Birthdays are meaningless

Birthdays are meaningless. They are merely a method for noting the passage of time. If we were living on another planet, our years would be longer or shorter depending upon the speed of axis rotation and the length of our solar orbit. So, there’s nothing magical about surviving another year…unless one happened to live on that former planet called Pluto. There I might be celebrating my fifth or sixth birthday…hmmm. So, birthdays are meaningless and represent mere accidents of time and place. Here on earth I celebrated my 65^th year of mortal existence. Here in the United States I became a semi-official ward of the state. Here in my own mind it doesn’t matter.

Fortunately I’ve never had that traumatic birthday that propels one’s life into a tailspin. Thirty, forty, fifty and sixty slid by without much notice or concern. But 65 is a little different. Thanks to my government and its bloated self-importance, I know must consider Medicare, Social Security, death panels, sustainability, inter-generational transfers and senior citizen discounts. I’ll have to start carrying a coin purse and delaying the lines at check-out counters. I’ll begin driving 35 miles per hour in the left lane with my turn signal in constant-flash mode.

When the Social Security scam was developed in the mid ‘30’s, the retirement age was set at 65 because very few of us made it to that exalted age. Even then your (our) government was looking for ways to hammer us. Today those of us who make it this far can expect another 15-20 years of productive life which has totally driven many actuarial experts to enter 12-step programs. Bummer for them, problems for the government and the people who pay the taxes, but bully for us energetic golden-agers who refuse to sit down and waste away.  It thrills me to see my peers enjoying life and contributing to our communities, states and nation. It saddens me when our geezer class clutches to their government programs with a death grip and sense of lifetime entitlement. It radically ticks me off when career politicians and bureaucrats pander to the oldsters by promising more of the same distribution of goodies. It won’t happen. It cannot continue. Face the music and begin dancing, fellow golden-agers.

In preceding generations it was assumed that one would work until death intervened. Today, however, because of government and political lies, we believe that we are entitled to twenty years or more of taxpayer-subsidized leisure. Even the government has recognized the folly of its promises, and thus, we have the “death panels” or quality of life panels embedded in legislation for the express purpose of culling the herd. Due to our expanded longevity the pressure on the system has become too great to continue. As a husband, father and grandfather who desires to spend many years with my loved ones and helping my grandchildren to appreciate the value of individual liberty, I refuse to accept the societal and governmental descriptions of who I am. I am me. Perhaps in some respects similar to other 65 year olds, but uniquely me in most ways. Government will not define me. Government cannot confine me. After all, birthdays are meaningless. No column tomorrow because of pressing obligations: sleeping, sunning and socializing.

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

CPAC Saga

The 2011 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) was held in Washington, D.C. this past weekend. Nearly 12,000 people attended, and roughly half of them were students. The exhibitors were stationed all over the Marriott, but most were concentrated in the two huge halls in the lower level. They represented a broad range of issues, organizations and movements within the “conservative” movement. If one roamed the halls of the convention (as I did), one would find it difficult to identify or define just what the conservative agenda is. Strong international military presence versus interventionist war making, preservation of all life versus “choices” in life decisions, gay marriage opposed by “family values all represented some of the dichotomies that were glaringly present.

For the sake of brevity and clarity, I will begin with the requisite name dropping. The following list represents those people with whom I had short conversations (I had NO lengthy conversations because I didn’t go to any bars):

                Brian Wilson, WSPD Radio (Toledo); Stephen Moore, Wall Street Journal; Senator Rand Paul, R-Kentucky; Jonathon Alder, Newsweek columnist; Congressman Steve King, R-Iowa; James Bovard, thinker, writer and commentator; various exhibitors and organizational representatives.

This is the “howdy” group: Congressman Dana Rohrbacher, R-California; John Fund, Wall Street Journal and Town Hall; Bob Tyrell, The American Spectator, publisher and columnist; George Will, syndicated columnist; David Horowitz, author and speaker; Jacob Hornberger, Future of Freedom Foundation; Bruce Fein, author and analyst; Tim Pawlenty, former Governor from Minnesota; Jack Hunter, radio host from South Carolina; and Gary Johnson, former Governor of New Mexico.

These are the presenters whose programs that I attended: Ron Paul; Gary Johnson; Haley Barbour; Bruce Fein; Jacob Hornberger; Jim Bovard; Mike Church; Jack Hunter; Dan McCarthy; Pat Caudell; Tom Woods; and Dr. Joseph Salerno.

