California Death Penalty

The AP reported today, “A former Charles Manson follower imprisoned for 40 years in a double murder engineered by Manson won a recommendation of parole Thursday in his 27th appearance before a parole board panel.”

The man, Bruce Davis, convicted with Manson and another man in the killings of a musician and a stuntman is one of a group of the Manson family of mad dog killers.

He has been in prison since 1972 and is now 70 years old. Had there been a death penalty in place that year he would have spent his life on California’s “death row.” The chances are he would not have been put to death. The last person was executed in 2006. There are now over 700 people on California’s “death row.”

Proposition 34 in the November ballot “ Repeals death penalty as maximum punishment for persons found guilty of murder and replaces it with life imprisonment without possibility of parole.” That is the wording of the State Attorney General in the official summary.

The summary goes on to say that the current costs associated with those sentenced to death amounts to $100 million a year. It likely to rise to $130 million in the not too distant future.

My question is what are the chances that people like the Manson Family clan can receive recommendations for parole?

There was the madman who killed two teenage girls in San Diego County just a few years ago. He admitted to the crime and to avoid a trial was sentenced to life without possibility of parole. Really?

If Bruce Davis can receive such a recommendation then why not Sirhan Sirhan? Why not the Hillside Stranglers (Cousins Angelo Buono and Kenneth Bianchi enjoyed killing Los Angeles women just for the thrill that they experienced during the process of torture and murder.) ?

It’s not your problem until it’s someone in your family!

Vote Yes on California Proposition 30

Californians are spoiled and selfish. They cry about their high taxes without considering the consequences. Two significant results of the no additional taxes is the condition of our schools and highways. California is rated 47^th in the country in quality of schools and highways are mediocre at best. Consider the general property tax rate in New Jersey. Their rate is .03758 according to that state’s web site. The result is that taxes on a home with an assessed value of $150,000 are $5,637. There is no Proposition 13 control on increasing the appraised value. Thus my home has an increased value of just over 50% in the past 33 years. The actual market value of the home increased by 6 times before the 2008 crash.

You might argue that we have higher sales tax rates but here are the rates in various major cities throughout the country

Birmingham, AL 10.0%

Chicago, IL 9.75%

Seattle, WA 9.5%

Los Angeles 8.75%

San Francisco 8.5%

NYC 8.5%

Las Vegas, NV 8.1%

Philadelphia 8.0%

San Diego 7.75%

Boston 6.25%

A loaf of Bread cost 9 cents in 1938. My parents bought their first home in 1949 for $12,500. Today Zillow values the house at about $375,000. We simply can’t get our heads wrapped around the fact that everything costs more today. That includes the cost of government.

Government Lies to the Public Won’t Protect Mistakes

Does our government believe the people are stupid?

U.N. Ambassador, Susan Rice, went to every Sunday morning TV talk show on September 16 to tell viewers and the hosts that the attack on the Benghazi, Libya consulate was not a premeditated act of terrorists but was simply an over zealous group of protesters. I did not believe her contentions.

Machine guns and RPGs were focused directly at that building in Benghazi and the terrorists followed the staff to a secondary facility over a mile away and continued firing their weapons. It just did not sound like an unplanned demonstration.

Finally today CNN reports, “The U.S. intelligence community has revised its assessment of the deadly attack on the American consulate in Libya, saying it now believes it was a deliberate terrorist assault.”

“At every turn Ambassador Rice provided — and said she was providing — the best information and the best assessment that the administration had at the time, based on what was provided to Ambassador Rice and other senior U.S. officials by the U.S. intelligence community.”

I cannot fathom the purpose of Rice’s appearance on all those TV programs. Had she said “we do not know enough to conclude that the attack was conducted be a terrorist group and more information needs to be obtained.” That would have been sufficient. Instead her insistence that the attack was not conducted by a terrorist group makes her look like someone who was trying to mislead the public. The administration’s sloppy handling of this event will bring on a congressional investigation.

My guess is that the administration is trying to cover up an error in judgment somewhere in the government. Someone is being protected!

Where is the American Vision?

The United States provided the motivation to build a trans-continental railroad system. Then we went on to build the Panama Canal. We built the U.S. highway system and then went on to build the interstate super highway system. This is the nation that set the standards for acceptable aircraft safety design that became the standard for the world. While that was going on we landed a man on the moon (more than once!). It was American technology that created the computer age and higher productivity for everyone.

Then something happened. We started fighting among ourselves about how the government should function. We now argue about private matters relating to abortion, inter-marriage, and other personal behaviors that really are not the responsibility of government.

The president’s vision for America is providing a climate where everyone can succeed. His opponent vision is “freedom.” Are those visions for where the nation should go in the decade ahead? They are not my idea of a “vision.”

