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Today's topics 

1) Bill Clinton's charity and the implications on a third Clinton presidency.
2) The Israeli lesson on dealing with terrorists.
3) Letters to the editor

• Global Warming - NOAA study says the oceans having been warming for over 100 years and may be the cause of the atmospheric warming
• John Edwards unsuccessful presidential bid
• Hit & Run Driver in Mini Cooper
• Volunteers needed for Human Services panel call 732-8181
• Please teach the super bowl players how to show proper respect during the playing of the national anthem

1) Presidential candidates past are never past - regardless of what they'd like to believe.

2) The gun lobby wins again and Virginia doesn't enact legislation to put an end to gun sales at gun shows.

3) Hugo Chavez shoots his mouth off and shoots his economy in the foot.

4) Save-A-Watt - the Duke Energy consumer rip off program.

5) County Taxes - need I say more. 

a)  Doomed to debt – budgeting isn’t cool, people spend too much and have access to too much credit

b)  Universal Healthcare in Massachusetts is waaaay over budget – this year’s budget was $472 million but they spent $619 million and next year’s cost is estimated at $869 million – an 85% increase over this year’s budget.  It is expected to exceed $1.35 billion by June 2011.  It is simply unaffordable.

c)  California is planning to send indigent patients to the private sector.  But wait, many doctors no longer accept Medi-Cal because the reimbursements don’t cover the costs.  But wait, the California legislature wants to reduce Medi-Cal budget by 10%.  These patients have no place to go but the emergency room.  If California can’t afford their current healthcare plan how are they ever going to be able to afford universal coverage.

d)  A lack of educational achievement and the implications in a global economy.
        
e)  If waterboarding is ok, let Bush be the first.

They want media attention, we need less guns, we need more guns, mental illness is the cause, we need to raise our expectations for our children, children of the 60’s are to blame because of excessive permissiveness, the 1980’s decade of selfishness, abortion is the root cause, the internet is responsible because it eliminates human contact, we need to get back to more moral living, the assassination of JFK took away our dreams, it’s men who are doing the killing – we need to ask what’s wrong with men, bullying is the problem, depersonalization and desensitization because of video games,  the devil is responsible, our living conditions are overcrowded causing society to break down, people can’t handle disappointment, people become unhinged, all the shooters were people using drugs prescribed by a doctor, boys aren’t raised to be sensitive.

1)          Defense Budget - The future of our country is being held hostage by the budget deficits, military spending and trade deficits.
 
2)          Disabled veterans deserve treatment for mental disabilities as a result of their time in the service.  Today the disability claim process doesn’t include treatment. We can do better.
 
3)          RalphNader.  With only a few anticipated votes what’s his agenda?
 
4)          Criminals- In 1988 there were approximately 700,000 people in US prisons.  Since then the prison population has exploded.  In 2009 we will release 700,000 prisoners – as many as the entire prison population in 1988.  Historically 2/3 of released prisoners will be rearrested.  That means there will be another nearly ½ million crimes in 2009 from release prisoners alone!
 
5)          The North Carolina Health Care System is broken.  The mental health reform enacted in 2001 appears to need reform.  The 2006 budget for community services was $5 million per month.  The actual cost was $90 million per month.  That’s 1800% OVER BUDGET.  We need community services but we also need to control costs.

• NAFTA – the democratic candidates were vilifying NAFTA, but the facts don’t support vilification.  According to the Ohio Department of Development more than a quarter million Ohio workers earn their living from exports.  Since NAFTA was enacted the US has added 26 million additional jobs and real wages & benefits have increased 23%.  Economists believe the loss of manufacturing jobs is the result of increasing automation and productivity.  It would appear that our democratic candidates are pandering to organized labor who blame NAFTA for the declining numbers of union workers.  But the truth is that rolls of unions began declining in the 1960’s reflecting the beginning of the transition from a manufacturing to a service and technology economy.
  

• Tony Rezko – Who is this guy?  What’s his connection to Obama?  What money has changed hands between Obama & Rezko?  Why would Obama pay Rezko above market for vacant land?  What favors was Obama trying to repay?  What favors did Rezko do for Obama?  It appears that Rezko helped Obama buy a $1.6 million home for $1.3 million.  There are many unanswered questions about this relationship just as Rezko’s trial kicks off in Chicago.
  

