Bits and Pieces of The Day March Tenth

How can you tell when a Politician is running for office?

            Well one clue might be when the politician runs a two column, half page 1,000 word self-written editorial telling the citizens what a great job he has done, as just published by Attorney General Dustin McDaniel of Arkansas. The entire article was a paean to the great job that he has done in protecting the citizens from the evil Utility Companies. Where he was during Lou Hardin’s 1/3 of a million dollar rip off of the taxpayers wasn’t mentioned. Nor why he didn’t join the other 28 states that have successfully proved that “Obamacare” is unconstitutional. Or where was he when those public servants were ripping off the state retirement system while still being paid for working full time? And what has he done in the case of all the state employees misusing state vehicles? But then when one writes one’s own paean, why bring up unpleasant things.

“Non violent” criminal Haven is in the making.

The Arkansas Senate passed the “Commit the Crime, Pay NO Time” bill 31 votes to 0. On the following page was an article about the capture of a burglar for 2 new counts of burglary. Turns out that the industrious young “non violent” criminal has been very busy and is also charged with five additional counts of residential burglary beginning last February 24^th. That’s seven different residential burglaries in three weeks, and average of two per week. One can only wonder what the record will become when the word spreads that in Arkansas such crimes won’t hurl you into the ‘hoosegow’. Unless the bill fails in the House, Arkansans better buy their weapons now; oh, wait, these are “non violent” criminals; they won’t hurt you, forget about needing a weapon. (Read Below).

Logic is how you look at it.

            The Arkansas House just passed a handgun bill that authorizes licensed handgun carriers to keep guns locked in their cars while parked at work. This overrides the employers right to prevent employees from bringing handguns onto the company premises, i.e., the parking lot, with the exception of schools and federal property.

            The bill’s stated intent is “to help workers who toil late at night and don’t feel safe in large parking lots after their shifts”.

            Fortunately I don’t ”toil late at night” but I’m trying to understand the logic of how having a handgun locked in my car makes me safer as I walk out the door and meander toward my vehicle, “late at night”. I guess that if one is accosted by a miscreant who isn’t in jail because he is officially “non violent”, one could request that said miscreant wait until you unlock your car door and retrieve your handgun. Oh well, our politicians have used worse logic to produce legislation.

U.S. Senate can’t find $61 billion of stuff to cut.

            It’s official on Wednesday March 9^th the U.S. Senate was unable to find $61 billion of stuff to cut out of this year’s budget. The fact that it’s grown over 20% (my guess) since 2007 would encourage one to believe that surely there are some things in there we could do without. Especially since we are about $1.2 trillion further in debt this year alone. But, nope the Dems can find $61 billion, might cost them votes; and the ‘Pubs can’t abide a measly $11 billion; it would cause some of them to break their promise. Result, you and I are still sitting on an economic train headed for a fiscal crash of such proportions that all tell us that it will be catastrophic, but our elected officials lack the courage, will, honesty to do anything about it. (Read below).

No needed action of political leadership will go unpunished.

            Well, they did it; the Wisconsin Republican Senators found a sneaky route around the cowardly desertion by the AWOL Democrats to pass a curb on government employee collective bargaining. Allegedly this will save the state and local governments in Wisconsin from future bankruptcy or astronomical tax increases and service cuts. The cost, government employee salary increases may be limited to CPI inflation rate and the employee may no longer be able to bargain on just what and how they will perform their job for the citizens of the state or local government.

            When one recalls the salaries and benefits being paid in California, like at the City of Bell, sounds like the Wisconsin taxpayers may have come out way ahead on this. However, there are already recall petitions and actions being mobilized against those 18 Republican Senators that voted for the taxpayer.

            It’s true, no good deed goes unpunished.