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Showing posts from December, 2017

Why the Deficit Doesn’t Matter

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Will the new tax cuts raise the federal deficit?  The hand-wringing liberals seem to think so.  And that is the only remaining argument they have against the Trump tax cuts.   That is because virtually all American socio-economic groups benefit financially from the cuts.  All Americans will keep more of their hard-earned dollars for themselves, even the liberals.  So there is really no substantive argument to oppose the tax cut legislation, from anybody…well, except of course for that pesky deficit. Now it is no foregone conclusion that the deficit will rise anyway.  But in the minds of the nay-sayers, life is a zero-sum game, pitting the “haves” against the “have-nots.”  In their world, even if they benefit from a tax cut, if another perhaps wealthier group, benefits as well, that’s bad.  In their world, all tax cut benefits should accrue to them and them only, even if they don’t pay taxes.  Under this plan, the typical family of four earning the median family income of $73,000 wi

Judge Moore, Correcting the Record

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Judge Roy Moore is the last senator the establishment wanted, the last senator the left wanted, the last senator the libertarians wanted.  Obviously, Judge Roy Moore is even the last senator many fair-minded, Alabama conservatives wanted, confused by all they heard.  This column is for those fair-minded conservatives among us who have been misinformed, disinformed and confused by the media coverage of Judge Moore.  You should know the truth.  So let’s look at what you were told. Moore’s detractors and the media claim he was thrown off the high bench for refusing to respect the US Constitution by disregarding a federal order to remove a replica of the Ten Commandments from the Alabama Supreme Court Building.  But there is another side to that story.  Judge Moore knows the federal Courts derive powers from Article III of the US Constitution. He also knows those powers only extend to matters of federal law subject to those tendered under the Constitution, including disputes over the B

Georgia People’s Interests Restoration Act

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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To enact Chapter 25 under Title 15 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to state government, so as to provide for the restoration and preservation of the people’s interests above all others; to provide for legislative findings and purposes; to provide for limiting the scope and authority of Georgia courts and courts under the jurisdiction of Georgia to those authorized as prescribed under the Constitution of the State of Georgia;  to provide for limiting the scope and authority of United States courts and courts under the jurisdiction of the United States to those authorized as prescribed under the Constitution of the United States; to provide for definitions; to provide for a short title; to provide for an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA: SECTION 1. This Act shall be known and may be cited as the "Georgia People’s Interests Restoration Act.&

RFRA Doesn’t Do the Job

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After last year’s Georgia General Assembly, Governor Deal vetoed the Religious Freedom Act (RFRA) passed by both Houses. I wrote at the time, “Fine, good for you Mr. Governor.” I wrote that not because I am against the peaceful exercise of religion, but because in the final analysis that bill does nothing to prevent the government from stepping once again where it has no authority, and infringing on religious freedoms already protected under the 1st Amendment. RFRA is not legislation constructed to somehow enforce the 1st Amendment.  RFRA merely seeks to minimize the degree to which the government might assert powers it does not possess and thus continue violating the 1st Amendment.  At the federal level, the 1st Amendment is clear, “Congress shall make no law infringing the free exercise of religion.”  What part of “make no law” do the federal courts not understand? And if Congress “shall make no law,” then what law might the federal courts interpret in order to restrict religious

Tisdale Lesson, Submit or Else

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Nydia Tisdale During Recent Trial I had never been to a criminal trial before. But because I know Nydia Tisdale and am interested in her case, I attended numerous hours of her trial, spanning five days of testimony which concluded this past Monday in Dawsonville.  Later that evening, after four hours of deliberating, the jury concluded, and justifiably so, that Nydia Tisdale committed no crime for which she deserved to be arrested.  In the same breath, however, they convicted her for misdemeanor obstruction for resisting arrest.  So let’s see if we can wrap our minds around this.  According to the jury, Nydia Tisdale did nothing to deserve being arrested, yet she was arrested anyway.  And during the arrest for which she had done nothing wrong, she resisted the officer in some minor fashion, but enough to earn her a misdemeanor conviction.  Now who among us would not in the very least question why we might be arrested when all we are doing is sitting quietly, peaceably engaged in

Trump Is His Own Code Talker

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Trump with WWII Navajo Code Talkers So this week, President Trump honored the Navajo nation, and in particular three Navajo World War II veteran “Code Talkers.”  If you never heard the term, during the War in the Pacific, 400 or so Navajos were assigned to use their extremely indistinguishable language to communicate vital battle information to and from command and control centers of the various island campaigns.  Neither the Japanese nor the American soldiers or Marines understood the language.  American commanders could therefore send radio messages with impunity, understanding that no one, especially the enemy, would be able to decode them and learn the American battle strategies. To commemorate and store knowledge of the Navajo Code Talker accomplishments during World War II, during their time at the White House the surviving Code Talkers expressed a desire to build a Code Talker Museum, a project which during the ceremony President Trump pledged support. But during his remarks