Write in Votes

Why can states refuse to allow write in votes? If you read these 3 amendments to the Constitution, you will see that you cannot deny or abridge the right of citizens to vote for almost anything except the states can refuse to let a person vote for a write in candidate and therefore in effect abridge their right to vote.

Amendment XV
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Amendment XIX
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

Amendment XXIV
The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reasons of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.

I believe that candidates should have the right to run for office and citizens should be allowed to vote for them with a write in vote.

Air Force Academy Spends $80,000 on Pagan Worship Center

i saw this posted on the Independent American web site.
Air Force Academy Spends $80,000 on Pagan Worship Center

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Christopher
What do you get when you combine pagans, two witches, and the Air Force Academy? Eighty thousand taxpayer dollars. That’s how much the government is spending in its pursuit of political correctness in the military.

After a year’s worth of work, the U.S. Air Force finished construction on an outdoor worship center for “wiccans, druids, and earth-worshippers“–despite not having a single one on its cadet roster. The USAF agreed to the project to accommodate “a civilian” and an “Air Force reservist” who demanded equal treatment for their faith.

I am so glad that we have congressmen who are trying to cut government spending and reduce our debt.

Iceland is the perfect example of how to solve our financial crisis.

Read this story about how Iceland solved its financial problems. Then consider what we are doing here in the United States and what is happening in the European Union with Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain.

Why should the taxpayer pay for the mistakes made by the banks and the FED? Why are the voters reelecting the people who voted to bail out the banks?

It is time to elect representatives who will honor their pledge to uphold the Constitution. Vote for qualified third party candidates. It is time say that you have had enough and will not take it any longer.

Liberty and Freedom is at stake.

How would you feel if the government said that you had to own a car even if you didn’t want one and couldn’t drive one. It demanded that you buy it from one of the Big 3 American Car Companies even if you could get a better car for less money from a foreign car company. It demanded that you pay for a car for someone else who couldn’t afford it and that you buy it from the American Car Companies even when you could get a cheaper car from another company.

This is basically what is happening to us with Obamacare. Now the Supreme Court is going to decide if Obamacare is constitutional. This decision will decide how much power the Federal Government has over us. It will decide if we still have the freedoms and liberties mentioned in the Constitution.

Income equality means a lower standard of living.

While the media talks about income equality, it is important to realize that it is not in any sense related to the quality of life.

The real problem is that the number of poor is growing. More people are on food stamps than ever before and that number is growing fast. Although the income gap is becoming larger, that is not the reason that our quality of life is declining.

The real cause of our problems is higher taxes which means more redistribution of wealth. We are like the serfs during feudalism. The king (state) owns the land and our homes. We do not own them because if we do not pay our property tax, the state can take our land and homes away from us. Basically, we are renting our homes.

We also work for the king about 6 months out of the year because that is how long we have to work to pay all our taxes.

It will only get worse as more and more taxes are imposed and more restrictions on enacted.

It is time to "Legalize the Constitution". It is time for our elected representatives to honor their oath to uphold the Constitution.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Advertisement

Supreme Court refuses to decide to uphold the Constitution.

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case from the 10th Circuit's Court about the right to have to have a expression of faith on public property. This was a defining moment for religious freedom in American. Sometimes no decision is the worst decision of all. As you may have heard, the U.S. Supreme Court recently refused to intervene at a defining moment for religious freedom in America.

American Atheists, Inc. took the state to court for allowing a private association to memorialize the officers with its own dollars.

This decision affects Utah, Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Wyoming. None of their crosses on public property will be tolerated either. This decision could have future implications for Arlington National Cemetery and other landmarks across the country. Of course, the irony is that these roadside crosses are not only constitutional, but they also represent the very values that our Constitution celebrates.

I love my country!

I love my country, it’s my government I don’t trust. I am concerned about our legislators raising and spending money without any regard for the Constitution of the United States.

Legalize the Constitution.

It is important to get Nevada's finances under control.

With the Fed printing more and more money, our money will purchase less and less until prices are so high that the state will have to cut services and we will be unable to afford food and shelter.

Nevada must reduce its spending. We must balance and reduce the state's budget. Some states are out of control and will experience rioting and looting. It will not be safe to live in those states.

It is important that the next Nevada legislative session reduce the budget to prevent our state from having these problems.

The Federal Reserve's Dual Mandate

I read an article today that stated that

We are all aware that the Fed has a dual mandate of stable prices and maximum employment. But what may come as a surprise to most is that they have a distinct preference in their mandates. The Federal Reserve under Ben Bernanke has a clear bias toward fulfilling the goal of maximum employment.

Looking at those two mandates, I would say that the Fed has been a miserable failure. In fact, the Fed has been a failure at everything except printing money and causing inflation.

Federal Deficit reduction, Ron Paul style

This article by Jacob Sullum appeared in the Review Journal today.

It stated that

This week, Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, who is seeking the Republican presidential nomination, unveiled a plan to cut nearly that much in 2013 alone, followed by similar cuts in the next two years, yielding a balanced budget by 2015.

