Politics

Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results

/ hsoi

That’s the definition of insanity. It seems to be alive and well.

If there is some new era of urban conflict and we need to prepare ourselves for that conflict, there seem to be two courses of action. The course of action some want us to take is to disarm the good citizens and tell us that Government Will Save You™. Well, I offer my simple experiment as to why that won’t work. So the remaining course of action is to take some responsibility for yourself to get some training, knowledge, and ability on how to defend yourself. 

It’s your life. How do you want to live it? You’re always welcome to join the insanity. Let me know how that works out for you.

Next bailout…. newspapers

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

You’ve got to be kidding me. There’s actually consideration for a bailout of the newspaper industry?

The demise of newspapers is not because of some economic crisis… it’s because of the rise of the Internet. That printed medium is obsolete, plain and simple. I know it’s de rigueur to prop up failing industry with legislation (music industry, movie industry, Amtrak, etc.) and of course all the cool kids are getting bailouts. But there is no practical end served by this that isn’t already being served (arguably better) by electronic media. Adapt people… evolve. Let the dinosaur die.

What’s scarier about this is there is lip service to those being bailed out that they can continue to report as they wish, but they cannot endorse political candidates. Well, not only is that a foot in the door for greater control and censorship, but in and of itself is a complete violation of freedom of speech and press. It flat out is Congress abridging speech and press.

I take some solace that this bill hasn’t attracted any cosponsors, so hopefully it will die. But either way, contact your Congresscritters and tell them not just “no” but “hell no”.

Syd’s back

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

Syd is back blogging… saying it’s alright Ma, I’m only bleeding.

I feel much the same way he does. Angry about the past 8 years, angry at the direction that we seem to be headed in the next 4-8 years. But we just have to keep on, but we must be even more vigilant. The fight however seems difficult, since emotions are running high and rationality is losing ground. I understand emotions (including fear) and how that can lead to irrational thought, but it’s no way to run a railroad nor legislate nor govern… yet sadly, it’s the current modus operandi. Fear is our zeitgeist.

And I do agree that a new AWB isn’t going to happen… now. I think there’s bigger fish to fry (the economy), but there’s no question this administration is sowing the seeds. Thankfully there’s pushback, thankfully there are those that stand strong. That helps, but it doesn’t mean things are safe. Folks it’s simple… you lose (give up?) your ability to fight back, then you become a subject, a slave, and you’ll eventually lose everything else.

It’s hard being an optimist, but you gotta keep trying.

Progress on SB 730

/ hsoi

Texas Senate Bill 730 has made some progress. “Local” coverage here. Official record here, but since action just happened there’s not a lot of detail other than “status: out of committee” and “vote: ayes=7 nays=0 pnv=0 abs=0”.

Not much update on the companion bill, HB 1301.

 

Updated: Yes, it’s actually out of the Senate now, not just committee (their website wasn’t fully updated when I posted… lag). An article. From that article:

The bill drew fire from business leaders, who called it an affront to property rights. Bill Hammond, president of the Texas Association of Business, warned that it could also spark more workplace gun crimes – particularly at a time when more and more people are losing their jobs.

“People could go out to their car, get their weapon and go after their supervisors or co-workers who hadn’t been laid off,” Hammond said.

I’m still torn on the property rights issue, I admit. But then, I’m OK with concealed carry so if I had a business with employees and an office building there’d be no 30.06 sign out front. I’d rather be surrounded by good guys and hope that all I hired were good guys.

As for the “people could go out to their car” argument well… remember that people could also go out to their car to get their gun and stop the carnage created by someone “going postal”. As well, if someone wanted to go postal but they knew lots of armed employees were around so their little rampage wouldn’t be that productive, it just might serve to deter the rampage in the first place. But in the end, someone bent on going crazy is going to go crazy and we can’t do much to stop it. What we can do is stop abridging law-abiding citizens.

Hutchison on stimulus

/ hsoi

It took a while to get a response, but yesterday I received an emailed response from Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison regarding H.R. 1, the “stimulus act”. Here’s her response in its entirety.

Dear Friend:

Thank you for contacting me regarding H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. I welcome your thoughts and comments on this issue.

Our economy is facing dramatic challenges. Financial conditions are rapidly evolving, creating volatility and uncertainty for businesses, small and large, across the country. Tightening credit markets, mounting job losses, and decreased consumer spending are wreaking havoc on the bottom lines of small businesses and the savings of every American household.