• Big Oil kills tax credits for wind, solar and other renewable fuels.  The tax credits would’ve cost $17 billion over the next 10 years so Congress asked for the elimination of $17 billion in tax breaks for oil & gas companies.  Unfortunately that was a deal breaker.  Big Oil put pressure on Congress and they caved.  Big Oil made $145 billion in profits last year.  Surely they can afford a reduction of $1.7 billion in tax credits.
  

• The mortgage mess – Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Jr. said, “Most of the proposals I’ve seen would do more harm than good.”  Do we really need another Savings and Loan bailout?  How would we distinguish between the speculators and those who simply got in over their head.  How can we bail out homeowners without bailing out the banks.  Should we bail out the banks?  Should we bail out Wall Street?  A government intervention is a band-aid on an underlying cancer and the only cure for the cancer is the free market system.  Let’s not make the cure compound the problem.
  

• On Jan 15th on New Hampshire Public Radio, Senator Clinton said “It’s clear, this election they’re having is not going to count for anything.”  She was referring to the Jan 15th Michigan presidential primary.  Now that the Democratic National Committee is enforcing its own rules people are crying disenfranchisement.  There was no crying when the flouted the rules and moved the primaries up, but now that they are suffering the consequences they cry.  It reminds me of another politician who is crying – he doesn’t seem sorry about what he did but rather sorry that he got caught.  If the DNC lets FLA & Michigan back in what does that tell everyone – it’s ok to break the rules?
  

• Technology is pervasive in our schools but has it provided the much needed improvement in our educational process?  Apparently not if you compare our kids to those of other countries.  So what’s wrong?  How can we realize the potential of our technology?  We have vast resources available – internet, video, Powerpoint, interactive learning tools etc. - and yet we can’t seem to consistently harness the power of the tools.  
  

• How much do you pay for your car insurance?  If you’re a safe North Carolina driver without tickets or accidents the answer is TOO MUCH.  That’s right.  The insurance industry has a pretty sweet deal on their hands.  They shove people into the ‘Reinsurnace Facility’ that aren’t risky drivers and collect a fat 50% commission on their liability premiums.  Insurance companies are not required to disclose why or when a driver is sent to the facility – that’s a secret!  Some insurance companies send over 90% of the policies they write to the Reinsurnace Facility.  Do we really need to pay 50% commissions?  We need better transparency in this process.
  

• The Columbian democracy launched a counter-attack against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC) when they retreated into the Ecuadorean jungle.  The raid was successful and they captured the laptop of one of the leaders.  On the laptop were several pieces of highly disturbing evidence.
  
  1. Payments from Venezuelan President Chavez to the terrorists - $50 million already and another $200 million to come later.
  2. Suggestions that FARC was trying to acquire 50 kilos of uranium for a ‘dirty bomb’.  That’s a lot of uranium!
  3. A promise that FARC would fight the US if necessary.
  4. Planned weapons transfers from Venezuela to FARC.
  5. Chavez plans for destabilizing Columbia.
  6. A thank you note from Chavez to FARC for the $150,000 the terrorists sent Chavez while he was in prison after his failed coup d’etat.
     
• State funding of terrorists is a violation of the UN rules and carries severe penalties and sanctions.  It seems that Chavez is outraged that Columbia would counter attack.  Once again, it seems that he isn’t so much outraged about the attack as he is about getting caught funding terrorists.

