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Rick Perry
Unified Theory of Conservatism: Constitutional Ethics for a Small Government
There’s no conflict between the three legs of Reagan Conservatism, in spite of the confusion surrounding contraception and homosexual “rights” we witnessed during the New Hampshire debates. Social issues such as the right to life and traditional marriage are equally compatible with small government and States’ rights as National security and fiscal responsibility, just as the Declaration of Independence is compatible with the10th Amendment to the US Constitution. Conservatives agree that the best government governs least, but we don’t forget that there is a proper role for even the Federal government.
After all, the Constitution is based on the existence of inalienable rights endowed by our Creator as outlined in the Declaration of Independence: the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The Preamble to the Bill of Rights explains the States’ desire to ensure Constitutional limits on the Federal Government, using the least force and intervention possible to prevent or punish the infringement of our inalienable rights.
Liberals and Libertarians accuse Conservatives who advocate for social issues and national security of abandoning both the Constitution and the ideal of a small Federal government that is as “inconsequential in our lives as possible.” There are even some in the Tea Party willing to sacrifice these issues in order to form a coalition with the Libertarians to cut spending and lower taxes.
Unfortunately, the Left, Right and middle all manage to stir up not only the divide between Libertarians and Conservatives. They would also exaggerate conflict between socially conservative Catholics and Evangelicals who agree on the definition of marriage and that life begins at conception, but disagree on whether or not true contraception is ethical.
Abortion, medicine and research which result in the destruction of embryos or fetuses infringe on the right to life by causing the death of a human being. (See “Why Ethics.”) In contrast, true contraception prevents conception without endangering any human life. Therefore, unlike abortion, it does not infringe the right to life.
Marriage as a public institution is not merely a means to insurance and legal benefits. The definition of marriage predates the Constitution and goes far beyond culture, religion or National boundaries. Marriage affects the stability of the family and the well-being of both children and the husband and wife. (There’s strong research supporting the latter.) We define and defend traditional marriage in order to secure liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
These same inalienable rights are the justification for establishing National borders, protecting National security, and punishing those who break the law, while opposing high taxes and big Government bureaucracy and regulation that serves to not only redistribute wealth, but creates a dependency on more and bigger Government intervention.
Conservatives like Governor Rick Perry have been just as vocal in opposing the attacks on religious freedom and conscience by the Obama Administration as we have been in opposing increased taxes and regulations and the EPA’s over-reaching. We can stand secure in our understanding that the Conservative, Constitutional and proper use of government is to prevent and punish infringement of inalienable rights.
(Edit 11 AM 1/10/12 “Reagan” added to the first sentence. 04/09/14 – fixed a broken link. BBN)
The Path Forward @GovernorPerry and the GOP Primaries
Governor Rick Perry has decided to follow the path to New Hampshire and South Carolina, calling the race for GOP candidate for President a “marathon” in a post to Twitter on Wednesday morning.
He is planning for the back to back debates in New Hampshire on January 7th and 8th in advance of the Primary on Tuesday, January 10th, and then to head on to South Carolina for debates and that State’s Primary.
I’m afraid that the Iowa Caucus was all for show, or as one of the people we called this week said, “a circus.” The second and third votes for Delegates were the real policymakers, but even few Iowans understand that their approval of Paulers and Romneyites negated their vote for Santorum or Gingrich.
I’m Interviewed about @GovernorPerry in IA Patch
Rick Perry: Beverly Nuckols, a doctor from New Braunfels, Texas, was among a group of supporters watching results come in at the Texas govenor’s party at the Sheraton West Des Moines.
Dozens of people milled about the main lobby of the hotel and also in the Des Moines Room, where Perry’s disappointing results were flashed across flat panel televisions.
Nuckols arrived from Texas on Wednesday and spoke for the man at a West Des Moines caucus location before coming to the hotel. “I do believe in the man,” she said.
The doctor and pro-life advocate said Perry has a good understanding of bioethics issues.
Perry came out and addressed his supporters in the Sheraton late into the evening thanking the group that had come from more than 30 states to support him. He read a letter from a supporter surrounded by his wife, Anita, and their children and then said that he didn’t run because he thought be would become president, but that he wanted to serve his nation one last time.
“Our country is in trouble,” Perry said. “Our country is not really on the track we want it to be on.”
