Tax Sucks

Recently, a book was written advocating the abolition of income tax and all of it's frustrating complexities for a national sales tax:
Eliminating the income tax in favor of a national sales tax is only a tax shift… all of the expenditures and bureaucratic inefficiencies are still there. Why not eliminate the national income tax, and make the national sales tax somewhere around 10 to 15 percent? We could phase out many superfluous programs like Medicare and Medicaid; privatize social security (see my attached plan), and cut pork.
It frustrates me to see my money going towards lawn mower races in Hoboken, New Jersey in the form of kickbacks… er, sorry, “Pork”… and it doesn’t matter how they get my money, just that they get my money irritates me.
Not to go off on a tangent, but regarding sales in general: The government wants control of your personal life. If they can’t micromanage your personal decisions via income tax deductions and breaks, then they will do it with a national ID card, required for all purchases that they deem interesting.
Think about it… an electronic record for the big brother attorney general’s office to look at and say, “Hmm… he checked out a book called ‘Understanding Islam’, time for a wire tap! Look! He also purchased a 24 pack of Trojans yesterday! Hey Alberto, get a kick out of this!
Either way, it is wrong. We need less government, and fewer laws, not more. A smaller government means smaller operating costs means lower taxes all by itself.

The Privatization of Social Security

The privatization of Social Security would be exceedingly simple, if we just go and do it. All payments into the system stop as of December 31, 2007. Whatever you have paid into it by that time, plus interest accrued on those funds while they were held by the government, are paid out to you upon retirement.
Haven’t paid any in yet? Then you never will, and you never will get any out.
What if I am 50, and want the full benefits of Social Security, OASDI, instead of only what I have paid in? Then, comes in option two: the government writes you a check equal to the amount you have paid into the system over your life, adjusted for inflation. Now, you can invest that money into whatever you like, let it earn you interest, and retire on that.
If you’ve paid in for the last 35 or so years, that should be quite a bit.
So in the end, everything is balance d out. Take what is in there, and send it back to those who have given it in the first place. If that person is deceased, then it goes to the spouse. If the spouse is deceased, then it goes to the general fund for use wherever Congress appropriates it.
Problem solved. People use their own money. If they are wise, and invest it, and save it, then they will have a comfortable retirement. If they are foolish, and do not, then it is not my fault nor problem when they have nothing to retire on.
When people spend their own money, they are responsible. When people spend other people's money, they are not. Give me my own money, and I'll spend it how I want.

The election results are in here in Idaho

And once again; we are arguably the most republican state in the nation.
The democratic revolution that has given the democrats control of the house and more representation in the senate has not made it's way to Idaho... and the reasoning is quite plain: Idahoans are more fundamentalist in their ideology than almost anywhere else in the nation.
I'm not saying that it is a good thing; I'm not saying that it is a bad thing. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of either party. However, what I do think is bad is the basis for the choices my fellow Idahoans are making.
Religion.
Many of the votes that went to the republicans yesterday were not cast for the candidate most qualified for the job (the incumbent state superintendent of public education who has been in the system for years was replaced by a republican challenger that has never taught); but the candidate that was most alligned with their religious zealousity (he said publicly that he supported having the bible in the classroom).
Let me say this once and for all... religion is fine, as long as it is kept in the church. What I do in my house (specifically say, the bedroom) or what you do in your house should stay there... it is not a matter for public or government concern. My "sins" do not affect you; your "sins" do not affect me. Period. And just because you hold something dear doesn't mean I do, and visa versa. Therefore, it is irrational and fascist to impose your particular sect of religion onto the rest of the country.
And saying that it is okay just because most of the country believes in it is a logical fallacy... argumentum ad popularum. Google it. Since it is a logical fallacy, you can not use that logic argument.
Ditto with, "that's how our country was founded." That is a fallacy as well; argumentum ad antiquatem.
There are no rational aguments to allow for religiously based laws.
We need fewer laws, not more.
And that's the final word.

It's Election Time Again, Oh Boy!

