It appears that Barack Obama’s global tax proposal is up for Senate vote. I have not been super-down on Obama because he has seemed to emphasize a strong respect for individual civil rights. It would appear, however, that his ideals for fiscal policy are downright terrifying.
According to the link:
A nice-sounding bill called the “Global Poverty Act,” sponsored by Democratic presidential candidate and Senator Barack Obama, is up for a Senate vote on Thursday and could result in the imposition of a global tax on the United States. The bill, which has the support of many liberal religious groups, makes levels of U.S. foreign aid spending subservient to the dictates of the United Nations.
However, I want to make a warning to conservatives, before they jump on the bandwagon to strike at the Illinois Senator. The power vested in the congress to do this was allowed and even encouraged at times by conservatives. The conservatives wanted the power to do conservative things like make wars and fund “strategic alliances.” But conservatives don’t remain in charge forever (even if under that name). This is the nature of power - it creates a vacuum that attracts abuse. For example, conservatives who support all the increased surveillance, identification and detention need to consider what a Hillary Clinton or even more radical leftist would do with these powers.
This is part of the inherent failures of even so called “modern” government systems. Whereas democracies falter because the people elect autocratic planners and leaders to do everything for them, republics fall because laws get passed that give significant power to the law-makers. This is what happens when principles are compromised for expediency.
Politiques
Scalia believes that torture might be okay in certain circumstances
Paul Edwards at Townhall.com defends the Religious Right against the Religious Left: “The Religious Left is successfully redefining what it means to be a conservative evangelical by misrepresenting what it means to be a conservative evangelical.”
L’Eglise
A review of the next book in the Emerging conversation…
Parents Fous
Sixth grade girls basketball game turns ugly in Oregon
Nice article on the girls’ basketball game. Part of the blame lies on the referees. They let the game get out of hand. But the refs were just high school students, so you have to cut them some slack. They’re not professionals.
I remember reffing many girls and boys basketball games. The order of the parents was the thing I was least empowered to control and it was often the most influential factor on the intensity of the game. The kids just played - they had fun, they never disputed calls - they just were out there playing. But then you start to get parents yelling and screaming; the kids take their lead and start getting mad - and I don’t really think they had any understanding of why people were getting mad - they just responded to the emotion.
I remember ejecting a parent who continued to berate me during a game. I remember almost every game having parents come up afterwards and get in my face, swearing in front of kids. This happened to every single ref that worked - regardless of ability, age or calls. It seems to be a universal maxim in kids sports that parents are atrocious.
As with the war on drugs, public execution would solve unruly parents.
Nice French headings, by the way!
Parlez vous Francias?
Oui bien sur, vous? je ne savais pas, c’est magnifique!
Je parle un peu français. Mais il a été de deux ans. J’apprendrai encore parce que je vais en Europe.
I used to ref soccer at the club level. We were ENCOURAGED to warn or eject coaches if they failed to control their fans. Some leagues even allowed refs to ask parents to leave, and to cancel the game if they failed to do so. By threatening to end the game or remove a coach for unruly parents, they would generally calm down.