Draft Them!

Concerning the Senators that voted for the U.N. treaty to ban weapons; here's a suggestion: They should all be drafted, go through boot camp and advanced infantry training, then shipped to Afghanistan, Korea, Iraq or any of several hotbeds of activity, where they would certainly learn to not fear firearms and come to realize the importance of firearms to survival.

Jim

www.jim-mac.com

More On Taxes

             On October 26, 2011 I wrote “The Real Tax Bite” (http://dr-jfm.blogspot.com/2011/10/real-tax-bite.html).  Interestingly, all the talk of tax reform has disappeared like smoke in the wind and it is business as usual in government—tax and spend politics that exempt special interest groups and large blocks of prospective voters, while increasing the burden on Middle America. 

            As described in the above-mentioned blog, the system depends on its ability to “divide and conquer.”  For example, those that do not drive diesel-fueled vehicles don’t care if diesel taxes are raised and people that do not use a particular government service or property are not concerned when fees are raised.  It is the ability of government to levy taxes and fees on small segments of society and earmark those funds that gives government the freedom to use general revenue for unpopular, wasteful or politically profitable causes.  Every dollar Americans pay in fees and taxes for government goods and services is a dollar freed from the accountability inherent in the income tax stream.  Politicians know that if their only source of income is the income tax, they will be accountable to all the voters, without the favor of those they exempt. 

            Much has been written about the benefits of a national sales tax, others suggest a flat-rate tax, and there are other proposals, but the method that is tried and works in our own country is the graduated income tax, where everyone that has income pays something.  When the graduated income tax was abandoned, the door was opened to squeeze the middle and exempt the ends.

            A simple amendment to the U.S. Constitution will fix the problem:  “Government will have no source of revenue other than the income tax.”

Jim

www.jim-mac.com

The Meaning of Marriage

According to the most ancient historical documents marriage is as old as humankind and began as a union between a female and a male. This is a unique union and serves a purpose that none other can accomplish, procreation. For literately thousands of years marriage has been defined as a union between a man and a woman. Marriage of a man and a woman provides, potentially, the best possible environment for nurturing children.  

In recent years a movement has arisen promoting the expansion of marriage to include homosexual couples. That concept radically changes the meaning of marriage. Originally the primary prerequisite for marriage was having two people of opposite sexes joined for the purpose of procreation. Now we are being told the only prerequisite should be “love”, which doesn’t mean anything because love cannot be measured, proven or unproven. Therefore, a group of several males living in a single residence could claim to love each other, arrange a marriage ceremony, be wed to one another, and become a family. Using this method, most people could qualify for marriage benefits, including tax breaks. It is also conceivable that legal marriages could include a person with a pet or barnyard animal (such marriages have occurred). Since our modern society is constantly pushing to eliminate morals (for example this often repeated sentence: “You can’t legislate morality.”) on what grounds could polygamy and human/animal marriages be prohibited?

I see no rational reason to change the meaning of marriage but changing that meaning will undoubtedly open a can of unpleasant worms.

Tom Lottinville

Carneys Point

            Somewhere in Carneys Point, New Jersey, resides a boy whose picture was posted on Facebook, showing him holding a new birthday present.  Millions of people daily post pictures of themselves with newly acquired items and in less turbulent times, outside of family and friends, these postings are not “news worthy.”  But, in the insane and paranoid world of the United States, the picture caused an outrageous response because the present was a .22 caliber rifle that the boy’s father gave him for his 11^th birthday.

            Apparently, someone called an anonymous child abuse hotline to report the picture.  The State responded with child welfare workers and four policemen asking to open the family gun safe and inspect the firearms.  The father, in contact with an attorney on his phone, asked for a search warrant, which the police did not have, so they left the home. 

Whether or not the official investigation is complete and the incident closed, remains to be seen, but regardless of the outcome there is the question:  What is there about a picture of a boy holding an inanimate object and posing no threat to anyone that requires a “raid” by child welfare workers and four policemen?  If the aforementioned elements of insanity and paranoia are omitted from the equation, the answer is nothing. 

However, when the insanity or paranoia of those that misuse firearms are met with insanity and paranoia, the result will be ever-spreading insanity and paranoia.  It is a fact that when people’s emotions are controlled by fear and illogic, their actions will be radical and irrational.  This is happening in America, today.  To believe that anyone who owns a firearm is a potential threat to society is just as irrational and paranoid as are those who misuse firearms.

Aside from the written Word of God, perhaps, the most rational documents written by men are the Constitution of the United States and the attached Bill of Rights.  All have served our nation well, particularly, in times of fear and human illogic; despite that there have always been people denying the freedoms they document.  The important issue in Carneys Point and in the rest of the United States is not “gun control.”  So called “gun control” is a symptom of the real problem.  The real problem is that we are allowing our own insanity and paranoia to disavow the very documents written to guide us in times of insanity and paranoia.  The only possible result is the dearth of individual freedom to “life, liberty and the pursuits of happiness.” 

             

Jim

www.jim-mac.com