Editor's Note: Sorry for the delay on this post. I started this the day after the government reopened but large amounts of school work prevented me from coming back and finishing. Also, this is my 50th published post!
After a 16 day partial government shutdown and a flirtation with our nation's debt limit, shortly after midnight Thursday morning, President Obama signed a bill into law that would reopen the government and fund it through Jan. 15, 2014, restore back pay for all furloughed workers and raise the debt ceiling through Feb. 7, 2014. So now that everyone is back to work and things are "normal" again, what have we gotten and where are we going from here?
We still have a law that 57 percent of Americans do not want. A law that spent millions and millions of dollars on a website that doesn't work. A law that is jacking up premiums for Americans in just about every state in the union despite our president's claim that premiums would decrease across the board. In a now infamous statement, President Obama also promised us that if we liked our health plan and our doctor, we could keep them. What a load of garbage! Thousands and thousands of people are having their health plans cancelled every day! A well-known example for Maryland residents came just the other day when Republican Congressional Candidate Dan Bongino (MD-06) received a letter cancelling his private health insurance plan.
Now let's be clear here. As I've said in a previous post, Republicans did not shutdown the government over Obamacare. In fact they couldn't shutdown the government. How can one-half of one-third of the government shut it down? It's not possible. But the media and Democrats want you to think that, even though it was Democrats' refusal to pass any bill the House passed that caused the shutdown and then prolonged it. Republicans pushed first to defund this train wreck of a law, then to delay it and then finally they changed tactics again to at least get rid of the congressional and presidential exemption. And then on Wednesday night they caved in and got none of it. Obamacare is going to fail. Let's just hope America doesn't crash too hard when it does.
In regards to the debt limit and spending, there have been absolutely no changes.Spending levels have been maintained and, in at least one case, boosted by over $2 billion for an Ohio River project that benefits Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R) home state of Kentucky as well as Illinois Democrat Sen. Dick Durbin. Sen. Lamar Alexander's (R) home state of Tennessee is also expected to see a benefit from this funding increase.
Funding the government at essentially current levels and agreeing to raise the debt limit has done nothing for this country other than simply "kick the can" another 12 or so weeks down the road. The ideas Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) mentioned in a Wall Street Journal op-ed about two weeks ago were completely ignored. Reforms to entitlement programs and other government spending are necessary if this country expects to be able to keep paying its bills. The budget must be balanced and hard choices must be made. Those are facts. What's up for debate is this: How painful and hard do we want these choices to be? The longer we wait, the more painful it becomes.
President Obama whines repeatedly to the media and the American people that, as a country, we're lurching from crisis to crisis. Well by signing this "deal" into law last week, he's complicit in that! Since nothing has changed, we're going to be in this exact mess after Christmas and New Year's, facing the potential of another government shutdown and the possibility that members of Congress, facing an election year, will vote to kick the can down the road again. That's dysfunctional. And make no mistake, BOTH parties are to blame for that.
Jimmy Williams
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Putting Partisanship Ahead of the People
Editor's Note: I originally wrote this piece the day the partial government shutdown took effect a little over two weeks ago. Unfortunately I never logged on to actually publish it until this morning. Apologies for the delay and another post will be coming this afternoon about the end of the shutdown.
In Congress Tuesday one party and its leaders put bitter partisan politics ahead of the American people and shut down the government.
In Congress Tuesday one party and its leaders put bitter partisan politics ahead of the American people and shut down the government.
And it wasn’t Republicans.
That’s right, I’m talking about
President Barack Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Minority
Leader Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats.
The sticking point of the failure to
pass any legislation was, as we all probably know, Obamacare. Or, as the
official euphemistic titles goes, the Affordable Care Act.
Retiring Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.)
said Obamacare had the potential to become a “train wreck.” And what a train
wreck it has become. Among numerous other failed promises, President Obama
promised the American people that if we liked our health plans, we could keep
them. That was a lie. Thousands and thousands of people are now having their
health plans dropped under the law.
Obama promised the American people
that healthcare premiums would decrease by $2,500 for a typical family. That
was a lie. Instead, across the country premiums will increase $7,450 for a family of four. In
Maryland, the rate increase could be as high as 83-86 percent. In Tennessee,
reports indicate that rates could increase as much as 190 percent. Read that
again. It’s not a typo. And for Andy and Amy Mangione, a couple living in
Kentucky, health care costs tripled literally overnight, going from $333 to
$965 per month.
Workers who had worked full time
jobs have suddenly found those jobs cuts to 29.5 hours per week or, worse,
these workers have been laid off. The exchanges in the majority of states were not ready for Tuesday's deadline and still aren't working right. Small businesses, the backbone of Main Street
that Obama vowed to protect and restore, can no longer pay the health care costs
they used to pay for their employees. And the list goes on.
Repeated polling has shown that
nearly 60 percent of Americans want to return to the healthcare system we had
in 2009, before Obamacare was forced on the American people. A full seven in
ten Americans now have a problem with some or all of the law. Even unions, the
backbone of Obama’s political machine, have turned on Obamacare.
Seeing all this outrage from the
American people and the disastrous effects Obamacare is having on America
across the board, last week Republicans in the House of Representatives passed
a bill that would fully fund all government operations except Obamacare.
Democrats in the Senate, led by Reid, then voted to strip the defunding measure
from the bill.
