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"I think we should welcome all peaceful people to our country. They get to the pursue the 'American Dream' and we get to benefit from all the wonderful things that immigrants bring to our country—like good old fashioned soccer. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me." - Drew Carey
Drew Carey tackles immigration in the latest episode of The Drew Carey Project:
Jayson Stark says the Braves could go all the way:
We take you back in time to the first week of March. The 2008 Grapefruit League was only a few days old. But a National League scout already had caught on to something that hadn't yet dawned on the rest of the hemisphere.Tonight is the Braves home opener against the Pirates. Tom Glavine is on the mound. I'm excited about this season. It'll be good times.He'd just returned from watching the new, improved Atlanta Braves. It didn't take him long to make this important announcement:
"They're back."
[...]
Go ahead. Call us nuts. Start typing those e-mails lecturing us on why the Red Sox, Yankees, Indians, Tigers, Mets, Phillies, Cubs, Rockies, yada yada yada are better than this team. Maybe they are. All we know is, while 98 percent of the planet was busy obsessing on those clubs, the Atlanta Braves built themselves a tremendous team.Everywhere we went this spring, we asked the same question: What team has opened your eyes? Everywhere we went, we heard the same answer: The Braves. Take a listen:
"People are wayyyy underestimating that club," said one NL executive. "It's amazing how far under the radar they've been. But you might think that till you see them play. Then you say, 'Shoot, this team's dangerous.'"
The Tax Foundation says that Obama is taking the populist road in this new ad where he pitches a windfall profits tax on evil oil companies:
Obama seeks to impose a tax on the windfall profits of oil companies, which he implies in the advertisement is the cause of the high prices at the pump. The fact of the matter is that it doesn't work that way. The CEO of Shell doesn't get up one morning wanting to raise gas prices and say "I'm going to screw the American consumer today so my company's shareholders will get a greater return." And then the next morning when he wants to lower prices say, "I slept well last night and feel good this morning so I'm going to lower prices for the American people even if it cost my shareholders."Welcome to Obama's America. A nation where it's bad to make a profit.The oil companies have reaped a lot of gain from the recent rise in oil prices. There is no disputing that. And a windfall profits tax in the short-run would do little to change the price of gasoline, and would push money into government's coffers. However, in the long-run, by telling the oil companies that if they have higher than average profits in any given period they will be taxed extra on those profits, then that tax affects business investment for the future. That, in turn, lowers investment in oil, raising the price at the pump, lowering wages, and lowering returns to investors.
The fact of the matter is that Obama would be more accurate if he said that his foreign policy would help lower gas prices given that recent tensions in the Middle East have played a larger role in raising the price. Unfortunately, Obama is merely engaging in nonsensical political rhetoric by targeting the current outcomes of the energy markets instead of the underlying causes.
[UPDATE] This is funny. Obama claims that he doesn't take contributions from oil companies. FactCheck claims that he has taken $213,000 from employees of oil companies and their spouses and that two individuals that work for him are executives at oil companies that have raised some where between "$50,000 and $100,000" for Obama.
I'm sure John Linder will dispense of his primary challenger with relative ease, but he will face opposition in the general election:
Democrat Doug Heckman is using a 2 p.m. conference call with reporters today, to announce his candidacy for the Seventh District congressional seat now held by John Linder, the Republican incumbent.In reading through his platform, Heckman criticizes the budget, says "abolish earmarks" and supports a balanced budget amendment. He also attacks the Fair Tax proposal.Heckman, who describes himself as a conservative, is a graduate of West Point, and recently served as a senior advisor to the Iraqi army. So he fits the pro-military, Jim Marshall-style profile that Democrats have attempted to develop among their candidates.
You can view his website here.
Over at Reason, Jacob Sullum writes that of the three candidates seeking the presidency, only one has a record of abstaining from the practice and seeking to reform it:
On the face of it, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, John McCain, and the two remaining contenders for the Democratic nomination, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, take a different view: All three supported a one-year moratorium on earmarks that the Senate recently rejected by a wide margin. But only McCain has taken a principled stand against the pet projects that legislators love to slip into spending bills.McCain would be the first Porkbuster-and-chief."We Republicans came to power in 1994 to change government," McCain told the Riverside, California, Press Enterprise last year, "and the government changed us. That's why we lost the election: We began to value power over principle."