It is election time again, and it is time for us all to take a look at what is at stake.
We have a choice this year between essentially two major parties who are not as different as they may like us to believe. If you vote Republican, you vote for oppressive social policy and more government invasion into privacy. If you vote Democratic, besides needing a frontal lobe lobotomy, you vote for ridiculous government tax-and-spending and a huge central government.
As for the supposedly "divisive" issue of the "War on Terror", all the Democrats has said is that we should leave. No plan, no significant explanations, no rationale or timescale, just politcal mumbo jumbo that contradicts all that is Republican for the sake of contradiction. I guarantee that as soon as they gain control of one or both houses, they will simply slough off this issue; they will claim that they now know that what they said is difficult and will waffle on the issue. Period. Look at the votes on whether or not to go to war. Was there any division then? No, it was a good politcal decision to agree with it. Patriotism. Now it is better politically for the Dems to oppose. So they do. What's next?
However, don't take that as support for the war that I feel is prolonged, unnecessary, and expansionist.
And on that same tangent; where is our sense of being American? Whether or not you support the war, shouldn't you care about the TROOPS that are there on the ground? In the air? Floating around on the ocean? I think it is perfectly horrible to degrade those who serve, just to show how much you hate Republicans.
Support our troops, not the war.

So regardless of how you vote, you vote for essentially the same thing... more political chaos and instability.

Chew on that.

Stupid, Ignorant, Ridiculous, REPUBLICANS!!!

...And the Democrats are not that far behind.

History is cyclical in many respects. Politics have no exception.

Step 1: Have youthful ideals that challenge the bloated, unethical status quo.
Step 2: Run for office based on these youthful ideals.
Step 3: Use limited power to influence the status quo, promoting your ideals.
Step 4: Use this "reformist" track record to gain more power.
Step 5: Height of your power, you do what you feel is morally right.
Step 4: Begin to despise "reforms" that limit your continued power growth.
Step 3: Use power in an effort to gain more power than ever, because you have tasted authority and it consumes your efforts like pure heroin.
Step 2: Abandon all your youthful ideals in an effort to gain more power.
Step 1: Become the bloated, unethical status quo you fought so hard against.

Sound familiar?

It should, because it chronicles, among other things, the Republican party's journey over the past 20 or so years.

It began with people like Ronald Reagan... a conservative idealogue who stood for hardline capitalism in the face of communism, limited government intervention with the free market, and reduced socialist welfare programs, coupled with fiscal responsibility among other things.
Now we have George W. Bush, a deformed mockery of Reagan. A conservative failure who's programs have given crony benefits to reduce free market competition (such as no bid contracts), and reduced fiscal responsibility by cutting taxes while increasing expenditures.

It's like the evolution chart backwards. Oh, sorry. No evolution. Evolution is bad. Shouldn't connect it with Republicans, so instead...

It's like the Roman Empire (they believe in that, right?)

That's why I vote for and support the libertarian cause... we haven't had the power to corrupt us, have we??? Besides, we promote social liberty and fiscal responsibility. We let the free market do all that it can. If you truly believe in America's greatness, and the individual's right to TRUE freedom, then you are a closet Libertarian. I know many Dems and Reps that are closer to the Libertarian viewpoint, but stick with the 2 big parties.
Don't be like them. Embrace you opinion. Be enthusiastic with your individuality. Don't follow the crowd!!!

Price Gouging Doesn't Exist!

Santa Claus. The Easter Bunny. The Boogie Man.
Price Gouging.
Elves, Peter Cottontail, Zombies.
Evil, price gouging, profiteering, heartless businessmen looking to screw the helpless.

All myths.

Price gouging, as it is defined by the knee jerk whiners, is businesspeople charging prices that seem unfair, in a supposed attempt to make money off of other people's misfortunes.
I say, no way.

Businesspeople are in business to make money. This is true of any business. Not one businessperson out there is willing to take a serious hit in profits for long term or stop making money. Businesspeople that use these tactics are not businesspeople, they are failures that are filing bankruptcy.
Period.

If people really thought that a price is unfair, they wouldn't pay it. If you have noticed, however, people that complain of being "price gouged" are still paying for that product. They must not have too much of a problem with the price. They just don't want to have to be an active, responsible consumer.

Laziness. A mark of the follower.