But with the voters decision in Iowa he said that he would return to Texas and assess the caucus results and “determine whether there is a path forward for myself.”
via UPDATE: Mood at Candidates’ Election Night Parties Varies Greatly – Iowa City, IA Patch.
Photo @governorperry HQ, in Ames,IA “Patch”
Here I am, turning in the count on Caucus nite.
Caucus Night: Iowa for Rick Perry
I spoke as a surrogate speaker for Governor Rick Perry at a small precinct caucus in West Des Moines, Iowa, tonight. The 72 voters who came to the little elementary school gym weren’t representative of the “undecided” that I’d been hearing about all week. The neighborhood caucus goers had come ready to vote. Unfortunately, the tally came down to Romney/Santorum/Paul/Gingrich and then one little old vote for Governor Rick Perry. To give me credit, the lady who said she voted for Perry wouldn’t have if I hadn’t been there.
As of 9 o’clock, it looks like Iowa has decided not to decide, with the top 3 slots getting just under 25% each and Speaker Gingrich and Governor Perry vying for 4th slot. I’m disappointed in the outcome, but only surprised that the Ron Paul crowd is so strong and the Iowa voters seem so fickle.
(I was treated to classic Ron Paul voter behavior: half the signs I’d put up were knocked down and the surrogate speaker was told to behave when he snorted at me when my candidate got few votes.)
ComPost – The Washington Post Mocking @GovernorPerry
“It was all so aggressively, enthusiastically appealing to all patriotic impulses as to be very nearly cynical.”
Compost is right.And, look who did bring the cynicism, along with a nice dose of sarcasm. Unfortunately, the author doesn’t follow through with and explanation for her mocking, much less argue any differences she has with the facts and issues.
I wonder why the author puts herself through what mus have been and excruciating event for her. She could have been with the OccupyWhatever (Des Moines branch) or, better yet, the Ron Paul campaign.
Why “None of the Above” is not acceptable (Vote positive, vote @GovernorPerry )
I admit to voting for a “None of the Above” candidate in the Texas Republican Primary in 2008. However, by that time, my vote was no more than a protest against John McCain, who appeared to have been chosen by the Powers That Be (“PTB”) in the Republican Party, rather than the voters that I knew.
That’s not the case for voters in the Iowa Caucus, and the Primaries in New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Florida.
Today’s news includes the NBC News/Marist poll, which indicates that more than half of registered voters in Iowa don’t intend to show up on January 3 for the caucuses. That means that 47% of you will effectively cast 2 votes; votes that have the potential to determine who will become the Republican candidate for President and which will at least decide who stays in the race and who withdraws. You are in a position to tell the PTB who you want on the ballot in November, 2012. Please vote for the candidate that shares your values, not the most electable or not-Whomever.
If I may, I’d like suggest positive reasons to vote in the contests mentioned above and to vote for Governor Rick Perry:
- 11 years of experience governing Texas, with the second largest population of all the States, an economy that would be in the top 20 in the world if it were an independent Nation, and one of the most diverse populations in the United States.
- A proven Conservative record, including advocacy for pro-life laws and for traditional marriage.
- On the record in his books, Fed Up!: Our Fight to Save America from Washington and On My Honor: Why the American Values of the Boy Scouts Are Worth Fighting For. You can read excerpts at Amazon.com and on this blog here and here.
- A strong record of action to protect the sovereignty of the United States, the individual States, and the border between Texas and Mexico, and
- a personal history of volunteering to serve in the United States Air Force, achieving the rank of Captain as a pilot, marriage to Anita for nearly 30 years, and an outspoken man of faith.
@GovernorPerry MSM Loves Abortion and Hates a Texas White House
Every time I convince myself that the MSM hates Governor Rick Perry because they don’t want to spend time a hundred miles from nowhere (or 200 miles from Dallas
), they remind me that the real problem is the Governor’s core values.
The fuss this time is due to Governor Perry’s statement recognizing that the children of rape and incest are human enough to deserve society’s protection from intentional, elective killing. Last night I wrote about Rachel Maddow’s mad rantings concerning abortion and the children of rape or incest. Today, (while breaking with the rest of the media in choosing to use the term, “pro-life,” rather than the usual “anti-choice”) WFAA-TV in Dallas made sure that we understand that the Governor “enjoys deep support among pro-life groups, and signed their favored sonogram bill into law earlier this year.” Not only that, but,
“Pro-choice groups and many Democrats say they will keep fighting the sonogram law.