I believe that it should get more media attention. At the Republican Debate in Las Vegas, Ron Paul mentioned his plan, but it was ignored and everyone was talking about the 9-9-9 plan

Our standard of living is falling fast.

Here's a fact: America's standard of living is falling at a faster pace today than at any time since the Great Depression. Specifically, the real median income is down 9.8% since the fall of 2008. Additionally, Americans have lost roughly $5.5 trillion in asset value, or about 8.6% of their wealth.

When you talk about a depression, what you're really talking about is a collapse in the standard of living. That's what's happening today, right now, in our country.

The 2 party system has put us in this mess. It is time to elect qualified people from other parties.

I haven't posted for awhile

I have been very busy the last month so I haven't posted anything in this blog. I have also been very unhappy with the news lately.

Last night, I watched the Republican Presidential Debate in Las Vegas. What a joke! 2 candidates dominated the air time with their arguing. The candidates who really had something to say didn't get enough time.

Ron Paul didn't even get a chance to have a closing statement.

It was obvious to me that the Republican Party wants either Romney or Perry and isn't going to give the others any chance to win the Primary.

Great voting bloc!

Recipients of taxpayer money, including government employees who cannot be fired and have a great pension plan that is bankrupting the country, and welfare recipients who periodically break out in mob violence, are the majority voting bloc of the Democratic party.

The Republicans are no better with business monopolies buying votes.

We need to support the largest third party in each state as is encouraged by the Had Enough Voter Revolt.

A simple explanation of what is happening to our economy.

Credit is money that's been borrowed. In a healthy economy (one with sound money, like gold), credit is limited to savings. That only makes sense, doesn't it? How could you borrow something that someone else hasn't already put aside for the purpose of lending?

Of course… saving is hard. Most people would prefer to have the benefits of credit without the effort of saving. Thus, we have modern economics, which is based on a simple lie: That you can safely expand credit in excess of savings.

But, of course, you cannot create wealth from a printing press. Doing so causes price inflation, asset inflation, a credit collapse – or a mix of all three. Everyone knows this. And yet it seems the entire global political class remains dedicated to pretending otherwise.

When credit is expanded far enough in excess of savings, you get a collapse.

Obama's promises

Obama promised

The health care bill will not increase the deficit by one dime.
Turned out to be the single biggest tax hike in history

No boots on the ground Libya.
Don't make me laugh!!!

Quantanimo bay to be closed within a year.
Its actually expanded and more of them have been set up

Slowly pull the troops out of the middle east.
Oh but wait,he has expanded the war and continued with Bushlers industrial military conquest of the world.

We will go through our federal budget – page by page, line by line – eliminating those programs we don’t need, and insisting that those we do operate in a sensible cost-effective way.
The 2800 page health care bill done in secrecy, they are doing QE3 right now in secret, All the back room deals of the bail out was kept in complete clouds of mystery. But they want to have more information continuously about the individuals privacy. It was all written in the book 1984, 60 years ago. They keep the people dumbed down in the Marxist public fool system.

I will bring change to America.
Nothing has changed the evil has just metastasized to a bigger tumor..

Ain't democracy wonderful they will let you vote in their choices. With a 2 party system, you really have no choice because each party knows that they will be elected as soon as you are tired of the other party. We need more choice and more competition.

In the movie "Cool Hand Luke", the Boss Man says, "Its for your own good Luke" and Luke replies, "Boss man why don't you stop being so good to me?".

Defense of Capitalism

The French philosopher, Frédéric Bastiat, wrote in 1850 about the law,

See if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them, and gives it to other persons to whom it does not belong. See if the law benefits one citizen at the expense of another by doing what the citizen himself cannot do without committing a crime.

Now some people will argue that Wall Street executives earn many times more than the government employees, but you don’t have to pay for it in taxes. If you don’t like what they make, you can stop doing business with them. Of course, the government will continue to take your money in taxes and give it to them, but you can’t blame them for taking the money the government gives them.

You can call it anything you like, but don’t call it free market capitalism.

The New America-more socialism than capitalism

America is not a socialist country. We have private ownership of assets and profits.

However, it is not a capitalistic coutnry either. The State contols almost every business with regulations, fees, restrictions, and taxes.

Because various types of government make up more than 40% of GDP, we live in a society dominated by government.

America is a combination of the two with socialism becoming the more powerful influence.

I love this quote.

The risks are socialized; the profits are privatized.

Capitalism is what made America great. It allows us as American Citizens to work hard and keep the fruits of our labors.

Now we work about 6 months a year just to pay our various taxes.

It is time to use our vote to remove the parasites from office and elect courageous legislatures who will reduce government and balance the budget.

United States is stifleling investment

I read this article that said that the United States was stifling investment by adding more and more investment regulations. It stated,

If the object of the government is to encourage investment, entrepreneurship, and create jobs, this is exactly the wrong way to go about it.

And I'm not blaming just one political party. Things are the same now as under the last American president. It's as if the nation has decided it no longer wants to encourage its companies or foreigners to invest in the U.S. Most likely, they don't think of it in those terms; they likely still think that since the U.S. is such a great country, then of course anyone would want to invest there.

