John McCain is a good and decent man. He has served his country with honor for his entire professional life. McCain’s concession speech struck a conciliatory tone that was fitting for the moment. John McCain is a graceful loser. Conservatives must learn from this if we want to regain power in two years. Next time, we must pick winners.

Politics is a blood sport. As this election proved, there are no rules, save one: Win. Win on the power of your positions. Win on the superiority of your principles. Win by pointing out the flaws in your opponent. Win by motivating your base. Win by raising more money. Win in the marketplace of ideas and in the message in the media. Above all else, win damn it! (read more…)

Freedom, Liberty, Personal Responsibility, and general Conservative principles suffered a crushing defeat tonight. The concept of limited government seems dead. In an election I will remember as the choice of the lesser of two evils, evil won.

I am tired. I am tired of choosing between bad and worse. I am tired of supporting a party that has lost its way. I am tired of Republicans whose motto is “we aren’t quite as bad as the alternative.” I am tired of liberals of both parties expanding entitlements, taking away liberties, raising my taxes, bankrupting the country, and calling me selfish for not wanting to bend over and take it. To paraphrase our new 1st Lady-elect, For the first time in my adult life I am ashamed of my country.

I am ashamed of my country because it has elected an unqualified clown. I am ashamed because 52% of the electorate has chosen an empty suit. I am ashamed of my party too. I am ashamed that starting in 2001, George Bush and the “Compassionate Conservatives” abandoned all Conservative principles in the name of political expediency. I am ashamed of new entitlements and rising deficits. I am ashamed of temporary tax cuts and class warfare.

John McCain is a good and honorable man, and he would have been far better than Obama, but he is no conservative. Neither is George W. Bush. McCain should never have been the standard bearer of the GOP. Republicans used to stand for small government, less interference, lower taxes. In a year when 75% of the country was dissatisfied with George Bush, McCain ran a completely ineffectual campaign, and yet still managed to gain approximately 46% of the vote. 46% of us including myself bit our tongues, swallowed our convictions, and supported McCain not because he supported our principles but because on balance he was better than the alternative. I am tired of carrying the water for Republicrats. (read more…)

Whomever wins tomorrow, the fact that Obama has gotten as far as he has as fast as he has represents a troubling trend in our country. Never before has someone so completely unqualified or unprepared to be President gotten so close to the Oval Office. As we count down to election day, we can only hope and pray that the electorate has paid enough attention in the last 48 hours to send this clown back to Illinois. If not, this country in headed for an ugly 4 years.

Barrack Hussein Obama II is not qualified to be president. The Presidency is the toughest, most challenging, most important CEO position in the world. It is not the place for on-the-job training. We should not experiment with affirmative action. We should require more from our President than a flashy smile, a nice suit, and a large bankroll. We should treat the election like a job interview, and require our candidates to have actual skills, executive experience, and a proven track record.

Before I go into Obama’s qualifications, or lack thereof, let me define what I believe are the minimum qualifications for being President:

1. Citizenship – The Constitution requires Presidents to be a natural born citizen at least 35 years old.
2. Public Executive Experience – Running the Executive Branch requires executive experience. It requires the ability to massively multi-task and compartmentalize. It requires the ability to surround yourself with competent lieutenants, and to delegate to your subordinates. These are the skills one gains as an executive in a large organization. There are differences between government executive skills and private executive skills, so it is important that the president has spent time in either the Federal or a state executive branch. Governors, Lt. Governors, Vice Presidents and Cabinet Leaders are all good examples.
3. Private Executive Experience – The Government places an incredible burden on its citizens and businesses. If you have never run a business, made a payroll, sat through an audit, negotiated a benefits contract, it is hard to truly understand the impact of the laws and regulations passed by the Government. To be an effective President, it is best that you have spent time in the private sector running a business.
4. Military Experience – The President is the Commander in Chief of the military. To gain a full grasp of military issues and structure, it is desirable that the President has served in some capacity, be it active duty, reserve, or national guard.
5. Public Policy Experience – The President must also deal with a wide range of issues including the economy, the budget and taxation, social security and other entitlements, foreign relations, and nominating judges. Candidates should have extensive experience either at the Federal or State level on matters of Public Policy.
6. Character – Above all else, character counts. A man of character can surround himself with subordinates to fill in the gaps in his experience. As Peggy Noonan once wrote: “In a president, character is everything. A president doesn’t have to be brilliant… He doesn’t have to be clever; you can hire clever… You can hire pragmatic, and you can buy and bring in policy wonks. But you can’t buy courage and decency, you can’t rent a strong moral sense. A president must bring those things with him…” I agree. (read more…)
   