The variety of topics that were available for the attendees was massive. Clearly, as a Libertarian, I tended to drift towards the programs that addressed issues that I found personally compelling. Two of the most informative discussions for me involved an analysis of the Patriot Act and an in-depth look at the Federal Reserve Bank. Jacob Hornberger, Jim Bovard and Ivan Eland presented a lively condemnation of the Patriot Act and its abuse of our Fourth Amendment rights. They must be brilliant men because they agreed with my assessment that Section 215 (see “www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com , Please State) of the Act is particularly noxious because of its broad and potentially oppressive nature.

Dr. Salerno’s seminar on the Fed was enlightening and comprehensive. I may seem to be a conspiracy theorist here, but many of our country’s problems, foreign and domestic, have the slimy grimy fingerprints of the Federal Reserve Bank visible somewhere. He discussed the likelihood of hyperinflation for our national economy and placed it within the historical context of the Feds development. One particularly telling statement from Dr. Salerno was the monopolistic nature of the Fed…a private consortium of mega banks with the unchallenged right to regulate the money supply. In my view, there are two glaring errors with this scenario: 1.) Congress has shifted an enumerated power to an unaccountable private entity; and 2.) the monopolistic and secretive attributes of the Fed are exempt from anti-trust review. To illustrate: don’t hand over your firearm to a stranger whom you’ve invited in to your home.

Ron Paul won the Straw Poll of attendees with roughly 30% of the vote. His Friday speech commanded the largest audience (nearly 7,000), and my limited powers of observation detected about a 98% favorable response to his comments. Of all the “potential” GOP candidates for President in 2012, Dr. Paul and Gary Johnson had the most coherent and straightforward speeches. Some of the others gave good speeches, but were short on significant policy initiatives that would address the overspending, the over taxing, and the hyper growth of government. Platitudes are not policy. I fear, however as the 2012 election draws nearer, platitudes and pretty faces will trump serious attempts to get the monster under control. I saw it at the CPAC convention. Young registrants and older ones who were star struck by the appearance of a candidate despite his or her unwillingness to straightforwardly address any of our vexing issues. In a word…the final word….the roughly twelve thousand (12,000) people who attended CPAC should be better read and more informed than the general populace, but they seem to fall for the same slick shtick that their fellow citizens embrace.

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

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Littlestuff Weekender-12-5-2010

In a column that I will release tomorrow, I examine the “Big Bang Theory.” Related to that review is the claim by some scientists that there may be an additional 70 sextrillion galaxies and 300 sextrillion planets in addition to our galaxy (The Milky Way) and planet. A sextrillion includes the original number (in the above cases either 70 or 300) followed by 21 zeros. Twenty-one zeros is more than one-fifth of the U.S. Senate.


Here we are on December 5th, 2010, and the Congress has not passed a budget for FY 2011. By law it was due for completion on October 1st, 2010. So, they’ve been passing a series of ‘continuing resolutions” to authorize the expenditure of fund….well, nonexistent money.

It appears that the Democratic majorities will not be passing the budget in this lame duck session, so it offers a REAL opportunity for the new GOP majority in the House to engage in some serious changing of our nation’s priorities. The difficulty will come when picking the committee chairs. Traditionally a chairmanship goes to the party’s most senior member of the committee. Some of the GOP holdovers are notorious big spenders. Jerry Lewis from California is a great example of the profligate members of the Republican Party. Add to his propensity for spending other people’s money the fact that he has been in Congress since January of 1979. When one combines big spending with long-term arrogance as chair of the Appropriations Committee, it’s a recipe more disappointment. There are 13 appropriators scattered among the committees in the House, and nearly all of them will be career politicians who love using the national credit card.

As a writer and a commentator, I have some unique attributes. I know a little about a lot. I know a lot about very little, but I seem to have the compulsion to comment on everything. I guess that makes me an arrogant amateur.

This weekend and next I’ll list a few books that I recommend as well as some authors that I seek out when browsing for reading material. Right now, I have about 35 books on my “to read” shelves. When I find a work that intrigues me, I get it and put it on the shelf. One of my great personal losses during the campaign was my limited time for reading. Pat gave me one of those electronic readers last week, and that little innovation should provide me with more flexibility and time.

Inclined to Liberty by Louis E. Carabini

FairTax: The Truth by Boortz and Linder (the sequel)

The Five Thousand Year Leap by W. Cleon Skousen

The Concise Guide to Economics (3rd.ed.) by Jim Cox

Anything by Allan W. Eckert: Eckert writes narrative histories of the Great Lakes region.

Anything by C.S. Lewis, Ayn Rand, John MacArthur, John Maxwell, Andrew Murray, R.C. Sproul, Max Lucado, Francis Schaeffer and many more.

Anything by Judge Andrew Napolitano, Fredrich Hayek, Milton Friedman, Ludwig von Mises, and more.

Favorite fiction writers: Vince Flynn, Joel Rosenberg, Dale Brown, Ken Follett, Brad Thor, and a few others.

