Terrible terror, once again

"But you can't keep a city or a country on lockdown forever."

Another month, another terror attack. This time Brussels. This time a coordinated attack of an airport and subway stations. And the perps? Anyone care to take three guesses? Hint: it was not Norwegian Lutherans. Already some are blaming what is happening in Europe on their "open border" policies. Just like in the Paris massacre, bad guys can come in hidden, riding on a wave of refugees.

I always equate a terrorist attack to sucker punching someone. Or kicking a guy in the groin when he is not expecting it. Anyone can do it, and the results are most always the same. Hitting an unsuspecting soft target loaded with innocent men, women and children is the most vile of acts. Yet, they keep happening. Most often, by the same type of people. And because many of us in the United States and Europe are all wrapped up in PC knots, we are powerless to stop these attacks. 

Terrorist have a saying - "You in the West may have a watch, but we have the time." And that is exactly what I suspect happened here. Right after the November Paris attacks, Brussels anti-terror experts must have picked up some valid "G2" that an attack in Brussels was imminent. So the entire area went on "lock down" for days. But you can't keep a city or a country on lockdown forever. Life must go on. And it did. Then this morning, the coordinated attacks came.

What did we learn from the horrific attack in Paris last November? Not much. The attacks just keep on coming. Practitioners of asymmetrical warfare know one thing for certain - using conventional warfare, they do not stand a chance against any country in the West. However, using the "suckerpunch" method of terrorism, it works just about every time. Why? Like I just said, life must go on. Staying in a lockdown mode your entire life is not life at all.

What should we do? Surrender to the Caliphate? Give up our faith? Our way of life? Or will that be enough? Just like the alien said in the movie Independence Day, maybe they just want us all to die.

One more thing about this never ending War on Terror. The reaction to the lack of action by Obama is someone like Donald Trump. He does not want to understand the enemy. He does not want to play nice. He does not want a "COEXIST" bumper sticker on his cars. Nope. His words - "I will bomb the s..t out of ISIS". And, "I will go after the families of terrorists." 

Our solution to terror must be somewhere between a Barack Obama and Donald Trump. To continue with the Obama doctrine would mean a continuance to the terror status quo. To accept the Trump doctrine would make us something less than what we are.  

Fear and loathing of the IRS

"It is a mind blowing 74,608 pages long. And just about every page is written in some lawereze gobblety gook."

I am going to try and write this posting in a most civil manner. And even before I get into any kind of rant, let me clarify something. I do not loathe or hate the IRS. I do not loathe or hate any employee at the IRS (although Lois Lerner did take me to the wall). I DO however, both loathe and hate what we have allowed the IRS to become. It is Frankenstein's Monster, on steroids.

Because of social engineering, income redistribution, reparations, or whatever - we the people have built this thing, this monster, which is so complicated, nobody understands it. According to Wolters Kluwer CCH, today's tax code is 187 times longer than it was a century ago. Was does that mean? It is a mind blowing 74,608 pages long. And just about every page is written in some lawereze gobblety gook. 

Many candidates for President have talked about a flat tax or a fair tax. Some say the tax code should be anywhere from 1 to 10 pages long. Period. No deductions, no exemptions. If it is a flat tax of 10%, you make a dollar, you give a dime to the government. Kind of like tithing in a church. Ten cents out of every dollar goes to the Lord. And by the way - since when should we give more to the government than to the church? How about 10% for each?

My wife and her brother are struggling trying to figure out how to pay about $20 in taxes on their late Father's trust. If they both had billable hours of minimum wage, their bill to do this nonsense would now be in the hundreds. It is crap, absolute crap that we put up with this year after year after year. And nobody in Washington seems to have the stones to fix it. 

Next month I have to pay my thousands of dollars into my state as my Social Security, my wife's Social Security and my military pension are taxed. I am still very hot under the collar about that whole thing, since most states do not. And this issue will drive me out of the state. All because we insist on a cocked up income tax that few understand, and most everyone hates.

A County Board with Guts!

"I have never seen a group of people who can give its citizens more for less."

When I was in the working world, quite often I would be employed a fair distance from where I worked. When my sanity of having that long drive was questioned, I would respond by saying, "You have to work where you want to work, and live where you want to live. The thing which needs to give is the drive." And that is the credo I lived by for years.

I live where I live for a reason. For the 30+ years we have lived in our city, it has been well run. Even though the last two Mayors live on the Left side of the street, they have been held in check by a balanced City Council.

