I won't hate Obama (an essay written the night before the election by my Dad)

I hope Obama will live up to his repeated promises to usher in a new brand of governance that will turn a deaf ear to lobbyists seeking to enrich industries at the expense of the country as a whole, often times while ignoring common sense. And I hope he remembers that groups like unions, like the Teacher’s Union for example, are lobbyists too seeking to line their own pockets (even if they are his rabid self-serving supporters.)

I hope he doesn’t further destroy our economy and take our recession into a depression. If he expands government spending and increases taxes, it will happen. Our country currently spends about 9% of GDP on social programs…most of Western Europe spends 19% of GDP. Europe suffers from a list of economic woes so much longer and more severe than ours, that a quick study of the EU econometrics makes you feel almost warm and fuzzy about our financial Titanic. If we move in that direction, being big governmental entitlement expansion funded by tax hikes and/or deficits, we will find ourselves with a shrinking dollar, a growing deficit, higher unemployment, and a flight of capital. I hope I am wrong about all of these things…..and I hope the top 10% of taxpayers…..who currently pay about 70% of all the taxes…..will be giddy about paying more, and passing less on to their family, and keeping less of investment/risk rewards…….but I am afraid I am not.

I hope my unease about Obama’s political lineage is media-driven and unfounded. Maybe Wright, Ayers, Mansour, Dohrn, Rezko, Kahlidi, Marilyn Katz are just reflections of immature judgment, or necessary and unavoidable political bedfellows. I hope so. I honestly do. Because it scares me that tomorrow we will have a man elected POTUS who would NEVER get hired by the FBI, or NSA, or CIA, or receive a high security clearance. While I don’t necessarily believe in guilt by association……I think these associations are ill reflections on a man whose main selling point is his biography, not accomplishment or demonstrated character.

Let’s face it….our government is broke. Spending is out of control. Accountability is absent. The last 8 years have made things worse, not better. And less you think this is a George Bush-only problem get a grip on the reality that the public opinion of Congress (Democratically dominated since 2006) is lower than W’s. We have concentrated power and parochial ideology from a two-party system that would make our forefathers vomit. They were notably skeptical of political parties. So am I. Ideally we would elect a leader at this time who was savvy, non-partisan, pragmatic, proud of our country, passionate about protecting our historical freedoms, wary of government bloat and corruption, and brave enough to look into the pathetic plethora of media leeches and speak the truth to the American public. I don’t think Obama is any of these things, and I hope I am dead wrong.

But no matter what happens tomorrow, I won’t hate Obama. Not if he is elected President. We have had enough of that for the past 8 years, haven’t we? The small-minded and bitter liberal left, including a Hollywood crowd too long to list, constantly spewed hate about W…not his policies, not his perceived mistakes, not even about his behavior…but about the POTUS. And the hate came in unprecedented volume…even when compared to derision aimed at the international buffoonery of Carter or abject moral failure of Clinton. No…it was legitimate hate. And as far as I can see…it didn’t make any of us better, or any of W’s bad decisions less bad. So I am sure I will hate many of Obama’s policies..even if I only choose from the list he has already displayed (as opposed to the much larger list undoubtedly yet to come.) If he accelerates class warfare and/or race warfare….I will hate that. If he makes me take my money out of the country……(and one thing even a high school econ student knows is that investor’s and their capital always react to taxation policies)…..I will hate doing that. But I won’t hate Obama as long as he is President of the United States. I don’t think I can afford to….or at least initially….WE can afford to.

So I hope I am wrong about Obama. I pray I am wrong about Obama. And you know me…..I hate being wrong.

Good luck to us all.

Tax Plan Simplified...or...this is what you voted for America....congrats...

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100.

If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.

The fifth would pay $1.

The sixth would pay $3.

The seventh would pay $7.

The eighth would pay $12.

The ninth would pay $18.

The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do.

The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. "Since you are all such good customers," he said,

"I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. Drinks for the ten now cost just $80."

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free.

But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?'

They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share,

then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).

The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% savings).

The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28% savings).

The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).

The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).

The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before.

And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

"I only got a dollar out of the $20," declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, "but he got

$10!"

"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a Dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I did!"

" That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!"

