California Supreme Court Decision on Prop 8

I am and always will be a fervent supporter of gay rights as well as all human rights.

And though I disagree with the ability through majority vote to remove the rights of individuals, I have to accept that this is a valid contention between the rights of two individuals.

If the people who voted for prop 8 feel as though gay marriage violates their rights to the "sanctity" of marriage, they have the right to vote that way.

Being gay doesn't make you liberally minded, but being liberally minded could easily allow you reach the conclusion that we want people's "perceived" rights to be defensible.

I will personally figure out how to become a legal resident of CA from Texas so I can vote against prop 8 II. Until then, this is a very valid amendment and the Supreme Court did its job correctly.

We as a people who support gay rights and human rights have to do a better job defending those rights against an often more fervent foe. We cannot blame the system for supporting the enemy, when we will depend on that system to support our human rights when this vote is eventually won!

Where is the marijuana coverage?

Today is 4-20. To most of us that means we paid taxes 5 days ago and little else. To a growing base however, 4-20 is national smokeout day. Not the day they decide not to smoke, but the day they all go out and meet in huge groups and get high.

And with legalization of marijuana becoming more central to national discussion, this year is quite exciting. Tired of paying 10 billion dollars or more a year fighting marijuana? Tired of Mexican crime bosses making all the money while America pays all the costs? Tired of the industry growing no matter how much money we throw at it?

Then legalize it!

Tax it!

Lower the cost, putting the crime lords out of business. Put it under FDA management so we get better and safer products. Regulate the chemicals and locations where it can be produced.

California made over 11 million dollars last year in sales tax alone on the sale of marijuana based products. Kentucky's #1 cash crop is marijuana.

So who is getting rich? America? American tax payers? No. Criminals. And as long as marijuana is a crime, Americans will keep paying huge sums in taxes to fight a losing battle and criminals will keep getting super rich, while crime and violence escalate across our borders.

Do your part and get educated on the issue.

How the Republicans Can Win - Stop Letting Kids Go to College

You may find it ironic but study after study shows people with a college education are more progressive in their views.

According to this Pew Poll,

59% of Americans support the President's cap and trade proposal while 70% of college educated people do.

52% of Americans think we should renew ties with Cuba. 63% of college educated Americans do.

These trends continue with homosexual marriage, legalizing marijuana usage, and increasing government spending to stimulate the economy.

So we have a solution for Republicans and conservatives to stay in power;

Keep Americans dumb!

Housing Market Up, Goods Sold Up

A couple of good reports today spurred the stock market early today, but treasury bond sales in the UK and US caused a big dip in the afternoon. Looks like the dollar is going to have to lose some value if we want to keep selling our debt. Inflation anyone?

Well it ended up nearly $100 on the day and we are crawling back to 8k where Bush was during the transition to Obama. Looks like Obama not only is going to catch Bush within 100 days but that we might be climbing again soon if the positive reports keep coming in, especially if we can get some good employment reports.

Cheers and happy humpday!

Where Has Our Money Gone and Who Pays It Back?

So are we giving money to banks or loaning it to them? Are we badmouthing AIG because we want it to fail or do we want to get our investment back? So many pundits from all media sources are all fired up about giving money away, but if you can name someone who has been simply given money directly from one of the new government programs let's meet him.

Wait, there isn't anyone? You mean the banks got loans, and even if they paid big bonuses they still have to pay the loan back or maybe we own the company and we will just sell their stock back after they start doing well again. Does this all need to be done within Obama's first 100 days? No!

You know who is going to pay us back? Anyone who got a loan, anyone who we own, and anyone we get out of poverty so they can pay taxes again. Do you know when our children will become the debtors? When we fail to help these banks become profitable, when we fail ot raise the value of AIG' sock, and when we fail to help the unemployed. Failure will cost our children teriibly.

So maybe we should just work together on the success of our government's plans instead of panning them constantly like the conservatives are doing.

Can Companies Spend Money That Isn't TARP Money?

So here is the question. Your company got TARP money. You haven;t paid back your loan. Can your company buy ANYTHING that you can accurately say was not bought with TARP money?

No. Why? Becuase this is an emotional issue and you haven't paid back your loan.

We can't ignore that this is an emotional and thus a VERY political issue. Politicians are on the hook for your repayment.

In the real world I can get a loan for a new car and then go buy myself a new fur coat before I pay the bank back for the car. But the bank, base don my credit score is fairly certain they will get their money back. We aren't so sure about you TARP recipients. You file bankruptcy easier than a Republican pays a male paige for sex. Sorry, threatens them....

Did Dodd and Congress Give Companies the Right to Pay Employees Bonuses?

Amazingly ignorant stories abound on conservative tv and radio now telling us that Chriss Dodd allowed, if not caused, AIG to pay bonuses to employees. And all other banks if they choose to do so are "allowed" to pay bonuses because of Dodd.

So let's start with the easy part. You can pay your employees any amount you want above minimum wage without anyone in Congress signing off even under TARP.

Let's get a little bit more in depth. Dodd wrote an amendment that restricted bonus payouts, but it didn't cover this type of bonus. So he didn't allow anything here, he simply didn't block them all. Too bad Republicans can't write amendments too!

Oh wait they did. A Republican and a Democrat wrote an amendment that a congressional committee Dodd was on removed which would have taxed the money ovedr $100,000 at a whopping 35%. Not 35% more than income tax. Just 35%. Since Income tax on $1 million is above 35% it would have effectively done nothing for the big bonuses we are complaining about here.

So the Republican lies continue...