Privatize Virginia's ABC Stores

Kerry Dougherty's recent column in the Virginian Pilot "Let's Party Like It's 1933" reminded me of Governor McDonnell's abortive attempt to privatize Virginia's ABC stores.  It's likely the Governor wasn't pleased when I rallied against his proposal to sell spirits at local stores.  It's not that I didn't agree the Governor's basic principle that the "state" shouldn't be selling booze.  I just didn't want kids watching me put a 5th of Jim Beam in my Walmart shopping cart.

Being from one of the 32 states that don't have "sterile state-run liquor stores" I absolutely know Virginia should end its active role in the distribution of distilled spirits. But McDonnell's concept swung the political pendulum too far and was defeated before it could gain traction.

Four years ago we had 322 ABC stores that effectively made the purchase of hard liquor an adult endeavor.  Selling licenses to business and removing a few thousand people from the state payroll, health care and retirement system seemed like a no-brainer.

Let's get the state out of the business of booze, but please don't make it so mainstream that it is being sold at the local supermarket which effectively creates ZERO jobs.

Virginia should become the 33rd state to allow private liquor stores and end our current state run monopoly.

Is Virginia Beach Morphing into a Police State?

For 22 years I’ve lived in Virginia Beach and last night I got my first speeding ticket.  The flashing lights indicated I missed the 50 to 45 mph speed reduction on the new Princess Anne road, driving East to the courthouse.  This newly finished section of road is state of the art and I was one of four tickets being written by four separate cruisers with a roving supervisor keeping tabs on the situation.  Of course this was a construction zone... with no construction equipment, personal or cones.

The once dangerous two lane road, with the occasional released prisoner walking on the nonexistent shoulder, has been replaced with a state of the art divided four lane thoroughfare with a seperate bike path that puts most highways to shame.  However, the speed was reduced from 55 to 45 mph for the construction and I'm guessing it will remain this way until VDOT turns the road over to the city.  In the mean time it's pretty clear this stretch of road will continue to generated hundreds of tickets until outrage mounts.

Note: I later determined that the VA Beach Police Department was using this stretch of road to train new police officers. WTF
 

Red light and face recognition cameras, new roads that double as police ticketing training grounds and not being able to have a pager at a high school football game (told you I’ve lived here a long time) all add up to a slow erosion of our freedom.  It’s time that we roll back the clock and remove the red light and face recognition cameras.  It’s time city council reviews these and other programs in light of what’s going on in our country and make changes to enhance individual freedom.  For starters, it would make sense to reevaluate using Princess Anne as a ticketing training ground and stop writing meaningless tickets that only serve to inflame the public.

PS  Red light cameras... Consider removing the right turn on red enforcement while keeping the dangerous blowing through the intersection ticket.  It turns out that the red light cameras mostly generate right turn on tickets which are not a safety issue.  Right Turn on Red Stats

Snowden - Man of the Year... Almost

Mr. Snowden for right or wrong has exposed just how far, in the name of national security, the government has gone as it continues to pummel the 4th Amendment.

In 1979 the Supreme Court created the "third-party doctrine" which still applies today.  Without a specific warrant government cannot access the content of mail and consequently email.  However, Mr. Snowden has exposed the NSA is tapping the main trunk lines of Google, Yahoo, Micorsoft, etc... and it's likely the contents of our correspondence is computer processed and then stored away like phone call metadata.

Under current law if you freely gave information to a third party, be it your local library, credit card company, VIP grocery account, Google, banker or phone company your data and activity are likely NOT protected by the Fourth Amendment. There may be privacy issues against sharing this information, but typically there is no constitutional protection, and it is often very easy for government "agencies" to gather these third party records without you ever being notified.

More than likely, Mr. Snowden hasn't revealed the full extent of the NSA's data gathering capability but the enormity of the facilities being constructed out West would indicate that every credit card transaction, internet search, email, phone call metadate, etc... Is being collected and filtered in real time, within days or just stored for future searches.  It's 100% clear to me that our privacy if not our constitutional rights are being trampled upon.

Man of the Year?  I don't think so, but clearly Mr. Snowden has started the conversation.
 

My Own Health Care Debacle

After trying for weeks on October 28th I was able to enroll in the the Health Care Market Place.  Once I understood the coverage, the cost and that my doctor would not accept this insurance I decided to dump it and immediately started the process of trying to cancel on line, via chat, via phone and finally by calling the Optima who told me to contact the Health Care Market Place.

The other day three duplicate confirmation packets arrived so it would seem my efforts to cancel failed.

Thankfully, before the deadline I applied for a new, not ACA complaint, Optima PPO policy that cost much less, has lower deductibles and a prescription drug benefit.

I'm "HOPEFUL" the Health Care Market Place or a private company that is ACA compliant will offer something similar to my current plan next year.  My current not ACA complaint plan covers my daughter to age twenty six, has reasonable deductibles, no life time caps and subsidized prescriptions but cannot be renewed.