1. David Walker resigned as Comptroller General, the head of the Government Accountability office.    David warns that if we don’t do something about the national debt, already $9 trillion, that the future role of government may be nothing more than sending out social security checks and paying the interest on the debt.
2. With all the campaign rhetoric about healthcare has anyone looked at the way healthcare works – find it and fix it.  Rather than focus on staying healthy we focus on fixing the problem after it has arrived.  The financial incentives for doctors are backward – they don’t get anything for helping people stay healthy, they make big bucks performing operations and providing services for people who are ill.  We spend $2.2 trillion on healthcare!  It is predicted to double in 10 years – and that is without paying for the 47 million uninsured!!  How could we possibly afford that without a complete restructuring of our healthcare system.  Chronic diseases like heart disease, cancer and diabetes account for 2/3 of all health care expenses.  Diet and exercise would go a long way toward eliminating many of those chronic cases.
3. Hillary Clinton has finally released her records from her white house days.  Or has she?  It turns out the archives have turned over 10,000 pages to the Clintons for their review before releasing the documents.  And what about those 140 last minute Clinton pardons?  Hundreds of pages have been withheld.  What about the documents pertaining to the Clinton Foundation?  Nope sorry.  What does she have to hide and what will it accomplish by waiting?
4. Ethanol, it turns out, isn’t as green as many would have us believe.  It takes a lot of heat and water to produce ethanol.  In the end the net gain isn’t that great.  With the water shortage in the Southwest and Southeast can we really afford to use 3 gallons of water to produce 1 gallon of Ethanol?
5. Eve Carson.  What a tragedy.  She was president of the student body.  A wonderful person.  Apparently murdered by two people who should’ve been behind bars for parole violations.  The criminal justice system failed to keep up with the accused.  More than 10,000 people showed up for her memorial at the UNC campus. 
   

• Bill Gates testified before Congress that we need to allow more skilled foreign workers into the US.  In other words, we don’t have enough highly educated workers in the US.  My question is why?  Don’t we have enough smart people in the US?  Don’t we value education enough?  If you listen to our politicians they tell us we have a surplus of workers so it can’t be that we don’t have enough people.  What can we do to inform people about these opportunities so that these high paying jobs can be filled by US citizens.
  

• The Obama speech.  It was a great speech.  His oratory skills are incredible.  But his actions speak louder than his words.  He sat by while his pastor damned America.  He sat by while his pastor accused the US government of giving drugs to black people to enslave and imprison them.  He sat by while his pastor accused the US government of inventing HIV “as a means of genocide against  people of color”.  These are just a few of Rev. White’s wild accusations.  You can view them yourself on YouTube.  Rev. White preached hate.  He preached hate against white people.  I can understand that someone of his age can’t get over the hurt, but why is he passing this hate onto the next generation.  Why is Obama not condemning the Rev. and attending another church?  Why is Obama subjecting his children to the Rev’s hate message?
  

• Hillary’s response to Spitzergate, “best wishes”.  As First Lady she spent much of her career campaigning against prostitution and global sex trafficing.  She condemned “the heinous practice of buying and selling women like commodities”.  So why was her reaction to Spitzer to remove his endorsement from her website and give him best wishes?  Apparently it’s political.
  

• The time has come to change the way we view crimes with guns.  Here’s a fresh idea for crimes with guns whose time has come.  If someone shoots a gun during a crime they need to go to jail, it shouldn’t matter if they miss.  If someone shoots a gun at your head but misses should they go free or get a reduced sentence because they’re a bad shot?  NO!  Instead of focusing on the outcome of the crime we need to look at the ACTION of the CRIME.  How does this sound for punishment?
  
  1. Carrying an illegal firearm – 5 years in prison
  2. Committing a crime with a firearm but not discharging it – 20 years in prison
  3. Shooting at another person, regardless of outcome – life in prison
     

• Encourage energy conservation
• Encourage use of public transportation
• Reduce unnecessary trips in the car
• Encourage use of car pooling
• Provide high paying jobs to rebuild our infrastructure
• Reduce the cost of a barrel of oil because demand would go down. 
  

This week's topic is illegal immigration.

Big news this week.  North Carolina decided not to allow illegal immigrants to attend community college.  The legality of the decision aside, it raises the question, whatever happened to illegal immigration as a primary topic of the Presidential Candidates.  Remember when Hillary supported the idea of giving drivers licenses to illegal immigrants New York?  She spent weeks on damage repair.

So why aren’t we discussing illegal immigration?  All three candidates basically agree on the 3 key issues – 1) a path to legalization for illegal immigrants, 2) penalties for companies that hire illegal immigrants and 3) securing the border.  They all supported the Bush-backed immigration reform legislation that couldn’t make it through Congress.  So why can’t we move forward on this issue?  The answer - lack of political fortitude.