Leaders and Followers, Part 2

As I have detailed in "Leaders and Followers Part 1", there are two types of people on this planet when you really boil it down... Leaders and Followers.
Leaders, though, are not always good. Osama bin Laden is definitely a leader. So was Adolf Hitler. They were able to show the qualities of leadership: determination, persuasion, drive to succeed, tenacity.
Leaders are also not always bad. Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, Nelson Mandela, all were great leaders for similar reasons.
It stands to reason, then, that being a great leader is neither good nor evil.
Followers are, however, always bad. Any time you have a nation full of followers, you get one leader that can totally dominate. The followers roll over and let the few leaders control all aspects of their lives. 1930's Germany. Need I say more? Remember... Adolf Hitler was democratically elected.
That is why I, and the Libertarian Party at large, believe in the value of self government. People have the ability to govern themselves, if they are taught to and choose to. All of us have choice every day. Even if you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice. If all people, or a majority, choose to govern their own lives, deal with their own problems, and handle their own consequences good or bad, then the world will be a better place.
That is my ultimate goal... educate the people, tell them that they can govern themselves not only on a small scale but on a large scale as well.
Self Control. A quality of leaders.

The Case Against Public Schools

The Case Against Public Schools

Public education is widely held to be a key tenet of any successful nation, a key factor to the development of a nation’s young minds. Without some form of public education, many argue, literacy levels and college readiness would decline sharply.
Wrong.
Education is what is needed, and it matters little whether it is public or private in terms of quality. Indeed, private schools often deliver a higher quality education without many of the major drawbacks of public education – those caused by the government intervention into the system, local and federal.
One need look no further than the recent debacle in Kansas regarding what should be taught in science classes, natural selection or the intelligent design “theory” (more on that later). Private schools would completely avoid such a mess… if you want little Johnny and little Susie to be taught one or the other, enroll them in a school that shares your views.
No government intervention, big brother interference, or clash of ideologies.
What, you may ask, about those families who cannot afford private education? How can you forget them? I haven’t.
Right now, we all pay taxes to support public education, whether we use it or not. Perhaps what could be done is a “pay to use” system, in which parents choosing to continue to use public schools pay the tax to support them, and those choosing to enroll in private education do not. More private schools in use will increase competition among them and drive down prices.
Win win.
Our government is increasingly socialist. Cradle to grave welfare, subsidies, and intervention have seen to that. We fought so hard in the Cold War to stop Communism, and here we are complacently allowing the next best thing to creep up on us. Free market, the key to free societies, begin with free educational choice.
Don’t you want your kid to be taught what you want, not what Uncle Sam wants?
Welfare, social security, subsidized housing… they are the shovels that are digging the hole for America’s grave. Public schools are the grim reaper… unseen and unheralded yet ultimately the most powerful thing in the land. Indoctrination has been the key for any regime, to influence the minds of the most fallible members of society. The Nazis had Hitler’s Youth. America has public education.
The government wants power. It wants influence. What better way to get it than to tell kids from age 6 that it is okay for the government to dictate personal lives? Teach them to follow complacently rather than experience the harsh raw winds of independent thought? Mind control; subliminal conditioning.
Chew on that.

What Price Gouging?

What The Heck Do They Mean, Price Gouging?

It was in our paper here in Idaho this morning. Similar articles have appeared, I’m sure, in almost any state, county, and municipality across the United States of America, and it makes me shake my head and question where our country is headed.
It was an article about “price gouging” at the gasoline pump.
Gas prices are high. They have been high. Some places have had their gas prices go down as of late, and some places (like Idaho) are still high. People living in high-price places (again, like Idaho) immediately have a knee jerk reaction where they scream, “We need to pass a law to ban this extortionate pricing!” Some have even gone so far as to sue gasoline companies for “price gouging.”
This is ridiculous.
One of the beautiful things about this country is that businesses can charge what they will for their products. If they can make more money, why shouldn’t they? If you owned a grocery store, and people were willing to pay $10 per apple, you would charge $10 per apple, wouldn’t you? Well, if you were smart you would. If the government came along and put a cap on what you could charge for apples, it could hurt your business quite a bit.
This type of legislation is counterproductive, and seeks to solve a long term issue with a short term solution. Inflation would soon render any arbitrary price cap obsolete and even more ridiculous than it is now.
Gas companies have the right to charge whatever they want for gas. If they wanted to charge $5 a gallon, then they could. However, if they did, then fewer people would buy their gas, which hurts business. Therefore, the consumer’s right to choose keeps prices down from what they could be.
Lets extend this out, and extrapolate for a minute. If everyone decided to buy gas only at the gas station with the cheapest gas in town, then every other gas station would begin to lose business. They would have to lower their prices to stay competitive. This lowers gas prices citywide without any federal intervention at all.
Consumer responsibility is key. If people educate themselves and make intelligent decisions, then many of today’s cumbersome legislation becomes superfluous. Consumers have the right to choose to take their business wherever they want, and this power holds great sway over company policies, especially pricing.
Don’t like how a clothing company makes clothes in sweatshops? Buy other clothes. Don’t like customer service at a restaurant? Eat somewhere else. Hate high gas prices? Buy a fuel efficient car, a car with an alternative energy source, conserve energy, and/or shop where gas is cheap. These send a serious message to the corporations… they have lost business. Encourage others to do the same, and that power is doubled.
All without government intervention.