If I go without healthcare the Fed will fine me 1% of my income in 2014, growing to a 2.5% be 2016.

*** Update Feb 10, 2014 - No matter what I do the healthcare market place will not cancel my policy! Even worse, though I haven't paid a dime on this new policy, the "Market Place" reaches out and cancels my current policy... Repeatedly.  I keep contacting the Health Care Market Place and my carrier.  This has been a complete cluster (rhymes with duck)!

*** Update Feb 11, 2014 - I can't believe it... I got yet another package, my 4th, from the "Market Place" and this time a bill... My 1st bill for nearly $800 bucks.  The people causing this are beyond incompetent.  It's been months and I'm still trying to get my the insurance the "Market Place" cancelled reinstated... ARG!!!

*** Update March 21, 2014 - It looks like the ACA policy was canceled.  I stroked a check for $1,127 to my not ACA compliant new policy and I'm now paid to date.  With the exception of having to pay the first $250 of my daughters medication it seems like a pretty darn good policy that's only good for this year. :-(

*** Update March 26, 2014 - The last hurdle was my "Market Place" dental plan.  Turns out it's a HMO that not a single local dentist accepts.  It was supposed to be canceled when the health care was canceled but that didn't happen.

*** Update April 11, 2018 - My not ACA compliant plan was only good for one year and I ended up bypassing the Market Place and calling a local company and asking for a ACA compliant policy. I had that for just under three years and never used it... Never. Why? The deductibles were so high. It basically was a really expensive major medical plan.

In conclusion... I was hopeful that the ACA would work. I really wanted it to work. Bottom line it sucks and maybe it's time we get government and employers out of providing insurance. If everyone (except the young, old and military) had to buy their own coverage maybe market forces would work. The poor? Spend the billions we are waisting in the Market Place on free clinics!

The ACA Violates the Constitution

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) violated the Constitution’s Origination Clause because it raised revenue but did not “originate” in the House of Representatives.

Under the United States Constitution’s Origination Clause (Article I, Section 7, Clause 1): “All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.”

Senate Democrats attempted to satisfy the Origination Clause when passing Obamacare. The House of Representatives passed H.R. 3590, which was a small bill granting tax credits for veterans. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid stripped out every word of the veteran tax credit bill and replaced it with the ACA that ultimately passed Congress without a single republican vote and was signed by President Obama. The ACA includes billions in new revenue which the Supreme Court ruled in NFIB v. Sebelius as taxes.

Senator Reed knew substituting every word of the veteran tax credit bill with the ACA was wrong but the only path he could take to get the ACA passed.  It doesn't surprise me that our President has also selectively implemented the ACA and many other laws during the last five years.  The President has "modified" or "suspended" laws that only Congress can change, further empowering the executive branch of government.

The republican's in the House fought long and hard to repeal the ACA but right before the government shut down they admitted defeat and sent the Senate a bill keeping the government open that included a delay in the implementation of the ACA's personal mandate. 

The Senate voted 54-46 to strip this language from the House funding bill which resulted in a sixteen day (the third longest) government shutdown.  A shut down that could have been adverted by a delay in the personal mandate that the President, under pressure from fellow Democrats, has since allowed but Executive Letter.

I think it's important to know that throughout history our government has been out of money for a total of 128 days and that Democrats have been responsible for the vast majority of this. 

Even with Pesident Carter, both the House and Senate controlled by Democrats the government ran out of money five separate times totaling 57 days. It's funny to note somehow the government really NEVER shut down during this time.

23andMe Genetic Testing

Alberto Gutierrez

Center for Devices and Radiological Health
10903 New Hampshire Avenue
Silver Spring, MD 20993

Dear Mr. Gutierrez,

I’ve recently learned that the FDA has determined the genetic test kit from 23andMe are “intended for use in the diagnosis…” as per 21 U.S.C. 321(h).   Does the FDA truly think the public will take a $99 test and use it as the sole basis for self-diagnoses?

“… if the BRCA-related risk assessment for breast or ovarian cancer reports a false positive, it could lead a patient to undergo prophylactic surgery…”

It seems your office believes women wouldn’t consult their physician when alerted by this test and or physicians wouldn’t seek confirmation before prophylactic surgery.  Are you kidding?  I’ve read your recent letter to 23andMe and your argument is flawed and goes against the mission of the FDA:

“… responsible for advancing the public health by helping to speed innovations that make medicines more effective, safer, and more affordable and by helping the public get the accurate, science-based information they need to use medicines and foods to maintain and improve their health.”

Regardless of spin you are essentially banning affordable genetic screening.  Your actions have consequences and history will be your judge.  I spent four hundred dollars to get my family tested.  Had that cost been just 50% more I wouldn’t have done it.  Requiring premarket approval for genetic screening will further destroy this fledgling industry and is NOT aligned with the rapidly changing technology of this field.

Your letter states that you have conducted 14 face-to-face and teleconference meetings, sent hundreds of emails, and dozens of letters.  Which begs the question - was 23andMe at those meetings and responding to your emails and letters?  Clearly 23andMe isn’t trying to avoid the FDA and their use of CLIA certified labs indicates they have taken steps to comply with FDA guidelines.

