Want Lower Costs?

Increase Supply.

Fuel costs too high, increase supply. Electricity costs too high, increase supply. Medical costs too high, increase supply. It’s demand that determines supply

Do not subsidize fake demand. It’s false and only steals profit from the economy and reduces tax revenue.

Reduce market restrictions and excessive unnecessary government regulation, restrictions and fees.

Create freer, fairer and more open markets that can evolve quickly to meet new and emerging demands.

A word about conservation, and the senseless and wasteful misuse of anything; no one should take more than they will use, or horde, or try to save things that cannot be preserved.

Who buys more fuel than they need and doesn’t use it? Who buys more electricity than they want and just wastes it? Or buys more than they will eat just to let it spoil; not any sane person.

You cannot meet this nation’s economic and security needs by conserving energy, or by artificially raising its price. These actions will reduce supply and increase the price of everything. Provide more beneficial energy. If you want consumers to buy energy from new production methods instead of old, it must be plentiful, reliable, practical, and its total costs must be competitive.

Everything we eat is grown or raised using energy; processed, transported, stored, distributed, displayed, and sold; or manufactured, transported, warehoused, transported, displayed, sold, and carried home using energy. And then more energy is necessary to use or store it for future use. And even more energy is required to prepare for and go to the work to earn the resources necessary to sustain life.

If there are 10 actions using energy from creation to final use, and you add 10 percent to the cost of energy in each of them, you could double the cost adding 100% to everything you need and use including whatever you do to earn the money to buy them.

First, the government should adopt policies that encourage, not subsidize the production of more fuel, more gas, more electricity and not restrict it. Crisis exaggeration and radical policies by the government are thwarting demand.

Second, encourage alternative energy methods by research and incentive helping to make them economical, not by subsidy or restrictive conservation, not by making existing methods artificially expensive or restricting supply.

It’s Jobs, Stupid

Created by Demand

The President apparently doesn’t know where jobs come from. They are not bought by the government. The purchase of goods and services bought by the government can help create jobs. These purchases are made however with taxes or borrowed money. Taxes rob individuals of the purchasing power that creates real jobs and government borrowed money robs businesses of the capital they need to grow.

Demand, sufficient to create a likely PROFIT and sustainable into a predicable future, will eventually create new jobs.

Not government regulation, not tiny government tax credits, not government meetings with non-business people about how to create jobs; anything short of individual and business tax cuts, reduced government spending, and minimum government interference (regulation) will allow the opportunity for increased demand.

If you let the people keep substantially more of what they earn, massive tax cuts and large rebates will allow demand to rapidly increase.

If you stop taxing businesses so oppressively, they will have the resources to investment to benefit from increased demands for their goods and services from people and other businesses; more new jobs!

Stop subsidizing old jobs. Stop all protectionist tariffs and subsidizes. These two actions alone would be a strong incentive for new job creation.

The current administration has fostered fear, suspicion, and uncertainty, threatens increased taxes and severe regulation, and maligns business profit and individual wealth. They have deepened and prolonged the current economic recession by doing the exact opposite of what is needed.

Cut taxes deeply and quickly.

Cut government payroll and project spending to levels lower than probable future revenue immediately.

Stop the government threats, government induced uncertainty, massive deficit spending, and the excessive expansion of unneeded social programs.

Stop punishing businesses with excessive taxes and fees. It just retards investment.

Your policies, Mr. President, are the primary cause of massive unemployment.

Health Care Tax Bill

No Health Care Improvements

It’s not health care reform. It could be called Fundamental Health Insurance Change Bill. It could be called Union and Government Benefit Plan Bailout Bill. It could be called the Medical Services Tax Bill. Maybe, it should be called the Health Care Tax Revenue Bill or “No Health Insurance” Penalty Tax Bill.

It does nothing to improve or increase the quality, or availability, or volume of medical CARE. Health CARE all ready cannot be denied to anyone who needs it and taxpayers and the insured all ready pay for that. Care providers make up for non-payers by overcharging those who can pay.

These proposed laws do nothing to lower health care costs. They do lower certain kinds of government health care reimbursement. It turns price controls and rationing of services over to new government bureaucracies increasing medical care costs.

If you want to lower the price; increase supply and cut government involvement.

If you want to increase access; increase funding for health care training and invest in more medical facilities and equipment.

It does nothing to increase wellness. It does nothing to reduce medical malpractice or the cost of it insurance, nothing to limit outrageous malpractice settlements, nothing to simplify insurance availability or increase competition.

These bills will accomplish no useful reforms in health care.

Much of the language in the House and Senate bills modifies or increases tax law, tax revenue, regulation and reporting.

These so called, “Health Care Reforms” will cover very few people who don’t have health INSURANCE that want it.

The people who need health CARE and can’t afford it know to go to local emergency rooms and lie about their ability and intent to pay.

It will bailout the state governments, unions and large enterprises that caved into silly excessive demands by employees for coverage that pays all or most of simple visits to the doctors office and routine annual procedures. You must look hard to find high deductible insurance to safeguard your home, your savings, or investments just from catastrophic medical care costs.

This idiotic, poorly developed, grossly over-priced, thinly disguised, seriously corrupt, nonsensical attempt is just to bribe the ignorant poor into voting for the lazy, deceitful, medaling, socialist-progressive, incumbents and corrupt, self-centered, job-scared cowards who vote only for what’s best for themselves. Stop this travesty and don’t re-elect those who perpetrated this pathetic attempt to defraud the people, obstruct our rights, and loot our treasury.

Elect people who understand this nation, its constitution, and the rights and power of its people

Extremists,

All of Them

Political, sexual, and religious abuses, cruelty, violence, mayhem, torture, and murder; what has become of “moderation in all things” - Terence 185-159 BC?  Obsessions and the compulsion to take them to abusive extremes seem to have grown quickly in recent decades.

What has happened to the various world cultures that fractions of them have gone to extremes and the rest do not appear to condemn it?

Politicians demonize all who do not feel as they do. Molesters attack the defenseless and deviates attack all that choose differently than they. Believers exclude all other beliefs and murder, abuse and enslave while others among them stand by tolerating it. Many have taken self abuses to the extreme and expect others to help them overcome or tolerate their obsessions. Violence and lawlessness are rampant and tolerated when it’s directed toward others, and allowed to go unchecked even by those officially charged with its control.

What could this be? Extremities are not new, but this volume and frequency seems to be. It could be the result of much more information about what others might be doing or not doing. It could be a byproduct of increasing despair and disappointment with long established values and institutions. It could be the massive increase in ignorance and the bigotry, prejudice, discrimination, and poverty that comes from ignorance, selfishness and corruption. It could be toleration. You do get what you tolerate.

Muslims aren’t the only religious extremists murdering non-believers. Progressives aren’t the only political extremists ignoring human rights. Child molesters aren’t the only sexual extremists preying on the defenseless. Addicts aren’t the only substance abusers. Drug gangs and terrorist aren’t the only ones committing mayhem on the innocent.

Extreme behavior must be stopped with overwhelming irreversible and swift excessive punishment, more severe than anyone finds appropriate. Unacceptable behaviors only stop when harsh unexpected official action is taken with little warning so that the offending entities can only blame themselves for bringing this terrible reaction upon themselves, or they are dumbfounded to conceive of or execute a response that is more hideous and likely to bring another even more unimaginably horrible punishment.

All actions that fall short of unexpected, overwhelmingly punitive, and nearly unimaginably punishment will not diminish extremist behaviors.

Save Failing Newspapers,

No way!

Newspapers are failing for many easily identifiable reasons. Among them:

1. The purchase and delivery is grossly over priced to the consumer. They should be free to the user.

2. Their ad space is excessively over-priced compared to its commercial and personal value.

3. It is old news, often two to three days slower than television or internet.

4. Biases annoyingly color and inaccurately report what little reporting they attempt.

5. There is little if any local news, unless you live in a major city.

6. Many papers are already subsidized to some extent by local zoning, property tax breaks, government notices and ordinances requiring use, and political ads.

7. Their journalistic ethics are abysmal.

8. They’ve mostly forgotten their mission and the contract with our culture.

9. The 4th Estate (the Press) implies nobility and honor, they’ve lost theirs.

Those papers that cannot survive without help should collapse under the weight of their own corruption, mismanagement and dishonor. The survivors may rediscovery their purpose, establish a new paradigm and some ethics, and perhaps earn some honor again.

We don’t need what newspapers once were or what they have become. We may not even need what they will become, but they should try to prove themselves in the free and unfettered marketplace of ideas.

Eliminate subsidies to all newspapers, especially the financially mismanaged.

