Jail Overcrowding A Major Issue

It's time to confront the problem because it is not getting any better. West Virginia has a problem with overcrowded jails.

Many years ago, West Virginia went from a county jail system to one of regional jails. Antiquated county lockups were supposed to be replaced with modern new facilities which would reduce costs. That did not happen. Costs, especially for counties, have risen considerably.

These jails were suppsed to be safer. That did not happen. Jails are seen as more dangerous than the state penetentiary due to the fact that staffing problems plague the regional jails. You also have a bad mixture of violent felons and non violent criminals in the new system. Does it really make sense to house a small time pot dealer from a rural area with hardened criminals from Charleston or Huntington, who are sometimes actually from the mean streets of Detroit or Atlanta? This creates very unsafe conditions for inmates whose offenses and demeanor are not violent.

What is the solution? There is no solution that does not require the spending of money that we do not have, outside of decriminalization. We don't need to decriminalize, but we can change how we approach some crimes to alleviate some of the problems.

In 2007, 87% of around 2,300 marijuana arrests in West Virginia were for simple possession, according to drugscience.org. That means that a fairly large number of people were processed through the criminal justice system for this offense. While many offenders escaped jail time, the strain and cost of processing are significant. Why not, instead of arresting people for possession, simply issue a ticket if there is no other crime taking place? This is much more cost-effective than arrest and possible incarceration and it still enforces the law. This is one way that we can start changing our system to address the strains of overcrowded jails and overburdened courts.

Yes, Obama Did Actually Say This

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2011/07/22/obama_would_be_easier_if_i_could_do_this_entirely_on_my_own.html

Obama last week actually said that it would be easier if he could do up the debt all on his own so he could have more time to talk to his kids.

Don't let that job or concept of a balanced republic get in the way of what you want there, big guy.

Who ever really thought that this man would be an effective or even competent president? No one now.

Just go play golf and let the big kids handle the important stuff.

Why the F 35?

The next generation F-35 fighter jet's path to production continues along its winding path.

Not only will American pilots be able to utilize next generation technology, but this plane will be available for export to allied countries as well, helping the program to pay for itself.

Now matter how finely constructed our current fleet of planes is, they still experience wear and tear. Like your car, each machine has a lifespan, regardless of how well maintained it is. As the Chinese upgrade their air force, we need to consider that, unlikely as it may seem now, they could be a future opponent in war. We must remain prepared.

Even Thomas Buffenbarger, a contributor to the liberal Huffington Post urges that production no longer be put off. In a recent article, he maintained that this new advance will keep our pilots safer, maintain U. S. predominance in weaponry, and sustain commitments to our most vital allies.

The United States will have to, inevitably, place more defense and war responsibilities into the hands of Europe and other reliable friends. They will have to shoulder their own burden. As we make this transition, we should continue to be the provider of the best weaponry in the world.

Yes, Obama Did Actually Say This

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2011/07/22/obama_would_be_easier_if_i_could_do_this_entirely_on_my_own.html

Sarah Palin Speaks Out On Irresponsible Obama

This was from her Facebook page. Yes, I would be happy if she were the GOP nominee, but I think she speaks for all of us right now. This frustration with Obama comes from all of our hearts and gets to the core of his failed presidency.

Lame Duck President
.by Sarah Palin on Friday, July 22, 2011 at 10:11pm.After listening to the President’s press conference today, let’s keep in mind the following:



This is the same president who proposed an absurdly irresponsible budget that would increase our debt by trillions of dollars, and whose party failed to even put forward a budget in over 800 days! This is the same president who is pushing our country to the brink because of his reckless spending on things like the nearly trillion dollar “stimulus” boondoggle. This is the same president who ignored his own debt commission’s recommendations and demonized the voices of fiscal sanity who proposed responsible plans to reform our entitlement programs and rein in our dangerous debt trajectory. This is the same president who wanted to push through an increase in the debt ceiling that didn’t include any cuts in government spending! This is the same president who wants to slam Americans with tax hikes to cover his reckless spending, but has threatened to veto a bill proposing a balanced budget amendment. This is the same president who hasn’t put forward a responsible plan himself, but has rejected reasonable proposals that would tackle our debt. This is the same president who still refuses to understand that the American electorate rejected his big government agenda last November. As I said in Madison, Wisconsin, at the Tax Day Tea Party rally, “We don’t want it. We can’t afford it. And we are unwilling to pay for it.”



Now the President is outraged because the GOP House leadership called his bluff and ended discussions with him because they deemed him an obstruction to any real solution to the debt crisis.



He has been deemed a lame duck president. And he is angry now because he is being treated as such.