While false positives have consequences that I’ve personally witnessed the net benefit of mass screenings is too great to ignore and I couldn’t imagine a more effective way to rapidly determine accuracy than to let the testing proceed with a strong “Surgeon General’s” like warning that the results are preliminary.

Sincerely,

Dave

"Regulatory capture"

GOOGLE "Regulatory Capture" and learn... OMG!

From the Democratic Leader

What's In The Health Care Reform Bill For You?
July 14, 2009

Without reform, the cost of health care for the average family of four is projected to rise $1,800 every year for years to come--and insurance companies will make more health care decisions.

America's middle class deserves better.  Here's what America's Affordable Health Choices Act means for you:

LOWER COSTS  ** NOPE - Millions are paying more

    No more co-pays or deductibles for preventive care ** True
    No more rate increases for pre-existing conditions, gender, or occupation ** True
    An annual cap on your out-of-pocket expenses  ** True
    Group rates of a national pool if you buy your own plan  ** True
    Guaranteed, affordable oral, hearing, and vision care for your kids  ** Not sure

GREATER CHOICE  ** NOPE **

    Keep your doctor, and your current plan, if you like them  ** No & No
    More choice, public health insurance option competing with private insurers  ** No

HIGHER QUALITY  ** NOPE **

    You and your doctors make health care decisions -- not insurance companies ** Not sure
    More family doctors and nurses will enter the workforce, helping guarantee access ** No
    Mental health care must be covered ** True

STABILITY & PEACE OF MIND  ** YEP **

    No more coverage denials for pre-existing conditions ** True
    No more lifetime limits on how much insurance companies will pay ** True
    No reason to ever make a job or life decision again based on health care coverage ** True


http://www.democraticleader.gov/news/reports/whatquotemarks-health-care-reform-bill-you

I agree

"I agree with you"

Just a few minutes ago I heard those wonderful words for my significant other.  She agreed with my main concern regarding the Affordable Health Care Act - The 25 plans offered in Virginian are all HMO's and my doctor doesn't work with HMO's.

Contrary to my republican friends, I've been hopeful that the Affordable Health Care Act will deliver.  The website will eventually work and what excites me most is that for the first time since 1997 I have the ability to buy health insurance as a member of a group.

As an individual I had absolutely zero purchasing power but in December 2014 my current plan will no longer be available and I'll be selecting coverage via the Health Care Marketplace.  The law isn't as wonderful as the Dems would have you to believe but it's not as bad as the Republicans say.  There are a handful of significant improvements in the new law but some of these changes hurt Virginians.  For example, Virginia capped medical malpractice lawsuits at $2.05 million but there is no such cap in the federal law... Thank you Washington lobbyist.

As America learns more about this legislation, as employers terminate plans, as providers continue sending out notices that current plans are no longer offered and grandfathered plans succumb to time, the Democrats are going to pay for their unwavering support of a significantly flawed law that the President, without authorization from Congress, has already modified over a dozen times.

"First of all, if you've got health insurance, you like your doctor, you like your plan - you can keep your doctor, you can keep your plan. Nobody is talking about taking that away from you."

President Barack Obama
7/16/2009

For me I'm just hopeful my doctor will accept my Health Care Market Place HMO plan next year.

Glenn Davis - Viginia Delegate, 84th District

The Virginian-Pilot

© October 24th, 2013
 

Davis is the Right Choice!

The Pilot endorsed Glenn Davis to replace Sal Iaquinto in the 84th District. Davis' service on the Virginia Beach City Council has earned him a solid reputation as someone who gets things done. Over the years, I've gotten to know Davis, and I'm happy to say that The Pilot got it right. Davis will faithfully represent Virginia Beach and, more importantly, he embodies a true desire to listen and maintains an open mind.

David Beemer
Virginia Beach

National Debt - OMG!

$17,024,169,000,000

In about four years our National Debt has gone from just under $12 trillion to just over $17 trillion dollars. The chart below shows our debt increase from 1960 to 2010 and on this scale the recent $5,000,000,000,000 dollar increase would reach about half way up this paragraph.

I've repeatedly heard arguments that our national debt hasn't grown as a percentage of our GDP.  However, our external debt to GDP ratio is now 100% and growing exponentially.

What can be done?

For starters everyone who thinks entitlements are not the issue needs to read the 2013 Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustee Report that clearly and unequivocally states that all parts of Social Security will be broke by the year 2035.

Note a that "DI" Disability Insurance is broke by 2016 and "HI" Hospital Insurance goes broke before "OASI" Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund is exhausted.

It's true that over half of our national debt is owed to our government but it's also true that those debts are coming due as Social Security needs to cash in more and more "bonds" to cover entitlement payments which are only going to further accelerate the increase in our national debt.

The solution is simple but painful - We as a nation have to stop spending more than we have.

