Politics and Pensions

The latest political scapegoat has become public employee pensions. Top state officials in many states are blaming current and future pensions as budget busters. NYS Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has recently jumped on the pension bashing band wagon and is looking into legal action to erode them. Ironically, Cuomo is posturing himself for the Governorship.
The facts surrounding NYS public employee pensions and their affect on future budgets are being misrepresented. Are there current pensions that are out of line with the earnings on which they are based? Most certainly. However that problem was addressed in 1976, further in 1983, and again in 2009. In our tier system, only Tier 1 employees are earning no top end pensions. Tier 1 employees are those hired before 1973. Tier 2 employees can earn expanded but not unlimited pension and were all hired prior to 1976. Tiers 3-5 are stricly limited and comprise the bulk of current employees and therefore future retirees.
The fact is Tier 1 and 2 retirees make up a very small portion of the system and are dwindling each year.
This problem has been resolved, but for the sake of political expendiency, candidates are going to continue to make an issue where there is none. Let the facts be heard and not the rhetoric at the expense of some hard-working public employees.

My "zero tolerance" issue

Indiana Republican Rep. Mark Souder just announced his resignation from Congress because of marital infidelity with a staffer. This issue has become far too prevalent in todays political landscape. The unfortunate reality is that it has been going on for decades but often coupled with a "wink and a nudge". In our 24/7 media society, it is less reasonable to expect to play and get away with it and for that I am glad. Adultery in elected circles is my "zero tolerance" issue and I include Republicans and Democrats together on this one. I am as disgusted with Mark Sanford(R SC) as I am with John Edwards (D NC). I am as appalled by John Ensign (R NV) as I am Bill Clinton and don't even get me started on "televangelists". However, my issue today is with those entrusted with power by their voters.
The bottom line of my intolerance is the fact that if you will lie to God and soul mate, you will tell your constituents ANYTHING.
I give Mark Souder the minimal credit of stepping down, for those who remain in office, shame on you, and shame on your electorate if they return you to office.

When a father turns on his children

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
The preamble of our Constitution clearly establishes in it's use of the words Union, United, common, and domestic tranquility, the idea that we as a nation are a collective of entities(states) and our common goal is to prosper as one yet without sacrificing autonomy.
In recent days, both our President and his Attorney General have seen fit to disparage one this nations 50 "children" by innacurately villifying Arizona in its attempt to control it's own border. The law is fair and just comprising only of an extension of existing powers to more law enforcement. In a knee jerk reaction, both President Obama and AG Holder(who was forced to admit he hadn't even read the 10 page bill before demonizing it) have foisted on Arizona the consequence of ill-conceived and short-sighted boycotts.
Now our 48th state finds itself on the short end of tourism and commerce backlash based on misinformation starting at the top. By our own founding documents, the federal government is charged with protecting our great states, not villifying them. In a time when states can ill afford to spend precious dollars on doing the work that Washington has failed to, they certainly should not have to defend themselves against attacks from the White House.

Independence Day

This past week 5 students from a school in Morgan Hill, California wore shirts with American flags to school. It also happened to be a day in which the school(for some reason) was celebrating Cinco De Mayo. Because the Vice-Principle deemed the wearing of the American flag incendiary, they were given the choice of turning the shirts inside out, removing them, leaving school, or getting suspended. They chose to leave. The story on only those facts makes me shake my head but another underlying issue also highlights the absurdity of the situation. The school was celebrating Cinco De Mayo, what we(myself included) have been led to believe is Mexico's Independence Day. A little research exposes that the day commemorates a battle in the small state of Pueblo in southern Mexico. Cinco De Mayo is not largley celebrated in Mexico itself, but has become an "excuse to party" day in small pockets of the country. Mexican Independence Day is nationally recognized(in Mexico) on September 16.
So what we have here is another example of political correctness run amok. Again, those in the P.C. crowd are shoving recognition of another nations sovereignty down our throats when they don't even have it right to begin with. Recognizing Cinco De Mayo in America is akin to going to Mexico on Mardi Gras and having a local shove a Corona in your hand and shout "Amigo, we celebrating your eendeependence"
America first

Reliability

In the spring of 1983 my Dad took me to Crocker's Hardware in LeRoy to pick up our new Toro lawnmower. Being 16 at the time, it was not like getting a car but since the lawn was my responsibility, I was nonetheless glad for the upgrade from the old Dynamark mower that I had put through its paces and actually had painted flames on during what must have been a boring summer day.
The Toro was quite the machine, with it's alloy deck, Suzuki two-stroke engine, and rear bag. What I liked most about the new mower was that it started on the first or second pull each and every time.
In the spring of 1998 I bought the old Toro from Dad for $35. What impressed me now was that at 15 years old, it still started on the first or second pull.
Today, I went out to mow my lawn and as you may have guessed, the old girl started on the very first pull. Now I no more enjoy mowing the lawn now than I did at any other time, but there is a certain satisfaction that when I pull that cord, she is going to spring to life. As silly as it sounds, I see the Toro as an extension of what I strive to be...reliable. When someone calls on me to help, I want them to have that same quiet confidence that I will get the job done. As my family will attest it is sometimes to a fault that I will endeavor to please others, but in the end there is an undeniable comfort in knowing you made a difference no matter how large or small.
Each week from April to October for the last 27 years, I have been pulling that same rope with the same results, and it makes me feel as though that mower is a part of me, not in how the rubber pull handle fits my fingers, rather in how the machine's essence reflects what I hope to always be...reliable.

Where did the dignity go?

Several months ago Anderson Cooper of CNN used the euphamism "teabagger" when referring to members of the Tea Party movement. It naturally drew some tee hees from the media and a few other outlets picked up on the term. I had hoped at the time it would just kind of fade away but unfortunately it became more and more mainstream. Eventually elected Democrats started using the sexual innuendo and now it has finally reached the top. President Obama uses the term during an interview for the new book "The Promise:President Obama, Year One"
This is either a case of how far we as a country have slid down the slippery slope or a glimpse of the true character of our Commander-in-Chief. Could be a mix of both.
In a quote that has often been attributed to Ruth Graham..."If God doesn't judge America, He will need to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah."

The National Day of Prayer

Today marks the annual proclamation of our National Day of Prayer. For the past 59 years, our Presidents have recognized the deep traditions of faith upon which our country was founded. Some have embraced it with great vigor, others as though it were an obligation akin to pardoning the Thanksgivng turkey. Although the days official history started in 1952 by proclamtion of Harry Truman, recognizing our need as a country to collectively turn to our Creator dates back to 1775 and the Continental Congress when they called upon the colonies to seek God's wisdom in forming our new nation.
This year our President issued the annual proclamation and in doing so encouraged us to remember the people of Haiti and Chili before recognizing the victims of the West Virginia mine disaster. He urged us to remember the loss in Poland without even giving reference to the 11 Americans killed in the oil rig explosion or the 29 + Americans who lost their lives in the ongoing flooding in Tennesee. Now I am no Isolationist, and we as a nation should be praying for and supporting all those in need around the globe, but at least put America and her citizens first. Jesus himself taught us the concept of concentric outreach when he commanded his disciples to witnesses in" Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
America First