Earmarks

Earmarks are very much in the news right now. Congress is debating their use and how to control them. Earmarks is the newer term to use. It used to be known more as pork barrel spending.

Obviously this is nothing new. Each party tries to blame the other for overusing them. I read where Ronald Reagan vetoed a highway bill presented by a democratic majority congress in 1987 because it had too many earmarks in it - just over 100. In 2005, with a republican majority congress, George W. Bush signed a highway bill that he stated to be reasonable which included 6,371 earmarks.

It seems the problem with earmarks is whether they are being done by your own party or by the opposing party. I have a little problem with them altogether.

There are projects funded by these earmarks that are valid and needed. They should be funded and voted on. However, I think they should be able to stand on their own, be discussed or open for discussion, and voted on for their merits. I do not believe there should be anything attached to a bill that is not related to that bill. Too many unnecessary things have been pushed through by adding them to a good bill and passing on the strength of the main bill.

Both parties need to work to reduce these pet projects. I know which party has done the most with these earmarks, and it is the one that cries foul the loudest. Check it out sometime and see what you find. Then keep calling your representatives and senators and ask them to actually address this issue.

Districts and Redistricting

We all live in various representative districts. There is the city and/or county district, state representative district, state senate district, and US Congressional district. These are prescribed by our US and state Constitutions. Each state or commonwealth is represented by two Senators and the entire country is represented by the president and vice president. Then there is the Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, and other statewide officeholders.


These districts are necessary to insure fair representation in our system of government. It took great fore-thought and planning by our founding fathers to construct this system. It took men with vision and a sense of fair play to see the necessity of setting up these several levels of representation. I suspect much of that came from living under systems that did not allow proper representation, along with studies of the Greek and Roman democracies. Many factors led to the great country.

The design of these districts, however, has strayed far from the original plan. The layout of our districts has been abused by both parties. It seems the one thing our US Representatives from each side of the aisle can agree on is to protect their own seat in congress once they are in office. So they gerrymander a congressional district to provide themselves the best chance of staying in office. The majority party at the time then attempts to lay out the various districts to best favor their own party. Many of our districts would take a Philadelphia Lawyer to halfway explain their reasons for lying the way they do, unless you just want to hear the simple truth. In fact, many times the redistricting plans end up in court to validate their design. This isn't always an impartial verdict anymore either, though it is usually better than the partisan legislatures.


I believe our districts should be constructed in a way that takes into account the populations required for the level of representation. Then it should be focused on putting towns and counties into a district that have a similar need and/or geographic connection. There is a requirement to have a certain amount of districts with a majority racial or ethnic makeup. This can be accomplished without skewing all the districts.


Many would call me naive to think this way, but I believe that districts that make sense will also work out for both parties in the long run. To believe otherwise is to demonstrate doubt in the power of your message and to show a distrust of the voters. Even the most gerrymandered of districts has fallen into the hands of the opposing party when the representative has not been faithful in their duties, the challenger presents a truly desirable alternative, or their party has shown a dereliction of their ability to govern fairly.


There is no good reason to have a small town that joins the North Carolina border in the same district as the second largest metropolitan area in the state, which is almost 200 miles away. Our legislators should learn to work together to form districts that make sense, or turn the process over to a non partisan board who can.

Economically Speaking

Economic policies are among the most basic differences between the Democrats and Republicans. While there some on each side that lean toward the policies of the other, there tends to be a profound difference between the two. So it should not be surprising that these policies reflect the overall empahsis placed by each party on certain sections of our citizenry. It is my opinion that the differences began in the fight between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, both great men of their time. While Thomas Jefferson is recognized as the founder of the Democratic Party, I believe that John Adams was the forerunner of the Republican Party.

Thomas Jefferson named his party the Democratic Republican Party, or the Party of the Common Man. John Adams argued for only allowing landowners to vote while working on the Constitution. While that is a simplification of some very complicated men and their thinking, it does illustrate where they wanted to place the most power and wealth - either with the average person or with the wealthier citizens and businesses.

History shows that the overall economy tends to perform better under Democratic policies. While I knew that the average citizen is better off under Democrats, I was surprised to see that the stock market also tend to perform better under Democrats as well. Check out this article from Edward Jones:

http://www.edwardjones.com/cgi/getData.cgi?file=/pdf/media/Politics.pdf This shows the averages from 1901 to 2006. Democrats do better with stocks, while Republicans do better in controlling inflation. I would like to see a corresponding record of income and job rates. My experience has shown a higher unemployment rate under Republicans.

Certainly there are differences between different Democratic administrations and differ Republican administrations. These reflect the attitudes of the individual in charge as well as the differing factors when each came to power. However, there are some basic ideals that each has a tendency to demonstrate. Democratic economic policy leans to providing an environment where an average person can have a better chance to increase their income and standard of living. We believe in progressive tax models, not to penalize the wealthy but to give greater opportunity to those on the lower end of the pay scale. We also support small businesses, which create about 80% of new jobs. Under Republican administrations there are a few wealthy citizens and corporations that become far wealthier, while under Democrats the majority of citizens do better though the top percentage of income earners do not build their wealth in the exponential numbers they do under Republicans. Democrats tend to be a ground up party and Republicans top down. We do not believe in trickle down, but in building up.