Eric Cantor Sums it up

 
Eric Cantor

"We all agree Obamacare is an abomination.

We all agree taxes are too high.

We all agree spending is too high.

We all agree Washington is getting in the way of job growth.

We all agree we have a real debt crisis that will cripple future generations.

We all agree on these fundamental conservative principles. . . . We must not confuse tactics with principles.

The differences between us are dwarfed by the differences we have with the Democratic party, and we can do more for the American people united,”

Letter to Secretary Jewell

  
Dear Madam Secretary (Department of Interior)

The National Park Service employees 24,645 people and during this shut down 2,139 park police, EMS and fire personal have remained on duty.  It's clear the park system needs to be closed, however some closures were politically motivated and gives one insight to how populations can seemingly rise up against their government.

From the closing of 24/7 open-air memorials, to highway overlooks of Mount Rushmore and the Grand Canyon being blocked off, to reports from Park Rangers saying they have been instructed to make the shutdown as painful as possible... You Madam Secretary, have taken the government shutdown too far.

The Park Service has closed venues that simply aren't designed to be closed.  They have closed outdoor, normally unmanned, monuments, government roads, parking lots and in some cases individual parking spaces.  The NPS has prevented citizens from accessing their homes which happen to be on government land.  You have closed roads you don't maintain, marinas you share, entire waterways and even large areas of the ocean.

After past shutdowns, Congress has authorized government workers to receive back-pay.  This time I've asked my Representative to exempt NPS employees from back wages.  I know this is "unfair" to thousands of dedicated civil servants but a message needs to be sent and heard by you and the entire Department of the Interior.  Our national treasures, our monuments, roads, highway overlooks and parking lots are not to be used as political fodder and the NPS should have done everything within it's power to ensure as much access was granted as budget constraints, park police, EMS and fire personal staffing would allow.

Expending resources and man-hours to close things that aren't closeable was such bad form it underscores why many citizen believe that their government is at best out of touch or at worst fails to understand who government serves.  This country belongs to the people and "What country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance" - Thomas Jefferson
 

Senate strips House language to delay ObamaCare

Let's get this Right

On Monday (Sep 30th) the Senate voted 54-46 to strip language from a House funding bill that delayed ObamaCare which resulted in the government shutdown.  That last time this happened was December 1995 when the government was closed for business for 21 days.

OMG the sky is once again falling... Not Really....

I've said repeatedly I don't agree with what the GOP is doing.  It's not good politics regardless on how this plays out Republicans will be blamed for the pain associated with the shut down and voters will remember.  Although I support the principled argument of those wanting to shut down the government I can't figure out why the GOP continues to fall on a live grenade with a smile.

It's also important to note that this last House vote was to delay the Affordable Health Care Act, not defund.  This delay vote was widely reported as trying to defund the Affordable Health Care Act, but just like the President delaying the employer mandate the Republicans, albeit at the last minute, compromised and just attempted to delay the personal mandate.

Let's make this clear... The House Continuing Resolution (CR) was asking for a one year delay in the individual mandate and the reversal of the medical device tax.

A few things to remember:

CBO now projects that the insurance coverage provisions of the Affordable Care Act will have a net cost to the federal government of $1,363 billion over the next 10 years and you can bet that's an understatement.

In 2012 the federal government collected $2,902 billion in taxes (all time record) but spent $3,803 billion.

That has us spending $901 billion a year or $17.3 billion a week we don't have.

That's roughly what it would cost to build three nuclear aircraft carriers... Every week.

The TEA Party Republicans of the House... All 49 of them... have taken a stance against government expansion.  They have alienated themselves with their party, the media and likely the American public but I for one support their efforts even though I don't agree with their methods.

My views are more inline with my Congressman Scott Rigell:

representative-scott-rigell--republican-traitor

*** UPDATE *** 

The one year delay of the personal mandate requested by the House Republican's which is what actually closed the government... Well the President, through executive mandate, ordered a one year extension for the personal mandate.  How do I know?  I was one of the people who took the President up on this and had affordable, substandard, health care insurance for an extra year. 

ARGGGGGGGG!!!!!!

Feds Shut Down Privately Owned Mount Vernon

“Deliberate effort to hurt the public”

The National Park Service erected barricades to shut down parking lots surrounding Mount Vernon despite the fact that the tourist destination is privately owned, another example of how the feds are deliberately worsening the government shut down.

Mount Vernon is the former plantation of George Washington and is owned by the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, which doesn’t receive any government funding. The attraction’s official website reads, “NO SHUTDOWN HERE – The Federal government may be shut down, but Washington’s home remains open. Mount Vernon has remained a private non-profit for more than 150 years.”

However, a dispute began when the National Park Service began putting up barricades to block off the facility’s car park, blockading the entrance as well as a spot where tour buses turn around.

The parking lots are co-owned by Mount Vernon and the NPS, but require no immediate maintenance at all, meaning the decision to close them down was completely unnecessary.

The feds even blocked off a small area consisting of just three parking spaces.