Between the two houses we have lived in, we have been in Anoka County for about 40 years. And we absolutely love it. Our County Board is the envy of many I know who live in other counties. First a bit of disclosure. Over half of the Board members are very good friends of mine. That being said, I will try and be as fair and balanced as possible when discussing them.

I have said this many times before in print, to others, and also to Board members. I have never seen a group of people who can give its citizens more for less. For years our services have stayed at a high level. All that while our taxes either didn't budge or went down a smidge. Recently, they went up a tick - but was the first increase in a long time.

Today, they are one of four counties who are leading the fight against the power grabs coming from the unelected, unaccountable Metropolitan Council. Our County Board is not cowed by this group at all. Working together with some of the more conservative Mayors in the county (sadly, not ours), they are going to try and force much needed change on this bunch of bureaucratic renegades. It is a needed battle which is long overdue.

One of my friends from a very socialist county just to the south of us once asked me if I need to write many letters to my County Board. He asked the question because he needed to always stay on top of his. My response was simple. "Nope. Don't need to. My County Board is always about three steps ahead of me doing the right thing for the county." Amen to that!

Cuba - once again

"So again I say, Viva Cuba Libre!  Not only for the expatriates who now live in this country, but for the countless of Cubans still in their homeland."

A while back I penned an article about Cuba. I said it was one of the few things in the past 7+ years that I thought the Administration got right. And then oh boy - the Bird took some incoming from some of his closest friends. Support for Cuba is also a brave step to take for our Congressman. He and I have discussed this issue more than once. He is on board with the President in normalizing relations with Cuba - and so am I.

Not too long ago we bought some new electronic equipment. My wife noticed it was made in Vietnam. We commented that we are starting to see more and more items we are using that are assembled in that former war torn country. Remember Viet Nam? The Commies that kicked us out of South Viet Nam? That bloody war that cost almost 60,000 brave Americans their lives. That country is still run by the Commies. And now our country visits there and trades with them. 

And guess what is happening to both China and Viet Nam? Because of world trade and tourism, they are starting to look a lot more like capitalist countries and a lot less like North Korea. In fact I just heard an article recently about the high number of billionaires living in China. Billionaires? In the People's Republic?

I see the same thing happening to Cuba. Are the Castros still in power? Absolutely. However, I don't see that lasting for long. I think Cuba is going to take care of things all by itself. As more and more free people come to visit, come to trade, my belief is that liberty will break out just like spring breaks out in April. 

After our trip to Central and South America, I fell in love with Latin American people. They love Americans. They are a joyful and happy people. I can only imagine that the Cuban people would be the same way. To have them continue to suffer under our decades old embargo makes no sense to me. I seems to have hurt the people much more than the government. 

There is one other thing in which I agree with our Congressman as it pertains to Cuba. The Republicans should have grabbed hold of this issue years ago. But they did not. Now the President has it and it is going end up being a feather in his cap. However, just because he beat us to the punch is no reason for us not to support this. I may be wrong on this issue, but I don't think so. I have thought about it much, and talked to people on both sides many times. 

So again I say, Viva Cuba Libre!  Not only for the expatriates who now live in this country, but for the countless of Cubans still in their homeland. Freedom and liberty for all! 

The other Voldemort...

"And one pundit said our debt is a killer, and becoming more of one all the time." 

I have said in the past that Islamic Terrorists have become the Voldemort of our Administration's rather shallow lexicon. In other words, it is a word which must not be mentioned. Even to this day, that holds true. However, it has recently come to my attention there is another word which also goes unmentioned. It is the other Voldemort. And that word is debt.

I had just addressed this issue not too long ago. However, watching a business show this morning really hit home. The pundits were remarking how none of the 5 remaining candidates for President mentions nary a peep about this word debt. Not a peep. And one pundit said our debt is a killer, and becoming more of one all the time.

The pundit went on to say that even with the most modest of spending plans the five candidates have, it will still run our debt up to $30 trillion by 2026. Even with rock bottom low interest rates, the interest to carry this debt will cost over $1 trillion every year. That would be more than our defense budget. It will become the cancer which will destroy our economy and maybe even our country.

So why is this not discussed? If it is that serious of a problem, why the silent treatment? Because the fix is political suicide. The pill to cure this ailment will be bitter for many - including us retired folks. Our spending needs to be curtailed. Curtained across the board. And the 600 pound monster(s) in the corner have not changed. Only grown. Now it is Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, AND Obamacare.