“”This will probably lead to a law saying that if a 14-year-old victim of incest wants to get an abortion, she would then have to submit to a sonogram, which is one of the most invasive procedures this legislature has come up with,” said Andy Brown, chairman of the Travis County Democratic Party.”
via Perry’s tougher abortion stance: What does it mean for Texas? | wfaa.com Dallas – Fort Worth.
I would like to commend WFAA for using the term, “pro-life.” Thank you, WFAA!
Disclaimer: I’m on the Board of Directors of the Texas Alliance for Life, mentioned in the article. And yes, we’d like to see all children, including those of victims of rape and incest, protected at least as much as the eggs of birds on the Endangered Species List.
U.S. District Court in Virginia Expedites Rick Perry’s Ballot Access Lawsuit
Sounds like there may be a chance for more than 2 Republican candidates on the Primary ballot in Virginia. (That Rick Hasen mentioned below owns the “Election Law Blog.”)
U.S. District Court in Virginia Expedites Rick Perry’s Ballot Access Lawsuit, December 29th, 2011
U.S. District Court Judge John A. Gibney of Virginia has set a hearing in Rick Perry’s presidential primary ballot access lawsuit. He will consider Perry’s request for injunctive relief on January 13. In the meantime, he has established a briefing schedule, and also has instructed attorneys for Perry to communicate with all other Republican presidential primary candidates who had filed a declaration of candidacy, to explain to them how they may intervene in the lawsuit. This shows foresight and thoughtfulness on the part of the judge. The case is Perry v Judd, 3:11-cv-856. Judge Gibney is an Obama appointee. The issue is the state’s ban on out-of-state circulators. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the news.
I’m a big believer in following the rules, but the rules shouldn’t be arbitrary and they must be published well in advance and offer equal opportunity. The Virginia GOP rules were evidently changed just last month, either to make it easier by encouraging padding the numbers to exceed 15,000 signatures submitted, or to make it harder for candidates to get in by introducing an unprecedented scrutiny for those who turned in less than 15,000 signatures. (There are even accusations that the number was pulled out of the air after Mitt Romney reached 15K.)
Matt Barber: “Ron Paul is dangerous”
I decided in ‘08 that Paul was more dangerous than Clinton. Paul refuses to acknowledge that jet planes and missiles make the world a different place than the one that George Washington knew. I agree with Mr. Barber’s latest essay on TownHall.com and laughed at his description of “Uncle Ronny:”
“He’s that affable – if not a little “zany” – uncle who has the whole family on edge at Thanksgiving. “Oh boy; what’s Uncle Ronny gonna say next?”
“Still, you wouldn’t give Uncle Ronny the carving knife for the turkey, much less less the keys to the Oval Office.”
Ron Paul is not a Conservative. He has run as – and is, still – a (Capital L)ibertarian, with skewed ideas about the world based on tunnel vision. By claiming that he is only following the intent of the Constitution, he seems unaware that the Founders did not have to contend with international travel or laws permitting abortion due to Supreme Court rulings that have the effect of a Constitutional Amendment.
Although he has a great personal testimony about the sanctity of life and did finally vote to ban partial birth abortion, for years he refused to vote against Federal limits on abortion as performed in military hospitals or when minors are transported across State lines without their parents consent. And it seems that he doesn’t understand that defense is so much better when you can take it to the aggressor’s back yard and keep him as far away from our home as possible.
I’m hoping that, beginning with the Iowa Caucus, voters will remember that Governor Rick Perry has always been consistent about securing our Borders, defending our Nation from external attack, and protecting the most defenseless among us.
@GovernorPerry #Iowa Strike Force
The Rick Perry for President Iowa Strike Force loading up and heading out to deliver signs and t-shirts.
Perry Campaign Volunteers
We’re starting to show up and getting to work.
Of Course, the bloggers – at least one of us – are goofing off.
CMS overturns Texas’ abortion provider exclusion @GovernorPerry
The Houston Chronicle article (not available when I wrote this earlier post) implies that the ruling from CMS is much more far-reaching than I’d thought. Our laws prohibiting State funds going to anyone who provides abortions may be overturned. This looks like it goes farther than simply disapproving of the priorities we placed on allocating our funds. It appears that Obama has decided that we can’t continue to make recipients of Texas funds sign a contract to not perform or refer for abortions.