Listen,

Mr. President

You are speaking way too often. It would be wiser for you to listen much more. Not just to those self anointed experts from within the beltway, or those manipulative ideologues from Chicago, or the self-absorbed media people from the northeast. It might be wise for you to not speak at all for several weeks or months, maybe for the rest of whatever may remains of your term.

You need to go on listening tours of small towns and rural areas of the central and western states. Stay out of the cities. You, Sir, are poorly informed and are being badly misled by your inter-circle. I think they are afraid to tell you the truth or let you see any unpleasant facts. Their assumption and yours, that all that has gone before you was wrong and holds no lessons of value for today, is entirely wrong.

You are repeating the economic mistakes of the 1930’s and 40’s. You are providing money to those who do not create real jobs. Return massive amounts of tax money to taxpayers. Stop taxing businesses. Demand will create many more jobs than government spending. Your thinly disguised massive subsidies of obstructionist Unions, corrupt banks, and incompetent states and their excessive pensions and expensive health plans are a massive mistake that will cripple generations of future working Americans. Expanded and massive new government entitlements and reparations for the non-working poor and illegal immigrants, mostly blacks and Latinos, are a shameful political bribe.

Your affiliations with Marxists, Socialists, and Communists radicals bent on overthrow of our capitalistic way of life, is unacceptable and destructive to the future survival of these United States. Your naïveté of human behavior and the value systems of other nation’s cultures is an embarrassing abomination.

So get out of your familiar, like minded circle of America hating intellectual elitists, and go among the real people. Sit with them and ask what they think. Listen and learn correcting your misinformed, poorly educated, misdirected animosity for the American way of life. Most working Americans expect and want much less from our Federal government. It isn’t worth what it costs now. Many of things it has sold us we didn’t want and didn’t ask for. Many of the things it thinks are benefits we should be grateful for are punitive mistakes that have and will rob us of our rightful earnings and destroy our self-esteem; they were just voter bribes calculated to keep party incumbents in office.

While I’m at it let me remind you that lying with what your advisers think is the cleaver misuse of our language isn’t, it’s just insulting. If it wasn’t corrupt and deceitful, the Public Health Care Option would truly be optional, not compulsory; terrorists would be terrorists, not criminals regardless of their religion; and lying, back-stabbing, corrupt, thieving politicians that accept special treatment, fill their pockets with special interest money, exempt their friends from laws intended for everyone, and steal promised benefits from the elderly after systematically robbing them of their life’s earnings; are just lying, back-stabbing, corrupt, thieving politicians.

Just in case your entitlements don’t work out as you imagine, we want a Taxpayer Option.

A Money-back plus Interest Option!

Johns Hopkins Update

Johns Hopkins, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center http://www.hopkinskimmelcancercenter.org

Recently a report exaggerating the value of dietary changes and minimizing the effectiveness of clinical therapies has been circulated on the internet and falsely attributed to Johns Hopkins.

I received one, so I went to their website. They refute each of the assertions in sensible detail. Below is what they have participated in and recommend.

Several Johns Hopkins experts participated in the World Cancer Research Fund - American Institute for Cancer Research report Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and the Prevention of Cancer: A Global Perspective, published in November 2007, which is considered by cancer prevention experts to be an authoritative source of information on diet, physical activity and cancer.

Their recommendations for cancer prevention and for good health in general are:

1. Be as lean as possible without becoming underweight.

2. Be physically active for at least 30 minutes every day.

3. Avoid sugary drinks. Limit consumption of energy-dense foods (particularly processed foods high in added sugar or low in fiber, or high in fat).

4. Eat more of a variety of vegetables, fruits, whole grains and legumes such as beans.

5. Limit consumption of red meats (such as beef, pork and lamb) and avoid processed meats.

6. If consumed at all, limit alcoholic drinks to 2 for men and 1 for women a day.

7. Limit consumption of salty foods and foods processed with salt (sodium).

8. Don't use supplements to protect against cancer. Our experts recommend that people meet their nutritional needs through their food choices. While vitamin supplements can be helpful in people with nutritional deficiencies, evidence suggests that supplementation above what the body can use provides no added health benefit.

Cancer is a disease caused by genetic alterations. Many times, these alterations occur through our own behaviors—cigarette smoking, a poor and unbalanced diet, virus exposures, and sunburns, says cancer prevention and control expert John Groopman.

Most of the above was copied from the Johns Hopkins website. I was going to attach the misinformation to show how sensible sounding information can be easily accepted, but it’s foolish to give it any more exposure.

Reforms,

Many are Needed

First, some definitions are needed to begin this discussion because politics has construed the word “reform” to its own ends irrespective of its meanings. Here are some widely accepted definitions:

· make changes for improvement in order to remove abuse and injustices; "reform a political system"
· bring, lead, or force to abandon a wrong or evil course of life, conduct, and adopt a right one; "The Church reformed me"; "reform your conduct"
· produce by cracking; "reform gas"
· break up the molecules of; "reform oil"
· a change for the better as a result of correcting abuses; "justice was for sale before the reform of the law courts"
· improve by alteration or correction of errors or defects and put into a better condition; "reform the health system in this country"
· a campaign aimed to correct abuses or malpractices; "the reforms he proposed were too radical for the politicians"
· change for the better; "The lazy student promised to reform"; "the habitual cheater finally saw the light"
· self-improvement in behavior or morals by abandoning some vice; "the family rejoiced in the drunkard's reform"

The idea or the words "fundamental change" do not appear among these definitions. Although not precisely the opposite of reform, no where in any of these definitions does it hint at fundamental changes. It speaks everywhere to changing the trappings that come after the fundamental basis of an initiative that has been accepted. Reform addresses processes, procedures, methods, paradigms, the how to, not changing the primary purpose as though it no longer has consensus.

Next, a few things in priority order that need urgent comprehensive reform:

Public Education needs many reforms. Very little that will be useful to children in their adult futures is even being offered to them today. The teaching methods and motives are perverse. The moral and intellectual integrity of teachers and administrators are poor examples for young minds. Inspiration and enthusiasm are rarely displayed or transmitted. Low quality performance and low achievement are routine; and excellence, analytical thinking, and forethought are mocked, if even mentioned. You get what you tolerate and we’ve tolerated indolence and dishonesty. Young people today are confused, incapable and feel betrayed and they have been. They’ve been offered very little that will help them become valuable human beings.

Government reform has never truly been attempted. Virtually none of the useless programs, departments, policies have even been evaluated by their objectives let alone discontinued. Many new, false or exaggerated programs have been initiated. All programs that encourage people to accept resources they have not earned, or are truly owed, must be stopped. And those government enterprises that are not constitutional, or add no value for all our citizens, must stop.

Taxation reforms must focus only on revenue collection, not commingled with wealth redistribution. Revenue collection must focus only on the collection of minimum equitable taxes with some reasonable amounts paid by all who derive any benefits from citizenship.

Immigration, citizenship, residency, and border security reforms must include clear, simple, fast, and equitable methods for foreigners to come here legally, and rigidly exclude and expel those who are not lawfully here.

Protectionism, free markets, unionism, subsidy and tariff reforms. If you cannot produce a competitive product or service sought after in a free market you should retrain and re-equip yourself to produce something desired at a competitive price without subsidies, tariffs or special protections. Anything less than open, fair and honest competition should not be tolerated among ourselves or from others.

Some other reforms, not prioritized include:

Legal and justice system reforms, like restoring speedy trails and penalizing those who fund, participate, process or bring frivolous law suits.

Reconsider and revoke unjustified antitrust exemptions, and a thorough review and denial of many religious and non-profit tax exemptions.

Current Human Services entitlements, they have future unfunded liabilities that by most estimates exceed 50 trillion dollars.

Government ownership and operation in competition with private enterprises is immoral and unconstitutional. National Public Radio, Public Broadcasting Service, National Endowment of the Arts and the Humanities, and substantial ownership in auto manufacturing, finance and insurance are examples.

Disband the Department of Education and stop inequitable funds and grants to public schools, fund all or fund none.

Federal subsidies to the journalism, media broadcast, or any activities where adequate private enterprise providers supply the demand in free, open and fair markets.

You will notice no where in my list is anything resembling the current Health Care reform attempt because stopping government provided health care and prohibiting governmental interference in acquisition of health care by our citizens, except for directing and contributing to the control of epidemics, should occur in governmental reforms listed as the number one priority.

A Law Passed with Exemptions,

A Bad Law

Why would a good law, a meaningful, helpful, widely applicable law, need to have any exemptions? If it needs to exempt or subsidize someone or something, then it’s a bad law.