So House Republicans compromised. In
the early hours of Sunday morning, the House passed a new bill that would fully
fund the government, repeal the incredibly unpopular excise tax on medical
devices and delay Obamacare for one year. This measure would have been on par
with the wholly unconstitutional executive actions Obama has already taken to
delay and rewrite Obamacare on his own. Except this time it would have been a
legal change.
Republicans showed remarkable
flexibility on this issue. They did not want a government shutdown and they
also knew the American people do not want Obamacare. But when they realized
they would not get Obamacare defunded in the Senate, they instead substituted a
one year delay that would have given both sides some of what they wanted while
keeping the government open.
But alas, it did not happen. Obama,
Reid and Senate Democrats, in an absolutely stunning show of “my way or the
high way” politics, rejected this compromise. With no other legislation in
place, the government shut down.
In choosing to shut down the
government instead of compromising with Republicans, Senate Democrats put
partisan politics and their insane need to cling to a law the American people
do not want ahead of the American people. By taking this action, Democrats on
The Hill have utterly failed the American people. Despite almost assured media
attempts to frame it otherwise, this shutdown rests purely on the shoulders of
President Obama and the Democrats, not Republicans.
I hope Obama and his fellow party
leaders are ready for the 2014 midterm elections because the American people
will be out in force to make them pay for this incompetence.
Jimmy Williams
Jimmy Williams
Thursday, August 1, 2013
If Liberalism Is So Great...
Hi, everyone. To people who regularly check into this blog, and I know there are is a fairly good sized group that does, I apologize for once again being away for so long. I've had serious personal matters to deal with and maintaining my blog has been the absolute farthest thing from my mind for the last 4-5 weeks. But I finally had some time today at my internship to check in. I actually wrote this post about one month ago but then never signed back in to post it. Enjoy:
If Liberalism is so great...how come Social Security and Medicare are going bankrupt? How come SSDI will be broke within 4 years, Medicare by 2023 and the Social Security Trust fund before 2045 or sooner if things keep going the way they are?
If Liberalism is so great...how come 76% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck? How come we have record high numbers of people, over 46 million Americans at last count, on food stamps and over 10 million on disability? How do we as a country still have tens of millions of people out of work four and a half years after our president promised us that, if we just spent nearly $1 trillion, they'd all be back to work by now?
If Liberalism is so great...how come everyone in America gets poorer and poorer as our liberal politicians get richer and richer and assert more and more power? How come the poor people and minorities these politicians act like they want to help are still poor despite these politicians giving them hundreds of millions of our hard-earned dollars?
If Liberalism is so great...how come Chief Executive's 9 of the 10 BEST states (The exception being Nevada) to do business in are controlled by Republicans while 8 of the 10 WORST state to do business in (Michigan and Pennsylvania are the exceptions) are controlled by Democrats? How come George Mason University's Freedom in the 50 States survey puts 9 Republican-controlled and 1 split legislature state (New Hampshire) in the top 10 MOST FREE states while 9 of the 10 LEAST FREE states (Mississippi, at #41) are Democrat-controlled?
If Liberalism is so great...how come people and businesses are fleeing liberal controlled states in huge numbers? Why have nearly 40,000 people, or possibly more by this point, taking people nearly $2 billion with them left Maryland since Gov. Martin O'Malley took office in 2007? How come gun manufacturers and other businesses are leaving liberal, business hostile states like Maryland, New York, Oregon and California for business and job friendly states like Texas and Virginia?
If Liberalism is so great...how come liberal states like Maryland and California have had to raise taxes to back-breaking levels just to barely squeak out a balanced budget while Texas, a booming Republican-led state, just experienced a 2-year budget surplus of nearly $9 billion?
If Liberalism is so great, how come this is all reality? Why are Republicans and Conservatives like Texas Gov. Rick Perry constantly ridiculed and reviled in the media for policies that WORK? Why has America gone from being a superior nation of hard-working makers to a lazy nation of dependent takers? Granted there are still plenty of hard working people left in this country but there are tens of millions content to just sit there and have everything served to them. They think they are entitled. Liberalism makes them think that way. Liberalism? Oh yeah, it's so "great."
Jimmy Williams
If Liberalism is so great...how come Social Security and Medicare are going bankrupt? How come SSDI will be broke within 4 years, Medicare by 2023 and the Social Security Trust fund before 2045 or sooner if things keep going the way they are?
If Liberalism is so great...how come 76% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck? How come we have record high numbers of people, over 46 million Americans at last count, on food stamps and over 10 million on disability? How do we as a country still have tens of millions of people out of work four and a half years after our president promised us that, if we just spent nearly $1 trillion, they'd all be back to work by now?
If Liberalism is so great...how come everyone in America gets poorer and poorer as our liberal politicians get richer and richer and assert more and more power? How come the poor people and minorities these politicians act like they want to help are still poor despite these politicians giving them hundreds of millions of our hard-earned dollars?
If Liberalism is so great...how come Chief Executive's 9 of the 10 BEST states (The exception being Nevada) to do business in are controlled by Republicans while 8 of the 10 WORST state to do business in (Michigan and Pennsylvania are the exceptions) are controlled by Democrats? How come George Mason University's Freedom in the 50 States survey puts 9 Republican-controlled and 1 split legislature state (New Hampshire) in the top 10 MOST FREE states while 9 of the 10 LEAST FREE states (Mississippi, at #41) are Democrat-controlled?