So now the states are working with Homeland Security to move forward on illegal immigration.  Homeland Security has authorized local authorities to enforce immigration laws via the 287(G) program.  Previously that was the exclusive purview of the INS.  You’ve probably seen Sheriff Joe Arpaio from Phoenix, AZ on TV rounding up illegal aliens and putting them in jail until they are deported.  Many have criticized his actions, but the feds have reviewed his performance and deemed his actions appropriate.

Arizona isn’t the only state moving forward with legislation to deal with illegal aliens.  Oklahoma has a new law that terminates taxpayer funded benefits for illegal aliens, empowers state and local law enforcement to detain illegal aliens for deportation and requires businesses to verify employment eligibility or face serious financial consequences.  80% of Oklahomans support the new law and it appears to be working.  Reports indicate that illegal aliens are leaving Oklahoma in droves.

It would appear that as US citizens we are of two minds regarding illegal immigration.  On the one hand we embrace the idea of immigration.  What we don’t embrace is the idea of illegal immigration.  Even so, we are willing to provide a path to citizenship provided the immigrants meet certain criteria.  What the majority of American’s apparently don’t like are the things that promote multiculturalism or not assimilating to the American culture.  So long as immigrants are willing to assimilate to the American culture, learn our language and obey our laws we welcome them with open arms.

• Japan’s government imports 8% of the rice it consumes in order to comply with global trade commitments but the imported rice isn’t distributed to Japanese citizens.  The rice sits in warehouses until it is unfit for human consumption and then it’s fed to livestock.  Why?  Because the Japanese want to continue the tradition of consuming only Japanese rice.  Trade agreements prevent them from distributing the rice to the hungry people of the world.
  

• Europeans have a cultural distaste for genetically modified food.  So Africans, who could greatly benefit from crops that are engineered to withstand drought etc., don’t plant genetically modified crops for fear that Europeans won’t import their crops.
  

• In 2005 the US government began to require use of ethanol.  The US government also provides ethanol subsidies of 51 cents per gallon and taxes ethanol imports 70 cents per gallon.  These policies resulted in a boom in ethanol production.  The evidence suggests that these policies account for at least 50% of the increase in the demand for and price of corn.
  

• Allowing the Japanese to distribute the rice they don’t want to eat would feed millions.  It is simply a matter of the various governments of the world with whom Japan has trading agreements giving the ok.
  

• Encouraging the adoption of genetically modified crops would dramatically increase crop yields in Africa.
  

• Eliminating the subsidies on ethanol production would help lower demand and in turn lower the price of corn.
  

• Changing from corn-based ethanol to switchgrass-based ethanol would dramatically lower the demand for and price of corn.  Corn which requires 1 unit of energy to produce 1.1 units of energy.  Switchgrass provides as much as 13 units of energy for every unit used in production and switchgrass is easy to grow.  http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publications.htm?seq_no_115=203418
  

• The World Food Program needs $750 million immediately to help feed the world’s starving children and another $3 billion annually to keep up with the increasing price of food.  The world can afford $750 million to save our children.
  

• Iraqi army & police have finally gained control of Basra & Sadr City.  
• The US Ambassador says that the terrorists have never been closer to defeat.  
• There has been a dramatic drop in sectarian violence.  
• Attacks in iraq hit a four-year low in May.  
• May had the lowest number of American fatalities since the start of the war.
  

• Unemployment is 5.5%, very low by historical standards.
• Even with gas at $4/gallon our standard of living is the highest it has ever been, and that’s true for the middle class and poor as well.
• We are living longer, heart disease and stroke are declining.
• Crime is in a long-term decline.
• Education levels are at an all time high.
• Even with the subprime meltdown, houses are still worth 33% more than they were in 2000.
  

• Finally, after 25 years of exponential increases the weight of our children has finally stabilized.
• True, fully 1/3 of our kids are either overweight or obese.
• True, the heaviest kids have gotten heavier.
• True, youth incidence of cardiovascular disease and diabetes is on the rise.
• True, these overweight kids will have more health problems as adults.
• True, these overweight kids more often turn into obese adults.
  