"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up an anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

(Originally appearing in the Chicago Tribune, 4 March 2001; see http://www.snopes.com/business/taxes/howtaxes.asp)

Amore - Melanie's Bridal Shower

Last weekend Ali, Lindz and I threw Melanie an Italian-themed bridal shower. I put together my own collage, in honor of Mel's graphic design tastes (although my own paltry Photoshop Elements program hardly measures up as a powerhouse).

Best wishes to Mel! We love you...and someday... you will love being in love in Italy!! O mio babino carro....

Dear Fall...

Thank you for coming back after a frightenly quick jump from Summer to Winter. I knew you wouldn't hold out on us.



Thanks for making the mountains, the redeeming geography of the Utah landscape, gorgeous in burnished hues of orange, cranberry and gold.




Snaps for giving me the opportunity to wear my new pink pea-coat, curtesy of this summer's Nordstrom anniversary sale. It was not a disappointment. And no...this is not me. While I like her whimsical hair-do, any effort to style my locks in a loose look like this would make me look like Lucy Honeychurch, from A Room with a View. Great movie,very, very bad hair.


Gracias for amazing holidays--Halloween, a celebration where you dress up, and Thanksgiving --a day devoted to eating amazing amounts of food--what more do you need?




Obrigada for a fall placement break; for boots, scarves, and tights; and for seasons in general...I'm a fan.

Sincerely,
Brittany Mae

Jets v. Chargers (a game...not a litigation case I'm reading...although there are some similar fact patterns...)

Last weekend we had the chance to visit SD for the Monday Night Football game between the Jets and the Chargers. No, we are not from NY, but I have a paternal cousin who married a guy that became their QB (now backup to Favre). And my dad's clan decided to come out and support him for the game...and to do it in San Diego. (selfless effort on our part, honestly)

We had a great weekend, with highlights including my 73-year-old grandma going into the ocean naked after losing a bet.

We take bets pretty seriously.

There was also a lot of yelling, simply because that side of the family tends to suffer from all-around voice homogulation. Normal conversations were known to be loud enough that the family toddler, Gracie Jo, would cover her ears up in protest. If only we were all so lucky to have the defense mechanism at hand when religion/politics/water quality/food quantity debates arose.




My Mom and I in our 3 square-inch yard at the rental house on Mission Beach. Apparently, Californians are ok with pefect strangers strolling by their homes at all hours of the day and night. (it was worth it, the beach was amazing and we had a blast boogey-boarding)

Michael, Vin, my cousin's husband, and Trey, my brother getting ready to hit the waves. In Vin's case they more-or-less hit him.

Morning breakfast chats.

The whole gang in Jets gear. J-E-T-S Jets! Jets! Jets!

I would have liked to say we triumphantly whooped the cocky Chargers, giving them a swift kick to their bolts, but alas, it didn't happen. However, we still had a great time trash-talking (it is my Dad's side of the family, you know), eating, and people-watching from our quasi-aerial view of the game. And we got to have Inn-n-Out on the way home. We'll keep cheering for Kell, because he is a great guy, and keep our eye out for any Hawaii games...

In honor of heroes...9/11

I've had a few moments today where I have thought about 9/11 and what I remember and what it means today, seven years later. However, I think this post says some of my feelings better than anything I could write:

And so I have to tell my kid why he can’t bring water on the plane

May God bless America for another year.

First's...

My first anniversary...and yes the cake was pretty good...but then again...I would probably eat sugar in any form...at after any time period...(celebrating it with a Russian goon from a Bonde movie was a lil' bonus)...

My first day of law school...

First female Vice President candidate...

My first Anthropologie-item-covet....of this week....

As for Palin--I am excited. I like her spunk (big shock there), and appreciate the candor she uses to describe her view. I have watched some of her small-group debates for her Alaska race and she knows when to stop talking. She has a gift for stating her value or opinion but stopping before it translates nto some macro-level policy that wouldn't work on a government level.

I am also warming up to McCain, especially the closer we get to an potential reality where a senator with less than a term under his belt will become our commander-in-chief, ringing in a new era of "change" alright--more taxes; more bureacracy; more waffling on abortion, security, and protecionism. Personally, I found this a rather eloquent way to sum it up: