Category: General

But what if they are right…?

A recent article from CNN asserts that Fox news viewers see the world differently, and (in my opinion) attempts to paint them in a negative light.  However, the examples they use to criticize Fox viewers neglect one critical point: What if they are right? What if America is going in the wrong direction? What if America is not in the midst of the economic recovery the government keeps assuring us is ongoing? What if Hillary Clinton is not the ideal candidate that some would like you to believe?

What should we think when a local government passes a law that takes away your right to negotiate an employment contract directly with an employer? Seattle, Washington did just that with their Secure Scheduling Ordinance. This new law requires a collective bargaining agreement – whether or not you agree with union policies and politics – to achieve flexible hours that a worker might desire or need.

What should we think when companies leave the country – either physically by moving production or logically by “inversion” – at ever increasing rates to avoid some of the highest business tax rates in the world? What should we think when the politicians claim that the solution is to make new laws to force them to stay while raising their taxes even higher? How is this any different than erecting the Berlin Wall to prevent the mass exodus of working-class citizens from East Berlin after WWII? So it’s OK when the “wall” only affects businesses?

What should we think when a leading presidential candidate states that they want to overturn the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United – even though the ACLU agrees that the Supreme Court got it right? (Citizens United was less about campaign money than it was about whether or not the government should be allowed to determine who can speak; imagine what a crooked politician could do with that power!)

Interestingly, CNN chose not to be critical of MSNBC viewers – even though in many cases they held views just as extreme as FOX viewers but in the opposite direction. For instance, 85% of Fox viewers believed that the Wikileak emails raise conflict of interest concerns for Clinton, while only 15% of MSNBC viewers took the same position.  In another example, 83% of Fox viewers leaned towards voting for Trump, while 94% of MSNBC viewers leaned towards Clinton. So it’s OK to be extreme, so long as CNN agrees with your position?

Frankly, the CNN critique of Fox viewers might just be due to jealousy. After all, as CNN noted in the article, 270 out of 1000 poll respondents (the single largest share) stated that they trusted Fox most out of the networks queried; CNN garnered only 154.

Go figure.

Are contributions to your own charity tax deductible?

OK – let’s see if I have this right…

According to the Clinton’s 2015 tax return, they gave a cool million to their own charity, the Clinton Family Foundation. Note that the charity watchdog organization Charity Navigator had placed the Clinton foundation on their “watchlist” of problem charities, according to a 2015 NY Post article (although this no longer appears to be the case). I wonder if the Clintons can be employed by their own charitable organization after they retire from politics? That would make their foundation a lot more like a retirement plan than a charity….

Desert Classic Charities was the other recipient of the Clinton’s generosity, receiving (by comparison, a paltry) $42,000. That very same charity is reported to have then in turn given a donation of $700,000 to the Clinton Foundation.

I’m not kidding. You can’t make this stuff up….

For all you recreational drug users…

… you might want to review this ruling:

Crose v. Humana Insurance Company

The plaintiff’s insurance policy contained the following clause:

 “Causation Exclusions . . . Loss due to being intoxicated or under the influence of any narcotic unless administered on the advice of a health care practitioner.”

In other words, if you’re high on drugs and injured as a result, your medical insurance company may be off the hook. I wonder how many people will be frantically updating their “medical marijuana” prescriptions tomorrow…

Texas voting laws vs. the World

The Texas voter ID law is once again in the news. In July, a sharply divided 5th circuit Court of Appeals ruled that while the law was not intentionally discriminatory, it could have that effect for some voters. Following this ruling, a lower court outlined additional options available for voters who might not have one of the defined acceptable identifications.

But are voter ID laws really such a burden? In the rest of the world, the requirement for presenting voter ID is widely accepted. Why, then, does the U.S. have such a problem with this concept?

Hurray for the Chicago Police Superintendent

This is the kind of action that restores the public trust:

Chicago police recommend firing of 7 cops for false reports

Lots of people go to jail when they lie to the police; when the police lie, they should go to prison. Removing their ability to wield police power, though, is a good start.

Now, let’s see how long it takes for the police union to get them reinstated (with back pay).

Ok, ok… let’s see if I’ve got this right…

The State Department now admits that a video concerning disclosures by the department’s own Jen Psaki regarding the Iran nuclear deal was altered to delete her comments. They admit that this was done by a technician, based on a phone call the technician received requesting the edit. But they don’t know who made the phone call?

State Department says review into deleted briefing footage ‘inconclusive’

Seems like we’ve got a propaganda machine operating within our government, which concerns me greatly. What ever happened to the government transparency Obama promised us?

Freedom rankings among the 50 states

From the Cato Institute, a study ranking the level of freedom available in the 50 United States. Read about their methodology and results here.

Very interesting. The low-freedom  states were as expected (New York and California came in at 50th and 49th respectively), but the high-freedom states were a surprise – at least to me. Well worth your time to review.

International gun control?

Michael Bloomberg named World Health Organization ambassador

Note that Bloomberg will be responsible for non-communicable diseases, which includes cancer, diabetes, heart and lung disease, and  – listed later in the article – “combat injuries”. Based on Bloomberg’s long history of opposing the 2nd amendment, how long do you think it will be before all gun-related deaths fall into the category of “non-communicable disease” – like “combat injuries” – and thus fall within his domain? I predict that Bloomberg will use his new post to push for international gun control.

Remember, you heard it here first.

 

A dartboard and a blindfold….

… would have worked out better:

CalPERS earned less than 1% in fiscal year

CalPERS is the defined benefit retirement system for California’s public sector employees. The problem: any shortfalls in the retirement fund is paid by – you guessed it – the citizens (remaining) in California. Doesn’t exactly help that the unions hold a substantial sway over investments. The $300B CalPERS system is currently only 68% funded (that’s an almost $100B shortfall already).

The big problem with these defined benefit systems, particularly when they are heavily union-controlled, is two-fold: 1) there is no incentive to control costs associated with pensions, such as “pension spiking“, and 2) there is substantial potential for undue influence over investments.

It is time for legislation that eliminates these public-sector defined benefit systems altogether. They should be changed into defined contribution systems where retirement funds are paid into individual retirement accounts. Or, if the union still wants to influence investments, defined contributions can be made into a union-controlled fund managed for the benefit of their members. At least then there will be incentive to invest wisely and limit pension costs…