Taxation -/+ Consumption

http://www.andrewclem.com/Politics.shtml

Andrew Clem presented some interesting ideas about President Bush’s “investment in research in alternative energy sources” in his letter to the NewsLeader editor. His idea is to raise the cost of oil products by taxation resulting in development of renewable energy resources and conservation which is somewhat low priority with our present “Low” cost of petroleum products. Also the extra tax money collected would be used to develop better forms of energy including renewable sources of energy…

http://newsleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060209/OPINION03/602090318/1014/OPINION

Know as much as I am against more or additional taxes, Andrew makes a great point that this problem will best be solved by the free market system. In the majority of examples it is the free market, not the government, that creates solutions to many of our problems. My fear is where that additional tax money will really show up and in what form. Many times Profit\loss statements are the most efficient guides to getting the job done.

It is apparent that we are using more energy now then we ever used before. This is possible for the simple reason that energy produced by petroleum products are relatively cheap to us in the United States. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but little change will happen until the cost rises to a point where the “Market” dictates a change.

Look at the recent $3 a gallon effects of Hurricane Katrina. People started to think twice before taking that extra trip or how they could save and consolidate these trips. Around here the average gallon price is about $2.20 and people have forgotten already the pain of $3+ a gallon. Interestingly people are talking more about the obscene, (term used by mainstream media and politicians looking for airtime) profits made by the oil companies. I agree the profits are high as compared in the past but history shows oil companies average about 10% in profits when all is said and done. McDonalds averages 24.4% profits… Go figure… The thing is that the oil companies spend much of their “profit” money on exploration and development of more sources of petroleum to remain competitive. If we tax petroleum products to raise the cost and promote conservation and development of other forms of energy, how can we be sure this money will be used wisely?

After watching the recent hearings to confirm Justice Alito, I do not feel very comfortable with those politicians with more of our tax money…

Hillary and those eyes...

It seems many people tuned in to watch the Super Bowl especially to see the new commercials. I watched the President’s State of the Union speech last week and have to admit that I looked forward to see how the Democrats would react to the President’s speech.

In the past we have seen Democrat members of Congress push their way to center aisle so to get that photo-op of shaking hands with the President. The same President that they had been bashing at every opportunity all during the year prior to the speech. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) is always sure to be there in her bright red dress to get that photo op and then attack the President at the next possible opportunity. “Nothing personal, just politics. Smile for the camera please”.

It is also interesting to see what issues the Democrats refuse to applaud on while the Republican side of the aisle is roaring with applause. This has happened with most any of the administrations but the democrats now seem to bring it to a whole new level. The President described the importance of continuing a strong stance on terrorism and taking the fight to those who have attacked us and continue to plot to attack freedom no matter where it is. This brought a strong response from the Republicans but the democrats were almost silent. The next sentence the President spoke of the brave troops fighting the war on terrorism and the democrats could not get out of their chairs fast enough to be seen applauding.

It was also interesting to watchat times to see several democrats look towards each other to see who was going to clap or not and if enough fellow members got up they all got up. Not to applaud a statement but to appear unified.

Then there was Hillary with the eye’s rolling…

Peggy Noonan (Wall Street Journal) had a great quote in this weeks article. "It seemed a metaphor for the Democratic Party: We don't know where to stand or what to stand for, and in fact we're not good at standing for anything anyway, but at least we know we can't stand Republicans..."

"Let's get this done..."

Several weeks ago I did a posting (Ben Cline Townhall Meeting) about Delegate Clines efforts last year to get 10 more Virginia State Troopers hired, trained, and equipped to patrol and enforce laws along Route 81. In today's issue of the NewsVirginian there was an article describing Delegate Cline's efforts once again to get these very much needed troopers added to and patrolling Route 81. All of the delegates are in Richmond now submitting, reviewing, and voting on these bills and it is several intensive weeks of negotiations. We are very fortunate in the Shenandoah Valley to be represented by fine Republicans like Delegate Steve Landes, Delegate Chris Saxman, and Delegate Cline...
Please contact them and let them know you appreciate their efforts...

http://newsvirginian.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WNV/MGArticle/WNV_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1137833869172&path=

This article, written by Bob Stuart, describes how Route 81 is a main corridor through Virginia for drug trafficking and other illegal actions. The Cline initiative has earned Virginia Trucking Association’s endorsement.

http://www.bencline.com/

http://www.delegatesaxman.com/
http://www.stevelandes.com

"What to stand for..."