Only poor or bad laws, designed to subsidize or shield ones political contributors, or penalize ones political enemies would have any need for exemptions. Maybe it’s just a poorly conceived law and badly written and extensive attempts have been made to improve it when it should have been scrapped and the entire reason for it revisited.

Good laws should address real needs expressed by the electorate, not needs imagined by politicians seeking political advantages.

Good laws are simple to write because they have a simple straightforward purpose, correcting a widely perceived easily understood wrong. No exemptions, subsidies, or credits are needed. Do something new or begin doing something differently that is important or helps all the people, stop doing things badly that just help your contributors and harm most others. If it is complexly written, it is by its very nature a bad law.

A 3,000, or 300 or 30 page law, is definitely a bad law. If the reason for a law and the description of the solution can’t be understood in writing in a few pages, then it’s not a real problem, or a real solution, or both; and it’s probably deceitful and corrupt, and in its true purpose, a bad law.

After all, how many new laws do we need? I’ve seen over 1,100 new laws per year attempted. That is pure idiocy. New laws truly made necessary by changes in human behavior couldn’t honestly exceed ten annually.

Incidentally, we can’t equitably enforce the laws passed last year, or last decade, or the last century. We can’t even provide surveillance of them; the solution, stop passing laws that cannot be enforced equitably.

Old laws, obsolete, no longer applicable laws most be removed from affect much more quickly and much more publicly. Even archaic laws used as device to catch criminals when no other legal way can be discovered, need to be eliminated. If the only way a criminal can be caught is because they don’t have a horse hitching post or a clean spittoon, then you have way more pressing problems than a new or an archaic law can fix.

A Constitutional Amendment making Congress delete twice as many laws as they pass for the next hundred years should bring the number of applicable laws down to a manageable number that infringe less upon our human rights, or they could do it because it makes good sense.

Health Care Reforms I Want

1. Get the Federal government out and stay out of providing health care, (Veterans, military, prisoners, Native Americans, citizens, foreigners, anyone.) Federal Government policies and programs are the reasons for high and rapidly increasing costs, not the solution.

2. Get the Federal government out and stay out of health care insurance. The Federal Government isn’t competent enough to operate an insurance program, even a nonprofit one.

3. Reduce Federal taxes on each family by at least $10,000 annually. For those who pay no income tax, issue a $10,000 voucher to “head of household” good for health insurance only, paid for by cuts to labor appropriations for government employees taking the same percentage from each government department’s staffing.

4. Drop the phony so called “health care reform” initiative currently underway wholly within the Senate, House of Representative, and the Executive Branch. More the half of all frequent voters have no interest in being the victims of the intended and unintended consequences of those well-meaning, but uninformed morons. Did it ever occur to you to poll all of your constituents? It would be a good starting place to find out if something is truly needed.

If this travesty passes, there will be many new faces in national politics after the next election.

What Are Our Values?

Ignorance Matters!

Humans try to do things. It’s just the way most of us are. The sick and dying even try to do useful things with their last gasps. These efforts are pursued based upon personal value systems adopted mostly by example, or from teaching, and some from learning by experience. Not all people seek to do good, some try to accomplish values that are evil, and a few have no humanity. Even the worst humans seek to do something, usually something terrible.

Most try to do something good according to their acquired values. They learn, teach, protect, destroy, plant, harvast, use, conserve, build, demolish, imagine, create, listen, understand, guide, think, organize, help, lead, contribute, read, write, amuse, entertain, etc. Achievement of these worthwhile accomplishments has been tested over the millennia and this wisdom has been passed along by cultures in their legends, teachings, religions, artifacts, records and institutions. Many have been codified in laws and religious writings. A few things are still being tested and it has not yet been determined if in the long run they are useful and good, not helpful, or destructive and bad.

For instance, most agree that to do something for a sick or crippled person that aids them in a necessary task or reduces their pain and suffering, is a good value. Protecting, feeding or teaching children is considered a good value in every culture known to me. Many of the tested rules of life are written into religious texts; the Bible, the Koran, the Torah, The Golden Rule, and many others.

Some are verbal legends passed from one generation to the next or among the members of a community, and believed to be good. These for the most part are dubious, not having wisdom or being applicable to significantly large numbers of people in normal life circumstances; like running and hiding when law enforcement officials stop near you in your community, or refusing to stop your vehicle leading the police on long pursuits that always seem to end badly, or pregnant woman eating clay for nutritional benefit.

Here are some ignorant values, unwise behavior, and foolish practices that are too widely held, for instance:

Taking or accepting things you have not earned or are not owed, from outright theft to accepting entitlement benefits by deceitful eligibility;

Lying for personal gain or to avoid punishment for dishonest behavior;

Benefiting from someone else’s crime, like buying stolen merchandise;

Cheating for personal benefit, like insurance fraud;

Taking advantage of or terrorizing the weak, crippled or mental challenged, for hedonistic gratification, psychotic amusement or personal gain, like tormenting a retarded child or brutalizing a helpless animal;

Any kind of deceitful malice, like concealing your intent to do harm until your victim trusts you, ganging up on an incapable victim, continuing to damage an incapacitated victim;

Cheating associates, clients, customers and friends out of goods or services promised them, or misrepresenting the quality or quantity of goods or services provided;

Justifying or participating in criminal behavior because it benefits a weak family member, or harms someone demonized by your peers or community, or both;

Imposing your personal wants and needs on those unwilling to participate or unable to resist, like women, children or the mentally and emotionally incomplete;

Entitlement mentality, others owe me for slights, bigotry, discrimination, or embarrassments, visited upon me, my family, my ethnic group, my city or my country, and they need to be made to suffer like me, as though a similar wrong and more bigotry produces justice;

Or, being inconsiderate, impolite or rude without cause.

It’s probably true that some of these behaviors are considered acceptable in some culture or sub-culture somewhere. Many are acceptable in ethnic sub-cultures in this country. I believe these ignorant, self-esteem destroying, vulgar, cowardly behaviors are destroying our culture and our country and need to be stamped out by social recriminations, increased imprisonment, and massive educational reforms.

Health Care Changes

New Demand, New Supply Needed

The current discussions and congressional bills say nothing about how more health care capability would be created.

If 40 million more people are added and get free medical care and unlimited insurance, how would the current number of doctors, staff, hospitals and clinics possibly match the new demand?

Apparently no one has thought about where from or how a 20 percent increase in demand will be supplied. It could take at least 15 years before you could increase the number of doctors to meet demand. It could take 6 years or more for a 20% increase in medical technicians, nurses and other staff. It would cost hundreds of billions of dollars to increase hospitals and clinics and all their medical equipment by 20 percent, and who knows how many years it might take.

If we want to make medical care more available and cheaper the supply must be made larger than demand. Medical care delivery must be expanded by about 30 percent. Otherwise, very high prices will follow the short supply, extremely long lines, and necessarily, rationing.

Everything in shortage is invariably rationed. Extremely short supply is always followed by rapid price inflation. Exactly the opposite outcome of what the well meaning, but uninformed profess to be seeking; reduced access and higher costs, and probably lower quality.

A surplus of medical services will markedly increase access and dramatically lower costs, and probably provide much higher quality.

I don’t think the President, Representatives or Senators actually care about access or costs at all. They just want to create another crisis so they can seem to fix it with a massive and expensive increase in government entitlement programs that gives them massive political power and intrusive influence over your life decisions and imposes communist style wage and price controls over more than 10 percent of this nation’s economy.

All under the guise of an eminent crisis that hasn’t changed much for 70 year, except for the steady decline in the number of citizens who can’t get health care to almost zero. And does nothing to make them capable of paying for the valuable care they’ve gotten.

Increase supply, discourage frivolous and excessive medical suits, and permit interstate health insurance competition; problem solved.

Oh you might say, “How does that give free health care and insurance to poor people?” It doesn’t, nor should it. It’s about improving health care. It’s not about increasing welfare benefits. Most of them already get low quality, rationed, excessively bureaucratic health care for free; which is about what it is worth. They don’t need improved access or lower costs.

THEY DON’T PAY ANYTHING NOW!

Religious Ceremonies

And Public Property

Stop conducting religious ceremonies, practices, programs, and prayers and displaying artifacts and symbols on taxpayer owned, or financed, or at monetarily supported events or official activities.

