My View

Random thoughts from a warped and fevered mind...


Pay attention to what is going on in New Jersey. Newly elected Governor Chris Christie came into office with an existing deficit of $2.2 billion dollars and a projected deficit for the coming year of $10.7 billion dollars. This was based on projections of government spending continuing to grow at the average growth rate that has occurred over the past decade. What typically happens when government at any level overspends? "Tax the rich", "Raise property taxes", "Raise all taxes" are the typical and knee jerk responses. A funny thing has happened in Joisey, however. Governor Christie has told public employee unions and various departments of the state government that in the last 8 years, the State has raised taxes in some fashion 115 times. It was now time to start reining in the runaway spending and living within a realistic budget. And guess what? The State of New Jersey is doing it! In eight weeks, Governor Christie cut $13 billion dollars in waste and programs that provided little tangible benefit to the citizens of the State. Governor Christie has shown that the growth of government- at any level- does not have to continue unabated and that the most constructive use of financial resources are not in the hands of the government, but the citizens.


They say women find a "six pack" sexy. Well, I've been drinking them for a long time now and frankly, it's not working.

"Because of the internet, there is this vast echo chamber and our advocacy reaches into corners that never would have been possible before." So says former Predsident Bill Clinton, who warned that free speech was dangerous and could have tragic consequences. Huh? Apparently, criticism of the current admisnistration is taboo. However, it was permissible to call former Predsident Bush and his administration "nazis", "facists", and show pictures of an assassinated President Bush. The hypocrisy of the left is beyond laughable. This country was founded on reasoned discourse and thoughtful dissent. Heavy emphasis on "reasoned" and "thoughtful". Until we return to those precepts, there will just be lots of shouting and our national dialogue will continue to descend into coarseness.


Men are like a box of chocolates. Wait too long to pick one out and all that is left is the weird, nutty ones.


An interesting characteristic of the current administration is to subtlely and slowly erode the rights of the individual in favor of centralizing power and control in the federal government and its bureaucracies. Don't believe me? Take a look at this example. On March 18, Predisent Obama signed the Hiring Incentive to Restore Employment act, a $17.5 billion dollar stimulus bill designed to create jobs (apparently the $787 billion dollar stimulus package last year didn't do the trick). Tucked neatly away inside the bill is a provision called Foreign Account Tax Compliance. In short, it is designed to crack down on tax evaders that use off shore accounts to avoid paying taxes. Fair enough. But this bill allows the IRS to force banks to withhold 30% of all funds going to foreign accounts if the IRS, not the courts, deems the taxpayer "recalcitrant". Now I don't know about you, but it seems to me that all of us would get to be a bit recalcitrant when the IRS starts poking around in our affairs for no apparent reason. There are legitimate uses of off shore accounts, but balking at turning over all bank records both here and abroad can arbitrarily result in the confiscation of 30% of your assets. Wow. Notice that in this piece of legislation, and in others since the Obama administration came into office, that due process is missing. One of the foundational principals of this great nation is slowly disappearing in these legislative monstrosities.


If all is not lost, where is it?


And that, my friends, is my view.