Can you hear me now?...

The current health care debate has generated a lot of discussion on just what constitutes a "right". I've always maintained that our rights cannot conflict with somebody else's rights. That is, if something you consider to be your right requires the initiation of force against another individual, it isn't really a right. I don't think it matters whether you forcibly take some one's property on your own, or whether you designate someone else to take it for you.

I've heard arguments from a lot of people that as long as the government is doing the taking, it's somehow different. That your "right" to health care entitles the government to take something from Peter and give it to Paul, even if it would be wrong for Paul to take it from Peter on his own.

Apparently, the government has decided that it's now a right to have a cell phone. I guess it's also a right to get to use it for 70 minutes a month.

I'm glad my kids didn't find this out a few years ago.

Yah, thot wood sock...

Apparently the authors of the health care bill that the House of Representatives just passed were really serious about making sure everyone complied with the law. People who fail to buy insurance are subject to a $250,000.00 fine and up to 5 years in jail. Since the bill is almost 2000 pages, I haven't found time to read the whole thing yet. I hope my $10,000.00 deductible, catastrophic coverage policy suits them. I'm not sure I could come up with a quarter of a million dollars or 5 years, either one.

I do have some concerns for my Amish friends and neighbors, though. They're not the insurance buying type, opting instead to take care of themselves with an old fashioned co-op system. I have always been envious of the fact that they have been allowed to opt out of the Social Security plan that most are forced to fund. I hope there is a provision in the house bill that allows them to opt out of the government health care plan.

I just haven't found it yet.

Thanks pfor nothing...

For those of us that still believe in private property rights, Kelo vs. New London, the case where the Supreme Court ruled that government could seize a person's home for almost any reason, as long as the seizure resulted in more money for the governments coffers, remains one of the most horrible decisions the court has ever handed down. And that is saying a lot.

That was in 2005, and since then, the town of New London, Connecticut has torn down the houses of Suzette Kelo and her neighbors. The town then gave the property, along with a fist full of abatements to Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which in turn built a research and development center on the lots.

Pfizer announced Monday that it is closing the facility.

Do you think there might be a chance that the New London Town Council, and the Supreme Court, and Pfizer will offer those homeowners an apology?

Neither do I.

Get the lead out...

I've seen a lot of changes since starting a construction company 35 years ago. Some of the materials we use in the business is better than it used to be, and some of it is worse. Some of it isn't even in existence anymore. Some of the tools we use have also changed, again, some for the better and some for the worse. Some haven't. They're all a lot more expensive than they used to be. I have managed to keep the same hammer for 35 years, although I've had to replace the handle 3 times and the head twice.

Some things are pretty constant. There are still a lot of good people to work for out there, and even in the worst of times, there is always somebody that needs something done. It's also a pretty safe bet that there will always be someone out there trying to add another layer of regulation on all of us. Earlier this year, a local builders organization was lobbying to make sure that anybody wanting to work in Wayne County was licensed. Last year, the Department of Natural Resources notified us that if we uncover any signs of certain past human activity on a job site, we would be required to shut down the job site until the DNR had time to come out and investigate.

The latest silliness comes from the Environmental Protection Agency. Starting next April, federal law requires that any company that "engages in remodeling and repair/maintenance, electrical work, plumbing, painting, carpentry, or window replacement that disturbs 6 square feet or more of paint per room inside, or 20 square feet or more on the exterior of a home, child care facility or school built before 1978 must have at least one worker in the firm that is a certified lead renovator."

Ayn Rand said that "The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws."

I don't imagine most people will pay anymore attention to the new EPA regulations than they do to the old DNR regulations, so I'm guessing the government just created another group of criminals.

There's also a $32,500.00 fine that goes along with non-compliance, so I'm planning on laying low until this all blows over, just in case I ever have to buy another hammer.

Frankly my dear, I don't give a darn...

I don't know what an acai berry is. I did see an advertisement the other day about some juice that they make from it, and the ad promised that I would be shocked by the results if I drank some of it. I'm not so sure. It's been a long time since anything really shocked me.

I've heard people say how shocking it was when Clark Gable said "damn" in the closing scenes of Gone with the Wind. I don't think to many people would be suprised today if they heard it on Sesame Street. I've seen things on prime-time television that used to garner an "R" rating at the movies. 6th graders use words that I never even heard until I moved away to college.

The federal debt passed $12 trillion a few days ago. We live in the United States of America, and the government is about to make a law requiring everybody to buy health insurance. Every day we hear people demanding that the government take away more of our freedom and choices, and replace them with regulations.

So yes, I might be a little suprised by what some berry juice can do for me, or by what people say, or by what people do, but I don't think I'll be shocked.