That, as the Supreme Court has decided in many cases since McCollum v. Board of Education Dist.71 in 1948, Torcaso v. Watkins 1961, Engels v. Vitale 1962, Abington School Dist. V. Schempp 1963, Epperson v. Arkansas 1968, Lemon v. Kurtzman 1971, Stone v. Graham 1980, Wallace v. Jaffree 1986, Edwards v. Aquillard 1987, Allegheny County v. ACLU 1989, Lee v. Weisman 1992, Church of Lukumi Babalu Ave, v. Hialeah 1993; these acts amount to, ".... an establishment of religion,” a violation of the First Amendment. The Fourteenth Amendment had the effect of applying all Federal laws and rights to all states and citizens.

The way that Christian prayers have been included in public ceremonies for decade’s amounts to unequal treatment of many other religions with hundreds of millions of believers that have never been invited, let alone scheduled, into ceremonial programs to exhibit their religious practices.

Equal treatment would add, for even a few of this nation’s major religions, an hour or two to any officially conducted public gathering. The United States probably is the most religiously diverse country in the world.

I’ve met US citizens from most of the world’s many religions; Christian 2.1B, Islam 1.5B, Hinduism 900M, Chinese Traditional (Taoism, Confucianism, Chinese Buddhism, Ancestor worship 394M), Indigenous-Shamanism 300M, African Traditional 100M, Sikhism 23M, Spiritism 15M, Judaism 14M, Baha’i 7M, Jainism 4.2M, and Shinto 4M; listed in order of their estimated worldwide believers.

I’ve not yet met believers from Juche (North Korean, 19M), Cao Dai (Vietnamese, 4M), Zoroastrianism 2.6M, Tenrikyo (Japanese 2M), Neo-Paganism 1M, Unitarian .8M, Rastafarianism .6M, Scientology.5M; all with lower numbers of estimated believers. There are thousands of recognized religions in the United States.

The point is it would be extremely difficult to invite their participation in planned and conducted public events, let alone include a few of the largest group’s prayers in the public ceremony. It would take hours to bless everyone and everything, display symbols, establish contact and summon the proper spirits. On these two bases alone it is impractical to include many equally, or exhibit their practices and artifacts without the benefit of publicly owned or operated facilities or public resources.

Many such assemblies are government events, (conference, meetings, training, ceremonies, etc.) The best practice would be not to bless these unholy government events with any sort of invocation. It’s completely unnecessary to sanctify these events with any religiousness, and somewhat despicable to even make the attempt.

The other religious part of the First Amendment says, “...or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;” Citizens, visitors, resident aliens, and even convicted felons are all free to pray to their God, Gods, ancestors, spirits or whatever by themselves in un-conducted, non-ceremonial, non-coercive, unobtrusive and non-obstructive ways anytime and anyplace including public property.

Tax exempt churches, synagogues, temples, mosques, shrines, etc. are provided in nearly every community for the conducted celebration of ones religion. Nothing prohibits believers from going there to pray, or for scheduled ceremonial events, and the display of symbols.

Private property, owned, rented or leased, is unrestricted for the private exercise of ones religious beliefs, providing they do violate laws or the privacy of other citizens. They can even sacrifice animals if their state permits hunting or livestock slaughter, which I believe is every state.

So, religious believers rejoice. The United States has the most religious freedom of any nation in the world. You are free to practice privately and publicly, in inoffensive and sometimes offensive but legal ways, everywhere except using public resources and facilities in planned and executed governmental sanctioned events where attendance is required or coerced.

Stop trying to get your religion “established” as official, most right, largest, the light, the word, the way, or the one true religion. Not only is it illegal, but it is unwise to even seek to appear to have official governmental recognition. It harms your cause to clamor for "establishment" that should only come from the merit of good works.

Go practice your religion in this the greatest country on this planet, where you are guaranteed the right to the religious beliefs you choose.

And, prohibited from imposing them upon others, especially children, using any facility or event made available by the passage of laws that appropriate public resources.

Save Taxpayer Money

Amend the Constitution

You could start with this part of Amendment XVII.

“When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, that the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.”

Historically there has not been any interest in minor clerical improvements to the constitution. Changing how Senate vacancies are filled, since it’s amending an amendment, probably wouldn’t get much support. Because it saves a lot of state taxpayer money, but very little Federal taxpayer money, it won’t help foster a national movement. No Senators ox is getting fed and many would be gored. The two major political parties would hate it, and that’s another good reason to do it.

Here’s the improvement idea anyway. Stop filling vacancies by temporary appointment or special election. Stop filling them at all until the normal election cycle. This would mean no added out of sequence costs for the state missing a senator. Federal savings would be salary, benefits and some staff expenses for however long it’s vacant. If it’s vacant for retirement there would be very little, if any, Federal savings.

The missing state Senators' vote could be made by the governor of that state. The governors are elected by statewide popular vote just like senators. They are usually experienced executive decision makers, probably better judgment than most Senators.

The workload increase wouldn’t be that much. Most states have Lieutenant Governors who could fill in during brief interruptions to the governor’s schedule. Everything, including voting, could be done by computers or video conferencing, and television appearances can be done anywhere. Senators don’t do much else anyway and their staffs do most of the work.

Only loss would be some political corruption. The savings from statewide election costs would be tens of million in some larger states, many having revenue problems. Citizens would be spared added stupid political commercials, endless inane direct mail pamphlets just disguised appeals for political contributions, and out of sequence sanctuary disturbing phone calls begging for money.

Any Constitutional Ammendment that reduces state or Federal spending and puts representatives in closer contact with their constituents should be undertaken immediately.

Accessible and Affordable Health Care

Simple Changes

First, reform medical litigation limiting medical damages and penalties;

Second, offer malpractice insurance to doctors substantially below current rates. Supported, but not entirely backed by the government, sort of like flood insurance.

My cardiologist says most of his colleagues in various specialties pay 20 to 30 percent of their revenue stream for mal-practice insurance today and it constantly goes up for the same coverage. And that’s for coverage not likely to cover the average malpractice settlement or court award.

Third, redirect one hundred billion dollars of the stimulus money to increasing hospitals and clinics all around the country where medical care services are thin. Double the training funds for doctors, nurses, and other medical technologists and give them a break on repayment if they go to these new hospitals and clinics.

Increase supply everywhere; make medical care plentiful. It will markedly increase accessibility and reduce costs.

So instead of thousands of pages of legislation and multiple new untested government programs and several new and expanded bureaucracies trying to fix hundreds of things a few malcontents think are wrong, actually fix a couple of the most important things first.

Make a list of other lesser important things and after we are sure the first two things are evaluated, adjusted and fixed, consider the next couple things on the list to see if they are still relevant and necessary.

Also, not everyone needs health insurance.

Illegal immigrants aren’t eligible for taxpayer supported health insurance. If they want it, they can buy it, here or in their home country. They all ready have easy access to emergency medical care.

Eighty five percent of citizens have health insurance they happy with.

Some people have medical savings accounts or other savings and investments they can use for medical expenses; they don’t want any government interference in their access to medical care.

60 million or more have been paying for Medicare, some for nearly five decades. They are at or near retirement. It’s way too late to change their plans now.

About 15 million young people have much higher priority needs for their money than health insurance, they don’t want it. They may be sorry they don’t have it, but that should be their problem, not ours.

About 15 million people wish someone would pay for health insurance for them. You know, give it to them free, so they can use their meager paychecks, or entitlements sold on the black market at deep discounts, for personal indulgences they find more valuable than health care, until they are sick and dying and whining about not being able to get health care.

Basically, there is no one unable to get health care. There’s no one that wants health insurance that doesn’t have it, if they can afford to pay for it.

We can barely afford health insurance for ourselves after actually paying our excessive taxes when due; unlike many members of Congress and the President Cabinet. I certainly can’t afford to buy any kind of health care or insurance for any one else.

No new or increased national health programs are needed. A public health insurance plan is unnecessary.

Make a couple targeted adjustments to improve access and increase supply to reduce costs. It shouldn’t take a thousand pages of legislation; it shouldn’t even take a hundred. If the House and Senate can’t improve health care with less than twenty five pages, they should be replaced.

Some Reasons Geography is Difficult

Many are Direction Challenged

I’ve often listened to poorly provided directions to someplace by a well meaning, but ill informed person; it’s excruciating. They don’t know the Cardinal directions; North, South, East, and West. Seven of ten people can’t point to East; where the sun comes up each morning. Sometimes they don’t even know left or right reliably. Many also are distance challenged with no idea of how far things are in feet, yards, or miles. They sometimes know relationships that are meaningful to them, but unknowable by you, like turn at the old house, or the dead tree, or the big stone, or a local business, or a used to be long gone business, or a place where some event occurred you couldn’t possibly have known. Sometimes it’s a reliable landmark, sometimes its not.

I have a few explanations why I think we have these problems.

