Littlestuff Weekender-6-25-2011

If government spending is 23+% of GDP, and the anemic 1.9% growth is truly “growth,” then one could surmise that the private sector GDP growth was a feeble 1.5%. Last quarter inflation was calculated at a 3.6% annual rate, thus leaving private sector growth at a real NEGATIVE 2.0%. I’m neither an economist nor a mathematician, but the government’s own numbers (usually optimistically bogus---subject to later revision) paint a dismal picture of our economic performance.

Attending an auction today as I continue to ferret out some smaller-scale farm equipment for the Little Pat-Ch of Paradise. Following the sale, we may go to Wauseon for the Threshers/Steam Engine gathering.

So Boehner et. al courageously proposed a NON-BINDING RESOLUTION  informing the President that they believe his adventurous little foray in Libya is unconstitutional, and they do not think that he is playing nicely. I do hope that they didn’t print that document because it’s not worth the cost of the paper. Clowns!

We have begun to schedule our speaking engagements for August through mid-December. If you need a cheap and easy program, contact us through the email address at the bottom of this column. My specialties are “Liberty,” “Nullification,” or “The Fair Tax.” As you may note, however from reading these columns, I can pretend to be an expert about any topic. J

For years I have listened to Presidents and financial gurus glorify the wonders of consumer spending as an impetus for economic growth. Well, they must believe their own words because government is the most profligate spender among us. Too bad it’s our money, our great-grandchildren’s money and Chinese loans that they’re spending. Mission accomplished, Dipsticks?

Last week I remarked that our corn production may be lower than normal, but the past week has done wonders for the standing crop here in NW Ohio. Humid heat and frequent showers have caused the stands to accelerate growth and provide a glimmer of hope for the fall harvest. Meanwhile, we’re still waiting for a reasonable analysis of the crop potential in the flooded areas to our west.

My family and I are engaged in several small businesses, and we have noted that two pieces of identification, one which must be a photo I.D. are required to rent a Post Office box!!! Yet, so-called civil liberty proponents claim that asking for a photo I.D. when someone votes is restrictive and discriminatory. Go figure…the integrity of your vote has less value in their tiny minds than where you collect your 3^rd class mail. Geeeesh! The whole freakin’ world is upside down.

Our radio show continues to grow in numbers and participation. We’re on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 6:00-7:00pm on 1370 WSPD ( www.wspd.com ). We focus on NW Ohio by examining current affairs “through the prism of liberty.” Without individual liberty, in my view, we might as well be re-arranging Titanic deck chairs.

We’ll be announcing a major change for “Littlestuff-minoosha” and our columns late next week (sounds like a Glenn Beck maneuver…big news…soon). Speaking of the column (OK…writing), our readership (hits) is growing dramatically because of the sites that are re-posting the columns. On our direct site traffic has increased by nearly 30% in the past month with approximately 20 hits per day from other countries, and 13 different countries represented. We’re almost as global as Coca-Cola.

Groups are useful for general demographic analysis. Studies can identify general preferences among members of various racial, ethnic, religious, occupational and demographic groupings. People are individuals, however, and rarely do we encounter someone who conforms to every belief or practice of the group. The individual is why government should not be so obsessed with groups because personal freedom is often a casualty of group governance. Individuals have inalienable rights from God. Groups have meetings.

Have a super, blessed weekend. Next “Littlestuff Weekender” will appear in July. For Liberty!!!

Comments:   cearlwriting@hotmail.com      or      www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

Death and Taxes

The old saying goes “the only two certain things in life are death and taxes,” and the clowns in government make it a daily double. The estate tax represents government’s ultimate indignity. As they lower your cold dead body into the ground, the greedy clutching hand of government reaches into your pocket and extracts your wallet. They examine the contents with glee then tell your heirs to “keep the change.” Your heirs, the products of your loins, your emotional investments and the subjects of your love must handle the heart breaking tasks of putting your affairs in order while the gluttonous breath of government cascades all around them. The results of your lifetime of risk-taking and hard work are distributed among strangers…bureaucrats, the slothful and the needy. And it is not your desires that matter…Big Brother and Nanny State make the call and pass out the goodies. Your “estate” diminishes to the value of a rental plot in a backwoods Alabama trailer park. Those you left behind must scramble to “fire sale” your assets so that when the tax collector arrives, his sack can be filled with the plunder reaped from your lifetime of labor. That’s “fairness” in the lexicon of oppressive government.

