National Capitol Move

I first published this in April 2009.  I'm republishing it because I still believe it could cure many of the ills that plague us as a free people.

The Capitol and the White House have been located in Washington DC since 1791 and I suppose in many peoples minds it might seem it has always been so. Congresses have met in at least eight different cities, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Lancaster, York, Princeton, Annapolis, Trenton and New York City.

Article I Section 8 of the Constitution (1789) gave congress legislative authority over "such districts as may, by cession of particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the Government of the United States.” In 1788 Maryland and 1789 Virginia both ceded land (ten square miles). In 1790 Congress passed the Residence Act. In 1791 President Washington chose Maryland's property and under the provisions of the Act selected three Commissioners to oversee the design and construction of the Capitol City and Government buildings.

Another Congressional Act can solicit states, re-establish commissioners, and arrange to move the Capitol, the Presidents Residence, and other necessary government buildings to another place at a site chosen by another President. A previous President chose the current place; a current President can choose a new one, in concert with a legislative act.

In other nations the site of the capitol changes from time to time, often by conquest or overthrow. Our overthrows take place in an orderly election and our ruler is a leader with a certain term and limited powers, but none have attempted to relocate the Capitol.

Don't get me wrong; I'm not proposing moving everything, just congress’s meeting place and the president's residence. The current White House, the monuments, the museums and other governmental buildings can stay where they are.

Why, you might ask, should such a folly be undertaken?

The time has long past since there was any benefit to the rest of the nation from this location. When our nation was a small North East Coastal country, 10 square miles in Maryland was fairly centralized. The Nation is now a larger entity. Washington DC is not central to the nation geographically, socially or economically. It's only central to itself and those who feed off the delusion that it’s the focus of a whole nation. It’s time to change its view of itself, and the easy familiar access of those from the tired, old, myopic, Euro-centric, northeast.

Relocate the Capitol and the President to any other city with modern communication and transportation infrastructure, preferably west of the Mississippi River. While you are at it, drop the 200-year-old idea that Ohio is mid-west. Utah or Nevada is mid-west, not Illinois or Iowa. The Capitol has been in the same place, an inconvenience to most of the country for 210 years. That's long enough.

Some might say the effort is too expensive, some might say it's racially motivated, the east coast media might characterize it many ways to protect their long held easy access and unearned influence. Some might say just moving the capitol wouldn’t necessarily change that. They may be right, but it will provide a different prospective and different players, and some tired old ideas will be lost.

If nothing else, the old lobbyists and old media people would have to move to the new territories, assimilate a new culture, learn a new language, develop new insights, modify their values, restore their faith and judgment, I think these sound like worthwhile objectives. The nation would gain all this and the Easterners would lose nothing but a little time to take a slightly longer plane flight to the Capitol. The people of the west would have shorter flights and a renewed interest in remaining part of this great union.

Pick a city, any city west of Ohio. I don't care where; Albuquerque, Salt Lake City, Omaha, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Phoenix, Reno, Helena, Fargo, Sioux Falls, Topeka, Denver, this isn't a campaign for a place, it's a campaign for a new view and new behavior. Recovering the energy, spirit, courage, innovation, and individual involvement that once made this nation willing to act upon its beliefs, instead of one hamstrung by legal precedents that ignore our values. One where academics ponder instead of inspire, officials procrastinate instead of permit, and some people try to hold everyone back instead of helping others to reach new heights, and some people willingly accept that which they have not earned.

Health Care Insurance; it’s not a Right.

The Unaffordable Care and Tax Act isn’t anything I want.  I worked for 50 years and saved money whenever I could, scrimping all my life so I would have enough money for housing, food and medical care when I would no longer be able to work.  Even though the Government took my hard earned money for 50 years supposedly for a retirement insurance supplement (Social Security Act); and for 37 years without any benefit to me, and still to this day take my money for Medicare which I didn’t ask for, never wanted and don’t need but must pay for this poor quality, badly managed, heavily regulated, government mandated insurance.   

I didn’t and couldn’t save enough to provide FREE health insurance to anyone else, who likely contributed nothing or very little to their own well-being. 

Health Care Insurance is not a Constitutional, nor a Human Right!  And it should never be.

It has nothing whatever to do with Social Justice; whatever they claim that means now or next. 

I have paid for decades and continue to pay today for health care for people I don’t know and will never meet; people not even from my neighborhood, town or state.  

