An Open Letter to the Vast Majority

You know how you are moved by his words?

You know how excited you are about the hope he offers?

You know how he wants you to sacrifice—and how you want to?

You know how he wants you to put others first—and how you are desperately going to try?

You know how he asks you to answer a higher calling—and how you want to answer it?

You know how he makes you feel?

Because Physical Fitness is Extremely Important

In case you didn’t know, I am a managing editor for a successful custom publishing firm. We create magazines for hospitals across the country. In honor of our profession, our department spent last Friday, October 31, mall walking as a team. (Except that I was the only guy in my department who participated. Evidently, the other guys are “way cooler” than me, or so everybody in the company says.)

Anyway, when mall walking, it is important to dress appropriately.
Which we did, as you can see below.
(Click for a bigger view.)

Charles Schumer: Always Wrong. Again.

Charles Schumer has always driven me nuts, and, to the best of my knowledge, has never been right about a single thing in his entire life. I don’t know how he finds his way home at night. (OK, I’m exaggerating.) He’s annoyed me ever since his arrogant AND stupid performance during the hearings after Waco, and he’s at it again.

The latest?

He wants to revive the Fairness Doctrine.

“The very same people who don’t want the Fairness Doctrine want the FCC [Federal Communications Commission] to limit pornography on the air. I am for that… But you can’t say government hands off in one area to a commercial enterprise but you are allowed to intervene in another. That’s not consistent.”

What? WHAT? (Sorry. I’m speechless.)

On a related note: If this election has shown us anything, it’s that the Fairness Doctrine’s view of our nation—that our country is comprised of nothing but conservatives and liberals—is false.

Let freedom ring. And if freedom bothers you, then just change the freakin’ channel.

The Audacity of Nope: Why I Didn’t Vote for Barack Obama

If you know me, the following statement is going to come as absolutely no surprise: I didn’t vote for Barack Obama.

As a conservative who remains independent largely due to the fact that the Republican Party has become too moderate for my tastes, it’s safe to say that Barack Obama and I have little in common.

But the guy fascinates me, and a large number of smart folks that I both like and respect have thrown their support behind him. Several weeks ago, their enthusiasm caused me to dig deeper on the guy to see if I was missing something.

Obama Middle-Class Tax Cuts: Rate Hikes in Disguise?

A recent study by the American Enterprise Institute claims that “Senator Obama’s proposed ‘tax cuts for the middle class’ are actually marginal rate hikes in disguise.”

This one is particularly creepy, as it describes my situation fairly accurately:

What accounts for the higher rates? First, Obama expands the maximum child and dependent care credit for families with one young child from $1,050 to $1,500 and phases down the credit over a longer income range, from $30,000 to $58,000. Throughout this income range, the credit is phasing out at a rate of $30 per $1,000 of income, thus raising the effective tax rate by 3 percentage points. Obama also makes certain credits refundable, which introduces a tax penalty of 10 percent or 15 percent, depending on the income bracket.