National Security
Joe Boyles
Guest Columnist
Editor’s note: “Stray Vectors” is the author’s byline for random thoughts on the passing scene.
The reapportionment based on the 2010 Census indicates this fact: people are leaving high-tax, union-dominated states for places like Texas and Florida where the right-to-work is respected and taxes are low. I wonder why?
Over the past two years while the economy has cratered and huge numbers of people have lost their jobs, members of Congress have seen their net worth increase by 16 percent. What’s wrong with this picture?
The first civilian trial for an al-Qaeda detainee has resulted in the acquittal on all charges but one conspiracy count for Ahmed Ghailani. He was charged with playing a major role in the 1998 embassy bombings in East Africa that killed 224 people including 12 Americans. Another policy of the Obama Administration that has cratered. So much for justice! In tennis, they call this an unforced error.
Congress creates problems, and then asks us to reelect them to fix their mistakes. What a gig!
Kelli Space graduated last year from Boston’s Northeastern University with a degree in sociology and a student loan debt of $200 thousand. Why would any responsible agency loan her that amount of money for that type of degree? Now living at home with her folks, her monthly loan payment is nearly $900 and next year, rises to $1600. How in the world is she going to climb out from under this mountain of debt? How does her degree prepare her for earning sufficient income to pay off this exorbitant debt? This higher education bubble is starting to look a lot like the housing bubble that put us in the current economic morass.
Apparently, the legislative priority in California is not to fix their $6 billion (and growing) budget shortfall but to ban plastic shopping bags. Talk about “Nero fiddling while Rome burns!” Maybe they’re counting on taxpayers from Florida and other states to bail them out once again. Not!
I hear the former governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger wants a job in the Obama Administration “fighting global warming.” Good luck Arnie. He’s gone from Terminator to Don Quixote, searching for the impossible dream. I suppose fighting global warming is a little like jousting with windmills.
The results of the 2010 Census are in. Following reapportionment, Florida will be tied with New York for the third most Congressional districts with 27. Expect the Sunshine State to take sole possession of third place in the next census. There are lots of reasons behind this, but a big one is no snow!
Is there a relationship between low taxes and growth? According to the Census, yes. Seven of the nine states that have no state income tax grew at a faster rate over the past ten years than the national average. The other two led their region in growth. If you want to grow, lower taxes are an important way to achieve your goal.
Five nations in Europe (Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, France, and Ireland) have begun to confiscate private pension funds and individual retirement accounts to shore up cash-strapped state pension funds. Are we far behind? And you thought that IRAs, Keoghs, and 401Ks with your name on the account actually belonged to you. Silly boy.
Nancy Pelosi is blaming her Party’s “shellacking” … on George Bush. He’s been out of office living quietly in Texas for more than two years for-crying-out-loud. Some people just don’t get it! If there ever was a case for new leadership and a change of course, this is it. Wake up Democrats!
Chisel this one in stone: “The problem with liberalism is that sooner or later, you run out of other people’s money.” Margaret Thatcher.
The Social Security Actuaries now predict that they will be unable to pay promised benefits in 2037 unless the system is overhauled. In 2005, they predicted that same event would occur in 2041. Based on these numbers, I predict the actual date of bankruptcy will be in the window of 2026-2030.
The biggest difference I can see between private industry organized labor and public sector unions is a matter of competition. While private industry unions exist in a competitive market, public sector unions operate in a monopoly. That makes them especially dangerous.
Comments are closed.