After blogger Stephen Gutowski exposed the situation, Newt Gingrich got in on the act, tweeting, “The tour bus turnaround at Mount Vernon has been closed by federal police. This is deliberate effort by Obama to hurt the public. Disgusting.”

Numerous other sites around DC have been unnecessarily closed by the NPS and other federal agencies in what critics are labeling a cynical political stunt which only serves to punish the American people.

In some cases, efforts to shut down these sites actually require more manpower and resources than if they had been left open, highlighting the fact that this is an act of partisan theater by the Obama administration to pin the blame for the government shutdown on Republicans and opponents of Obamacare.

- Numerous hiking and biking trails throughout the greater DC region, despite requiring zero immediate maintenance or patrols, have been closed down. Irate citizens are merely flouting the law and using them anyway.

- The NPS has stationed officers along the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal that runs 184 miles from Washington, D.C. to Cumberland, Maryland to make sure nobody uses the bike paths. It would have required less manpower to keep this trail open. The handles on all the well pumps have also been removed.

- The feds also shut down a tiny park in which children play on fake turtles, prompting angry mothers to remove the barriers, only to see them put back up. “The park is extremely small and sort of seems pointless to block off,” reports the Daily Caller.

- Lincoln Park in DC, which is known to be used by several Democratic Senators, was not shut down, but numerous national parks across Montana were closed.

- The most widely reported case occurred at the World War II memorial in DC, where the NPS tried to prevent veterans from seeing the monument by erecting barriers and even threatening vets with arrest. The veterans stormed through the barricades anyway. “People had to spend hours setting up barricades where there are never barricades to prevent people from seeing the World War II monument because they’re trying to play a charade,” Senator Rand Paul told Fox News.

Senior Republicans on the House Natural Resources Committee are considering opening up an investigation into where the Obama administration directly ordered the “outrageous” closure of the memorial as part of a ploy to “make the current lapse in appropriations as conspicuous and painful to the public as possible,” according to the letter from chairman Doc Hastings, R-Wash., and subcommittee chairman Rob Bishop, R-Utah.

Paul Joseph Watson
October 3, 2013

-------------------------

I want the NPS management who ordered these venues closed fired.  For personal reasons they took it upon themselves to expend resources during a government shut down to close things that actually require effort to close.  If it's determined that the administration ordered these closures that connection needs to be established and those responsible held accountable.  Sounds like a good use of the freedom of information act... Once the shut down is over of course.

Founding Fathers' Tavern Closed by Government Shutdown

"City Tavern's operators are told to lock up"

The restaurant, which opened for the first time in 1773 and was frequented by the nation's founding fathers, sits inside Independence National Historical Park and the building is owned by the U.S. National Parks Service.

Both have been shut down since Tuesday when the federal government began its new fiscal year without agreeing on how to fund non-essential agencies. Nearly 200 park employees were also furloughed because of the funding issue.

Since the park is closed, officials told City Tavern operator Chef Water Staib on Wednesday the restaurant had to lock up as well.

Restaurant public relations director Molly Yun said they were notified there was a possibility a closure might happen, but they were allowed to remain open during the last government shutdown 17 years ago.

"We were somewhat shocked when we received the news today that we would have to close at 3 p.m.," she said. "Unfortunately, we're going to have to stay closed until the government re-opens and our hands are tied."

Shut it Down - Even if it's Always Open?

Shut it Down - Even if it's Always Open?

The government is shut down but it has the resources to order Park Service Personal to erect barriers at various, always open to the public, Washington D.C. Memorials.  I've visited many of our nations memorials after hours and some of my most memorable visits have been reading the words of Lincoln and Jefferson late at night.  To walk the mall as the sun sets and see the Koren and Vietnam memorial in the dimming light is nothing more than moving.

Why did the admistration think it was a good idea to close something that's not normally closed.  The WWII memorial “is an open-air memorial that the public has 24/7 access to under normal circumstance - even when Park Service personnel aren’t present. It actually requires more effort and expense to shut out these veterans from their Memorial than it would to simply let them through. My office has been in touch with NPS officials and the Administration to try to resolve this issue.”

"On Wednesday, the veterans' group is planning to visit the Lincoln Memorial, which the Obama Administration has also vowed to close to visitors. I have regularly visited this memorial at one or two in the morning. At those hours, it is a peaceful and reflective place. It is an open space. There is no access that needs to be blocked. It is only by a conscious decision, and a great deal of work, that access would be blocked."

The shut down is going to cause much real pain.  Imagine your a mother of five, you're out of food and you need food stamps to feed your children but that agency is closed.  Imagine your a family that's about to get approval for your home loan only to find out FHA or VA loans are on hold.  Everything is planned, your household goods are coming and you have no extra cash to get a hotel for a few weeks while the government is shut down.

I understand this type of hardship and the shut down angers me.  But going out of your way to shut down something that's normally open to the public, something that is as open as the National Mall or the Korean War memorial is "gratuitous and petulant" and shows insight to what our countries leadership has become.

This is how it works?

