ON CONGRESSMAN CAMP'S BOLD TAX REFORM PLAN

If you are like me, you had probably never heard of Congressman David Camp before last Wednesday. He is a Republican from Michigan, Chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee.  

On the same day I was publishing a blog berating the laziness of Americans, this American proved he is not one of those lazybones. This Congressman had been working hard, according to The Washington Post.  For the last three years he had been leading the most gruesome, most boring, most thankless job a Congress member can tackle. He was revising the U.S. Tax Code.

This is a job that if you asked any American if it needed to be done, he or she would respond, no matter what their political persuasion, by asking, "What is taking them so long?" So, what did the Congressman come up with? Here are some highlights taken from a number of sources.*

1. Eliminates 228 sections of the Tax Code.
2. Reduces tax brackets from 7 to 3 for individuals and married couples. The brackets would be 10% for single individuals with incomes up to $35,600, $71,200 for married couples; going up to 25% for incomes up to $400,000 for individuals, $450,000 for married couples.  A ten percent surtax would apply to all income over $400,000 for individuals or $450,000 for married couples. The current highest tax bracket is 39.6%.
3. Reduces corporate taxes from 35% to 25%.
4. Raises the individual Standard Deduction to $11,000 for single filers (now $6,100), or $22,000 (now $12,200) for married couples. It raises the Child Tax Credit from $1,000 per child to $1,500 and increases the age limit to 18 from 17. The Plan repeals the $3,900 Personal Exemption.
5. Investment income, now taxed as capital gains, will be taxed as regular income with the first 40% of this income exempt from taxation.
6. Deposits in 401 (k) plans and IRAs would have no yearly cap. However, only the first $8,750 could enter these plans tax free. Any savings over that figure would have to be deposited into a Roth IRA. Roth deposits are taxed before you save and are tax free when you retire.
7. The mortgage interest deduction, now available on loans up to $1,000,000, will now be reduced to include interest on amounts up to $500,000. The previous $1,000,000 loan interest deduction will be grandfathered in for loans already in effect.
8. Local and state taxes will no longer be deductible.
9. The value of itemized exemptions allowed will be limited to 25% of income.  
10. Charitable giving must exceed 2% of income to enable a deduction.
11. The Earned Income Tax Credit would be changed and limited.
12. Some interesting corporate changes include: a "too big to fail" tax for banks of 0.035% for assets in excess of $500 Billion; elimination of depreciation on corporate jets; hedge fund managers and private equity firms will no longer have income treated as "carried interest" and taxed like capital gains, but will be treated as ordinary income; and elimination of the "Obamacare" medical device excise tax of 2.3%.

I am sure this is not a perfect plan.  I do not believe anything is capable of perfection. This is, however, a well thought start to solve a complex problem.  It has both reduction in taxes and tax increases.  This plan increases deductions for some, while reducing deductions for others. Congressman Camp estimates that 95% of those filing will use the standard deduction only to file, thus reducing paperwork for everyone. He says that 99% of the U.S. population will pay 25% or less in Federal income taxes.

The IRS code in the USA needs drastic overhaul. Special-interest groups have codified their special needs without concern for other sections of the code or the overall needs of the country.

So, what has Mr. Camp's hard work gotten for him?  It seems the wrath of everyone living and working within the Capitol Beltway is being directed at the man. According to The Washington Post his fellow Republicans, Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader, and John Boehner, House Speaker, said there is no way this plan will be put to a vote this year.

The Philadelphia Inquirer quoted Guggenheim Partners' Chris Kreuger as giving the plan, "...a D-minus on timing and politics."**  Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer from New York called the plan, "...dead on arrival," according to the Tampa Bay Times.***  The number of special interest groups screaming bloody murder is mind boggling. Hedge fund managers, private equity firms, bankers, realtors, home builders, and more are up in arms already.

The media loudmouths will pick this plan apart to anger you and get your blood boiling.  They will say it helps the rich, destroys the American family, aids the poor on the backs of the rich...you know, all the crap you have heard before. Do not believe all you will hear.

Since it was just released and is, according to philly.com, 979 extremely detailed pages, I doubt if any of the people calling for Camp's head have actually read the entire plan. It appears lobbyists and Congress picked through looking at what it might do to their favorite deduction, be it for mortgage, healthcare, moving expenses, corporate jet depreciation, earned income tax credit, investment income or all of the above.

The fact that Mr. Camp has managed to make everyone angry...the right and the left, Democrats and Republicans...means his plan must be damn close to balanced. Everyone must feel the pain for this type of change to be effective. Republican Paul Ryan of Wisconsin always talks about lowering tax rates. Republican Camp showed how to cut the tax rates, while putting specifics on the table to help the average taxpayer.

And, how does this life-long Democrat feel about this plan? I am giddy.  Any tax revision plan that can make so many people upset has done exactly what it is supposed to do, revise the tax code. The fact that it took a Republican to do so makes no difference to me. The party of "NO" finally has a member who said, "YES!" 

For true tax reform, we must all be forced to give up something.  If 99% of the people know the most they will pay is 25%, that's a pretty big deal. Tell your Member of Congress and your Senators to get this bill on the floor so it can be debated and discussed and formed into a law.

*In order to provide the details of the Camp Plan I have read and taken information from articles produced by the Tampa Bay Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, philly.com, The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, Forbes magazine, CNN Money, Business Week, and NPR.  I thank all of them for allowing me to read their reports.  Any errors in my list is a result of what has been printed to date.