History has shown us that when there has been an extended period of Republican economic policies, there has occurred either a recession or a depression. It happened in the 1970's after Nixon and Ford, again in the 1980's after Reagan, the Great Depression of the 1930's followed Hoover, and the 'Panic' of 1893 came after Benjamin Harrison. The current administration has placed in motion the worst economic policies since Herbert Hoover in my opinion. We have seen the greatest redistribution of wealth from the poor and middle class to the wealthy since the 1920's. We have also watched their policies create an environment that has produced the greatest export of wealth ever from the United States to foreign countries, esp. China and the middle East.

At the end of WWII corporations paid approximately 52% of all taxes in the US. Today they pay around 7%. While I do not believe in taxing a company out of business, I also do not believe in rewarding them while hurting our overall economy. In the first year of the George W. Bush administration new regulations were enacted that allowed multi-national corporations, such as large oil companies, to create shell companies in Bermuda and other areas to shield up to approx. 40% of their income from US taxes. On top of this they were given huge cuts in their tax rates and then many of these same companies began receiving large tax rebates and other incentives. This took a large amount of money away from the US Treasury.

In the 1960's the average CEO made approximately 30 times what the average worker in their company made. Today that CEO makes a little more than 400 times what an average worker makes. In other words, the average worker has to work almost a year and a half to earn what the CEO makes in one day. These exhorbitant incomes need to get back in line somehow. It is a drain on the companies they run and on the economy as a whole. It has even got to the point where executives that produce losses are still given multi-million dollar bonuses and salaries. Nothing seems to be based on performance and I do not believe anyone is worth what some of these men are making.

There is coming a time that we will pay for these excesses and I don't believe it is far off. The economy is not as strong as many people want us to believe. Too many people are out of work and too many people are not making enough to cover their living expenses. As gas prices continue to rise it is putting a further strain on the budgets of most Americans.

I do not wish bad times on our country or our citizens. I do believe harder times are coming though and I only hope it starts before Bush leaves office so most people will know where this problem started. That being said, I believe it is very important that our Democratic and Republican legislators begin working together for the good of the country. The economy has always been a complicated system and it is even more so now. It is imperative that we have the best minds from both sides working together to solve these problems.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

The Christmas Holiday season has just passed. It is a wonderful time of year and has long been associated with an increased level of cheer and goodwill with most people. It has also been a time of deep depression for a few, as they battle loneliness and separation from loved ones at a time that they believe should be the most happy time of the year.

It has now become a new battlefield for the people who continue to try and divide our country. There is a drive to try and define a war on Christmas. It is unbelievable to me how some people will use anything to drive a wedge in the country. This is a non issue as far as I am concerned.

As I have told you before, I am a Christian. I believe Jesus came to earth, lived, died, and rose again to save us. Christmas is the celebration of that fact. It likely wasn't on December 25th that he was born, and wasn't even likely that it was in December. Since the shepherds were watching their sheep in the field, it was more than likely warmer months. The celebration date was set much, much later. However, that does not change the reason for the celebration. The reason for the season.

Approximately 83% of US Citizens are Christain, according to the most recent polls. That is an overwhelming majority of our citizens. Certainly, they are of differing denominations, but still christian. Our founding documents and the constitutions of our states refer to God. Many of our principles of governing came from the Judeo Christian traditions. We are free to worship openly. We can minister in all areas of our great country. We advertise, we meet, we send newsletters and information through the USPS. We use e-mails to pass along information without any interference. We are able to travel to any country in the world as long as we have some type of relationship as a country to work as missionaries and to promote our faith. We probably have the greatest freedom to worship in this country of any country in history. Still, some want to say we are being persecuted.

It must be in the psyche of some people to have to feel they are being persecuted. Finding people that do not agree with everything you say and do is not persecution. I think much of this posturing is used to sway opinions and to prey on the faith of individuals. To create anger against someone or something. Not very Christian sounding though.

Everyone in this country is not Christian. I want to pray for them. I want to help them. I want to help them find what I have found, and I cannot do that by only condemning them. God has said that He would that all should be saved and none perish. I am proud that there has been and is a separation of church and state in this country. I believe that is more important for the church than it is for the state. That does not mean that there is no religion at all within the state. It only means that our government will not establish a religion as the religion of the state. However it also means that we will protect the rights of our citizens to worship freely and without interference from the government.

Christmas itself has become more of an event for most to buy more things than a true worship time of Jesus Christ. I am guilty of enjoying this part of Christmas as well. I have enjoyed Santa Claus and all that goes with that. I love the Christmas lights and decorations. I love hearing from friends and loved ones through the Christmas Cards. I love giving and receiving gifts.

I also love to get to a quiet time and reflect on what this holiday is really about. I have tried to read the Christmas Story from the Bible for my children over the years on Christmas Eve. Sometimes we have gone to Christmas Eve services.

Now I am being told by some people that if I say Happy Holidays or Season's Greetings that I am being un-Christian. I don't believe that. And every business I have heard being targeted for boycotting for having a sign out that uses one of those phrases, has also had Merry Christmas in their stores as well. If I say have a good holiday during Christmas, it means Merry Christmas too. I use all these greetings during the Christmas Season and it takes absolutely nothing away from my faith to do so.

The premise behind this conservative media driven idea is completely wrong in my view. They say that 'these people' are taking Christ out of Christmas. No matter what you to do, not do, or say, you cannot take Christ out of Christmas. Christ is Christmas. The Christ I believe in is all knowing, all seeing, omnipotent and omnipresent. We have no power to take him out of any day. He will always be there no matter what anyone says. The over commercialization of Christmas is a bigger threat to the real meaning of Christmas than someone saying Happy Holidays or Season's Greetings. At least they are acknowledging the season for a time of greeting and goodwill instead of promoting it for the purpose of profits.