"Democrats stand for uh....."

While searching for something to read I found a link over at "Too Conservative" to a recent article written by Peggy Noonan in the Wall Street Journal. http://opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/

I have admired her writing for years and her books are just as good if not better for she is able to go more in depth with books...

She did some incredible stuff back after September 11th and her book on Ronald Reagan "When Character was king" is worth reading several times...

In her most recent article in the WSJ she made an interesting observation of the Democrats in Congress during the President's State of the union speech.

"It seemed a metaphor for the Democratic Party: We don't know where to stand or what to stand for, and in fact we're not good at standing for anything anyway, but at least we know we can't stand Republicans..."

"Life's Lottery"

Back several posts ago I did a story on attending a Townhall meeting held by Republican Delegate Ben Cline of Virginia. During this meeting Delegate Cline spoke of his efforts to add an additional 10 State Troopers to patrol along Route 81. Money for these Troopers, estimated at $1 million, was to come from the large advertising fund that the Virginia state lottery maintains. In fact over $250,000 was spent to use the image of Donald Trump on one of the "Scratcher" tickets. Unfortunately the assembly of Virginia would not allow this money to be spent on the needed Troopers.

This post brought several comments and observations from friends about the Lottery's that are operated by each state and the benefits provided by the lotteries. Unfortunately there are also many incidents that harm those who play these games...

Many agree that money from these lotteries go on to benefit educational institutes in the states. "In Fiscal Year 2005, the Virginia Lottery hadrecord sales of over $1.3 billion. Of this total, the Lottery contributed $423.5 Million, or 31%, topublic education grades K-12. 58% went back to players in the form of prizes, 6% went to the retailers who sell Virginia Lottery tickets, and 5% went to operational expenses".

Other uses of lottery winnings were used in other manners: "Set-Off Debt Collection ActThe Lottery also participates in the Set-Off Debt Collection Act, in which prize payments are withheld to pay certain obligations that the prize winner owes. Examples of these obligations are state and federal taxes, child support and tuition from state universities or colleges. The Virginia Lottery collected $905,654 in FY 2005, for a total of more than $12.3 million since 1988."

Last week I stopped at the local 7-eleven to get coffee on the way to work. In line in front of me was a young woman 20-22 who was cashing in a winning lottery ticket for $25. No other purchases, just lottery tickets. She did not even get the $25 in her hands she just bought a ticket for $10 and three at $5 each. She did not talk, thank the cashier, or look up. As I left the store she was in her car rapidly scratching the new tickets looking for a winner... Everybody has a right to spend their money as they seem fit, but this reminds me of the phrase "Voluntary Taxation". As noted above, in Virginia only 58% of the money played goes back to the people playing...

Now I am not saying the lottery is a bad thing for it does provide a lot of funds for education. But it is unfortunate that the majority of the people playing these lotteries should be investing this money in more productive ways...

Remember Democratic Representative Dick Gephardt's reference to high income earners as "People who have won life's lottery"? Many people feel that life is unfair and their chance to make it big is by winning the lottery instead of hard work... Neal Boortz came up with some great examples in his book:

"I can't afford medical insurance. The government ought to do something".

"I need more job skills to move up in this company. The Govt should teach me those skills".

"My boss won't give me time off to go to the dentist. There ought to be a law".

"Day Care is getting expensive. The govt ought to help me pay for this".

Sometimes it's not a matter of "Winning" the lottery. It's a matter of hard work and dedication to improving yourself and not expecting someone else to do it...