**Chris Kreuger's full quote, "An A-plus for effort and public policy...but close to a D-minus on timing and politics."

***Senator Chuck Schumer's full quote, "Any proposal that eliminates the deduction for state and local taxes, as the Republican plan would do, is dead on arrival."

ON LEARNING IT WAS FIFTY YEARS AGO TODAY

When I was a kid if a grownup said to me, "50 years ago today, 'X' happened," I would have thought, "Geez, that's like two lifetimes ago!"  Well, it has happened to me. I am the one thinking about  major events in my life and how long ago they happened. It was not two lifetimes ago.

I am not, and have never been, a nostalgic sort.  I do not keep old 60's and 70's music playing around me. The good old days, at least for me, are mostly just old days. But, during the last couple of months three huge events were reported on by the media, 50 years after they occurred. These three events were very important for me because they changed the way I thought about life during a period when my teenage brain was beginning to accept real knowledge and form real opinion.

The first, one of the saddest days in my life, was November 22, 1963. John F. Kennedy was assassinated, his young wife by his side to witness the horror. I was in my Biology lab class when the news was broadcast over the school intercom.  It made for an awfully sad day and weekend.

As I have written before, Kennedy's death changed every bit of history going forward for me. His death ended the effort to stop the war in Vietnam and to bring peace between Cuba and the United States. And, like tens of millions of us, it meant that dreams of a government based on the fantasy of Camelot was just that, a dream.  Kennedy's violent death was a harsh slap of reality.  

On February 7th of this year we were reminded with tributes that it was the 50th Anniversary of The Beatles landing in America at the newly named Kennedy (formerly Idlewild) Airport.  The foursome was a great diversion for an America still struggling through the loss of a beloved President. Their interviews and performances on the Ed Sullivan Show were truly a bright spot, especially for American kids my age.

The tributes for the Fab Four were pretty amazing to watch.  On the Grammy tribute to The Beatles, 23-year-old Ed Sheerran, acoustic guitar in hand, sang a haunting version of In My Life, a song I consider one of The Beatles' most memorable. John Mayer and Keith Urban, two performers I would never have put together, were absolutely wonderful together singing, Don't Let Me Down.

Even more incredible were the number of people singing along in the audience.  Age made no difference. Teen idols to 70's rock stars sang along to every song played.  I kept thinking, "When I was their age would I know 50-year-old songs word for word"?  Would I care?  Sadly, the answer is no.

The Beatles are important to me because they began my more broad-minded approach to music.  Prior, I was a huge fan of Motown's dance-ready sounds and rhythms.  I spent my Friday and Saturday nights out dancing.  And, I mean every weekend.  It was a great place to meet girls and, because I danced well, I was very popular.  The Beatles, believe it or not, led me to classical music, to jazz, to blues, to musical places I had never been.  Even now I still pursue new sounds...rap, hip hop, and more.

The last of these iconic moments occurred February 25, 1964, when Cassius Clay met Sonny Liston in the ring in Miami Beach, Florida, for the heavyweight championship of the world. The young Clay, who at 18 won the light heavyweight boxing gold medal at the 1960 Rome Olympic games, was the decided underdog.

Liston, a former felon, was known for beating his opponents into submission early...first round early. Clay, with the exception of the Olympics, was known mostly for his mouth. The Louisville Lip predicted he would "float like a butterfly and sting like a bee." He did.  Sonny Liston failed to rise from his stool to fight the 7th Round. Liston's face was bloody and swollen, as if attacked by a hive of bees.

The following day the world  met Muhammad Ali for the first time.  Now it seems everyone in the world knows that name and the man to which it belongs.  Ali used his new-found podium to tell his fellow Americans that black people were citizens also and deserved the same rights as whites.  He told the U.S. Government that the war in Vietnam was wrong, then went to jail for refusing to be drafted to fight it.  He traveled the world as an ambassador of honesty and goodwill. I am afraid if he had lost to Liston that night 50 years ago, we would have never had the chance to hear from and understand this man.

A half century is a long time.  Men have flown to the moon.  Men and women are living in outer space. Communication is cordless and worldwide instantly. Even this humble blog is read in countries as different as France, India, Russia, Poland, and Colombia. That is both humbling and amazing.  And, life continues.

ON HOW AMERICAN LAZINESS AFFECTS OUR GOVERNANCE

Benjamin Franklin once wrote, There are no gains without pains. After all the hard work he had to endure to get this nation on its feet, our Founding Father is probably spinning in his grave watching his beloved America grow so lazy.

What do I mean by lazy?  Let me explain by concentrating on what I think is the epitome of our laziness, our lack of zeal to perform our basic civic duties.

In May 2011 the Congressional Research Service issued a report to Congress entitled, Department of Defense Contractors in Afghanistan and Iraq: Background and Analysis. The authors reported that in March 2011 there were 145,000 uniformed men and women serving in the two war zones. However, there were also 155,000 paid civilian military contractors working these wars. More than 90,000 of these contractors were serving in Afghanistan alone.

Why is this important?  The United States has, for all intents and purposes, a Defense Department comprised totally of mercenaries. Even those in uniform are there strictly as volunteers. No young man or woman in the U.S. is conscripted. Unlike generations as recent as those that fought in Vietnam, no American is required to provide service to their country. No one is even summoned to provide some type of civilian service. Hell, the Mormon Church requires more from its youth than the United States of America.

Where else do we yawn and ask to be left alone when asked to do our civic duty?  Voting! According to the Federal Election Commission, which reports on Presidential and Congressional races, only slightly more than one-half of eligible voters turned out to vote in the 2012 Presidential race.  For all the high drama over "Obamacare" and Socialism provided by the Republicans in the last election, I would have thought 95% of voters would have participated.

