Miscellaneous Friday Thoughts

I haven't done one of these random miscellaneous thought blogs in a while. So here goes:

Golf Season Winding Down:
My golf season in Iowa is winding down, and it saddens me. I don't really want to move, but I want to be able to golf year around. Today, I came up with the solution....we dome the city! It can be a retractable roof dome so on nice days we can open it up, but during the cold winter months, we can keep it a controlled 72 degrees in here. I may have to run for mayor.

Lebron James vs. W:
When asked who he would most like to dunk on, NBA star Lebron James said George W. Bush. That may be the dumbest thing ever uttered. Would that make Lebron feel like a big man? To dunk on someone in his 60's, who's a foot shorter than him? Really Lebron? Does Lebron think W would even care? This is bully teenager stuff. Every time I start to think the NBA isn't just a bunch of thugs and bullies, one of their big stars manages to prove me wrong.

Climate Change:
I miss global warming. This October has been really cold! Ever since Al Gore noticed that it's been cooling for 10 years, and renamed the movement Climate Change, it's been colder. This is the coldest October I remember. Darn you Al Gore!

Pay Czar:
This week Obama's unconstitutional Pay Czar set new wages for executives at companies that took bailout money. I sent the following e-mail to a friend (I think this is a conversation worth sharing):

"Today it's execs and companies that received big bailouts. Tomorrow it's all companies that received any type of bailout. Then, what about the companies who do gov't contracts? Why not control them as well? Then, when they can't cut exec. pay anymore, lets look at all management. Then lets cut engineers and other support personnel's pay. Then what about admins? After all, if the gov't is providing any funding, whatsoever, they should get to determine how that company does it's business. It's a slippery slope to the gov't controlling way more than just executive pay.

This is dangerous. I bet the "pay czar" never cuts union pay though. "

To which he responded:

"I disagree with your assertion that this is not Constitutional. It is one of the few things that Congress does that IS constitutional. (Although it IS unconstitutional that the Executive Branch is doing this instead of the Congress.)

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration. - The Sixteenth Amendment (Amendment XVI) to the United States Constitution ratified on February 3, 1913.

When you give someone the ability to take your money and the ability to determine how much of it they take... they already have the ability to determine your pay!

By the way, the 16th Amendment was proposed by Taft., a "progressive" Republican (who was voted out of office after 1 term). Woodrow Wilson (Democrat) then quickly took advantage of the amendment ... proposing a "progressive tax" in his next term.

The Obama "Pay Czar" is a natural extension of these 100 year old philosophies - he is essentially taxing anything above a certain amount at 100%.

Thus the warning from the founding fathers: "If Congress can do whatever in their discretion can be done by money, and will promote the General Welfare, the Government is no longer a limited one, possessing enumerated powers, but an indefinite one...." -- James Madison, letter to Edmund Pendleton, January 21, 1792.

Repeal the 16th Amendment if you don't like the effects of the Pay Czar."

Interesting take I think...Obama is really just the tipping point of 100 years of government intrusion on our lives.