But the truth is that by doing these things, non-U.S. people are less likely to invest, and thus the U.S. is seen to be simply hurting itself.

The Democrats and Republicans have controlled our country for over 100 years. They are destroying it. We need a few more major political parties to provide fresh ideas and competition. However, the Democrats and Republicans are doing everything that they can to prevent another political party from becoming a major party.

It is up to us, the voters, to do something.

Wide Open Race

In the Review Journal today, my letter was published. It is about the 2nd Congressional District special election and mentions the IAP candidate Tim Fasano.

To read the letter, scroll down to the 2nd letter.

The letter refers to an article published May 26th in the Review Journal in whish reporter Laura Myers mentions the Democratic and Republican candidates, but doesn't mention any of the other candidates, including Independent American Tim Fasano.

I point out that the Independent American Party is the 3rd largest party in Nevada. Tim Fasano and the other indepedent candidates should have been mentioned to inform the voters about all the candidates and not just the Republican and Democratic candidates.

A disturbing violation of freedom

In May of this year, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled that

We hold that there is -no right- to reasonably resist unlawful entry by police officers.

To summarize the article about this case, the case deals with one Richard Barnes, a regular Joe citizen of Indiana, who was in the midst of marital problems with his wife one evening in 2007. The couple was arguing when police arrived to the scene and attempted to enter the home.

Barnes made it very clear to the officers that they were not to enter his home. The officers did not have a warrant, and they did not have probably cause to believe that anything illegal was happening. But they entered regardless.

Barnes tried to block the door, and as the police officers muscled their way past him, he shoved one of them against the wall in defense of his property. Barnes was choked and tasered in his own home, subsequently hospitalized, then charged with misdemeanor battery on a police officer.

The Court agreed that the police officers entered the Barnes home illegally. The Court further agreed that one’s right to resist illegal entry has existed since the Magna Carta. The Court further agreed that the US Supreme Court has reaffirmed this right to resist unlawful entry in numerous court cases.

Yet, in summarizing the court’s opinion, Justice Steven David writes,

We hold that there is -no right- to reasonably resist unlawful entry by police officers.

What happened to the 4th Amendment of the Constiution? It was completely disregarded. This has got to stop or we will lose all our freedoms.

Don't need money for schools letter

My letter to the Review Journal editors was published on 5/17.

It stated,

The Saturday article "Vote helps math-challenged" is the perfect example of why our educational system is failing. It has nothing to do with money. It has to do with demanding that our children learn the curriculum.

Why even have a proficiency exam? As students fail more parts of the exam, just allow them to pass if they fail two parts, then three parts, etc.

If Nevada would cut school administrative expenses instead of laying off teachers, and if Nevada would stop social promotion in all grades levels, we would see a vast improvement in the education of our children without spending more money.

Nevada should also enact illegal immigration laws similar to those in Oklahoma and Arizona to save money on the health care and education of illegals, which would also help balance the budget and reduce education cuts.

We don't need more money for education. We need more education for our money.

Why are we in an economic crisis?

To put it simply, we spent too much, we borrowed too much, we now are spending less because we have to pay our debts, and now we have an economic crisis. Until we pay back our debt, it will continue.

By expanding the money supply and increasing our debt is the wrong answer. It just will make matters worse. It is like giving a fat person ice cream and chocolate. It will satisfy their hunger, but they now need to lose more weight and had it harder to get into shape.

We need to realize that we need to make sacrifices to correct this financial crisis. We cannot expect the government to do things for us.

Our government, our Constitution, and us

Most people seem to see inflation of “2% or so” as a normal part of a “growing” economy. In fact, in a successfully growing economy there should be technological advances and economies of scale, which should reduce the cost of goods naturally…a natural “deflation.”

The idea that there should be a targeted “inflation” is preposterous. It simply reflects a continual theft from those who save in favor of those who borrow.

I am amazed that Americans believe that they cannot make decisions for themselves and that they believe that the government knows how we should live our lives and that the government needs to do something. Where has the rugged individualist gone?

Did Henry Ford go to the government to outlaw the horse and buggy? No, he simply built the automobile and the horse and buggy was replaced. Why not just vote in a better legislature and a better from of government for our state and be an example to the rest of the country?

Do you know why the Berlin Wall was built? It was built to keep-in the East Germans; not to keep-out the West Germans.

If the State of Nevada became a state where all the residents seemed to be happy, productive members? Everyone enjoyed the spiritual and material benefits of their efforts. Would you and many others want to live here?

Of course, not everyone would move here. Many would choose to live where the government supports and protects them, but the industrious and hard working people would what to live in Nevada. Unlike the Berlin Wall to keep-in the comrades, the “wall” around this community is simply a requirement that you have an absolute respect of the other person’s property. You agree that as long as they respect your decisions and property, you will respect theirs.

You don’t have to know why it is working; you only have to be willing to participate. If you don’t like it after trying it, you simply leave. No coercion.