His foreign policy strategy has been described as “leading from behind.” Well, that’s his domestic policy strategy as well. Why should he be surprised that he’s been left behind in the negotiations when he’s been leading from behind on this debt crisis?



Thank you, GOP House leaders. Please don’t get wobbly on us now.



2012 can’t come soon enough

The Two Biggest Contenders Are Not Yet In

The Republican polls mean nothing today. Romney, Cain, Bachman, these names all bounce around different polls like ping pong balls in a lotto machine. But until we know for sure about two individuals, the polls mean nothing.

Rick Perry. Sarah Palin.

These are your heavyweight contenders, even though Palin's name often gets tossed into the polls now despite not having announced.

Simply being governor of Texas makes Perry a factor. His state is prospering relative to the rest of the nation. Texas has to deal with border issues, the EPA's maniacal war on nartural resources, and has taken on the Department of Education's incompetence. He has been an effective anti-Obama.

Sarah Palin has tremendous weight and resources that have not been fully applied as of yet. No one has the name recognition of Palin, for better or worse. It is not even a question now of whether or not she will run, considering her blitz on television and motion pictures. She and Perry both have placed themselves on the moderate edge of the Tea Party/libertarian movements in that their candidacies will be palatable to traditional Republicans and the newer movements.

Palin's advantage in a general election is that she will attract "history" voters in the way Obama did in 2008. A lot of folks have no problem with a woman in the White House and will support one to be a part of history.

Once these two heavyweights jump into the fray, I predict that they will dominate the show. Both have experience and enough media savvy to hold off on their official announcements. I would say that at the end of the day, we will see Palin as nominee and Perry as the running mate.

Romney's "Ism" Problem Has Nothing to do With His Religion

Herman Cain this week told the Washington Times that Mitt Romney's main obstacle to the Republican nomination is his Mormon faith. Cain reasoned that southern evangelicals would hold his religion against him, even though he is a good candidate.

Cain is a good man and would make a good nominee himself. However, he is dead wrong on both Romney and southerners.

Romney's main problem is his faith in state based solutions. His signature program as governor od Massachusetts was a government health care system. In today's environment where Republicans hate big government more than they have in years, Romney really has a shaky resume. He has to emphasize free market economic solutions and play down his problematic health care past.

This is the core of my issue with Romney, as well as many Tea Partiers. It is also why the mainstream media seems to love this guy. Conservativism is different from place to place. Romney may be conservative for New England, but the South and Midwest, economically and otherwise, see him as moderate or even liberal. This is why he will not be nominated, not his religious faith.

Republicans are more focused on economic and domestic policies than in any time that I can remember. Additionally, Mormonism faces less prejudice than at any time in that faith's history, except among Christian hating liberal and leftists. They benefit from the success of the HBO show Big Love (even though that show's emphasis on polygamy does not reflect current official Mormon practice) as well as the increased prominence of Brigham Young University in collegiate athletics.

It hurts the Republican Party to continue making Mormonism an issue. They are a different brand of Christianity, but they are strong backers of the kinds of values Republicans believe in. Most Republicans would have no problem with a Mormon nominee, provided that he or she was dedicated and devoted to free markets and smaller government.

U. S. Consulate in Ciudad Juarez Threatened

Mexican drug cartels have threatened the United States consulate in Ciudad Juarez after the seizure of drug suspects last week. American officials are watching entry points and other facilities in Juarez, which is across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas.

This comes on the heels of claims by Democrats that the threat of overflow violence from Mexico into the United States is overblown.

The threat from Mexican instability is real. Drug cartels, now armed by our own federal government in a failed operation, are a threat to Americans in Mexico and on our side of the border. Instability and violence will not respect borders that are not watched and defended vigorously.

We must focus our national security apparatus on eliminating the threats to our country and the legitimate Mexican government. We must also shut down our borders until the Mexican crisis subsides.

180 Is a Magic Number

Legislators and others have for years now made it a paramount objective to keep children in school some how, some way, for 180 days. Few school systems actually accomplish that goal, but many people are very much focused on that number.

In West Virginia, that may be unattainable. School staff often supplement their meager incomes by taking summer jobs, so starting and ending dates are not extraordinarily flexible. Holiday vacations are pretty much set by parental requirements. People go out of town over Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving regardless of whether or not school is in session. There is also the fact that, even if you did mandate school during Thanksgiving week for example, few would show up. Often, the teachers plan little for those times anyway. Finally, the period after the mandated state testing has become an academic dead zone.

Most teachers agree that it is the quality of instruction, not the number of days in school, that matter. College students and home schooled children spend much less time in "school" such as it is, yet often seem to get more done in less time. A home schooled child can get accomplished in a few hours what public school cannot finish in a day. But then again, public school as it exists now may be an increasingly anitquated concept.

Our students do not get the bang for the bucks spent. So long as we focus on a number of days, and not what happens in those days, our education system will continue to fail.

Evolution or Revolution in China Is Inevitable

Last week, Obama hosted the Dalai Llama. Once again, China huffed and puffed, saying it could harm relations between the two countries. They have more and more leverage over time, due to the fact that Obama has to periodically beg them to fund more of our debt. However, our leverage is that they cannot fully break with us without crippling their own economy.

The Dalai Llama's home region of Tibet still desires to exercise autonomy, if not break away entirely, from Chinese control. A few other areas share those goals, thus putting pressure on Beijing.

Pressure will only grow over time. China's system is nowhere near as stable as it appears. Corruption is rampant and the governemnt insists on maintaining its anachronistic dictatorship despite advances in education and individual material wealth. Almost a quarter of a century ago, we saw the yearning of their people for freedom crushed by tanks. It remains within their hearts, growing, not shrinking.

The time is ripe now for China to do as Poland did, simply hold elections and watch their Communist system fade into oblivion. Then they can truly join the free world. If they do not, then the nationalist ambitions of Tibetans and others will merge with the democratic yearnings of the middle class. They will take the freedom that the government refuses to allow.

Let us not forget that an alternative Chinese government on Taiwan exists. It is a democratic republic. The Communists have not forgotten. Its example of freedom and prosperity is yet another pressure point on that morally bankrupt regime.

China will eventually change of its own accord, or see revolution. Once violent revolution starts, it could lead towards a stable and prosperous republic, a violent fascism, or something else. In the worst case scenario, an expansionist and nationalist faction will take over and menace peaceful neighbors such as Vietnam and Japan. This would, of course, start World War III.

Obama As King Ahab

Obama seems bound and determined to take something from the American people to pay for his programs. He will either tax it out of us now or later. Sure he says that the Republicans must "eat our peas," whatever that means. And he blames Eric Cantor in his hissy fits. But he has his costly Obamacare program that is sucking up money like a vacuum and now he needs more, more, more!

How do we like it? Not much, even though he claims that the people love his idea to tax small businesses to death. He and the Democrats also want to seize inheritances through taxation. Again, this will affect small businesses.

Obama's behavior is reminiscent of an old Bible story. Sunday is a fitting time to tell it, so here goes.

Ahab was king of Israel during the two kingdom period. This was the time for a few centuries after the death of Solomon when there was a kingdom of Israel and a kingdom of Judah. According to the Bible, this period was a particularly unholy time when oftentimes people only did what was right in their own eyes and even kings strayed from God. One such king was Ahab.

Ahab had tremendous power and wealth, but being an evil king, he always wanted more. In his kingdom, as told in I Kings 21, there lived a godly man named Naboth. Naboth owned a very productive vineyard that Ahab coveted. Ahab requested the vineyard of Naboth, offering a variety of other things in its place. This is much like Obama offering us his socialist policies if we agree to turn over our wealth.

Naboth refused, saying that the LORD forbade him to relinquish his inheritance to anyone. Ahab, like Obama, threw a hissy fit and went to bed. He refused to eat his dinner or speak to his wife, Jezebel. Jezebel scolded him, telling him that he was the king and that he would have his vineyard.

Jezebel riled up people against Naboth, saying that it was he who was ungodly. A faction of angry people found Naboth and killed him, allowing Ahab to finally get his vineyard. Needless to say, this incurred God's wrath.

In this story, we see the arrogaance of the leader who thinks he is entitled. He is willing to set part of the people against thhe other to get what he wants. The Bible tells us that Ahab is wicked and evil in his coveting of this property. Obama should consider this story.

The American Spirit

In the midst of lockouts, lawsuits, and endless debate and recriminations in the American sports world, a group of Americans achieved what probably should have been impossible.

The U. S. women's soccer team is usually one of the best in the world. As a matter of fact, they are currently ranked number one. But on Sunday, the breaks were beating the girls, so they had to go out there and win just one for them, and for us.

The breaks included typically anti-American officiating and the ejection of an American player. At one point, Brazil led 2-1 with time running out and the U. S. playing a man down. They were playing against Brazil, who traditionally is the New York Yankees/Notre Dame of the soccer world. The U. S. scored an impossible goal, and then won the game on penalty kicks.

Their post game words were lessons for all of us. The coach, from Sweden, plus the players, credited the American way. Americans don't quit, Americans fight to the bitter end, Americans remain confident, proud, and optimistic. They had a rendezvous with destiny, just as a great man over fifty years ago proclaimed to this country. And they won.

