What does WOKE look like in Florida?
April 29, 2023
Here’s one example…
“Florida lawmakers seek to delay Clearwater’s Drew Street overhaul”: So reads the headline of a recent news story published in the Tampa Bay Times (Tracey McManus, April 28, 2023).
McManus tell us in her news story, “When the Clearwater City Council reaffirmed its support for a safety overhaul of Drew Street on April 4, it was the only approval the Florida Department of Transportation needed to advance design work on the east-west corridor notorious for crashes.
On Friday (4/28/23), state Sen. Ed Hooper, R-Clearwater, intervened with language in the state budget to withhold funding until the department conducts another study on how the lane reconfigurations would impact traffic.”
Those of us who live in Clearwater and who also try to pay attention to shenanigans in and around City Hall have been kept very, very busy recently.
Following about 2 decades of leadership failures evidenced by clear signs of significant deterioration in management efficiency, the City of Clearwater reached a new lower limit of performance around mid-2020.
Following a mayoral election in March 2020 which returned a former political hack to the office of Mayor, the City has operated in a morass of “Chaos and Crisis” where malevolent leadership led to insider decisions and some bad outcomes which are evidenced by observable:
- Excessive and continual management and supervisory turnover;
- Rising levels of overall employee dissatisfaction;
- Measurable decreases in critical employee productivity measures;
- Poorly executed public projects, including unexpected delays (Marina, The Bluffs, and more…);
- Extreme cost overruns on public projects (Imagine Clearwater, and many more);
- Unusual and/or abrupt failures of existing programs (Trees, anyone?);
- Unexplained or poorly communicated public sector programs and/or projects;
- Decision making ‘in darkness’ where the entire case is not presented to the public in a fair and honest fashion.
A recent comment from Whit Blanton at Forward Pinellas summarizes the whimsical and erratic behavior of some Clearwater elected officials we — the taxpayers, voters and stakeholders of Clearwater — have sadly become accustomed to,
“The City of Clearwater has voted three times for this project, the Forward Pinellas Board has voted 10 times,” Blanton said. “The neighbors have been clamoring for this for years going back to 2004. We finally got momentum and there seems to be forces that are unhappy with the outcome.”
I recently heard a politician say, “Let’s not let perfect be the enemy of good.”
Another study? More delays, deaths and despair on Drew Street?
It’s well known that Tammany Hall disappeared from the NYC political scene sometime after WWII.
What was not known until very recently: Tammany Hall didn’t really disappear, it just moved to Tallahassee to help support people like Senator Hooper and his backroom cronies.
All this time we thought Florida was the Sunshine State, a place where important decisions are made in public….
Or, as the infamous Governor DeSantis tells us, “Florida is where WOKE goes to die.”
Well, I just got abruptly and rudely awakened by some really bad behavior by some Florida politicians, so call me WOKE!
And I’m certainly not here to die!
Here’s a call to action to all of my neighbors who are just fed up: Please join me!
Jim Jordan Reveals Plan to Investigate Crime in Florida
April 18, 2023
Following up on his success in Manhattan, Jordan announces Florida as the next target for Judiciary Committee
FL Gov. Ron DeSantis offered an immediate solution to allegations by Rep. Jim Jordan (R, OH), Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, that crime is up in Florida and enforcement is down.
Joined by FL Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson, a 5th generation Floridian, DeSantis announced today that the new Epcot-Reedy Creek Correctional Facility will help ‘dispel any false rumors. Our new facility will accommodate any and all scofflaws, illegals or gatecrashers who dare to attempt to flaunt the will of the people of Florida at Disney properties’.
DeSantis further explained that this new Correctional Facility will be created within a unique and innovative Public-Private Partnership which will be fully funded and managed by an anonymous Private Capital (hedge fund) entity.
In an unrelated report, the global news outlet Semafor reported today that Billionaire donor Ken Griffin is standing by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) for president in 2024 despite some other major donors backing away from the rumored presidential candidate.
A person close to Griffin told Semafor that Griffin, the founder of the hedge fund Citadel, does not agree with DeSantis on all issues but still believes he would be a strong candidate for president.
Griffin was recently named the Most Profitable Hedge Fund Manager of all time.
I Like Clearwater Florida. It’s where I live!