In response to the economic crisis, Congressional Democrats unveiled H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, also known as the Stimulus bill. After several weeks of debate, a $787 billion package filled with an array of funding for government healthcare, education, energy, and infrastructure programs was agreed upon.

The Stimulus bill passed on a party line vote, with all but three Senate Republicans opposing the bill, and was signed into law on February 17, 2009. I strongly opposed H.R. 1 for three primary reasons.

First, I believe the most effective way to stimulate the economy is to leave more money in taxpayers’ pockets. Instead of providing significant tax cuts, the vast majority of the Stimulus bill focused on dramatically expanding government programs. In fact, tax cut provisions in H.R. 1 only represented 27 percent of the total bill. Furthermore, the few tax relief provisions that were included are likely to be ineffective. The largest tax relief provision in the bill, the Making Work Pay Credit, is a $400 tax credit for individuals and an $800 tax credit for couples that will be distributed though decreased paycheck withholdings. For individuals, this amounts to only an additional $7.69 per week. This meager effort will not stimulate our economy out of the current recession.

Second, I believe any stimulus bill should attempt to expend funding immediately and effectively. Instead, in this bill, of the $311 billion in government discretionary spending, only 11.3 percent, or $35 billion, will be spent in 2009. The remainder of the spending will occur over the next ten years. Stimulating our economy over ten years will not bring immediate relief to those feeling the impact of the economic crisis today.

Lastly, this bill will saddle Americans with a significant amount of additional debt. Our national debt is currently above $10.9 trillion dollars. It is irresponsible for our government to wastefully spend taxpayer dollars by the billions when our nation is operating in the red. In addition, it is unfair to place this mounting financial burden on America’s future generations. I could not support a $787 billion bill that will not provide much-needed tax relief; will not spend the funding immediately and effectively; will not create sustainable, private-sector jobs; and will not address the mounting debt facing our country.

The economic downturn has had a pronounced impact on Texas families and businesses, and I would have supported stimulative measures that were balanced, reasonable in size, and targeted specifically to job creation, keeping people in their homes, and overall economic growth. A better proposal would have emphasized tax relief so that individuals and businesses can have more capital to inject into the economy, and it would have guarded against massive government expansion. History teaches that excessive spending may prolong a recession. Moving forward, Congress must carefully consider the long-term consequences of a fiscal policy premised on borrowing and spending. As Congress continues to consider legislation to address the financial crisis, you may be certain I will keep your thoughts in mind.

For more information on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, please visit http://www.recovery.gov <http://www.recovery.gov/&gt; .

I appreciate hearing from you. I hope you will not hesitate to contact me on any issue of concern to you.

Sincerely,
Kay Bailey Hutchison
United States Senator

284 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5922 (tel)
202-224-0776 (fax)
http://hutchison.senate.gov

PLEASE DO NOT REPLY to this message as it is not a valid e-mail address. Due to the tremendous volume of mail Senator Hutchison receives, she requests that all email messages be sent through the contact form found on her website at http://hutchison.senate.gov/contact.cfm .

If you would like more information about issues pending before the Senate, please visit the Senator’s website at http://hutchison.senate.gov .  You will find articles, floor statements, and press releases, along with her weekly column and monthly television show on current events. You can also sign up to receive Senator Hutchison’s weekly e-newsletter.

Thank you.

 

Open Documents in Texas Government

/ hsoi

I just read via Slashdot about Texas HB 481. It’s a bill that would require pretty much any State agency to preserve their electronic documents in an open document standard format.

I think that’s a good thing.

The main thing is longevity. If these are to be vital documents to last beyond our lifetimes, we need to ensure they can. As a software engineer myself I know how software can come and go, formats can be lost to history, and files can be rendered unreadable.

Now some are saying that this is bad because it’s anti-competitive. I fail to see how that’s true. When you use a proprietary format like an MS Word document, what happens if Microsoft goes away? Yes folks it could happen. What would happen if applications could no longer read MS Word document files? What then? Now, this isn’t to say I’m against proprietary formats, but I understand if I want something to last you need to make it as open and accessible as possible. Microsoft doesn’t make their money from selling document formats, they make it from selling software that reads and writes those formats. So, they are more than welcome to add native support for these open file formats to their products, like anyone else… and that is what competition is all about.

I doubt this bill will see much traction, but it’s a nice effort.

