Category: Politics

Politics

Oh Donny Boy, Oh Donny Boy, Show Me the Money!

Posted on by chappyshi

From this article in the Washington Post dated May 24, 2019:

“In all, American families will pay an additional $767 a year for everyday items following the latest round of tariffs, according to a report by the Trade Partnership, a Washington-based research and consulting firm. If the Trump administration extends that tax to all remaining Chinese imports, that figure could go up to about $2,389 a year for the average household.”J.C. Penney and Kohl’s have failed their most loyal customers: Middle-aged moms

we can see the potential affects of Trump’s trade war on us all. Trump punishes China and I see a loss of nearly $2400 a year? Trump offers up $27 billion dollars in relief to farmers and U.S. Agricultural Secretary Sonny Perdue, no conflict of interest there, says:

“The package we’re announcing today ensures that farmers do not bear the brunt of unfair retaliatory tariffs imposed by China and other trading partners,”Trade impasse: Trump pledges $16B to farmers; markets slump

The latest bailout comes atop $11 billion in aid Trump provided farmers last year.  And Donny boy says:

“We will ensure our farmers get the relief they need and very, very quickly,”Trade impasse: Trump pledges $16B to farmers; markets slump

How about showing the rest of us the money Mr. President?

Another Weird Dream…

Posted on by chappyshi

I dreamt that my family was moving my Dad’s parents, who passed away years ago, to a new place. I can’t say where this place might have been but in the dream I thought it was some place like Dagestan or Chechnya. It was very third world and rundown but mountainous, and beautiful. The backyard had a fence running from one side of it diagonally across the yard. At the break in the fence near the back, you could see far off into the distance over a complex of lakes but there was a drop off of hundreds of feet right on the other side of the fence. Also, the fence was falling down near where it connected to the house and I was afraid that my grandfather would wander back there and fall through the fence off the cliff. I can see this all so clearly in my mind it is bizarre. Later as we were trying to settle in my grandparents, a group of military policemen pulled up in personnel carriers and started approaching the house. The last thing I remember was winding down a slope through a maze of houses and vegetable gardens trying to get away.

Letter to My Virginia Legislators

Posted on by chappyshi

Legislation, proposed by Virginia’s right-wing nut bag governor and passed by Virginia’s apparently right-wing nut bag Assembly, that includes removing our 17.5% gas tax, not changed for 25 years, and replacing it with a 0.8% sales tax increase makes no sense to me, probably because I am not a right-wing nut bag.  This is just redistribution of wealth to the wealthy and cannot help with Virginia’s transportation infrastructure problems nor can it help to reduce consumption of gas or vehicle created pollutants.

Read more here about the current state of the legislation:

Va. lawmakers give McDonnell partial win on transportation at session midpoint

Below is my letter to my representatives asking them please to not let this legislation pass:

Please don’t let this legislation pass.  I think about all the poor people who ride buses because they can’t afford cars.  Their environmental and consumptive impact is minimal thereby reducing long term costs to our environment and infrastructure.  They are the least likely to benefit from no gas tax and most likely to be negatively impacted by an increase in the sales tax.

On the flip side, those in the upper middle class and higher who can afford to and are more likely to buy and drive unneeded gas hogs including SUV’s and sports cars will certainly benefit from no gas tax.  They will then contribute less to minimizing the economic impact of pollutant spewing gas hogs and the degradation of our transportation infrastructure.  Lastly, since they have more disposable income, the impact of a 0.8% increase in the sales taxes is much less likely to impact their personal finances.

The GOP Wants to Penalize Me for Being Single?

Posted on by chappyshi

In the Washington Post article dated May 16, 2010, “Conservative thinkers tout three innovative and controversial proposals,” Robert  Stein, who served as deputy assistant secretary for macroeconomic analysis in George W. Bush‘s administration, suggests that the tax code benefits retirees who didn’t have children.  His theory is that those individuals who marry and have children contribute more to the Social Security and Medicare systems because their children contribute to the system also.  More “buck for the bang” as it were…

Personally, I thought that what each individual pays into the Social Security benefits them as to the return.  Just because you as a parent have one or more kids paying into the system does not make you any more worthy.  While it might look good now to have more people paying into the system, those individuals are just as likely to avail themselves of the retirement benefits in the future as anyone else.

As a parent with children, one already gets significantly more Federal tax breaks than does a single filer.  It was always a quasi bone of contention with one of my military coworkers, who had four children, that he paid next to no Federal taxes after all his deductions while I, with no kids, have paid taxes for 32 years…allowed to take only the standard deduction.  To take it one step further,  non-parents have no children burdening the public school system which makes me wonder even more why there should be so many tax allowances for having children.  I am not really complaining but saying that childless taxpayers  who put less of a strain on and contribute more to the public well should pay more into Social Security and Medicare is a bit of a stretch.

I am am no tax specialist but to simplify what Mr. Stein suggests which is to up the child tax credit from approximately $1500 per year to $4000, here is how I would have made out on my Federal tax return in 2008 if I had had four children.  Could I really have had the government pay me $8000?  Just think, if I had ten kids, I could get paid $80,000 a year by the government.  What a concept, eh?  Right…the tax burden is just reduced to nothing.

