recon Division. Set in 2003, this group of young men are the tip of the spear of the invasion of Iraq. Contrary to what you might expect from a new show about the war in Iraq, this show is not anti-war. We're not expected to take a side.

What struck me most about the show is the dialogue. It's coarse, funny, and most of all, believable. During one scene, the platoon receives a shipment of letters from elementary school kids. After first bemoaning the fact that the never get "hot j**k-off letters from hot chicks," one Marine replies aloud to a letter from a child named Freddy who wrote in with a prayer that no one get hurt.

"I am actually a U.S. Marine who was born to kill, whereas clearly you have mistaken me for some kind of wine-sipping Communist d**ksuck. And although peace probably appeals to tree-loving bisexuals like you and your parents, I happen to be a death-dealing blood-crazed warrior who wakes up every day just hoping for the chance to dismember my enemies and defile their civilizations. Peace sucks a hairy a**hole, Freddy. War is the motherf**king answer."

I highly recommend this show. Semper Fi.

Farley Fridays

David Cameron (Tory British MP) on Public Morality and Personal Responsibility

A Return to "Public Morality" and "Personal Responsibility" will Turn Around Britain's Social Collapse: Tory LeaderIn order to avoid injury to people's feelings, in order to avoid appearing judgemental, we have failed to say what needs to be said.

By Hilary White

GLASGOW, July 10, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com ) - In a seminal speech on Monday, David Cameron, the leader of Britain's opposition Conservative Party, laid out a new, direction in Tory policy towards addressing the ongoing moral breakdown of society, which he said is a cause of its social breakdown.

"I want a mandate for restoring responsibility to our society. A mandate to call time on the twisted values that have eaten away at our social fabric. A mandate for tough action to repair our broken society."

Cameron, speaking to a Conservative party audience in Glasgow, said the deeper cause of Britain's "family breakdown, welfare dependency, debt, drugs, poverty, poor policing, inadequate housing, and failing schools" is a "society that is in danger of losing its sense of personal responsibility, social responsibility, common decency and, yes, even public morality."

Cameron's Tories would put an end to the prevailing political trend of "moral neutrality," he indicated. While politicians themselves may be fallible, he said, this is no reason to abandon the concept of moral life and "social virtue" in political life.

"We as a society have been far too sensitive. In order to avoid injury to people's feelings, in order to avoid appearing judgemental, we have failed to say what needs to be said. We have seen a decades-long erosion of responsibility, of social virtue, of self-discipline, respect for others, and deferring gratification instead of instant gratification."

"Instead we prefer moral neutrality, a refusal to make judgments about what is good and bad behaviour, right and wrong behaviour. Bad. Good. Right. Wrong. These are words that our political system and our public sector scarcely dare use any more."

"Poverty, crime, social disorder and deprivation...are steadily making this country a grim and joyless place to live for far too many people."

Cameron said that the Glasgow East by-election, which he called the "broken society" by-election, was the time to decisively call for an end to Labour's socialist policies.

Glasgow East is a riding where, Cameron said, "welfare dependency is so bad, half the adults are on out of work benefits," which, he said, is merely "an extreme version of what you can see everywhere." As such, it is a fitting place for his announcement that a Tory government would work to reverse the trend by bringing back the idea of personal responsibility and self-reliance on a national level.

"Welfare dependency," he said "is now a crisis for the whole country."
Families, Cameron said, are the "most important area of all" in the fight against poverty. He said that the Tories will "take action not just to support marriage and family stability, but on business too, to make Britain more family-friendly."

A Tory government would reorient welfare to aim at getting people back to work. "We need to end the idea that the state gives you money for nothing," he said. "If you can work, you must work. We will insist on it, and believe me, we will stick to our guns when the going gets tough."
Information released recently from the government showed that the current system of welfare, or "benefits," pays more if the father is not present, leading to accusations that the system itself tends to break up families and leave children without fathers.

Reactions from the pundits have been cautiously positive and some have said that Cameron's appeal to such "recently unfashionable" themes as personal responsibility and morality will "strike a chord" with British voters who are connecting the rise in crime and social and moral disorder with the ten years of Labour party rule.