Even in 1960, when John F. Kennedy won, only 63.1% of eligible voters went to the polls.  Two years later, in the 1962 Congressional elections, 47.3% of those eligible voted. Our voting participation record has gone down hill since.

In the elections to decide who sits in the White House, the turnout dropped below 50% in one campaign: 1964-61.9%; 1968-60.8%; 1972-55.2%; 1976-53.6%; 1980-52.6%; 1984-53.1%; 1988-50.1%; 1992-55.1%; 1996-49.1%; 2000-51.3%; 2004-55.3%; 2008-56.8%; and in 2012-53.6%.

Off-year Congressional elections have been even worse: 1966-48.4%; 1970-46.6%; 1974-38.2%; 1978-37.2%; 1982-39.8%; 1986-36.4%; 1990-36.5%; 1994-38.8%; 1998-36.4%; 2002-37.0%; 2006-37.1%; and in 2010-37.8%. It will be interesting to see what percentage of eligible voters show up later this year to cast ballots.

Voters stay home in droves and the impassioned fringe from both the right and the left go to the polls. People are elected from gerrymandered districts not to govern America, but to serve the needs of those who are anti-abortion, anti-taxes, anti-growth, or anti-anything the other side favors. Is there any wonder why Congress' approval rating dropped to 9% in 2013? The Tea Party members elected in 2010 received votes from only 37.8% of the eligible electorate.  Do not complain that nothing is done in Congress my fellow Americans, it is our fault for not voting. Do not say that your vote does not count, because the numbers...or, should I say lack of them...tell a different story.

Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government, once said Thomas Jefferson.  This is where this discussion turns to what I consider the most egregious aspect of American laziness.

Loudmouths with an opinion do not inform people, they inflame them. Whether it is Bill O'Reilly on FOX News, Chris Matthews on MSNBC, or Rush Limbaugh screaming from your car radio, these men do not inform the people. They are performers whose only job is to generate an audience to increase their employer's advertising revenue. Rupert Murdoch has been in the newspaper, television, and radio business for a long time.  He has become a billionaire because he brings controversy to his holdings, which elevates ratings, which gain top dollar for advertising.  He is better at it than anybody else, and he owns FOX News.

Americans have many alternatives providing more than one side of any debate. National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service provide facts from both sides of an issue.  The BBC America and Al Jazeera America are two more alternatives available to us for information.  All four of these provide that information calmly. None of these venues set you screaming at your television. Is it not better to go away enlightened rather than angry?  I think enlightened is what Thomas Jefferson wanted for us.

I can provide other examples of how laziness affects us...American workers allowing their jobs to be sent overseas without a fight; letting worker unions practically disappear from the landscape; or allowing only 1% of the population to own 34.5% of all wealth in the U.S. Those Congressional elections, when almost two-thirds of eligible voters did not vote, put people in power who made all these things happen.

In 1983, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 20.1% of workers were members of a union.  In 2013 that percentage was 11.3%.  Voting against your best interest or not voting is how that happened.  Right to Work Laws are anti-union laws. Without worker unity wages were cut and jobs sent elsewhere. Non-voters let that happen.

A report on the Huffington Post shows that the bottom 50% of the American public owns only 1.1% of the nation's wealth.  The top 1% owns 34.5%; the top 10% owns 74.5%.  This is shameful!

And, it happened because Americans voted for people who hawked low taxes and no regulation as if it was for our benefit. It was not.  Those cuts were for the benefit of our wealthiest citizens only. The problem now is if we raise our voices about this imbalance, Republicans and the media loudmouths call it class warfare.

Serving, voting, and thinking citizens are who made America grow from a British colony to an economic powerhouse in less than 200 years.  On our current course, it will take less than half that to turn our country into a second-tier nation.

Do we really want historians to say it was our lazy minds and bodies that destroyed America?

ON WHO RECEIVES ENTITLEMENTS IN THE USA

I came across a wonderful short film the other day that puts the whole idea of welfare and entitlements in perspective. It is out of the University of California, Berkeley.  It was written and narrated by Ananya Roy and includes illustrations by Abby VanMuijen. I want to share it with my readers. Watch and learn what I did by clicking here: Who is Dependent on Welfare

The film peels away the myths about individuals who receive benefits through government programs.  It also exposes the many companies whose very existence depends on government handouts.

To give you an inkling of some of the large companies most entitled in America, I list ten firms with total revenues in excess of $422 Billion. Not one of those listed paid a cent in Federal income taxes on that income in 2012. The list was compiled in March 2013 by Douglas A. McIntyre, which he published on Yahoo.

These firms used the IRS tax code, passed by Congress and signed into law, to deduct losses for everything from bad management (J.C. Penney) to the payment of fines for breaking the law (Bank of America). Other interesting deductions included a coal mine disaster lawsuit (Alpha) and Hurricane Sandy (Verizon and Caesars).

1. GM-Automobile Mfg.-Revenues: $152.26 Billion 
2. Bank of America-Banking Industry-Revenues: $75.17 Billion
3. Caesars Entertainment-Gaming-Revenues: $8.59 Billion
4. Ameren-Utilities-Revenues: $6.64 Billion
5. D.R. Horton-Home Building-Revenues: $4.42 Billion
6. Verizon-Telecommunications-Revenues: $115.85 Billion
7. Lear-Auto Parts & Equipment-Revenues: $14.57 Billion
8. AMR-Airlines-Revenues: $24.86 Billion
9. J.C. Penney-Department Stores-Revenues: $12.99 Billion
10. Alpha Natural Resources-Coal & Fuel-Revenues: $6.98 Billion  

I am not suggesting any of these companies did anything on their tax forms that were illegal.  I am only suggesting we have a tax code that provides tax avoidance methodologies for large U.S. companies that the average middle class taxpayer cannot utilize.