April 3, 2023
No matter how special, there seems to be an aura of stupidity, ignorance or greed somewhere near City Hall…
Someone at Clearwater City Hall may have recently read the book “Who Moved My Cheese” and got inspired to move everyone’s cheese.
We recently had a dinner guest (Jim) from D.C. on a Saturday evening. He was staying at the Wyndham Grand on the Beach. He used Uber to get to his hotel on a Thursday evening, and his plan was to use Uber to get from the beach back to our Pride Neighborhood in Clearwater, a 5 mile, 11 minute ride on almost any Saturday evening in August.
Jim’s Uber got stuck on the Memorial Causeway enroute to the Wyndham, thus was 45 minutes late arriving at the hotel. Then, it took a bit more than 25 minutes from the hotel to our Pride Neighborhood.
We did have a nice dinner, although it seemed that the drama might have been significantly reduced if the architects of “Beach by Design” had bothered to incorporate some real and honest transportation planning into their original document; and/or various revisions along the way.
Let us not forget that Beach by Design was adopted in 2001 to help guide ‘thoughtful revitalization strategies governing Clearwater Beach, focused on six components’: land use; mobility; off-street parking; catalytic projects; economic feasibility and financing; and design guidelines.
The old Memorial Causeway bridge going over to the beach was built in the early 1960’s as a 4-lane drawbridge.
I remember those days! A sailboat (a.k.a. ‘rag bagger’) could easily cause a 10 to 15 minute delay for those many folks in cars who were driving to or from the beach!
The new Bridge – construction began in 2001, completed in 2005 – is still 4 lanes for vehicular traffic, but is elevated off the water so that there is no need for a drawbridge. The sailboats can come and go as they please, but the traffic delays on the bridge are now worse than ever before.
The knuckleheads who envisioned, designed, approved and constructed the new bridge somehow forgot to consider the probable impact from increased traffic due to the planned surge in capacity due to new hotels, restaurants, etc.
They just plumb forgot to incorporate a mass people mover – something like what we have at Tampa International:
- Elevated; Electric; Automated; Safe; Convenient; Cost effective.
Instead of working to mitigate the predictable negative externalities from an increase in the number and frequency of internal combustion vehicles coming to (and from) the Beach, these former elected officials from our past seem to have fretted over increasing both the cost of parking fees and the number of parking spaces to a point which is intolerable to most residents and visitors alike. There must be an explanation, although it is quite elusive.
But, Wait! One of the dinosaurs from 2001 has been recently awakened, and now appointed to serve as Interim Mayor of Clearwater!
As has been said in previous retrospectives, “Only in Clearwater could the Cabal get away with this sort of ‘apparently innocent’ fraud, malfeasance and corruption.”
I Don’t Love Joe Biden
October 20, 2022
But should we blame him for our current economic malaise?
When I was a young pup, I remember Uncle Cal frequently referring to certain elected officials as “a Horse’s Ass”. Back then, I didn’t know what he was trying to infer, but it sure sounded good!
Uncle Cal is long gone, but it seems the supply of Horse’s Ass elected officials has expanded significantly and I’m frustrated, angry and simply miserable as I watch and listen to ‘broadcast journalists’ and various political pundits who seem to have no grasp of economics as they explain current economic conditions to an audience of [potentially] economic illiterates. Thus, the origin of my current ‘rant’:
Stock Prices, Inflation, Recession & Economic Cycles
Economic cycles – also known as business cycles — are a reality, and they can be tracked over time.
They generally are predictable, although not in precise time frames. Economic cycles consist of four identifiable phases or stages: (a) Expansion; (b) Peak; (c) Contraction; and (d) Trough.
Every economic cycle includes a period of euphoria and exuberance marked by a sustained period of economic growth; followed by a period of uncertainty and lethargy linked to a period of economic decline.
The Great Recession officially ended in June 2009. By the time Donald Trump took office in January 2017, he inherited an economy in its 91st month of economic expansion.
That expansion continued into 2020, becoming the longest period of expansion on record, peaking at 128 months in February 2020.
Donald Trump has never failed to speak his mind. During the campaign leading to the 2020 presidential election, Trump proclaimed, “If (Joe Biden) is elected, the stock market will crash!”. [In 2018, Trump said, “When a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to win.” In late January 2020, Trump also said, “We have it (coronavirus) totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China. It’s going to be just fine.”]