In some cases: "The rich keep getting richer because they keep doing that which made them rich. Ditto for the poor. See how simple all this is?"

Weapons of Mass Destruction...

Buried Mig Fighter






Numerous times when discussing the war in Iraq the discussion often comes around to “There were no Weapons of Mass Destruction”, “Bush lied about WMD’s to go into Iraq”, “WMD is not why we went into Iraq”, etc.

I believed, and still do, that Saddam & Iraq possessed WMD for he has used them in the past even against his own people. President Clinton and many democrat members of congress made statements regarding this known fact in the past. Several other countries using their own forms of intelligence stated the same belief that Iraq had WMD’s.

My concern is not that WMD’s existed, for liberals and Bush-haters will trot that issue out forever, but where did the known weapons of mass destruction go?
If Saddam and Iraq destroyed all of the weapons that the United Nations inventoried at the end of the Gulf war, where are the records and proof?
Why were many of the Iraqi troops found with gas masks and other forms of gas exposure protection?

I believe that unfortunately many of these WMD’s have been moved into Syria and other countries dealing with and protecting Saddam. There were several reports of long convoy’s moving items into Syria while we spent almost a full month going to the United Nations for the final resolution #1441.

Below are several items from stories written about the above photos of Mig jets found buried in the Iraq desert. Sources provided and full articles can be found by performing a search on “Buried Mig Jets”…

Australian troops, who on April 16 captured the Al Asad Airfield, 112 miles northwest of Baghdad, found scores of fighter aircraft, mostly Soviet-era MiGs but also three advanced MiG-25 Foxbats, the fastest combat aircraft today. Helicopters, radar systems and millions of pounds of explosives also were found. (Military.com)

AS SAYLIYA CAMP, Qatar - Australian special forces have found 51 Mig fighter planes hidden at an airfield in western Iraq, a senior Australian officer said today. (Chron.com)

At least one Cold War-era MiG-25 interceptor was found when searchers saw the tops of its twin tail fins poking up from the sands, said one Pentagon official familiar with the hunt. He said search teams have found several MiG-25s and Su-25 ground attack jets buried at al-Taqqadum air field west of Baghdad (FoxNews.com)

"Something as big as an airplane that's within … a stone's throw of where you're functioning, and you don't know it's there because you don't run around digging into everything on a discovery process," Rumsfeld explained. "So until you find somebody who tells you where to look, or until nature clears some sand away and exposes something over time, we're simply not going to know. (Defense Link)

United States Marines...

(This was sent to me by a dear friend and mother of a U.S. Marine)

Two things to know before you read below: Marines are taught
1) Keep your priorities in order and
2) Know when to act without hesitation.

A Marine was attending a college course between missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. The professor, an avowed atheist, shocked the class one day when he walked in, looked toward the ceiling, and said loudly, "God, if you are real, then I want you to knock me off this platform. I'll give you exactly 15 minutes. "The lecture room fell silent and the professor began his lecture.

Ten minutes went by and the professor proclaimed, "Here I am God - still waiting. "It got down to the last minute when the Marine stood up, walked toward the professor and threw his best punch knocking him off the platform and out cold. The Marine went back to his seat and sat down.

The other students were shocked and stunned and sat there looking on in silence. The professor came to, noticeably shaken, looked at the Marine and asked, "What the hell is the matter with you? Why did you do that?

"The Marine calmly replied, "God is busy today protecting America's soldiers who are protecting your right to behave like an idiot and say stupid stuff. So He sent me."

Governor Warner and geography...

In today’s Daily News Record (www.dnronline.com) there was a great Letter to the Editor by a gentlemen from Mcgaheysville that I wanted to link to but it was not one of the letters that was published on the website.

The writer describes how 200 Virginians returned from military action served in Afghanistan.
Unfortunately Virginia Governor Mark Warner was not there to meet them upon their return to Virginia but he was able to send a letter thanking them for their service.