JPMorgan Chase Stock Holders

Lets say you own a BUNCH of JPMorgan Chase stock.  JPMorgan Chase lost approx $9 billion with that overseas trading debacle which hurt your stock and reduced the dividend to share holders.

So what is the governments response?

Not a single person is punished... BUT the company has agreed to pay $920 million to the "government" to settle?   ABC News

WHICH MEANS THE SHARE HOLDERS GET HAMMERED A SECOND TIME?

Is this really how things work?

---------

Update - October 21, 2013

The Department of Justice and JP Morgan agree to a $13 billion settlement and shareholders get hammered yet again!  At the lowest point of the recession The Federal Government strong arms JP Morgan to buy Bear Stears & Washington Mutual.  Turns out those company's problems and miss steps and included illegal activity which no become the problem of JP Morgan (who didn't want them in the first place) which results in one of the largest fines in history.?

We are not holding the people who caused the problems responsible... It's the shareholders who are taking it in the shorts!  Welcome to the new world order.  What the hell is wrong with this country?
 

F/A-18 Hornet -vs- F-35 JSF

Reduce Jet Noise in Virginia Beach

Oceana was here before the "City" of Virginia Beach but for the most part (F-4 notwithstanding) the aircraft  have gotten louder and louder and thousands of homes have been built... yet the base was here first.

All local home owners can hope for, as we approach the end of the fiscal year and the inevitable conversion of JP-5 into dB's, is a minimal level of noise awareness by our military pilots.  Even though many in the military and politicians alike think the recent F/A-18 crash and the new louder F-35 JSF will have little or no impact on Oceana being added to the next BRAC list, I remember how panicked our local politicians and senior military were the last time Oceana was on the BRAC list.  Bottom line, believing Oceana is immune from the BRAC is foolish.

One idea to help shore up Oceana's future is to make the airfield home to Virginia Beach's General Aviation (GA) fleet now mostly based in Norfolk and Chesapeake.  This would be great for local military who are interested in flying but acknowledge Chesapeake's two airports are too far away and Norfolk, while much closer, lacks hangers, GA repair facilities, aviation gas is $7.30 verses $5.79 a gallon and annual plane property taxes are whopping $2.40 verses .58 per $100 in Chesapeake and Suffolk.

Joint use air bases work great for the Coast Guard.  The Air Force has 12, the Army 10 but the Navy only has one.  Clearly the Air Force, Army have over come traffic issues and security concerns.  It should be noted that until post 9-11 NAS Oceana didn't even have a perimeter fence.  Finding a way for GA planes to coexist with Navy Jets would take coordination.  Certain times of the day would have to be excluded as jets, costing taxpayers nearly $25,000 per hour, would always have priority but the Navy could figure out something.

When the next BRAC comes a calling it will be too late to think outside the box.  Establishing a GA presence now for interested military and civilians would shore up Oceana against the the next BRAC and the increased contact between military and civilian pilots might encourage jet jocks to keep their power down and thus noise levels while flying over populated areas or until "feet wet"... tallyho.
 

Federal Gun-Free School Zones Act

Federal Gun-Free School Zones Act

There has been little public support for the repeal of the Gun-Free School Zone Act other than from active gun groups and a few legislators.  Most states (all but three) already had or have laws dealing with guns on school property which makes me wonder why the federal government continues to pass feel good legislation.

Some say, and I agree, that this law has done nothing to curb school shootings and violates the Constitution; specifically the 10th amendment verses the Commerce Clause, which was used to rule the previous 1990 Gun-Free School Zones Act unconstitutional.

Many concerned legislators and citizens argue that schools are safer and that's all that matters.  

Smart Gun Laws

However, the continued erosion of our legal precepts by groups that apply this Machiavellian approach to enforcement worries me.  Our laws protect our individual freedoms and those guaranteed by our founding principles are being lost a little at a time.
  
Two states have challenged the Gun-Free School Zones law arguing that teachers and administration personal should be allowed to carry concealed weapons if they have undergone the back ground check and training required.  The idea that our schools are known "soft targets" must have had some impact in the various school shootings from Columbine to Virginia Tech.  Don't get me wrong... I don't want untrained teachers and principals walking around with a concealed or holstered six shooter.  I don't want parents picking up their kids with AR-15's strapped to their backs but I don't have a problem with a former navy seal, now 4th grade teacher, carrying a concealed SIG Sauer 9mm. 

Is this law effective?  If it’s not effective get rid of it.  It would seem that many legislators and anti-gun supporters don't want to know or don't care.  For me it’s clear that teachers, staff and children following the law are at risk while criminals and the mentally ill do what they have done over and over and no law or feel good legislation is ever going to change this.

The Republican Party

The Republican Party was founded by anti-slavery activists in 1854 and Abraham Lincoln was it's first President in 1861.

On April 8th, 1864 the Senate passed the Thirteenth Amendment with 100% of Republicans voting aye and 75% of Democrats voting nay/not voting.  The House Bill fell short of the two-thirds needed.  Next year, on January 31st, 1865 the House Bill passed with 14 Democrats and all 85 Republicans voting aye while 71 Democrats still voted nay.