File Status Deduction for Children Tax Burden
No Children $0.00 $8,000.00
4 Children (Current System) $1,500.00 $2,000.00
4 Children (Proposed System) $16,000.00 -$8,000.00

Ultrasound Chicanery

Posted on by chappyshi

Is a fetus any more viable, and accordingly less likely to be aborted, just because the expectant mother sees it on an ultrasound?  This is what regular Washington Post Op-Ed contributor Kathleen Parker would lead us to believe.  I have much respect for Ms. Parker…her opinions are well thought out and moderate.  However, I don’t follow her logic on this one.

In the Washington Post opinion piece, Images of Choice, dated May 2, 2010, she describes herself has “both pro-life and pro-choice” noting that “Once a pregnancy is viewed as a human life in formation, rather than a ‘blob of cells,’ it is less easy to terminate the contents of one’s vessel.  I ponder the description of a woman’s uterus as a “vessel” but that is really not the issue for me.

According to the article, “Oklahoma passed a law….that would require women to have an ultrasound, though,…they are not required to view the images.”  Apparently they have to “…hear the doctor’s description of the images.”  Murder of humans and killing of animals goes on daily.  Surely in the majority of those murders and killings the murders and killers are looking at what they are killing realizing that they are sentient beings not “blobs of cells.”  You are either taking a life or you are not taking a life.

I honestly can’t think any women, or pregnant teens, who are so stupid that they don’t realize they are taking or preventing a life, even in the first trimester.  I believe that most women will have an abortion based on financial, emotional, and mental factors rather than the picture of a fetus or “blob of cells.”  The option seems too traumatic to think that forcing one to have an ultrasound really makes a difference in the decision making process.

I’ll never know though…  However, a woman should have the right to make the choice without the interference of the state or federal governments.

In Afghanistan, High-tech Intel Fails Commanders, as Does Seeming Lack of Low-tech intel, Boots on the Ground Needed

Posted on by chappyshi

According the  Washington Post article, “As Marja assault progresses, coalition considers challenges in rebuilding area,” dated 20100221, the commanders of the 5000 U.S. Marines inserted into the Marja area of Afghanistan (long standing Taliban stronghold crisscrossed by impassible canals (built by the U.S. after the Soviets left) and center of opium production) expected, based on overhead imagery, to find a functioning local government and police force.

However “…when Marine officers reached the area, they discovered that two-dimensional images can be deceiving. What they had thought was the flat roof of the municipal building turned out to be a concrete foundation, and the police station was a bombed-out schoolhouse.”   I worked in military intelligence (yes, oxymoron, I know) many years ago.  One tenet we followed then and I assumed, probably erroneously, we followed now is that we should base significant actions on intelligence that can be confirmed by at least two sources.

The U.S. military has been in Afghanistan since 2001.  Now, as I stated previously, Marja has been a Taliban stronghold for some time.  Presumably it is not an easy area to insert a U.S. intelligence officer or a Special Forces team without detection.  Nonetheless, I find it very hard to believe that there was no intelligence on the ground in Marja (human intelligence, HUMINT in the vernacular of the U.S. intel community) that couldn’t verify the status of the local government center or police station.  The Marines did not go in there without warning…in fact there was plenty of warning…to give civilians the opportunity to evacuate.

That unfortunately gave the Taliban plenty of opportunity to set a bunch of IED’s to welcome the Marines.  What a blast to have you here, eh?   Here is the bottom line for me; use multiple sources to verify your intelligence and work with the Afghan government to verify your intelligence.  If the mission to Marja had been a secret, and one that had not been shared with the Afghani government to avoid leaks, I could understand this intelligence failure.  However, it was not a secret and I find it hard to believe that there was no one on the ground that couldn’t tell the U.S. that what were thought to be functioning organizations, the local government and police force, were  in fact shells of their former selves.

As such, an occupation/pacification strategy was initiated based on the false assumption that there was a functioning local government and police force to take the place of the Taliban.

Waco’s in the (Fort) Hood!

Posted on by chappyshi

Texas sure has had it’s share of wackiness:

These folks I think were just a little bit nuts!  However, today’s massacre at Fort Hood, TX, doesn’t appear to me to be an act of the criminally insane.  I am admittedly paranoid and see nefarious plots in many scenarios that others do not see but…

I have read much about how groups such as Al-Queda may not be able to carry out an act of terrorism such as that we experienced on 911 due to the intense scrutiny of security services worldwide.  Accordingly, there are said to be many fanatical decentralized groups/cells around the world that can plan and carry out less extravagant operations and still hit hard at the heart of the West.

Put aside that fact that Major Malik Nadal Hasan’s name would indicate that he is of Middle or Near Eastern heritage.  Compare the assault on a U.S military “readiness area” to similar assaults, including suicide bombings, on military and police recruiting and process facilities in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan.  The fact that Major Malik (forgive me if that is not his last name) was not the only one implicated in the attack leads one to believe that the shootings were not the actions of one crazy man like the Tower Shooter but the actions of a small cell of terrorists.

