Going out on a limb
So it’s been a few days since the Senate Amnesty bill passed. All the Republicans are pretty depressed because they feel they got sold out. Sometimes though I think its good to stand back and realize that the vast majority of Americans do not follow news as closely as those of us in the blogosphere probably do. They don’t get hung up in the minutiae. Rather, what prevails is not the specifics but the overall buzz about a particular piece of legislation. A recent example of this would be the Dubae ports deal.
With that in mind, what is the overall buzz of the Senate passed legislation? To my mind, all anyone knows about it is it grants amnesty to illegals, and we have to consult with Mexico before we build a fence. That’s it. Do you think members of the house are getting a lot of phone calls supporting that? I sure don’t.
Lets look at the voting in the Senate. Who voted against the senate bill? Republicans and Democrats who are facing elections in November where there is some contest. Who voted for the bill? Republicans and Democrats who are either not up for election or who are in non-contested races. You think they don’t know where the American people stand? They sure as hell do and they are hoping you will either forget in four or six years, or reward them for a no vote in November. They voted accordingly and it is quite telling.
On this issue there is about as close to a national consensus as there can be on anything. Poll after poll says the same thing – No amnesty and increased border enforcement with a fence, more troops or whatever it takes. Who do they American people see as in support of this bill? They see huge groups of protestors, some carrying incredibly offensive signs reminiscent of a Klan rally. They perceive the protestors as all illegals and their government doing nothing to arrest them. Trust me, no American ponders the macro economic implications of such an arrest. All they think about is they have to obey the law, why don’t the illegals?
So, unlike others who are against an open borders anything goes policy, I am of good cheer. While I don’t support the Senate legislation, I am actually happy that what they passed was so extreme I don’t think anything can possibly be worked out in conference. At the end of the day I have a hard time seeing how this legislation passes the house at all.
The Day After
No, Im not talking about the presidents sell out speech. I’m talking about the day after the expiration of the deadline to enroll in the new Medicare Prescription Drug Plan. At last, an end to those stupid cutesy commercials featuring grannies trading help for signing up for the program with each other over apple pie recipes.
Lets do the math:
Population of the United States: around 300 million
Cost of Granny’s new Medicare benefit: around $600 billion over 10 years.
Dividing out we get $2000 cost to every man woman and child over a ten year period.
So that’s what it is costing you. Every year everyone will pony up $200 so granny can get a discount on her pills.
Now of course the calculation isn’t really that simple but it does give one a scale of what’s involved. Not everyone pays taxes so the average bill per taxpayer will be quite a bit higher. And, as we all know, most of this cost will be put off through deficit spending. That means future generations, or our kids, will pay for it.
So what’s so bad about all this? Well, my problem with it is quite simple: its immoral. I think it is fundamentally wrong to tax those who have the least to bestow benefits on those who have the most. The over 65 year old age bracket is by far the wealthiest of any age group. Why the hell should those in less wealthy age groups pay to provide benefits for them? Why is Medicare not means tested? Why should someone who is working at a job with no health insurance, paying for it on their own, have to provide health benefits for some rich duffer playing golf? Don’t believe me on who’s got the money? Here are the links:
Who’s got the money, from page 20, courtesy of the Federal Reserve. Click Here.
By the way, look at the scale on the left. That’s a logarithmic scale, not a linear one. See how someone who is 40 has a net worth of around $50k but someone who is 60 has a net worth of $250k? The graph is striking as it is, without the logarithmic scale the disparity would be far more apparent.
How much Granny’s pills are going to cost you. Courtesy of the CBO. Click Here
“CBO currently estimates that net Medicare spending for the Part D program will total $593 billion over the 2004-2013 period.”
Ok Ive Had It
From the presidents May 15, 2006 speech:“There is a rational middle ground between granting an automatic path to citizenship for every illegal immigrant, and a program of mass deportation. That middle ground recognizes that there are differences between an illegal immigrant who crossed the border recently and someone who has worked here for many years, and has a home, a family, and an otherwise clean record.”
Mr President, what the hell does this mean?