The most egregious offender, in my opinion, is Bank of America. I think it is outrageous that they can break the law then only have to pay a fine that then can be deducted from their income taxes. None of their executives spent a day in jail for their crimes, which helped bring the U.S. housing market to its knees in a matter of a few months.

Farm subsidies, oil drilling credits, lower taxes on capital gains taxes, and more provide businesses and business owners with advantages few Americans realize.

If everyone was fat and happy in America, I do not think this exposure would upset me so. When the tax code lets a business avoid paying taxes to the government that protects it, we have a problem that needs solving. If, however, these companies are also exploiting the system for additional profits while refusing to employ the American people or pay them a living wage, I think it borders on the criminal.

ON SYRIA REQUESTING MORE TIME TO DESTROY CHEMICAL WEAPONS

On August 22, 2013, the New York Daily News described a nerve gas attack that occurred the day before in Syria killing an estimated 1,300 people. The attack hit the Damascus suburbs, around the town of Arbeen.

Within a couple of days this attack was linked directly to the regime of Syria's President Bashar al Assad. According to Al Jazeera, President Barack Obama then ordered the Pentagon to plan an attack on Syria. Four cruise-missile-armed warships were given orders to position themselves near Syria to carry out that plan.  

As intended, these warships got the attention of al Assad.  By September 14th the United States, along with Syria's ally Russia, announced a treaty, according to ABC News. The agreement provided that Syria rid itself of chemical weapons and the means to produce them. It also required Syria to sign the Chemical Weapons Convention.  It seemed the threat of force finally turned al Assad toward peace.

As we now know, even without the ability to use chemical weapons, the Syrian government continued its war against its people.  It even introduced another weapon of mass destruction, the barrel bomb. Dropped from helicopters, it has been reported these explosive devices are filled with nuts, bolts, and re-bar to assure maximum destruction. The massacre of civilians continues unabated.

The New York Times reports, however, that the Syrian government now wants to delay the terms of its chemical weapons agreement. It has asked for more time to export its chemicals as previously agreed.  

By treaty all chemicals and their weapons were to be out of Syria no later than February 5th.  According to Reuters, 95.5% of the worst chemicals were still on Syrian soil on that date.  Reuters also reported that, according to the treaty, these "worst toxins" are supposed to be completely destroyed no later than the end of March. Milder toxins are to be destroyed by the end of June.

I am no fan of war...been there, done that, worn many holes in that 40+ year-old t-shirt.  But, this is clearly a case of needing to keep the pressure on Syria without compromise.

If I were President Obama I would send this message to Bashar al Assad with a copy to Vladimir Putin and Ban Ki-moon, dated March 1, 2014. After consultation with Congress, I would also address the American people the same day. The message would be clear and include four parts.

1. The treaty to destroy Syria's chemical weapons and the capacity to manufacture same came only under threat of unilateral action by the United States. Because President al Assad only seems to respond to valid threats of force, and because the Syrian government has not kept up its end of the treaty it signed, the Joint Chiefs of Staff have been ordered to plan implementation of a no-fly zone for all of Syrian air space, including the elimination of all ground-to-air and air-to-air threats.  Included in this plan will be precision attacks on a minimum of 12 government facilities, including the Presidential Palace and other command and control headquarters. This plan will include elements of U.S. forces along with the forces of any other nation willing to participate.  
2. If it appears that by March 15th Syria has not begun destroying the last of its chemical manufacturing facilities and/or removing all chemicals covered by the treaty by the agreed deadline of March 31, 2014, two U.S. aircraft carriers and their battle groups will be ordered to take position near Syria to arrive no later than March 28.  Whether they are positioned in the Mediterranean Sea or the Persian Gulf or both shall be included in the Pentagon's initial planning.
3. If by March 31, 2014, all chemicals covered by the treaty are not aboard ship and/or all chemical manufacturing capacity is not destroyed, all members of the United Nations' Chemical Weapons Inspection Team shall be withdrawn from Syria, along with any other U.N. personnel located in Syria.
4. The plan outlined in Part One of this message shall commence on April 1, 2014, at 12:01 a.m. local Syrian time. Any violation of the no-fly zone by any party will be seen as an act of war by Syria and it will be dealt with accordingly.

Do I think war will occur with such a message, no!  Do I think this will get al Assad's attention, yes!  Bashar al Assad is a bully. He will only respond to someone who stands nose to nose and tells him clearly where the lines are drawn.

Even if al Assad does not care, and invites war, Russia, which does not want war with the West, will not allow him to miss the deadlines. We have already seen Russia wavering in its support when, The Washington Post reported, they agreed to a binding resolution in the U.N. last Saturday demanding Syria stop attacking civilians.

Further, a nation whose name is unspoken in this article so far, Iran, will also take notice.  They support al Assad through their proxies, like Hezbollah, but they dare not do anything if the U.S. calls Syria's bluff. All players in the Middle East understand force. 

The al Assad family has a history of killing the Syrian people and getting away with it. Hafez, Bashar's father, killed at least 10,000 Syrians in the city of Hama in 1982 (the Syrian Human Rights Committee estimates as many as 40,000 were killed). Hafez' son's war has killed, according to the United Nations, an estimated 130,000 Syrians, including those he gassed near Arbeen.

