The Business of Business is No Longer Business

There's no business like show business or so they say. But with the Obama administration that may become the second string. This month business in general has taken a beating at their hands. Honestly, I just don't get it I guess. I cannot believe that so many educated people concentrated in one place can be so stupid.

Look at this new law. My buddy from work clued me in on this one. If you, in your role as a business person, get more than $600.00 worth or merchandise you have to fill out a Form 1099. This form requires a name, address, and SSN by the way.

Supposedly, the law is intended to capture lost tax revenues. That might happen. What will happen for sure is that some unscrupulous business owner will sell that info. And, it appears that collectors of virtually anything from baseball cards to gold coins will be hit disproportionately harder than others.

I guess that "change you can believe in" is the loose change in your pocket and your privacy. To avoid this, get your transactions closed before New Years Day in 2012.

Oh, and don't think that you can play the market with impunity any longer. The SEC is now exempt from any Freedom of Information Act inquiries. A big part of any citizens trust in their government is related to how transparent it operates. With this act of Congress, murky is putting it mildly.

At the other end is the new agency that will "protect" consumers by adding yet another layer of regulation to the financial industries. To really drive the point home, consider some of these tidbits. This agency will not be controlled by Congress. Instead they will work for a Presidential appointee of a Director who isn't going to be confirmed by the Senate. Even though the Federal Reserve will be footing their bills, they will have no oversight authority either.

Still not enough .gov interference for you? Don't worry, the year isn't over and there is more to come.

Charly Rangel, LIndsay Lohan, & Three Mile Island

Lindsay Lohan v. Deaths in Middle East. Quick! How many service members died in the middle east today? How well was their lives profiled on the national media services? But is there any way you didn't know that Lindsay Lohan went to jail? What does that say about society and the media that feeds it?

Rep. Charles "Charly" Rangel won't step aside despite the ethics trial coming up. I don't mind a principled man fighting to save his name. I don't expect Mr. Rangel to actually resign. Instead I would have had him step aside from all of his duties (not just committees) and focus on the fight. Once vindicated, then he could resume his duties. The military does this all the time. I wonder why people in congress are somehow unable to follow a good example. Check these posts out for more thoughts on Congressional Ethics.

BP v. 3 Mile Island: Back in the day, Jimmy Carter faced an energy issue oriented year. We were talking about using more nuclear power to stave off dependence on foreign oil. But, with the incident at Three Mile Island, anti-nuclear activists derailed the dream. Fast forward to today with the BP incident adding to an already long list of petro-disasters. I wonder if we can swing the pendulum. Nuclear energy has a safety record to be envied if only the media would fairly report it.

Realistically speaking what we can do is:
Urge Rep. Rangel to step aside from all Congressional duties until the ethics trial is concluded.

Urge your elected officials to review the safety records of petro and nuclear energy production. Once they see that nuclear energy is a victim of bad PR and zealous activists ask them to support building more nuclear plants.

Remember that every day should be memorial day if only for a moment. Let Lindsay have her fifteen minutes, but give others the same time.

FTFGIMAD Technorati Tags: lindsay lohan, three mile island, bp, nuclear energy, charly rangel, ethics

The Same Old Song and Dance

My new job means that I simply don't have evenings available to peruse the news. I don't have the time in the day to listen to the news either since I am not driving. The word(s) of the day is/are 'sweat' and 'news deprivation'. Now I rely on the "charity" of my friends to send me things that will be most interesting. There is a guy at work (new job) that has his own little mailing list and he sends out some really good news bytes.

This much fun stuff in such a short post needs a rhythm to get it going. I love this song. It's one of those timeless classics that won't ever go bad.

Raindrops on racists and high handed mandates
Bright brand new taxes and fixed senate hearings
Ever more regulation all tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things

(chorus)
When the tax bites
When the scandal stings
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad


The question now is; What are we going to do about it? Or do we have the will to do anything at all.

Worth Reading: Who Killed the Constitution
Worth Hearing: The Fame of our Fathers & The Road To Independence

Old Immigration Lawsuit On Today's Radio

In these days of litigation and other immigration follies I thought it was cool to take note of a lawsuit in (where else?) California. I heard about it on a radio show today and had to look it up. Be advised that this occurred in 2006. So it isn't current. But it brings some of the problem into focus.

Border Fence Firm Snared for Hiring Illegal Workers
by Scott Horsley

A fence-building company in Southern California agrees to pay nearly $5 million in fines for hiring illegal immigrants. Two executives from the company may also serve jail time. The Golden State Fence Company's work includes some of the border fence between San Diego and Mexico.

