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| Dr. David Marlett, Editor | 12 April 2001 | Vol. II #50 | ||
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| Dr. David Marlett, Editor | 12 April 2001 | Vol. II #50 | ||
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Nationally syndicated columnist Don Feder, who writes for the Boston Herald, isn't happy with yesterday's deal with the Chinese.
Feder begins his most recent column, "I'm Sorry - That a Wimp Like W Is President. George W. Bush - now we know what the W stands for. (Hint, it isn't valorous.) The president just failed his first foreign policy test, and a crucial test at that. The Chinese communists are the last people on earth we can afford to show weakness to."
Feder argues that Bush should have punished Beijing's "aggression" and by giving the letter "Bush has demonstrated just how easily he's manipulated."
Feder has no doubt that "We gave China the apology it demanded. The president can play Clintonian word games if he chooses, but yesterday our foreheads were in the dirt. In the official statement, we said we were 'very sorry' for the death of the Chinese pilot."
Feder was perplexed what we had regret about, asking what the U.S. did to cause the Chinese pilot's death.
Feder suggested what Bush should have done:
"Bush could have recalled our ambassador to China, agreed to a robust package of arms sales to Taipei (including Aegis-equipped cruisers) and announced he would ask Congress to rescind Permanent Normal Trade Relations granted last year. Approval of PNTR was conditional on China joining the World Trade Organization, which Beijing has yet to do, due to a reluctance to abide by its rules."
[ NewsMax ]
TCN Comment: We agree with Feder's suggested action. We are also very distrubed by Bush's Clintonian word games as well as his Clintonian style of placing trade with china above all other consderations.
Bush announced today that the hostage taking had not damaged US - China relations... It is a sad day when a nation can force down our military planes, take its crew captive and not damage relations. Its a sad day for US foreign relations and a sad day for Republican leadership (so-called).
An article in a local newspaper on April 8th 2001 discussed the Bush tax plan using three families/persons from the three economic categories, low income, middle income and high income. There are some interesting observations to be made from this article.
The article stated that a low income family of four, two adults and two children, would see no tax relief from the Bush tax plan. Now before I get into the meat of the thing here I have to do some math that the article was a little short on.
The article said that the gross income of this family was $15,000.00. The father making $8.00 per hour and the mother making $6.50 per hour. This is the first place I have a problem, there are 2080 work hours in the year, if he worked 2080 hours at $8.00 per hour his income was $16640.00. That amount is $1640.00 more than reported for the entire family income for this year. The wives income for 2080 hours worked at $6.50 per hour should have been $13,520.00. When you add the two together they earned $30,160.00. (I guess they only worked about half time this year.)
The article went on to say that because the family qualified for the Earned Income Tax Credit they did not pay ANY federal income tax; in fact they got a check from IRS for $3,402.00. The article said that the biggest monthly expense for the couple was their car payment of $275.00 per month. That comes to $3300.00 per year. So since they don't pay any taxes and get a Bonus check from those who do pay, we are paying their car payment for them.
Under the Bush plan they would get an additional $400.00 in the IRS welfare check, but the article says," Under the original Bush tax cut, they would not qualify for any lower income tax rate, a bigger child tax credit or a deduction for dual income couples." How can your rate be lower if you pay nothing? Five percent of Zero is Zero! Not only that but if you look at the math here you can see that their tax bracket is actually a negative 23 percent! I guess the Democrats want that rate to be a negative 50 percent!
The next time you look at the budget breakdown, look at the numbers for social programs and add 19.8 million people on the Income Tax Welfare rolls to that figure. According to the report the average IRS welfare is $1682.00 for each of those 19.8 million that is being distributed by the IRS, but not counted as welfare in the budget breakdown. My calculator will not go that high but I think you can figure out it's a substantial amount of money being re-distributed without being counted as welfare. I don't know what else
to call it.