Facts are facts:
- Five years ago (October 20, 2017) the S&P 500 closed at 2,575; it closed today (10/20/2022) at 3,666, an overall 5 year gain of 42%; an average of 7.3% per year.
- Ten years ago (October 2012), gasoline sold for $3.62 per gallon in Florida. AAA shows the current Florida price per gallon at $3.38.
- Case-Shiller reported a ten year 288% price increase for housing in the Tampa Bay area (where I currently live) from Mid-2012 to Mid-2022. This is partly due to (1) recovery from the Great Recession; (2) stimulus due to artificial below market interest rates (Fed Policy); and (3) supply/demand imbalance primarily due to local and regional housing policy decisions over time.
- The most recent CPI-U release from BLS reflects an annual inflation rate of 8.2 % through September 2022, the highest in four decades. Yet, if we look back to 2012, we can see the average annual rate over that decade computes to about 2.5% annually, with near zero periods during the Pandemic.
What’s really going on? There are a number of pieces to this puzzle, including:
- The lingering effects of a Pandemic;
- The Russian invasion of Ukraine;
- Aftershocks (direct and indirect) from draconian tariffs enacted beginning in 2018;
- Ongoing ripple effects from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA); and
- Various supply chain issues, both domestic and international.
The root cause of our current intersection of inflation and stock market volatility likely traces back to 2010, when the Fed launched “QE2” – quantitative easing – essentially increasing liquidity in the domestic economy to stimulate economic growth. One of the outcomes from QE is a decrease in bond prices due to falling interest rates, combined with a run-up in stock prices as investors search for yield.
When the Fed announced its QE2 plan in November 2010, 30-year mortgages were at 5%; and the S&P 500 index was 1,200. Over the course of the next few years, rates on 30-year mortgages dropped as low as 3.3%, while the S&P 500 index inched toward 2,010 (which it reached in September 2014).
Meanwhile, the CPI from 2010 to the end of 2020 remained relatively calm, reflecting the lagging effects of the economic recovery which began in mid-2009.
It is relatively easy to look into the rearview mirror now to observe that the Fed’s responses to (a) the Great Recession; and then (b) impacts of Covid on our economy helped to create an environment which fueled the inflation we are facing today.
In March 2020 — in addition to a promise to inject a Trillion dollars into the U.S. banking system — the Fed cut the federal funds rate to a range of 0% to 0.25%.
The rapid and aggressive response by the Fed likely saved our economy from implosion, but also helped inspire a dramatic run-up in both stock prices and home prices: The S & P 500 index rose from 3,000 in early March 2020 to reach 4,700 in November 2021 as investors chased phantom returns on investment. (Stock prices were further bolstered by massive stock buybacks inspired by the 2017 TCJA).
Home mortgage interest rates are a critical determinant of purchasing power for most borrowers. As far back as 1971, 30 year fixed-rate mortgages had never been offered below 7%; they moved up to 9% in 1974; climbed to 11% in 1979; and reached a peak of 16.6% in 1981.
Our economy is a long game. The few months when home mortgage interest rates were at or below 5% is an aberration enabled by Fed policy. Now that long-term mortgage rates have settled into the 7% to 9% range [which seems rationale and appropriate based on history], home prices will also stabilize.
It seems convenient for some to blame Joe Biden for (a) high gasoline prices; (b) rapidly rising consumer prices; (c) a stock market ‘meltdown’; and (d) even for supply chain dysfunctions.
A quick look at history confirms that there is a rather significant lag between the point when policy is affirmed and enacted; and the future point when we begin to see and experience results from those actions.
The Biden White House has pledged to fight against inflation, and has stubbornly refused to blame the Fed for our current economic symptoms.
Although there seem to be plenty of contributing factors, the real truth is: We relied almost entirely on monetary policy to steer the ship for more than a decade, and that approach brought us to this moment, not 24 months of Democratic control in the White House.
And, if the Fed would just slow down their relentless and uncompromising initiatives to raise interest rates to the point of choking off the economy as they attempt to rein in inflation, we might experience a smooth correction, and a gentle return to the economic expansion phase we all want to see.