I want a vision on the order of JFK’s putting a man on the moon.

The infrastructure on the United States is falling apart. We are no longer the leading nation in education. Unemployment is really about 15% of the adult population. 47 million people are on food stamps or other financial aid. Trade unions are fighting over the remains of government and private enterprise as the middle class of America dissolves.

There is no evidence that either Obama or Romney have the skills to bring this nation together. Reince Priebus, Chairman of the Republican National Committee, appearing on This Week on ABC said the GOP Plan Has ‘Specifics Coming Out Of Our Eyeballs’ but the ideas are all about cutting the size of government. The details have never been spelled out. There is no talk about a vision or a plan to re-build the nation. This feels like we are adrift. This feels like a ship without a rudder.

How can these two men hold themselves out as worthwhile leaders? When I vote on November 6, I will stamp the ballot with one hand while holding my nose with the other.

Los Angeles Pension Reform Proposal

Here is a proposal I can enthusiastically support for the city of Los Angeles. The proposal was sent out from Councilman Mitchell Englander’s office.

The Pension Reform Package comes before the City Council next week. To see the LA Times story, click here.

The Basics of the Pension Reform Proposal

1. Moving the retirement ages up from 55 to 65 years to reflect trends that people are living longer and able to work longer.
2. Capping the maximum retirement allowance at 75% of an employee’s final compensation instead of up to 100%.
3. Eliminating pension spiking by setting an employee’s pension on a 3-year salary average rather than one year.

4. Modifying disability retirement benefits to avoid spikes in the number of disability retirements.

5. Eliminating the current 50% survivor continuance benefit and providing employees with an option to purchase a continuance for their surviving spouse or domestic partner.

6. Capping future retiree annual cost-of-living adjustments to 2% with the option for the employee to purchase up to 3%.

7. Controlling retiree healthcare costs by limiting the benefit to retirees only, not their dependents.

Romney Didn’t Make the Sale

Larry Kudlow, Finance guru and TV host on CNBC, says so!

You have probably seen Larry Kudlow on television. He is a well educated and well spoken finance expert that is hard to ignore. He is the opposite of Jim Cramer. Mr. Kudlow provides his own opinion along with interviews with many really smart guests. Kudlow’s doubts are my doubts.

In summary here is the gist of his post on townhall.com.

Did Mitt Romney make the economic sale at the Republican National Convention? Did he convince people who are living at the margin or unemployed and discouraged that he has the answers to the economy? Frankly, I don’t think so.

he (Mitt Romney) did not talk about his 20 percent across-the-board personal tax cut plan that would help the middle class enormously. He never mentioned it, and he went into no detail on the business tax cut plan.

He talked about a jobs tour. I frankly have no idea what a “jobs tour” is.

I didn’t hear anything new. I didn’t hear anything specific, and it troubles me.

ON BIG BUSINESS: I think he needs to be more specific. It’s not about big business — it’s really about small business.

Special Income Tax Rates for the Very Wealthy

Everyone should be taxed at the same rate. There should be no deductions or allowances for any thing!

Steve Rattner, President Barack Obama’s former car czar, appeared on Fareed Zakaria’s GPS a few week ago. (Steven Rattner is Chairman of Willett Advisors LLC, the investment arm for New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s personal and philanthropic assets.) Mr. Rattner said that one of the reasons Mitt Romney won’t release his income tax returns is his legal but highly unusual asset protection.

Romney has a $100 million IRA and off shore accounts that avoid US income tax. Rattner pointed out that many rich people pay income tax at the 35% rate while there is a group that pay at the much lower rates. Rattner said he didn’t think the American people would be too happy with this situation. I certainly am not happy!

There is always going to be a very rich part of this society. I don’t know the reason but it was confirmed by Vilfredo Pareto (15 July 1848 – 19 August 1923). He made several important contributions to economics, particularly in the study of income distribution and in the analysis of individuals’ choices. The Pareto principle was named after him and built on observations of his such as that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population. Today in the USA 85% of America’s wealth is owned by 20% of the population (quite close to Pareto’s 80-20 theory).

What I do not accept is the idea that the wealthiest among us pay 15% in income taxes.

This is nothing about Jealously. This is about fairness.

There is no question that rich people spend more money on stuff. The question is: Should rich people whose earnings are the result of investments be taxed on their income at 15% (or less if Paul Ryan has his way) than people whose earnings are based upon a salary?

Personally I believe everyone should pay income taxes at the same graduated rate no matter what the source of the income. No one should be given any allowances or deductions for ANYTHING. You want a wife, more kids – go for it – just don’t expect any help from the government.

America’s Love of Guns

No one is concerned about the consequences of allowing everyone to own multiple weapons even those who are not fit psychologically, mentally, or physically to handle the responsibility.