[ Ike Harley ]
"The Senate voted Friday to slash President Bush's tax cut by 20%, and we thought you might like to know the reasons. Their names are Senators Jim Jeffords, Lincoln Chafee and Ben Nelson, and what they all want is a lot more of your money to spend. ... We highlight these three politicians because Mr. Bush would have passed his budget intact had he been able to win over any one of them. Messrs. Jeffords and Chafee are Republicans, after all, and the tax cut is the first proposal by their party's new President. While they hail from liberal Vermont and Rhode Island, both have six years before they face the voters again. You'd think they could give their President at least one vote. ... Mr. Chafee was the most obstinate, refusing even to negotiate, according to several sources." --Wall Street Journal
"[Leftists] need to come to terms with their dysfunctional approach to human rights and the rule of law. If 'human rights' is to have real meaning, it must be more than a weapon wielded by left-wingers against politicians they dislike. The left can get away with political murders because of the presumed morality of their goals. The ends justify the means as long as the policy -- land redistribution, for example -- meets with the intelligentsia's approval. If the policy does not meet with the left-wing's approval -- such as ... privatization of Social Security and socialized industries -- the human-rights weapon is unsheathed. The two-faced nature of 'human rights' deprives the cause of credibility." --Paul Craig Roberts
"The Chinese generals, who are believed to be pushing the hard line over the plane incident, may for their part be frustrated that the heavy investment they made in America, through their hard-money contributions to the Clinton campaigns, has gone all for naught." --Wes Pruden
"Despite years of funding new reading programs, average reading scores for U.S. fourth-graders haven't risen at all in eight years, and scores for the worst readers have dropped significantly, a national reading test shows. ... The doleful results are certain to spark a debate between some congressional Democrats, who are arguing for huge increases in the education budget as a way to fuel academic progress, and some Republicans, who contend that education-reform measures and not more money are the answer." --Wall Street Journal
"Only three of the 37 states that gave national reading and math tests to their public school students in the 1990s narrowed the achievement gap between whites and minorities" -- Capitol Hill Blue
"Last week's shutdown of Hawaii's entire public-school system - from pre-school to high school - is a vivid reminder of the dangers of a state-run monopoly on education and the need for greater competition, for the sake of the students AND the teachers. Teachers unions argue that Hawaii is "suffering" because the state has enough taxpayer money in its coffers to raise salaries, but refuses to do so. But if greater competition were introduced into the system - in the form of vouchers, privatization and charter schools - Hawaii's teachers would not be subject to the whims of the state. Sadly, America’s teachers unions consider competitive schools, like the 113 run by the hugely successful Edison Schools, more of a threat than tight-fisted bureaucrats. As a result, it seems to us the only ones "suffering" in Hawaii are the students." --Wall Street Journal
"Trevor Loflin of Sonora, Calif., has scored a perfect 1,600 on his SATs, Sacramento's KCRA-TV reports. 'The task is even more amazing considering that Loflin's family was homeless,' the station adds. We're a little confused by this report, which says the 17-year-old, though homeless, is 'home-schooled,' but a perfect SAT score is impressive in any case. There's just one problem: The University of California, in the name of 'diversity,' is planning to stop using the SAT in admissions. Tough break, Trevor." -- Best of the Web
TCN Comment: According to the teachers' unions this would mean Trevor's parents must have spent a lot of money on his education… Don't high scores cost thousands of dollars???
"Those who have been in for a few years have seen our active forces slashed by 320,000, our reserves by 193,000 and the DOD civilian work force by 286,000 since 1993. They wonder why we still have 800 troops wearing U.N. uniforms and more than 15,000 U.S. military personnel deployed around the world as U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan's 'Meals on Wheels' contingent.
Service men and women returning for repeat assignments to Kosovo and Bosnia wonder why we continue to send troops into this 'Balkan Aberration,' where 'all we do is protect ourselves against the Albanians we came to save.'
Soldiers ask, 'What the h___ is an Army of One?'
Rangers, proud of their hard-won, distinguishing head gear, wonder why every cook and 'Remington Raider' in the Pentagon will now be wearing a black beret made in -- of all places -- communist China.
Air Force pilots remonstrate that they would get more 'flight hours' in any U.S. commuter airline and their crew chiefs tell of having to scavenge spare parts from 'hangar queens.'
The Marines, glad to get distinctive new camouflage utility uniforms, are worried that they may not get something they need even more, the V-22 Osprey."
[ Oliver North ]
The Federal Budget Surplus Crisis has become so severe that there is now serious talk in Washington of letting you keep slightly more of your own money.
That is correct: The government has been taking in so much of your money that even Congress is having a hard time spending it all. Not that Congress isn't trying! In fact, in recent years Congress, faced with the alarming buildup of your money, has come up with some truly creative things to spend it on.
My favorite is the Greyhound Bus Museum. ...Of course the bus museum is only one of many examples of how Congress is working to ease the dangerous buildup of your money in Washington. Thanks to Congress, you're also paying $1.5 million for sunflower research, and $176,000 for the Reindeer Herders Association. No, really!
The surplus has reached such alarming levels that it now appears likely that Congress may actually reduce your taxes slightly. Of course, Congress must first argue for months about exactly which of you taxpayers are worthy of being allowed to keep slightly more of your money. And no matter what Congress decides, the odds are that you, personally, won't get much tax relief -- certainly nowhere near Reindeer Herder Association money.