[...]
"Pork barrel spending," McCain says, "is an insult to taxpayers, a waste of public resources, and an abdication of our leaders' responsibility to be good and honorable stewards of the public treasury, for the benefit of all Americans, not just a few." He says he wants to end, not mend, earmarks, and in the meantime he declines to seek them for his own state.
Sullum also mentions Barack Obama's earmark for the University of Chicago, where Michelle Obama happens to work. I wonder why that hasn't been investigated.
There is a new podcast over at EconTalk. This one deals with the moral defense of capitalism and whether less government intervention in the market makes people less ethical.
Take a listen here.
The 2008 baseball season kicks off tonight when the Braves play the Washington Nationals. Tim Hudson will get the first start of the season.
You can view the 2008 Braves roster here.
I'm picking the Braves to finish second in the division this year and get the wild card. Most magazines and writers are picking them to finish third, behind the Mets or Phillies. One of those teams almost always implodes at some point during the season. I don't think it's too far fetched that the Braves could finish first, but unlikely.
If you are looking for Braves blogs to read during the season, I recommend Braves Journal and Talking Chop.
[8:04pm] I'm digging the Braves alternate road jerseys. It's not that they are a big deal, it is just new. They are navy with Atlanta and the tomahawk with a solid navy cap.
[8:10pm] Apparently, the team was surprised with them.
To fight against the hysteria surrounding the issue of "man-made" global warming, turn all the lights on in your home tonight at 8pm and buy a copy of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming and read more about the other side of the issue here.
H/T: Club for Growth
In this video, State Sen. Eric Johnson tries to clear up the misinformation being spread about SB 458.
H/T: Chris @ Peach Pundit
Why is Sonny Perdue using neo-prohibitionist talking points for his opposition to Sunday sales? Rusty has the story, but you can read some background here.
The State Senate has passed an income tax cut:
The Georgia Senate on Friday overwhelmingly backed a 10 percent cut in the state income tax over the next five years.The bill had the backing of the Americans for Tax Reform. ATR supported the income tax cut over the repeal of the car tax because it did not "go as far as" Cagle's plan.The income tax cut, which passed 49-6, was the chamber's counter to a bill the House passed to eliminate the tax Georgians pay on their cars.
Now the two chambers will have to decide which tax cut, if any, to give final approval by the time the 2008 session ends. The session is supposed to close next Friday.
The Senate also passed another measure that would eliminate the .25 mill tax Georgians pay on their property, a savings of $90 million.
The income tax cut measure, when fully implemented, would save Georgians $1.2 billion. However, it would have minimal impact on Georgians this year. It would take effect July 1, and Georgians would see a small reduction in the amount of money the state takes out of their paycheck.
According the Political Insider, the cut also has the support of the Association County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG), Georgian Municipal Association (GMA) and the National Taxpayers Union.
Richardson's plan left too many holes, such as the state having to subsidize car ad valorem payments to counties, that would have required some sort of funding, which could have resulted in a separate tax increase.
Both chambers of the Georgia General Assembly passed an adjournment resolution yesterday. Sine Die is next Friday, April 4th. This based on the assumption hat Governor Perdue does not revise revenue estimates, which would send budget writers scrambling.
"Four Congressmen from Georgia - Paul Broun, Nathan Deal, Tom Price and Lynn Westmoreland - have publicly taken a pledge not to seek nor sponsor an earmark for one year. Some Republicans believe the party lost control of Congress in 2006 because of the abandonment of fiscally conservative principles and the record level of pork spending by a GOP controlled Congress. I will submit to you that this is very true to an extent. Republicans, despite their best efforts, cannot completely dismiss an unpopular war in Iraq as a part of their electoral struggles..."
Here is my column for this week. I wrote about earmarks, the "currency of corruption," according to Jeff Flake.
You can also add John Linder to the list of Georgia Congressman abstaining from earmarks for a year. He hasn't issued a press release showing it, but his office confirmed that when I called to get information for the article.
