Religious Convictions Almost Criminal

The farce that is the Republican primary election seems to revolve around who is the most Christian. What pompous arrogance to presume that Christianity has a monopoly on virtue.

It took us until 1960 to elect a Catholic president and 2008 to elect a non-white. Next major milestone: electing a woman. (Elizabeth Warren, anyone?) But we will not truly stamp ourselves as a country of genuinely equal opportunity for all until we elect a Jew or a Buddhist or an openly-avowed, self-proclaimed Muslim or, even better yet, an atheist/agnostic.

Alas: our presidential candidates must still pass the religious litmus test. In that regard, we are little better than the Middle East religious theocracies we so roundly criticize. Pick your poison.

As Andy Borowitz said about Rick Santorum, "You are running for President. The position of Spanish Inquisitor is no longer available."

Repelling a Tax

I fail to understand how Herman Cain's whine-whine-whine proposal would hold much appeal. It diminishes the most progressive tax (i.e., the graduated income tax) and imposes yet another regressive tax (i.e., a national sales tax).

And for businesses, how many auto manufacturers and car dealers will be thrilled to see what was once a $20,000 automobile suddenly escalate to $21,800? That will certainly impact sales of price-sensitive goods, especially in an already struggling economy.

I normally applaud efforts to simplify the tax code. My parents lived in Pennsylvania, so when I was stationed overseas in the Navy, I claimed PA as my home state. I don't know how it is now, but back then the tax form was the size of an old IBM punch card. It took 10-15 minutes to complete, and only that long because I kept stopping in amazement. I strongly favor simplification of the federal tax code as well, but Cain's formula is horribly misguided: lopsided in favor of businesses while tilted heavily against ordinary wage-earners.

First and foremost, however, we must stop using tax policies for social engineering. For example, in the early 80's, Congress passed a tax law encouraging construction. Builders cranked out new buildings solely to capitalize on those tax breaks, not because there was any market for those building. Houston and other cities wound up with vast inventories of unoccupied office buildings all because of a misguided tax statute. The law of unintended consequences is one law Congress cannot repeal and too often promotes.

We should strive to create an environment where businesses pursue projects based entirely on their own merits, not skewed by the distorted lenses of tax inducements. I as a homeowner would willingly surrender my home mortgage tax deduction if it led to a simpler, more equitable tax structure with no business loopholes. Instead, every February-April we create a cottage industry of tax preparers. We need to stop this foolishness now.

Taxing My Patience

Republicans habitually moan and groan, then weep and wail about getting big (federal) government off our backs because small state and local governments can do things better. Apparently not in Virginia.

This year, Virginia has abandoned the previous single on-line tax filing system called iFile that worked splendidly. In its stead, Virginia has now adopted a hodgepodge of not one, not two, but six different systems, and all six have totally different eligibility requirements.

For example, users who have already filed their federal tax returns are prohibited from using three of the six options. And for the three that they are allowed to use, they have to enter their federal data all over again. Even worse, people between the ages of 58 and 65 with incomes over $58,000 do not qualify for any of the six options!

The Virginia Department of Taxation's web site has the audacity to exhort users: "Find out more about this exciting new program...." What hogwash! I called the Virginia Department of Taxation to find out the rationale behind this change. The representative could only spout the standard line that the legislature passed the bill and the governor signed it, adding only that it was an attempt to emulate the federal on-line filing system.

Unfortunately, Virginia seems to have overlooked one major element: the federal system includes a program called Free File Fillable Forms which allows everyone to file electronically with no restrictions on age, income, or anything else. Where is Virginia's equivalent? Missing in action. Oops!

I have been filing electronically for several years now, but no more. This year, I am no longer eligible for any of the free programs, and I refuse to pay a fee just for the "privilege" of filing electronically. Instead, I am now driven to revert to paper where the only "fee" is a 44-cent postage stamp. I guess that this is supposed to be someone's distorted idea of progress, but in reality it represents a huge step backwards.