Poetry by Dylan Thomas

Geo-political analyses, historical biographies, political biographies, movement histories ad infinitum.

We’ll have another list next week.



Today’s column will close with three oxymorons:

Libertarian consensus, Democratic frugality, Republican courage.

Comments: earl4sos@gmail.com or cearlwriting@hotmail.com

Whatever's Fair

The FairTax is innovative, reasonable and frequently misrepresented. Indeed, it is a consumption tax that is collected at the point of final sale on new products…used items are exempt because the underlying premise is that something should not be taxed more than once. As it has been proposed, the FairTax replaces nearly all existing federal taxes (income, AMT, corporate, Social Security, Medicare, gift, estate) on a revenue-neutral basis. As designed the FairTax would NOT replace certain excise taxes such as the gasoline tax, the communication (telephone, internet) tax and selective limited resource extraction taxes. The greatest weakness of the FairTax proposal, in my view, is that it does not address massive government spending, although I understand the reasoning for this posture---to minimize opposition and simplify the argument. My preference is that we eliminate the excise (hidden) taxes as well, and offset their revenues with spending cuts. If this scenario can be achieved, then no one pays ANY federal tax until they consummate a purchasing transaction for a product or service.


The analysts have concluded that as originally constructed, a FairTax of 23% on every new product or service would offset the monies generated by the non-excise sector of the federal tax code. Their examination has yielded that each domestic commercial transaction carries with it an “embedded” tax of roughly 22%. That means that throughout the cycle of the product or service from raw material to finished product/delivered service, the various federal taxes that are levied at each stage of the process comprise approximately 22% of the final cost to the consumer (taxpayer). At first glance one might assume that the FairTax would be more costly for the taxpayer (23% vs. 22% embedded). Okay, it’s math time.

For the sake of clarity and as a fiscally responsible commentator, I will assume for this model that the actual impact of the “embeds” is a mere 18%. If the price of an item is $ 1.00 (one dollar), then the REAL cost without taxes would be eighty-two cents ($.82)(1.00-.18=.82). When we add the FairTax to the cost of the product or service, we note that amount to be $1.0086 or $1.01. So, if the embedded amount is only 18% versus the 22%, then the final transaction COULD be a penny higher than it is under the present structure…….BUT remember, you are not paying withholding taxes for income, FICA or Medicare. Let’s assume that you have 19 exemptions and pay NO income tax. Your FICA rate of 7.65% means that even IF the cost of goods and services were to rise by one per cent, you will continue to net 6.65% of your gross income for saving, additional purchases…whatever you desire. I truly believe that this is a very conservative estimate. In my view, your net yield will be much larger which in turn would generate more economic activity.

The previous discussion has overlooked an important “embedded” benefit. Just as the individual wage earner/taxpayer will not be required to pay the FICA tax, neither will the employer. This outcome could lead to lower prices, more capital investment or higher profits and wages. Any of these results would provide a benefit for the economy.

So, the easy question is how does this FairTax concept really help the taxpayer? And the easy answer is …more freedom. Your overall tax liability will, in a large measure, be determined by you. Need a car? Well, purchase a Kia and pay a relatively low tax, buy a Lexus and pay a higher sum,…..or buy a late-model used Cadillac and pay NO tax. The choice is yours. You choose. Acquire your clothes from high-end thrift shops and pay no tax. Have a garage/lawn sale and be legal, for once, by collecting no tax.

Tomorrow we’ll examine how to offset the lower incomes of the poor, and examine the mechanism for implementing the FairTax as a REPLACEMENT not an ADDITION to the current tax nightmare. Please check out www.fairtax.org .

Comment: earl4sos@gmail.com  or    cearlwriting@hotmail.com

Cupcakes and stuff

This election cycle promises to be an exciting one here in Ohio and around the nation. Citizens are exchanging beers and barco-loungers for Tea Parties and Liberty Lobbies. An over current of discontent and dissatisfaction is driving citizens to become more informed and more active in the political scene. While their activity is noteworthy and generates media attention, if one were to objectively examine the restoration movement, it would, in my view, become apparent that they represent an infinitesimal segment of the voting population. On the other hand, it is difficult to ascertain their potential impact on the election because they do interact with family, friends and co-workers. Observing the restoration movement in action as a candidate and as a long-time political watcher has led me to conclude that their activities remind of something that I witnessed many years ago.


At this point I would suggest that if you have young children gazing at the computer screen, you usher them to another room. I plan to discuss bodily excretions in the remaining portion of this treatise. Bodily functions are natural and excretions are the body’s method for disposing of unwanted, harmful elements. My memorable metaphor occurred some time ago at a birthday party for a four year-old child. One of the angelic little kiddlings attracted my attention. The main staples of the celebration were beautifully decorated cupcakes, and the little was attacking his with relish. As he meticulously rotated his cupcake while chomping off the edges, I noticed that his nose was running profusely and streaming down onto the cupcake. This development didn’t appear to faze the little guy because he continued his dedicated munching…cake and mucous.