Senator Sinema and Carried Interest
August 17, 2022
Political Malfeasance in Action
I grew up in the 1960’s in Buffalo, NY where it seemed that candidates for election to public office couldn’t get nominated until they could prove their ability to attract illegal political contributions. Over my professional career, I spent significant time in other northeast states, counties and cities where political corruption was often the norm.
Most of the corrupt elected officials I observed were guilty of getting their driveway paved; their house painted; maybe a new roof. Not good, not appropriate, and certainly, not acceptable.
The recent behavior of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) relative to the Carried Interest federal tax loophole puts the actions and behaviors of these historic elected officials in NY and CT into the category of ‘fixing parking tickets’.
The despicable and nefarious posturing by Sen. Sinema has blessed Carried Interest, sometimes known as ‘the cockroach of tax breaks’, allowing it to survive another potential assault by Congress.
The proposal to increase the holding period requirement to qualify certain income paid to investment bankers for the lower Carried Interest tax rate was removed from the landmark ‘Inflation Reduction Act’ of 2022 (H.R. 5376) recently passed by both the Senate and the House and signed into law by President Joe Biden on August 16, 2022.
The “compromise” to remove Carried Interest was demanded by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) which she justified on a complex and convoluted set of criteria, and which potentially might be related to the $1 Million in campaign contributions she received over the past year from private equity professionals, hedge fund managers and venture capitalists whose taxes would have increased exponentially under the original plan.
The concept of Carried Interest dates back to the 16th century, when ocean-going ship captains would often take a 20 percent “interest” of whatever profits were realized from the cargos they carried. This approach is logical and defensible on the risks to life, property and personal capital undertaken by ship captains.
In 21st century America, the meaning of Carried Interest has evolved to describe a tax loophole — an income tax avoidance scheme — which allows some private equity and hedge fund investment bankers to classify large amounts of their compensation related to performing services (i.e. managing and/or investing other people’s money) as investment gains, which substantially lowers the amount they are required to pay in taxes.
Today’s Carried Interestis essentially a payment (bonus or commission) for investment services that is taken out of the profits of the money managed for investors. Private equity firms use pooled money from large institutional investors (pension funds, college endowments, ultra-high net worth individuals, etc.) to acquire controlling interests in struggling, underperforming or undervalued companies. When the investment are made, these acquired entities agree to pay the private equity firms Carried Interestout of the investment profits on top of management and other fees.
Under our current tax law, when the carried interest income is paid out of the private equity firm to individual partners, directors, etc. it is taxed at the preferential (‘capital gains’) rates granted to investment income, even though the income represents compensation for services. In all other contexts, compensation income – salaries, bonus, commissions, etc. – is taxed everywhere else as ordinary income.
Investment professionals often are required to contribute capital if they are eligible to receive carry, although it varies by firm and by position in the hierarchy (from 23% of associates/senior associates to 71% of managing partners). Essentially, the Carried Interest tax loophole acts as a magic wand to turn ordinary compensation income into preferentially-taxed capital gains income for a few thousand specially entitled individuals each year.
Private Equity (“PE”) is a $4.5 Trillion industry which tends to follow a predictable model: Use very high levels of debt to take control of underperforming (or undervalued) companies and then extract as much value as possible over a short- to intermediate time frame.
One of my favorite movies, “Other People’s Money” (1991: Warner Brothers [directed by Norman Jewison]; starring Danny DeVito and Gregory Peck) almost perfectly illustrates the potentially powerful impact of leveraged debt strategically deployed against a weak management team. In the film, the end result is: (a) closure and liquidation of New England Wire & Cable Company, a boring multi-generational family manufacturing business; (b) the loss of hundreds of decent jobs in a small American city; and (c) millions of dollars of ‘pirated booty’ transferred to anonymous private equity investors, with a mighty fine Carried Interest reward paid to Danny DeVito (the investment banker).
Zero value added to the overall U.S. economy.
Devastating value lost to a small American city, its residents and the regional economy.
Sure, the investment banker (Danny DeVito) took home a fine bonus. He probably was able to buy a nice airplane and maybe a vacation home in the Hamptons.
Meanwhile, the wire and cable products formerly supplied by the now defunct domestic company now are being sourced from a foreign firm. The American city where the former Wire and Cable business was located lost tax revenue which had formerly been used to support local schools and public works. And, local families abruptly lost their incomes, and their homes potentially went into foreclosure.