“In the letter, our governor thanked the soldiers for honorably serving our country in Iraq - too bad they served in Afghanistan.”

“Does our wonderful governor need a geography lesson, does he not really care, or is he just thinking about 2008? Show the men some respect, governor. Get it right!!!”

Now I am sure this was probably an unfortunate mistake by a staffer who is paying the price about now but will there be any outrage by the Mainstream media on this? Will any of the local papers investigate and report this error to the public? Can you imagine if it was a Republican governor in place and made that mistake?

To the men and women in the Virginia military service returning from locations all over the world after serving our country and protecting the citizens of the United States. We THANK YOU, God bless you, and we truly appreciate your sacrifices made for us and the country…

I really do need to learn how to make a section on this blog just to trace the antics that we all know Warner is going to make on his run to the White House in 2008... This could be fun you know…

Goodlatte Townhall Meeting

"Supporting a Special Supporter"...

Word spread quickly of a planned Anti-war protest to be held before a Town hall meeting held by Virginia Congressman Bob Goodlatte at the middle school in Stuarts Draft. The group of protesters intended to ask the congressman to join Rep. John Murtha in calling for a rapid withdrawal of U.S military forces from Iraq and closure of U.S. military bases in Iraq.

Notice of this protest was received only a few hours before the meeting but the local Republican group “SWAC” (Staunton-Waynesboro-Augusta County) quickly mobilized to represent and support our troops, President Bush, and Congressman Goodlatte in their efforts regarding the war on terrorism both here and worldwide.

A poignant factor in this quick mobilization was that Rhonda Winfield was already on her way when she got the call informing her of the protest. Rhonda is the mother of Lance Cpl. Jason Redifer USMC who grew up in Stuarts Draft and was killed in action while serving our country in Iraq almost one year ago to the day. Rhonda was joined by many who have supported her in the past and several were glad to help her hold her banner that said "Freedom Isn't Free". During several media interviews Winfield stated that she was there to support all of the troops and to represent her son who volunteered to defend his country along with the freedom and rights of those who live in this country

Upon arrival to the middle school we found only a small group of protesters, who never outnumbered the supporters, with a sign 2222 signifying the amount of troops lost in Iraq during the war on terrorism. There was also a larger sign with the name of their group but I saw no form of “Supporting the Troops” which has become a favorite slogan when questioned why they are protesting the war. In fact at no time did I see any of the protesters acknowledge or speak to the mother of a serviceman who was killed defending their freedom to protest.

I did hear some unfortunate comments from the protesters regarding the group supporting this mother of a fallen hero and our President, George W. Bush. When the protesters were asked “And who is this other group” by a reporter interviewing the protest groups leader the reply was “Those are the people in favor of war”… When returning to my vehicle to leave I heard a derogatory comment regarding President Bush and turned to find a young girl maybe 14 years old who then closed the door of the vehicle she was in. The girl was in a car of one of the protesters and the sad thing is that she is probably only repeating that which she has heard many times from her parent. Unfortunately she may never understand why we must stand up to and confront acts of terrorism both here and abroad...

That is why we must get out and respond to those protesting the war on terrorism and to represent those who have given their lives to protect our freedom and rights. We must also remain vigilant in presenting the facts so to educate and remind those who do not understand that "Freedom Isn't Free"

"Hey, What about the time?....."

Once again our friend Al Gore has made his way into the spotlight by way of his timely political comments... Just the other day he stated, in front of a group of like "Progressive" thinkers, his enlightened opinion on the recent news of surveillance of suspected terrorist phone calls to people within the United States.
" A President who breaks the law is a threat to the very structure of our government" Al Gore
Now if memory serves me correctly, It was Al's boss, William Jefferson Clinton who was held in contempt of court not for his actions with, "That woman, Monica Lewinski", but for lying to a grand jury about his history of infidelity. It was not about "Sex" but the President's direct action of lying to avoid prosecution in a court case about past acts of infidelity...