Here is the best part. Our undeclared socialist President added another underfunded entitlement called ObamaCare. If our declared socialist becomes President (that be Bernie), he will give us another entitlement - free college. And where will the money for that come from? Who knows? Who cares? Put it on the tab, please!

Listen closely as we get closer to November. Listen to see who has the guts to ask the right question(s). And then listen to the answers. You might just hear silence. You might just hear silence as we all know the name of Voldemort (or debt) shall never be mentioned... 

What is up with reparations?

"Kids of color are the most vulnerable in our broken government school system."

It is term which keeps popping up from time to time. And this year in some caucus locations in Minneapolis, it came up again. Now first off, let me clear the air. If I had the power to go back in history and change slavery, I would in a heartbeat. It was definitely a huge smudge on our history. That being said, I will also say this. Most people who now live in this country did not have ancestors who were slave owners. That being said, we still have some things that all of us need to fix.

Reparations. The group Neighborhoods Organizing for Change would like this issue addressed once again. There was a pretty good article on this issue in a recent article of MinnPost. I am going to agree with something this group had to say. Not all of it, but some of it. They are very disappointed in how black kids are being treated in the school system. And charter schools, only seem to favor white kids. 

Here is what I agree with. Kids of color are the most vulnerable in our broken government school system. A big part of reparations would be to give these kids a fighting chance by allowing them to attend a school which will help make them successful. A good education is the fastest ticket out of poverty. HOWEVER, change will never happen so long as the teacher's union has a choke hold on our school system. Kids of color will continue to be victims of this broken system. 

Here is where I disagree with Neighborhoods Organizing for Change. They were upset that the City of Minneapolis was able to find $600,000 to upgrade a police station, but no more money for education. Here is the problem with that statement. The City of Minneapolis spends more per pupil than just about any other district. And the results in Minneapolis are abysmal. History has shown there is very little correlation between money spent and results obtained in education.

We can't go back in time and change the past. Like I said, if I could I would. We can however, shape the future. Put an end to this generational poverty by offering all kids, regardless of color, a chance to succeed. And we know how to do it. We have seen schools in the heart of Minneapolis who are not tethered to the government system, have marvelous results. For about half the cost. Graduation rates of close to 100%, and kids actually know relevant stuff once they graduate. In other words, they graduate ready to compete in a world economy.

That is the kind of reparations we should be talking about. It is realistic and possible - and long overdue. And a game changer. For Neighborhoods Organizing for Change, put that position forward and see what happens. I think you will be pleasantly surprised by the number of people who will agree with it - and stand with you to make it happen.   

   

Minnesotans on the move...

"In the past two years, Mark Dayton has moved more people out of Minnesota than United Van Lines."

A great editorial in the paper this morning. It concerns one of my favorite topics. And that topic would be the very unfavorable tax climate in our Land of Sky Blue Waters. This editorial really hit the nail on the head. It addressed the unintended consequences of the 2013 Mark Dayton tax increase. That was the year that our statist Governor said he was only going to tax the top 2% of all wage earners. They can take it. In fact they probably would never notice it. Oh, how wrong he was.

In our land of unintended consequences, this is what happened. For the two years following that tax increase, our tax receipts from tax payers went down almost $1 billion. In other words, in the past two years Mark Dayton has moved more people out of Minnesota than United Van Lines. What statists like Governor Dayton never have quite understood is this - we live in a free country. Even though we are the United States, different states compete against each other states for business and people. And many people in Minnesota the past two years have voted with their feet to live and work elsewhere.

Many on the Loony Left would read this and say "That is not fair!" Maybe not - but it is reality. And it will continue so long as Minnesota insists on making itself non-competitive. There is a line that many people have as to how much they will take. In 2013, Mark Dayton crossed that line for many of our more successful citizens.

These numbers are not just random ramblings. The IRS keeps track of where money goes in this country. Which states gain revenue and which states lose revenue. The author of this morning's editorial used that data and a report done by the Center for the American Experiment entitled, "Minnesotans on the move to lower taxed states - 2016".
The report said that between 2013 and 2014, this state lost $944 million in AGI. That is the largest net loss ever reported for this state.

How is our Governor and his trusty allies on the Left side of the street going to fix this? Just like statists always do - more taxing and spending. For those who want to stay here and watch the collapse, good luck to you all. For those of us who have decided the only way out is through the exit doors which head east, west, or south, time is growing very short. We are leaving, and taking our money with us.