Thirteenth Amendment vote record:

 http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/38-1/s134
 http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/38-2/h480

Moving forward nearly 100 years and it was Southern Democrats that had perfected black voter suppression and fought so hard against the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  In the end Congress passed the Civil Rights Act with 80% of Republicans verses 64% of Democrats voting aye.

Last week the country celebrated 50 years since Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous and copy righted "I have a Dream" speech which is why you will not find an official written version, let alone the full broadcast in the main stream media until 2038 because the King family have copy written everthing they can.

The King Center, which represents the King family, was reportedly paid $700,000 for the use of the likeness and words of Martin Luther King, Jr. on... wait for it... the Washington Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial.

Which reminds me, I don't think a single Republican leader or famous Republican spoke at last weeks 50th year anniversary of the march on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

I would have like liked to see South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, former Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former Congressman Allen West, Alan Keyes, Dr. Ben Carson or even the former Chairman of the Republican National Committee, Mr. Michael Steele speak but being Republicans they were not invited.
 
Unfortunately for years the Grand Old Party has gone against their founding principles and I believe this is what angers many Republicans.  A party that believes in less government and taking personal responsibility has seemingly joined forces with the Democrats and expanded government to a point of no return.

I hope the Republican Party finds it's way back to it's founding principles and black American's will consider supporting candidates without a "D" next to their name.

 Republican Party Platform 
 Democratic Party Platform

Government Tracks Who You Mail and Who Mails You...

Should I Stop Using a Return Address?

In 1979 the Supreme Court created the "third-party doctrine", that Americans lose their expectation of privacy whenever they voluntarily give information to a third party, such as a phone company. Telling the phone company whom you call by dialing a number is enough to surrender your expectation of privacy that you are contacting that person.  The court did, however, preserve the letter analogy governing U.S. mail. That is, only what's on the envelope is fair game.

Which begs the question... if the NSA is hell bent on Meta Data, I wonder if they have an agreement with the Post Office to track who we mail and who mails us?  In 1997 the post office began using computers to read addresses.  In the beginning, they succeeded about 10% of the time with a 2% error rate.  Today over 90% of all mail is processed by computer and for those hard to read addresses, there is a large plain looking warehouse in Salt Lake City filled with rows of cubicles were Postal Service’s data conversion operators decipher the worst hand written addresses.

So basically, every single piece of mail in the US is routed via computer and naturally with the Snowden revelation one should assume the NSA or some other shadow government agency is capturing this data for future use.  I don't doubt for a moment that the NSA is properly safeguarding our data.  However, it's only a matter of time before another administration, J. Edgar Hoover wannabe or "something" else taps into this data for some future unforeseen nefarious purpose.

Mr. Snowden basically sacrificed his freedom, potentially his life, to tell the people of the world that there really is a Big Brother.  Whether his "crime" is comparable to the governments criminality is yet to be seen and regardless of what the talking heads may indicate, his guilt should be determined by a court and not proclaimed by our elected officials.  I for one think the recent 205-to-217 Congressional vote to block the National Security Agencies ability to collect vast amounts of phone records was far closer than the White House expected, and leads credibility that Mr. Snowden is a whistle blower.

So if you're thinking it's time to stop putting return addressed on your mail and start using 128 bit encryption for everything Internet based, think again.  If something is encrypted the legal assumption can be made, for right or wrong, the information is from a non-US source and thus not subject to constitutional restrictions.  The data can now be held indefinitely and oh by the way; the NSA likely has back doors built in to the encryption we use and or CPU's.

Lastly, if the NSA can't crack what you send or your CPU they likely can get into the computer that sent it which reminds... It's time to beef up my computer's passwords, upgrade my firewall, turn off sharing and unplug all computers from the Internet when not in use.  Call me silly but those crazy conspiracy nuts aren't looking so nutty lately.

US Health Care in the 21st Century

As the United States slowly recovers from recession, the European Union struggles and Britain continues to decouple it's economy from the EU it's hard to believe that over forty years ago President Nixon repeatedly lobbied Congress to pass comprehensive health care reform:

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=3311

Nixon's arguments for heath care reform make sense today and it's possible that our current national health care anxiety is part of the reason the United States' recovery has been so anemic and Europe's recovery, with it's expansive social programs, has repeatedly stalled.

Today, we are still dealing with health care reform as the house again votes (40 times now) to repeal Obama care while the administration determines sections of the legislation need to be rewritten, delayed or just not enforced such as congressional staffers.  All of this results in uncertainty for business, which again further exasperates our economic recovery.

The Affordable Health Care Act addressed many needed reforms but does it take us down the path of a European based socialized health care?  Regardless, many Americans absolutely want a European single payer system while others see this as North versus South... Korea.