You can get links to previous columns here.
BB&T CEO John Allison gave the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill $1 million in 2005 on the condition that the school had to create an Ayn Rand reading room and Atlas Shrugged had to be included in a course. The school accepted the donation, but now that the reading room has opened, some school officials are having second thoughts:
The schools' agreements have drawn criticism from some faculty, who say it compromises academic integrity. In higher education, the power to decide course content is supposed to rest with professors, not donors. Debate about the gifts, which arose at UNCC this month, illustrates tensions that exist over corporate influence on college campuses.If they don't like it, then give the money back.UNCC received its $1 million gift pledge in 2005, but details about the "Atlas Shrugged" requirement came to light as the school dedicated an Ayn Rand reading room March 12.
"It's going to make us look like a rinky-dink university," UNCC religious studies professor Richard Cohen said Thursday after UNCC Chancellor Phil Dubois told the faculty council about the gift. "It's like teaching the Bible as a requirement."
Dubois, who learned of the book requirement this month, says it was ill-advised. He may ask Allison to reconsider it, he told faculty.
I have great respect for Allison and BB&T. I've written about their activities before, when the bank made it public that they wouldn't lend to developers that used Kelo-style takings and when they made a $1 million donation to UNC-Greensboro to advance the teaching of capitalism.
Republicans are responsible for $7.9 trillion of the $36.3 trillion in unfunded liabilities that face Medicare due to the passage of the prescription drug benefit in 2003 (Medicare Part D).
H/T: Club for Growth
Matt Welch, editor of Reason, writes that John McCain's policies and rhetoric are a direct attack on the Individual:
The presumptive presidential nominee of the Republican Party has seduced the press and the public with frank confessions of his failings, from his hard-living flyboy days to his adulterous first marriage to the Keating Five scandal. But in both legislation and rhetoric, Mr. McCain has consistently sought to restrict the very freedoms he once exercised, in the common national enterprise of “serving a cause greater than self-interest.”Welch brings up McCain anti-First Amendment leanings as well. And I have to admit that the "patriotism over profit" line that he hit Romney with during the campaign rubbed me the wrong way.Such sentiment can sound stirring coming from a lone citizen freely choosing public service. But from a potential president, Mr. McCain’s exaltation of sacrifice over the private pursuit of happiness — “I did it out of patriotism, not for profit,” he snarled to Mitt Romney during the final Republican presidential debate — reflects a worryingly militaristic view of citizenship.
[...]
The senator’s ideas for “reform” — taxing cigarettes, banning ultimate fighting, giving the president a line-item veto — typically empower the executive branch at the expense of American citizens and their representatives. Even his efforts to prohibit torture and overhaul immigration proved hostile to individual rights. His ban on the cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of detainees was packaged with provisions that jeopardized habeas corpus. And his immigration bill would have required American workers to prove their citizenship.
Commissioner Elizabeth “BJ” Mathis relies on ignorance and subterfuge. She misrepresents truth and uses emotional appeals to dupe her supporters. In spite of numerous requests for her to address documented historical facts, or the proven financial losses at Nash Farm, her supporters attack me in the press.
A recent letter to the Times said I should “not toss Nash Farm aside.” By following the Golden Rule and saying good things I “will surely be blessed.” In fact, Mathis found a way to use tax money and a county park as a platform for her political ambitions. She is dragging down the integrity of our board of commissioners. Now she must atone for her sins against the county.
There is no point in posing intelligent arguments or trying to present facts. None of Mathis’ so-called experts denied or refuted anything I have written. The Official Civil War Historian remained silent and eventually vacated his tax-paid house at Nash. Her tears of self pity are just feigned dignity when she pleads for Nash to be left alone.
Nash Farm is not a place for Battlefield Committee members to take nighttime ATV rides. And they should not profit by selling goods or services to the county. Mathis and her appointees told lies about battlefields, museums and increased tourism. It is not Mathis’ personal playground. No, this park belongs to all the people of Henry County.
Eminent domain stopped a developer from using his land. The county was roped into spending over $8 million. In two years the park has lost over $300,000 in tax money. But special interests that benefited have flocked to Mathis’ support. She does not care about good government, just getting elected.