This will work if implemented and people will accept this concept as the best type of government as outlined in the Constitution is given the choice. We have allowed the government to ignore our Constitution and take away our rights and liberty

Don’t continue with the old definition of insanity; repeating the same old actions but expecting a different result.

Vote for the best candidate regardless of party. Don’t continue to vote for the least of 2 evils. If you do that you are still voting for evil.

USA cost of living is rising twice as fast as in Zimbabwe.

Yesterday, the Zimbabwe National Statistical Agency announced that consumer prices slowed last month to an annualized 3%.

But this morning, here in the good ol' USA, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced the U.S. consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.5% last month -- which works out to a 6% annual clip.

Yes, this is Zimbabwe where once $100 trillion was worth about $30.

“Since the expansive Federal Reserve program of quantitative easing began in late 2008,” testified investment banker Lewis Lehrman in the House Domestic Monetary Policy Subcommittee, “oil prices have almost tripled, gasoline prices have almost doubled.

“Basic world food prices, such as sugar, corn, soybean and wheat, have almost doubled,” he added.

Don't rely on the Republicans or Democrats to save you. They are the ones who got you into this mess.

Video on how to prevent the Collapse of America

This is a concise video on how this economic collapse happened in America and what needs to be done to correct it.

We are in this mess because we want the government to take from others to help us. We must take responsibility for ourselves and then also be willing to help others. However, the government should not forcibly take from one person and give to another. We must be willing to sacrifice our standard of living not another person's standard of living.

The battle between the public employees and the taxpayers.

The growing battle between public employee unions and taxpayers is getting out of hand. On one side are the state employees who think you owe them a livelihood, full health benefits, and a stout retirement income. On the other side are the producers, the taxpayers who've had no voice in government for decades.

The main reason so many state and local governments are bankrupt, or on the verge of bankruptcy, is the combination of government-run monopolies and government-employee unions. Government-employee unions have vastly more power than do private-sector unions because the entities they work for are typically monopolies.

When the employees of a grocery store, for example, go on strike and shut down the store, consumers can simply shop elsewhere, and the grocery-store management is perfectly free to hire replacement workers. In contrast, when a city teachers’ or garbage-truck drivers’ union goes on strike, there is no school and no garbage collection as long as the strike goes on. In addition, teachers’ tenure (typically after two or three years in government schools) and civil service regulations make it extremely costly if not virtually impossible to hire replacement workers.

Since the taxpayers are overtaxed already, the government has to finance the public sector by increasing debt, inflation, and printing money.

It cannot continue forever. We have waiting too long. We must do something now.

Inflation is back. Is hyperinflation going soon?

Inflation is back and it is back with a vengeance. If you want to buy a food item imported from abroad, you'll pay about 30% more than you did a year ago. Or, if you want to buy a barrel of oil, that will cost you about 60% more.

Almost every business in America uses imported energy. Every American eats. As far as we know, you can't buy home-grown pineapples or coffee beans – not in the 48 states! And so, what do you know? Prices are going up.

In January, core consumer prices – not including food and energy, directly – rose 0.4%. Projected annually, that is 4.8% and it doesn't include necessities like food and energy.

By not including necessities, the government tries convince the people that inflation is low, but when they shop or pay their utility bills, they know that inflation is back with a vengeance.

How long before we have hyperinflation. Not very long if the government keeps printing money.

I love this quote about paper money

I would point out, too, that the U.S. dollar has lost 95% of its purchasing power since 1913. And the U.S. dollar is among the best currencies of the last hundred years. That says something about paper currencies, doesn’t it?

This points out why if we keep printing more paper money, we will have hyper inflation and our economy will be ruined. Inflation is already growing at an increasing rate.

What can we learn from the riots in Egypt?

What can we learn from the events in Egypt? We can learn 2 things from these riots.
One is that we are partly responsible for the riots. One of the main causes of the riots was the huge increase in the price of food which can be traced to the Fed's inflationary monetary policy. The CRB food index shows increases in food price in the past year of up to 36%. When people are hungry they riot.

The dollar is at the center of the international monetary system. When the value of the dollar drops, the price of food goes up. While our consumer price index isn't really effected by food prices, many people throughout the world suffer because of increased costs of food.

Our monetary policy is not only ineffective in the United States, but it is also causing resentment against the U.S. Radicals are taking advantage of this situation by promising food and shelter for all.

The Fed's inflationary monetary policy is failing here in the U.S. and puts America's influence in the world at risk.

The Fed has failed at doing the job that it was created to do. We have had too many recessions and 2 major depressions since the Fed was created. It is time to eliminate the Fed.

The second thing we can learn is that the people in government are not any better than the rest of us when they try to anticipate the future. No one was able to forecast what happened in Egypt. This just shows why socialism fails and capitalism succeeds. There isn't any federal government that can regulate the economy. When the government tries, it will eventually fail.

When you depend on the government to control everything, you are saying that the government knows more than the private section and can foresee and avoid financial crisis like the one we are in now.

Of course, the government will blame someone else, but it is only that the government cannot control the future. As a result, the government's promise that it can prevent future crises actually has the opposite effect. The government acts when it shouldn't and causes more problems.