1. First, I doubt it’s ever mentioned in school. Good understanding of distances, directions and relationship require logic and analytical thought. Most teachers can’t construct logical, succinct, meaningful instructions themselves. Never ask a teacher or a convenience market clerk for directions to anywhere.

2. Next, there are many misuses of the Cardinal direction relationships in common use.

Here are a couple of my nominees for most egregious abuses:

a. Referring to any location east of the Mississippi River as Mid-West. This happens nearly everyday on every TV or radio weather broadcast, and often in TV programming and newspaper stories. Simply take a look at the US map; Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, Arkansas, and Tennessee are not even in the west, let alone Mid-West. If anything they are Mid-East.

b. States like Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas New Mexico and Oklahoma are not even middle-west; they are more logically central states.

c. Any simple look at the map will show states like Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Nevada, and Utah are in the center of the west and therefore, logically Mid-West.

3. A similar problem exists in common use in California. The center of California is nearly always referred to as Northern California.

a. Again, a simple look at the proportions of the map will tell any logical person Northern California would be North of Central California, and Southern California is South of Central California. No one says San Francisco is in Western California, and most certainly not in nasty Central California with those primitive agricultural types and ignorant Oklahoma transplants that settled in the Central Valley in the 1940’s and made it into the most productive food producing region on our planet.

b. Northern California on the map clearly includes Redding, Alturas, Crescent City, Eureka, Chico, and doubtfully, Sacramento, Davis or Santa Rosa. Everything South of Sacramento to Bakersfield should be Central California. Everything South of Bakersfield should be Southern California.

c. No one, save me and a few other malcontents refer to Eastern California as those places east of the Sierra Nevada and north of the San Bernardino Mountains to the Nevada and Arizona borders that would rather not be considered part of the craziness associated with Southern California. Places like Mojave, Palmdale, Lancaster, Victorville, Barstow, Twentynine Palms, Ridgecrest, Bishop, and Needles, that could clearly be Eastern California.

4. The power of how people see themselves and their relationship to rest of the nation often modifies what seems to be a geographic reference. New Yorkers and those from the Northeast colonies see themselves as the most important; therefore, everything west of them is considered “the West” in some way. For those on along the West Coast, the Northeast and upper East Coast is “Back East.” “Down South” refers more to a state of mind and shared experiences than geography. “Up North” can be any state near or touching the Canadian border. The “Southwest” can be any state near or eating foods like those near the Mexican border. These pseudo geographic titles convey more about perception and attitude than precise geography and are mostly cultural generalities.

So, what should be done?

The map should be viewed and referred to in geographic reality. Because Hawaii and Alaska are not contiguous, I recommend Western most for Hawaii (10,932 sq. mi. pop. 1.3M esti08) and Northwestern most for Alaska (656,425 sq. mi. pop. 0.68M esti08).

For the contiguous states I suggest only these regional designations; West, Central, East, North-central, South-central, Northwest, Southwest, Northeast, and Southeast. No more references to something called mid-anything.

West, (total area 457,564 sq. mi., total population 45.8M esti08.)

California (163,707 sq. mi.), Oregon (98,386 sq. mi.), Nevada (110,567 sq mi.) and Utah (84,904 sq. mi.)

Northwest, (total area 301,923 sq. mi., total population 9M esti08.)

Washington (71,303 sq. mi.), Idaho (83,574 sq. mi.) and Montana (147,046 sq. mi.)

Southwest, (total area 235,599 sq. mi., total population 8.4M esti.08.)

Arizona (114,006 sq. mi.) and New Mexico (121,593 sq. mi.)

Central, (total area 718,157 sq. mi., total population 46.3M esti08.)

Wyoming (97,818 sq. mi.), Colorado (104,100 sq. mi.), Nebraska (77,358 sq. mi.), Kansas (82,282 sq. mi.), Missouri (69,709 sq. mi.), Oklahoma (69,903 sq. mi.), Arkansas (53,182 sq. mi.), Indiana (36,420 sq. mi.), Ohio (44,828 sq. mi.), Kentucky (40,411 sq. mi.) and Tennessee (42,146 sq. mi.)

North Central, (total area 511,273 sq. mi., total population 38.2M esti08.)

North Dakota (70,702 sq. mi.), South Dakota (77,121 sq. mi.), Minnesota (86,943 sq. mi.), Iowa (56,276 sq. mi.), Wisconsin (65,503 sq. mi.), Michigan (96,810 sq. mi.), and Illinois (57,918 sq. mi.)

South Central, (total area 268,601 sq. mi., total population 24.3M esti08.)

Texas (268,601 sq. mi.);

East, (total area 191,507 sq. mi., total population 47.5M esti08.)

Pennsylvania (46,058 sq. mi.), New Jersey (8,722 sq. mi.), Maryland (12,407 sq. mi.), Delaware (1,954 sq. mi.), Rhode Island (1,545 sq. mi.), Virginia (42,769 sq. mi.), West Virginia (24,231 sq. mi.), and North Carolina (53,821 sq. mi.)

Northeast, (total area 124,927 sq. mi., total population 32.7M esti08.)

Maine (35,387 sq. mi.), New Hampshire (9,351 sq. mi.), Vermont (9,615 sq. mi.), New York (54,475 sq. mi.), Massachusetts (10,555 sq. mi.), and Connecticut (5,544 sq. mi.)

Southeast, (total area 299,906 sq. mi., total population 44.5M esti08.)

Louisiana (51,843 sq. mi.), South Carolina (32,007 sq. mi.), Mississippi (38,434 sq. mi.), Alabama (52,423 sq. mi.), Georgia (59,441 sq. mi.), and Florida (65,758 sq. mi.)

Notes:
No conscious attempt was made to equalize the areas or populations of these regions.
Square Miles (sq. mi.) include waters of the State.
Estimates and calculations incompletely reviewed at posting.

Medicare Benefits, Leave Them Alone

It was government health care assistance, not originally requested nor sought by the majority.

For forty four years those who are retiring now have paid a huge price for elderly medical benefits. An enormous amount of money was taken from our employers and from our pay checks during our prime earning years.

We were not given a choice. It was compulsory. We were not allowed to choose not to participate.

We were promised certain benefits upon reaching the age of sixty five.

The Congress, Representatives and Senators, ignored the actuarial tables of the time that clearly told everyone the program could not sustain itself without massive and rapidly increasing taxpayer contributions.

Again, we did not ask for it. It was a bribe for reelection votes by the well meaning, but uninformed. We were compelled to pay for it. And we must register for it, even if we do not want to use it. It's nearly impossible, if you are age sixty five or older, to get and pay for medical treatments of your choice without using Medicare.

You are virtually forced to use it.

I didn't want it. I don't like it. I didn't ask for it. It was a socialistic mistake. I don't want it now. I wish I had the money I was forced to waste on it for 44 years. If I would have saved and invested it in a medical savings account, I would have more than 1 million dollars now to pay for my own health care needs.

Now is not the time to withhold the promised benefits.

You've already taken our money.

Now you must pay up.

If you welsh on your promises now, you will have a grey insurrection the likes of which you cannot possibly imagine.

It would be a scandal dwarfing Bernie Madoff''s pyramid scheme by a hundred fold.

If you want to make changes that decrease benefits 50 years from now, and you inform the young wage earners entering the workplace today, go ahead. But, be prepared to leave office quickly. They won't like the very high costs with the promise of very little benefit 50 years in the future.

I doubt they will trust you any more than I do now.

Medicare was a mistake 44 years ago. It's still a mistake. If you are considering any changes;

1. Your first change should be how to systematically and quickly close the program down.

2. Deliver the full benefits to those who have paid in since it started.

3. Decreasing benefits to those who have paid in less to this point.

4. Never attempt anything like it again. Especially any kind of government provided or encouraged health care for those who choose not to provide for themselves.

Health care or access to it, is not a constitutional right. The Federal Government should remove itself from all health care involvement, except for providing tax exemptions for health care costs and allowing nonprofit philanthropic and religious organization to provide for widows, orphans, and others incapable of caring for themselves, tax-free.

You Don’t Have to Look Overseas

We have many decades of government medical experience here.

There’s no need to compare the proposed nationalization of medical care and insurance to Canada or the United Kingdom. We have at least four decades of government medical care in Medicaid and Medicare. And much more than that with active military personnel and veterans care. No one I know that has used Medicaid, Medicare, military, veterans or native american reservation care would say it’s the highest quality medical care available anywhere.

I suspect that, if offered a $15,000 a year voucher good for the health care insurance of their choice, hardly any of them would choose any of those systems.