Are you a Libertarian?

Are You A Libertarian?

Many people in the United States are politically brainwashed, in a rut, stuck between the two major parties and unable to flex their opinion muscles because they have become completely concreted into their mindset by years of the media’s almost exclusive focus on the two major parties.
No third party ever makes it in a major election. This is not simply because people don’t agree with the smaller political parties, indeed, the opposite is true. The smaller parties are more responsive to individual needs. The smaller parties are less centralized, and have more variety than only two major parties. They just have less money; and money is time (on the television).
You can always find a party that fits your opinions exactly. Sometimes, it’s the Republicans or the Democrats. More likely, it is a minor party. In this article, I will tell you the views of one of America’s great minor parties, the Libertarian party. Maybe this will detail your own opinions!
A Libertarian believes in a small central government that has much less power than the one we have today. A government should not be able to interfere into daily activities of its citizens. This means that we are socially liberal… no laws on homosexuality, abortion, et cetera. No laws prohibiting, no laws requiring. Individual choice!
Along with the small government, we feel that programs such as welfare and social security should be eliminated (phased out, in my case), placing emphasis on individual responsibility. Take the taxes you would have paid to social security, and invest it in a savings account or the stock market for your own retirement. This makes us fiscally conservative… you pay much less in tax and what you pay essentially goes to the basics of government, military, public goods. If you want to help the disadvantaged (as many of us do), donate to them directly, or to organizations who assist the disadvantaged directly.
In short, Libertarians feel that it is up to the individual to self-govern… in the words of James Madison (heard of him!?) “We have staked the future of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self government; upon the capacity of each of us to govern ourselves and sustain ourselves.”
So, then. Are you ready? To step up to the plate and be a responsible citizen? To regulate yourself? Let others do the same? Then you, my friend, are ready to be a Libertarian! Visit lp.org for more information.

Like what I have to say? Hate it? Disagree? Tell me! Post a comment and refer this site to your friends.

Kiss 'em Goodbye

Watch As Your Rights Float Away

The government of the United States was designed with one thing in mind… the will of the people should be heard, and the will of the people will determine the course that this country takes. The framers created a new system that was innovative and effective. In fact, there was only one thing that they couldn’t have predicted.
That someday, the people would have no will.
Our nation today is full of listless people going about with their daily lives and not noticing or even caring about the world they live in. If you were to ask a random person about a current political issue (not a hot-button one all over the news so that nobody can escape it, like abortion, but one less beat to death, such as euthanasia) and their opinion on that issue, the knee jerk response you are most likely to get is, “I dunno.”
This may not scare you, but it terrifies me.
When the majority of people no longer take action and use the power endowed them by the right to vote, the few extremists who do make it to the polls are more likely to have their outrageous and dangerous legislation enacted.
The fewer people who care, the fewer rights we all get to enjoy. Every person that says things like, “I have nothing to hide, so I don’t care if the government can have roving wiretaps, sneak and peek searches without warrants, and access to my private records,” is a part of the problem. They step aside and let the government take privileges that we Americans have held as a source of pride for almost 250 years now.
Namely, the Constitution.
Mark my words, for they shall be prophetic in time. If we continue the way we are heading, we will be no different than our any of our past enemies. England was a monarchy when we rebelled. Germany was a dictatorship. So was Korea, Vietnam, the Soviet Union, Iraq… This is where we are headed, unless the masses of this nation celebrate the right to vote and use it.
I guess what they say is true… you don’t know what you have until it is gone.
Remember: Clear Mind, Clear Heart, the Journey is the Test!