Commissioner Mathis, for the sake of honesty and integrity, please stop shoveling the manure. This county does not need another politician who cannot support her own positions openly and truthfully.
The Georgia House voted to give Regional Development Centers taxing authority today when it approve a transportation sales tax, HB 845 by a vote of 136-35, well past the majority needed for a constitutional amendment.
The Americans for Tax Reform opposed the amendment and sent this letter to legislators urging them to vote against it. ATR's position is basically that a vote for the amendment was a vote to raise taxes, despite the fact that voters have to approve it, something I completely agree with. Our Founders warned us against the problem of faction.
There is good news. The Governor says he will campaign against the amendment should it pass the legislature (the Senate has to agree to the changes) and Casey Cagle is skeptical about RDCs.
As an aside, ATR has a pledge they send to candidates that asks the to oppose "any and all efforts to increase taxes."
Here is a list of members that broke that commitment today:
Amos Amerson (R-9)
Ben Bridges (R-10)
Mark Butler (R-18)
Buddy Carter (R-159)
Jill Chambers (R-81)
Mike Coan (R-101)
Brooks Coleman (R-97)
Sharon Cooper (R-41)
Clay Cox (R-102)
Katie Dempsey (R-13)
Melvin Everson (R-106)
Ron Forester (R-3)
Allen Freeman (R-140)
Mark Hamilton (R-23)
Ben Harbin (R-118)
Bill Hembree (R-67)
Penny Houston (R-170)
Sheila Jones (R-44)
Sean Jerguson (R-22)
Jerry Kean (R-179)
John Lunsford (R-110)
Gene Maddox (R-172)
Fran Millar (R-79)
Billy Mitchell (R-88)
Larry O'Neal (R-146)
Allen Peake (R-137)
Tom Rice (R-51)
Donna Sheldon (R-105)
Barbara Sims (R-119)
Bob Smith (R-113)
Len Walker (R-107)
Mark Williams (R-178)
John Yates (R-73)
Some of you may have seen this e-mail:
With Clayton County on the verge of losing their accreditation and Henry County schools already being overloaded, House Bill 458 will have a negative impact on the future of Henry County if the bill is passed. PLEASE pass this on to all of your friends and family and have them call the Governors office (number listed below) and oppose it! Taxpayers for Henry County should not have to pay for non-residential students to attend Henry County schools.The bill number is Senate Bill 458, not House Bill 458, and thanks to an amendment yesterday in the House Science and Technology Committee, the language requiring school systems to take the voucher was removed due to objections from some local school boards. Acceptance of the voucher is voluntary. If a school system doesn't want to honor the voucher, they won't have to.
It took 5 seconds for me to complete a call to the Governor's office. Please read below.
-------------------------------------------------------------
This is an important announcement directly affecting our school and our school system.The GA Senate has passed a bill today allowing students from any non-accredited system to attend any school of their choice in any district without changing residences. The bill is now on its way to the House Science and Technology Dept. for review and then for a vote. The final step would be to go the Governor for his signature into law.
Should this bill pass, our school and our system would feel a tremendous strain on facilities, supplies, class sizes, instruction and sports eligibility. We urge you to call the governor's office as quickly as possible at 404-656-1776 and simply give your name and state you oppose House Bill 458.
Please contact our state representatives and voice your opposition to this bill quickly as time is critical.
Governor Sonny Perdue
404-656-1776
This has not stopped teacher's unions and opponents of school choice from demagoguing the issue through e-mail blasts to members and supporters. It is equally unfortunate that the Governor's office is not informing callers of the change in the legislation.
"A virtuous and laborious people may be cheaply governed." - Benjamin Franklin
Tax Freedom Day is April 23rd:
Tax Freedom Day, the day on which Americans have earned enough money to pay all their federal, state and local taxes for the year, will fall on April 23 this year, according to the Tax Foundation's annual calculation using the latest government data on income and taxes.Tax Freedom Day is calculated by dividing the official government tally of all taxes collected in each year by the official government tally of all income earned in each year. Governments—federal, state and local—took 29.6% of income in 1970, 30.4% of income in 1980, 33.6% in 2000, and so on. This percentage is the nation's total tax burden. We then use the historical trend and the most recent economic data to make a projection of what the tax burden will be in the current year and we convert that burden into a date—a percentage of the year—on which Americans will have earned enough income to pay their total tax bill for the year.