The market may not be able to control problems, but the problems are not increased with bailouts which only postpones and increases the problem. The market allows bad decisions to fail and it corrects itself as quickly and painlessly as possible.

Inflation, Food price, and the Federal Reserve

Many years ago, Federal Reserve Chairmen tried to protect the dollar's purchasing power. Many decades ago, they didn't even exist. America used silver and gold to protect our purchasing power.

Ben Bernanke, the current Federal Reserve Chairmen, seems to believe that a rising stock market will produce rising employment. However, by printing more money and increasing the United States debt, he is also increasing inflation.

When inflation causes prices to increase, especially food prices, civil unrest occurs. Fiat money loses its value and it becomes worthless. People will want food and tangible assets.

However, for a short period, Ben Bernanke will have achieved his objective of a rising stock market.

Then the economy and the stock market will collapse.

We must stop printing money and spending money that we do not have.

Why are people rioting in Eygpt?

The media says the the riots are political, but the real reason behind the riots is food price inflation.

It was no coincidence that the protests across North Africa were triggered by a Tunisian fruit vendor who was protesting against police confiscation of fruit and vegetables he was trying to sell on the street.

The United Nations reports the price of cereals rose 39% last year. The price of oils and fats, meanwhile, rose 55%.

All staples, like bread, beans and rice. for Egypt’s 80 million people are in critically short supply. When people are hungry, rioting is sure to follow.

When you consider that we are using more biofuels, that the world's population is increasing, that we are converting farmland into cities, and that we are printing more fiat money to put into circulation, food prices will continue to escalate.

It is not a surprise that there is unrest in the world.

The government must stop spending money that it doesn't have. It must balance the budget without raising taxes.

Nevada's liberals acknowledge that tax increases have negative consequences.

This post by the NPRI states that

We've finally achieved bi-partisan consensus — tax increases hurt people.

In trying to condemn Governor Sandoval, the liberals are saying that ending a subsidy
is a tax increase. However, ending a subsidy isn't a tax increase — ending a subsidy is ending a subsidy.

That is wby Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas, said that Sandoval’s suggestion that the university raise tuition "is shifting the problem to others, rather than owning it and dealing with it straight on.”

Every tax, subsidy, and bailout is money taken from others. on average, working men and women have to work 6 months out of the year to pay all their taxes. Can we really afford more taxes? Every tax increase forces more people to live below the poverty level. We have more people living below the poverty level then ever before.

Has welfare really helped?

Useless rhetoric isn't solving poverty problem

In response to this letter in the Sun, I sent this letter to the editor.

In his letter about solving the poverty problem, Bruce Carper asks for solutions. He points out the poverty is obviously on the rise. I suggest that there are 3 major reasons for the increase.

One is that welfare isn’t working because it encourages people to live off the government instead of encouraging them to improve themselves so that they are more qualified to be hired. The program should require welfare recipients to participate in training or learning programs so that they become qualified to get a job. Another idea would be to put a limit on how long you can receive welfare. For instance, allow 5 years of welfare for a person’s entire life. Then if they are on welfare for 2 years, they would still be able to get 3 more years welfare should another unfortunate event occur.

Secondly, consider the effect of taxes on the need for jobs. In 1950, one could graduate from high school, get an average job, and support a family. Now, it takes 2 people working at an average job to support a family. The main reason is that taxes have almost doubled. Therefore, it takes 2 jobs to support a family. If one job could support a family like in 1950, we wouldn’t need as many jobs. Unemployment might still be high, but less families would be homeless and starving. Less people on assistance would reduce the costs of assistance and require less taxes.

The final major reason for increased poverty is the government regulations and fees on businesses. Here in Nevada, the unemployment tax paid by businesses just went up and they are considering another increase near the end of the year. Do you really think that businesses are going to be thinking of hiring more people when their cost of hiring just went up?

Many unemployed people could start a business to earn some money, but it is too expensive and time consuming to get the business license and complete all the red tape. For instance, a barber could cut hair in his home, but it would be illegal. A house painter could paint homes, but it would be illegal.

By cutting regulations, red tape, and fees, more businesses would open or move to Nevada to help reduce the unemployment problem.

These are just a few suggestions of how to how the less fortunate improve their standard of life.

Report: Nevada’s financial position ‘precarious’

This report by the NPRI points out how Nevada legislators have been ignoring state law. This is a problem at all levels of government.

This article states

The Chicago-based Institute for Truth in Accounting today called the financial position of the State of Nevada "precarious" and said past Silver State governors and legislatures had evaded the state's balanced-budget law.

"If governors and legislatures had truly balanced the state's budget, no taxpayer's financial burden would exist," said Sheila Weinberg, founder and CEO of the Institute. "A state budget is not balanced if past costs, including those for employees' retirement benefits, are pushed into the future."

It is not only our state that is in trouble. Our country is over 14 trillion dollars in debt because it spends more than it receives in income. It doesn't make any difference if the Republicans are in control or the Democrats are in control, they both spend our money.