If Liberalism is so great...how come people and businesses are fleeing liberal controlled states in huge numbers? Why have nearly 40,000 people, or possibly more by this point, taking people nearly $2 billion with them left Maryland since Gov. Martin O'Malley took office in 2007? How come gun manufacturers and other businesses are leaving liberal, business hostile states like Maryland, New York, Oregon and California for business and job friendly states like Texas and Virginia?
If Liberalism is so great...how come liberal states like Maryland and California have had to raise taxes to back-breaking levels just to barely squeak out a balanced budget while Texas, a booming Republican-led state, just experienced a 2-year budget surplus of nearly $9 billion?
If Liberalism is so great, how come this is all reality? Why are Republicans and Conservatives like Texas Gov. Rick Perry constantly ridiculed and reviled in the media for policies that WORK? Why has America gone from being a superior nation of hard-working makers to a lazy nation of dependent takers? Granted there are still plenty of hard working people left in this country but there are tens of millions content to just sit there and have everything served to them. They think they are entitled. Liberalism makes them think that way. Liberalism? Oh yeah, it's so "great."
Jimmy Williams
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Happy Tax of July, Maryland!
Well, it's now July 1st. Usually that doesn't mean much other than July 4th is just 3 days away and if you haven't started planning your Independence Day events yet then you better get on it.
But for Marylanders, July 1st of this year means taxes, taxes and more taxes. The first phase of the higher gas tax takes effect today, which means you'll now be paying approximately 4 cents more for a gallon of gas ultimately on the way up to around 16 cents or more per gallon by the time the full tax takes effect in a couple years. By 2016, it is estimated that the gas tax will be 62.5 cents per gallon, up from around 25 cents per gallon last week. 62.5 cents. If you average 10 gallons per fill-up (But for many it's more than that), that's $6.25 per fill-up. Even if you only stop for gas once every 2 weeks (And many stop much more frequently than that), that's $162.50 out of your pocket every year just on gas taxes. And that's most likely on the low end! For married couples, how many less date nights does that represent? For kids, how many video games will you no longer be able to get? How many fewer Orioles games will you be able to attend? The list of examples goes on and on.
But it gets worse than that. The tax, obviously, applies to everyone stopping for gas in Maryland, including commercial drivers conducting business in the state. That means your bills for services such as plumbing, etc. are going to go up because that cost increase will be passed on to the consumer. Food bills, as if they were not already high enough, are going to go higher still as grocery stores pass the increased fuel costs onto us. These business are not just going to sit there and take losses because the tax is higher. We all lose!
Tolls across the state also increased today. It now costs $6 to cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge up from $4 last week. When Gov. Martin O'Malley took office, the toll was $2.50. The same toll also applies on the Nice Memorial Bridge on U.S. 301. Those tolls are one-way only. Tolls on the habor tunnels and the Key Bridge are going from $3 to $4. That toll is collected both ways (A total of $8 per round trip). Tolls on the bridges in the northern part of the state, the JFK Memorial Bridge on I-95 and the Hatem Bridge on U.S. 40, are now going to be $8 (collected northbound only). And all of these tolls are supposed to increase again next year. The Bay Bridge is slated to increase to $8. According the Nancy Jacobs article I have linked to above, Maryland now has $33 in tolls, the same amount as Pennsylvania which has nearly double the number of toll roads, and more than Virginia's $27.10, which includes the Chesapeakle Bay Bridge-Tunnel at $12 per crossing.
Granted, for commuters who use their EZ Passes to drive these bridges and tunnels every day, it doesn't cost quite that much. But EZ Pass rates jumped proportionally across the board as well and of course now it costs you $1.50 per month ($18 per year) just to "rent" the device from the state. Even if you don't use it. It used to be free. As Sean Casey was saying on the Morning Show on WCBM Baltimore Monday morning, don't be surprised if that rate jumps to say, $2 per month in the near future.
And of course we have the much talked about, and widely hated, "rain tax," properly known by the state as the "stormwater management fee." The tax is being levied in Maryland's nine largest counties plus the city of Baltimore and it has thousands of citizens and business owners up in arms. While some counties have elected to fight the tax, Frederick County is charging residents a one cent and Carroll is refusing to levy it on residents, several are just blindly following the law, the result of an unfunded EPA mandate for Maryland to spend $15 billion to fight pollution in the Cheasapeake Bay.
The size and scope of the tax is different in every jurisdiction. In some counties it's a flat tax based on square footage of impervious surfaces on your property. In others residents pay one rate while businesses pay another, much higher rate. Churches and nonprofits are exempt in some counties but not others. In some counties the tax will increase after the 2014 elections. And Howard County hasn't even started enforcing the tax yet as County Executive Ken Ulman (D), now a candidate for Lieutennant Governor, has put the brakes on his brian-child county legislation for "further review" of the matter.
