CommentsDisplaying ripvanwinkle's 10 most recent comments.

• Simply Visiting Terrorist Websites Could Mean Jail Time in France

  March 24, 2012 at 12:03pm

  This is the thought police moving in for another coup d’etat against free society. Too bad the Europeans don’t realize that this move is way left of the U.S. Constitutional balance point, as are all totalitarian political systems.

• White House Reveals ‘Petition Your Govt’ Website — ‘Resign’ Petition Started

  March 12, 2012 at 11:58pm

  yeah, I see the risk. In IT terms it’s a honey pot. But the founding fathers laid it out for us…

  When the government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. — Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)

• Magic Johnson Says He‘s ’Comfortable With’ Obama Raising Taxes, Thinks President Doing a ‘Good Job’ for Small Business

  March 10, 2012 at 1:56am

  Sorry, Magic, but we pay too much in taxes, not including the deferred tazes from all the borrowing.

  Think of it: Two average Americans engage in some arbitrary transaction. The money they have in their pocket is less than half of what they started with because local, state, and federal governments have added taxes and fees that, in the big picture, add up to about 55% of their earnings. That leaves less room for negotiation between these two parties: The value to the buyer is reduced by 55% and the cost to the seller has increased by 55%.

  Meanwhile, federal tax revenues always average about 17%-19% of GDP – the sum of all all the transaction prices in the country.

  I’m neither an economist nor a retired sports celebrity, but I’d be willing to bet that if we had a simple flat tax structure that resulted in an overall tax burden of 20%, those two average Americans would have the maximim amount of money in their pocket to negotiate. In other words, GDP is maximized when the tax burden matches the tax revenues.

• Anti-Christian? NYC Politician And Conservative Groups Demand Change for ABC‘s New Show ’GCB’

  March 10, 2012 at 1:23am

  GCB is the latest example of what’s wrong with Hollywood.

• President Obama on Afghanistan: ‘Now Is the Time for Us to Transition’

  March 6, 2012 at 11:50pm

  Transition to what? I know what Obama wants me to think, but he’s lost my trust. All I see is a forked tongue. All I hear from him is doublespeak.

• Allen West on Potential Vice Presidential Run: I’m ‘Willing and Ready to Serve’ in Whatever Capacity

  March 6, 2012 at 11:43pm

  Col West is the Best.

• Minnesota Lawmaker Drops Anti-Sharia Bill Following Pressure From CAIR

  March 6, 2012 at 11:39pm

  Anti-shariah is pro-constitution and pro-freedom. Anti-shariah is anti-totalitarian. It’s not a religious thing, it’s an unalienable rights thing.

• ‘Do You Believe Him?‘ New Film Attacks Obama’s Record on Israel

  March 4, 2012 at 2:19am

  I personally believe a nuclear Iran is unacceptable, but I do not believe Obama believes that. Heck, I think Obama’s decision to go into Libya was, for all practical purposes, the start of WW3. I‘m just finishing Hayek’s 1944 book “The Road to Serfdom”… very relevant to our current predicament.

• Meet The ‘Disaster Junkies’: Tragedy Chasers Who Help Rebuild Homes and Lives

  March 2, 2012 at 11:51am

  sounds like fun, rewarding work. I want to be one of those volunteers.

• The ‘Top 5’ Most Loved and Hated States

  February 28, 2012 at 12:30am

  Least popular states are that way because of the governments therein; most poplar states are that way for their resources and people. Personally, I admire small-government New Yorkers and Texans.