Contrary to the assertions of the Prop 8 opponents, Gay Marriage has nothing to do with gay civil rights and everything to do with education, employee benefits, and religion. In the State of California, homosexual couples already have the right to legally join together. It is called Domestic Partnership.

Under California Family Code section 297.5, “Registered domestic partners shall have the same rights, protections, and benefits, and shall be subject to the same responsibilities, obligations, and duties under law, whether they derive from statutes, administrative regulations, court rules, government policies, common law, or any other provisions or sources of law, as are granted to and imposed upon spouses.”

The law goes on to say that domestic partners have the same rights as married couples regarding separation, survivorship, child rearing and adoption. In addition, section h provides “No public agency in this state may discriminate against any person or couple on the ground that the person is a registered domestic partner rather than a spouse or that the couple are registered domestic partners rather than spouses.” Gay couples already have all the civil rights afforded to heterosexual married couples. So, whose civil rights get affected by gay marriage or the lack thereof? (read more…)

This election year, there is a vast amount of misunderstanding and disinformation regarding taxes rates, tax revenues, spending and deficits. One of the most common is that Clinton left a burgeoning surplus, and the Bush “tax cuts for the rich” have caused huge deficits. This is false.

One of the hardest things for most people to understand is that deficits are caused by spending, not tax revenues. This can be hard to understand because unlike the private sector, there is no relationship in government between revenue and expenses. As an example, if a company builds a new factory or offers a new service, increasing expenses, it expects the products created at that factory will increase revenues. If the company gets no return on its investment, it stops the activity.

Government does not work this way. There is no causal relationship between government services and government revenues. The government confiscates the tax dollars it wants for revenue regardless of the programs offered. If the government cancelled all defense spending in Iraq tomorrow, it would have no effect on the taxes you pay.

Because there is no causal relationship between tax revenues and government expenses, deficits do not result simply because tax rates are cut. Deficits are caused when the government spends more than the incoming revenues. Since 1965, the government has operated at a deficit for almost the entire 33 year period. The only exception was the period immediately following the 1994 Republican Revolution in Congress. It was during this period that Bill Clinton famously declared “the era of big government is over.”

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I have a simple question for Obama and his liberal supporters: How much is enough? Liberals constantly say the wealthy in this country are not paying their “fair share.” I’d like to know what they consider fair. Given that the top 5% of earners in this country pay 60% of the total tax bill, while the bottom 50% of earners pay less than 3%, I’d like to know what the liberals in this country consider fair. 30%, 40%, 50%, more? Give me a number.

I sat down this evening and tried to calculate what % of my income is confiscated by the government and redistributed to others. It is incredibly difficult to calculate, due to the vast array of hidden taxes, regulations and fees. I modeled my actual income, deductions, tax deferred contributions, property values, spending, etc. All rates are the actual percentage of my gross income before deductions (not AGI). FICA and Medicare rates include the employer contribution which reduces the total compensation my employer is willing to pay me.

• 19% - Federal Income Tax
• 6% - State Income Tax
• 3% - Medicare Tax
• 6% - FICA (social security) Tax
• 2% - Federal Capital Gains Tax
• 1% - State Capital Gains Tax
• 4% - State Property Tax
• 2% - Sales Tax
• 1% - Gas Tax, Car Registrations, Other Fees
• 3% - Increased Price of Goods and Services
• 3% - Corporate Taxes

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• 50% - Total Annual Tax Bill (read more…)
  

McCain and Obama both claim to be supporters of the middle class and small businesses. Both have offered a myriad of proposals meant to benefit small businesses, but how can we know whose will be best? One way to know is to look at their voting record.