Here's the bottom line: the rain tax unfairly punishes Maryland residents for pollution in the Bay that they aren't even putting there. According to figures obtained by state Del. Pat McDonough (R-Baltimore and Harford), the leader of the new nonpartisan "Stop the Rain Campaign," pollution from stormwater runoff only accounts for 2 percent of the total pollution in the Bay. And even then, I would aruge, most of that pollution comes from the chemicals poured all over our state roads during the winter for snow removal. It doesn't come from private property. As Casey also pointed out on the Morning Show, gasoline, oil, lubricants and other fluids and pollutants fall right off the Bay Bridge and directly into the Bay every single day! Yet the Bay Bridge, as with all state owned properties and structures, is exempt from the tax!
And what of the states north of us along the Susquehanna River? As McDonough points out, the tax doesn't even address any pollution concerns north of the Conowingo Dam. Maryland residents can only do so much, and controlling the actions of other states in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed isn't one of the things they can do.
So what can Maryland residents and business owners do now? In regards to the rain tax, McDonough's new campaign is exploring the possibility of a lawsuit with Judicial Watch. And they would have precedent. Just this past January, federal judge Liam O'Grady found in favor of the state of Virginia and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli when he ruled that "Stormwater runoff is not a pollutant, so the EPA is not authorized to regulate it." That lawsuit was precipitated by the EPA attempting to require Fairfax Conunty to restrict stormwater flow into a county creek as if it were a pollutant. As for the new tolls and taxes, voters on both sides of the aisle must start similar grassroots campaigns to stir up dissisent and outrage. Change Maryland is a brilliant example of such a campaign. Then they must take out this frustration at the polls in November 2014 by voting for someone else! I can't tell you the number of Democrat or Democrat-leaning voters I've talked to who complain about high taxes in this state and then keep voting for O'Malley and Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, Speaker of the House of Delegates Michael Busch, Senate President Mike Miller, etc. Those are the very same people who keep raising your taxes!
Jimmy Williams
But for Marylanders, July 1st of this year means taxes, taxes and more taxes. The first phase of the higher gas tax takes effect today, which means you'll now be paying approximately 4 cents more for a gallon of gas ultimately on the way up to around 16 cents or more per gallon by the time the full tax takes effect in a couple years. By 2016, it is estimated that the gas tax will be 62.5 cents per gallon, up from around 25 cents per gallon last week. 62.5 cents. If you average 10 gallons per fill-up (But for many it's more than that), that's $6.25 per fill-up. Even if you only stop for gas once every 2 weeks (And many stop much more frequently than that), that's $162.50 out of your pocket every year just on gas taxes. And that's most likely on the low end! For married couples, how many less date nights does that represent? For kids, how many video games will you no longer be able to get? How many fewer Orioles games will you be able to attend? The list of examples goes on and on.
But it gets worse than that. The tax, obviously, applies to everyone stopping for gas in Maryland, including commercial drivers conducting business in the state. That means your bills for services such as plumbing, etc. are going to go up because that cost increase will be passed on to the consumer. Food bills, as if they were not already high enough, are going to go higher still as grocery stores pass the increased fuel costs onto us. These business are not just going to sit there and take losses because the tax is higher. We all lose!
Tolls across the state also increased today. It now costs $6 to cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge up from $4 last week. When Gov. Martin O'Malley took office, the toll was $2.50. The same toll also applies on the Nice Memorial Bridge on U.S. 301. Those tolls are one-way only. Tolls on the habor tunnels and the Key Bridge are going from $3 to $4. That toll is collected both ways (A total of $8 per round trip). Tolls on the bridges in the northern part of the state, the JFK Memorial Bridge on I-95 and the Hatem Bridge on U.S. 40, are now going to be $8 (collected northbound only). And all of these tolls are supposed to increase again next year. The Bay Bridge is slated to increase to $8. According the Nancy Jacobs article I have linked to above, Maryland now has $33 in tolls, the same amount as Pennsylvania which has nearly double the number of toll roads, and more than Virginia's $27.10, which includes the Chesapeakle Bay Bridge-Tunnel at $12 per crossing.
Granted, for commuters who use their EZ Passes to drive these bridges and tunnels every day, it doesn't cost quite that much. But EZ Pass rates jumped proportionally across the board as well and of course now it costs you $1.50 per month ($18 per year) just to "rent" the device from the state. Even if you don't use it. It used to be free. As Sean Casey was saying on the Morning Show on WCBM Baltimore Monday morning, don't be surprised if that rate jumps to say, $2 per month in the near future.
And of course we have the much talked about, and widely hated, "rain tax," properly known by the state as the "stormwater management fee." The tax is being levied in Maryland's nine largest counties plus the city of Baltimore and it has thousands of citizens and business owners up in arms. While some counties have elected to fight the tax, Frederick County is charging residents a one cent and Carroll is refusing to levy it on residents, several are just blindly following the law, the result of an unfunded EPA mandate for Maryland to spend $15 billion to fight pollution in the Cheasapeake Bay.
The size and scope of the tax is different in every jurisdiction. In some counties it's a flat tax based on square footage of impervious surfaces on your property. In others residents pay one rate while businesses pay another, much higher rate. Churches and nonprofits are exempt in some counties but not others. In some counties the tax will increase after the 2014 elections. And Howard County hasn't even started enforcing the tax yet as County Executive Ken Ulman (D), now a candidate for Lieutennant Governor, has put the brakes on his brian-child county legislation for "further review" of the matter.