This year’s Tax Freedom Day falls three days earlier than in 2007. Fiscal stimulus rebates and a projection of slow growth in 2008 are the principal reasons for the earlier celebration. However, if the large projected deficit for 2008 were counted as a tax in the current year, Tax Freedom Day would fall on May 3.
Vietnam got brought up on a thread the other day about the Iraq War, so when I saw this over at Rusty's place, I thought it would go well here. It is an interactive Vietnam Memorial. You can search the name of soldier listed on the wall and find information about them.
Bob Barr made an appearance today on Antiwar Radio and discussed American foreign policy and torture. He did confirm that he is considering a run for President, presumably under the Libertarian Party banner.
H/T: Third Party Watch
A teacher's union in Florida is considering a lawsuit over tax credits available to businesses that donate to scholarship funds. This presents a problem here is Georgia because a similar measure (HB 1133) is being considered in the legislature and there is already opposition to it from the GAE:
House Bill 1133, sponsored by Rep. David Casas (R-Lilburn), creates an income tax credit for individuals and corporations who donate to organizations that give scholarships for students to switch to a private school.That could mean trouble ahead for Georgia if the union in Florida is successful with their lawsuit.The Senate Finance Committee will take up Casas' bill at 3:30 p.m. today.
Both bills have already passed their own home chambers but must get through the other.
"There's a long way to go to final passage, but there continues to be a desire to provide more options for education," Johnson said. "Public education is really the only monopoly left in government."
Jeff Hubbard, president of the Georgia Association of Educators, opposes the bills. He said neither would benefit many students and both would further weaken an education system already hurt by funding cuts.
"We believe public funds should be used for education of students in public schools," Hubbard said.
H/T: Cato @ Liberty
William Niskanen highlights the threats facing limited government:
An administration and Congress of either party is likely to approve a federal program of universal health insurance. Such a program was endorsed by most of the presidential candidates in both parties, was implemented by former Gov. Mitt Romney in Massachusetts, and has been promoted even by our friends at the Heritage Foundation — despite the prospect that it would substantially increase federal spending, the relative price of medical care, and both price controls and nonprice rationing of medical care.H/T: Club for GrowthThe failure of any presidential candidate or more than a few members of Congress to criticize the $150 billion debt-financed “stimulus” package as ineffective or possibly counterproductive suggests that there is a broad bipartisan indifference to responsible fiscal policy. Another major threat to limited government that will probably be approved next year, whatever the outcome of the November election, is a first-stage national commitment to reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases; this ineffective but potentially very expensive policy is being promoted as a moral obligation, rather than the best of the alternative feasible responses to global warming.
The huge implicit debts for Social Security and Medicare, of course, are the largest threats to the federal budget. This is where the outcome of the November election might make a difference. In his recent State of the Union address, President Bush reminded us that these two programs should be reformed soon to avoid a large annual increase in their implicit debts, a warning that both Congress and the media ignored.
The Tax Foundation has blasted Johnny Isakson's tax credit for new home buyers:
Republican Senator Johnny Isakson, a former real estate agent, has come forth in support of yet another tax handout for housing. The bill is co-sponsored by many other Republicans in the Senate, including Senators Gregg, Craig, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. This time they want to give a $15,000 per year tax credit spread out over three years to anyone who purchases a new home, a foreclosed home, or a home that is pending foreclosing.Amen!!!These same Republicans who claim to want to rein in government spending as part of being "fiscally conservative" are themselves proposing a massive new hidden spending program, though they disguise it as a tax credit.
If there is anything the tax code needs, it is fewer handouts for the housing industry, not more. Members of Congress need to start listening to the consensus of economists on both the left and right who believe that housing receives too many favors in the tax code. And they need to stop listening to the paid lobbyists of the National Association of Realtors and the National Association of Home Builders.