I believe they would choose private insurance typical of employees of middle and large sized businesses and organizations. And if offered health insurance like Senators or Representatives have, they would certainly choose it.

So what would it cost for 200 million families, couples, and individuals to use $15,000 per year to select and pay for health insurance coverage using a voucher paid for by US taxpayers?

200,000,000 times $15,000 equals $3,000,000,000,000, that’s $3 trillion dollars.

That would be half of the $6 trillion they say the uninsured are costing our economy annually now and it would replace all other current national health systems.

I believe that is far less expensive than Medicare, Medicaid, military, veterans or reservation care costs annually today, without considering the 1.3 trillion dollars of the current national health care proposals. This would literally cover every man, women and child wishing to have medical insurance. Those who did not want medical insurance (3 to 5 million people, or $60 billion annually) could return the voucher to the Treasury to be held in a fund to pay for tourists, visiting students and visiting workers who might need medical care while legally in the United States.

It would not include people not legally here. They should not be offered or receive medical care, unless they demonstrate they can pay for it. If they are discovered illegally here, they should be transported back to their country of their citizenship at our expense. It will be cheaper than decades of education and medical care for their children.

An accident of geography at birth should not establish citizenship. It may confer a right to choose citizenship when one reaches the age of majority, if they are not criminals.

The 40 million non-citizens I believe are here illegally should come forward and begin the long and expensive citizenship process, or return immediately to their country of citizenship.

Prisoners Released from North Korea

What were they doing there?

I’m glad that Laura Ling and Euna Lee were pardoned from their 12 year hard labor sentences in North Korea. I’m glad they have been returned the relative safety of the United States and reunited with their families and friends. It is amusing that former President Bill Clinton was available to his wife’s State Department to be the photo opportunity and their escort.

It’s said that they were working in China for former Vice President Al Gore’s almost unheard of Current TV, filming a story about the trafficking of women. Why did this take them so near the border? We were led to believe they crossed over the North Korea boarder without their knowledge. Were they walking around? Were they driving on an unmapped road? It’s hard to imagine this accidentally happening. Were they by themselves? Normally, western journalists in China are escorted by Chinese officials. The Chinese escort didn’t know they were crossing into North Korea without permission?

Why were they really in China? What were they doing so close to the border? Did they just want to add North Korea to their country resume? Did they think it was as simple as sneaking across the US border? Didn’t they know most other nations consider the sanctity of their borders critical to their sovereignty? If it wasn’t an accident or a lark, it must have been on purpose.

What was the purpose of deliberating violating a sovereign nation’s boundary; following a TV story?

What ransom had to be paid to buy their freedom? Was it just the former President Clinton’s less than joyful appearance or an exchange of greetings; or an agreement about something more foreboding, sinister, or unauthorized?

What actual exchange got them released?

I don’t really care why they intruded into North Korea. But it is curious that so much effort was expended to retrieve two fledgling TV journalists and violators of national boundaries that were about something ignorant or clandestine, who probably should have served some hard labor just for being so foolish, and wasting precious resources during a time of supposed international economic crisis.

C’mon ladies, why were you really there?

Government Health Reforms

Exactly the Wrong Solutions

We are opposed to the large scale health care and insurance reforms currently being considered in the House and Senate.

We are retired and paid into Medicare every year since its inception expecting to receive the promised benefits. As “War Babies” I’m sure we paid in the bulk of the costs and now that we are about to begin using the benefit we earned, there are plans to restrict the promised benefits, that’s pathetically immoral and a very dishonest betrayal.

That’s not what we paid for, and it’s not right.

We are opposed to any changes that will:

1. Reduce our already earned and paid for benefits. That’s wasn’t the promise.

2. Limit the ability of others to earn and pay for their own health needs.

3. Make government or any health insurance mandatory or require any monetary fine for not choosing it.

4. Increase any Government interference in our health care choices; or limit our ability to get and pay for the health care of our own choice.

5. Decrease quality and availability of private health insurance or care; or prevent doctors and hospitals from providing whatever services we request and pay for.

6. Pay for the health care costs of those not here legally; or pay for the health care costs of those who chose foolishly not to provide for themselves.

We have worked our entire lives, and sacrificed, and saved, in spite of oppressively high taxes, to provide our own retirement, health insurance, and health care needs.

We expected to use what we earned and saved to care for ourselves. We did not intend to pay for health care for others, certainly not for those illegally here, and certainly not for those who made poor life choices for themselves.

We already provide for necessary care for those handicapped people who cannot provide for themselves; prisoners, military veterans, mentally deficient, and those temporarily incompetent. I think that’s more than enough.

We do favor targeted reforms that will:

1. Force those who receive health care services to pay their own costs.

2. Redefine emergency services to those necessary to prevent eminent death (i.e. hemorrhaging) or severe impairment (i.e. brain damage).

3. Reduce litigated damages.

4. Reduce health care recipient and provider fraud.

5. Reduce the size, role, and constantly growing interference by the Federal Government in the personal health choices of its free and honorable citizens.

Bail Out Taxpayers

They need it. They know best how to use it.

Stop Repeating the Mistakes of the Past

The current recession would be over way before now, if in January 2009, $40,000 would have been sent to each taxpayer (100 million had actual tax liability) and each actual American voter (133 million), half of which are taxpayers.

The citizen bailout total would be approximately 6 trillion, 620 billion dollars, or about what they are attempting to waste now. 100M plus ½ of 133M (66.5M) times $40,000; or 165.5M times $40,000 equals $6,620,000,000,000.

Millions of American cars and homes would have been bought. Millions of jobs would have been created. People could afford control of their own health care and “end of life” provisions. They could save money for their own retirement. Help their children afford their own home. Help their grandchildren afford a quality education.

Also, everyone’s Federal income tax rate could be cut in half permanently, and foolish business taxes that are just passed on to consumers hidden in the prices of goods and services could be eliminated, along with ridiculous transfer “death” taxes that are looted from their rightful heirs.

Federal, states, and local revenues would skyrocket. Many new businesses and jobs, and some old ones would flourish. People could actually save money to take care of their personal needs and wants without the interference that must come with, so called, government benefits.

These bailouts will make the old, tired, extremely expensive non-solutions being proposed by the current government completely unnecessary; expanded government health care, unnecessary; new expensive taxes and restrictions on personal commercial freedom, unnecessary; wasteful federal education spending, unnecessary; idiotic business takeovers and financial bailouts, unnecessary; a ridiculous so called Stimulus Act (really thinly disguised social spending) badly planned and under executed, completely unnecessary.

Why then do both major political parties in Congress and the Administration refuse to cut programs and give the citizens back their money immediately allowing the US and World economies to recover?

Well, a lot of reasons. Cutting the government revenue by 40% would cut their power and influence by 40%. The broadcast and print media would lose about $1 billion in advertising sales and bribes. Politicians would lose millions in campaign contribution, bribes, and gifts, about 3 million newly unemployed would need to find real jobs.

Safety nets were in place for these kinds of economic adjustments, but over the past five decades the reserves have been looted to pay for promises of every increasing feel good social programs to buy cheap votes from those willing to take unearned benefits. Together these congressional bandits and citizen and non-citizens thieves have systematically stolen the rightfully resources of good citizens.

It’s time to put these rascals and those that conspire with them, out on the street to earn there own way.

Restore control of the National Treasury to newly elected Senators and Representatives, and yes a President, who understands where, taxes come from and who deserves full and first consideration of where and how it’s held and spent.

Prisons

Build more quickly

I often hear complaints about the number of criminals in prison. Occasionally there are complaints about the costs, the location, the ethic makeup of prison populations, prison gangs, lack of effective rehabilitation, the wasted lives, the inhumanity and injustice of it all, etc. etc. etc.
Stop whining. When I’m in a discussion about more prisons, I ask two simple questions. Are all those who have knowingly committed crimes against the people or the state in prison?

Why not?

When there is an opportunity to vote for more prison or jail cells, I vote yes, in spite of my fervent crusade to reduce government spending at all levels. There are not enough prisons cells if any convicted criminals are not in prison, or if they are released before they have served their full sentences. Often early releases occur because of supposed overcrowding, or to scare citizens into approving tax increases when revenues are scarce.

These are poor economic times. Crime rates are likely to increase. Build more prisons now, employing those who wish to work, preparing a place to house those who do not, and are willing take what they have not earned.

There is already more than enough tax revenue to put all criminals in confinement for their full terms. It’s just a matter of priority. Cut just a few of the frivolous and unnecessary Federal, state and local programs and invest in more cells.