Here's the bottom line: the rain tax unfairly punishes Maryland residents for pollution in the Bay that they aren't even putting there. According to figures obtained by state Del. Pat McDonough (R-Baltimore and Harford), the leader of the new nonpartisan "Stop the Rain Campaign," pollution from stormwater runoff only accounts for 2 percent of the total pollution in the Bay. And even then, I would aruge, most of that pollution comes from the chemicals poured all over our state roads during the winter for snow removal. It doesn't come from private property. As Casey also pointed out on the Morning Show, gasoline, oil, lubricants and other fluids and pollutants fall right off the Bay Bridge and directly into the Bay every single day! Yet the Bay Bridge, as with all state owned properties and structures, is exempt from the tax!
And what of the states north of us along the Susquehanna River? As McDonough points out, the tax doesn't even address any pollution concerns north of the Conowingo Dam. Maryland residents can only do so much, and controlling the actions of other states in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed isn't one of the things they can do.
So what can Maryland residents and business owners do now? In regards to the rain tax, McDonough's new campaign is exploring the possibility of a lawsuit with Judicial Watch. And they would have precedent. Just this past January, federal judge Liam O'Grady found in favor of the state of Virginia and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli when he ruled that "Stormwater runoff is not a pollutant, so the EPA is not authorized to regulate it." That lawsuit was precipitated by the EPA attempting to require Fairfax Conunty to restrict stormwater flow into a county creek as if it were a pollutant. As for the new tolls and taxes, voters on both sides of the aisle must start similar grassroots campaigns to stir up dissisent and outrage. Change Maryland is a brilliant example of such a campaign. Then they must take out this frustration at the polls in November 2014 by voting for someone else! I can't tell you the number of Democrat or Democrat-leaning voters I've talked to who complain about high taxes in this state and then keep voting for O'Malley and Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, Speaker of the House of Delegates Michael Busch, Senate President Mike Miller, etc. Those are the very same people who keep raising your taxes!
Jimmy Williams
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Would You Close the IRS or Gitmo? Survey Says: IRS
This past Thursday, June 6th, I went out and did another Man on the Street for WCBM. This time I went to Harbor Place in downtown Baltimore near the aquarium with much better success. I was never approached by any security or police officers and people were more than willing to talk to me as I walked around the harbor.
This week's question was quick and straightforward but for some it may have been a tough one: Which would you rather see closed, the IRS or Guantanamo Bay? As we all (should) know by now, the IRS (and possibly also the Obama Administration itself) is guilty of targetting Conservative and Tea Party groups with delays, extra scrutiny, etc. on their applications for tax-exempt status. On the other side we have Obama himself trying to dismiss this scandal and others and instead renew calls to close Guantanamo Bay, the facility at which we keep terrorist detainees. Jay Leno drew massive cheers from his audience last week by suggesting that the IRS should be sent to Gitmo.
Considering my location in Baltimore, itself a deep blue and incredibly corrupt city within deep blue and corrupt Maryland, I went in with the expectation that nearly everyone I talked to would side with Obama and favor closing Gitmo, a move which would most likely move terrorist detainees into U.S. prisons on home soil, while implying the IRS should be allowed to keep doing what it is doing now. I was pleasantly surprised when that didn't happen.
A majority of the people I interviewed on Thursday believed that the IRS should be closed over Guantanamo Bay. Despite all attempts to sweep this issue under the rug by Obama and his regime, that the average American still wants to see the IRS closed should speak volumes. It is a sign that Americans have finally woken up to realize the government and its agencies have overstepped their bounds and are out of control.
Now don't get me wrong, I wholeheartedly acknowlegde the need for a government to levy taxes and maintain a revenue collection agency to assure those taxes are paid. What I and millions of Americans are saying here is that the IRS has now gone well over and beyond what its original purpose was. According to a quick Google search, the IRS now has in excess of 106,000 employees. Why does the IRS need over 100,000 people to help collect taxes? It doesn't. But the IRS still wants to hire thousands more agents so that it can enforce Obamacare! As a nation we're seriously still going to trust the IRS to enforce Obamacare when it can't even operate within the bounds of and execute current laws?
The targeting scandal, along with the new news of outlandish spending by the IRS for employee "training" to the tune of millions and millions of dollars, should be a wake up call that now is the time to start seriously looking at the size and scope of the IRS. Yes the IRS is a necessary government agency, but it is time to reign it in and bring the monster back under control.
Jimmy Williams
This week's question was quick and straightforward but for some it may have been a tough one: Which would you rather see closed, the IRS or Guantanamo Bay? As we all (should) know by now, the IRS (and possibly also the Obama Administration itself) is guilty of targetting Conservative and Tea Party groups with delays, extra scrutiny, etc. on their applications for tax-exempt status. On the other side we have Obama himself trying to dismiss this scandal and others and instead renew calls to close Guantanamo Bay, the facility at which we keep terrorist detainees. Jay Leno drew massive cheers from his audience last week by suggesting that the IRS should be sent to Gitmo.
Considering my location in Baltimore, itself a deep blue and incredibly corrupt city within deep blue and corrupt Maryland, I went in with the expectation that nearly everyone I talked to would side with Obama and favor closing Gitmo, a move which would most likely move terrorist detainees into U.S. prisons on home soil, while implying the IRS should be allowed to keep doing what it is doing now. I was pleasantly surprised when that didn't happen.