If this is true, women can get prenatal care and teen girls can get their vaccinations in the same building where their neighbor is having her unborn baby killed! Or Texas can refuse Medicaid funds.
Texas will no longer be allowed to prohibit Medicaid recipients from receiving care at family planning clinics that perform abortions, the federal government informed the state Monday.
Arguing that the Social Security Act prohibits states from excluding such clinics, the federal agency that runs the program informed Texas that next year it will not approve an agreement like the one now in place in Texas.
“The issue is … whether a state can restrict access to a qualified health provider simply because they provide other services Medicaid doesn’t pay for,” Cindy Mann, director of the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services, said in a phone interview with reporters. “The law does not permit this.”
Mann stressed that Medicaid “does not pay for abortions and will not pay for abortions.” She said the agency will extend Texas’ current agreement through March while negotiating a new one.
In a statement, Gov. Rick Perry responded that President Barack Obama is making women “pay the price for its pro-abortion agenda.”
“I am concerned the Obama Administration is playing politics by holding women’s health care hostage because of Texas’ pro-life policies, sacrificing the health of millions of Texas women,” said Perry.
Since 2006, Texas has provided low-income women 18 to 44 with family planning exams, related health screenings and birth control through the Medicaid Women’s Health Program. Last year, it provided services to more than 180,000 women, with 90 percent of its funds coming from the federal government and the rest from the state.
via Texas abortion provider exclusion blocked – Houston Chronicle.
@GovernorPerry Blogger Action Center
Bloggers can sign up for the Perry.org Blogger Action Center and get widgets for their blog here.
I like my button, seen at the right, but these are pretty! There are several State-specific widgets and these more general buttons:
” 
“
@GovernorPerry to Blitz: “You guys are a bigger pain than the back surgery.”
Governor Rick Perry was grilled by Wolf Blitzer on CNN‘s Situation Room on Wednesday, December 7, with frequent interruptions and repetitious questions. (Full transcript, here.) “Blitz” once again earned the nickname given to him by Herman Cain.
The Houston Chronicle, which leans far to the left, reported on the interview in a blog entry entitled, “Perry talks about pain meds, gay Scouts and the VP job”
[Perry] Asserted that his July spine surgery, which he noted involved the use of his own stem cells, was “incredibly successful.”
Blitzer’s question included the issue of pain medication, and Perry said, “I’m back running again, three to four miles, four to five times a week and I was off for 10 weeks. I probably took pain medication for the first 10 days, two weeks. And after that, the surgery has been awesome. … You guys are a bigger pain than the back surgery.”
But of course, the real problem for both Blitz and the Chronicle’s blogger is the Governor’s statements concerning pro-life, faith-based Catholic hospitals and adoption services, the lawsuits against the Boy Scouts who refuse to admit openly gay scout leaders and the limits on Catholic aide to victims of human trafficking. The Chronicle and Blitz each call these acts of “discrimination.” Blitz even asked Governor Perry whether “separation of church and state, does that mean anything to you?”
Perry pointed out the difference between “freedom *of* religion” and “freedom *from* religion. The question should be whether the First Amendment phrase “and the free exercise thereof” means anything.
Under the Bush Administration, Catholic Charities and hospitals weren’t forced to provide adoption services for homosexual couples or to pay for abortifacients like EllaOne or refer to abortionists in order to provide adoption assistance or prenatal care.
The Obama Administration is doing just the opposite. On top of the policies of the States of Illinois, Massachusetts, and others that are limiting Christian, pro-life adoption agencies, the Obama Administration is moving forward on regulations to severely restrict conscience.
Must every agency that receives tax money provide an absolutly full range of services? Lay aside the fact that adoption and abortion are not compatible with one another. It seems evident that birth mothers and and adoptive parents that go to Catholic charities and adoption agencies would have a pretty good idea about the philosophy of the group based on religious tenets.
That’s probably the fear of the prospective gay adopters: as the Governor says, “People will vote with their feet.” Why would a prolife Catholic girl who finds herself an unplanned pregnancy – who admittedly has most become pregnant by committing what she considers a sin – “choose” to have her baby raised in a home that doesn’t share her values? And why on earth would she ever “choose” to seek care for herself and her baby from a doctor who also kills the babies of other women?