One of the advantages of being a statewide candidate on a third-party ticket is that most people assume that you are crazy. So, when I have an unprovoked flashback of a grotesque moment, and then associate that memory with the current political scene, most people are not shocked. So, here goes. The scene that I recalled reminds of the current state of the Republican Party….lots of glitter, some substantive cake adorned with waste. Despite their protestations to the contrary, government under GOP rule continues to grow and oppression increases. Since 1994 the GOP has to one degree or another had a grip on the reins of power. That is sixteen years…more than one and a half decades. Does CPB/PBS still receive federal funding? Are OSHA and the EPA smaller? Do Planned Parenthood and ACORN slurp at the federal trough? Have non-vital federal lands been sold to the private sector, or has federal ownership of real estate increased? The Republicans smugly declare that their contribution to sane government involved their slowing or stopping some extremely noxious legislative efforts. So, I’m supposed to be encouraged by this chest thumping? The GOP is actually more dangerous, in some respects, than the Mad-Hatters who are rushing us toward tyranny. They (the Republicans) may not be driving the bus, but they are willing riders on it…and neither group will squirm when they toss us under the wheels.

Lest some of you readers perceive that I am targeting my greatest wrath toward the Republicans by using body waste as an illustration, let me balance this screed by stating that the Democrats/progressives promise us booger sandwiches…but with no bread. The bread metaphor is used for money, therefore the D’s promise the moon, but will spend us out of money in the meantime. So, dear Reader, you may believe that it’s safer to support one of the old spendthrifts, unconstitutional parties, but it’s not.



Comment or email:  cnpearl@woh.rr.com

What if?

What if….


Conservatives, Libertarians, Constitutionalists, Federalists, Tea Partiers, Sons of Liberty, Liberty First, Smart Girls, Freedom Works, Tea Party Patriots, Tea Party Express, Club for Growth, Americans for Prosperity and other advocates for a smaller, accountable federal government assembled in a room around a circular table? Perhaps they could agree to band together for just one national election in order to promote thoroughly vetted, totally reliable coalition candidates for president and vice president of the United States of America. They could unite under one principled banner—to reduce the size of the federal monstrosity and implement stringent measures to assure accountability (e.g. recall measures, term limits, whatever). Each party or organization would retain its autonomy for local, state and congressional campaigns, but would support the top-of-the-ticket candidates. The name of the merged group could be RPO coalition—meaning the radically P. O’d assembly of citizens. So, can we get it done in time for 2012? Maybe. I must stop now because the Tooth Fairy is leaving, and Santa Claus is coming.

What if…frogs had wings?

What if…

The men in leadership of the Republican Party grew onions as big as some of the ladies of the GOP seem to have? Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann and Marsha Blackburn are not afraid to challenge the socialist monkeys with blunt talk, meanwhile Boehner and McConnell use D.C.-speak to protest the Dem’s roughshod behavior. Even the lady pundits are more straightforward. Malkin, Coulter, Ingraham, Cupp and others tell it like it is. As a reformed politician, I’ve known the type for years: Perfectly coiffed hair, steel-strong starched collar, top-grade suit and vague, non-committal language…and no guts. If I went into battle with most of those guys, I certainly wouldn’t want them behind me.

What if…

In lieu of raising the debt ceiling to 14 Trillion dollars, Congress had simply distributed the amount among the populace? A tidy sum of 46, 666 dollars would have been available for every woman, man and rug rat in the country. The spending surge would have generated a tsunami of economic activity that might have overcome some of the dislocations in the federal balance sheet. Just imagine, The Duggars with their 19 little Duggars would collect $979, 986. Wow, one more kiddling and they could have more than a million. The wife and I could have taken our 93 grand and donated some to Harry Reid’s campaign fund…maybe not. I know this is a pipe dream (even pipes have more realistic dreams than this). Plus, I don’t want Washington to take my money, skim it and shrink it, and send some loose change back. I want to hang on to it and decide how to spend it myself. I believe that I would do so more effectively…and more compassionately than Big Brother. I might not be so hostile to government spending if it were done with accountability and sensibility…and if they weren’t consistently spending more than they collect. So, once again our government is in the hole. Whaddya say…let’s fill in the hole and close it? Let’s bury those suckers once and for all…just like they have burying us under an avalanche of debt for all these years.

What if…President Obama got a clue? I know, won’t happen.

Comments are welcome.  cnpearl@woh.rr.com