I’m not bothered by prison overcrowding. I think its part of the punishment. Although I would build enough cells so crowding only occasionally occurs. When it does, no one should be released because of it

Who’s in prison? What is their ethic makeup? I don’t care!

Assuming they were properly convicted, they belong in prison for their full pronounced sentence. Sentences should be absolute. Nothing should ameliorate what a judge has decreed, except for a deliberately deceitful miscarriage of justice. No humanitarian considerations, no health problems, no dying relatives, nothing else should modify their sentence. These unfortunate circumstances too are part of the punishment.

I favor Rehabilitation; although I think it should be an earned opportunity only available after the completion of their full sentences.

While serving their sentence, if they behave well, they should be allowed to learn the fundamental rules of polite society, how to read and write in English, the best students should have more education or training opportunities, or allowed to work at necessary prison functions, developing job skills that may be useful to them, if they ever get out.

The rest can just sit there, or lay staring at the ceiling, or writhe in mental anguish at the terrible things they’ve done, or mull around the yard with the other losers of their sad ilk.

Those who serve their entire sentence have earned the opportunity to attempt rehabilitation. A priveledge earned, not a right. If they continue to behave well after release, more counseling, training and support should be offered for a few years to restart their newly compliant lives.

Those who can’t learn the basic idea of earning rewards by good behavior can sit and rot. All privileges beyond healthy food, safe cells, and critical medical care, must be earned. No TV, no books, no weight room, no rehab, no training, no education, no mixing with other prisoners, no extra exercise periods, and no visitors for those who cannot exhibit self control enough to comply with a few of societies basic behavior rules.

They are criminals. They have committed offenses that have betrayed our trust of them as fellow human beings. They must pay the prescribed price and may earn their way back by proving they have truly learned acceptable human behavior. If not, don’t waste more precious resources on them, use the resources instead to help the small percentage who prove they can learn from their mistakes.

Not all can be saved; most shouldn’t even get a second chance.

Forethought

What Happened to it?

You would think more people would have it, but sadly current conditioning is causing it to be lost as a part of our mindset. Today not having forethought, rarely results in inconvenience, extreme hardship or death. Having it, seemingly benefits only a few of the most astute.

Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines it as; a thinking or planning out in advance; I include, considering the likely consequences.

I once believed that everyone, to a lesser or greater extent, had it and used it in their daily lives. I now believe that very few have the gift or have been taught it as a skill, and fewer still have any reason to use it daily, or ever.

I believed it was common. I was born and raised in rural settings and harsh climates more than 10 miles from the closest towns. My father taught us as children to anticipate our wants and needs because only weekly trips to town were possible. We learned quickly to think ahead to keep from going two weeks or more without things we wanted or needed. It was common practice among farm neighbors in rural eastern South Dakota to tell others when we were planning to go to town, and ask if they needed us to pick anything up for them. All understood the reality of their circumstances. The winters were harsh and potentially deadly. Often people were trapped in their homes for days or weeks by closed roads from snow and ice storms. If you didn’t think ahead, you could easily freeze to death, or starve for lack of food, or die of minor injuries or ailments for lack of simple medical supplies. Being prepared wasn’t just the Boy Scout motto, it was survival.

When you depend upon farming for your income and for some of the foods that sustain your existence, you saved and protect seeds from previous harvests to plant in the spring. You grew and preserve some foods and stored them for your personal use during the following seasons. You raised livestock to sell and a few to eat, or to collect milk or eggs from, for your own use. You safely stored other supplies, like blankets, or guns and ammunition, fish hooks, poles and line, fuel, hardware, tools, buttons, needles and thread, all of these kinds of things were kept on hand to be available when needed. All of these preparations were taken because of necessity, but considered and acted upon via forethought, and refined and improved by the memories of experiences, some that ended badly for others, learning by their sometimes fatal mistakes.

Next we moved to the middle of the Mojave Desert about 12 miles from the nearest real town. The climate realities were different, but forethought was still critical. Food and water were critical. We didn’t have to worry about freezing to death or growing our own food, but fuel and reliable transportation were critical to getting food, clothes, and medical care. The same kinds of forethought, planning and preparedness behavior were critical again.

Since everything and everyone I knew constantly provided object lessons from daily life, I just assumed that resourceful, caring, serious people everywhere thought ahead, imagined accurately what resources they would need, planned and prepared in advance to meet their needs and desires. That way they didn’t find themselves dying of thirst and out of gasoline too many miles from survival.

I had heard tales of the terrible things that had befallen those who didn’t think ahead. I couldn’t imagine people who were so thoughtless. Then, as my life unfolded and I moved to larger towns and visited big cities, I discovered many people who had no reason to think ahead. Larger places with many more people and abundant supplies nearby whenever needed. As I learned of the still larger world, I found there were places where abundant food grew on trees, and meat could easily be collected year around when desired. Climates where temperatures were moderate all year and housing and clothing could easily be made when needed from readily abundant plants and animals.

These peoples didn’t need forethought at all. Few if any special provisions would benefit them. No one was starving, freezing to death in a couple hours, or dying of heat stroke in a single day. Emergencies were so rare that no preparations needed to be made for them. They were just endured and quickly over, if they ever occurred.

Government systems, social safety nets, and reliance on the largess and caring of the citizens of their communities, and government services have made forethought unnecessary for survival in all but the most remote harsh climates. Even comfort and convenience are available in all but the most remote places, if you have reliable transport and a few personal resources.

Schools don’t teach forethought or even rational thought for that matter, it has been decades since I’ve heard of an elementary or secondary school teaching logic or reasoning, not to mention the determining probability, understanding certainty, or evaluating various potential outcomes.

Creative thinking is assumed to be a talent, and no attempt is made to teach it. If survival, comfort and convenience were the only reason for imagination and forethought then teaching them would seem to be a waste. Of course, teaching it requires knowing of it and the reasons for it, which are widely unknown by today’s so called teachers. So there are few who understand the need, and fewer still who could explain it, and even fewer that can see the need to apply forethought to other life processes like; determining needs verses wants, cause and effect logic, rational decision making , effective argument, advanced preparation, efficiency, or understanding any of today’s complicated issues, and many other modern lessons that make life and human relationships easier, less painful, fulfilling, comfortable and productive, with minimum frustration, anxiety, and stress; basically the good life!

Most of today’s social, cultural, financial, and legal, health and lifestyle mistakes can be traced to ignorance, lack of rational forethought, inability to foresee the probable future using cause and effect deductions. If you do this; that will probably happen.

Only with imagination and forethought can one hope to understand the people and events that whirl about them, and the tragedies that seem to befall them without reason.

Whatever the dilemma, forethought is the beginning of solution.

My Political Platform

Cut Federal Spending

This is what I want Congress, the House and the Senate, and the Executive Branch to do regarding the size and scope of federal government. If I were to run for President this would be my platform and if elected this is what I would use my power and influence to accomplish. In some cases I specifically name Departments and programs I would try to cut significantly and the ones I would try to eliminate quickly.

First, the General Platform:

1. Stop deficit spending immediately. Cut all Federal spending by 10% from last year’s authorization.

Limit all Federal budgets to 90% of previous years experience rate, as quickly as possible, cut all programs, cut all planned acquisitions and stop all construction not already underway.

Immediately direct all budget surpluses to retire national debt and restore all contingency funds.

Immediately form a working group to review all off-budget entitlements for reforms that reduce costs by any means. The goal; limit benefit costs to expected revenue, not increase taxes to fund run away benefits. All spending is discretionary.

2. Pay off the National Debt in 4 years.

Eliminate all unjustified programs and projects, including all archaic, bureaus and commissions.

Cut all research by 10%, cut all scientific study by 10%, cut all government travel by 10%, cut all funding for government conferences and conventions by 50%.

Accumulate contingency funds and protect them from erosion from legislation, policy or politics.

3. Stop all foreign aid using American taxpayer money immediately, and direct the saved money to pay down the national debt and lower all Federal taxes. When disasters occur around the world, ask the American people if they want to donate to a disaster fund allowing each citizen to decide if it's a worthy cause; borrowed from Bill Cosby.

4. Do much more to prevent unlawful immigration. Significantly improve border, coast and port surveillance for human smuggling and illegal incursions. Immediately begin searching for and finding illegal immigrants. Begin deporting those determined to be illegal immigrants using travel and transport contractors. Allow legal children to remain in the US in the custody of legal relatives, in an institution, or return with a parent to their country of origin until the child can legally chose national citizenship.

5. Limit Senate and House sessions to 6 weeks in mid-summer, except for declared National Emergencies. The remainder of the year they should have real full-time jobs. Reduce their benefits, staff, privileges and pay. Eliminate their special insurances. Prohibit them from having any benefits, paid for by tax money, not also available to any taxpayer.

