With North Korea testing its second nuke Obama has the chance to show that even with a democratic president, America will still have the testicular fortitude to defend her self and her allies. We need a show of force in East Asia. Ideally I would like to see an increase to current forces stationed in South Korea and in Okinawa. However there is the thin chance that those governments would turn down such a show of force. However, I am pretty sure that Japan would not object to us flooding the Sea of Japan and the western pacific ocean with Ballistic Missile subs. Unfortunately then Russia and China would, within their rights, throw a fit.
A solution that holds the most realistic chance of becoming reality would be using our Stealth Bomber fleet and bombing Missile and weapon test sites when the North is threatening another test. Under this solution China and Russia are likely to throw fits, but they will be powerless. All the UN can(and will) do now is establish more sanctions. Sanctions are ineffective. When the UN chokes off money to the people the North Korean government can choose between continuing their program and starving their people. They choose the latter.
Obama is on the bad side of conservatives for his Economic and Social policies. He has a chance to score some points with a show of force in Asia. Will he do it, i doubt it. But if he fails to do something, Japan will eventually be pushed into developing its own weapons.
well Mr President, the ball is in your court.
25 May 2009
22 April 2009
One mans rights or 100,000 Lives
"Torture- the act of inflicting excruciating pain, as punishment or revenge, as a means of getting a confession or information, or for sheer cruelty."
With the recent release of CIA torture memos, torture is again on the minds of all. Waterboarding, Walling, and other coercive techniques. I wont say what is and what is not torture here, it is not my place. But many on the left say that we should never torture(or coercive tactics), ever. Some on the right say that we should torture(or use coercive tactics) even if there is the slightest idea that someone might know something. Where has the middle ground gone. If the window of an attack is far off on the horizon we should not be too aggressive with subjects. But as time grows closer to an attack window we should and must become more agressive with every second that passes. And if an attack is believed to be imminent then the book should be tossed out the window, we should do what ever it takes to save lives. 100,000 lives are worth one suspected terrorists rights, hell, 1 innocent life is worth more than a suspected terrorists rights.
Was the Bush administration too agressive, too early with some suspects, likley yes. But with no domestic attacks since September 11th, the orders of the President kept us all safe, so in what can be assumed, coersion was given with appropriate force in relation to the time frame to a possible attack. If the Obama administration pursues any criminal action against Bush Administration officals, they will be going after every person who protected America since 9/11, including American Military Personell
Mark my words.
With the recent release of CIA torture memos, torture is again on the minds of all. Waterboarding, Walling, and other coercive techniques. I wont say what is and what is not torture here, it is not my place. But many on the left say that we should never torture(or coercive tactics), ever. Some on the right say that we should torture(or use coercive tactics) even if there is the slightest idea that someone might know something. Where has the middle ground gone. If the window of an attack is far off on the horizon we should not be too aggressive with subjects. But as time grows closer to an attack window we should and must become more agressive with every second that passes. And if an attack is believed to be imminent then the book should be tossed out the window, we should do what ever it takes to save lives. 100,000 lives are worth one suspected terrorists rights, hell, 1 innocent life is worth more than a suspected terrorists rights.
Was the Bush administration too agressive, too early with some suspects, likley yes. But with no domestic attacks since September 11th, the orders of the President kept us all safe, so in what can be assumed, coersion was given with appropriate force in relation to the time frame to a possible attack. If the Obama administration pursues any criminal action against Bush Administration officals, they will be going after every person who protected America since 9/11, including American Military Personell
Mark my words.
31 March 2009
Pay your taxes
A man in New Hampshire had a daughter attending graduate school at Cornell, where the yearly cost was nearly $54,000. He took up a second job to help cushion the debt she would incur. The income he gained in his second job placed him in a new tax bracket, where he was spending most of the income from his second job just to pay taxes. If he were to save the money he earned the government would tax the interest, if he bought and sold something we would tax it as a capital gain, if he invested we would tax his dividends. And on top of that if he died we would hit him one more time with the inheritance tax. This a story told in Mike Huckabees book, Do the Right Thing. This unfair and complicated tax system is why the United States should enact Fairtax, a national sales tax based on consumption not income. Under fairtax, Income taxes would be zero, corporate taxes would be zero, everything that you essentially gain money on would have a tax of zero.
