Making the simple complicated is commonplace;
making the complicated simple,
awesomely simple,
that's creativity.
Charles Mingus
Earlier One-Off Post: Bad Judge of the Year 2013
Image of the Day
 |
| Via LFC on FB |
More than 100,000 non-essential federal employees being paid a salary of at least $100,000 were furloughed as non-essential. Each of these was paid $4,000 for the time off of work during the shutdown. Again, it is not the fault of these civil servants that Congress did not do its job and, like everyone else, they have bills to pay. But it is truly unfair to charge billions of dollars to pay others not to work to taxpayers working to cover their own bills and the bills of the government. This is especially true when the nonessential federal employee is being compensated more than twice the average U.S. family income of $51,000.Coburn in the above selection is discussing backpay for federal employees laid off temporarily during the shutdown; he's mostly concerned about $100K employees regarded as non-essential; assuming they had valuable skills, we had lost productivity which was a deadweight loss from the shutdown. He's basically arguing that those "valuable" employees should not be furloughed in future related circumstances. At least one defensive federal worker commented and I gave my response (see FB section below).
Pennsylvania Seeks to Regulate Catholic School Employment Contracts?
A Philadelphia area Catholic School foreign language teacher Michael Griffith, a gay New Jersey resident, signed a contract which specifies that a teacher's personal lifestyle/conduct must be consistent with Church teachings. The Church does not accept the concept of "gay marriage". Griffith's plans to marry his same-sex partner came to the attention of school administrators, but Griffith, even on being advised that the wedding would constitute breach of contract, was clear that his plans would move forward, and the school invoked its rights to terminate employment. If the Church is forced to hire people whose personal conduct contradict its moral teachings, it compromises their Catholic identity. A Pennsylvania lawmaker is trying to extend language in anti-discrimination state law to include a gay category without a religious liberty exception. This violates the Church's religious liberty, right to contract/economic liberty, right to freely associate. If the State is allowed to intervene in a manner inconsistent with Church moral teaching, the Church would likely shutdown the school. If a teacher doesn't want to meet conditions of employment, he should look at teaching at a gay-friendly school.
First Comes "Gay Marriage", Now Comes Multi-Partner Arrangements
Fresh off writing my Bad Judge post where "gay marriage" played a prominent role, we now have a federal judge ruling that an aspect of Utah's bigamy law, a prohibition on polygamous living arrangements, is unconstitutional. NOTE: He did not rule that the restriction on multiple marriages is unconstitutional (probably a steeper climb because SCOTUS has ruled against polygamy recognition in the past). I believe in this case the people were not trying to legalize polygamy but simply decriminalize relevant living arrangements. I do recall the practice of polygamy was a relevant issue on whether to admit the Utah territory to the Union.
My position might surprise people. I personally don't accept polygamy as part of my Catholic moral beliefs, but I don't accept State intervention on personal living arrangements or consensual sexual behavior. I think people have a right to be left alone in a manner consistent with State restrictions on searches via the fourth amendment.
Facebook Corner
(Tom Coburn). More than $400 million was spent by Congress to pay for federal employees to do nothing. More than 100,000 federal employees being paid a salary of at least $100,000 were furloughed as non-essential. Each of these were paid $4,000 for the time off of work during the shutdown.
It is not the fault of these civil servants that Congress did not do its job and, like everyone else, they have bills to pay. But it is truly unfair to charge billions of dollars to pay others not to work to taxpayers working to cover their own bills and the bills of the government.
My reply to that is as a government employee I have not had a raise for 3 years, lost 4 days of pay prior to Oct 1 due to sequester and I work harder for the American people every day of the year for my money than people work for their free lifetime of welfare. PS, government workers have done without to the tune of $113 billion dollars to balance the current presidents budget.
Cry me a river. In fact, none of us in the private sector have federal job security or anywhere near the generous benefit package or pension plans. As a former IT professor, I have worked extensively in both the private sector and public sector and have never met to the present a single government employee or manager I would personally hire. The highest salary I was ever offered was during the last year of the Clinton Presidency, and I have worked for at least 2 companies that went bankrupt. The difference is that government workers don't get laid off or lose their jobs when the federal government has an unsustainable business model.
(The Libertarian Republic.) Re: federal court decision NSA metadata grab was unconstitutional. This is a good day for Edward Snowden (VIDEO) | The Libertarian Republic http://bit.ly/1bNmoPk
Who does this guy think he's fooling? "This is what he had in mind. He saw programs. He doubted their legality. He saw that the oversight mechanisms had failed. That secret courts had become a rubber stamp. That congressional committees had been enabling rather than, than actually exercising oversight." I would have to go back to the history, but I think he was with Booz for 2-3 weeks when he core-dumped every classified file he had access to. I think the lawyer is engaging in revisionist spin. I think Snowden probably had some idea that the NSA overreached, and I do agree there is a public right to know and likely Constitutional issues, but let's keep in mind the government will appeal and the NSA revelations will not excuse the nature or extent of his breach of contract.
(National Review). Victor Davis Hanson writes that identity politics are derailing the immigration reform debate as open border advocates push to make immigration laws irrelevant. Read more: http://natl.re/19vzkgp
Every credible study on immigration shows liberalized immigration is correlated with longer-term positive growth. When we have people working around laws and participating in a black market, it's more of an indication of failed policy. We should stop trying to blame aliens for the consequences of dysfunctional, failed immigration law.
(The Libertarian Republic). Cop vindicated by police chief after he smashes 70-year-old woman's face into the pavement (VIDEO) | The Libertarian Republic http://bit.ly/1emtDFJ
I see no problem with the arresting officers' actions. Was she injured?
I thought I read somewhere that her nose was broken. Clearly unnecessary, unacceptable, inexcusable, unprofessional conduct. That it takes multiple men to subdue a 70-year-old woman--and they still manage to physically abuse her--is utterly pathetic. That their boss looks the other way despite clear visual evidence demonstrates a lack of integrity and leadership.
(Reason Magazine). Like his predecessor, Barack Obama easily won a second term, only to be undone by hubris, arrogance, and all the promises he made in his first term. Do you think Obama has any chance of turning things around?
His basic opportunity is that as unpopular as he has been trending, Congress is near all-time lows. He still comes across as personable; if the Congress and GOP overplay their hand, he could benefit, and he'll get credit for any uptick in the economy. I think his best chance to mark his second term is to make a grand bargain on entitlements, which the GOP wants.
(Lew Rockwell). Says fascist neocon thug John Bolton: Edward Snowden, one of the greatest men in American history, should be hanged.
Lew, honestly, someone who violates his contract and steals data that doesn't belong to him is "one of the greatest men in American history"? He doesn't even have the testicular fortitude to stand up for his beliefs. I do believe that the public had a right to know about domestic spying, but there's more to the story than selective leaks. As for Bolton, why are you publicizing this overrated windbag?
Political Cartoon
 |
| Courtesy of Gary Varvel via Patriot Post |
The Eagles, "Please Come Home For Christmas"
The Little Boy and the Pope's Skullcap
