Unfettered Second Amendment Rights

Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton, both players with the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball League, have been suspended without pay for the rest of the season. Between them they will lose millions of dollars in pay.

The reason for the suspension is that they brought hand guns to work and were, apparently, using them to threaten each other as a result of a petty argument over a gambling debt. Their activities broke both Washington DC law and NBA rules and they are being duly punished.

There is no indication that these weapons were obtained illegally and, fortunately, no one was shot in this incident. The real issue, however, is that there are far too many people, some mentally disturbed, some overly aggressive, and others who are simply evil, with access to to lethal weapons.

The questions, then, for the Second Amendment absolutists are simple.

How do they propose to keep lethal weapons out of the hands of people who are unfit to own them? Or are they comfortable with making the entire USA a free fire zone?

State of the Union Address

Last night, President Obama used a great many words - seventy one minutes worth - to say remarkably little.

The details are unimportant but the lack of leadership is appalling. Unfortunately for our nation, the President continues to peddle the entitlement mentality: in particular, the proposition that the government's primary purpose is to give things to the bulk of the population while punishing those who are currently out of favor. Simultaneously, he expresses the Democratic Party's long held love of jobs and hatred of employers - except perhaps for so-called 'Small Business' which, more often than not, pays badly while providing little in the way of security or benefits.

The most distracting part of the whole affair was the behavior of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) who, seated behind the President, jumped up and down, clapping her hands, like a six year old child with ADHD whose prescription for Ritalin had run out a week earlier. In addition, if Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr was really caught mouthing his dissent over the President's disagreement with a recent Supreme Court decision, then he is either rude or stupid. The latter is arguably worse: he should have known that there would be skilled lip readers in the audience and had the self-discipline to keep his mouth shut.

It is only reasonable to expect our leaders to look and act as if they are serious: part of that is to treat us as adults who are part of the solution rather than as the beneficiaries of unearned largesse to be bestowed by a benevolent (?) government. President Obama, Speaker Pelosi and, apparently, Justice Alito must be given a failing grade for that task.

It is far past the time for our leaders to choose between leading and pandering. If they pick leadership, they may deserve re-election: if not, it will be time to call Hercules to reprise his starring role in 'Cleaning the Augean Stables'.

If there is no change in the attitudes of those who believe that they rule - rather than serve, our approach must be to vote against every incumbent regardless of party. While the election of 2008 was a start, the Democratic Party failed to understand the message. Perhaps, if we are lucky, they will learn a lesson from the most significant event of last week when, for the first time in forty years, the citizens of Massachusetts elected a Republican Senator.

President Obama did mention a 'deficit of trust in government'. Give him credit for understanding part of the problem but the true test of his Presidency will be whether he is capable of acting rather than merely spewing hot air.

The State of the Union...

... isn't very good.

There is little need to elaborate here except to note that we are in dire economic straits and, unless the entitlement mentality is addressed, are not likely to escape for many years.

President Obama will give the State of the Union Address to a Joint Session of the Congress this evening. If he is wise, and a true leader, he will ask that we return to the American Way as it used to be: hard work, self reliance, and a willingness to buckle down and get on with the job without the excessive partisan squabbling of today.

That includes silencing Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) who are, arguably, two of the greatest threats faced by our great nation.

Since, in many - not all - ways, President Obama's own biography epitomizes the virtues that we should practice, he would not, unusually for a politician, be asking us to 'do as I say, not do as I do'.

President Kennedy said it well: "ask not what your country can do for you; ask, rather, what you can do for your country."

Enough said.

American Political Dynasties

Beau Biden, currently Attorney General of the State of Delaware and son of Vice President Joe Biden, has announced that he will not run for the Senate seat vacated by his father when he was sworn in as Vice President.

Good.

Whatever the younger Mr. Biden's skills, we held a revolution some two hundred and thirty plus years ago. Among the results, as written in our Constitution, was the removal of Kings, aristocrats, and other hereditary rulers, from our government.

Sadly, it did not take long for the first father and son combination to occupy a major political office: President John Adams (1779 - 1801) and his son President John Quincy Adams (1825 - 1829). At least they were both elected rather than the younger inheriting his father's position.

