Spring Mornings

I like spring mornings. Each day I get up before the sun and take the dog for a walk. One day last week I was treated by seeing (thanks to the sun being almost ready to come up and the moon being quite bright near the other horizon) two interesting celestial objects. The first was some sort of mapping or weather satellite (or similar type). It was easy to pick out as it moved almost perfectly from south to north and covered the sky in just a couple of minutes. The second, was the space station, cutting a path from northeast to southwest. Both of these within minutes of one another.

Two days this week there was a light fog. The mist covered the neighborhood eerily and made me think of a Dicken's story. The mist hung over the neighborhood pond and blanketed some of the larger lots not yet built upon. There were some deer in the wooded area of one lot and they looked like small statues as they watched me. I think they were closer than normal because of the fog.

It is a relaxing way to start a day.

Out of Control

The US Congress, especially the democrats, are totally out of control. They pushed through outrageous budget concepts that my kids will be paying for the rest of their lives. They pass a law allowing bonuses to be paid on 2008 contracts and then turn around, express dismay and tax these bonuses at 90%. What is to stop them. They have revived the welfare state that their icon, Bill Clinton, helped to dismantle. They are writing legislation that will destroy capitalism and drive business out of the country. They are taking over energy policy recklessly and doing the same with health care.

While Washington is legislating away, the President fiddles by making NCAA predictions, going on late night television, and pushing more of his social agenda.

Finger pointing, arguing, mock trials of all kinds.

Stop the train, I NEED to get off.

This is what happens when one philosophy has all of the control of government (see the warnings of John Adams).

We're not in Kansas anymore

Well, it just does not get better.The prez rolls out a budget plan and has a health care symposium and the market tanks further. It is hard for the private sector capitalists to think that they have a future when the government is planning to take over health care. It is hard for the private sector capitalists to infuse money into any manufacturing businesses when the cap-and-trade is proposed that will effectively tax these manufacturing operations. It is hard for the private sector to invest in banks when the government continues to take them over rather than work with the industry to remove bad assets that continue to drag the banks down.

I found out yesterday that the big "middle class tax cut" will be paid for with money from the carbon cap-and-trade program. Interestingly, if we implement cap-and-trade, that is effectively a tax on business. That tax will be passed on to consumers (otherwise the companies do not make profits, which is why they exist). It turns out that the amount of the "tax cut" for the "middle class" is only 80% of the amount of dollars that the cap-and-trade tax will consist of. If all of the manufacturing tax is passed on to consumers, there is a net increase in taxes on the middle class. What a deal.

Socialism. Gateway to mediocrity. Regulated, free markets can give solutions. Tax cuts will spur development. One man and his team of lackeys doesn't have a chance.