Tea Party Panel Discussion on GML-TV

If your only view of the Tea Party movement has been through the prism of CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC and national newspapers, you may think of the protesters as a mob of angry people with pitchforks and torches, looking to tar and feather everyone who disagrees with them. If you get all your news from Nancy Pelosi, you may think the protesters are violent, neo-Nazis. To hear the Leftists tell it, dissent against "Chimpy McBushitler" was the Highest Form of Patriotism, but dissent against the unprecedented expansion of federal government currently underway must, obviously, be due to racism.

In fact nothing could be further from the reality of the Tea Party movement. The vast majority of participants are simply regular people, patriotic citizens trying to restore respect for the Constitutional principles of limited government. We know there's no such thing as a free lunch. All these "free" things the government gives us will have to be paid for, one way or another, in higher taxes now or on our children.We know that a government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take away everything you have.

To give you a direct look at some members of the Tea Party movement we offer this panel discussion featuring three Nebraskans who became politically active in the past year: Bryan Van Deun; Joanne Elliott; and Dan Draney (i.e. Yours Truly, Abe). This is Show #7, and it is hosted by GML-TV’s inimitable W. A. Mitchell.

[I'm sorry for the embedded videos being a bit too wide for the column. You should have seen this problem before I "fixed" it. :) You'll probably want to view them full screen, or click through to watch them on YouTube, or follow one of the links below. - Abe]

[Cross-posted at GML-TV and Don't Let Me Stop You]

Thought for today

Sometimes it is necessary to go hungry to ensure that your enemies starve.

Income Tax Options

Diversity of Democracy

Republican Presidential candidate Fred Thompson has suggested a way to ameliorate our nasty income tax situation. Read about it here. I've never seen a tax on income that I liked. Even the various forms of income taxation called the flat tax.

Flat taxes used to be the norm in most of the civilized world after the French Revolution and before WWI. The idea has an appeal to conservative types; it is less progressive, doesn't penalize success, and in its modern incarnations, provides for a zero tax rate for 'poor folks', who don't pay income tax now.

Fred wants to make the flat tax systems optional. (Not really optional, but as an alternative to the current convoluted code. I think all taxes ought to be optional, but that ship has already sailed.)

I'm curious about what other cats think of this idea. Cats whose opinions aren't influenced by having had Treasury agents draw down on them over a few measly bucks.
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Check out the latest Fredipedia here.

Omaha Public Schools - always on the ball

Who is watching the coop?

The taxpayer supported Omaha Public School retirement fund has been writing checks to a retired teacher that died almost 20 years ago. She was Winifred Brinker, and taught for 17 years at OPS, retiring in 1980. The $120,000 in payments made since her death in 1988 were electronically deposited to an American National Bank account.

Compound interest should have fattened that amount to a tidy sum by now. Unless, of course, it isn't there. The bank needed a court order to open up the account; I don't know the results yet. OPS spokeswoman Luanne Nelson said they were still "in the discovery process." Read: "We don't have a clue."

The Omaha World Herald had the details here, last time I looked. Unless they have changed their ways, the OWH will try to make you pay to read it after a few days. If you are in Omaha, you aren't supposed to read about Winifred here: Not For Online Use In Omaha Market. Any wonder why newspapers are going broke?

I gather that the stewards of OPS' retirement money just wait to be informed that a payee is deceased. Maybe they read the obituaries, maybe they don't. Winifred Brinker's obit appeared in the OWH:

Brinker's obituary advertisement ran in The World-Herald on May 19, 1988. And her death certificate was filed with Douglas County vital statistics the day after her death. OPS officials had no answers as to why they weren't aware, or made aware, of Brinker's death.

The same OPS is the steward of our children's' educations. Private schools ought to get our tax money. These bureaucrats posing as educators have no incentive to do anything right. No incentive to teach to a standard, no incentive to provide guidance and leadership, and no incentive to keep an eye on the bottom line. The taxpayers are their constant cash cow and the kids are their victims.

Nebraska: Tops with Tourists

Nebraska gas prices: almost this bad

We Nebraskans need to advertise this attraction. People will drive for miles to see and pay the Nations Highest Gasoline Prices. From K-Cow: Nebraska Tops National Gas Price Average: "Cornhusker state 29 cents above the national average." Twenty-nine cents, or about $5 or $6 a tankful.