When browsing the political action committee (PAC) website for my employer eBay, I stumbled across the “How Congress Voted” guide of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB).  The NFIB is a “the voice of small business” in America. eBay, which has been the driving force behind over a million small businesses is a member, and co-hosted the 1st Small Business Summit in Washington DC. I think it is fair to say these guys understand the issues facing small businesses.

According to the NFIB congressional voter guide, John McCain supported small businesses 100% in both the 110th and 109th Congressional Sessions. Obama only supported small businesses 50% of the time in the 110th Congress, and a dismal 13% of the time in the 109th. Joe Biden was slightly better than his running mate at 56% and 25% respectively. (read more…)

Yesterday, a study was release that showed nationwide dropout rates are 1 in 4. In 17 of the country’s 50 largest cities, the dropout rate is 50%. In California, 24% of adults cannot read. 47% of the schools in California fail to meet their Academic Performance Index goals as mandated by law. The Teachers are to Blame.

We hire teachers to do a job. The job is to teach students to read and write, to teach them math skills, to teach them science, to teach them history and civics. The teachers of California (and nationwide) are failing in their responsibility. Instead of focusing on core curriculum, the teachers of this state continue to push a radical liberal agenda. Instead of teaching students to read, they want to teach gay marriage. Instead of teaching the scientific method, they want to teach junk science and the cult of global warming. Instead of teaching the historical and philosophical foundations of this country, which make it the best country on the planet, they want to teach that America is to blame for all the world’s problems. I am sick of it.

Think I’m wrong? Yesterday, the California Teachers Association gave $1,000,000 to the campaign against Proposition 8, the Defense of Marriage Act. Why would teachers give so much money to support gay marriage? What does gay marriage have to do with reading, spelling, algebra, chemistry, etc.? Nothing. One could argue it has everything to do with biology, but in that case the teachers should be for Prop 8, not against it.
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Will Obama raise my taxes? I don’t know, and neither do you. Believe me, I’ve tried to figure it out. I’ve read his plan, as well as McCain’s. I’ve read the analysis of both campaigns. I’ve watched all 4 debates. I’ve even read the neutral analysis of the Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center. Any objective analysis points to the fact that taxes will be lower under McCain than Obama, but how much and for whom is an unknowable. Both campaigns have proposed so many convoluted strategies that it is next to impossible to determine the net effect for an individual taxpayer.

Here’s what I do know:

1) Obama plans to raise the top 2 marginal tax rates. This is his personal version of Robin Hoodness, or in his words, an attempt to “spread the wealth around.” High marginal tax rates are a staple of Liberal/Socialist policy, and Obama is no exception.
2) Obama plans to raise taxes on capital gains and dividends. He intends to make these rates graduated, like ordinary income taxes, so high income individuals would pay a higher marginal capital gains rate of 20%.
3) Obama plans to raise tax rates and reduce tax loopholes on “large” (think public) businesses.
4) Obama plans to raise death tax rates to 45% on estates larger than $3.5 million.
5) Obama plans to freeze income tax rates for other income levels, and cut taxes through targeted tax credits for various activities.
6) Obama supports changing the FICA tax limits (currently capped at $102,000), so higher income individuals would pay higher FICA as well as higher income, cap gains, and dividends. (read more…)

I love California for many reasons. One of the best (and worst) is that the Proposition system allows for a modicum of true democracy to occur. Every election the people get to vote directly for measures the legislature is either unwilling or unable to address on its own. Unfortunately, this means the citizens need to wade through the language of many bills to get educated on what they will really do. Since most people, unlike me, have a life, they rely on voter guides. Well here is mine:

1A Bond Measure for High Speed Rail — NO
2 Cage standards for livestock — NO
3 Bond Measure for Children’s Hospital — NO
4 Notification for Underage Abortions — YES
5 Lighter Sentences for Drug Criminals — NO
6 Minimum Funding for Police — NO
7 Renewable Energy Requirements — NO
8 Define Marriage as 1 Man 1 Women — YES
9 Victims’ Rights — YES
10 Bond Measure to Subsidize Hybrids — NO
11 Bi-Partisan Redistricting Commission — YES
12 Bond Measure to Provide Loans to Vets — YES (read more…)