All new laws will be vetoed if;

A. they do not list at least two existing outdated laws that are being simultaneously cancelled;

B. they contain exceptions to this law or any Federal laws;

C. they do not show conclusively a source of available funding which could not otherwise be used to retire debt or offset any Federal taxes (i.e. income, excise, fuel, etc.) or fees.

6. All Departments and programs not specifically enumerated in the Constitution, or its subsequent lawful amendments, or decreed specifically by Federal Appellate Courts or the Supreme Court; will be cancelled, disband, closed and their facilities, equipment and property used by a lawful department or program, or sold at public auction within one year with all proceeds retiring Federal debt or reducing all Federal taxes.

7. All Federal tax exempt organization, activities, clubs, associations, education institutions, advocacy groups, religions, churches, schools, or individuals will be reviewed and required to prove which funds and activities are eligible for tax exemption. All activities and funds found not eligible for exemption will be immediately taxed. Taxes due will be immediately payable, and all previous years of suspected Federal Tax fraud are subject to audit and payment or attachment, regardless the statute of limitations.

8. A moratorium on the creation of any new national parks or protected lands or protected species of any kind until all surplus Federal lands, or any Federal lands combined exceeding 15% by area of any state, are sold to taxpaying individuals at an otherwise unrestricted public Internet auction. Use the revenue to immediately pay down the “National Debt” only.

9. 'Press 1 for English' is immediately banned. English is the official language; speak it or wait at the border until you can; borrowed from Bill Cosby.

10. Use the Internal Revenue “Collection” Service to collect taxes only. Stop using it to redistribute wealth, grant favors to rich donors, or failing businesses.

Greatly simplify individual, business, and corporate income tax calculation and remittance. Seriously consider eliminating Income Taxes, replacing some of the lost revenue by a low national sales tax with no exemptions, and the rest by spending cuts. Severely limit tax exemptions. Greatly reduce the number and then restrict allowable amount of individual and business deductions, for instance, restrict the home interest deduction to the average interest on the national mean priced home regardless of purchase price; no regional variations.

Stop taxing business processes and activities. It just artificially increases the price of goods and services and costs potential employees jobs.

Stop taxing the transfer of wealth to rightful heirs. The deceased have all ready paid enormous taxes while they lived.

11. Tax all political contributions regardless their source. Prohibit political contributions of any tax exempt money.

Prohibit political contributions by Unions, except as determined by and apportioned to political parties or candidates by a vote of the members, then only if taxed. Allow individual members to elect to prohibit any political contributions from their dues.

12. Review all Federal licensing, permitting and approval processes and fees, with emphasis on eliminating, reducing or consolidating any and all. Fees cannot exceed provable administrative and process costs.

13. There is no such thing as non-discretionary Federal spending, all Federal spending is discretionary.

Cancel all new Social Security benefits begun after 1950. Stop all Medicare benefits originated after 1984. If that doesn’t balance revenue with predicted outlays forever, then reduce benefit levels until there is a projected surplus forever.

Put all entitlement programs back on the budget, there is no such thing as “Off-budget” for any Federal spending.

14. Next, departments, bureaus, commissions, agencies, programs and activities I would want cut entirely and immediately.

A. Department of Education; National Commission on Libraries and Information Science; Stop providing federal aid to Universities; completely unnecessary, violates 10th Amendment.

B. National Public Radio; Public Broadcasting System - completely unnecessary, competes unfairly with duly licensed and authorized private enterprises, violates 10th Amendment.

D. National Endowment for the Arts; National Endowment for the Humanities; Commission of Fine Arts; completely unnecessary, violates 10th Amendment.

F. Natural Resources Conservation Service; Conservation Reserve Program; Energy Information Agency; U.S. Geological Survey; Maritime Administration; Marine Mammal Commission.

G. International Trade Commission; Economic Development Administration; Historic Whaling and Trading Partners Exchange Program; International Trade administration; end farm subsidies, most of which go to the wealthiest 10 percent of farms; eliminate all direct corporate welfare payments; Overseas Private Investment Corporation; Trade and Development Agency; Market Access Program; Export-Import Bank; Repeal the Davis-Bacon and Service Contract Acts.

H. Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, AmeriCorps; Office of Navajo and Hopi Relocation; State Justice Institute; East-West Center; Legal Services Corporation; Minority Business Development Agency, and Many others.

I. Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program; Rural Utilities Service; Essential Air Service Program; Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service; Agricultural Research Service.

J. Non-emergency international food programs; U.S. Institute of Peace.

K. Eliminate all federal advisory committees and commissions spread across 52 agencies, and many, many others.

15. Next, significant changes in needed programs like the following:

Restrict federal housing assistance to those with the greatest need;

Stop funding research that directly benefits private industry;

Enact user fees that recover all the costs of programs from identifiable users;

Require farmers to pay a larger portion of their crop insurance premiums;

Raise flood insurance premiums on repeatedly flooded lands;

Limit Congress's franking privilege to non-election years to prevent taxpayer funding of campaign mailings;

Verify parent income of school lunch recipients, 20 percent of current school lunch participants are ineligible.

And many, many more.

Note: some of the above courtesy of The Heritage Foundation.

Artificial Fertility

Unethical Medicine

Human women have birthed children for around 80 million years without medical assistance. The human race had grown to more than 1.8 billion by 1920, the dawn of modern medicine. Today billions are spent on hospital child birth, infant care, premature rescue, fertility treatment, implantation, and artificial insemination. The world population is 6.4 billion and estimated to double to 12.8 billion in about 40 years. Recently, deliberate high-count multiple births have made the news with as many as 8 births from implanted eggs from one birth event.

This idiocy must stop! We are wasting medical resources that ailing, sick and infirm people need. More than enough women are capable of having children without any hospital care or medical assistance. Not every female needs to give birth to a child, not every male needs to father a child. Those who cannot produce children naturally should move on to other meaningful contributions. There are currently millions, perhaps a billion surplus children worldwide, in need of adoption. If someone wishes to be responsible for a child’s growth and development into a constructive, productive, useful adult, then many potential human adults are available.

Many who can have natural children should not. Just because you can reproduce, doesn’t mean you should. Many couples capable of producing children are not fit to educate children, provide for them financially, or serve as good examples. There is plenty of willing biological baby factories and sperm donors; more unwitting participants are completely unnecessary.

Quality is another matter. Survival of the fittest and natural selection don’t necessarily eliminate undesirable characteristics quickly enough; often they successfully reproduce before fate eliminates one or both of their characteristics from the gene pool.

I’m not proposing a license to reproduce. I’m proposing that artificial fertility, medically assisted conception, fetal rescue (except to save the mother) be eliminated as medical procedures and prohibited from any kind of insurance coverage.

I’m also proposing that hospitalization for child birth be eliminated except to save the mothers life. For most of human existence women have given birth to healthy offspring without any assistance. For thousands of years women have given birth with a little assistance from an experienced mother, often her own, or mid-wives, paid and volunteer. It worked well. Today many still come into the world in this way.

Some would say extraordinary efforts should be made to save every fetus and every newborn. I say that’s not the natural way. A potential person and existing persons are not the same, and should not be treated the same medically. Not all conceptions should survive, not all born should survive. Some are ghastly genetic errors, some are horribly flawed, some, if they survive, will need extreme medical support for basic life-like functions.

Some say the world may miss out on some great contribution by the loss of one of these potential humans. I guess the argument is that we should save every flawed fetus or newborn, because one of them may become a brilliant, useful, loving contributor to all mankind.

I doubt it. Those things happen very rarely; Einstein, Newton, Galileo, Jesus Christ, Louis Pasteur, Mahatma Gandhi, Benjamin Franklin, Ronald Reagan, Bill Gates etc. Most non-viable fetuses and newborns will never become an independent human life. And some of those who may survive are at least as likely to become terrible humans; Hitler, Charles Manson, Clyde Barrow, John Wayne Gacy Jr., Bernie Madoff, Barney Frank, Nancy Pelosi or some child molester, mass murdering terrorist, or other subhuman creature.

As sad as it maybe to lose a fetus, newborn, or a child, it is more terrible to waste medical resources on artificial fertility enhancements, when humans already proven viable, self sufficient and productive are awaiting medical resources to continue their productive, thoughtful, loving lives.

Stop the foolish waste of medical resources on fertility enhancements, hospitalization only to rescue fetuses, and extreme care for newborn survival. Sadly, some must be allowed to perish.

There are millions of recently born viable humans making their own way toward wondrous adult human beings, many with very little help from anyone.