1. The Current Tax System is very complicated
There are over 60,000 pages in the current federal tax code, compared to the 132 page fair tax act
Tim Giethner, the secretary of the Treasury even struggled(or even outright intentionally cheated) with system
2. The Current Tax System is difficult to enforce
Former IRS Commissioner Charles Rossotti (2002) reported to the Committee on the Budget for the House of Representatives in 2003 that the IRS assesses almost $30 billion of taxes that it will never collect.
$30,000,000,000 In avoided taxes in 2003
Gross State Product (Value of all Goods and Products created in the state) of SD in 2008 was $32,300,000,000
Forbes estimated that the NY Yankes were worth $1.2 Billion (25 teams)
You will pay $21,000 for a 2010 Ford Mustang (1 428 571 cars)
3. The Current tax is progressive on success
According to the Tax brackets issued by the IRS in 2007
If you make $7,825 you pay 782.50 in tax (10%)
If you make 77,100 you pay 15,698.75 in Tax (20%)
If you make 349,700, you pay 101,469.25 in Tax (29%)
1. The United States Congress will pass a law levying a 23% national sales tax
2. The government will then pass a constitutional Amendment to repeal the 16th Amendment
3. In the law permitting the national sales tax there will be exemptions for Necessities of living such as Food and Medicine
4. The IRS will focus on collecting outstanding income taxes while slowly downsizing its personnel and budget
5. A pre-rebate will be given on the tax of purchases up to the poverty level
To wrap things up, the American tax system punishes people for hard work, is so complicated that the Secretary of the Treasury cannot even figure it out, and leaves 30 Billion dollars in outstanding taxes per year. Buy something new and the tax is paid, it is as simple as that. The United States government should and must enact fairtax. I challenge you to call the IRS Tax Hotline with the same question three times, more often than not you will get three separate answers, and once you have your separate contact your representative to protest the current system. Taxation ought to be as blind as justice.
Thanks for reading
1. The Current Tax System is very complicated
There are over 60,000 pages in the current federal tax code, compared to the 132 page fair tax act
Tim Giethner, the secretary of the Treasury even struggled(or even outright intentionally cheated) with system
2. The Current Tax System is difficult to enforce
Former IRS Commissioner Charles Rossotti (2002) reported to the Committee on the Budget for the House of Representatives in 2003 that the IRS assesses almost $30 billion of taxes that it will never collect.
$30,000,000,000 In avoided taxes in 2003
Gross State Product (Value of all Goods and Products created in the state) of SD in 2008 was $32,300,000,000
Forbes estimated that the NY Yankes were worth $1.2 Billion (25 teams)
You will pay $21,000 for a 2010 Ford Mustang (1 428 571 cars)
3. The Current tax is progressive on success
According to the Tax brackets issued by the IRS in 2007
If you make $7,825 you pay 782.50 in tax (10%)
If you make 77,100 you pay 15,698.75 in Tax (20%)
If you make 349,700, you pay 101,469.25 in Tax (29%)
1. The United States Congress will pass a law levying a 23% national sales tax
2. The government will then pass a constitutional Amendment to repeal the 16th Amendment
3. In the law permitting the national sales tax there will be exemptions for Necessities of living such as Food and Medicine
4. The IRS will focus on collecting outstanding income taxes while slowly downsizing its personnel and budget
5. A pre-rebate will be given on the tax of purchases up to the poverty level
To wrap things up, the American tax system punishes people for hard work, is so complicated that the Secretary of the Treasury cannot even figure it out, and leaves 30 Billion dollars in outstanding taxes per year. Buy something new and the tax is paid, it is as simple as that. The United States government should and must enact fairtax. I challenge you to call the IRS Tax Hotline with the same question three times, more often than not you will get three separate answers, and once you have your separate contact your representative to protest the current system. Taxation ought to be as blind as justice.
Thanks for reading
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