I arrived in Chicago tonight. This is my sixth visit to the Windy City in the past six months. I have made it a habit to place a six pack of Coca-Cola in my suitcase whenever I come up here. This time, I forgot to do that. So, I am forced to buy it up here. The painful part of doing that, the reason why I try to bring my own Coke from out of state, is the 13.25% sales tax that I have to pay. You read that right: you have to pay 13.25% in taxes when you purchase a soft drink from any retail outlet here in Chicago!
Total Disregard for Private Property
Now the good news is that the 13.25% tax is reserved just for soft drinks. The sales tax for everything else in Chicago is only 11.5%. They tell me up here that Chicago’s (highest in the nation) sales tax is 10.25% but I have checked every receipt (mostly from restaurants) and the sales tax is indeed 11.5%. A sales tax of that magnitude might be justified if there weren’t also state income taxes and property taxes to go along with it. It is immoral for a government to take this much of its citizens’ hard earned money. The political culture in the state of Illinois and especially in the city of Chicago is one that has blatant disregard for the people it is supposed to represent. I say this because the elected officials here seem to believe that they are justified in taking as much of their constituents’ property as they want. And yes, the money that you earn is in fact your property – it belongs to you!
This is the political culture that shaped Barack Obama
This is the climate that produced our President. If you want a preview of what he would like to implement on a national basis when it comes to taxes, come to Chicago. This is the type of arrogance that causes a politician to believe that he is entitled to as much of our money as he wants to take. It is a belief that all money belongs to the government and we get to keep whatever they choose to let us have. The belief that all money belongs to the government is the only explanation for why a politician can call a tax cut a “government giveaway to the rich”. A normal person might wonder how it can be considered a “giveaway” when the government takes less of what you already own.
Tonight, Easter Sunday, Captain Richard Phillips of the U. S. flag ship Maersk Alabama is alive and well, safely in the custody of the United States Navy. He was rescued by a team of Navy Seals who were able to kill three Somali pirates when snipers hit their targets simultaneously with head shots. I don’t know how many of you have ever fired a gun, but that is an astounding feat – just the sort of thing you would expect of Navy Seals!
Navy Snipers Kill 3 Pirates During Captain Rescue
A Proud Day for America
We all can recall with pain previous hostage situations involving United States citizens. It was hard not to cringe at the thought that this latest outrage would drag on and on without resolution. There was always the fear that Captain Phillips would eventually be killed. Last week, I told some co-workers of mine that we should “find the ship’s captain, get him out of there, and then kill everyone who’s not him”. As simplistic as my plan sounded at the time, it would appear that the Seals followed it almost to the letter (they didn’t kill everyone, just three). This is a proud day for the United States of America. Indeed, it is a proud day for decent people everywhere. Speaking for myself, this is exactly the sort operation and outcome I envision when I think about the Navy Seals.
Great Job, Mr. President!
It is no secret to readers of this blog that I believe President Obama’s plans for “fundamentally transforming the United States of America” will do great harm to this nation. However, I must give credit where it is richly deserved. This rescue operation could not have succeeded without the use of deadly force by the Seal team. The authorization to use that force must come from the Commander-in-Chief himself. The President gave that order on Friday. Now I realize that any U. S. President would be criminally negligent if he did not give such permission, but you never know how any individual will respond in a given situation. This has been the greatest foreign policy test so far in the new Obama administration. I am happy say, “Great job, Mr. President!” You have given some reassurance to those of us who were unsure if you had an understanding of the proper use of this country’s military force. In this case, you demonstrated that you were up to the task!
Civis Romanus sum
Two thousand years ago, a man could reasonably expect to travel in relative safety armed only with the words “Civis Romanus sum” – “I am a citizen of Rome”. The fear of retribution that would come to those who dared to harm a citizen of the greatest military power on the planet was enough of a deterrent. Wouldn’t it be great if the United States could engender that sort of fear in the scum bags of the world?
This week, President Barack Obama greeted King Abdallah of Saudi Arabia by bowing to him as he shook his hand. It was quite shocking to see an American President showing such subservience to a foreign head of state. The White House spin is that the president did not bow. He was simply bending over since the king was so much shorter than he.
Since Queen Elizabeth II of England is even shorter than King Abdallah, I wonder why President Obama did not feel to need to bend down when he greeted her?
In the wake of the launch of a missile by North Korea over the weekend and the predictably weak response from President Obama, I can’t help but think that we are playing out a scene from the movie Team America: World Police.
Substitute the name “Barack Obama” for “Hans Blix” in this clip.
It’s amazing that not one world leader can recognize the parody of this parody they are playing out in real life! This would be funny if it weren’t so deadly dangerous!