Virginia's legislature has created a patchwork crazy-quilt "system" that lacks the redeeming feature of an all-inclusive option akin to the federal Free File Fillable Forms. It also excludes a substantial portion of the population and thus has the perverse effect of discouraging electronic filing for those people.

In short, Virginia has managed to incorporate the worst elements of the federal program while excluding the single best feature. So tell me again, Republicans, exactly how state governments are so much better?

[Postscript: I e-mailed the essential contents of this article to both my state senator and my representative to the House of Delegates asking them to please address the flaws in the system. Both legislators and their respective staffs declined even to reply. Apparently in the eyes of Republicans, if you are not a fat-cat businessman laden with cash contributions, you do not merit a response.

At the very least, this scenario provides just another example that belies the Republican shibboleth that small government is responsive government.]

[Post Postscript: Will wonders never cease! I just checked the Virginia Department of Taxation web site to download tax forms for 2011. In the instruction manual, on the first page after the title page, the third paragraph reads as follows:

Free File Fillable Virginia Forms (New e-File option) - Online versions of the Virginia resident return and schedules that allow you to enter tax information just as you would if you were completing a paper form and then submit the return electronically through e-File.

Eureka! This year, it appears that Virginia will provide free file fillable forms just like the federal government has offered for years. It took Virginia at least a year longer than it should have, but better late than never, I guess.] [Added 8 January 2012]

Who Elected You President???

"This is what being president of the United States is all about. It's these tough, huge, monumental decisions… It's in a time of crisis making these executive decisions. It's just like our job… It's the same thing as being president of the United States."
— "Fox and Friends" co-host Gretchen Carlson

Boy, talk about an inflated sense of self-worth!

Quotations in the News

Be careful what you wish for:

"Glenn's like the high school government teacher so many wish they'd had."
-- Sarah Palin

"Please, America, take this man for what he says.…Read Mein Kampf."
-- Glenn Beck on Obama

"Is this where we're headed?"
-- Beck, showing photos of Hitler, Stalin and Lenin

Who in their right mind ever wished they'd had a radical, right-wing emotional basket case for their high school government teacher???

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In over his head:

"It's a relatively small leak compared to the volume of water in the Gulf.… Come on, this is America, there will be frivolous lawsuits."
-- BP CEO Tony Hayward

As Fox News anchor Shep Smith admonished, "At least act like you care."

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Tone deaf:

"When do we ask the Sierra Club to pick up the tab for this leak? Everybody's focused on BP and Halliburton and Transocean.…The greeniacs have been driving our oil producers off the land."
-- Rush Limbaugh

Wasn't Rush supposed to move to Costa Rica? Whenever he goes, it won't be soon enough.

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Real Americans:

"[Elena Kagan has] no clue how real Americans live."
-- Rush Limbaugh

And the loudmouth blowhard Rush Limbaugh certainly does, what with his 37-million-dollar-per-year salary and his 13-million-dollar New York City penthouse. On second thought, he has been married and divorced three times (family values, anyone?) and was addicted to prescription drugs (after speaking forcefully on his show that drug abusers should be sent to jail, no less), so maybe he does share a common bond after all.

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Source for all quotations: Doonesbury@Slate - Daily Dose dated 15-20 May 2010

Oxymoronic

The term postal service has become an oxymoron along the lines of military intelligence, congressional ethics, rap music, and Microsoft Works.

Recently, the U.S. Postal Service announced that it would cut Saturday delivery beginning in the first half of next year (2011). I say, Why stop there? I accept that businesses might require more frequent delivery than residential customers, but I would not mind if home delivery were reduced to three days per week (Monday-Wednesday-Friday or Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday) or even two days per week (Monday-Thursday or Tuesday-Friday).