This kind of leaves me scratching my head. It seems that Mike Gravel has joined the Libertarian Party according to Stephen over at Third Party Watch.
Gravel is a civil libertarian, but he does not remotely share the economic beliefs that the party pushes. Maybe he'll come along on that as well.
[UPDATE] There is a discussion about this over at Reason.
Obama's tax returns are out. He hasn't been as altruistic with his own money as he wants to be with taxpayer dollars.
The long term financial woes of Medicare and Social Security are in the news today:
Trustees for the government's two biggest benefit programs warned Tuesday that Social Security and Medicare are facing "enormous challenges" with the threat to Medicare's solvency far more severe.The trustees, issuing a once-a-year analysis of the government's two biggest benefit programs, said the resources in the Social Security trust fund will be depleted by 2041. The reserves in the Medicare trust fund that pays hospital benefits were projected to be wiped out by 2019.
Both those dates were the same as in last year's report. But the trustees warned that financial pressures will begin much sooner when the programs begin paying out more in benefits each year than they collect in payroll taxes. For Medicare, that threshhold is projected to be reached this year and for Social Security it is projected to occur in 2017.
State Sen. Eric Johnson believes that a tax cut will be passed:
The odds may look long for tax relief right now with no consensus in sight and just six lawmaking days left, but Senate President Pro Tem Eric Johnson said Tuesday he remains confident some aspect of the measures currently under debate will win final approval from the Georgia Legislature.Johnson also said that the transportation tax is in trouble due to differences between the House and Senate. The original proposal that came from the Senate is definitely the lesser of the two evils.
[...]
The House has passed a tax reform bill that would ax the tag tax, eliminate the state’s quarter-mill property tax (a proposal by Gov. Sonny Perdue) and cap property assessments at 2008 rates except for modest annual increases.Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and top Republican Senate leaders have proposed, instead, reducing the income tax rates by 10 percent, while also eliminating the quarter-mill tax and capping property assessments.
House leaders called the counter-proposal a “poison pill,” but it has cleared a Senate committee and likely will be on the Senate floor Friday for debate.
“So far, we’re in agreement on the quarter-mill property tax cut that the governor has proposed, we’re in agreement on an assessment cap and and we’re in agreement that there should be some sort of significant tax cut,” Johnson said.
“So we agree on a good portion of that tax reform. I believe we can find a final solution to a tax cut that can pass at least by the last day of the General Assembly. You know, elections are marvelous things and we’re headed into one, so there’s an incentive to deliver a tax cut - at least by the Republicans - to the people,” he said.
[UPDATE] There is more on the tax cuts over at the AJC.
GDOT is may be cutting some transportation projects:
Georgia is about to undertake some painful project-cutting to fit its transportation program to its budget, state Department of Transportation Commissioner Gena Abraham told her board Monday as they met at a retreat in Macon.Just about everyone I've talked to believes Gena Abraham is doing an excellent job and needs more time to review and prioritize, and that means cost/benefit analysis of projects, before more funding is thrown towards GDOT.A department that in reality has the money to work on about 270 projects a year has 1,470 active ones on its books and more than 9,000 planned, she said.
"We're going to have to talk about projects coming off our books," she said. "There's no other way around it."
Also, Mark Rountree from Landmark Communications backed up a recent poll by Insider Advantage that showed that Georgians are opposed to a tax increase for transportation:
We found 40% support to 49% opposition, very similar to the Insider Advantage poll.Meanwhile, State Rep. Vance Smith and House leadership seem determined to shove a tax increase down the throats of Georgians.
[...]
Inside Metro Atlanta area: 42% support vs. 50% opposedOUTSIDE Metro Atlanta area: 38% support vs. 49% opposed.
It’s 8 point difference within metro Atlanta, and an 11% difference outside.
The poll sample was of 750.
Why even bother with this?:
D.C. police are going door-to-door Monday in one of the city's crime-plagued neighborhoods, asking residents for permission to search their homes for guns and other illegal contraband.Allahpundit at Hot Air, where I saw this story, summed it up well:The program, called the Safe Homes Initiative, will offer homeowners and renters limited amnesty for possessing any contraband found by police.
