MORE RAMBLINGS AND RANDOM THOUGHTS

Did you know that over this past weekend the French Supreme Court threw out the 75% income tax levied by France’s new Socialist Government just a few weeks ago? It was ruled to be unconstitutional. Some interesting facts about the tax increase. First it would only have affected about 1500 people. Those would be the ones earning over one million euros a year. Several of those top earners have already moved themselves and/or their assets out of France as any thinking person would do. England published a letter inviting the tax refugees to live in Great Britain. President Hollande’s new government now is saying the amount of actual money the tax increase would have generated would have been negligible anyway. What? You mean all this nonsense over an amount which would have been negligible anyway? California, Illinois, and yes Washington DC, are you paying attention?

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been hospitalized for a blood clot. She so far has ducked the Congressional inquiry regarding Benghazi because of her fall and subsequent concussion. Now she has a different excuse. Some have proffered that this is all phony baloney and that all that is happening is her attempt to get out of testifying. What do you think? Of course there are those who criticize the accusers for questioning Hillary’s integrity. Personally, I think most political figures deserve our skepticism. Most of them are just not credible. Like Fox News, I report, you decide.

As of this writing no deal has been reached concerning the “fiscal cliff.” I believe something will be done but I do not believe it will be a solution. It will instead be another exercise in can kicking down the road. As far as I am concerned we deserve the type of government we have elected. If I were serving this nation in Congress, I would favor giving the Democrats anything and everything they asked for, thereby making the ensuing failure in our economy their problem. Fiscal responsibility is something that can only be learned when someone has hit the bottom. When that bottom has been reached, recovery could happen but only with sane, responsible, economic decisions. That would pronounce the end of the modern Democrat Party. Maybe then sound, intelligent, Democrats would return to that party and revive it as a viable force in the success of this country. That would not be good news for Pelosi, Reid, et.al., however.

On another subject, there has been a lot of conversation recently about concussions in football, both professional and college. Players are launching themselves and making helmet to helmet contact. The result has been an increase in serious injury and concussions. I have two simple answers. Number one, either remove the helmets from all the players or arrest any offender for assault who does it. I guarantee the illegal contact would end, period.

I am writing this essay on the final day of 2012. Tomorrow begins a new year and in some respects a new beginning. I believe it is the beginning of the end of liberalism. It is obvious that we cannot continue to support the massive unfunded liabilities conferred on us by our past and present spend happy Congresses. We either stop it now and turn around or we go over a real cliff. Unlike Greece, there will be no one there to bail us out. Sadly the rest of the world will also suffer, and in some cases irreparable harm, by our economic failure.

I, therefore, choose to believe we will come to our senses and take hold of this runaway government and bring it back to its proper place. It is clear to me that failure is just not an option.

Ron Scarbro