A majority of the people I interviewed on Thursday believed that the IRS should be closed over Guantanamo Bay. Despite all attempts to sweep this issue under the rug by Obama and his regime, that the average American still wants to see the IRS closed should speak volumes. It is a sign that Americans have finally woken up to realize the government and its agencies have overstepped their bounds and are out of control.
Now don't get me wrong, I wholeheartedly acknowlegde the need for a government to levy taxes and maintain a revenue collection agency to assure those taxes are paid. What I and millions of Americans are saying here is that the IRS has now gone well over and beyond what its original purpose was. According to a quick Google search, the IRS now has in excess of 106,000 employees. Why does the IRS need over 100,000 people to help collect taxes? It doesn't. But the IRS still wants to hire thousands more agents so that it can enforce Obamacare! As a nation we're seriously still going to trust the IRS to enforce Obamacare when it can't even operate within the bounds of and execute current laws?
The targeting scandal, along with the new news of outlandish spending by the IRS for employee "training" to the tune of millions and millions of dollars, should be a wake up call that now is the time to start seriously looking at the size and scope of the IRS. Yes the IRS is a necessary government agency, but it is time to reign it in and bring the monster back under control.
Jimmy Williams
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Assault on Freedom of the Press Hits Me
UPDATE 9:56 p.m. EDT: After being shown legal precedent in the Supreme Court case of Lloyd Corp. v. Tanner, a 5-4 decision by the Court in 1972, I am willing to concede that even though malls are open to the public, they can still be considered private property. However, as I wrote previously, I was not harassing anyone or recording audio without permission of my subjects. If I was turned down by a person, I would have backed off without a fight. And again, no one at the station ever thought this would be a problem when we decided on this assignment.
Even if you take this Supreme Court ruling into account, I still object to General Manager Michael Sullivan's refusal to talk to any of my bosses at WCBM about the situation and to his idea that I can't stand on a public sidewalk in front of "his" mall and ask people questions. On the contrary, this Supreme Court ruling gives me all the legal precedent I need to stand on the sidewalk in front of Towson Town Center and ask all the questions I want to ask. I also reject his idea that mall customers don't want to be asked about their opinions on certain issues. On the contrary, a great number of people love having a microphone in front of their mouth so they can express their opinions on any subject. In my experience, if you tell someone they might end up hearing their voice on the radio, they're more than eager to talk.
ORIGINAL POST 2:30 p.m. EDT: No I'm not being investigated by Eric Holder and the corrupt Department of Justice, but today I was kicked out of the Towson Town Center and off its premises for trying to conduct "man on the street" interviews with mall goers.
I'm interning this summer with AM radio station WCBM Baltimore and today for my first field assignment I was dispatched to the Towson Town Center to conduct man on the street interviews gathering the reactions and opinions of the public to the trio of scandals currently rocking the Obama Administration: the Benghazi cover up, IRS targeting of Tea Party and Conservative groups and DOJ wiretaps. After successfully interviewing three very accommodating ladies in the food court I was approached at random by a security guard who asked what I was doing. Next I was told I needed permission to talk to people in the mall from the manager's office. This didn't seem right to me and I pointed out that the mall is a public space and I was getting consent from people before recording any audio. The guard offered to take me down to talk to his bosses so we went.
After being kept waiting for 15 minutes, Michael Sullivan, the mall's general manager, finally came out to see me. I identified myself, stated my purpose and was told I couldn't be there because the mall was "private property," not a public space and that he "owned the mall." "It's like coming into my house," Sullivan told me. "I invite shoppers in to shop here but I don't invite you in to ask them questions." He next asked for the specifics of my questions and then insisted that the customers wouldn't want to be bothered by such questions.
I offered to call my bosses back at the station so that we could all talk it over and attempt to resolve the situation. He wouldn't hear of it. I asked him if I could leave the mall and conduct my interviews outside on the sidewalk. He told me I couldn't do anything anywhere on the mall's property which went "all the way to the curb," including the parking garages and the sidewalks in front of the various stores and restaurants. I then asked him where I could go if not on "his" property. He wouldn't answer.
My bosses at WCBM couldn't believe it once I got back and told them I had been kicked out. Like me they agree that the mall is a public space, even if it has an owner. If the mall truly was "like [Sullivan's] house," then I wouldn't have been able to get in to begin with. Yet I walked right in through Macy's and up to the food court without knocking on any doors, ringing any bells or passing any "no trespassing" signs. I wasn't harassing anyone nor did I break any laws. And if the customers wouldn't want to be bothered by my questions, then how come three ladies were more than willing to talk to me after I explained what I was doing? Lastly, I'd be more than willing to check any right of way maps Sullivan wanted me to, but I know his property doesn't go "all the way to the curb," especially on the side that borders Dulaney Valley Road (MD-146), a state funded and maintained throughfare. That's a public sidewalk and I could stand there if I wanted to. I just didn't want to force anything more today because Sullivan is at least twice as large as I am and could probably crush me no problem.
Despite all this, some good things came out of this experience. I still got an interview done before I was kicked out of the mall. And because I got kicked out of the mall, we have a second story to talk about here at the station in addition to the man on the street clips I gathered today. It sort of worked out. If you're going to be up, tune in from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. EDT on Friday, May 31st on AM 680 or wcbm.com where these stories will be covered at some point during the show. Should be fun as always.