Even so, political dynasties are far from desirable. When given the opportunity, we should always vote against a close relative of any office holder - specially one who, like the Vice President, had been a senator for thirty six years.

We have had more than enough of the Biden family but at least the citizens of Delaware will be spared the task of voting against the younger member.

That will make the world a slightly better place.

Stock Market Insanity or Manipulation.

As measured by the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 index, the American stock market has dropped by over five per cent in the past eight days.

According to news stories, the reasons include bank regulation as proposed by President Obama, the possibility that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will not be confirmed for a second term in office, and an order to reduce or stop lending issued by the Chinese government to its nation's banks.

In a rational world, all of these would have a positive influence on the market: a safer banking system, that does not need so much taxpayer support, would materially improve the long term health of our economy while the Chinese government now seems to be aware - and is acting on its awareness - of the danger of an incipient asset price bubble. The possibility that the Bubblemeister's Apprentice (Bernanke who succeeded Bubblemeister Alan Greenspan at the Federal Reserve) will be removed, and the rising influence of former Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker, should hearten those who fear an uncontrolled inflation resulting from the grossly promiscuous creation of money in the recent past.

If the market was responding to the news, then insanity was afoot. On the other hand a different explanation makes the reaction look rational. Since stocks are over priced for current economic conditions, and a new bubble is clearly growing, speculators suddenly realized the truth - at least for a week - and began to sell like crazy while spreading lies and misinformation to disguise their motives.

Our nation, and perhaps much of the world, is on a narrow path between the economic equivalent of Scylla and Charybdis. The dangers are a rerun of the Great Depression or a Weimar Republic (Zimbabwean if you prefer) inflation. We can only hope that government - particularly the Congress and the Federal Reserve - can refrain from making things worse.

Beware the Wall Street shills, whose job it is to peddle mindless optimism, because it isn't going to be different this time.

Where Next for Our Nation?

It is more likely than not that the current economic crisis is far from over. Assuming that is so, the critical question is what, if anything, the government should do - other than stay out of the way.

However, before we demand spending, subsidies and lawmaking, we would do well to consider these thoughtful words spoken by President Theodore Roosevelt:

"The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, peace-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life."

The essential characteristics of America are those of hard work, self reliance, and earned rewards. When we demand that government take actions that are properly our responsibility, we risk our liberty. Thomas Jefferson, most presciently, warned of the problem:

"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and for government to gain ground."

We should also keep in mind the ten most frightening words - according to President Ronald Reagan - in the English language:

"I'm from the government and I'm here to help you."

Enough said.

Massachussetts Voters do the Democratic Party a Favor

The voters of Massachusetts did the nation, and quite likely the Democratic Party, a major favor on Tuesday by electing State Senator Scott Brown (R) to represent them for the balance of the late Senator Kennedy's term in the United States Senate.

The arrival of an additional Republican ends the Democratic Party's filibuster proof majority and suggests that the so-called health care reform bill will now not pass. To describe the current bill, as passed by the Senate, as an abomination is an understatement while the version passed by the House of Representatives is even worse.

The current health care system is broken and dysfunctional, but, sadly, no bill at all would be better than the likely outcome were the House and Senate Bills to be reconciled and passed.

President Obama, recognizing the political realities, has called upon the Congress to refrain from forcing through a bill before Senator-elect Brown is seated. That is good. He has also requested a scaled down bill containing the provisions that are generally agreed upon. There the President misses the point.

What is needed is to restart the process and produce legislation that is acceptable to both parties and to the nation as a whole. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) has taken that position and he is a man who has proven that he can work across the aisle.

Let Senator McCain, Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT), Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC), and others of like mind, set about drafting a health care bill that includes real reform including cost containment and provisions to create a fair and honest insurance market that has much lower administrative and marketing costs than now.

Tort reform would be desirable but your correspondent, having long ago ceased to believe in Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy, does not expect any such thing from a Congress controlled by the Democratic Party.

To return to the proposition that the Democratic Party will benefit, here are the likely electoral consequences:

• If they pass a wildly unpopular bill, based on their current work, their punishment will be severe.
• If there is no health care bill, they will be castigated for achieving nothing (see the 1948 elections) and lose seats but not as many as by passing a bad bill.
• If they pass a scaled down bill, they will lose still fewer seats.
• If they pass a bi-partisan bill that includes true reform or, if not yet passed, are making significant progress, then their losses will be no more than are generally expected during a mid-term election.