Government represents the greatest of necro-carnivores. My advice to you is not to die. They are waiting for the moment of your untimely demise so that they can squander whatever they can coerce or squeeze from your grieving loved ones. Live forever and drive the bastards crazy. Much has been written about the “death panels” in the negligent health care legislation that was passed last year. If you have a sizable estate, you may hear these melodious tones from your local health care overseers: surgery…denied; medicine renewal…denied. If you are a person of means, you may have a permanent “DNR” tattooed on your forehead. Government’s insatiable appetite for your money will not be denied, and you will be admonished to go quietly for the good of society.

What is the purpose of the estate tax? In fact what is the purpose of any tax? This question should be asked and answered before any confiscation of your labor or property. So, what is the purpose of the estate tax? To punish the wealthy? To redistribute wealth from those “who won life’s lottery” to those who never played the game? To generate income for a specific purpose? To acquire easy money from those who are unable to resist? What is the ACTUAL purpose of the estate tax? Let’s take this query one step further. What are the moral and constitutional justifications for levying the estate tax? Personally, I’m not dead….yet, and the estate tax is no more obnoxious in my view than are hordes of other schemes the government employs to steal our wealth. I chose to write about this particular offensive maneuver because in most jurisdictions within the United States, molesting a corpse is a crime. Much of the tax code that has been adopted in our nation during the past century reeks of criminality. It seems as if the tax code were designed to punish the producers and reward looters. Clearly Ayn Rand witnessed the early abominations in the system and anticipated the later ones.

In a system that honors freedom and protects liberty the tax code should exist solely to raise the necessary revenue for basic constitutional functions. The present system is a convoluted maze for social engineering. Layer after layer of penalties, surtaxes and progressive rate increases are countered by exemptions, subsidies and deductions. The mountainous collection of tax rules, laws and regulations is an unconscionable assault on individual liberty and property and is generally indecipherable and oppressive. Tax law defines the limits of government force that can be used against the citizens. In our present code there appear to be no limits. Every breathing resident is at some level of risk, and even death is no escape from the ravages of the tax collector. RIP.

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Promises and Payouts

If you haven’t yet realized the painful truth that government is quick to promise but loathe to perform, then you haven’t been paying attention. We can cite multitudes of instances where government programs or initiatives have been implemented to address a real or imaginary need and has exacerbated the problem. As a rule compared to the private sector or motivated individuals, government is inefficient, ineffective and incompetent. One would think that given the economy of scale, the sheer size of government would result in some form of cost effective management. Although our federal government and its many satellites and acolytes through the land are huge, they are in essence hundreds of thousands of little fiefdoms that are jealous of their positions, their power and their portions of the public purse. You intuitively know that the ponderous purveyors of government power are full of it. It might be illustrative to examine just one tiny aspect of government involvement in the economic marketplace as well as the marketplace of ideas. Let’s look at the lottery, shall we?

Here in Ohio the lottery was approved 2-1 by eager voters because its promoters promised a bonanza of funding for public schools. The passion of Parma Senator Ron Mottl led to State Issue 1’s passage in 1973, and the first game appeared in 1974….37 years ago. The schools continue to cry for more money. The promised panacea has not produced like the petty politicians proclaimed it would. So, promise number one in the government’s role in the lottery has resulted in a tattered remnant of the predicted potential. The score is lying politicians 1, the people zero.

Gambling is not something that interests me. Although I contribute my $10.00 fee to the annual March Madness pool, I spend most of my time reading when we go to Las Vegas. It has seemed somewhat discordant to me that the state would be the initiator of a gambling enterprise while, at the same time, regulating or forbidding other games of chance. Admittedly, Issue 1 did alter the state constitution to allow for the state-run lottery so it’s constitutional and legal. If I were king, my constitutional pronouncements would not allow the state to engage in any activity that might place private sector entities at a disadvantage.

You have undoubtedly seen Lottery ads on television, cable and in the print media. You’ve also heard them on radio if you are a regular listener. Lottery commercials are pervasive with their promotion of the daily drawings and the twice-weekly major jackpots. Because Ohio has three large drawing games, the advertising seems nonstop. Powerball, Mega Millions and Classic Lotto pitches dominate the Buckeye airways. At times I believe the state should be indicted for false advertising. After someone wins a large drawing, the state celebrates the “newest millionaire.” Let’s do the math. If you, like any sane individual who doesn’t trust the government with your money, select the “lump sum” payout, your net proceeds after taxes and the single-payment penalty will be around 34% of the touted jackpot. So, a “million-dollar” winner receives a cool $340,000.00 plus change. That amount is better than a stick in the eye, but it will not buy a double-wide on Easy Street.

