Friday, May 30, 2014

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Election 2014: Georgia Governor

The bride and I were encouraging folks to vote for John Barge, a Republican candidate that was hammered by Nathan Deal in the May primary. A good man that did not have enough horsepower to get attention and votes.
Word is that Barge decided to run when Deal blamed the traffic problem and school buses being stuck on the State School Superintendent.
Deal did not even bother to act like he considered either Barge or Pennington a threat. He declined to show up for debates against two candidates that were both better men.
Nathan Deal was under ethics investigation when he left the House of Representatives; I have little doubt this man has the stink of corruption.
Even if Carter is like his grandfather, I might vote for my first Democratic governor since Zell Miller.

Election 2014: Georgia Governor

Monday, May 5, 2014

Tough Number

Foreign Policy newsletter includes a story indicating the United Nations is not happy with the democratic choices of Colorado and Washington states.
The United Nations' International Narcotics Control Board criticized 2012 moves by Colorado and Washington State to legalize marijuana, urging the United States to ensure its drug treaties were "fully implemented on the entirety of its territory."
As a domestic Libertarian, I figure the the citizens save themselves a lot of trouble by treating marijuana like alcohol.  Let the people do what they want.  Don't think for a minute that the reach of the small arms treaty is not intended for a similar all encompassing oversight. The United States is a sovereign nation, and the internal machinations of a sovereign nation are not the business of global bureaucrats.   

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Good Job

Today I opened an email sent yesterday by the White House.
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
What Senate Republicans did today:
Earlier today, Senate Republicans blocked a vote to raise the minimum wage for 28 million hardworking Americans.
Whether or not this issue personally affects you, chances are you know someone for whom this would make a difference.
So if you believe raising the wage is the right thing to do, it's time to add your voice to this debate.
Share this graphic with your family and friends and let them know you think this is important.
We know what the folks who stand to benefit from raising the wage actually look like -- and the answer might surprise you: The average worker who would benefit is 35 years old, and more than half are women.
It's a single mother trying to make sure her kids have enough to eat. It's a college student working to pay her way through school. And they deserve a raise.
Help us get the word out. This issue is too important to ignore.
 Hey dude, I thought you had the nuclear option in your tool belt.  How could Republicans have blocked something that you do not need their vote on?  My bet is that your did not have full support of your own troops.  But what the heck we all know that this was more about setting up a class warfare topic for the next election wasn't it? The whole topic seems like a load of hooey anyway, people don't get 40% raises staying the same unskilled labor position, not without serious repercussions.
Reading through the comments on the website, it appears that most of the content is from either the White House or Democratic politicians. I would have to guess that the comments are being scrubbed because they were all positive.  This is one from a John-Q Public type.
He makes the comment...
That nobody who works for a living should have to live in poverty.
Which to me begs the question, what is poverty, I think by the governments terms it is a line where income would provide for a family, food shelter and medical care.  Since those factors are driven by market forces they are by nature dynamic and there would always have to be a lowest standard portion of the population. Therefore by construct there will always be poverty, it is as inescapable as people are different.  None of this even addresses the fact that work must add value to a product to receive payment in return.