We have to elect conscientious legislators and then hold them responsible for following our laws. It is time for a strong third party.

Sandoval off to a rocky start with budget decisions

In this Sun letter to the editor, the writer states

Education cuts? Really? Is that what our new governor is proposing? Reducing our public school spending, which is currently ranked 46th in the nation, one that has our students ranked last in chances for success?”

Later he states,

The people of Nevada want a balanced budget, oh yes we do. However, it needs to be done smartly and no one gets any smarter by cutting education.

We do not need any more money for education. We need more education for our money.

We need to stop social promotion and demand that students pass or they will be failed and held back. This should start in the first grade. Stop worrying about the students self esteem and worry about their education. What hurts self esteem is when you cannot get a job because you cannot read or write.

We need to cut back on administration expenses and put the money where it belongs on teaching and in the schools. Clark County just hired a new superintendent and paid him $30,000 more than they paid the last supervisor. If they would have paid him the same as the last supervisor, he would have still received $20,000 more than he was making. In addition, they paid him about $75,000 more in expenses.

These are just a few of the things that could be done to the education of our children without spending more money.

"Good for business'? Not hardly

This is an article written by a reader of the Review Journal. It points out how the Nevada bureaucracies hinder businesses and actually drive them out of the state.

The article has many examples of the problems that Nevada bureaucracies caused businesses. For example, it states,

I had to wait four months for the Fire Department to inspect my building so that I could receive my business license and start operating. I received this inspection only after I went to the County Commission meeting and complained during the open forum -- and it still took an additional two weeks for the inspection. I paid rent and employees' wages for four months waiting on the county.

If county officials truly wanted to have my business, they would have an immediate inspection or a temporary business license.

It had other examples, but this example demonstrates how Nevada is losing businesses. I have a family member who has a small business in Clark County that employs 20 taxpayers. Their firm provides services and goods to companies in every country in the world. They recently had a county employee (unknown to them as such) sit in on a baking demonstration at their building. After the demonstration, the county employee asked if she could purchase a set of the tools that were used in the preparation of the pastries. She was offered the tools at no charge. She insisted that she pay for them. They sold her the tools for less than $10 and no receipt was given.

The next day a representative from the county business license office showed up at their plant and fined them for having violated zoning ordinances. The day after that, someone from the Clark County Health Department showed up and fined them as well. The next day an official with the county Fire Department showed up and also fined them. The following day they contacted their Realtor. They're planning to move to Texas. "Good for business"? Yeah, right.
How can Nevada attract new businesses if we treat are existing businesses like this. I had a business which was almost forced out of business because, although I was perfectly legal, I had 3 complaints filed by one person and the state was going to close my business. Luckily, I was able to prove that the compliant was false.

Nevada must reduce the red tape and remove unnecessary regulations to stimulate the economy and encourage new business.

Constitution is a bill of limitations

This article in the Review Journal states,

Here's the House of Representatives new rule: "A bill or joint resolution may not be introduced unless the sponsor has submitted for printing in the Congressional Record a statement citing as specifically as practicable the power or powers granted to Congress in the Constitution to enact the bill or joint resolution." Unless a congressional bill or resolution meets this requirement, it cannot be introduced.

If the House of Representatives had the courage to follow through on this rule, their ability to spend and confer legislative favors would be virtually eliminated. Also, if the rule were to be applied to existing law, they'd wind up repealing at least two-thirds to three-quarters of congressional spending.

I agree. All bills should be constitutional because all legislators take an oath to uphold the Constitution so why not submit the article or amendment that supports the bill.

The article continues,

John Adams warned, "A Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever." I am all too afraid that's where our nation stands today and the blame lies with the American people.

Once again, I agree. I am afraid that the American people may have let things get too far out of hand.

Social Security and Medicare rip offs.

Social Security (SS) and Medicare (MC) are both paid for by workers during their working life. They were not designed to be welfare programs. However, they are both being treated by the government as if they were welfare programs.

The government pays disability to people who have not worked or worked very little. The government gives MD coverage to people who have not paid into the program.

However, for the people who have paid into the program, the government tries to reduce or delay payment of their SS.

If you consider that SS and MD payment is about 15% of a workers salary and that amount invested at 6% for 40 years would amount to well over $1,000.000 even at minimum wage, you will begin to see how we are being ripped off. Now you can get 3% interest in most any bank with a CD. This would amount to $30,000 a year in interest. This is almost twice what a person would get with SS plus they would have 1 million dollars in the bank to leave to their heirs.

The government is also changing the age for retirement so that you have to work longer to get less. The government also increases the annual amount that you have to earn before you don't have to contribute any more that year. These are just ways to get more money and pay you less.

Another way that the government rips you off is that they look at the MAGI on your 1040 tax return. This is the amount your earned before deductions. We live is a gambling state. We have casinos everywhere. So we gamble. If you get W-2Gs for winning a big jackpot, you have to report all you winnings on your 1040 as income. The amount of W-2Gs is usually overstated because on machines, you put money in to play and what you are paid includes the money that you put in the machine to play.