As sensible politicians (there are a couple) attempt to minimize or eliminate the estate tax in Ohio, some statists have suggested higher rates or total confiscation of estates because “the heirs didn’t earn the money and aren’t entitled to it.” If the statists regain control (that is possible if the GOP loses its courage and purpose), will they implement highly punitive taxes on “unearned wealth?” If they do, it could be as high as 75% because 100% might seem too harsh….for now. In the perfect statist world (remember $250,000 is “rich”) the MILLION DOLLAR WINNER would net the princely sum of $85,000.00.

If lightning strikes and I win the March Madness pool, my winnings will be as advertised by the pool manager. Yes, I’ll have to pay taxes on my winnings (;-), but they can be integrated into my whole tax structure….not withheld by a greedy government. There is no lump sum penalty for the basketball pool. What I expect is what I get. In the real world the government promises a million dollars and cuts a check for $340,000. In the government’s dream world they promise a million dollars and hand the winner $85, 000 in coinage. Your beneficent government proclaims to the world, your friends and neighbors that YOU were a MILLION DOLLAR WINNER so that every relative you’ve never met and every life insurance salesman in a four-state area can make the remainder of your life a totally miserable experience.

Your government makes promises. Your government writes checks for payouts. Your government lies. One final note: prior to the advent of Powerball and Mega Millions in Ohio, more people were struck by lightning on an annual basis in Ohio than those who won the “Super Lotto.” Your odds of getting sound representation from career politicians are comparable.

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Press One

Do you ever get frustrated when you are negotiating one of those automated phone systems and the first command is “Press 1 for English?” Our nation has been truly blessed by the people who love liberty who have come to our shores seeking a better life. They have come here from every corner of the globe and represent many cultures, customs, faiths, languages and dialects. They all share a thirst for freedom and the desire to work diligently to achieve prosperity. We welcome them because their passion for America and their various backgrounds add texture and nuance to our nation.

When the eager immigrants enter the United States they typically gravitate to locales where they can find clusters of people from their former countries or regions. These enclaves occasionally develop into subsets or colorful neighborhoods within some major cities. The old world cultures, foods and pageantry are continued but with a distinctly American hue. Outside the neighborhood however, most of the newcomers assimilate … become part of their new land. Each generation becomes more homogenized as many of the old traditions and routines are left behind. This has been the saga of people who have come to our land until recently. The entitlement mentality of the leftist statists has corrupted a rich, rich history of immigrants becoming fully American while retaining much of what they left behind. The statists encourage the Balkanization of our nation by promoting that new arrivals be granted total equality in service in their old languages. If you recall, the world united to challenge God by building the Tower of Babel. He divided them into many groups by scrambling their languages and making it impossible for them to understand one another. So, if we desire to fracture our nation more severely than it is today, the promotion of native languages in everyday discourse will do it. Our country will become a cacophony of words, insults and demands, and we will not comprehend what one another really means.

Unity of purpose, unity under the law and unity of language will cement us together. If certain segments of our population obstinately cling to the old ways and the old language, assimilation will not happen, suspicion and distrust will flourish. There is a measure of respect that those who seek to maintain their roots have earned, but if they refuse to integrate into the language and mainstream of their new nation, they have forfeited the privileges that are available for the remainder of the population. The resident established citizenry should not be forced by government to yield to the tyranny of a new minority. Either join us or leave us. Enjoy your history in your home, but conform to the traditional marketplace when on the streets. Spanish is the chosen language of the politically correct diversity crowd. They claim to want to open the doors of opportunity for Spanish speaking immigrants and/or citizens, but are driving wedges among many of our people and communities. It’s a bogus benefit because it continues to isolate those who do not learn English and assimilate. What about the multitude of Cubans, who came to our shores, retained many aspects of their culture, learned English and thrived? Why shouldn’t the newer entrants be encouraged to follow a similar path?