There have been leaders throughout the history of the world who bullied and murdered their own people.  It is not until some nation stands up to them that they go away. President al Assad is one of these bullies.

Bashar al Assad needs to know he cannot keep asking for, and receiving, more time to continue killing his people.  The line must be drawn, and it must be drawn now.

ON TAKING A DAY OFF AND RESTING

Sometimes the brain needs to rest. There will be more to read next week. 

In the meantime, there are more than 50 published Musings from which to choose. Pick one or more, read, share, and comment...please?

Thank you.  Have a wonderful weekend filled with pleasure.

ON: NATIONS WITH LAWS ALLOWING THE KILLING OF IT'S OWN CITIZENS

On February 12th, as told by The Florida Times-Union, Juan Carlos Chavez was put to death for killing a 9-year-old boy named Jimmy Ryce. Evidently you can be convicted in Florida for killing a child, as long as the child is white.

The day after Chavez' death by lethal injection, Governor Rick Scott signed the death warrant for Robert Lavern Henry.  Henry's death warrant was Scott's 14th, the most by any Sunshine State Governor in his first term, according to an article published in the Miami Herald.

More than 3,000 people sit on America's death row waiting for execution, according to The Economist. In the same article it estimated that many of the condemned will die there of old age.

The other day I published an article entitled, ON AFRICA'S LEGALIZATION OF PERSECUTION AND MURDER OF HOMOSEXUALS. I ended my column with this sentence:

"A nation that kills its own people by law is a nation that should cease to exist."

I understood fully at the time I typed that sentence I was writing about my own country, the United States of America.

According to Amnesty International, of 198 countries or territories, the USA is one of 58 that retains the death penalty for ordinary crimes.  It is a list that includes such forward thinking countries as North Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Below is the list of the nations our country has chosen to align itself.

Afghanistan, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Botswana, Chad, China, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cuba, Dominica, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Malaysia, Nigeria, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Yemen, and Zimbabwe.

This list makes me think we are not such exceptional people after all. For what reason have we aligned ourselves with Old Testament retribution? How is it we can claim to be a forgiving people when we cannot even forgive our own citizens? How is it we can say we are the greatest nation on earth, when we align ourselves with the most evil governments on earth?

There are no published reports that prove that the death penalty lowers crime. No scientific studies suggest the death penalty cuts the murder rate. There is no evidence available that the death penalty lowers terrorism or treasonous acts.

The Death Penalty Information Center has studied the death penalty and has shown this penalty costs more to administer than a life imprisonment sentence. As a matter of fact the DPIC estimates that if California dropped the death penalty, and replaced it with life imprisonment with no possibility of parole, the state would save an estimated $5 billion over the next 20 years.

Mahatma Gandhi had it right, "An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind."  In the USA it looks like it also leaves us poorer. If for no other reason than to not be lumped in with a list of terror regimes, it is about time the USA and its separate states put away the gallows.

ON HAVING A FACT-BASED OPINION

I have a friend who will not read my writings. She says she does not read, "that liberal crap." At the core of what she has told me is what I think is wrong about the world in general. Very few are willing to listen to and understand another point of view. It is as if to hear another point of view is to agree with it. Nothing is farther from the truth.

H.L. Mencken once said, "The plain truth is that I am not a fair man, and I don't want to hear both sides." If most people were as erudite and well-read as the Sage of Baltimore, I might allow it unnecessary to listen to both sides of an argument for I would know it has already been heard many times before.

To my thinking not reading about or learning about another point of view is like playing a violin with no bow string. It would be the same as trying to understand World War II from only Adolf Hitler's perspective. Would you understand arithmetic if you learned only how to add and not to subtract? Or, can you truly understand English literature without knowing Shakespeare?

To me not understanding how other people think, or why they think it, would be like living in a world with no balance.  We see all the time how people act when they refuse to hear someone else's side of the story. They

kill.  They persecute.  They cause war.

I grew up in a working class family in Baltimore.  I left home when I was 17 years old. I have since earned a Bachelor's and a Master's degree. In my 20+ years of formal schooling I primarily studied History, Philosophy, Psychology, Religion, and Public Affairs. I have read thousands of books and unimaginable numbers of newspapers and periodicals. Fortune and curiosity has taken me to 48 of the United States of America, as well through dozens of countries on 5 continents of our globe. I have met, talked, and argued with folks of different religions, cultures, colors, languages, and social position.

This reading and travelling and talking and listening has made me what I am. It has most especially provided me the foundation that helps me think through issues. And, it has provided me with perspective for where I fit in the world.

I have read and tried to listen to all sides of an argument in order to form my own opinions. These conclusions about the world I live in became the meat on my bones. Though imperfect, I have at my center a sense of what is right and wrong, along with the importance of understanding I am one of many. I do not exist without others.  I accomplished nothing without the support of others. I will get nowhere without the support of others.  I am nothing without the world around me. Anyone who thinks they are independent or knows what is right, in my experience, is dead wrong.

Elie Wiesel once said,
I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation.  We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.

Now, after many years listening, I am talking. Age and experience have given me something to say. I have an opinion on many things. I am using this blog, Martin's Musings, to offer these opinions up to the world. It is my perspective and my perspective only. Yes, I may get preachy at times. Yes, my opinions may seem strong at times. But, I am still open to argument. I am still open to another point of view. I am still learning something new every day.

