Undoctrination.org

Consider this column my “end-of-the-year” observation on various issues that have my head spinning. Things that are relatively easy to fix, yet – they make for such great rhetoric and political posturing, I rather doubt we’ll see any of them fixed any time soon.  In no particular order, here’s my end of the year “WTFs”:

#1: The IRS and the US tax system. The current tax code is reams of paper long. I truly believe NO ONE has actually read the entire tax code to a level of workable understanding. Loopholes, exemptions, and deductions abound. Our tax rates are onerous.  If you don’t pay, or file an erroneous return, the penalties and interest on unpaid taxes can easily be more than the original tax “debt” and you can even end up in prison if you owe them enough money to get their attention, and if you’re famous enough to allow the IRS an opportunity to use you as a public example (like Wesley Snipes). Unless you’re Charlie Rangel. Charlie Rangel gets a “pass.” Go figure … SO – let’s go to a flat tax rate for all. If you make ten dollars per year, or ten million dollars a year – you “get to” pay Uncle Sam 12 or 13% of what you made. No deductions. No exemptions. No loopholes.  The new tax form would be three lines long: A) Write in your income for the year. B) Write in the amount equal to 13% of line A. C) Write a check for the amount listed on line B, unless you had that amount deducted from your payroll by your employer. Sure, there would be a lot of tax attorneys and CPAs looking for some career re-training. But many could still find work doing the daily and monthly books for businesses. There would also be a lot of IRS agents out of a job, because checking a three line tax return takes a nanosecond compared to poring over pages of complicated tax returns. But I’m OK with that.

#2: The Bush Tax Cuts. This one has gotten pretty silly. The “Bush Tax Cuts” are now the current tax rates. For politicians to use this as a political football is foolish, because calling for an end to the current tax rate is actually a call to raise taxes. And not one of those politicians or talking heads can convince me otherwise.  Here’s an idea for all the guilt-riddled millionaires out there who think the “rich” need to pay more in taxes: Go to www.ustreasury.org and WRITE A FREAKING CHECK. Trust me – they’ll take your money. If you truly think you should pay the government more of your money, then pay them. But don’t try to pass your guilt for falling into a million-dollar gig off on the rest of us, OK? Hey, Alan Colmes – what exactly would you be doing had it not been for FoxNews…? Yeah, it can be a real burden to be paid much more than you’re worth, so if that burden becomes overbearing, just do the right thing (in your mind), and write the government a check for the amount you feel the government should take from you. But leave the rest of us alone.

#3: “Moderate” Islam. Sorry – Not buying that. NO such thing. Because if there was such a thing as “moderate” Muslims, wouldn’t they be aggressively taking to the streets and the airwaves to expose the fringe whackos and bomb throwers who have hijacked their so-called religion? Islam – at least for me, is more a theocratic ideal than it is a religious ideal. The draconic laws and punishments meted out by the mullahs prove that.  The way Muslims treat women proves that. The effort to keep an entire world-wide religious community entrenched in the Sixth Century proves that, too.  So if there are indeed “moderate Muslims” out there, I expect to hear about their Jihad against radical Islam any day now … yeah… any day now …

#4: Ethnic diversity. Excuse me, but last time I checked if you are a legal citizen of the USA, you are considered to be an American. Most of us have ties to other countries through our parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and so on.  And most of our parents, grandparents, great grandparents and so on, assimilated into the American culture and way of life – and learned English – as soon as they could, because there was a reason they left the “old country.” They recognized the opportunity in the USA as a fresh start, and thanked their God everyday for having been given the opportunity to come to this country. My ancestors came to this country to make a new start. It worked out better for some of them than it did for others. But had they stayed put in Germany, it wouldn’t have worked out for any of them. Now, some can claim that their ancestors didn’t exactly “choose” to come here, but were brought over against their will (sold to Dutch slave traders by warring African tribes, mostly).  But here’s a clue: that happened HUNDREDS of years ago, and there isn’t anyone alive today that needs to take responsibility for the actions of long-dead plantation owners, who were acting in a way perfectly acceptable to the times.  Fortunately, the times changed, and slavery was outlawed (in the USA anyway). Yes, it took another hundred years or so for total acceptance and equality (and some will argue we aren’t there yet) – but in that hundred or so years, there have been some pretty remarkable Black Americans who were able to rise above their slave history and make some real contributions to society and their country.  So let’s throw “reparations” into this one while we’re at it. NO REPARATIONS are owed to ANYONE. Let me put this into perspective: Let’s say you’re a Black American. Let’s say your family had never been sold into slavery by a warring tribe in Africa and ultimately brought to America three or four hundred years ago, and your ancestors were left alone in Africa.  Now – compare your life and opportunity TODAY as an American, to what your life and opportunities would be if you still lived in Africa … ‘nuff said. If you still don’t get it, google “Darfur” or “Somalia” and get back to me.