After an immigration check in 1999 found undocumented workers on its payroll, Golden State promised to clean house. But when followup checks were made in 2004 and 2005, some of those same illegal workers were still on the job. In fact, U-S Attorney Carol Lam says as many as a third of the company's 750 workers may have been in the country illegally. -- Full Story

Nothing has changed. Watch for changes and challenges. And, of course, don't be fooled. There is a reason the problem hasn't been solved. Chase down who benefits from having illegal aliens in the country. Take away the incentives and the problem will go away. Of course we could go after the really radical solution and actually make it easier to legally enter the country.


FTFGIMAD
Technorati Tags: illegal immigration, obama, lawsuit

The Lawsuit Against Arizona Moves On, Media Trying To Remain Relevent

And the punditry is in full swing. The Obama lawsuit should be heard in the fall and the media is lining up to tell the public in advance that the fed will win.

One article is pretty bold. They actually comment about the Arizona judge being under pressure to rule against the US.

“It’s very hard to predict what the district court is going to do,” says Legomsky, the John S. Lehmann University Professor. “Its decision will be made by just one randomly selected judge, and that judge will be an Arizona resident who might come under intense personal pressure to defend his or her state’s law against federal intervention.’’ -- source article

Our friends and neighbors over at the NY Daily are at least openly pro-lawsuit. While my high school journalism teacher would have edited out any hint of bias, standards in this day and age are not so high. The following excerpt is not in an opinion piece, but within the "News" column.

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration sued Arizona on Tuesday to kill, or at least stall, the state's hotly disputed new law allowing local cops to target suspected illegal immigrants. -- Source Article

I hope I am not the only one to notice the disinformation? I read the revised, signed, bill. The cops cannot target anyone. But, the spin is still out there and still being ladled out to anyone who won't do their own homework.

I personally don't care where you stand on the issue as long as it's your stand. The news media can be your first source, but don't let it be your only source. From what you read, take the time to do some research and then you can do a gut check with facts.

FTFGIMAD
Technorati Tags: obama, lawsuit, arizona, immigration

Lawsuit City: USA v. Arizona

Well it finally happened. The DOJ has filed a lawsuit against Arizona over the new immigration law. The really sad part is that it isn't needed.

The law doesn't, as some believe, give unlimited deportation powers to Arizona. All the cops can do is report suspected illegals to the federal authorities. One executive order to ignore all reports based on the AZ law nullifies it. Yep, that executive order would cost the taxpayers scads more than a long and drawn out lawsuit.

"The United States Constitution forbids Arizona from supplanting the federal government's immigration regime with its own state-specific immigration policy," the suit says. "A policy that, in purpose and effect, interferes with the numerous interests the federal government must balance."

Amazingly enough the fed now considers reporting violators of federal law to be unconstitutional. Amazing no?

Here's what should happen: The judge throws out the case as the USA has no standing since it isn't harmed by the law.

Here's what could happen: The judge throws out the case on the grounds that Arizona is taking no action other than reporting violators of federal law. Additionally the judge commends Arizona for ensuring that all potential foreign nationals identified under this law have the opportunity to contact their respective consulates as required by treaty. In fact, this law may have the unintended consequence of providing yet another safeguard demonstrating that all persons within the USA are afforded full civil liberties.

Here's what's most likely to happen: The judge will decide that the fed is in the right. At the end of the day the law will be struck down by the best disinformation campaign since the KGB went out of business. The Obama/Holder team will continue to do nothing about the problem except pontificate.

Here is the text of the lawsuit for your own perusal.

Another spin on Fox News.

FTFGIMAD 
Technorati Tags: Obama, Immigration, Holder, DOJ, Arizona

FOXNews.com - NASA Chief: Next Frontier Better Relations With Muslim World

Once again, the guy holding the office of the president has managed to do something so incredibly stupid that it defies belief. Come on Mr. Obama.... please leave NASA alone so they can continue to be the best example of what good a government can do if politics is mostly left out of it.

FOXNews.com - NASA Chief: Next Frontier Better Relations With Muslim World: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

FTFGIMAD
Technorati Tags: obama, nasa, fox news, muslim, space travel

July 4, 2010

On the fourth of July in the year of our lord seventeen hundred and seventy-six, we declared ourselves to be a nation independent of the rule of good King George. As things go, in today's terms it was a glorified press release. But, back in the day it was freakin huge! Imagine this little upstart buncha rednex telling the superpower of the age to pound sand and get out of town. The world laughed, and then stared with jaws dropping and the upstarts eventually did as they promised.

The rest is history. From that press release came the nation Ronald Reagan called "the bright shining city on the hill". In the past couple of centuries that upstart nation rose to a level of dominance that good King George could only fantasize about. In the process we saved the world and set an example that can only be called miraculous.

The question I have for you is whether we would have the courage of our convictions to rival that of the first generation of American patriots? Are you ready to lay it all on the line for a philosophical position? I hope it never comes to that. Instead, I hope that the American people wake up to the enormous legacy handed to us and the burden of greatness history has placed upon us.

I hope everyone celebrated our independence and for just a moment gave thanks to that first generation of patriots.