It wasn’t too long ago that Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was the target of an attack by a deranged gunman. Everyone remembers the tragedy at Columbine High School in Littlerock, Colorado. Now 71 people are killed or wounded by another madman. Still no one says, “Enough.” The American Bar Association posts on its website “The rate of death from firearms in the United States is eight times higher than that in its economic counterparts in other parts of the world.” Bowing down to the Second Amendment and the NRA is an inexplicable behavior.

The Constitution was written in 1787. What were the weapons of 1776 and still in use in 1787? Artillery and Gun boats??? Wrong!!! The historically correct answer is: Flintlock pistols and Flintlock Muskets.

There were no cars, no telephones and no railroads. The industrial revolution was not even an idea. So today in the 21st century we hold this document, the Constitution, as if it was handed down by Moses. Unless you think the country will be the victim of a new king or a dictator what exactly is the purpose of the Second Amendment? Precisely why would anyone need to own 2 Glock pistols, a semi-automatic rifle, a shot-gun and 6,000 rounds of ammunition? Well, there might be a reason – you want to kill a theater full of people for no particular reason.

Can Anyone Fix This Economy?

Read Mitt’s plan then read Barack’s plan. If it’s “the economy stupid” then where is the plan to set the nation on a course to recovery?

The number of new employees added to the job payrolls has been less than breathtaking. With 5 million long term unemployed is anything other than low pay service sector jobs going to be created in the coming years? The number of new June jobs is 80,000. The unemployment rate remains at 8.2% for a second straight month. That is less than the number required to keep pace with our growing population according to most economists. Perhaps the better question to ask is what are the plans of the two candidates for president?

From Mitt Romney’s campaign web site.

Mitt’s Plan

Mitt Romney sees two important objectives that America can pursue immediately to build on the extraordinary traditional strengths of its workforce. The first is to retrain American workers to ensure that they have the education and skills to match the jobs of today’s economy. The second is to attract the best and the brightest from around the world.

Retraining Workers

Mitt Romney will approach retraining policy with a conservative mindset that recognizes it as an area where the federal government is particularly ill-equipped to succeed. Retraining efforts must be founded upon a partnership that brings together the states and the private sector. The sprawling federal network of redundant bureaucracies should be dismantled and the funds used for better purposes. One particularly promising approach that Romney supports and believes states should be encouraged to pursue is a system of Personal Reemployment Accounts for unemployed individuals. These accounts would facilitate programs that place individuals directly into companies that provide on-the-job training—as governor of Massachusetts, Romney helped create just such a program.

Eliminate redundancy in federal retraining programs by consolidating programs and funding streams, centering as much activity as possible in a single agency
Give states authority to manage retraining programs by block granting federal funds
Facilitate the creation of Personal Reemployment Accounts
Encourage greater private sector involvement in retraining programs

Attracting the Best and the Brightest

To ensure that America continues to lead the world in innovation and economic dynamism, a Romney administration would press for an immigration policy designed to maximize America’s economic potential. The United States needs to attract and retain job creators from wherever they come. Foreign-born residents with advanced degrees start companies, create jobs, and drive innovation at an especially high rate. While lawful immigrants comprise about 8 percent of the population, immigrants start 16 percent of our top-performing, high-technology companies, hold the position of CEO or lead engineer in 25 percent of high-tech firms, and produce over 25 percent of all patent applications filed from the United States.

Raise visa caps for highly skilled workers
Grant permanent residency to eligible graduates with advanced degrees in math, science, and engineering

Barack Obama jobs plan is not posted on his campaign web site. Instead his site points to the growth of jobs and offers these successes and plans.

Barack’s Plan

 489,000: Jobs added in the manufacturing sector since January 2010

 233,000: Jobs added in the auto industry since June 2009—the most growth in a decade

 100%: The percent of investment in plants and equipment that businesses could expense under a tax cut extension President Obama proposed, which would spur investment in the United States

 18%: Tax deduction President Obama has proposed for domestic advanced manufacturing technologies—which would double the current 9 percent deduction

 20%: Income tax credit the President has proposed providing to companies on expenses related to moving operations back to the United States

Neither candidate offers any idea to re-employ those middle class wage earners that have faced a devastatingly long unemployment period. As matter of fact no one has offered one sensible plan. If Mitt Romney believes that the independent voters will elect him to office by just saying Obama has failed to re-invigorate the economy he is not likely to gain my support. He should not gain your support either. Vague references to re-training programs when the there are no growing industries are not enough.

If my choice is between just another face and no plan then I will vote for Obama. At least he has the experience that no other job in the world can provide. Then again why should I vote for a leader who has not been able to change our course?