#4: Political Correctness. We are slowly taking our entire lifestyle and society apart with “political correctness,” and I don’t like it one bit. And quite frankly, if we put an end to “ethnic diversity” we could put a stop to much of the political correctness silliness. We should be polite and civil to one another, and respect each others views, even if we don’t agree with them. That’s a given. But for some reason we’ve taken civility to a new level with “political correctness.” Stop it.  Go ahead – Tell me a good Jewish joke. I promise I won’t be offended.  Because IT’S A JOKE, and I have a sense of humor, which is one thing political correctness has destroyed in many people –their sense of humor. And that’s sad. Political correctness has softened our brain tissue, folks – we need to come to grips with reality once again.

#5: Negative political campaign ads. Let’s see how many candidates can actually focus on what THEY want to accomplish should we elect them, instead of digging up all the dirt and crap from their opponents’ pasts. EXAMPLE: Gary Johnson won two terms as Governor of New Mexico and never mentioned his opponents in his ads. Ever. He did something else: he spoke to what HE wanted to do as Governor, and what HIS vision was for New Mexico, and he served both terms successfully as a libertarian – leaning Republican in a heavily skewed Democratic state. Two terms is the limit for New Mexico Governors, by the way.  Which leads quite nicely into #6 …

#6: Term limits for ALL elected officials. Politics was never meant to be a career choice. And any candidate who has never made a payroll, or balanced a company ledger or worked a fifty or sixty hour week to support his family should not deserve your support come election time. And if they can get elected, they should serve TWO TERMS AND GO BACK HOME TO THEIR JOB OR BUSINESS.  This would help eliminate much of the corruption we see everyday from local municipalities all the way to Washington DC. Term limit the bastards and let’s move on.

#7: Legislating morality. It simply cannot be done. Why we continue to argue and fight over moral issues baffles me beyond imagination. I am personally anti-abortion for instance, but I do not pretend to be in a position to pass judgment on anyone who chooses to have one – and no, this is NOT something we should subsidize with tax dollars. Let it alone, and I truly believe this will take care of itself. Fewer and fewer doctors are willing to perform the procedure, for one thing. Social shift will “fix” most of our moral dilemmas over time. There is no such thing as a “drug free” society – and never has been. Ever. So why do we think we can legislate ourselves into a drug free society?!? How did that work with alcohol, by the way? Prohibition created Al Capone and others who saw an opportunity to provide a need to the community regardless of the “laws.”  Joe Kennedy was able to build a family empire on smuggling Scotch Whiskey into the USA.  We don’t need to “legalize” anything – we just need to eliminate the laws that criminalize substances, actions, and lifestyles.  And once that’s done, anyone who chooses to do something has to accept some personal responsibility for their actions – moderation is the key to longevity, folks.