I pay for emergency care at many hospitals, for social security eligible surviving children, military members and families, veterans, military and civilian prisoners, poor children, single mothers, Medicaid recipients, handicapped, crippled, mentally ill, and the severely infirmed.  Oh, and, I forgot foreign visitors and workers, and legal immigrants and illegal intruders (you can’t be any kind of immigrant unless you are here legally) and invaders. 

Intruders are just bad mannered; invaders come here intending to take our jobs, our benefits, and our property (including money) or do us physical harm and more.  

Everyone, citizen or non-citizen, in our country for any reason can get medical care at any true hospital; they must treat you, it’s the law.  No one in our country has to go without medical care. 

No person has to have health insurance.  It’s a farce created by insurance companies and conniving politicians tricking the ignorant into wasting money or voting for a lying corrupt public parasites.

Every person, legally here or not, can save money for health care in a bank savings account or in a shoe box.   Citizens can create a tax free Health Savings Account (HSA) from which any legitimate medical expense can be paid in cash. 

Every legitimate medical treatment or urgent care can be financed and paid for incrementally by honest responsible individuals.  And if not, there is the Bankruptcy process to escape debts you are not sincerely capable of ever paying.

The reason health care is so expensive is Health Insurance and government interference.  If people would ask, “How much does this cost?”  Then decide whether or not it would be worth it to them to have another X-ray, blood test or Stress test, if you had to pay with your own cash.  Offer to pay your Doctor in cash in advance what Medicare or Insurance will pay minus the costs of billing them.   You will be shocked how much less you could pay than the Government/Insurance billing price. 

  

No one is entitled to medical care for FREE, or at anyone else’s expense.

No one is entitled to FREE Medical Insurance paid for by me or any other citizens under threat of criminal punishment by our Government.  Nor should any free citizen ever be forced to pay for or forced to accept any kind of insurance, poor quality government or high quality private, for which we have not individually and freely consented.

Health Care is not a Constitutional Right.  And it should never be.

Equal Taxation, Equal Liberty, and Equal Justice for each citizen must be urgently restored!

I Don’t Want Deficit Reductions,

I Want Deficit Elimination.

For about 83 years deficits have been a common occurrence, just 5 brief periods of slight surpluses.  The last brief period we had small surpluses that were insignificant.  Today’s dollar is worth only about 9.4 cents in 1960 money.  We are not likely to see surpluses of eleven times our recent deficits for several decades.

Given our history, we are not likely to see surpluses in 1960 dollars ever in our soon-to-be more severely devalued currency.

Our history does not bode well for many years of surpluses soon.

50 years of surpluses and 2 years of slight deficits; that’s what I want to see; and stop devaluing of our money.

I don’t understand why our government can’t seem to learn to spend less revenue than it takes in year after year, its ridiculous; over-spending is a very bad habit.

Feds needs to form a new habit; surpluses forever.  Nothing is important enough to spend more money than you will have, including savings (contingency set asides; which we don’t have hardly any of right now.

Just cut all departments and programs until we are spending less than we are likely to take in.  It’s simple, revenues are reasonably predictable.

The current government caused budget morass and debt limit impasse is completely fiction.  More than enough revenue is coming in to run essential services and make debt interest payments.  The shut-down and default are a political sham. 

There is no threat of default. 

Cuts in the growth rates and actual cuts to many Federal Government programs, discretionary and not, will be required and should have been made in small increments, say 2% a year the past four years.  In just a few years surpluses can be achieved.

Surpluses forever! 

Let’s start right now with no debt limit increase until real cuts have been made and non-essential government workers, and obsolete and ineffective programs, have been slowly and systematically eliminated.      

Non-Christian Conservative

Some may be alarmed that there is such a thing.  I’ve been a Conservative all of my adult life, in spite of most of my far flung family and relatives being Democrats, Liberals and Socialists.

I am a fiscal Conservative and don’t care about social issues in the political forum; a Cultural Libertarian.

I’m a social Libertarian and do not believe do-gooders and the governments have any business dictating personal choices for anyone in our cultural; unless they are receiving entitlements.

I’ve been a non-Christian more than fifty years.  I’m religious, just not a member or believer in any organized Christian church.  I don’t believe I need any self-ordained intermediary, middleman, or broker to speak with God.  I’ve never asked God for anything for myself and never will.  I’ve never asked God to bless our country or its government, only its people; and never will.  I’ve never asked our Government for anything except for the careful use of the vast amounts of money I’ve sent them, and the enormous amount of land and other resources we have allowed them to use, though it certainly has imposed a lot on me and my family.

