Hypocritcal?

Locally we had a judge (in an elected position) who decided to give short notice that he was retiring. He did this so he could take his retirement funds lump-sum and pay off debts his wife's business had. Her business was failing and facing bankruptcy. By doing this, the judge would have used nearly all of his retirement funds to make good on those debts.

The judge gave his notice after the deadline for opponents to file that they were running against him in the election (this being the election year). Since nobody else filed, the judge would have run unopposed and been able to move back into the position provided he had not held the position for the prior six months.

The timing of the judge's announcement has caused many (especially the news media) to express outrage. Some in the community complain the judge "left the taxpayers holding the bag" for his pending cases that would now have to be handled by other judges. Recently I've heard complaints that the judge "gamed the system" and shouldn't be allowed to retain his seat. Rest assured, Florida Governor Charlie Crist has said this judge won't be allowed to retain his seat.

Basically the state system works like this (with regard to the judge's job);

1. Judge has spent enough years in the job to retire and receive benefits.

2. Judge can retire and receive his retirement benefits without penalty provided he doesn't fill the same position within six months after retiring.

3. After retirement, Judge is free to run for re-election if he so chooses.

Here's where I wonder if we (as a society) aren't hypocritical about these matters. Many government jobs allow for this same scenario and some of the people complaining about the Judge's actions are government employees. In fact, our local school employees can retire, take six months off and then are eligible for rehire. This is the proverbial "double dipping." In 2010 the state of Florida finally changed the law so that those employees, while being able to be re-hired, can no longer start earning a second set of retirement benefits (yep, they used to be able to do that).

Back to the Judge. Do you find it great moral character that the Judge was going to use his retirement funds to make sure that all the creditors and vendors were going to get their money or do you think he was "gaming the system" as many others do? If you think it was great moral character, but he shouldn't be allowed to retain his seat, isn't that moral character the kind you want sitting behind the bench should you need to go to trial? If you think he was abusing the system, do you actively seek the end to all government employment agreements that allow for this?

By the way...don't you wonder why we always hear government officials purporting that we must pay top wages for government jobs to attract "the best and brightest" yet when government doesn't operate efficiently or effectively, those same "best and brightest" don't get their pay cut?

Knowing The Fair Tax

You'll notice in many of my writings I refer to the Fair Tax. Since there is some confusion about what this is, I recommend you read The Fair Tax by John Linder and Neal Boortz or look up the issue at http://www.fairtax.org/.

The Fair Tax IS NOT the VAT (Value Added Tax).

The Fair Tax is an actual piece of legislation and has been researched much more than probably any other legislation in our nation's history. It is a tax that replaces the current income tax system and would eliminate your current income tax (as well as many other taxes).

I would write in more detail about The Fair Tax, but the two books (The Fair Tax and Fair Tax: The Truth) are easy reads, fairly short and explain it much better than I can.

So, if you're reading one of my posts and you get the idea I am promoting an additional tax, please know that what I'm an advocate of is something that replaces the existing system and gives more power back to the people instead of the politicians.

Pensacola Beach Genius

The BP oil spill prompted Jimmy Buffet to give a free concert on the beach in Alabama and the Doobie Brothers did the same just to our east. This has prompted a local developer and the director of the local island authority to start a move to set up a gulf-front stage to attract musical acts to Pensacola Beach.

I usually get fully behind economic improvement moves, but I have serious reservations about whether or not this will truly boost the area economy;

1. It is focused on increasing tourism only, a seasonal business.

2. Although it will be a "portable" stage it will be where hurricanes like to come ashore, when they come ashore in Florida.

3. We have a little thing called the Community Maritime Park project that has been "in the works" for four years and the only visible signs are some earth moved and signs promoting the park "coming soon." This project was a $40million project when it started. Who knows what it'll be if it ever happens.

4. Orange Beach, Alabama has a little 10,000 seat concert venue (The Wharf) that has been attracting major acts for over a year now. I'm no entertainment expert, but I doubt they'll be lining up to book their act on a small stage on Pensacola Beach when there's better potential so close by.

When investing your money, most money managers will tell you to diversify to some extent. The old "don't put your eggs in one basket" philosophy. I suggest the same applies when it comes to adding industry to a local market. I.e. if our economy is based 80% on tourism, the weather and many other factors dictate the success or failure of our economy. If however, we have 40% based on tourism, 20% on military, 30% based on manufacturing and the remaining 10% on small business, we suddenly don't live or die on the success or failure of tourism.

I've only lived in Florida for 11 years, but I noticed long before moving here that a guy by the name of Disney knew that people would come to your location for more than the sunshine and beaches. So, he built an empire around that thought. His was family entertainment. We could apply the same logic to other industries. Imagine that; attracting people to the area for something other than the beach.

If a simple guy like me can figure this out, why can't the elected officials and paid "experts" tasked with economic improvement?

The New America

Some things that don't make much sense to me;

How we got to be so great a nation must be completely changed in order for us to continue our greatness. Huh? That's right. The politicians and many activists keep telling us we need to have more government control of our financial system/institutions, factories/industries and our healthcare providers/system. This is not what got us to our greatness. Look back at history.

What seems uncanny to me is the fact that we've had over 235 years of history telling us which systems work and which don't. All we have to do is look at our own history and that of the rest of the world. I submit to you that a simple truth for forming a new country 234 years ago is justification today for distancing ourselves from the European ways; a tyrannical government will always keep the governed at it's mercy. Think I'm nuts? Some European countries (and others) have tried everything we're moving toward; open borders, nationalized medical care and government "partnerships" with industries. The Europeans are now moving away from these. France is trying to find a new way to handle their medical system since they can no longer afford the "free" or "universal" healthcare system. Question for all these "do-gooders;" did you grow up, get educated and experienced in the freest society on earth or the type of socialistic society you so willingly promote? If the answer is the former, why would you impose the latter on your children and grandchildren?

Flouride is bad for us. Well, here in the "redneck riviera" we actually have a few political candidates who are pushing for a new debate over whether flouridated public water is good. We finally got it added to the water supply in 2001, but now they want to argue it again. Yep, it can be toxic...if you are drinking the chemical in large quantities, undiluted. Well, duh. But hey, why should we want our kids to grow up with healthy teeth?

I am amazed that protecting illegal immigration is at the top of the federal government's priority list. Yeah, never mind that the federal government cannot or will not enforce its own immigration laws, to the detriment of law-abiding citizens' safety.