State tourism will explode with folks from around the country, driving across Nebraska to get their pictures taken in front of our gas station price signs. Small towns could vie for the honor of being the very highest. The locals will prosper and the state coffers will grow fat with tax revenue. The bugeater state will become a tourist Mecca.

"Where are you taking your vacation this summer, Sid?"

"Up to Nebraska. The wife and kids can't wait to see those gas prices."

What Paul Bunyan did for Minnesota, these big gas prices will do for the Cornhusker State.
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Seriously, a summertime state gasoline tax break has been suggested out here where the tourist attractions are separated by miles and miles of plain old Nebraska. It made too much sense for the legislature, which has never trusted advice from economists. Our state gasoline taxes are higher than those in neighboring states. (See: Cross the River and Save in the Cattle Chute.)

We can't afford to lose the revenue, the Solons of Lincoln whined at the idea of a summer gas tax cut. Can you hear the small towns drying up and blowing away?

Guam World War II Loyalty Recognition Act a Good Thing

My Dad on one of Guam's beaches, c. 1952
Click for 50 years later

Lou at My American Thoughts has asked me to guest blog there. My first post at MAT went up yesterday, and was about the passage in Congress of the widely misunderstood Guam World War II Loyalty Recognition Act (HR 1595). Many conservative bloggers urged that it be voted down without knowing the facts or historical context of the bill. You can get a reasoned analysis here at Riehl World View. I'm glad it passed.

The old feeder lived on Guam for a year or two in the early 50's. I was a kid, and my Dad was in the service. The island still had Japanese soldiers in the boonies that thought WWII had not ended.

The beaches were beautiful and uncrowded. Think of a pig roasting on a luau style pole, white sand, cool caves and tropical weather. But these beaches had areas marked Off Limits because of unexploded ordnance. Booby traps were rumored to be everywhere. I used to dig up and play with little anti personnel flechettes that looked like tiny bombs with fins. The Guamanian villages were, for the most part, still empty and falling into ruin. No vacation condos, no tourists, no cruise ships. It was a boy's jungle paradise.
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When I get back to the feedlot, I'll add a picture from my Guam days.

Show Hagel the Gate in '08

Amnesty Now!

From the McCook area's Southwest Nebraska News: the Nebraska Taxpayers for Freedom have started a campaign to rid Nebraska politics of Senator Chuck Hagel. They (read: Doug Kagan, et al.) are calling it Show Hagel the Gate in '08 . According to the McCook paper, the reason for the campaign is Senator Hagel's collaboration with Ted Kennedy to give amnesty to illegal aliens. I can think of more reasons to dump Chuck, but hey, one is enough.
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BTW: The catch-phrase "Show Hagel the Gate in '08" has been on Doug Kagan's mind for some time. I'm guessing this is his comment at Ankle Biting Pundits last year. Doug wants to see Fred Thompson as our next President. His NTF outfit also has a Gun Owner's Rights section. Heck, I'll put him on the blogroll.
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Robert Novak, on the other hand, has written a truly sickening puff piece about Senator Hagel. Talk about Washington cats being out of touch. From the Senate2008Guru:

Robert "Count Chocula" Novak presents Chuck Hagel with this super-softball column, offering another indication that the DC-GOP establishment is behind him as state AG Jon Bruning gains steam in his possible primary challenge. Unfortunately for Hagel, I don't think Novak votes in the NE-GOP primaries.

I think its high time Senator Hagel disclosed how much he is paying for haircuts these days.
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Vintage Hagel: the 2000 election. Mighty rare.
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Updated: Read the most poignant, heart-wrenching story ever written about Chuck Hagel: Myra MacPherson's The private war of Chuck and Tom Hagel at Salon.com. You will feel so sorry for Chuck you might want to vote for him again. To me it is just more of the same old wah-wah from the Sad Sack Senator from Nebraska.

The story is reprinted in this nauseating venue, Veterans for Progress. More like Veterans for Cryptosocialism, if you ask me. Fah!

Bush Tax Cuts Ruin US Economy

Impoverished by Bush's tax cuts

A rising tide may well rise all boats, but those stuck in the mud will drown.
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Dow crashes to 13,000.
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Government needs more tax money. The pittance we pay now just isn't enough.
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Some Reactions:
Red State: Clearly, this is all Bush's fault.
Jeff Gannon/Johnny Gosch: AP Sees Gloom
Hold the Mayo: Every Silver Lining Has A Cloud