Their victory reminds us that in America, for Americans, anything is possible. It is always morning in America so long as people keep working, keep pushing, and retain their resilience. We are right and we are free, but we will accomplish nothing without belief.

These women understood instinctively that there is an American spirit at work. Do you?

Nice Work If You Can Get It

The White House employs a man named Jesse Lee at a salary of over $72,000 per year to exchange Twitter messages with a man named Kevin Eder. Well, he does have other duties, such as focusing on the Communi..I mean, er Stalini...I mean er "progressive" responses to online criticism. That includes arguing with people on Facebook, Twitter, or anywhere else. Eder, who is neither a journalist, nor a commentator in any form except Twitter, has been honored with 15% of Lee's twitter output. This shocks Eder, who shows more political savvy than the White House official. Eder states that all these responses do is to raise the profile of the person getting the response. After all, none of us knew who Eder was before. Now we wonder why the White House is so worried about this guy.

Lee is part of an aggressive response team whose strategy, according to the Daily Caller (story here) http://dailycaller.com/2011/07/06/white-house-uses-twitter-to-bully-critics/ has been to bully traditional and non traditional media sources alike. No way would Bush have gotten away with what Obama's people did to the Boston Herald, as described in the Daily Caller story. What they have not figured out is that their hardball tactics become the story and increase the disenchantment felt towards the Obama White House.

What I wonder is this. Are we paying this guy $72,000 per year to sit around on social media?

Debt

Again, the media is blasting Republicans. Why won't they compromise on the debt ceiling? Why won't they raise taxes? Don't they know the end is nigh? After all, Obama told us this (of course he told us this several times and it did not come to pass.)

Liberals often fail to remember that there is a better way to raise tax revenue than upping the tax rates. That is by increasing prosperity. You can never tax your way to economic growth, or spend to get there either, as the (non) stimulus proved.

What we need is national leadership to unleash the economy. We need a president who believes in the free market and reduced government interference. We need politicians who know that plundering the economy won't help it to grow. We need to reduce the burdens on business at not only the national, but also the state and local levels. The EPA is one of the worst offenders, but local zoning laws choke business vitality as well. We also have the highest corporate tax rate in the entire world, which drives business overseas.

Raising the debt ceiling will not help because it perpetuates the problem of too much spending. All we have to do to stay within our current limits is to completely scrap Obamacare and that will solve the crisis in the short term. Pretty simple and it will accomplish something that the people want.

The NFL and NBA Lockouts

Looks like there is a distinct possibility that two of the most recognizable professional sports leagues in the world won't be playing this fall.

The NBA and NFL are both in lockout. That means that players can have no contact with their teams and leagues. Some may blame greedy owners, others may cite the players as being at fault. In reality, different circumstances are behind both labor issues.

In the NFL, players and owners are debating a number of issues. Some owners want to expand the season to eighteen games without increasing roster size. The season already takes a huge toll on certain positions, such as running back. Quarterbacks would certainly be much more vulnerable to injury, barring radical changes in the rules. NFL players cannot withstand eighteen games plus playoffs and hope to have lengthy careers. NFL owners and players are also having trouble deciding how to split the massive profit pie. The NFL only loses if the season is postponed or cancelled. The owners are in danger of messing with one of the most popular sports brands on Earth.

The NBA is actually in trouble. Twenty-two franchises have reported financial losses in the past year. Some franchises will actually do better financially if there is no season. The NBA wants to move towards the NFL model with more revenue sharing among teams to keep the league solvent and help small market teams compete. Players fear that such moves will reduce contracts and are resistant.

Both leagues must be concerned if they don't end up playing this year. In a down economy, people must be more picky about how they spend their money. Both leagues could lose more fans to the college versions of each sport. It's time for the NFL and NBA and their players to find ways to earn money and keep fans.

Potentially Much More Damaging and Destructive Than Watergate

In the realm of bad ideas and high level cover ups, Watergate exists in a class by itself. Nixon's White House, saturated by secrecy and cronyism, lived in perpetual fear of its political enemies. This led it to tap former intelligence specialists and adventurers to engage in political espionage and hardball tactics. They violated the rights of individuals and organizations, all in the name of political expediency. As bad as the break ins were, the cover up involved the president and high level officials.

Although Watergate involved high level officials in a criminal conspiracy that violated the Constitution and numerous other laws, no one got hurt. The cover up ended up being a worse crime than the original break ins.