I propose a completely different approach to health care, not modeled on the European single payer system but one that incorporates the popular & positive changes of the Affordable Health Care Act while turning on the competitive switch we see in other forms of insurance such as auto and home.  The crux of my argument is that insurance is just insurance.  I've been selling it for over 20 years and it boggles my mind how people try to make it into something it's not.  Life insurance isn't a savings vehicle and health insurance isn't too complicated to be sold individually.  If group health plans didn't exist, it's likely individual health plan premiums would come down.

Consider this... Would it makes sense for federal employees or Home Depot employees to get their auto insurance from their employer?  That is silly... So why are we so committed to employers provided health care?

Fourth-Five million Americans don't have health insurance for two reasons.  They don't think they need it or it costs to much.  This insurance gap is an incredible drain on our economy and puts American companies at a significant disadvantage when they try to compete globally. 

What can be done?

Forty-eight states require car insurance, lenders require home insurance and the Affordable Health Care Act will soon requires health insurance.  OK... So for starters make health insurance mandatory for those ages 26 to 65 without exception.  Get the federal and state governments out of providing insurance for employees and find ways to prohibit employers from providing health insurance to their employees.  Employers should not be incentivized, via the tax code, to offer any insurance.  If offered, the policies should cover everyone and cost the employee nothing.  Furthermore, the CEO's plan should be no different to that of the mail clerk.

With reform all cost associated with health care should be fully deductible to the individual (recovered for the poor via the earned income credit) and it should save money if 100% of preventive medicine was paid for by a combination of local, state and federal government.

In addition:

The current Medicare drug cost "doughnut hole" should be filled so that Medicare covers the cost of drugs after a certain amount which is now $2,970 for 2013.

Insurance companies can't screen for or maintain databases of those with pre-existing conditions.

Insurers can only base rates on age, NOT sex or past treatment.

Upon birth children are automatically added to parents health insurance and covered up to the age of 26.

Insurance payouts are not capped.

Health coverage reports are standardized so consumers can accurately compare health insurance plans.

The cost of procedures are pre-disclosed and not based on who is paying.

At 65 Medicare kicks in for everybody.

An expansion of the private insurance premium base with healthy individuals while ensuring those with existing medical issues can get coverage will be a net plus.  The private medical system continues intact and it's my hope that standardize health care cost benefit reports and upfront cost transparency will allow market forces to do what they have done so well in other areas of our economy.

Lastly, I look forward to one day having Flo (Progressive car insurance) help me bundle my car, home and health insurance.

Is the United States worse off than Detroit?

Detroit went bankrupt owing $19 billion, which breaks down to $27,000 per Detroit resident.  At nearly $17 trillion, every American owes roughly $53,000.  In other words, at $27,000 a city is bankrupt but at $53,000 it's business as usual.  How much longer can this go on?

Sequester was triggered when the legislative an executive branches couldn't come up with a debt reduction solution.  The Dems would not cut social programs and the GOP would not cut defense during a time of war.  Since WWII only seven federal budgets balanced.  Why would ANYONE think Congress and the President could find a way to do it now?  Even with sequestration our debt continues to compound.

In just ten years our federal budget increased $1.6 trillion to $3.8 trillion.  This massive spending increase coupled with a $17 trillion dollar national debt helps explain why the world down graded our debt three times since August of 2011.  With rates on the rise, the cost of servicing our debt will increase and unless we actually balance our budget the United States will go the way of Detroit.

Abortion Clinics -vs- Keystone Pipeline

"The equal rights of man, and the happiness of every individual, are now acknowledged to be the only legitimate objects of government."  - Thomas Jefferson

What would the redhead from Virginia think of the country he helped found?  In 1803 Jefferson more than doubled the size of America and yet the Constitutional purest in him gave him pause to wonder if the U.S. Government was authorized to acquire new territory.

Last year the Keystone Pipeline was essentially killed because of environmental concerns.  This false argument was put forth by a liberal agenda in an attempt to prevent the development of environmentally "dirty" Canadian oil sands.

Meanwhile, conservative states continue to dream up new legislation to circumvent  Roe v. Wade and limit abortions:

http://www.kansas.com/2011/06/28/1911589/abortion-clinic-law-maps-out-details.html

Both liberals and conservatives are gaming the system.  Liberals cry out that a pipeline crossing an aquifer (already crossed by thousands of miles of pipeline) is an environmental disaster waiting to happen while conservatives demand ultrasounds and apply the same medical standards for arthroscopic knee sugary to  abortion clinics that conduct first trimester abortions.  Both arguments are Machiavellian at best and the vast majority of American's... The silent majority... go on with their lives while Republican's demand less government unless it suits their purposes and Democrats refuse to acknowledge the nearly 17 trillion dollar elephant in the room.

All of this goes on as Congress passes laws that are selectively enforced and  government agencies create and enforce their own rules and regulations, not to mention the "self-regulatory" agencies who come up with new ways to limit competition and promote protectionism in the guise of consumer protection.

Who ever actually coined the phrase "The Price of Liberty is eternal vigilance" hit the nail on the head... Unfortunately the silent majority is just that... Silent.