Most alarming: U.S. taxpayers subsidized the whole mess because of this crazy, foolish and irrational tax break known as Carried Interest.
Some will say that the movie, “Other People’s Money” is a 1991 dinosaur which has no relevance in 2022.
Yet, the devastation continues. In our current environment, retailers are particularly vulnerable to leveraged buyouts, and they provide the most visible examples of companies which have been acquired, pillaged and wrecked by private equity firms.
In January 2020, the New York grocery chain Fairway filed for its second bankruptcy in less than four years and announced plans to sell off its stores, due to several efforts by PE firms to extract value from the franchise. The Fairway failure joins a long list of casualties that includes: Sears; Toys R Us; Payless ShoeSource; and Sports Authority, among many others.
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In theory, PE firms snap up underperforming companies using ‘patient capital’; they bring in professional managers to revamp current operations; and then sell the companies through a Public Offering to generate a healthy return.
In practice, the PE industry revolves around deals known as leveraged buyouts, where the PE investors put up a small amount of their own money to purchase a company and borrow the rest. The acquired business becomes responsible for repaying the debt, which puts an immediate strain on cash flows.
In their quest to generate cash and improve operational efficiency, PE firms often: lay off workers, and cut pay and benefits to remaining workers; they sell off owned real estate and lease back; they sell trademarks and other ‘off balance sheet assets’.
PE firms sometimes extract cash using “dividend recapitalizations” where they use the acquired company to borrow additional money which is then used to pay investors. Beyond that, they often charge the businesses they acquire millions in ‘management fees’.
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Shifting the treatment of so-called Carried Interest income from capital gains to ordinary compensation income could raise between $1.4 Billion and $18 Billion annually from income tax on a very small number of investment bankers.
Most informed Americans refer to the lower tax rate on Carried Interest as a loophole that allows already wealthy private equity, hedge fund and other investment managers to pay a lower tax rate than the majority of their employees and other American workers. Once they are fully informed, a significant majority of voters across the political spectrum support legislation that would close this loophole.
“It’s a real rich benefit for the wealthiest of Americans,” said Steve Rosenthal, a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. “Why should a private-equity manager be able to structure his or her compensation with low-taxed gains? That seems wrong.”
Sen. Sinema was elected to the U.S. Senate by voters in Arizona to represent their interests. It’s hard to see how continuing this awful Carried Interest loophole is in the best interest of anyone in Arizona, other than to Sen Sinema herself because it seems to provide a rich and reliable source of political contributions to help ensure her continued reelection.
And that also seems wrong.
Wayne LaPierre carved out a very lucrative career for himself based on a concept that former Chief Justice Warren E. Burger called “one of the greatest pieces of fraud on the American public.”
In 1996, under extraordinary pressure from the NRA and other pro-gun rights factions, Congress essentially shut down support for CDC-supported-research into the causes of gun violence.
Human Brain Development: Despite a paucity of research on gun violence, we can look to dozens of studies on human brain development which have provided a rich array of data strongly supporting the fact that female brain development occurs at a more rapid pace than males of a similar age.
Specifically, the frontal cortex — the area of the brain that controls reasoning and helps us think before we act — develops later in males than in females. The majority of research tells us that females tend to reach maturity toward the end of adolescence; where in males, the frontal cortex is still changing and maturing well into adulthood.
One research paper from an independent private college published in 2015 asserted that, “Men commit over 85% of all homicides, 91% of all same-sex homicides and 97% of all same-sex homicides in which the victim and killer aren’t related to each other.”
The vast majority of mass homicides in the U.S. over the past decade have been committed by American males under 25 using a military-style assault weapon with high-capacity magazine(s).
Although we lack irrefutable proof of causality, it seems reasonable to postulate that eliminating the availability of firearms, accessories and ammunition which are derived from and/or modelled on military grade assault weapons would likely reduce — and eventually eliminate — the opportunity for young American males to obtain and/or use these deadly weapons.
Silver tongued orators: While many of our elected officials in Congress have used their silver tongues to concurrently placate the people and please the NRA, our nation has been violated by domestic terrorists, generally armed with AR15-style weapons.