Jimmy Williams
Even if you take this Supreme Court ruling into account, I still object to General Manager Michael Sullivan's refusal to talk to any of my bosses at WCBM about the situation and to his idea that I can't stand on a public sidewalk in front of "his" mall and ask people questions. On the contrary, this Supreme Court ruling gives me all the legal precedent I need to stand on the sidewalk in front of Towson Town Center and ask all the questions I want to ask. I also reject his idea that mall customers don't want to be asked about their opinions on certain issues. On the contrary, a great number of people love having a microphone in front of their mouth so they can express their opinions on any subject. In my experience, if you tell someone they might end up hearing their voice on the radio, they're more than eager to talk.
ORIGINAL POST 2:30 p.m. EDT: No I'm not being investigated by Eric Holder and the corrupt Department of Justice, but today I was kicked out of the Towson Town Center and off its premises for trying to conduct "man on the street" interviews with mall goers.
I'm interning this summer with AM radio station WCBM Baltimore and today for my first field assignment I was dispatched to the Towson Town Center to conduct man on the street interviews gathering the reactions and opinions of the public to the trio of scandals currently rocking the Obama Administration: the Benghazi cover up, IRS targeting of Tea Party and Conservative groups and DOJ wiretaps. After successfully interviewing three very accommodating ladies in the food court I was approached at random by a security guard who asked what I was doing. Next I was told I needed permission to talk to people in the mall from the manager's office. This didn't seem right to me and I pointed out that the mall is a public space and I was getting consent from people before recording any audio. The guard offered to take me down to talk to his bosses so we went.
After being kept waiting for 15 minutes, Michael Sullivan, the mall's general manager, finally came out to see me. I identified myself, stated my purpose and was told I couldn't be there because the mall was "private property," not a public space and that he "owned the mall." "It's like coming into my house," Sullivan told me. "I invite shoppers in to shop here but I don't invite you in to ask them questions." He next asked for the specifics of my questions and then insisted that the customers wouldn't want to be bothered by such questions.
I offered to call my bosses back at the station so that we could all talk it over and attempt to resolve the situation. He wouldn't hear of it. I asked him if I could leave the mall and conduct my interviews outside on the sidewalk. He told me I couldn't do anything anywhere on the mall's property which went "all the way to the curb," including the parking garages and the sidewalks in front of the various stores and restaurants. I then asked him where I could go if not on "his" property. He wouldn't answer.
My bosses at WCBM couldn't believe it once I got back and told them I had been kicked out. Like me they agree that the mall is a public space, even if it has an owner. If the mall truly was "like [Sullivan's] house," then I wouldn't have been able to get in to begin with. Yet I walked right in through Macy's and up to the food court without knocking on any doors, ringing any bells or passing any "no trespassing" signs. I wasn't harassing anyone nor did I break any laws. And if the customers wouldn't want to be bothered by my questions, then how come three ladies were more than willing to talk to me after I explained what I was doing? Lastly, I'd be more than willing to check any right of way maps Sullivan wanted me to, but I know his property doesn't go "all the way to the curb," especially on the side that borders Dulaney Valley Road (MD-146), a state funded and maintained throughfare. That's a public sidewalk and I could stand there if I wanted to. I just didn't want to force anything more today because Sullivan is at least twice as large as I am and could probably crush me no problem.
Despite all this, some good things came out of this experience. I still got an interview done before I was kicked out of the mall. And because I got kicked out of the mall, we have a second story to talk about here at the station in addition to the man on the street clips I gathered today. It sort of worked out. If you're going to be up, tune in from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. EDT on Friday, May 31st on AM 680 or wcbm.com where these stories will be covered at some point during the show. Should be fun as always.
Jimmy Williams
A "Sad Day for Scouting" Indeed
A few days late but no less relevant I'd finally like to take some time to weigh in on the vote a week ago today to allow openly gay youth to be members of the Boy Scouts of America. A decision that was not only totally inappropriate, but also ignored the voice of the membership at large.
There's a reason the National Council didn't put this issue to a direct vote from the membership: it would have failed. A survey of the rank-and-file members of the BSA found that over 60 percent of the membership rejects a change in policy that would allow gays to be in scouting openly. Yet when it came to the vote, the results were entirely flipped from what the rank-and-file support.
Around 61 percent of the delegates choose to ignore the feelings of the membership at large and approve this policy change. According to some reports, no dissenting opinions or viewpoints were even allowed to be presented to the delegates before they voted, a huge overreach by national leaders should that prove to be true. This can be equated to the current national feeling about ObamaCare. In a recent survey, 54 percent of voters, including about one quarter of Democrats, support returning to a health care system that is pre-2009. House Republicans have voted to repeal ObamaCare 37 times. So what do Democrats do? They keep on shoving ahead with implementing the program, ignoring the public at large.
John Stemberger, founder of OnMyHonor.Net and a leading opponent of the policy change, cites figures that should be quite alarming for national BSA leaders if (well now, when) the policy change goes into effect. According to his estimates, the BSA is now facing a drop in membership of between 200,000 and 400,000 youth. That does not even count any adults or volunteers associated with those youth. Other figures I have seen include an estimated loss of $44 million in revenue for the BSA. That amount is many times greater than any amount of funding former corporate donors have withdrawn in the past couple of years.