Leaders and Followers, Part 1

Leaders and Followers ~ Part 1

This is the first part of a series of articles that I will write detailing the major, essential differences between the two types of people… leaders and followers. Throughout my writing I will analyze the role each plays, and how your personal, individual choice influences everything around you.
First and foremost… what is a leader and what is a follower? It sounds like it should be intuitive, but let’s look a little bit closer.
A leader is someone who takes initiative, influencing their malleable surroundings to suit their desires and needs. They are usually headstrong, determined, and driven to succeed. They are willing to spend the extra time needed to see a project to completion and fruition, and take pride in their accomplishments.
They also recognize and learn from their mistakes and shortcomings. They accept failure for what it is… an opportunity for growth. Their disappointments are not barriers, they are stepping-stones, and their shortcomings are not prohibitive.
A follower is a house of cards. They fold at the slightest sign of pressure, and are more than willing to submit to the will of someone else for protection. They would rather take comfort in the blankets of submission than the harsh winds of independent thought, and are easily manipulated.
A follower gives up. A follower will quit when they fail, and refuse to learn from their mistakes. They rarely succeed, because they rarely try hard enough. They give the minimum for everything… minimal effort, minimal care, minimal enthusiasm. They are content to be passable, and never strive for excellence.
Leaders and followers, master and servant, king and knave. This order of humanity purveys itself down from the upper echelon of human organization to the individual personal relationships we all form. Leadership is born from confidence, following from insecurity. Everybody knows somebody who shows initiative and takes command of a situation. They are usually the ones in the power seat of a relationship, doling out authority. Everybody also knows someone who is content to do what everyone else decides. They are the ones with no power whatsoever.
You can, however, change your situation. You are endowed with the power of choice. You can choose to be a leader, or you can choose to be a follower, but you cannot avoid the decision. So take initiative! Choose freedom, choose power, choose rights, choose independence, and choose to be a leader. All it takes is an attitude shift from helplessness to hopefulness.
Check back soon for more on how to make the transition.
Remember, “There is more power in one man’s decision to try than in twenty men’s decision to decide.”

Health Care Costs Can Be Fixed

We all recognize that health care costs are excessive. All over the nation, many Americans are uninsured, unable to afford even the most rudimentary of health care procedures, simply because the costs have skyrocketed through the roof and show no sign of slowing.
I'm sure that you and I could both agree that health care expenditures are a significant issue, one that deserves our immediate national attention, and that it is a sad shame that in this great country the gap between those who can afford expensive plastic surgery and those unable to immunize their children is growing at an accelerating rate. When people claim that the laws of supply and demand have no effect on health care costs that I feel that they go awry.
The laws of supply and demand work for vehicles. They work for clothing. They work for food, and goods, and services alike. We can all attest to their impact at the fuel pump. They are, then, universal. Any economist worth his or her salt will tell you the same. There is not one single iota of evidence to suggest that they wouldn't work for health care costs as well; indeed a state funded universal insurance program would make things much worse than they are!
Let me explain. A universal health care program would guarantee every person insurance coverage, regardless of age or income. This sounds good, until you realize that when you take the consumer’s choice out of the market, costs can be controlled entirely by the producers, and no producer out there with control over price will keep costs low. There would be simply no incentive!
Clearly, then, consumer choice is needed. Universal health care reduces and could even remove this choice from the market, and one drug would cost a consumer the same as another… nothing. When the individual consumer can choose to purchase one drug over another, visit one hospital over another, get one procedure rather than another, they send a very clear message all the way up the corporate ladder… “This is what I want; this is where my money will go.” This gives the consumer power over the prices, lowering and stabilizing them.
Consumer choice, supply, and demand all have a profound impact on all costs, including those of health care. A failure to address this would be a failure to understand the fundamental driving force of the economy.