Reaction on the left was predictable. Kevin Maguire, writing for the Daily Mirror, the only newspaper in Britain known to have supported the Labour party throughout its history, called Cameron's call for greater personal responsibility in British life "grotesque."

That Cameron chose economically depressed Glasgow East - a by-election the Tories cannot possibly win - as the test for his call merely proved, Maguire said, that "he has a callous brass neck in flying into one of the most deprived parts of Britain to accuse locals of creating social problems that have existed for decades."

But the Independent called the choice of location "a smart move" and said that "David Cameron knew exactly what he was doing".

"The gritty urban backdrop of Monday's speech provided the most graphic illustration to date of how successfully Mr Cameron has managed to seize the initiative on social policy from Labour."
Melanie Philips, writing on her weblog at the Spectator website, said that Cameron has successfully "decontaminated the Tory brand." The party can no longer be "painted as hatchet-faced bigots who would starve the feckless while kicking them into the gutter."

Cameron, she said, "is picking up on a change in the public mood - one of widespread utter dismay at the prevailing amorality and nihilism" that has been promoted by the militantly hard left Labour party.

James MacMillan, writing for the Daily Telegraph, said that Cameron's appeal to traditional morality had also hit the right notes to lure away the Labour party's own traditional voter base, especially in Scotland. "Lifestyle liberalism has never played particularly well with the moral and social conservatives who make up a large section of Labour's traditional working-class and urban voters," he said.

"The recent parliamentary votes that defeated amendments to ban human-animal embryos, the creation of 'saviour siblings', and to reduce the abortion time limit did not go down well in places such as Glasgow East."It remains to be seen, however, if Cameron's statements represent his real views and whether he can be counted on to follow through and actually implement and vote for pro-family and pro-morality measures. Last year the Tory leader spectacularly contradicted his previous pro-family statements by voting for the deadly Sexual Orientation Regulations and seemed then to have made commitments to the powerful gay lobby in exchange for their political support.

You Know It's Bad When...

Barack Obama has a shot at winning Georgia, of all places. Boy are we gunna get creamed in November...

Aftershock of Ireland's Rejection of EU Treaty

And a comparison of the EU to the Soviet Union:

70 Year Old Indian Woman Has Twins

While the most bizarre news always seems to come out of India, this reaches a new level for me. A 70 year old woman from Muzaffarnagar, India gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl, via caesarean. Her and her husband, who's still got the stuff at 77, had been trying to have a male heir. The irony here is that in accomplishing this feat, the father mortgaged the family farm, spent his entire life savings, and maxed out a few credit cards in the process. Exactly what the new baby boy will be heir to, I have no idea.

Here's a picture of the new little bundles of joy.

Having kids at 70 isn't without it's advantages. Think of this, everyone in the house will be in diapers.

Islam; a religion of peace. But, damn those puppies!

God forbid a Scottish police department that put a picture of a 6-week year old puppy on a postcard.

Those Christian infidels will surely burn in hell, and the angry Muslims will have forty virgins in the after-life. That makes a lot of sense.

The End of an Affair

This post is self-serving and offers little value to you. I just figured it was worth telling this story, since we all know what a tool I am for television.

This morning I called my cable company, Charter Communications, and asked them to discontinue my service on Monday. Currently I have the expanded cable package with DVR and HD channels, which comes out to $99 a month with tax. Unfortunately Athens is too far from Atlanta, where the networks broadcast their local affiliates, and I am unable to pick up any over-the-air channels. So starting Monday I will be completely in the dark (no internet, either).

I've been sitting on this decision for a month or so ever since a couple of co-workers told me they didn't have cable. This was pretty shocking to me, as television is such an integral part of my daily routine. I keep up with about 15 scripted shows at a time, then throw in a few reality shows, game shows, and let's not forget over a hundred baseball games a year. In the instance that nothing is on, a bit of channel surfing will certainly come across something that catches my interest, and the cycle repeats.

Maybe getting older has made me a cane-swinging, big-eared, grumpy old man, but I am sick to my stomach of all these "celebrities" on any given channel. These guys who wear eyeliner and girls who were on a reality show in 2003 who now get hired onto well-respected scripted shows because...they're "famous" supposedly. People who I have no reason to know exist, yet somehow I do. Take Billy Ray Cyrus for instance. Why the hell is he on TV? He had a joke of a hit and haircut, and now he's forced himself on his daughter's TV show, and somehow is a judge of a country version of American Idol. What?