• Hard working?
• Industrious?
• Educated?
• World leaders?
• Optimistic?
• Competitive?
• Self-reliant?
• Patriotic?
• Freedom loving (speech, religion, political choice, opportunity...)?
• Law abiding?
  

• increase supply or expected future supply
• decrease demand or expected future demand
  

• The price of steel has risen 117% in the last 5 years.  Steel isn’t traded on the commodities futures exchange.  There are no speculators for steel.
• World oil consumption has increased by 10 million barrels per day to 86 million barrels per day while oil production in the US has decreased in the last 20 years.  Government regulations prevent exploration and expanding refineries.
• Copper has increased 360 percent while corn increased 70 percent with 1/3 of our corn production being diverted to ethanol.  Why wouldn’t corn go up as much as copper if speculators were involved?
• The giant mining company Rio Tinto recently increased the price of iron ore for its Chinese customers by 85%.  Again, iron ore isn’t traded on the commodities markets.  There are no speculators for iron ore.  How does Congress explain the increase in the absence of speculation?
  

Here are some of the Iranian President’s comments about suicide bombers.

He praised his country's ability to recruit "hundreds of suicide bombers a day," saying "suicide is an invincible weapon. Suicide bombers in this land showed us the way, and they enlighten our future.

Amadinejad said the will to commit suicide was "one of the best ways of life."

"Is there a craft more beautiful, more sublime, more divine, than the craft of giving yourself to martyrdom and becoming holy? Do not doubt, Allah will prevail, and Islam will conquer mountain tops of the entire world."

"What is important is that they have shown the way to martyrdom which we must follow.'' 6 [President Ahmadinejad's comments on an aircraft crash in Tehran that killed 108 people in December 2005].

Hamas  http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-02-01-speech-overseas_x.htm

Hezbollah http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/08/09/60minutes/main1879867.shtml

"This regime (Israel) will one day disappear."

"The Zionist regime is a rotten, dried tree that will be eliminated by one storm.

Israel is "a disgraceful stain on the Islamic world"

Israel is doomed to be "wiped from the map" in "a war of destiny."

Ahmadinejad said that "the countdown for the destruction of Israel" has begun.

Zionists are "the personification of Satan."

"In the case of any unwise move by the fake regime of Israel, Iran's response will be so destructive and quick that this regime will regret its move for ever."

1. Do nothing.  Allow Iran to acquire a nuclear bomb which they will surely give to terrorist organizations and try to wipe Israel off the face of the earth and perhaps the rest of the infidels on earth.
2. Continue to negotiate and apply sanctions hoping that Iran doesn’t pursue nuclear weapons.
3. A pre-emptive strike, whether by the U.S. or Israel.  No doubt Iran will retaliate with some combination of conventional, biological and chemical weapons.  No doubt, Iran will ask Hamas and Hezbollah to join the fight.  The fight may escalate out of control with Israel using a nuclear option of their own.
   

"The Islamic republic of Iran has the capacity to quickly become a world superpower. If we believe in ourselves... no other power can be compared to us."

"Iran's enemies know your courage, faith and commitment to Islam and the land of Iran has created a powerful army that can powerfully defend the political borders and the integrity of the Iranian nation and cut off the hand of any aggressor and place the sign of disgrace on their forehead."

"Our enemies should know that they are unable to even slightly hurt our nation and they cannot create the tiniest obstacle on its glorious and progressive way."

"We don't shy away from declaring that Islam is ready to rule the world."

• According to its own fair-value accounts for the end of March, Freddie Mac is technically insolvent and Fannie Mae has only a small net worth.  The markets already know they’re broke.  Who would lose?  The shareholders would lose, just like Bear Sterns.
• There has already been a test case for how the mortgage market would function without Fannie & Freddie.  After the 2003-4 accounting scandal, regulators severely constrained their activities.  In 2005, the nation’s total residential mortgage debt outstanding rose by $1.176 trillion in that year, even though Fannie’s and Freddie’s stakes rose by on $169 billion, just 14.4 percent of the total.  In essence, the market barely noticed that the two agencies’ private competitors were providing 85 percent of the increase in mortgage debt in 2005.