The IRS (government) requires that you list all your W-2Gs and all you winnings which is OK for taxes because you deduct your losses or the money put in the machines to determine your taxable income.

However, you do not get to deduct the money put in the machine or money lost for SS and MC. You will have to pay extra for MC as you MAGI increases. You can pay as much as $341.82 extra every month.

Your SS and MC should be not be adjusted because you paid into it and you deserve to get what you paid for. In fact, I would guess that the higher income participants paid more and receive less than the lower income participants because the higher income are probably more healthy.

Chronological age model outmoded

This letter to the editor states,

While it may be possible to put into service a testing program from existing resources for a reasonable amount of money, what does increase the funding level are the resources in both materials and personnel to carry out the remediation programs necessary to bring nonproficient students to proficient status.

I taught in the public school system in Florida while their program was administered. Such programs are easy to conduct when there are relatively few students identified as nonproficient.

This is typical of how people and the government make a mountain out of a mole hill. As that has to be done is that if the student fails the curriculum for the grade, they fail and have to repeat the grade. If you do that the first time they fail, they will be able to learn the curriculum as they repeat it. You really don't need any special testing or additional programs.

As things are now, the student is promoted until he/she doesn't have any hope of catching up and eventually they drop our. That is why we have such a high drop out rate. If we would demand that students learn the curriculum before they are promoted, they would try harder because they do not want the embarrassment of failing.

When I was in school, one of my friends failed the third grade 3 times. Once he learned to read, he was promoted up and he went on to become mayor of his city.

We must graduate educated students. We cannot continue to graduate students who cannot read, write, or do math.

An interesting article on the economy.

I received a newsletter that was very interesting to me. It was about the situation that the United States is experiencing. The article suggested this link to an article entitled "The Fed-Caused Disaster is Here."

I think that this article explains the cause of the current economic situation. Dollars were incorrectly invested in real estate which caused the real estate bubble. The Fed was the cause of the problem, not the solution.

It is an interesting read.

Light reading

This editorial really hit home. I just had to mention it in my blog.

On Thursday, members of the House's new Republican majority read the U.S. Constitution aloud -- the first time in the nation's history that's been done during a session of Congress.

First of all, I cannot believe that this is the first time that the Constitution has been read in a session of Congress, but then when I think of the bills that have been passed, maybe I shouldn't be surprised.

The article goes on to say that the the venomous response from some was too much. I ask why would anyone object to the reading of the Constitution in Congress when everyone in Congress takes an oath to uphold the Constitution.

The it points out that most of the people objecting don't even know what it says and they misquote it. How sad that we have elected officials who object to the reading of the Constitution and who don't even know what it says.

The article concludes by saying,

And all this condescension, all these patronizing snickers, would seem to reveal some nervousness on the left that the people are indeed starting to go back and read it -- and understand it.

We must start to elect people who will keep their oath to uphold the Constitution and who know what it says.

Is smaller government really wanted?

In the Sun, there were 2 letters to the editor about Americans and smaller government. One states that Americans have shown that they want less government by their vote in the 2010 election.

The other says that Americans don't have the will power to give up their big government. It states,

Every dime the government spends goes into someone’s pocket. The vast majority of federal government expenditures go for programs such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the veterans system as well as national security. I haven’t seen any indication that Americans are willing to give up any of these things.

Then there is an article about Americans freedom choice and lack of discipline.It states,

Wonder why you have already broken all your New Year’s resolutions? Do not blame yourself — heaven forbid. Enlist modern sophistication and blame your brain’s frontal cortex, affluence, the Internet (the “collapse of delay between impulse and action”) and “the democratization of temptation.”

This is the problem that America is facing. We want a quick fix. We are not willing to sacrifice and be disciplined. We look for the easy diet to lose weight. We look for the easy way to get rich. We look for the government to solve all our problems.

It is time for Americans to take responsibility for their lives. We must do it while we still have enough freedom to plan our lives and to succeed. Soon we will be working for the government like the serfs worked for the king in feudal times.

Reading exams

This article supports something that I have promoted in my campaign for State Senator last year. It states,

And that is: Don't promote from third to fourth grade those who can't read.

The article then points out that this is what Florida has done.

In 1999, Florida instituted secondary education reform, including performance-based pay for teachers, grading schools, annual tests and, most importantly, curbing social promotion. Florida students must pass the reading portion of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test before being promoted to the fourth grade.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush notes that in 1998 nearly half of Florida's fourth-graders were functionally illiterate, while today 72 percent can read.

Florida has improved their education standards while Nevada continues to fail to adequately teach our children. The article finishes with this statement.

But data already available, including the judgment of qualified teachers, might be adequate to make the responsible decision to hold back children who have not mastered the material.

The problem is stated very well by a comment to this article.

At the end of the school year my wife will be blamed for having a large number of D and F students who can't pass the CRT tests, and those kids won't be held back for remediation because CCSD doesn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. God forbid any teachers here set high - or even mediocre - standards and expect students to meet those standards. There is no support from CCSD, the schools, the parents, or the community. You reap what you sow, which unfortunately will be a semi-literate population good only for service-industry jobs, welfare, and prison.