Not anymore.

Take it or leave it...

Stinky Wilmont was my best pal back when we were attending Millville Grade School. I guess we had a lot of things in common. We both thought Rin Tin Tin was a lot smarter and faster than Lassie, and we were convinced Popeye and Bluto could both have done a lot better than Olive Oyl . We didn’t think much of the creamed peas they served us in the cafeteria on Wednesdays, and if the truth was told, neither one of us was really all that happy to be in school at all.

Of course, we had our differences, too. Stinky seemed to place a little less emphasis on personal hygiene. As I remember, that kind of ran in the family. He also liked to go coon hunting. I tried it a couple of times, but I just never saw the attraction.

It all worked out pretty well, though. We still got together when necessary to hide the creamed peas under the Best-Ever milk cooler, but I didn’t try to make Stinky take a bath, and he didn’t try to make me go coon hunting. It just seemed like the natural solution.

That philosophy has served me fairly well through the years. I’ve made friends that like to go hunting and friends that don’t. I’ve made a few friends that don’t like to bathe, although we’re not really that close. I’ve made friends that share my religious beliefs, and friends that have different religious beliefs, and friends that have no religious beliefs. I have friends that drink alcohol and friends that don’t, friends that smoke and friends that don’t, and a couple friends that chew or dip snuff. As long as people are tolerant enough that no one tries to force their choices on someone else, we seem to get along pretty well, although I do pay closer attention to the wind direction when I’m around one of the chewers.

I think for the most part, Americans have usually behaved that way, at least in their personal dealings. That’s not to say that some individuals aren’t pretty insistent about bringing others around to their way of thinking, but for the last 150 years or so, even with some major differences in opinions, we’ve managed to keep things half-way civil.

One of the things that has set us apart from some countries around the world is the way we have handled our elections. No matter how nasty the campaign was, or how much difference there was in the ideologies, in the end, the loser steps aside and the winner takes office ( except for a few local mayoral races, that is). It’s not like that everywhere. In some countries the losers grab guns and start shooting at the winners. Not much tolerance, I guess.

I don’t think we’ve reached that point in this country yet, although there does seem to be a growing divide among people concerning what they expect from their government. Right now there is a large group of people that want the government to provide health care for everybody. There’s also a large group of people that don’t want the government to provide health care for everybody. Although we haven’t seen too many guns brought out yet, several people on each side of the debate are getting pretty insistent, and even downright nasty, trying to make sure that their side gets to make the rules.

Before we do get to that point, maybe we simply need to step back and allow the people who want government health care to go ahead and pay for government health care plan, and allow people who don’t want government health care to go their own way.

I think that would work for a lot of government programs. At least it always worked for Stinky and me.

And while we’re at it, you’re all welcome to come to church with me next Sunday if you want to. But nobody’s forcing you. Yet.

End Property Taxes, Save a Tree...

I subscribe to 3 newspapers. 2 daily and 1 weekly. I know it's not the most environmentally friendly way keeping abreast of things, but I still enjoy leafing through the pages more than surfing the web, and besides, I can't make paper hats for the grand kids out of a computer, and you sure can't roll up a computer to swat a fly.

Apparently the availability of news on the internet is having a negative effect on the printed version of newspapers. A variation on the old "why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free" theory, I suppose.

I have noticed the papers getting thinner over the years, mostly due to less advertisements it seems, although occasionally a flurry of activity or ads will thicken things back up for a day or two.

On Friday, the Courier-Times seemed a little heftier than usual when I pulled it out of the box. The Courier-Times is the daily paper that comes out of New Castle, which is the seat of Henry County. Upon opening the paper, I found that its extra weight was due in part to 6 full pages of property tax sale listings. Henry County claims 46,947 residents. It just listed about 1000 properties going to auction for non-payment of property taxes.

A couple of weeks ago This Story told how some businesses in New Castle had seen their property taxes increase over 500% in the last 4 years, the result of changes in the way property is assessed.

That's the problem with the push to put the 1%, 2%, or 3% cap on property taxes. The cap will be on the assessed value of the property, and as farmers and business owners are starting to find out, the method of figuring assessed value is subject to some very arbitrary changes and opinions from the state. Don't be surprised if over the next few years, "replacement cost" works its way into the formula for assessing the value of homes.

As hard as they might try, there is no way politicians can make property taxes fair. No one should lose their home, farm or business to the tax man simply because the government raises their taxes on that property. We can do a lot better with a sales tax and user fees that distribute the cost of funding legitimate and necessary government to all citizens.

And by keeping a closer eye on what is legitimate and necessary.

I'm reminded of that every time I pick up a newspaper that is thicker than it needs to be.