AR-15: The small-bore, high-velocity AR-15 rifle was originally designed for military use under the mandate: “high-velocity; full and semi auto fire; 20 shot magazine; 6lbs loaded; able to penetrate both sides of a standard Army helmet at 500 meters.” When it entered Army service in the 1960s, it was renamed the M16.
The Federal Assault Weapons Ban (1994) outlawed the manufacture, transfer, or possession of “semiautomatic assault weapons” for civilian use. Unfortunately, that Ban expired in 2004, and since then we have observed the NRA (and some other groups) spending millions of dollars annually on lobbyists to quash any attempts to even discuss rational and reasonable gun control measure.
Example: An Assault Weapons Ban bill introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein with 37 co-sponsors (S.736 — 117th Congress) was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary in March 2021 where it has languished ever since.
NRA response to Feinstein’s bill: ‘Outlawing commonly owned semi-automatic rifles every day Americans use for hunting, recreational shooting, and self-defense will not reduce gun crimes or firearm related homicides. The ban she’s currently offering is just one more attack on the rights of law-abiding gun owners that will have zero effect on crime.’
The NRA has long taken the position that semi-automatic rifles like the AR-15 are used for “recreational target shooting, hunting, and home defense” and states that ‘law-abiding firearms owners shouldn’t be penalized because of homicidal loners who use semi-automatics like the AR-15 for criminal purposes.’
The vast majority of independent firearm experts don’t support this position.
Recreational target shooting? Sure. Who could refute the adrenaline rush of firing a weapon that is as close to a machine gun in operation as you can legally possess?
Hunting? Not so much. The best practice guideline for hunters incorporates a ‘quick clean kill’ which ideally is a one-shot kill, resulting in an immediate downing of the animal; minimizing suffering; reducing damage to the meat; and making the harvest and field dressing much easier.
The AR-15 variants are often effective due to their ability enable anyone to ‘Spray and Pray’ – not for conformance with the one-shot kill preferred by responsible sport hunters.
Home defense? Not in my home, and hopefully not in my neighborhood. Although the AR-15 is a ‘relatively short’ long-gun, it can be tough to maneuver and aim in tight quarters. With a muzzle velocity in excess of 3,000 fps, it will over-penetrate, sending bullets through the walls of your house, endangering family members and possibly into the walls of your neighbor’s house. When equipped with a quick-change 30 round magazine — and firing at a rate of 45 rounds per minute — it’s not hard to imagine how many rounds can be launched in a very short period of time.
The core solutions to put a halt to senseless massacres — primarily orchestrated by young domestic terrorists — are well-known. Eliminating assault weapons is # 1.
Congressional Focus and Priorities: Instead of working collaboratively to fix a myriad of strategic and critical domestic problems, a rather sizable number of our U.S. elected officials seem to prefer to focus their time and effort on banning books; legislating elementary school curriculum and content; and punishing those who don’t agree with them.
It’s time for our Congress to tell the NRA that they will support rational legislation on 2nd Amendment Rights, with the caveat that in a modern, polite and peaceful society, there is no place for civilian possession and /or use for firearms, accessories and ammunition which are derived from and/or modelled after military- grade assault weapons.
President Biden: You are absolutely on the right track.
Members of Congress: No more groveling; no more boot-licking; no more vacillating at or with the NRA. You still have the time and ability to redeem yourselves as decent human beings. Please don’t squander this opportunity. Support, fast-track and pass S. 736.
Is Marco Rubio an NRA Cyborg?
May 31, 2022
Let me be very clear: I am a gun owner, a member of the N.R.A. and a supporter of the Second Amendment.
I recently wrote an impassioned letter to Senator Marco Rubio imploring him to support a permanent ban on military-style assault weapons, similar to the (now-expired) Federal Assault Weapons Ban which outlawed manufacture of AR-15 and other assault-style weapons for civilian use.
My research confirms a strong and direct correlation which connects a small number of domestic males under age 25 with AR-15-style weapons and military-grade ammunition to mass shootings across the U.S. The massacres in Uvalde; Buffalo; Sandy Hook; Aurora; Boulder; Parkland; Las Vegas; San Bernardino; Sutherland Springs; Nashville; Midland–Odessa; Poway; and the Tree of Life Synagogue each support the hypothesis.