To me it was only a matter of time.  Terrorists can strike anywhere with a huge impact with a minimum of resources and strike deeply at the targeted people and/or nation.  Imagine the affect this strike will have on U.S. military personnel everywhere.  Paranoia will strike deep and anyone who has a Middle/Near Eastern sounding name or visage will be automatically suspicious.  Can we stir some discontent in our armed forces please?

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Never Worked

Posted on by chappyshi

In the Washington Post Outlook section article, Joseph Rocha — ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Didn’t Protect Me From Abuse in the Navy , dated October 11, 2009, Mr. Rocha tells a tale of how the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy for gays in the military not only did not work for him but worked against him.  Rocha joined the U.S. Navy in 2005 and was sent to the Bahrain, perhaps in Shore Patrol unit.

After qualifying and training for a spot in a dog handling unit, he joined a unit of 24 individuals responsible for 32 dogs.  The dogs were used to search for and detect  explosives, drugs, contraband,  bound from Bahrain to Iraq and Afghanistan.   Joe’s description of how he was treated vies with notoriety for stories of Abu Graib:

“– the chief had decided that I would be down on my hands and knees, simulating oral sex. A kennel support staff member and I were supposed to pretend that we were in our bedroom and that the dogs were catching us having sex. Over and over, with each of the 32 dogs, I was forced to enact this scenario.”

To make matters worse, the only person that stood up for Joseph, was the unit second in command, a 1st Class Petty Officer, who was named “Sailor of the Year” when she was 27, was blamed for  not reigning in her boss, a Chief Petty Officer.  WTF?  This woman, with orders to return to the States, was charged with negligence, had her orders rescinded and had to stay in Bahrain.  She killed herself.

The story continues.  Please read the whole article and write to your elected representatives and ask them to support gays in the military…or  anywhere.

I hadn’t had the time, or energy, to publish this entry before I read in the Washington Post on October 21, 2009, that the Chief Petty Officer responsible for the dog handing unit was under investigation for  “years-old allegations of hazing and sexual harassment against a gay sailor and others.”  Read more here…”Navy petty officer to face punishment in hazing.”

Disclaimer:  I am not gay.  I spent 10 enjoyable years in the Navy.  I worked for five years as an equal opportunity coordinator while I was in the Navy.  I have written, planned, coordinated, and conducted numerous classes/seminars on equal rights/opportunities, sexual harassment, and discrimination and briefed the Chief of Staff, Chief of Naval Operations, Korea, on said topics.

Mileage Tax My Ass

Posted on by chappyshi

The Washington Post’s support of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood’s idea to tax  “vehicle miles” traveled is inane.  The article, “Mr. LaHood’s Good Idea,” dated 23 February, 2009,  purports that a mileage tax would be more fair and reap more tax dollars than an increase in the federal gasoline tax.

I look at it this way:  those individuals who commute further for  work each day are probably not doing it because they want to.  They are also probably driving more fuel efficient vehicles, because they have to.  So  they are taking jobs where they can, that they need to support their families and keep them in a home.

Those individuals who are driving gas hogs either don’t commute that far or can afford to keep filling them up.  Which person in these two scenarios is trying to conserve fuel and save money.  Which one doesn’t care about conserving fuel and saving money?  Which one should be taxed at a higher rate?  Do the math and “fig”ure it out, Newton.

Where is the evidence that the gas tax — which, we note here for the umpteenth time, should be raised — will be less effective in capturing revenue?  The gas tax, just like income and sales taxes indexed to target the wealthy, should target those individuals who have the disposable income to waste it, gas that is.

Why should a family struggling to make ends meet that finds a job 40 miles one way from their home have to pay higher taxes than a Hummer driver who can afford to live 10 miles away from their employer?

Of course figuring out how to record, track, and assess all those miles would be insane in the membrane.  The IRS is screwed already. Discussion of GPS’s and recording devices at gas stations comes up.  That’s going to work…  Who is going to take on this new function?  Seems like the gas  tax is the way to go.  We don’t even need  to skew it to the gas hogs.  They get hit just because the need more gas!

I am losing my faith in the Washington Post on this one.   I think that we should tax on consumption but the tax should not be  biased toward miles accumulated but toward miles per gallon.  There is a lot of gray area out there.  Is it more efficient to fly than to drive, should we take the slow boat to China, etc.

The bottom line for me is fuel efficiency.  The owners of the vehicles with the worst fuel efficiency should pay the most for their fuel.  Similarly, those individuals whose homes  are the least fuel  efficient  should pay the most for their fuel.  The only way to fairly apply that principle is via fuel taxes.

Economic Stimulus? Not If You Are Unemployed.

Posted on by chappyshi

I noticed that the Washington Post article “Congress Reaches Stimulus Accord,” dated 02/12/2009, description of  the “Economic Stimulus” plan says that the proposed tax break for families and individuals “…would be distributed mainly through reduced payroll tax withholding.”  What good does that do for the millions of unemployed out there who are on reduced or no payroll?  Where’s the love?  Screw the love! Show me the money!