The program is aimed at removing guns and drugs kept by children and young adults in their parents' homes. The homeowners will be asked to sign a form, consenting to the search.
"I think that's good," said parent Brenda Freeman Jones, who worries that many parents aren't aware of what their kids are up to. "Look for the gun and drugs, sign the papers. Get stuff off the street."
Police plan to test any firearm that is recovered to see if it used in a crime. Weapons linked to shootings or murders will require an investigation, according to police, and could lead to charges.
I trust, with blind faith, that this has nothing to do with the minor matter that handgun ownership may be a full-fledged constitutional right in the District within three months.And...God bless Marion "Bitch set me up" Berry (yes, that Marion Berry), who said of the initiative:
[...]
Why, with the Supremes leaning towards blessing firearm possession, would anyone aware of his rights be intimidated by a gun grab now? Like the lady says, albeit on a different note, “Ain’t nobody in their right mind going to let them in to the house for guns, drugs, nothing.”
"I don't understand it. In fact we will fight against it until we find out what will be the end point," says Barry. "That's a parental responsibility. Not the government's responsibility to know what kids are doing, when they come home, who their friends are and what they have in the house."I have this odd feeling that DC police will be met with some hostility as they meet a citizenry that is likely to be skeptical of law enforcement.
Paul Broun and Nathan Deal have joined Tom Price and Lynn Westmoreland (I previously wrote about Price and Westmoreland) in taking a stand against earmarks by individually imposing a one-year moratorium against the practice:
More than half of Georgia's Republicans in the U.S. House have joined an anti-earmark crusade and pledged to give up pet spending requests for their districts.Jack Kingston is noticeably absent from the list, despite his recent remarks and actions on the issue.They say quitting cold turkey will help shake up a free-spending culture in Washington, but others argue the move is a political stunt that will only deprive Georgia of federal cash for road improvements, university grants and other projects.
Republican Reps. Paul Broun of Athens, Nathan Deal of Gainesville, Tom Price of Roswell and Lynn Westmoreland of Grantville say they will forgo earmarks for at least one year.
[T]he four Georgia Republicans say it was runaway spending - with egregious examples such as Alaska's so-called "bridge to nowhere" - that helped spark the party's losses in 2006. To rebuild trust, they say, they're ready to sacrifice a perk that lawmakers traditionally have used to shore up support back home.
Perhaps he doesn't trust himself to stick to a self-imposed ban. Maybe he only wants to go along with a ban if it is a rule of the House. Who knows? It just makes it very difficult to take him seriously on the issue.
Politicians like Mike Huckabee, John Edwards and Barack Obama use protectionist talking points and populist rhetoric about jobs going overseas (or as Obama says the North American Free Trade Agreement has caused jobs to go to China). But when you look at the corporate income tax rates in the United States, it's hard to put the blame on businesses, especially when twenty-four states have a combined federal and state corporate tax rate higher than the highest ranked country.
To paraphrase Milton Friedman, the corporate tax is just another tax on the individual.
H/T: TaxProf via Instapundit
In case you're wondering, here are the dates that cash advance on a future tax increase economic stimulus checks are going out.
Bob Barr has some thoughts on the Heller case:
The lower, federal appeals court found the Amendment does guarantee the right of an individual person to possess a firearm, and that the Washington, D.C. ban on handguns amounted to an impermissibly restrictive limitation of that right. While most Members of the U.S. House and Senate joined in briefs to the Supreme Court asking it to agree with the appeals court on both findings, the Bush Administration strangely asked the Supreme Court justices to send the decision back to the lower court to reconsider precisely how the D. C. ban should be interpreted. The Bush Justice Department took this disappointing stance because it feared a precedent that might make it more difficult for it and future administrations to enforce the wide range of existing federal gun laws.I wish I could say with confidence that the Supreme Court will find an individual right and overturn the DC gun ban. A majority for the individual right seems very likely and from looking at the transcript there could be as many as six or seven Justices in favor of that view.Despite this waffling by the Administration (with which even Vice President Cheney disagreed on the record), it appears the Court will likely find D.C.gun ban, which disarms the citizenry in one of the country’s most violence-prone cities, unconstitutional because it effectively abrogates an individual’s right to own a firearm for self-defense. If the Court does not do so, we’ll have the Bush Administration to thank.
