Calling John Galt

Stimulus for infrastructure, and the Change is right on track!

As in literally, right on the same old track as before.

Want proof? Read this piece by Michael Turk. It will make you laugh and cry, and for all the wrong reasons.

There is quite a bit of talk going around about business people going John Galt, and it does seem more likely as they are punished for their hard work.

Though, one issue we face is if our Military leaders start to go John Galt.  In these uncertain times, we need a strong and resourcful military.  Without that, North Korea, Iran, Russia and even the Pirates off the Somali coast would start eating our lunch.

Here is to hoping we can right the boat before the good men and women that keep the country safe are well taken care of and rewarded for their work.

Here is where your money is going!

And we thought spending during the Bush Administration was Bad!

Hmmm, lets get this straight.  A TV show interviews a local grassroots organizer and has a sitting US Senator to act as the counter point?  I am sorry, but the Senator is a sitting duck!

By the way, best of luck at your Tea Party in Cincinatti and everyone where tomorrow!

The Department of Homeland Security has a new assessment paper, and the summary has the wonderful working title:

Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment

So, what exactly constitutes a “rightwing extremist” these days? The answer is in a footnote at the bottom of page 2:

Rightwing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided into those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups), and those that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration.

So I guess that means that if I happen to like my government “closer to home” than being run out of Washington, D.C., that makes me a Rightwing Extremist.

Don’t be surprised if people start taking your picture at the Tea Parties, folks.  ;)

On Wednesday, April 15th otherwise known as Tax Day, over 600 Tea-Party demonstrations are expected to be held, with the largest in San Antonio and Atlanta.  What does this mean for the right and left of the political spectrum?

Will this movement gain steam and begin to organize into a national movement? Part of me hopes so and part of me doesn’t.  It may just require organizing at a national level to begin making a real impact on the policies and laws coming out of DC.  If that happens, we may just see a loss in energy and adaptability in the grass roots nature of the organization.

That loss just may well be detrimental to the movement as a whole.  The question then becomes, can you have a movement without one clear leader or organization? I definitely hope so.

I guess the Tea-Parties represent those who firmly believe in:

• Fair taxation and representation
• State’s rights over those of the Federal Gov’t
• The power of people to determine their own future

Or they could simply be fed up with what is happening in Washington, where everyday American’s have almost no say in how their country is run, where incumbents rule supreme, and where hard work is punished and laziness is rewarded.

Though, they could easily be both, which is what I hope it is.  If so, then what a powerful movement it could become.  Maddow, Olberman, and the Daily Kos be damned.  They aren’t the only ones with a say in this country.

Top ten reasons to scrap the entire tax code.

1. The Code is Too Complex.

The code is so big that politicians can’t even agree on how long it is.  Title 26, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code totals to about 3,400,000 million words.  The non-partisan Tax Foundation reports that the entire tax code with regulations in 2005 was over 9,097,000 words.  To put that in perspective, the Bible has 774,746 words.  The code has grown in length between 1995 and 2005 by 18.9 percent.  The directions for filing a typical form 1040 totals 161 pages.  The “EZ” version is 41 pages.

2. The Code is Beyond Comprehension.

No single person knows or understands the entire tax code– not even IRS Employees!

In 2008, the IRS was wrong on questions concerning tax law about 10 percent of the time.  Myriads of accountants and lawyers are employed to decipher the cryptic tax code.  It should be scrapped and simplified.  No small modification to the code can remove the enormous complication.

3. The IRS is Too Big.

The IRS employed 90,647 people in 2008. It had operating costs of $11,207,223,000.  If we simplified the code, then many of those IRS employees could go into more productive lines of work, rather than checking up on whether or not the correct amount of money was extracted from hard working Americans.  The money spent on the IRS is economic deadweight loss caused by the level of complication of the code.  If it were scrapped and replaced, billions of taxpayer dollars could be saved just by reducing the size of the IRS–not to mention all the gains from productively employing former IRS staff members in the private sector.

Check here for the rest >>

Alabama Congressman Spencer Bachus thinks so. He thinks there are 17, but didn’t name names.

Here is the article, and the comment thread provides its own degree of entertainment and amusement.

Will it be possible for a Libertarian candidate to win high polilitical office: Congress, Senate or the Presidency?  What is holding Libertarians back?  Is it issues with the political system here in the US or does it have to do with issues within the party itself?

President Obama has yet to comment on the recent piracy incident.  He ducks a question about it at a event on housing.  Sorry, but the President of the United States should be able to multi-task.