The advocates for choice must, in fact, hate choice – they certainly fight to prevent it, even to demand that we act against our own “choice” and conscience.
@Governor Perry, @Freedom2Care: Abortion Ideology Trumps Aid for Victims of Human Trafficking
Regarding Governor Perry’s comments about the Obama Administration’s war on religion:
A grueling December 1 hearing by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee revealed the disturbing answers to these questions, in the process infuriating Republican committee members and others concerned with aiding victims of human trafficking.
By the end of an over three-hour long grilling of U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) officials, one message had become clear about the Obama administration’s criteria for receiving the $4.5 million in federal grants for trafficking victims services:
Pro-life groups need not apply.
via Freedom2Care: Abortion Ideology Trumps Aid for Victims of Human Trafficking.
The regulations were written to prevent any pro-life group from receiving grant money:
The funding opportunity announcement for the “competitive” grant stipulated:
Translation: Participate in abortion or forget the grant.
Rick Perry Ad on “Faith” @TeamRickPerry
Rick Perry, “Faith” My Texas Governor Rick Perry is not ashamed of his faith.
In call with Iowans, ‘Sheriff Joe’ endorses Perry for border security, opposition to illegal immigration | Iowa Caucus 2012
CEDAR RAPIDS — America needs to have a conversation about how to deal with the millions of illegal immigrants living in this country, but “it will not be amnesty in any form or fashion,” Texas Gov. Rick Perry promised Iowans Nov. 29.
The border state governor’s hard line on illegal immigration won him the endorsement of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who has built a reputation for rounding up thousands of undocumented visitors to Arizona for deportation.
Arpaio, who is referred to as “America’s Toughest Sheriff,” called Perry “the only governor that really knows about the border.” He praised Perry’s commitment of $400 million in resources including deploying Texas Rangers, Department of Public Safety and National Guard troops along the Texas-Mexico border to stop trafficking in people, drugs and weapons.
Perry, who asked for Iowans’ support in the Jan. 3 first-in-the-nation precinct caucuses, said he is the “only candidate with a record of addressing border security.”
Arpaio went further, calling Perry “the only one running for president who knows where Mexico is.”
Arpaio, who campaigned with Perry in New Hampshire Tuesday, made his comments in a conference call with what the campaign said were 15,000 “likely Iowa caucusgoers,” both Republicans and independents.
Perry’s Energy Plan | JunkScience.com
Since everyone is talking about that third Agency that Governor Perry forgot in last week’s debate, I decided to post this note from “Junk Science” from last month.
Rick Perry has performed terribly in the presidential debates… no argument… but unlike, say Mitt Romney, the energy plan he released today aims directly at the runaway Obama EPA.
Perry’s four main goals are:
Expand energy exploration offshore and on federal and private lands across the country by executive order, creating over 1.2 million jobs
Eliminate current and proposed activist EPA regulations from the Obama administration, saving 2.4 million jobs by 2020 and lowering projected costs by $127 billion
Reduce, rebuild, and refocus the EPA federal regulators, returning authority to the states
Level the playing field for all energy producers, removing Obama’s practice of picking winners and losers and ending the Obama war on coal and natural gas production
Uproot and Overhaul Washington @TeamRickPerry for President 2012
From the Rick Perry for President 2012 website the plan to cut spending in the Federal Government::
“The federal government spends more than $6.5 million every minute on average. It takes the government less than half a second to spend an amount equal to the median household income in the U.S.3 And if you were to set $3.5 trillion worth of dollar bills next to each other – the size of the federal budget last year – they would span nearly 330 million miles, longer than the distance from Earth to Mars and back again.4 Stacked on top of each other, the dollar bills representing the towering $3.5 trillion federal budget would nearly reach all the way to the moon.
“Some have offered limited laundry lists of potential reductions in federal spending to address the nation’s fiscal mess – this approach suggests that any items not found in the laundry list are therefore pure and should be ignored and left alone. Instead of offering up token spending cuts, the next president should be direct and open with the American people and let them know that when it comes to federal spending, every single penny will be examined and all options are on the table. We believe that wasteful spending can undoubtedly be identified in every single program and every single agency, and should be rooted out and eliminated the second it is found regardless of whether it has a special-interest benefactor or constituency. Instead of increasing funding or demanding the federal government do more, we must have the federal government do less with less.
via Rick Perry for President 2012 | Uproot and Overhaul Washington.