But still, thanks to the generosity of Congress, some day -- perhaps as early as next year -- you might be able to afford a slightly nicer summer vacation! The Greyhound Bus Museum is open from May 15 through the end of September." --Dave Barry
The phone rang and the secretary said, "George Will calling." Now, George and I worked together 30 years ago for the late Senator Gordon Allott of Colorado. After Allott's unfortunate defeat in the 1972 election, the closest statewide election in Colorado history, Will and I pursued separate paths, both of us promoting conservatism in our own way - Will through the establishment, yours truly by fighting the establishment. Although I consider George a friend, we seldom speak, so I was surprised by the call.
Will was, as he always is, right to the point. "I hope you and yours are doing everything you can to defeat McCain-Feingold in the House," Will said emphatically. I assured him the troops were gearing up as we spoke. "I assumed that was the case," Will said," but I just wanted to be sure. This is the end of the world, you know."
It may not be the end of the world as Scripture defines it, but McCain-Feingold, if passed by the House and signed into law by the president, is the end of the world of politics and government as the Founding Fathers envisioned it. True, we have come a far ways from that already, but what they set up would still be recognizable to them were they able to come back to life. But if McCain-Feingold becomes the law of the land, and if it is upheld by the Supreme Court, they would not recognize the kind of government we will have in this country.
There are many who say not to worry. Now that the members of the House are looking at the possibility of such a bill actually being enacted, they will switch and vote against it. Don't count on it. The media love this legislation above all else. The media will fry members who switch their votes, so unless they come from absolutely safe districts, they will be afraid to change.
And there are those who say that we should relax. President Bush will veto the legislation. True, the president did outline certain principles, and McCain-Feingold violates almost all of those principles. But still, the pressure will be on the president to sign this bill if it passes both houses. If he vetoes it, he escalates a costly war with John McCain from which he may never escape. He will also get pounded on by the media mercilessly, to the point where he may wonder if everything else he wants to do will have to be sacrificed because of this legislation. Granted, the legislation will devastate his closest friends and allies, who won't be there to help him when he really needs it because of this legislation, but on balance the odds are this bill gets the president's signature.
Then there are those who say even if it passes the Congress and the president signs it, the Supreme Court will never uphold the constitutionality of the bill. Well, maybe if the court we have at this very moment is the court which gets to rule on the legislation, that might be true. But it may well take a year or two for this legislation to make its way to the high court, and the composition of the court could change by a vote or even two by then. Remember, most of our liberties have been upheld by 5-to-4 votes. Even if President Bush nominates someone good for the court, and even if he can get that nominee through the dreadful Senate, that is still no guarantee how the nominee is going to vote once on the court.
President Dwight Eisenhower claims he thought Earl Warren would be a conservative chief justice and confessed later Warren's appointment was the worst mistake of his presidency. President Reagan was said to have expressed disappointment in some of the votes cast by Sandra Day O'Connor while he was still president. I don't know what the elder President Bush thinks of Justice David Souter, but when asked about the Supreme Court, his son George W. always pointed to Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas as role models.
The point is this. If McCain-Feingold is to be defeated, we are going to have to do it. We can't rely on someone else. This will take away our political freedom to tell the truth about the records of the politicians. It is an incumbent protection bill of the worst order. In the long run it will change the face of government. A different kind of candidate will emerge because of this legislation, and it won't be a Rick Santorum, up from the grass roots. Only the elite will run and govern.
George Will is right. This is the end of the world as we know it. We can still stop this monstrosity if we are determined to do so. The question is how much do we value our liberty?
[ NewsMax ]
Instructions to the jury said a person can be found not guilty if he acts to defend himself or another person. These common-sense jurors spent little time finding Artis Hartwick NOT GUILTY of violating several laws relating to possession of and firing a gun at school to defend his son.
"A jury acquitted Hardwick, 43, who said he fired once into the air as his son was beaten by a gang of teens at Glades Central High School. 'I never intended to hurt anybody. I just wanted to make them scatter, and they scattered all right,' Hardwick said from home Tuesday night. 'I told the truth. I feel born again.'"
** KABA Note: We need more juries like this one -- intelligent people who can see the simplicity of a father protecting his son when school and public officials aren't doing so.
Interestingly, this took place in the Palm Beach County, Florida school district. "Palm Beach County School District Police Chief Jim Kelly called the jury's finding 'unbelievable,' particularly the acquittals for possession and discharging of a weapon on school property."
"'To bring it (a gun) on and not be held accountable for that, sounds like a little examination of state laws have to be made to see what's wrong,' Kelly said." What's wrong is that you don't understand the natural Law of self defense and the highest law of the land, Bud. The father should be suing you for letting thugs beat his son on property on your watch.
Mr. Kelly understands that the father saved his son a serious beating -- or worse -- but he still wants the father convicted. Maybe he is still sore that he couldn't get that pesky "chad" to go all the way through the Presidential ballot.
TCN Comment: The next major expense in this project will be to move them all to Palm Beach County Florida.
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