Sen. Marco Rubio holds an A-plus rating from the NRA and has received at least $3.3 Million of NRA campaign money, thus I thought it might be an uphill battle trying to engage Marco Rubio in an honest debate regarding the probability that AR-15 style weapons might be a root cause of the U.S. epidemic of gun violence.
Instead of responding to my observations which are directly and irrefutably confirmed by exhaustive research (including my own), Sen. Rubio went right down the NRA rabbit hole.
Sen. Rubio said to me, “… the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”
His entire reply to me is attached.
I’m not right off the turnip truck, yet I remain flummoxed, baffled and bewildered that we continue to support and elect cyborgs like Marco Rubio hoping for rational and productive governance of our nation.
Flailing at the branches, or striking at the root?
May 25, 2022
Dozens of polls and studies reveal general agreement among American adults which favors sensible gun control reform legislation, incorporating a variety of strategies such as: (a) increased funding for mental health services; (b) universal background checks; (c) a national ‘red flag’ law; (d) training and/or licensing requirements; (e) more consistent rules across state lines.
Each and all of these would likely contribute toward reducing senseless gun violence. Yet, the Root Cause of our present dilemma seems to center around one specific type of firearm, often called “AR-15 style”.
These are high-capacity military-style weapons which can be fired semi-automatically and/or have the capability of being easily transformed into a rapid fire weapon. There is no legitimate purpose for these weapons in a civil society, and the ultimate goal to remove this Root Cause from the equation ought to be a total and complete ban on the civilian purchase, sale or possession of such weapons.
The next critical variable is ammunition. There is no logical or defensible reason to support civilian sale, possession or use of military grade ammunition categorized as: hollow point; full metal jacket; armor piercing; green tip; black tip; or any other sort of ammo which is not used by regular gun owners for target shooting or which is appropriate for legitimate hunting purposes.
As painful as it might seem to Wayne LaPierre, Jason Ouimet and others at the NRA, these AR-15 style weapons and military grade ammunition seem to continually and disproportionally fall into the hands of a few people who have really bad agendas.
If we eliminate the very weapons and ammunition which seem to attract the interest of folks with bad agendas, we will be making some real progress.
Please listen carefully, NRA.
The great majority of us don’t want to take guns away from our neighbors; we don’t harbor animosity toward responsible gun owners; and we often are gun owners and NRA members ourselves.
We do believe there is a balance – a sensible equilibrium — which respects, supports and honors the American tradition for people to keep and bear arms in a manner consistent with a civilized 21st century society.
Let’s work together to find that balance.
2nd Amendment Rights & the AR-15
May 24, 2022
A timeless and highly polarized topic….
The AR-15 was designed by ArmaLite in 1957 in response to a request from the U.S. Army to develop a rifle with “high-velocity; full- and semi-auto fire; 20 shot magazine; 6-lbs loaded; able to penetrate both sides of a standard Army helmet at 500 meters”.
When it entered Army service in the 1960s, it was named the “M16”. When the semi-automatic version of the rifle was later introduced by ArmaLite to the civilian market, it was known as the “AR-15”.
From 1994 to 2004, AR-15-style rifles were subject to (the now-expired) Federal Assault Weapons Ban which outlawed manufacture of these and other assault-style weapons for civilian use.
Following the expiration of the Ban, AR-15-style weapons attained great popularity in the U.S. They have been used in countless mass shootings across the U.S. (including: Buffalo; Sandy Hook; Aurora; Boulder; Parkland; Las Vegas; San Bernardino; Sutherland Springs; Nashville; Midland–Odessa; Poway; and the Tree of Life Synagogue.
I wonder if the epidemic of mass shootings in the U.S. could be directly correlated to the extreme popularity of this weapon?
Meanwhile, most independent firearm experts don’t consider the AR-15 (or its clones) to be a good choice for either hunting or home-defense uses.
One reason is that its standard .223 caliber ammunition doesn’t offer much stopping power for anything other than small game. It is a very high velocity cartridge (muzzle velocity > 3,000 fps). When combined with the capacity to fire up to 45 rounds per minute, the AR becomes extremely dangerous to bystanders in home defense situations due to over-penetration and random ‘spray’.
Many hunters find the rifle controversial, arguing that AR-15-style rifles encourage a “spray and pray” technique which is contrary to best practices.