#8: Gay Marriage. Who really cares? If two people fall in love and want to spend the rest of their lives in a committed relationship, and want to make sure their partner receives survivor and dependent  benefits, how is this hurting YOU, just because their names happen to be Harry and John or Mary and Kate, instead of John and Mary? Again, I don’t feel qualified to judge anyone on their lifestyle, and no one else should either (see #7).  And by the way – I can document at least a few instances during my formative years in high school and college (and maybe even elementary school) where I was exposed to homosexual instructors. I was never hit on or molested by those instructors – because homosexuals do not “prey” on heterosexuals as a rule. I don’t feel traumatized nor did I need therapy because of these interactions, either. Pedophiles pose a much bigger danger to our children than do homosexuals, so stop confusing the two. Are you about to use the argument that “marriage” is a religious rite? Well then – let’s call every marriage – regardless of sexual orientation – a civil union. We pay a tax (in the form of a license fee) to get married anyway. That’s the government’s cut. When you get hitched in a church, call it what you will.

#9: Government subsidies. I don’t know enough about stem cell research to have an opinion on the actual procedures, but I do know this – if stem cell research was indeed a scientific breakthrough with huge potential for cures, wouldn’t independent companies (big “pharma,” for instance) be dumping loads of money into the research? SO, why does the government need to weigh in with a subsidy?  Ethanol based fuel and other “alternative fuels” are another example of government stupidity – WHY does the government need to subsidize this madness? It takes more energy to make the ethanol than it will ever save (not to mention the vast volumes of water required), and it removes valuable FOOD SOURCES from our FOOD SUPPLIES to make the ethanol.  And if algae or used cooking oil are actually viable fuel sources, they’ll come into their own in due time. Tobacco is yet another – on the one hand, Congress subsidizes tobacco growers, yet they imposed huge fines on the tobacco companies for causing alleged physical harm to the users of the tobacco (see #7 for more on the morality issue).  IN fact ALL farm, dairy, automobile manufacturing, or any other “subsidy” needs to end NOW. A free market is a pretty simplistic: If you make a thing and people want that thing, you’ll sell many of your things for a tidy profit. If people don’t like your thing, you’ll go out of business.  So the government really needs to step away from doling out subsidies to anyone.

#10: Censorship. Whether it’s the internet, or TV, or movie theater, or print media, censorship goes against our very core of freedom. Are some things repulsive and offensive? Yes – in fact, I’d go so far to say that everything is repulsive and offensive to someone. We have our own personal barometers for what we deem suitable or “correct.” If we stumble upon something that attacks that personal barometer, CHANGE THE CHANNEL. LEAVE THE THEATER. SURF A DIFFERENT URL. UNSUBSCRIBE. How hard is that, really? But do not try to impose your version of correct or suitable onto the next person. We should be free to be as pure or as vile as we see fit. Get over it and move on. I really don’t need to have to wade through your curbside protest of a scantily clad MANNEQUIN in a storefront window, OK? If so compelled, write the store/station/editor/producer a scathing letter – but don’t get all self-righteous if you don’t get a reply.

#11: Religious freedom. It is what it is. The First Amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting the establishment of a religion, or impeding the free exercise of religion. It does NOT separate “church from state” by the way. But that’s another topic for another time. So, if a group of veterans decide they want to place a cross on a hill to commemorate their fallen comrades, WHY does some A-hole feel compelled to oppose this act? If you’re an Atheist, the cross should mean NOTHING to you – it shouldn’t threaten you, it shouldn’t be a symbol of anything. You’re an Atheist – you believe in NOTHING. If the majority of a community wants to erect a nativity scene on the library lawn, why do the minority others feel compelled to scream “separation of church and state!” and demand the nativity scene be removed? If you’re not a Christian, why does this public display offend you? Drive by it and ridicule it, if that makes you feel better, because the First Amendment gives you that right, too. But for some strange reason, many atheists feel compelled to thrust their lack of belief on everyone else. Sure, some Christians feel compelled to do the same thing – and I avoid them as much as I do the proselytizing  atheists, or any other sect or cult, for that matter.  Christmas is what it is too, folks. And in my family, we had a Christmas tree in the living room, AND a menorah sitting on the dining room table. I don’t feel any need for therapy, a government hand-out, or a law to change anything because of it.

Those are eleven of the things that make me say WTF. OH, there are more … many more … and I might just cover some of them in 2011. So stay tuned!

In the meantime – have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS, and a productive New Year!