In fact, I am trying to eliminate the post office from my life altogether. A few years ago, my magazine subscriptions were arriving ridiculously late every week. I confirmed that the magazine publishers were sending their periodicals out in a timely manner: I would stop by our local library to verify that they had the current issue, but days—and sometimes a full week or more—would pass before I would receive my copy. It turns out that our local mail carrier was sorting mail by house number only, completely ignoring the street, neighborhood, and family names. As a result, our mail was frequently misdelivered to another house with the same street number but with totally different street and family names in a completely different neighborhood. And of course, several times a week we would receive mail that was intended for that family.

When I originally reported my problems to our local post office, the supervisor told me that the postal service would take action only if I failed to receive my subscriptions for four consecutive weeks! Late delivery was not worth investigating, nor apparently was non-receipt for one, two, or three weeks.

In response to that inept delivery service and unresponsive management, I eventually allowed all of my periodical subscriptions to expire. In addition, I now pay almost all of my bills electronically via the internet so that I no longer have to rely on home postal delivery. I still occasionally have to mail bill payments to some of the smaller companies we deal with who do not have an internet presence (e.g., family physician, dentist, and trash collector), but I am able to pay the vast majority of regular, recurring bills on-line (water, gas, electricity, local telephone, long distance telephone, and credit cards).

Furthermore, to save additional money, I encourage the postal service to close as many facilities as they want. I cannot even remember the last time I visited a post office. I now buy a book of stamps about once every 18 months or so, and even then I buy it at Wal-Mart along with my groceries, not at a post office. And, of course, to mail packages, there is always Federal Express or UPS.

And all of that still does not go far enough. I heartily favor do-not-mail legislation that would prohibit delivery of unwanted second class (read "junk") mail to everyone who registers just like the current do-not-call law prohibits unsolicited marketing telephone calls. Yes, the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) offers a similar service, but that applies only to DMA members who voluntarily comply, does not carry the force of law, and is therefore just not good enough. Amazingly, only about 12 states have even attempted to pass such legislation, and none have succeeded.

On its web site, the DMA pleads, We need your...commitment to this fight to keep the mail channel open. Gag me with the proverbial spoon!

[Postscript: In fairness to the post office, I should note that our old mail carrier has died, and our new carrier sorts mail by family name, not street number. Our family name is uncommon enough that I am confident that we are the only family with that surname on our mail carrier's entire route. Indeed, the occurrence of misdelivered letters to our house has virtually stopped altogether. On the other hand, we have families named Edwards and Williams living further down the street who might not be so enamored with the new system.]

Richard Dawkins Revisited

In response to my earlier posting about Richard Dawkins, I received a comment from one reader that I initially relegated to the trash bin. Upon further reflection, however, I decided that it merits a response.

The reader Jonolan wrote: Dawkins is one of the Godless; why would any true human allow it [sic] a public forum?

Well, how's that for a tolerant, enlightened attitude? Atheists (and presumably agnostics, too) should be denied a forum, and anyone who provides them with one cannot be a true human. The reader does not state his own religious preference, but no matter: I remain wary of anyone who wears their religion on their sleeve.

In any case, spare me your sanctimonious righteousness, dear reader. Ardent religionists have perpetrated as much evil as any other class of miscreant. From the Crusades to the Inquisition to the Protestant-Catholic strife in Northern Ireland to Al-Qaeda, religious extremism has wreaked havoc throughout history. We in the United States are certainly not exempt: the Ku Klux Klan, the Aryan Nation, and misguided individuals like Timothy McVeigh all claimed to be doing God's work. What hogwash. I would much prefer to deal with the likes of Richard Dawkins or Sam Harris any day.

I never cease to be amazed at the arrogance of religious zealots who maintain that their particular religion has a monopoly on truth and—by extension—virtue, and that all non-believers should therefore be silenced or—better yet—eliminated altogether.

On second thought, maybe I do share that last sentiment after all: perhaps intolerant extremists of all types should be (in no particular order) keelhauled, drawn-and-quartered, hanged, and shot. As Jon Lovitz so famously said on Saturday Night Live, Yeah! That's the ticket!

Richard Dawkins on Pope Benedict XVI

The following interview with Richard Dawkins took place on 28 March 2010:

Should Pope Benedict XVI be held responsible for the escalating scandals over clerical sexual abuse in Europe?

Yes he should, and it's going to escalate a lot further, as more and more victims break through the guilt of their childhood indoctrination and come forward.

Should he be investigated for how cases of abuse were handled under his watch as archbishop of Munich or as the Vatican's chief doctrinal enforcer?

Yes, of course he should. This former head of the Inquisition should be arrested the moment he dares to set foot outside his tinpot fiefdom of the Vatican, and he should be tried in an appropriate civil - not ecclesiastical - court. That's what should happen. Sadly, we all know our faith-befuddled governments will be too craven to do it.

Should the pope resign?

No. As the College of Cardinals must have recognized when they elected him, he is perfectly - ideally - qualified to lead the Roman Catholic Church. A leering old villain in a frock, who spent decades conspiring behind closed doors for the position he now holds; a man who believes he is infallible and acts the part; a man whose preaching of scientific falsehood is responsible for the deaths of countless AIDS victims in Africa; a man whose first instinct when his priests are caught with their pants down is to cover up the scandal and damn the young victims to silence: in short, exactly the right man for the job. He should not resign, moreover, because he is perfectly positioned to accelerate the downfall of the evil, corrupt organization whose character he fits like a glove, and of which he is the absolute and historically appropriate monarch.

No, Pope Ratzinger should not resign. He should remain in charge of the whole rotten edifice - the whole profiteering, woman-fearing, guilt-gorging, truth-hating, child-raping institution - while it tumbles, amid a stench of incense and a rain of tourist-kitsch sacred hearts and preposterously crowned virgins, about his ears.

Yikes! Isn't it frustrating when someone is just too shy to say what he really thinks?

Truer words were never spoken

I could give a flying crap about the political process... We're an entertainment company. —Glenn Beck, Forbes Magazine dated April 26, 2010

Perhaps the only true words Glenn Beck has ever spoken.

Oh, you poor fellows...

In February, Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele, while debating a proposed tax increase for people making over $250,000 per year, said that "after taxes, a million dollars is not a lot of money." Steele made the comment in Little Rock during a debate against Democrat Harold Ford Jr., then a potential New York Senate candidate. (Steele is not the only out-of-touch-with-reality Republican: radio host Rush Limbaugh—who reportedly makes about $50 million a year—also recently argued that "$250,000 is not wealthy.")

Forget the lavish Republican "strategy session" in Hawaii in January. (As John McCain himself once asked, whatever happened to the Republicans as the party of fiscal responsibility?) Forget the Republican financing of a party at a lesbian bondage night club in California. (Can you say "family values?") Mr. Steele's statement breaks new ground as the epitome of arrogant insensitivity, coming as it does when unemployment nation-wide is hovering near 10%. For workers earning the median salary in this country, it would take 20 years to earn a million dollars before taxes, assuming they could even hold a job for that duration. Shed no crocodile tears for Mr. Steele or Mr. Limbaugh.

The only other organization that is so out of touch with ordinary citizens is the Catholic church. (On second thought, maybe the church is a little too much in touch!) "Holy Father, the people of God are with you and will not let themselves be influenced by the petty gossip of the moment..." Cardinal Angelo Sodano said recently while "defending" the pope. With friends like that, who needs enemies? How can Cardinal Sodano have the audacity to dismiss reports of hundreds if not thousands of documented cases of child abuse by Catholic priests as mere "petty gossip"???

Both the Republican hierarchy and the church hierarchy just don't get it. A pox on both their houses...

Bon Voyage!

On his radio show last month, Rush Limbaugh threatened to leave the country if the Health Care Reform Act (HCRA) was passed by Congress. “I’ll just tell you this, if this passes and it’s five years from now and all that stuff gets implemented — I am leaving the country. I’ll go to Costa Rica,” he said.

Well, the Health Care Reform Act did eventually pass, so we can only hope that Rush will let us all know when and where his departure flight is scheduled. Millions of us will be delighted to see him off!