For the last outcome to occur, however, President Obama must lead rather than leave the decisions to the Congress. He will also have to defeat - or, at minimum, marginalize - two great threats to a successful Presidency: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). Both of these persons are small minded and ideologically extreme which gives them an unsurpassed ability to damage our country. Their early retirement - or defeat at the polls - would make the world a slightly - perhaps significantly - better place.

Ugly Cars

Both France and Japan are countries whose cultures prize beauty, elegance, and style.

So how can a Japanese automobile manufacturer (Nissan), whose Chief Executive Officer (Carlos Ghosn) is a Frenchman, manage to create such strikingly ugly cars? The Nissan Murano, Quest and Pathfinder are all regrettable examples.

While Nissan arguably produces more ugly models than any other company, the competition is close behind.

If I were Dictator of the World, there would be a very substantial ugly car tax.

Enough said!

Politicians and the Tax Code

The Internal Revenue Service has announced that it will register and regulate all paid tax preparers who are not attorney's, CPAs or Enrolled Agents.

The IRS misses the point.

However, since its job is to enforce rather than reform the tax laws, it does not have the authority to solve the underlying problem. If the tax code was not so complicated, many more of us would be willing to prepare our own tax returns. Instead, we engage experts, at significant expense, to ensure that we neither overpay our taxes nor incur serious penalties just because we misunderstood the law.

The sole objective of any tax law should be to collect the money that is needed to operate the government. It should be done in as fair, efficient, transparent, and simple a manner as possible. Admittedly, achieving all of those objectives simultaneously is not easy but the economic impact of even partial success would be massively positive.

Congress, unfortunately but perhaps predictably, has invented a system that rewards special interest groups, attempts to dictate personal and economic behavior, and manages to create a myriad of perverse incentives while wasting vast amounts of taxpayers' time and money. The Tax Reform Act of 1986, a collaboration between a conservative President Reagan and two very liberal legislators - Rep. Richard Gephardt (D-MO) and Senator Bill Bradley (D-NJ), was a good start but a generation of politicians, of both parties, has largely returned the law to its previous dysfunctional state.

Are the Congress and the President listening to those who believe in real reform?

I doubt it.

Today's politicians should keep in mind, however, that unfair and unreasonable taxes, imposed by an arrogant and unaccountable ruler, were a major cause of the American Revolution. We don't yet need another revolution but we can start by electing politicians who are more interested in the good of our country than in social engineering or the welfare of the special interests that own them.

Tiger Woods and Brit Hume

Brit Hume, a semi-retired journalist, has generated a great deal of fuss over his remarks urging Tiger Woods to accept the forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith.

If Mr. Hume had really cared about Mr. Woods, rather than about generating publicity for himself, he would made his comments directly and privately to Mr. Woods. If he doesn't know Mr. Woods personally, then he should have minded his own business.

Sadly, this seems to be just another example of a professed Christian acting in a grotesquely arrogant manner. Perhaps the world would be a slightly better place if Mr. Hume were to heed the words of Jesus of Nazareth in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:5): "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth."

If his Christian faith is one which, like that of many fundamentalists, relies more on the Old Testament than the Gospels, he may wish to consult Psalm 37:11: "But the meek shall inherit the earth and shall delight themselves in an abundance of peace."

Enough said.

Retiring U.S. Senators - Democrats

Four Democratic Senators have announced that they will retire this year. If we are lucky, there will be more and, if we are luckier yet, some incumbents will be defeated in November.

Two, Roland Burris (D-IL) and Ted Kaufman (D-DE), were appointed to replace Senators Obama and Biden, respectively, after their election as President and Vice-President. That it was not possible to hold a special election in November of 2009 - or even earlier - seems to be a major flaw in American democracy but at least the voters will be allowed (allowed?) to choose their Senators this year.

The other two are Senators Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Christopher Dodd (D-CT).