Liberals, progressives and statists are dividers…not unifiers. They define the nation’s landscape in “either/or” terms: rich or poor, black or white, producer or looter, Spanish or English. With them it’s always a struggle against some mythical oppressor as they expand the power of the true oppressor…the government. The statists seek to divide the country into isolated islands of discontent, and they and their monstrous government will deliver the prescriptions for the disaffected. The insistence (now written into law) that Spanish be an equal player as a language for national discourse is an example of their divisive tactics. Hungarian, Chinese, French, Norwegian, German and Vietnamese have all been overlooked as semi-official co-languages. This oversight should suggest to reasonable people that the choice of Spanish versus all the other choices available is a political one…not an earnest attempt to enhance communication. Unity for a nation during stressful times is necessary. Unanimity is rare, but if unity prevails, the people have a better chance to overcome the difficulty. Unity is made more difficult to achieve when the law and the political class engage in divisive behavior. “Press 1” if you want to stop this folly of statist control, or “Press 2” to fold the tent and begin anew.

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Statesmanlike Stupidity

Comity and collegiality in elective politics are overrated. It’s the progressive-statists who consistently beg for a “new tone” while savaging those who believe in responsible governing. Moderates, wimps and Republican officeholders are the only classes of people who fall for the lefty ruse. GOP elected officials long to be seen as statesmen…as reasonable accommodators who want to do “good.” Statists, on the other hand, will use any means…deception, intimidation or power…to achieve their goals. A lefty statist will rip your lungs out through your throat if it would help him achieve his objective. A Republican would seek compromise and a “meeting of the minds.” Statists have been winning. Wimps, moderates and the GOP have been losing the country…one law, one regulation, one compromise at a time.

Democrats and statists fight like cornered rats when they are challenged. Republicans fight like lazy lap cats…stuffed ones. The country, our future, needs fierce alley cats that will take no prisoners and allow NO MORE STATIST ENCROACHMENTS ON OUR LIBERTY! Compromise and statesmanship are valuable when dealing with marginal issues, but on matters of principle and survival, they are deadly tactics. Compromise on principle and the nation loses. Compromise on survival, and we die. Our career politicians have become so enamored with deal-making …so obsessed with statesmanship that they unwittingly ignore principles and jeopardize our survival. Diplomats have their purposes, but when the ramparts have been breached, we need warriors.

Compromise can indeed be useful for resolving certain types of disputes or disagreements. Price haggling for example is a form of compromise. My liberty, our freedom is priceless, and I condemn those politicians who so cavalierly swap our liberty for power or the approval of others. They must learn before we collapse that a “no resolution” for a disagreement is always better than a bad solution. Stalemate is preferable to our losing a little more of our liberty, our property or our nation. Warriors who are leaders would transform the stalemate into checkmate as they battle to topple Big Brother’s oppressive kingdom. We are facing an all-too-common problem in our halls of government: too many self-appointed chiefs and too few braves.

Real braves become leaders by proving that they are warriors in the heat of battle. Chiefs who hold their positions because of longevity or their ability to compromise are undermining the cause of liberty. In 1773 a group of locals dressed as Native Americans dumped symbols of British tyranny into the cold waters of Boston Harbor. To bring a parallel forward to today…Sam Adams, Patrick Henry and their peers were warriors…braves. The chiefs of the 18^th Century colonies fled to England or Canada. The warriors led the battle for freedom. We can hope and pray that our present day chiefs (Tories who embrace the existing order) run to another place so that the business of restoring our liberty and saving our nation can get underway. Please take note Speaker Boehner, Mr. Cantor, Mr. McCarthy, Senator McConnell and Senator Kyle. Your collective style and your eagerness to accommodate the massive growth of government and the bankruptcy of our nation have caused you to become impediments to the cause of liberty. Your time has passed. You’ve done enough damage by allowing the statists to succeed with nary a whimper. We need warriors who hold the line and not deal it away.

Today’s rant has been precipitated by a couple of events that took place this past Father’s Day weekend. First, Minority Leader McConnell stated that he expected a short-term small increase in the national debt limit to allow for more negotiation on the forthcoming budget. Second, Speaker Boehner and Ohio Governor Kasich played golf with the President and the Vice President. Certainly, civil behavior and common courtesy should be practiced, but it’s time for the “old boy go along to get along” system to stop. The statists have driven our nation to the edge of destruction with the complicity of the GOP. The people have been dumping tea into the harbor of discontent for nearly two years. It is time for the leaders of the opposition to either lead or remove themselves. Failure is no longer an option.

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