But it's not just Mtv and Nashville Star and all that paparazzi garbage. It's in sports, too. All these "personalities" on ESPN. Just show me the damn highlights of the games. You watch Monday Night Football or the College World Series and the commentators are talking about what it would mean if this team beats the other team when there's still more than half the game to be played. The tired goofy-old-man schtick from Lee Corso and the biased, hypocritical joyless Herbstreit having an influence over how teams place in bowl games. John Kruk saying last week, in all seriousness, that Tim Hudson's win over the Mariners shouldn't count because they're a bad team.

I'll miss the Braves and SEC football conveniently beamed into my home, and watching 24 and the other shows as they air. But really can it be that bad? I'll get to hear Skip and Pete call the Braves games on radio, watch so many shows and movies with Netflix that I've never had the time for, and I'll get to read more books that educate me on how far our government has deviated from the vision of the Founding Fathers.

I know how cheesy this is, but it's not too late to make a change in your life for the better. A good friend of mine has similarly recognized that an element in his life just isn't best for him, and is making a huge decision by leaving his really good corporate job to find something that fits him better. Yeah, we're in our mid-twenties, but that doesn't mean everything is set in stone.

Obama is a mack daddy

More "men of the cloth" doing God's work. Or not:

The Court Gets Something Right

The U.S. Supreme Court just handed down a 5-4 landmark decision today, holding that the Second Amendment actually means what it says. They actually had the nerve to declare that the phrase "the right to bear arms shall not be infringed" should be interpreted to mean that "the right to bear arms shall not be infringed." This is quite shocking.

Liberals contend that the Second Amendment is "outdated" and "no longer relevant" because the founders only intended it to apply to the creation of state militias. I guess that's why Thomas Jefferson wrote this in 1764: "Laws that forbid the carrying of arms . . . disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes . . . Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man"

...this in 1785: "A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercises, I advise the gun. While this gives a moderate exercise to the Body, it gives boldness, enterprise, and independence to the mind . . . Let your gun therefore be the constant companion of your walks."

...and this in 1824: "The constitutions of most of our States assert that all power is inherent in the people; that... it is their right and duty to be at all times armed."

Walken Wednesdays

Battery Nonsense

Stealing this from www.campaignforliberty.com since I'm not able to write it any better.

This comes to us by way of Yahoo News. It begins:

PHOENIX - John McCain hopes to solve the country’s energy crisis with cold hard cash.

The presumed Republican nominee is proposing a $300 million government prize to whoever can develop an automobile battery that far surpasses existing technology. The bounty would equate to $1 for every man, woman and child in the country, “a small price to pay for helping to break the back of our oil dependency,” McCain said in remarks prepared for delivery Monday at Fresno State University in California.

McCain said such a device should deliver power at 30 percent of current costs and have “the size, capacity, cost and power to leapfrog the commercially available plug-in hybrids or electric cars.”

This is the kind of proposal that usually plays well politically because first, he sounds like a man with a plan. He is going to “solve the energy crisis!” (For more about men with plans, watch the brief video The Road to Serfdom. Second, the plan won’t cost much - only one dollar! Who can disagree with spending a mere dollar to solve the energy crisis? If you argue, you risk being branded a “cheapskate.” And third, it almost sounds like a “free market” solution, because he is offering an incentive - and one that sounds pretty big. After all, $300 million is a lot of money, right?

What is important is what the article does not say: The free market already provides ample incentive for innovation and development. Any individual or company that perfected such a device would reap far more than $300 million in profits from the free market, as customers would line up to buy the new product. Last year Toyota had a profit of close to $14 Billion dollars. After the success of their Prius, you can be certain that their engineers are already hard at work on such a battery - not because they want to win a $300 million prize from the government, but because they want to increase their profits.

And what if Toyota were to invent such a battery? Should the government award a foreign firm the prize for something they’re working on already? And even though it would “only” cost one dollar per American, who gave the government the right to confiscate our earnings for ill conceived ideas that are already being tended to by the free market? Finally, the last time I checked, the current national debt was 9,370,288,314,000.78. So who are they going to borrow the prize money from?