On his retirement, Senator Dodd will have spent thirty year in the Senate without distinguishing himself in any particular manner. As Ranking [minority] Member of the Senate Banking Committee, he proved to be either stupid, or unethical, by accepting special treatment from Countrywide Financial Corporation. It is worth noting that Countrywide was shortly thereafter bought by Bank of America (with government guarantees) just before it would have collapsed. His achievements can only be described as minimal.

Senator Dorgan's record is equally undistinguished. The only thing in his favor is that twelve years service in the House of Representatives and another eighteen years in the Senate have been largely, other than bouncing checks at the House of Representatives Bank, free of scandal.

That there should be such a thing as a thirty year career as a professional politician (of either party) is a national disgrace. The Founding Fathers saw politics as a limited period of time to serve their country, rather than themselves, and so should we.

In my not-so-humble opinion, there is value in experience but there are also 'Best Used Before' dates. We would be well served by a constitutional amendment restricting the total length of service in the Congress of the United States.

Few Senators and Representatives have made any significant contributions to our nation after eighteen years in office. Although there are some exceptions, they can be, or could have been, replaced. Eighteen years is a reasonable time. We might have missed the legislative achievements of Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) but we would have been spared the pork barrel appropriations committed by Senator Robert Byrd (D-WVA) who has well served himself and his State, but not necessarily our nation, for over fifty years.

Meanwhile, good riddance to the four who have announced their retirement. They have all outstayed their welcome.

Christmas Bomb Plot

Start with the simplest of propositions: only Muslims are members of al-Qaeda.

That doesn't mean that all Muslims are terrorists, but it does imply that an eighty year old Scottish grandmother, travelling with her six year old granddaughter, is unlikely to be much of a threat. Why then, should she be wanded and patted down when the metal detector reacts to her replacement hip?

The answer is political correctness which, at the very least, is a gross detriment to effective airline security. Not all profiling is bad and a rational system will help ensure that the screeners are looking in the more likely places.

President Obama has taken a tiny step in the right direction. He has ordered that, as of today, anyone traveling from, or through, nations regarded as state sponsors of terrorism (Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria) will be required to go through enhanced screening. That includes full-body pat downs, carry-on luggage searches, full-body scanning, and explosive detection devices.

Citizens and residents of, as well as transit passengers from, other countries, all of which are known to harbor terrorists and all of which have majority Muslim populations, will also face enhanced screening. The listed countries are Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen. A curious omission is Indonesia - a nation with a largely Muslim population and a history of terrorist attacks on Westerners and places that they frequent.

This is one small step in the right direction, for which the President should be commended. Unfortunately, he is being hotly criticized by an unholy alliance comprised of the American Civil Liberties Union (and its followers) and extreme right wing privacy advocates.

All for a tiny step in the right direction.

Much more can, and must, be done. Although it would inconvenience me, travellers with their own wheelchairs and prosthetic limbs (particularly if young and Muslim) should be screened very thoroughly. While I do get the pat down, it is incomplete and ineffective. At the same time, compliance with politically correct procedures forbids the screeners to ask me to remove my legs so they can be x-rayed or otherwise examined for contraband.

Must we wait until a wheelchair cushion, or a prosthetic leg, explodes on board before we act on the lessons that can easily be learned from Frederick Forsyth's novel 'Day of the Jackal'?

Predictions

Now is the time when journalists, investment advisers, economists, politicians and other charlatans, expect us to listen respectfully to their predictions for the coming year. The reality is that many of their predictions will never come to pass and much of what does will be trivial.

Before setting pen to paper, or approaching a microphone, members of the commentariat should remind themselves of a saying attributed to the great Yogi Berra:

"It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future."

Enough said.

Resolutions

Today, New Year's Day, is the traditional time for resolutions that are intended to make each of us a better person.

Unfortunately, all too many of these are excessively ambitious and soon abandoned. The result is that nothing changes. The key may well be modesty: eat a little less rather than try to lose twenty pounds, walk a little more rather than go to the gym every day. Turning off the telephone for an hour or two, every now and then, is a major stress reliever.

The BIG ONE - quitting smoking - is an all or nothing affair but ignore improved health - an amorphous concept - and focus on the money to be saved.

If we all made quite modest lifestyle changes, the impact on America's health care bills and, probably, our happiness would be significant.

Enough of the lecture. Enjoy 2010.