Thomas Sowell Interview on Human Events (video) @TeamRickPerry
Landmark interview with a brilliant man who possesses a brilliant mind.
Watch the whole thing, for a look back at this incredible man’s history and experiences. Beginning with an interview in 1981 with William Buckley, and moving on into the 2011 political climate. Dr. Sowell discusses his own evolution from Marxism to Conservativism. Segment 5 includes comments on President Obama and the current Republican Presidential rate.
Peter Robinson of Uncommon Knowledge shows us his own brilliance by his questions and demeanor.
Courage: Perry in media Spin Room after debate
The Governor shows how a man acts with courage:
@governorperry @teamrickperry
PERRY: When I am president …(Cut spending and regulations!)
From Governor Rick Perry, in an op-ed in today’s Washington Times:
“First, I will issue an executive order prohibiting the Department of Health and Human Services from any further implementation of Obamacare until we can fully repeal this unconstitutional government mandate, which, if it stands, will diminish our health care and kill jobs.
“Second, I will order federal agencies to begin opening American energy fields for exploration and development, which will kick-start economic growth, reduce our dependence on energy from hostile foreign sources and eventually create 1.2 million jobs across every sector of the economy. I also will work with Congress to ensure that new revenue generated from energy production on federal lands is used to pay down the national debt.
“Third, I will impose an immediate moratorium on all pending federal regulations, during which government agencies must audit every measure passed since 2008 to determine its necessity and impact on job creation. Those measures that kill jobs will be repealed.
“And fourth, I will deploy thousands of National Guard personnel to secure our southern border until we can provide the permanent increase in manpower, technology and fencing needed to protect the American homeland in the long run. If I am elected, Washington will no longer abdicate its constitutional responsibility to secure the border or force states to fend for themselves.
“In addition to exercising executive authority during the first 100 days of my presidency, I also will lay out a sweeping legislative agenda that will fundamentally change the way Washington works.
Read more . . . PERRY: When I am president … – Washington Times.
Rick Perry’s Fix: 20% Flat Tax, Cap Spending at 18% of GDP – ABC News
“The plan starts with giving Americans a choice between a new, flat tax rate of 20 percent or their current income tax rate,” Perry writes. “The new flat tax preserves mortgage interest, charitable and state and local tax exemptions for families earning less than $500,000 annually, and it increases the standard deduction to $12,500 for individuals and dependents.”
The plan also drops the corporate tax rate to 20 percent and will temporarily lower the rate to 5.25 percent to promote companies working overseas to move to the U.S. along with implementing a “territorial tax system,” which will tax in-country income.
The plan will eliminate the death tax and end taxes on Social Security, which would help an estimated 17 million Americans receiving benefits today. It would also cut taxes on qualified dividends and long-term capital gains.
Perry sets a goal to balance the budget by 2020 by capping federal spending at 18 percent of GDP, banning earmarks and future bailouts and passing a balanced budget amendment.
Until the budget is balanced, Perry’s plan would freeze federal civilian hiring and spending, and place a moratorium on all pending federal regulations, along with auditing any regulations, instituted since 2008.
Perry promises the repeal of President Obama’s health care plan, Dodd-Frank and Sarbonnes Oxley.
On entitlement reform, Perry says his plan will stop the “raiding” of the Social Security Trust Fund and allow younger generations to set up personal retirement accounts.
via Rick Perry’s Fix: 20% Flat Tax, Cap Spending at 18% of GDP – ABC News.
Rick Perry: My Tax and Spending Reform Plan – WSJ.com
On Tuesday I will announce my “Cut, Balance and Grow” plan to scrap the current tax code, lower and simplify tax rates, cut spending and balance the federal budget, reform entitlements, and grow jobs and economic opportunity.
The plan starts with giving Americans a choice between a new, flat tax rate of 20% or their current income tax rate. The new flat tax preserves mortgage interest, charitable and state and local tax exemptions for families earning less than $500,000 annually, and it increases the standard deduction to $12,500 for individuals and dependents.
Perry’s Flat Tax vs. Cain’s ?-?-? Tax: Which has less risk?