Look, lets face it, breaking the law by entering the country illegally isnt the biggest deal in the world. It simply isn’t on par with murder, rape and pillaging. But that doesn’t change the fact that there are lots of laws and regulations that Americans have to deal with every day: “Oooooo, look at this, you were off on your taxes by $40 last quarter, you owe us $40 + $70 penalty.” “Oh and look at this, you built a little deck without a permit, rip it out”. The fact is people are sick and tired of having the government nit pick every aspect of their business and property owning lives. They are tired of being the ones who contribute the most, get thanked the least, and only get more demands placed upon them by the law breakers and leaches of society. I think at this point I have pretty much had it with Bush. Presidents have to make a lot of tough decisions; this was not one of them. Amnesty has been tried in the past and it didn’t work. Deporting 12 million illegal aliens is impossible? Bullshit. By this logic any law with 12 million violators is unenforceable. If the president believes this then lets start dismantling the IRS immediately. The law is on the books, it’s a popular law. Enforce the law.
Howard Dean? On The 700 Club?Did I just wake up in a parallel universe? Last time I checked all the polls said Bush was in the tank and the Democrats were going to take the congress. If that’s true, what the hell is Howard Dean doing on the 700 Club? Isn’t showing even a picture of Pat Roberston to a democrat pretty much like spraying Linda Blair with holy water? I mean, if you’re sitting pretty, you don’t offend your base by appearing with Pat Robertson to try and sway a few Evangelicals.
Here’s the kicker though. Dean insisted on the program that his stance and that of his party is marriage is solely between a man and a woman. Hoooo boy, can you imagine the fireworks back home over that one? There’s really not a lot I can add to this one. I mean its so nutty it really speaks for itself. To read about it, click here.
The perfect crime?
Ever really wonder about Ebay? They like to maintain an image as this crazy worldwide garage sale type of operation, people buying and selling stuff and generally having a great old time. Ever wonder about Pay Pal, Ebay’s credit card facilitator? Pay pal is the virtually exclusive form of payment on Ebay and they like to maintain an image as the company that allows every small seller to accept credit cards. They are nothing of the kind and I would advise everyone to be very leery of their business practices. I say this as someone who owns a mail order business that accepts credit cards. I know how an honest business operates; Pay Pal is not one of them.
So what is the perfect crime? Here is the set up:
A seller runs an auction on Ebay. The auction closes and the buyer pays the seller using Pay Pal. The buyer then waits and waits, the item is never going to arrive. After a few weeks the buyer files a dispute with Pay Pal saying they never received the item. Pay Pal then contacts the seller. The seller at this point ships either an empty box or a Dixie cup, whatever, thereby obtaining a UPS tracking number. The seller provides this to Pay Pal. Pay Pal then closes the case as the seller has provided proof that they have shipped the item.
Clinching the fraud:
After all this, Pay Pal contacts the buyer, closing the case and saying the only alternative the buyer has is to file a police report. Is this too good to be true? You bet it is, if you are the seller. You have totally dodged the normal credit card protections offered to every consumer. You now have Pay Pal acting as your shill. Now I was the buyer in the circumstance listed above and I contacted my credit card company. Thank god they were able to cancel the transaction. But what if I had allowed Pay Pal to withdraw money directly from my account? Pay Pal encourages you to register your bank account with them to become a “confirmed member”. The bottom line? Be very aware that when doing business with Pay Pal you are offered virtually none of the protections you would get if you used a credit card anywhere else. Pay Pal offers protection to the seller only, not the buyer. Lastly, never, ever register your bank account with Pay Pal, or use it to pay for a transaction.
Moussaoui Wins“America, you lost. I won.” Those were the words said by Zacarias Moussaoui after a jury rejected the government’s argument for the death penalty.
A terrorist never spoke truer words. When a man can stand up in court and openly admit that he was part of the greatest attack on American soil and a jury cannot sentence him to death we have reached the end. When a man can stand up in court and gleefully say he enjoys the suffering of the victim’s families and we think he still hasn’t done enough to deserve the death penalty, that says something. He did win. Whatever celebration Moussaoui is having, either in his jail cell, or in his mind, I hope he enjoys it. It is richly deserved and he has truly earned every right to celebrate. He made no apologies for his crimes or his hatred for Americans and their country. We thought that was ok and that he shouldn’t be sentenced to the ultimate penalty.
The same goes on in Iraq. The war isn’t over in an MTV minute. Pacification is taking years rather than weeks and the group of Americans who see some morality in defeat is rapidly expanding. Similarly, those who see no problem at all in the Middle East sinking into fascism are starting to become the majority.
So Moussaoui won, I raise my glass to him: “well done sir”.
Who knows for whom the death penalty should be reserved? Given our current performance I suppose it will be for all of us, for we have started down the road towards hanging ourselves.