Not so with "Operation Fast and Furious." This ill-conceived plan funneled guns from U. S. shops into Mexican cartels with no oversight. When these guns were linked to American sources, the cover up began. The Obama Administration initially condemned law abiding American shop owners who were actually working with federal agents. When the store owners began to reveal the federal government's role, the story started to slowly unravel. We do not yet know the full truth.

The Attorney General and the Department of Justice have obstructed efforts by the director of the ATF to investigate the extent of the definitely negligent, and possibly criminal activities involved. Congress has launched a full investigation along with the ATF, but Obama's attorney general, Eric Holder, has stonewalled the process. This is the same attorney general that refused to prosecute Black Panthers who violated federal election laws by intimidating voters in 2008.

Eric Holder is a symbol of all that has gone wrong in Obama's Administration. We need to know all parties responsible for "Fast and Furious," whether or not the intention from the start was to advance the anti-gun agenda, and how far up the cover up extends.

Obama's presidency is teetering on the edge of the abyss. This scandal could knock it off completely.

An Armed Citizen Is a Safe Citizen

Chicago has seen a rash of violent mob attacks in the past several months. Now Milwaukee has seen its first.

Racially motivated attacks on whites have been on the rise lately. In Milwaukee, one young woman heard an attacker gleefully proclaim "oh white girl she bleeds a lot."

Violence may be color blind, but there is really only one way to stop these attacks. Cities need to understand that police can't be everywhere to protect everyone. Violent mobs and criminals already know this. The main way to counteract this behavior is to encourage good citizens to buy guns and learn their proper use.

I'd much rather see a story like this. Mob of youths attack peacful law abiding group. Individual pulls handgun and severely wounds or kills several attackers, ensuring the safety of herself and her friends.

That is the only way to halt mob attacks, regardless of motivation.

Trial By Jury in the Anglo-American System

The Casey Anthony trial is over and she was found not guilty. Lots of folks, convinced of her guilt, are angry that she will likely leave jail on Thursday, only convicted of the charge of lying to a police officer.

The prosecution had a major obstacle that the hysterical media rarely mentioned. They could never really prove that Caylee Anthony was murdered. They also had to convince a jury that the mother was cold, hateful, and murderous when those twelve people could also watch film after film of a mother obviously enjoying the presence of her child.

But most of all, they had to overcome the necessity of a burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. In our justice system since the Middle Ages, a jury cannot judge innocence or guilt. That is left to God. All a jury can judge is the effectiveness of the prosecution's case. Did they, or did they not prove the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Furthermore, even if the think the person is guilty, they are not supposed to vote that way unless the prosecution proved its case.

This is our our system works and, despite its flaws, it is the best that humanity has ever come up with. Was Anthony guilty? Tough to say. But twelve jurors, who the media praised for paying close attention to the case, thought that the proof was simply not there. We certainly hope that the justice system was right in this case, but if not, that is still no reason for radical change.

African Union Slams Qaddaffi Arrest Warrant

The African Union last weekend indicated that its member states would ignore an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for the arrest of Moammar Qaddafi. The ICC, located in the Netherlands, sought to bring Qaddafi to trial for crimes committed by his regime.

Even though Qaddaffi is a violent dictator with a history of terrorist acts, it is a positive step when any body claiming international jurisdiction gets undermined, humbled, and ignored. The African Union complained that the ICC ignored so-called crimes committed by Western nations. This complaint raises a valid fear. What if the ICC got a wild hair and decided to issue a warrant for an American military officer or diplomatic official acting under orders of the president and/or Congress? If it succeeded in capturing said person, then any real president would send in the special forces to rescue that official rather than allowing them to stand trial. International organizations should have no jurisdiction that supercedes the national.

The African Union made a valid point that the arrest warrant made a peaceful solution more difficult. It would have narrowed the options for Qaddaffi to leave Libya and live out the remainder of his days in exile somewhere else.

Just because an evil tyrant is the issue here does not mean that we should support the continued posturing of an international organization that could someday abuse an American's rights.

A Perfect Note For the Fourth

I HEAR America singing, the varied carols I hear;
Those of mechanics—each one singing his, as it should be, blithe and strong;
The carpenter singing his, as he measures his plank or beam,
The mason singing his, as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work;
The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat—the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck; 5
The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench—the hatter singing as he stands;
The wood-cutter’s song—the ploughboy’s, on his way in the morning, or at the noon intermission, or at sundown;
The delicious singing of the mother—or of the young wife at work—or of the girl sewing or washing—Each singing what belongs to her, and to none else;
The day what belongs to the day—At night, the party of young fellows, robust, friendly,
Singing, with open mouths, their strong melodious songs.

Interestingly enough, I think the EPA has done something to make almost all of these professions more costly or difficult. Have a great July 4th!