One way to reduce over-penetration and improve stopping power is to use hollow point or soft point ammunition; some opt for the more controversial ‘green tip’ rounds vs. the standard full metal jacket rounds.
One hunter, a former soldier himself, said it well, “I served in the military and the M-16 was the weapon I used. It was designed as an assault weapon, plain and simple. A hunter doesn’t need a semi-automatic rifle to hunt. If he says he does, he sucks as a marksman, and should go play video games. During hunting season, you can see more men running around the bush all cammo’d up with assault vests and face paint with tricked out AR’s. These are not hunters but wannabe weekend warriors.”
The folks in Ukraine are fighting for their very existence against an outside enemy that wants to destroy them and their entire country. Here at home, we experienced another mass shooting at an elementary school, this time in Texas (5/24/22). The solutions to put a halt to these senseless massacres — primarily orchestrated by young domestic terrorists — are well-known.
But, instead of fixing critical domestic problems, a rather sizable number of our U.S. elected officials prefer to focus their time and effort on banning books; legislating elementary school curriculum and content; and punishing those who don’t agree with them.
It’s very sad, indeed.
Don’t Say Gay
April 26, 2022
a.k.a. Parental Rights in Education
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis recently signed House Bill 1557 “Parental Rights in Education” a.k.a ‘Don’t Say Gay’ which prohibits classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through 3rd grade.
DeSantis stated, “Parents’ rights have been increasingly under assault around the nation, but in Florida we stand up for the rights of parents and the fundamental role they play in the education of their children.”
Former CIA Director and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo further said, “Parents should get to decide what their children are taught, not the government or teachers unions.”And, I absolutely agree. Public schools are available to everyone, and public schools are a compromise between cost and value. For those who have unlimited resources and who want a custom experience for their children, there are a variety of private schools to choose from. And, home schooling is an option for some.
Typical governance of public schools is through an elected school board comprised of residents in the District who take an oath to represent all who are stakeholders in the District.
Thus, parents have a strong voice in deciding what and how their children are taught. Parents can get actively involved in who is running for school board, and to support candidates who most closely mirror their personal values.
Take a look at this school board Oath of Office from Illinois:
“I, (name of member or successful candidate), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of member of the Board of Education (or Board of School Directors) of (name of school district), in accordance with the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the State of Illinois, and the laws of the State of Illinois, to the best of my ability.
“I further swear (or affirm) that:
“I shall respect taxpayer interests by serving as a faithful protector of the school district’s assets;
“I shall encourage and respect the free expression of opinion by my fellow board members and others who seek a hearing before the board, while respecting the privacy of students and employees;
“I shall recognize that a board member has no legal authority as an individual and that decisions can be made only by a majority vote at a public board meeting;
“I shall abide by majority decisions of the board, while retaining the right to seek changes in such decisions through ethical and constructive channels;
“As part of the Board of Education (or Board of School Directors, as the case may be), I shall accept the responsibility for my role in the equitable and quality education of every student in the school district;
“I shall foster with the board extensive participation of the community, formulate goals, define outcomes, and set the course for (name of school district);
“I shall assist in establishing a structure and an environment designed to ensure all students have the opportunity to attain their maximum potential through a sound organizational framework;
“I shall strive to ensure a continuous assessment of student achievement and all conditions affecting the education of our children, in compliance with State law;
“I shall serve as education’s key advocate on behalf of students and our community’s school (or schools) to advance the vision for (name of school district); and
“I shall strive to work together with the district superintendent to lead the school district toward fulfilling the vision the board has created, fostering excellence for every student in the areas of academic skills, knowledge, citizenship, and personal development.”
For those parents who desire a more hands-on role in how their children are educated, there are a number of additional options: (1) regular and active participation in PTA; (2) regular and active participation in parent teacher events, including parent/teacher night and parent/teacher conferences; (3) active and regular daily involvement in children’s homework and assignments; (4) regular and active involvement in after school activities, including sports, band, debate, theater, etc.
As to the quote from Mike Pompeo, it must be taken in context to Pompeo’s personal history and beliefs:
Pompeo is affiliated with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, where he has served as a local church deacon, and taught Sunday school. In talks before church groups, Pompeo has said that Christians needed to “know that Jesus Christ as our savior is truly the only solution for our world” and that “politics is a never-ending struggle… until the Rapture.”
Until the Rapture.
walrus51 