The Republican candidates for President have all promised to simplify the tax code and make it more fair. Governor Rick Perry’s plan for a Flat tax will be revealed tomorrow (October 25) and it’s already being compared to Herman Cain’s “999” tax plan.
From what I’ve read about Governor Rick Perry’s flat tax plan (see the Wall Street Journal article, here, and Fox News article, here), the bureaucracies would be much simpler – that’s one reason they call it “flat:” a single tax bracket with a standard deduction per person would require very little in the way of new procedures at the IRS. If anything, it would decrease the personnel needed and there would be less need for “interpretation” of the tax code.
We certainly wouldn’t need more tax regulations, IRS employees or arbitrary decision making within the Treasury Department under Perry’s plan. The tax payers would have the option of using the old code or the new, flat bracket with a deduction off the top for each person in the family.
Currently, there’s a provision for a Newspeak-named “alternative minimum tax.” After a certain income level, people have to figure their taxes two ways, with and without certain deductions. They pay the greater amount.
There aren’t separate bureaucracies for those who pay the current regular tax and for those who pay the “alternative minimum tax.” The same crowd audits both.
On the other hand, Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 tax plan has already been tweaked, to make it more “fair.”
Mr. Cain says he has changed the 9% income tax (the middle “9” in that scheme) to the 9-0-9 with 0% income taxes for those that Washington deem “impoverished” and the brand new “empowerment zones” for favored cities and communities. In addition, the sales tax would require larger, newer bureaucracies, since there are currently no rules or regulations for monitoring or collecting a National sales tax, identifying who is paying it or who is not. That bureaucracy would have to be developed, along with reams of regulations made up from whole cloth.
In addition, the biggest flaw in Mr. Cain’s 9-?-9 tax plan in my opinion is that the very areas that are Democrat-controlled and and rife with corruption would be the places that Cain proposes to put “empowerment zones.” These “zones” nor the regulations to define or run them do not exist. How long ’till the corruption sets in? Who gets paid to develop more empowering empowering zones that favor the current powers that be? Who gets paid to look the other way when some are “empowered” more than others?
Edited for grammar – BBN 10/25/11, 4 AM
“If Only There Were A Vaccine for Hysteria” Redux*
World Net Daily sometimes goes off the path, but this time, they are posting emotional noise in the article, “’My headache’s about to explode’: U.S. girls just dropping dead.” Author Joe Kovacs even goes so far as to support the claim by the organization, Judicial Watch, that the vaccine against Human Papilloma Virus, Gardasil, is harmful by citing a case of “meningococcal disease,” caused by the bacteria, Neisseria meningitides.
The article or the claims have no basis in fact. There was one case of anaphylactic shock, but no other deaths due to the vaccine. There has been no pattern of serious adverse effects and the major problems have been sore arms and fainting which looks like a seizure to those who haven’t seen it before. (I’m a Family Physician who has had fathers faint in my office and the hospital while watching procedures or shots. Mothers tend to sit when I ask them to, so they’re less likely to faint.)
Gardasil is not derived from the actual HPV virus. It is made the same way that insulin is made for patient injection for diabetes: bacteria is tricked into producing proteins that “look” like bits of the virus, but are never in any way active as an infectious agent.
The article notes that there have been over 35 Million doses of Gardasil given in the United States. We have 10 years of experience. Back in 2006, before Governor Rick Perry made news my adding Gardasil to the list of mandatory vaccines for school children, we already had five years of history and reviews of the vaccine. We have all sorts of studies and surveillance going on currently. Take a look at the world-wide surveillance.
Everything that has an effect is likely to have a side effect. However, this article and the hullabaloo over Gardasil is hysteria. There are mechanisms that allow us to predict bodily reactions and enable us to practice medicine: we know how the body is likely to react to disease, a new exposure or stress, or to medications. There is no mechanism for the “my head is going to explode” symptom.
We do know enough to be able to say what does not have a basis in science. Science and medicine are getting *better* at predicting outcomes, not worse. Read up on “biological plausibility.”
In the comments, people are saying that the CDC and FDA are part of big conspiracy, that people shouldn’t trust their doctors. The reason that there are more recommended vaccines is because we are doing research to find more vaccines to prevent diseases, not because some horrible conspiracy is growing.
* We don’t have a vaccine for hysteria, although Michael Fumento called for one back in 1999, in his op-ed on a similar hullabaloo surrounding the anthrax vaccine.
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