roymilleraz

We all agree that it is wrong to point a gun at someone and take their money but the vast majority of Americans think it is acceptable to go the ballot box and vote for somebody to do that. What is it that makes theft among individuals morally wrong but theft by an elected person or his agent right? Answer: nothing. Taxation is theft and recognizing this fact should be a limiting factor on the growth of government.

Government does have a legitimate role and that is protecting our liberty. But that is less than 20% of what the federal government does (national defense) and an even lower percentage of what local governments do (police and courts). These functions could and should be funded voluntarily. If these basic principles could be understood we would have a much smaller government, a much more prosperous economy, and much less coercion in our society. In short, we would have more freedom.

There are two reasons that we should shift from government defined benefit type pensions to 401k plans, especially at the local level. One is that the promises made by voters to government employees have risen to the point where the future benefits cannot possibly be paid. The promises are, therefore, dishonest. But worse, the promises are immoral because they involve stealing money from future generations who cannot represent themselves. The promises are being made to buy the votes to elect the persons who then raise the pensions. This dishonest and immoral cycle must be stopped.

Even though Light Rail ridership is up and even though the fares recently went up to $2, the taxpayers are still getting soaked. This is because the total cost of building and operating the light rail adds up to about $13 per passenger. That means the recent fare increase will only reduce the taxpayer subsidy from $11.25 to $11.00. What a great deal.

For those of you who have difficulty with higher math, this means that taxpayers would come out ahead if we took our losses now and shut down the line. We should rather be making the Valley of the Sun the most auto friendly city in the world.

When Obama was elected our march toward socialism and greater government spending speeded up; and the stock market went down. But when sequester went in and government spending went down; the stock market hit an all-time high. Can there be any doubt about which direction makes the most economic sense?

Obama needs to get some courage on his minimum wage increase recommendation. If he is sincere about wanting to lift people out of poverty, why is he only recommending an increase to $9 per hour? Why not $15 or $20 or $30 per hour? The answer to that question is, of course, as obvious to the president as it is to anyone else. Raising the minimum wage destroys jobs. The higher you raise it the more jobs it destroys. This is purely a political move by the president and is disgustingly cynical.

This controversy over whether the Boy Scouts should admit gays is ridiculous. We are talking about pretty young children, many only 12 or 13. Why in God’s name are we focused on what kind of sex they are having? They should not be encouraged to have sex at that age.

Every person has both male and female friends. Therefore, the only meaningful distinction between heterosexuals and gays at this age is what kind of sex they are having. This should not even be a discussion among 12 and 13 year old boys. This whole debate is another example of a minority group trying to push their activist political agenda.

Republicans appear ready to commit suicide over the defense budget. Attempting to block the nomination of Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense is only the most recent example. Arguing for maintaining the size of our defense budget is another related strategy that is also suicidal. No matter how you measure defense spending there is no rational argument for keeping expenditures at their current levels. There is no enemy that warrants such levels and we are bankrupting our country. The neo con foreign policy of Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld-Wolfowitz, et al, got us into this mess and the Republican Party seems unwilling to admit that their policies were a mistake.

As a lifelong Republican activist I have spent much of the prior 40 years trying to move the Republican Party in a more libertarian direction. I believe the Republican Party cannot survive unless it moves away from the dangerous and fiscally irresponsible positions that it adopted during the Bush administration.

Chuck Hagel is a fine and decent man who is eminently qualified to be Secretary of Defense. Let’s get behind him and behind reasonable reductions in defense spending and use these issues as a way for Republicans and Democrats to finally work together on issues that are the most critical to our future.

So, Defense Secretary Panetta has decreed that women may now serve in combat positions. Fine. But why did have to go on and say that no standards would be lowered for any of the combat positions in order to accommodate women? Anyone who has been a part of any military training program where women were allowed to enter knows that Secretary Panetta’s statement is a lie. Accommodations have always been made when women were admitted and most certainly they will be again.

My quarrel is not with admitting women. My quarrel is an issue of honor. When senior military officials make such outlandish and obviously deceitful statements (similar to President Obama claiming that he was not going to cover illegal immigrants in his health care proposal), the entire military hierarchy is brought down to a lower level and a bad example is set for those hoping to move up in the military chain of command.

Of course standards will be lowered. And when that is discovered many excuses will be offered. And, depending on whether the original standards were valid, maybe no harm will be done to our military strength. But harm will have been done to our credibility when it becomes obvious that we lied…..once again.

Former U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal seems to be on all the talk shows these days. He is quizzed about his new book; he is quizzed about the proposed Obama troop withdrawal in Afghanistan; he is quizzed about gun control; he is even quizzed about his forced retirement from the Army due to his insubordination. But this insubordination is insignificant when compared to his actions in the cover-up of the Cpl Pat Tillman friendly fire killing in Afghanistan.

McChrystal committed one of the most egregious acts of dishonor in military history when he not only helped cover-up the killing (so that the Army could continue to use Tillman as a recruiting hero), but he went so far as to bring disgrace on one of our highest military decorations, the Silver Star, by improperly approving Tillman for that award. As far as I know, McChrystal has never apologized for this horrendous action. Rather than receiving adulation, McChrystal should have met an Army court martial, or at least have been retired at a lower rank. But the fawning press does not even ask him about it.

Anyone who wants more information on the details of this incident should view the movie “The Tillman Story” or read the Jon Krakauer book “Where Men Win Glory; The Odyssey of Pat Tillman.” They will then realize what a dark day this was in the history of our military leaders. McChrystal should, at the very least, be questioned about this.

Abortion advocates and abortion opponents have allowed themselves to be labeled, respectively, as pro choice and pro life. This distinction is extremely divisive and, in my opinion, inaccurate. One of the fundamental purposes of government is to protect life. Everyone would agree that, at some point between conception and birth, there is clearly a human life. At that point, the government’s role is to protect that life (while recognizing that there are still legitimate issues, such as when the mother’s health is at risk). Why don’t we change the tenor of the debate by recognizing that the real debate is about when life begins?