What I have learned in life is that most people need a prod to think. Most people need someone to push their button in order to challenge a point of view. I hope to be that prod at times.

An argument, by the way, is not name calling or lying about the facts, like I hear so many times on Fox News.  It is not the loudest argument or the one written in ALL CAPS with multiple exclamation points at its ending!!!  A good argument has facts and a point of view.

Let me know what you think.  If I knew everything, I would already be lying in the ground with dirt on my face.

ON AFRICA'S LEGALIZATION OF PERSECUTION AND MURDER OF HOMOSEXUALS

According to a recent New York Times article, homosexuality is illegal in 38 of 54 African nations. In northern sections of Nigeria, where Sharia Law is applied, the penalty is death by stoning. Homosexuality is a death penalty offense in Mauritania, Sudan, and Somalia as well.

Over the last weekend the Associated Press reported that 14 gay men were taken from their beds and assaulted by a crowd of people in the capital of Abuja. The crowd, screaming they were going to "cleanse" their neighborhood of gay people, beat these men with iron bars and wooden clubs.  Four of the men were then marched to a local police station where the police beat them again. All were threatened with 14 years in prison under Nigeria's anti-homosexual laws.

Uganda's President, Yoweri Museveni, says he will sign The Anti-Homosexuality Bill, codifying the sentences for homosexual acts, according to The Washington Post.   A first offense will get you 14 years in prison and the possibility of life in prison for further acts. According to CNN, the life imprisonment punishment comes to those caught performing "aggravated acts of homosexuality." Please...anyone...define an aggravated act of homosexuality for me?

These kinds of events in Africa make the raid on the Stonewall Inn in New York City in 1969 look like a garden party. Yes, if you are born with a sexual preference for your own sex, and live in one of these African nations, you might as well kill yourself now before the government murders you in the name of justice.

Whether Muslim, Christian, or Russian Orthodox, the far-right religious zealots of the world seem to think killing or jailing homosexuals will somehow rid their societies of gay people. They are convinced gay people will miraculously emerge as heterosexuals if only they are punished enough. 

I believe the United States should draft a resolution to present to the United Nations to place economic sanctions, like those currently on Iran, on countries with these anti-human laws. As a world leader, the United States should unilaterally stop trading with these nations, including Russia.

You cannot have it both ways.  You are either for or against human rights.  Picking and choosing which ethnic group, religious group, or which sexual group to support is wrong.  The world sanctioned South Africa in the past over apartheid laws, eventually forcing change that brought Nelson Mandela out of incarceration. Surely these anti-gay laws are no less evil than were laws supporting apartheid or slavery.

The world LGBT community, and citizens of the world who care about their fellow human beings, must lead this effort.  There is a force of evil in the world, led by religious zealots and ignorance, that must be stopped.

A nation that kills its own people by law is a nation that should cease to exist.

ON RELIGION AND WAR

In northeast Nigeria yesterday Muslims gunned down dozens of Christians and slit their throats, according to a piece in the Tampa Bay Times. My guess is these Islamists are students of the teachings of Muslim convert, Idi Amin.

The Associated Press reported last Friday that thousands of Muslims in the Central African Republic were hounded as, "...crowds of angry Christians shouted 'we're going to kill you all.'" Sounds like these Christians gave up following the teachings of Jesus Christ, instead opting to follow the actions of another Christian...Adolf Hitler.

The first female President of this former French colony has said she will declare war on Christians slaughtering Muslims, according to The New York Daily News.  I guess she follows the tenets of another nation's President, Bashar al-Assad.

The Washington Post earlier last week published a story about a Christian man, Polin Pumandele, who was accosted by a Muslim mob in Bangui in the Central African Republic.  The mob pushed him into a ditch, then stabbed him and cut his throat.  He was 23 and was walking to collect wood for his family. I can only assume this mob followed the great Muslim prophet named Saddam Hussein.

Ah, religion! What wonderful things you have given the world. Sunni Muslims hate Shia Muslims, so they kill one another. Hindus and Muslims continue to fight to the death in India and Pakistan. Catholics killed Protestants in Northern Ireland. The Catholic Church led the Inquisition to rid the world of Jews and Muslims and other "non-believers."  History is rife with these conflicts and they continue throughout the world today.  There seems to have been no period of world history when fighting did not rage in some part of the globe over God, murders occurring because, "my God is better than your God."

Maiming and killing others in the name of God is not a religious struggle.  Tell the truth! You fight and kill your fellow human beings because you are an ignorant person full of hate for anyone who does not look like or think the same as you. In other words you are just a common cold-blooded murderer.

In the U.S. where perhaps now we have become a bit more civil during these battles, a different religious war has reared its ugly head.  Prentice-Hall's World History textbook, used in a Florida County's Advanced Placement classes, favors Islam over Christianity and Judaism, according to Fox News. Florida Representative Ritch Workman (R-Melbourne) is outraged.  The textbook, according to Workman and some Brevard County School Board members, has a chapter dedicated to the history of Islam. Evidently, they think Judaism and Christianity should each have its own chapter as well.

This 34-chapter text breaks down the history of our world from Pre-history to the Present in seven units, all based on time periods. Unit 2, which covers Regional Civilizations, 730 BC through 1650 AD, has one Chapter each entitled in order: The Rise of Europe; The High and Late Middle Ages; The Byzantine Empire, Russia, and Eastern Europe; Muslim Civilizations; Kingdom and Trading States of Africa; and The Spread of Civilization in East and Southeast Asia.

I will bet $100 to the proverbial doughnut that not one of the elected officials screaming holy murder has read this text in order to understand chapter and unit context.  The chapter in question is not about Islam, it is about the civilizations that evolved around Islam. It is no different than any discussion of the rise of Europe must include the Roman Catholic Church, the Holy Roman Empire, the rise of Protestantism, and the Reformation.

Why is it people who understand so little of the world and its history, and so little about religion, are the ones who cause the most problems for the rest of us? This is religious nonsense based on illiteracy.

If you are so insecure in your religious belief as to worry about Advanced Placement students losing their religion through a textbook, perhaps you and your children have religious beliefs that are insufficiently grounded.

Whether you kill in the name of God, or just criticize others in the name of God, your acts are, quite literally, godless.

ON KILLING BLACK KIDS IN FLORIDA

Evidently if you kill a black kid in Florida, and you are white, you are neither guilty of 1st degree or 2nd degree murder or manslaughter. However, if you shoot at black kids in a car, and do not kill them, you are guilty of attempted murder and shooting a car.

This trial outcome is OUTRAGEOUS!!!!!!!!

Do not come to Florida if your skin is darker than white.  

Do not come to Florida if you think your life is worth something.  

Don't wear a hoodie and don't listen to loud music.  

Hell, Floridians will shoot you for texting in a movie theatre.

Boycott Florida!!

ON BIGOTS, ASSUMPTIONS, AND THE NEW N-WORD

I cannot count the number of times in my life I have heard comments from family members, acquaintances, neighbors, or strangers that are racist or bigoted. Comments are made with no basis in fact. They are used because of deeply held beliefs passed on from family and friends. I understand these comments were made in front of me because there was an assumption made about me.

Because I was "White" it was assumed I believed "this."  Or, because I was assumed to be a "Christian" I believed "that."  Or, because someone thought me "Jewish," I understand this "other." Of course, it was assumed we both "knew" who "they" were. NOT!!

About 25 years ago I called a licensed electrician to my home on Maryland's Eastern Shore.  My 250-year-old house had a major wiring issue, previously performed by someone either with no electrical training, who was in a drunken stupor during the work, or both. When the electrician arrived and looked at the bad wiring, he made only one comment, "That's nigger work." My mouth about hit the floor. I had never heard the expression before. I remember telling him I understood the work was badly done, but to not use that term around my family.  I have no idea where he learned this expression, but I would guess at the knee of his father. What made his comment more startling was that, knowing the county where my house was located, the work was more than likely done by a white man.

My ex-wife, who is Jewish, once told me after coming home from her work at a garden center that one of her colleagues told her to watch out for a certain customer because he will try to, "Jew you down."  She decided the expression made no sense to her so he must have said the word "chew" vs. "Jew." She thought this must be an old American expression. I told my Australian wife she heard correctly and that the term came from the old bigoted reference about how good Jews were with money or how cheap they were when it came to spending their money.  Since my wife was white and did not wear a Magen David, her co-worker assumed he was talking to a Christian woman who, of course, would know what he meant. Once she understood the comment, she was rightly offended.  She then asked me how she should approach this man to tell him so.

After I left the Marine Corps I used my G.I. Bill benefits to attend university. Since at the time the benefit was only about $100 per month to cover tuition, I attended a state-owned institution that I could afford. Because Morgan State College had a reputation as having the best History department (my chosen major subject) of the local public colleges, I attended school there in Baltimore.  For those who do not know, Morgan State (now University) is a predominantly black college and I was one of only a handful of white students attending in the early 1970's. I was an older student who drove to school and, needing a little extra money, offered rides to students who lived on the west side of my hometown to help me pay for gas.

Jay, an 18-year-old freshman from Baltimore, took me up on my offer. On the way home one day he was asking a lot of questions of me, about why I chose Morgan and what I thought about black people in general. It was obvious he had never spent any time openly talking with a white man before about race. Jokingly, I said to him, "You all look alike, so what is the difference where I go?"  From his spot in the front passenger seat his head snapped left and he yelled instantly, "You say that too?"

I told him we all say these kinds of stupid things, and that we both probably joke that Asians all look alike. Our conversation continued as we agreed these kinds of sayings were not true.  I think it was the first time he ever had a different context from which to discuss things his family said about white people. We laughed our butts off on the rest of the way home, and we had numerous similar discussions during the remainder of our semester.

I have traveled the world...Europe, Asia, North America, South America...and I have found these kinds of bigoted expressions everywhere.  Koreans will say things about the Japanese.  Australians will make comments on the habits of their Aborigines. Paisa Colombians will make fun of Colombians from Bogota. Most people seem to have words they think belong to a certain person or type of person...pompous,stupid, ugly, lazy, drunken, criminal, cheap. I have found these stereotypes especially prominent among people who are uneducated or who have not had exposure to people of other cultures, races, or religions. In my travels I have had people tell me they were surprised at my demeanor because they thought Americans were all rude or pompous.

Finally, I have exposed some of my personal experiences so I can discuss the use of the word "thug."  It has gotten a lot of attention lately. Twitter accounts lit up after the Seattle Seahawks' Richard Sherman's post playoff game interview. Thousands called the Stanford University graduate a thug.

This Hindu and Urdu derived word (from the word, Thag, Merriam-Webster) meant thief when it was first used in 1810. It has, like many words, morphed to mean something else.  For many white people, who really want to use their old standby "nigger," but cannot do so anymore, "thug" has become their replacement word.  It has become the word they feel they can use without being thought a racist.  Sorry, Bubba (yes, I get the stereotype), you cannot steal a word that means "brutal ruffian" or "assassin" and apply it to a group of people of color and not get called out about it.

Leonard Pitts, columnist for the Miami Herald, said it much better than I can, "...the great Catch-22 of African-American life. They decide you're a 'thug' from the moment you're born, so they lock you up in disproportionate numbers.  Then they point to the fact you are locked up in disproportionate numbers to prove that you're a thug."

Like Michael Dunn, who set up a website called justicefordunn.com to rant about "thug culture" and raise money before his trial for murdering Jordan Davis, racists and bigots everywhere are always looking for words to put another people or culture down.  Why they cannot just keep their mouth shut and let everyone around them make up their own mind about people and culture is beyond me. Do not assume you are with a kindred spirit when you think of saying something racist or bigoted.

I think it was Abraham Lincoln who once said, "It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt."

ON STAND YOUR GROUND, CONCEALED CARRY & RACISM

Micheal Dunn shot and killed Jordan Davis. Why? Dunn says teenagers listening to loud music put him, "In fear of his life," according to the Orlando Sentinel.  So, faced by four black teenagers and their loud music, he pulled a 9-mm pistol from his glove compartment and shot into the Dodge Durango from which the music was booming. He did not shoot once or twice, he shot ten times. He kept firing even as the teens tried to speed backwards out of the line of fire.

Jordan Davis was in the back seat. Three of the ten bullets hit him.  One of those rounds killed him. Jordan Davis will never see his 18th birthday. His parents will not see him graduated from his magnet high school.

How did Mr. Dunn get into this predicament?  He decided to pull his black VW Jetta right up next to an SUV playing music he later told his fiance he hated. The music was already blaring when the 47-year-old white man decided to park, according to The Florida Times-Union's Jacksonville.com.  Mr. Dunn did not try to find another space to park his car so his eardrums were not hurt by the loud music, as he claimed they were when he took the stand in his own defense.

After his fiance went into the store to buy wine, Dunn told the kids to turn down the volume. Every witness involved in this incident claim this is when "words" were exchanged.  Dunn's fiance, who heard the shots from inside the store, came out to see what happened. Dunn told her to get in the car and they drove off. The boys in the SUV had already backed out of the parking spot to get away from Dunn's bullets.  They stopped in an adjacent strip mall lot, according to the Christian Science Monitor. Dunn did not tell his fiance he saw a gun.  He never went to see, or even called, the police.  On his website, justicefordunn.com, he claims "thug culture" caused the shooting.

As I write, the murder trial for Dunn is being held in Jacksonville, Florida.  The verdict is now in the jury's hands. When asked why he did not stay or call the police, he claimed he could not give a reason.  He testified he had to get back to the bed and breakfast quickly so his dog Charlie could, "go potty," according to a CNN report. The police said none of the four youngsters in the SUV had a weapon and no weapon was found in the car.  

Here is what I think caused this crime. Mr. Dunn, who had been drinking at a reception for his son's wedding, saw four young men who looked different and played loud music he did not like. He pulled up right next to them to get in their face. When he told them to turn down the volume, and they did nothing, he snapped. His hatred for "thug culture", the word "thug" being the new racist term used to replace the "N-word," illuminates Dunn's reason for shooting.

Because he had a gun, and with his thinking impaired, he believed he could discharge his weapon and suffer no consequences.  After all, he was in Florida.  He could claim he was standing his ground. A jury of his peers (I would bet that in his mind this means a group of only white people) would listen to his story and understand exactly why he carried a gun, why he pulled it out, and why he fired.  He was in the south and "everyone" in the south knows black kids do not mouth off to white men and get away with it.  It is against a code that has existed for hundreds of years.

And, because buying and concealing guns is so easy in Florida, I believe this type of violence will continue to rise. In the background check for purchasing a weapon from a licensed firearms dealer, and on the questionnaire required by the State of Florida to procure a Concealed Weapon or Firearm License, the only questions asked relate to age, physical ability to handle a weapon, military service, citizenship, and whether you have been in trouble with the law. The latter includes questions about felony and other convictions, restraining orders, and non-voluntary mental health incarcerations.

I think this line of questioning would be sufficient if you were applying for a driver's license or a teacher's certificate. I think they are shallow and weak when applied to the purchase of a gun or a permit to carry a concealed weapon.

Along with the license questions listed above, I believe additional areas need exploration, followed by a psychiatric interview and home visit. Among these are:

1. Do you harbor ill feelings against any person of another race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or ethnic origin?
2. Do you fantasize about coming to someone's rescue and using your weapon to disarm the perpetrator?
3. Do you fantasize about coming upon a person preparing to perform, or actually performing, an illegal act and using your firearm to stop them?
4. Do you have anger management issues?  Are you a control freak?
5. Have you ever struck another human being with your hand?  If so, why?
6. Have you ever struck another human being with an object?  If so, why?
7. Does someone inside your head talk to you now and again?  If so, what does he/she talk about?
8. Do you have a gun lock or locker in which you swear, under penalty of a minimum $20,000 fine and ten years in prison, any and all of your firearms will be kept under lock when not on your person?
9. Do you accept full responsibility for the safety of your weapons, including keeping your weapons out of the hands of anyone under age 18, mentally impaired, and/or under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, including yourself, subject to the penalties outlined in question # 8?

I am sure there are more questions that need to be asked of people wanting to carry a gun.  The questions asked now may keep felons from purchasing guns from licensed dealers, but they do not keep a man or woman with anger issues unarmed.  They are the ones I worry about every time I hear a loud argument anywhere in the United States.