I don't, however, have the same confidence that a majority of the court will find that the DC gun ban is unreasonable regulation.
The number of US military deaths in Iraq has hit 4,000.
I don't like making statements that can be construed as "anti-war," because I'm not a pacifist and I believe that if there is reason enough for us to go to war then we should. Going into Iraq was a terrible mistake and our leaders need to start looking for a way to get us out of Iraq.
Rasmussen shows Saxby Chambliss with large leads over possible Democratic challengers, including Jim Martin:
Chambliss leads Dale Cardwell 52% to 36%, Vernon Jones 56% to 30% and Jim Martin 51% to 33%.Dale Cardwell does the best, but it seems like Democrats don't take him seriously. The unfavorable ratings for Vernon Jones (aka: "Snuggles") is a red flag.
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Chambliss is viewed favorably by 57% of Georgia voters and unfavorably by 29%. Jones, the CEO of Dekalb County, earns favorable ratings from just 25% and unfavorable ratings from 58%. Former congressman Jim Martin is viewed favorably by 35% and unfavorably by 36%, while 28% are not sure.
The Wall Street Journal has an interview up with Georgia native and current Supreme Court Justice, Clarence Thomas.
It makes for a good read.
Here is a legislative update from State Sen. John Douglas:
The 2008 session of the Georgia legislature is nearing the home stretch as our next meeting on March 27th will be Day 35 of the 40 legislative days allowed by law. The pace is increasing dramatically as Senators and Representatives work to finish the 2008 session.The biggest tax cut in Georgia history was recently proposed by Lt. Gov. Cagle and members of the Senate. The Senate tax reform plan calls for a reduction in income taxes by 10 percent across the board for every state income tax taxpaying citizen. If passed, this plan will deliver over $3.5 billion in tax cuts. The cuts will be phased in over five years in equal, annual installments, beginning July 1, 2008. Because the same percentage cut is applied to all rates, the taxpayers who need the cut the most will receive a proportionately larger tax cut. This measure puts money back in the pockets of Georgia taxpayers. I have long been a strong foe of both Federal and state income taxes and hope this is the first step to eliminating the state income tax. Additionally, I hope it can become an example to the federal government that income taxes have to go.
The impending loss of the accreditation of the Clayton County schools continues to be a hot topic at the capitol. SB 458 provides that students can leave any school or system that loses its accreditation. If the students stays within the system but changes schools, transportation must be provided by the system. If he/she chooses to leave the system, they provide their own transportation. Of critical importance, no other system is required to accept those students if space is not available. To me, that was a key amendment because of the crowding in the Newton, Rockdale, Henry and Spalding schools, all counties I represent and geographically close to Clayton County. I have no intention of allowing those systems to be flooded with former Clayton County students when we are hard pressed to educate those who already live in these counties. The taxpayers of those counties will not be asked to pay for the incompetence of the Clayton County school system.In other news this week, Senate Bill (SB) 544, which I sponsored, saw final passage on Thursday and will become law with the Governor's signature. SB 544 will begin to provide property tax relief for Newton County senior citizens. The legislation allows each resident of Newton County who is over the age of 65 and with an adjusted gross income of $25,000 or less to be granted a homestead exemption from all Newton County ad valorem taxes in the amount of $30,000. In order to be eligible for the benefit, a homeowner would have to file an application with the tax commissioner.
I was on the radio with Wilson Smith, Georgia's best political talk show, yesterday discussing the Heller case and some Georgia politics.
Wilson made his prediction on the outcome of Heller:
The now conservative Supreme Court that loves to uphold the power of the government to do just about anything (like tap our phones) has to choose between its love of federal power and its love of guns, or should I say conservatives’ love of guns. I predict the guns win, the law is declared unconstitutional and the Supreme Court does some fancy dancing to preserve both guns and power. When you are the Supreme Court you can have the best of both worlds!I apologize for coughing a lot during the interview. I caught that bug that has been going around again.
Thanks to Wilson for having me on!