Worst 2 Movies of the Past Year

Why only the worst 2, you ask? Because I've only seen 4 new movies in the last 12 months and really, really hated 2 of them. It's also no surprise that my picks for the two worst were chosen unanimously by critics as the 2 best of 2007. This has been happening year after year since American Beauty: the films I can't stand usually end up winning all of the awards. Go figure. Maybe Ryan can help me out more with my analysis here because he is far more knowledgeable about these things.

2nd Worst Movie of the Year: No Country for Old Men

I'm pretty sure this won best picture at the Grammies or Oscars or Golden Globes or whatever. Of course this would happen because this movie is terrible. Ryan and I have had this discussion before - what starts out as a relatively exciting cat and mouse Western between the protaganist and a deranged hit man ends without any resolution or plot twists. The bad guy kills people. Keeps killing people. And keeps killing people. And Tommy Lee Jones tells us about his dreams. That's about it. Why the writers thought it should take 2 and a half hours to demonstrate all of this is beyond me. This would have made for a great simple action/horror flick had it not been all artsy and serious, particularly in the final 30 minutes.

And I can hear you now. "But come on Patrick, it's 'different.' Don't you see? The good guy doesn't always win. The police can't always catch the bad guys!!" Yes they can. It's just that old, grizzled Sheriffs in rural Texas who are sick of their jobs can't. Send in the FBI or something and you'd have this guy by the end of the week. Problem solved.

Worst Movie of the Year: There Will Be Blood

I watched this one at home last Saturday night and actually had to cut it off in the middle so I could watch SNL. That's how uninterested I was in this movie. I know what you're thinking: "How can you rip this American masterpiece (oh yeah, that's what the critics are calling it)?!? Daniel Day Lewis puts in his most riveting performance to date!! " I will agree that Lewis is great at what he does, but just because you have A-list stars doesn't necessarily make it a good movie.

The plot is basically the same as No Country: there's this bad guy. Yep, he's bad alright...150 minutes later: Yep, he's still bad. Trust us, he's a bad guy...Okay, that's it. Thanks for your $7. No resolution. No plot twists. No surprises. No irony. Just a random ending that puts us in no better of a position than 2 hours earlier. I could have put "spoiler alert" at the beginning of this paragraph, but then I realized it's impossible to "spoil" this movie, because nothing really happens.

And that seems to be the new trend these days: Be "creative" by filming long movies about death and destruction and then just start rolling the credits about 3 hours later, at some random point, regardless of what scene we're in, because then it will look "ambitious" and "different." But just because you set out to make a masterpiece doesn't automatically make it one. Just because the Beatles tried to do something different and weird on Sargeant Pepper doesn't necessarily make it their best album.

Now many of you will say I'm an ignoramus because I don't "understand" and can't truly "appreciate" what these 2 films are about. But who's the real ignoramus here? Someone who simply didn't care for these movies because they seemed like a waste of time or someone who gives blind, unwarranted praise just because a couple of directors merely know how to throw together artsy, grainy, low-fi production techniques, overly-dramatic musical scores that don't fit with what's going on, and A-list performers? You tell me.

True Progressivism

by Don Boudreaux

According to today's Wall Street Journal, Barack Obama alleges that "Globalization and technology and automation all weaken the position of workers." If this presidential wannabe is correct, then some of the world's most prosperous workers must be the people in that newly discovered tribe in Brazil -- persons with absolutely no contact with the global economy or with modern technology.

Less extreme cases, of course, include persons not so cut off from the world as these Brazilian tribes. Sub-Saharan Africans should be more prosperous than eastern Europeans, who, in turn, should be more prosperous than Americans and western Europeans.

Of course, if the facts don't follow this pattern, then I guess that Sen. Obama will soon publicly apologize for either misspeaking or admit that his thesis is flawed.

What is Free Trade?

By Don Boudreaux

Question:

What is free trade?

Answer:

Free trade is an institutional environment in which adult buyers and sellers are free to deal with each other without regard to their nationalities, physical locations, religious affiliations, or any other criteria that officious third-parties would elevate into significance but that the buyers and sellers themselves find irrelevant (or at least sufficiently insignificant so as not to affect their desires to trade with each other).