One need not be a believer in any religion to be a Conservative.  They need only believe in the care and careful use of the things that our Creator has made available to us, and truly doing things for people that in the long run genuinely benefit them when they are truly in need, not just when they want them, or think they are owed something they haven’t earned.

I believe in using but not wasting what I’ve earned.  I believe in preparing for our and our family’s needs, and helping them avoid some of the calamities and miseries of fate, tyranny, conscription, crime and violence.

I believe in individual taxpaying citizen freedoms and minimum government.  I believe our Federal, State, County and City governments should be much smaller, much less intrusive, much less expensive, and focused on the defense of our country and its borders, and protection of our lives, our rights, our liberties, and our properties.   

Religious bigots need to stay out of politics; it just tarnishes what noble beliefs they may have, and the truly religious have no business seeking association with the vile and tawdry worlds of politics or government.

What I choose to do privately that affects only me or no other non-consenting adults; or what I choose to think, or to say, or to write; or what I choose to believe or not believe; is certainly no one else’s business

I’m just a Conservative that values our inalienable rights, and abhors tyranny, waste and corruption; and respects the honor and dignity of other hard working, wealth creating, law abiding citizens of the world.    

            

National Security Surveillance

Current Security Surveillance has created a perfect opportunity for terrorists to frustrate national security, and harass and incriminate law biding American citizens and businesses by simply calling thousands of random US phone numbers or repeatedly calling deliberate terror or extortion targets.

Or they could send incriminating email, texts, or tweets to American addressees readily accessible via the internet.

This simple effort could cast false aspersions on ten of thousands of US businesses, non-profit organizations, and individuals.

And tie up billions of dollars worth of scarce security assets on false and unwarranted security concerns. 

Terrorists can initiate communications with anyone implicating them by just attempting to contact them.  No other actions would be needed to attract additional scrutiny from NSA, TSA, FBI and others.

This whole thing is hideously foolish and wasteful. 

Why provide them another way to terrorize us and complicate our daily lives, change our lifestyles, and waste even more of our money?

If we wanted to make it easy for them, we could just give them boxes of matches and suggest they light the entire inland west (forests, farms, National Parks and homes) on fire; it would be much cheaper.

Perhaps anti-foreign terrorism isn’t NSA’s only objective.  If it’s domestic-terrorism, then it’s even easier and more hideous to produce false suspicions. 

If it’s population control and government tyranny to quell resistance to unpopular social and economic changes, then they are on the right course for a socialist/communist takeover.

Either way it’s unwise and unwelcome, and another dangerous confiscation of our freedoms.  

Syria, Our National Interest?

What is our national interest in the civil unrest in Syria? 

I don’t think we have an important national interest in Syria.

Maybe it’s arms sales.  Maybe it’s keeping more disgruntled Syrians alive.  Maybe it’s an opposition to potential peace in the region.  Maybe we have a huge vested interest in Muslim coalitions reeking havoc in lesser developed places.  Maybe it’s thwarting Russian, French, Iranian and Palestinian alliances in the region.

What do we gain by contributing to prolonging a civil conflict in which millions may die before its halted insuring hundreds maybe thousands of years more of regional unrest? 

Maybe that’s it; the lost Syrian and coalition resources and millions of dead Muslims without any loss of American lives.

I honestly can’t find a single plausible reason for US involvement.

I think it was Napoleon, who said; “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake”.

I think our most important national interest maybe to let them kill each other, and let our old enemies fund the whole thing with their resources.

Either way we could watch it for free.  And fewer and less capable Syrians would be no great loss to the world’s future.

Border Land Security Solution

If you want to secure our national land boundaries; here’s an idea that will work well.  A different solution will be needed for oceans and inland lakes.

Allow citizen homesteaders (with first choice to military combat veterans) willing to live on the land and construct a secure dwelling and a thirty foot high watchtower; and be willing to provide 24 hour a day armed surveillance; 640 acre plots (1 square mile) adjoining each other all along the north and south boundaries.  Deputize them and provide basic training and security equipment, radios, guns, ammunition, special vehicles and fuel.  Citizen landowner Border Agents patrolling their own lands linked to the Border Patrol with modern communications like; satellite phones, internet video and email.

Several advantages seem obvious to me;

1. The government gets rid of responsibility for millions of acres of mostly useless land currently costing taxpayers millions of dollars being managed poorly by the Bureau of Land Management and others.

2.  We get hundreds of thousands of live-in full time citizen-landowner Border Deputies that know their property lines and actually care who trespasses on their lands.