Back to responsibility

/ hsoi

So President Obama was on Jay Leno last night. I didn’t watch, mostly because I rarely watch late night talk shows… heck, I rarely watch late night anything (I tend to go to bed early and get up early). I will say that it’s interesting he went on the show… gotta keep up his hip rock-star image I guess. 

Reading that CNN article, President Obama was quoted as saying:

Obama said earlier this week that he’ll “take responsibility” for AIG executives receiving those controversial bonuses — roughly $165 million — while the company took $173 billion in government bailouts. Congress is looking for ways to recoup all or some of that money.

“The larger problem is we’ve got to get back to an attitude where people know enough is enough, and people have a sense of responsibility and they understand that their actions are going to have an impact on everybody,” he said. “If we can get back to those values that built America, then I think we’re going to be OK.”

First, if he’s willing to accept responsibility, I hope he’s willing to accept what comes with responsibility. Time will tell. Based upon his past actions I’m certainly skeptical, but I’ll give him a chance and would love to proven wrong.

Second, I do think he’s right about the latter part: that we need to get back to a point where people have a sense of responsibility and understand their choices can have greater impacts. Yes, I do agree if we get back to these values we will be OK. But again, I’m skeptical of Mr. Obama. Behaviors and policies enacted so far rob people of the ability to be responsible. You can argue if bailouts rewarded bad behavior, but certainly they did not punish the bad behavior. When you feed at the government teet, when consequences of misbehavior don’t directly affect you, when you aren’t directly invested in the results of performance, then you have far less motivation to be responsible. 

And let’s not forget the growing Nanny State…. that does nothing for taking us back to responsibility.

So President Obama, as always you speak a good game. But talk is cheap, and you’re in a great position to lead by example. Let’s see if you can live those words you spoke last night.

You want facts? Here’s facts.

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

The Florida State University’s Research in Review magazine Winter 2009 issue has as their cover story an interview with Gary Kleck. (h/t to Sebastian)

Whenever people talk about “gun control” (in a manner other than “use both hands”), far too often what you hear from them is emotional arguments (see here and here and here). If you hear any data or facts, it’s usually vague and incorrect, or just a flat out lie (tho usually well-intended, but that’s what paves the road to Hell). While I can’t fault people for going with their emotions, legislating and regulating a citizenry because of how you feel usually doesn’t make for sound policy. Facts, hard data, and research make for a more solid foundation upon which to build. So if you want such things regarding guns, Gary Kleck is the man to turn to. For those that will offhand dismiss him as being an NRA shill, he’s not. Read the article.

Tax Free Weekend for guns?

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

Texas State Senator Jeff Wentworth is proposing a “tax free weekend” for the sales of guns and ammo. It is filed as SB 1788.

It’s an interesting thought no doubt. Every year at “back to school” time there’s a tax free weekend here in Texas allowing families to purchase clothing and other necessities for kids going back to school and all tax free. What isn’t taxed is very limited (e.g. basic clothing, school-type backpacks; no accessories, no sporting goods, etc.), but many stores know how big a shopping weekend it is so they’ll have their own promotions that basically eliminate the tax… technically yes you’re still paying tax, but they’ll adjust the price so in the end it totals up to the regular price sans sales tax, or other sales promotional gimmick. Either way, the weekend is always big business.

So to provide such a weekend for hunters to obtain the things they need, there’s merit to the idea.

I did find this a choice quote in the article:

“It is not because we don’t believe in people’s right to bear arms,” [Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston] said. “It’s because we don’t think we ought to subsidize an industry, which is what this bill would, subsidize the gun industry.”

Note, Rep. Coleman has an “F” rating from the NRA. So please excuse me if I doubt the sincerity of the first part of his statement. And I guess then it’s OK to subsidize the clothing industry? Oh I forgot… that’s thinking of the children, right?

Open Carry in Texas

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

So I read from Sebastian that open carry is off this year’s legislative table in Texas.

While I can understand the open carry folks being upset about this, I think it’s reasonable. There’s a lot of other related legislation working its way through, and there is a high risk of confusion and misunderstanding which could lead to more things failing than succeeding. Long term, we want success, and if it takes a little more time to get there, I think patience is a good thing. Let’s take the wins we can get, one step at a time. Meantime, if you want to see open carry in Texas, continue to work positively, lobby, write your State Representative and Senator, and build momentum and understanding throughout the community and State. Don’t be a sore loser, that will only hurt your cause.