As Stemberger has said in many interviews, Scouts is not supposed to be about sexuality at all. Scouts has never been about banning gays, its been about banning gay activisim, he has said. And he's right. Now that gays are allowed in the BSA openly, sexuality has unavoidably been thrown into the BSA. Under the now outgoing "don't ask, don't tell" policy , if you will, gays could still be scouts and sexuality was never discussed. The focus was on advancing, camping, cooking, hiking, etc.
But now the focus will turn to sexuality. And that's not where it should be. Parents should be allowed to discuss homosexuality and being gay with their children on their own timetable. But now because gays will be openly allowed in scouting, those kids, some as young as 6 years old, could find out about it at anytime, even if the parents aren't ready to have that discussion. Simply put, that is not okay.
Personally I am now winding down my involvement in the Boy Scouts of America, as are my brother and father. I am an Eagle Scout. I still work with my troop as an Assistant Scoutmaster and will be attending my third summer camp as an adult in about two months time. But I cannot continue to be part of an organization that has caved to minority interests, violated its own morals and betrayed the beliefs and values of the majority of its membership. Summer camp this year will be my last for quite a while, if not forever. My father is leading summer camp for the troop this summer and it will be his last major project with our troop. My brother is only a Board of Review away from earning his Eagle and once he does so and attends summer camp, he will be out as well. We may still hang around, but in very limited rolls and we will probably not reregister in January.
Will we ever go back? That remains to be seen but I don't count on it. I eagerly wait to see if there will be a movement to found an organization similar to the American Heritage Girls, an alternative to the now liberally dominated Girl Scouts, for boys, possibly "American Heritage Scouts." I would be willing to contribute the founding of such an organization should the opportunity arise. As for the BSA, it has signed its own death sentence. Things will only get worse, not better. The lawsuits will not stop, cases of abuse will not stop and will probably increase if gay youth attempt to have sexual contact with other youth. And within a few years, groups like NAMBLA will have open access to the BSA. When that happens, abuses will really take off.
Jimmy Williams
There's a reason the National Council didn't put this issue to a direct vote from the membership: it would have failed. A survey of the rank-and-file members of the BSA found that over 60 percent of the membership rejects a change in policy that would allow gays to be in scouting openly. Yet when it came to the vote, the results were entirely flipped from what the rank-and-file support.
Around 61 percent of the delegates choose to ignore the feelings of the membership at large and approve this policy change. According to some reports, no dissenting opinions or viewpoints were even allowed to be presented to the delegates before they voted, a huge overreach by national leaders should that prove to be true. This can be equated to the current national feeling about ObamaCare. In a recent survey, 54 percent of voters, including about one quarter of Democrats, support returning to a health care system that is pre-2009. House Republicans have voted to repeal ObamaCare 37 times. So what do Democrats do? They keep on shoving ahead with implementing the program, ignoring the public at large.
John Stemberger, founder of OnMyHonor.Net and a leading opponent of the policy change, cites figures that should be quite alarming for national BSA leaders if (well now, when) the policy change goes into effect. According to his estimates, the BSA is now facing a drop in membership of between 200,000 and 400,000 youth. That does not even count any adults or volunteers associated with those youth. Other figures I have seen include an estimated loss of $44 million in revenue for the BSA. That amount is many times greater than any amount of funding former corporate donors have withdrawn in the past couple of years.
As Stemberger has said in many interviews, Scouts is not supposed to be about sexuality at all. Scouts has never been about banning gays, its been about banning gay activisim, he has said. And he's right. Now that gays are allowed in the BSA openly, sexuality has unavoidably been thrown into the BSA. Under the now outgoing "don't ask, don't tell" policy , if you will, gays could still be scouts and sexuality was never discussed. The focus was on advancing, camping, cooking, hiking, etc.
But now the focus will turn to sexuality. And that's not where it should be. Parents should be allowed to discuss homosexuality and being gay with their children on their own timetable. But now because gays will be openly allowed in scouting, those kids, some as young as 6 years old, could find out about it at anytime, even if the parents aren't ready to have that discussion. Simply put, that is not okay.
Personally I am now winding down my involvement in the Boy Scouts of America, as are my brother and father. I am an Eagle Scout. I still work with my troop as an Assistant Scoutmaster and will be attending my third summer camp as an adult in about two months time. But I cannot continue to be part of an organization that has caved to minority interests, violated its own morals and betrayed the beliefs and values of the majority of its membership. Summer camp this year will be my last for quite a while, if not forever. My father is leading summer camp for the troop this summer and it will be his last major project with our troop. My brother is only a Board of Review away from earning his Eagle and once he does so and attends summer camp, he will be out as well. We may still hang around, but in very limited rolls and we will probably not reregister in January.
Will we ever go back? That remains to be seen but I don't count on it. I eagerly wait to see if there will be a movement to found an organization similar to the American Heritage Girls, an alternative to the now liberally dominated Girl Scouts, for boys, possibly "American Heritage Scouts." I would be willing to contribute the founding of such an organization should the opportunity arise. As for the BSA, it has signed its own death sentence. Things will only get worse, not better. The lawsuits will not stop, cases of abuse will not stop and will probably increase if gay youth attempt to have sexual contact with other youth. And within a few years, groups like NAMBLA will have open access to the BSA. When that happens, abuses will really take off.
Jimmy Williams
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