His wife is a teacher that is trapped in a system that doesn't demand that children learn. If we continue this way, we will have a state of illiterates unable to get a job.

The achievement test for government

This is a very interesting concept. In this article, David Brooks proposes that government action should be judged by what it will achieve. It states,

The best way to measure government is not by volume, but by what you might call the Achievement Test. Does a given policy arouse energy, foster skills, spur social mobility and help people transform their lives?

David then discusses past actions by the government and their consequences. He says that the size of government isn't important, it is what the government is accomplishing that matters. He states,

How big will the resulting government be? That is a secondary issue. If a policy enhances achievement, we should be for that thing. If it displaces investment, we should be skeptical of it. Quality, not quantity, matters most.

I agree that we should only pass bills that will be beneficial to our society.
However, we should also consider the Constitution and only pass bill that are Constitutional. We should not be expanding government by a loose interpretation of the Constitution.

Good health care benefits everyone.

A letter to the editor in the Sun, states,

Mr. Kolander goes on to support his view by referring to the founding of the nation and American history.

While the Sun’s editorials and I disagree with Mr. Kolander on the Constitution and on American history, we are arguing the wrong issues here.

This is in a letter discussing health care. I agree with his contention that

all people want is a good quality of life for as long as they can have it. That quality is largely dependent on good health care.

I just do not agree that the government must provide it.

The Preamble to the Constitution says,

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Please note the it says provide for the common defence and promote the general Welfare. It does not say provide the general Welfare. This is also in the Preamble and the Preamble does not grant any particular authority to the federal government and it does not prohibit any particular authority. It establishes the fact that the federal government has no authority outside of what follows the preamble, as amended.

Therefore, when the writer states disagrees health care can be unconstitutional, he is indicating that he doesn't understand the Constitution.

Fifty years of bad liberal policies.

This article blames the liberals for all our problems. It states,

For the past 50 years, the Democrats — and many Republicans who should know better — have been wrong about virtually every major domestic policy issue. Let's review some of them:

I agree that the Democrats have some bad policies, but the Republicans are also at fault. That is why I think that we need a strong third party and maybe even four strong parties. Now, the Republican and Democrats do not have any competition and are playing good cop and bad cop with the voters.

They actually read it?

This is the entire letter to the editor in the Review Journal.

President Obama and the lame duck Congress pushed the START treaty through, and we've not been told how many in Congress read the accord.

Now the treaty has won initial approval in Russia's Duma (the counterpart of our Congress), but its members pointedly say that final approval won't occur until Jan. 11 at the very earliest, because they intend to study it.

Given the tendency of Congress to pass bills lawmakers haven't read, I find the Russian Duma's attitude refreshing.

It is a shame that our legislators aren't as interested in our country as the Russian legislators are in their country.

Should we be casting blame at the rich?

This Sun letter to the editor states,

But why despise the rich for this? I can see intelligent people showing anger toward the greedy Wall Street gang that created toxic assets that resulted in them getting richer and millions of middle class people losing their savings. I think most of us admire the people who gain wealth by working hard, competing against each other and getting ahead, but it is not easy to admire people who get rich because of oversights by our government.

Maybe the blame is unfairly put on the very rich and should be redirected toward a federal government that is failing to make the right calls far too often.

The next letter to the editor talks about government bailing out the banks and blames them for our financial crisis.

The U.S. government has spent the past two years bailing out banking giants and Wall Street that created the mortgage crisis all by themselves. Now that the banks and Wall Street are reasonably secure, it’s time to have government intervention to help people who are underwater on their mortgages and were left holding the bag and suffering greatly.

While I do not agree that the banks and Wall Street created the crisis because the government pushed them to make the bad loans. I do not agree with the bailout.
The next letter is a reply to a New York Times’ Thomas Friedman article that I commented about in a previous post. It states,

Congressmen have the most resources to determine the best ways to cut the deficit. I am going to type a short e-mail, asking my Nevada members of Congress to give priority to cutting the deficit. If you agree, please join me.

I agree and we have to get involved and let our legislators know how we feel.

Citizen of nowhere

This article in the Sun is about a young lady who is an illegal alien. She is a model student and would make a great citizen of the United States. However, she is illegal and cannot become a citizen.

The article states,

Jessica, whose name has been changed in this story to protect her identity, is one of hundreds of thousands of undocumented residents whose immigration was their parents’ decision and not their own. She was 4 when her father used a work visa to move their family from Mexico to Los Angeles and then to Las Vegas a year later.

It is her parents fault for not doing things legally. They are the ones who have caused this problem for their daughter. Our Country is not responsible for her parents ruining their daughter's life.

However, our Country did enable her parents by allowing them to remain here and providing schooling and other assistance. We should get tough on illegal aliens and not provide them with services.

However, I do not believe that we should punish their children. We should allow them to return to their country and then apply for immigration without any repercussions for living here illegally.

It is time to face this problem head on and do something about it.