Hanging in the Balance

Saddam Hussein’s execution is noteworthy for Iraqis, however anticlimactic for Americans.  No doubt those Iraqis who suffered under the Hussein regime will experience: revenge, comfort, and finality.
Those in Iraq who are looking for a reason to be violent will be violent.  Those in the world who always blame the US will blame the US.
This is [...]

What would really be nice is some Tax Reform

Before raising or lowering anyone’s income taxes, Congress should reform IRS code and the corresponding bureaucracy.
Don’t even bother to look at the IRS code.  The whole system is beyond beneficial revision.  Start with the amount of revenue needed (not desired) then formulate a simple tax system to generate that revenue, less earmarks.
With regard to earmarks, [...]

Ah, the Internet

Information and alternative analysis is more readily available and accessible at nearly any of your local library.  The Internet and all of its instruments: websites, blogs, social networks, etc. almost makes the need for political parties and traditional (print and broadcast) media as sources of info and news nearly redundant.
The parties and media keep thinking [...]

Balance of Power?

Often we hear, especially from the partisans out of power about the imbalance of power.  However, the Constitution defines the balance of power quite clearly.  The office of the Presidency is most often accused of exceeding its authority.  The Courts are accused of legislating from the bench.
Congressional lack of action, makes it appear that the [...]

Fix the AMT

The Alternative Minimum Tax was a good idea, brought to legislation, probably 10 years too late.  The AMT is overdue for significant revision by about 10 years.
Rep. Rangel if you are not going tackle a complete revision of the IRS tax code to make it more simple, then please at the very least fix and [...]

Party Alternatives

No, not Holiday Party alternatives.
Sen. Lieberman was forced out of his party’s nomination for the Senate seat in CT by single issue and extreme members of that party.  Others who have a greater interest in their country should likewise consider that the parties are not serving the majority of the voters but have been hijacked [...]

Stabilizing Iraq

If a stable Iraq is so important to Syria and Iran, why have they attempted nothing to stabilize Iraq.  For that matter, why haven’t Saudi Arabia and Jordan and Egypt and Turkey and Kuwait been more demonstrably involved in the stabilization of Iraq?
♫ Doo…doo doo doo, doo doo doo, du, di, do, do..do…do ♫.
Times up….and [...]

If you knew then….what you know now…?

That was the media question most over used in 2006.
If voters knew then that the Carter Administration would allow inflation to run rampant, energy supplies to become so vulnerable and fail miserably in trying to settle the Iranian hostage situation would the voters have elected Jimmy Carter President?
If voters knew then that Richard Nixon was [...]

Voting and Democracy

“It’s not the voting that’s democracy, it’s the counting”. Tom Stoppard [British dramatist & screenwriter (1937 - )], from his play “Jumpers” (1972) Act 1.
How true in some countries the voting takes places with a single candidate or single party on the ballots and the counting takes places in great secrecy.
In the US voting takes [...]

Congress – Neither Conservative nor Liberal

Our Congress is Preservative!
For the most part our Representatives seem more interested in preserving their political power base, their incumbency, their seniority, etc.
Wouldn’t it be great if Congress were Deliberative and/or Legislative?