3.  The investment is minimal.  The result is enormous efficiency and sealed borders with 99.5% of foreign intruders being excluded.

4.  Use the savings to build Border Patrol Deportations Encampments every 100 miles manned full-time by detachments of Border Patrol Officers.

5.  Immediately deport all apprehended intruders to their embassy or their country of origin, whichever is less expensive for us.  

6.  Where the boundary is in water grant them 10 acres along the US shoreline each adjoining their neighbor.  If the land is owned already, deputize the owner or an occupant the will live there and provide full-time surveillance and communication.

7. Prosecute landowner or occupant criminals who bribe, extort, or participate in smuggling of any kind.

8. Make good guns and abundant ammo available; they will be fighting for their lives often.

The border lands are mostly useless for anything else; but, brave citizen landowners given nearly free lands will do what’s necessary to secure it. 

Within a couple of years I predict foreign intrusion attempts will dwindle to a mire trickle.  In 5 years successful intrusions will be unheard of and unsuccessful ones a rare event.

It’s the peoples land.  Exchange it for an active meaningful defense.  Let citizen landowners defend the land, themselves and our boundaries.

It’s a fair trade.

Replace Our Obsolete Tax Code

Reproduced without Herman Cain's permission, exactly how I found it; but hopefully with his blessing.  In his final statement I wish he had written, "Take our government FORWARD!  No one favoring improvements should ever mention the words BACK or TAKE BACK anything.  Years of neuro-linguistic programming has manipulated the under-informed to believe GOING BACKWARD to anything is bad and racists.  Please take us forward to better government and TAX JUSTICE. 

Our new tax code: Pick One!.
Published by: Herman Cain 

FairTax, New Flat Tax or 9-9-9

It is way past time to stop talking about replacing the tax code, and to start talking about what to replace it with. The political class has not gotten past the word "reform" yet, but we the working class can't wait for them to see the light. We must make them feel the heat and they will see the light.

The good news is that there are three great options for replacing our complex, unfair and outdated century-old tax code. The bad news is that the political class uses this as an excuse to not do anything, so they can continue to use the current system to award favors to their political friends at the expense of us, the workers and the taxpayers.

This is why we must unite behind one solution. That way, instead of Big Brother shoving something else down our throats, we the people the working class will shove a solution up their . . . well, you know what I mean.

Replacing the tax code is one of the most critical changes this nation can make in order to super-charge our economy, put power back in the hands of the people, eliminate a $400 billion-a-year compliance cost on us, and eliminate the corruption and intimidation of the IRS.

Only a fool or a power hungry bureaucrat would want to keep the complex, unfair 74,000-page tax code we have today. It is modern day slavery, and we must free ourselves, because the political class has shown for decades that it will not do it for us.

The escape plan for tax code freedom is to first unite behind one of the great plans which have already been developed. Then, create a massive national movement to make this plan the law of the land. And then, voters must demand that candidates running for the White House or Congress commit to the plan before they get our votes, and before they get elected.

Here is a brief description of each great plan: The Fair Tax, the Flat Tax, and the 9-9-9 Plan.

FAIR TAX

The FairTax is a revenue-neutral, single-rate, federal retail sales tax collected only once, at the final point of purchase of new goods and services for personal consumption. Used items are not taxed. It includes:

- A 23 percent (of the tax-inclusive sales price) sales tax imposed on all retail sales for personal consumption of new goods and services.

- While permitting no exemptions, the FairTax provides a monthly universal prebate to ensure that each family unit can consume tax-free at or beyond the poverty level, with the overall effect of making the FairTax progressive in application. As a result, a person spending at the poverty level has a 0 percent effective tax rate, whereas someone spending at twice the poverty level has an effective tax rate of 11.5 percent, and so on.


NEW FLAT TAX

The Heritage Foundation's New Flat Tax (NFT), part of Saving the American Dream, replaces today's complex tax system with one that is simple and fair.  The New Flat Tax is simple, revenue-neutral, and will allow America to achieve its full economic potential. Among the details:

- Currently, in addition to the income tax, the federal government imposes a payroll tax, death tax, and a slew of excises. The New Flat Tax replaces them all for individuals, families, and businesses with one tax system with one tax rate of roughly 28 percent.
- Two Tax Credits: The New Flat Tax retains the Earned Income Credit to preserve the level of income support for low-wage workers. And low- and middle-income families also receive a tax credit of $3,000 ($2,500 for singles) toward the purchase of health insurance.
- Three Deductions: The only remaining deductions are for higher education, gifts and charitable contributions, and an optional home mortgage interest deduction.

In 1996 Steve Forbes supported a flat tax of 17 percent on all personal and corporate earned income (unearned income such as capital gains, pensions, inheritance, and savings would be exempt.) He supported keeping the first $33,000 of income exempt.

9-9-9                  

The revenue neutral 9-9-9 plan would replace all current taxes, including the payroll tax, capital gains tax, and the estate tax and taxes on repatriated profits. The plan would establish the following:

- A 9% corporate flat tax. Businesses would deduct purchases from other businesses and all capital investment. The resulting gross income is taxed at 9 percent.

- A 9% personal flat tax. Individuals would deduct charitable contributions, then pay 9 percent on the rest of their income. Capital gains are excluded.

- A 9% national sales tax. This levy would be placed on the consumption of all new goods. Used goods purchased would be excluded.

Details of each can be found in various sources on the Internet, books and articles. These descriptions give you the key features of each. I will be asking you and your friends to vote for ONE in the coming weeks. Based on the results we will create a compelling movement.

The political class has divided and abused us for decades with the current tax system. United, we can take our government back.

A Few Words

Recently I’ve been too busy to blog, but it hasn’t kept me from being agitated by a few things; one thing has irritated me often.    

President Obama gave a speech today at a memorial in Texas for those who died at the chemical storage facility explosion.  In my opinion, it was the best speech I’ve ever heard him deliver.  Whoever wrote it for him to read did an excellent job.  It was and should have been without political insinuation.  I could not find a single hint of usual cowardly demonizing of someone.  No slurs, not a cleaver double entendre or his incessant self aggrandizing that he usually finds necessary.  And even I must admit I found him Presidential for a change. 

Expect for one minor flaw, which was repeated by others earlier at the George W. Bush library dedication in many speeches by former Presidents, other officials and dignitaries, and frequently by many others throughout my life; and here it is with my suggestion.

Many well intentioned speakers close with “May God Bless America”, and I sincerely hope It might.  But, I won’t pray for something so shallow and unimportant.

I do not like them asking God to bless the unholy government of any country, or many of the things a country does that surely should not blessed by a god.  I don’t think our nation or government should be so audacious as to ask anything of God, except maybe forgiveness.

I wish they would close with “May God Bless the People of America", or “May God Bless Americans".

I know it’s a small and perhaps petty thing, but I wish they would stop trying to imply that God somehow, approves of anything our government of its officials have done or might do, much of which I don’t find remotely worthy of a blessing.

And may God continue to bless all of our citizens; especially those who pay taxes.

Pain and Misery, a tax on one is a tax on all

A Tax on One is Tax on All

It’s time for an elemental lesson in economics and human behavior.  So, if you find this a little redundant just relax; I’ll get to the point when the less informed get caught up.

Taxes are misery and punishment to enthusiastic achievers.

They modify their behavior to avoid costs and misery.

Nearly all successful, productive, informed, caring people become reasonably well off, if not rich, eventually regardless of all obstacles, and are constantly learning and trying to improve.

They usually assume they are owed nothing they have not earned.

They work hard, live frugally, have permanent savings, invest carefully and conservatively, and pay close attention to costs, risks and rewards.

They learn a lot by observation.

Ignorant people are poor, foolish, and miserable, plagued by fate, often ill, and usually die young.

They rarely bother to learn anything new and useful throughout their lives.  And self improvement rarely occurs to them.

They nearly always assume they are owed something from everyone and everything, irregardless of what they may have tried to earned.  

They learn little if anything by observation.  They learn little from pain and misery.

Here’s as essential part of the economic lesson; productive, efficient, contributors and achievers are creative.  Their businesses and enterprises sell goods and services to the general public (mostly middle and lower income people, or foolish governments).  They invest their profits in stable incomes (interest and dividend producers) for themselves and their families for the future. 

If you increase their costs by increasing taxes, regulations, or other expenses; they will add those costs to the products and services they sell to us.

So, when you think in some juvenile fantasy you are punishing the rich by increasing their costs; you are actually punishing your family, your friends and yourself.

You are not and can not penalize the wealthy in any way they will not pass onto you, nor will you stop or delay noticeably any productive, creative, achievers from earning their just share.

You will significantly increase your own misery and expense.

A non-progressive, deduction-less, single, low, taxation rate for all would be Tax Justice.

Never wish for a tax on anyone else, you would not wish pay yourself.

A Tax on One is a Tax on All.