Don't tase me Bro !

Twice in my life I have witnessed police being forceful with persons under arrest or soon to be under arrest. I was in full agreement with the police actions each time. Its possible it could have been beyond standard protocol but it seemed proportional and appropriate to me at the time.
Recently I have seen you tube videos of people getting tased by police or security guards. In 90% of these situations I very strongly disagree with the police actions. This is the most striking and perverse abuse of human rights as I have ever seen in the United States. I think it sets a terrible standard that we must all fight against. Police nation wide are establishing the concept that they are justified in tasing anyone if they become difficult in any way. It is not necessary to be violent or dangerous. It is not necessary for the office to feel overwhelmed, out manned out or gunned. The first words out of their mouth is or I'll tase you, Like they have a God given right to be cruel and abusive to any citizen any time. It is a crazy world where we are outraged when a horrible terrorist is water boarded but ok if a 90 pound lady is tased by a 200 pound police officer because she didn't say "how high sir" when he said jump. The worst aspect of this brutal development is that according to the social contract officers have no real rights. We the people are allowing them use of our rights because it is in the public interest to have organized and centralized ,protection and law enforcement. In a horrible turn those we have allowed the use of our rights to self defense, become our attackers. I studied martial arts for a short time. I know that with very modest training the police would almost never need to taser anyone. There are a hundred very effective wrist, finger and arm locks that are easy to use and work wonderfully. I see no reason to give into police brutality when there are good alternatives to the taser. Watch the videos on You Tube. Get outraged and let someone know how you feel.
Daniel J Hoban

Now there you go again.

The Obama swept into the White house on a platform of change. During the election he built a long list of strident promises that he said would change business as usual in Washington. I understand politics. I know these promises are made to be broken but some of them are such surprising turnabouts that they need to be considered.

Lie number one No earmarks

This is worth looking at because its a lie that was smashed to pieces in a very public way when the interim spending bill was passed. There were in fact thousands of earmarks essentially giving the victors (democrats) the spoils. Here is what John McCain said about it.

it is "insulting to the American people" for Obama's budget director to indicate over the weekend that the president will sign a $410 billion spending bill with what Republicans critics say is nearly $5.5 billion in so-called "earmark" projects.

"So much for the promise of change," McCain said in this year's version of what has become his annual tirade against pork-barrel spending.

Lie number two "Lobbyist and special interests will have no part in my administration"

In fact the revolving door between business and elected officials is open and spinning rapidly. Thus far The Obama administration has hired or appointed 17 people that are or have been lobbyist's , leaders of special interest groups or held high positions in interested corperation's .

Lie number three Sunlight before signing

This one seems small but is actually key to change that The Obama had promised during his election campaign. This speaks to his many promises to make the political process open to the people, fair, free of last minute earmarks and unfettered by pork barrel spending and most of all by partisan. The Obama promised to leave every non emergency bill available to the public for 5 days for viewing and discussion, to insure that it is understood, acceptable to both parties and free of wasteful spending. Thus far he has broken that promise As the Cato Institute's Jim Harper notes, the Administration only fulfilled its "Sunlight before Signing" pledge on one of the first eleven bills the President signed into law. That's less than 10 percent. On the bright side, there's plenty of room for improvement.

Close Gitmo

He may close it but he now has plans to hold the detainees permanently in other locations without proper legal trials as he argued for during the election.

Recognize the Armenian Genocide

The anniversary came and went recently and the word genocide was never mentioned.

End the war in Iraq

Not even close.

Renegotiate NAFTA

No plans at all for this one.

Eliminate all income taxation of seniors making less than $50,000 per year

Hahahahahahahahahahaha !

Its the deficit dummy by Daniel J Hoban

I can hear a sound, a whisper, a growl. It is the sound of impending doom. It is the sound of a deficit BOOM! Day by day cities and states are laying out the bad news. Is anyone listening? Taxes payments of all types are coming in far below plan. Most are down 20-30% from projected.
In Connecticut they are down 20% and the deficit for the current year has ballooned to $1 Billion. In Massachusetts taxes are expected to come in $3 Billion lower. Michigan has suddenly discovered a new $1.32 Billion deficit. Florida recently suggested their deficit could grow to $6 Billion next year as taxes paid decline rapidly. Ohio is a train wreck and illustrates the nations problems very well. They have used massive federal money to fill the budget gap. That money goes away next year and they have no plans that will bridge the gap. It is estimated that they will have a deficit of $8 Billion by 2012.
The sheer size and scope of this problem will change our country. States are not allowed to run deficits so must choose between higher taxes or budget cuts. The spending cuts required to balance the budget would be devastating . They would have to cut deeply into permanent budget items. If new taxes are used to cut the deficit they would shock an already weary and burdened voter. One has to wonder how an economy will react to higher taxes at every level. It is very likely that property taxes , sales taxes, state and federal taxes will all go up at the same time creating the highest tax burden Americans have carried in decades.
It seems very likely that we a setting the stage for a double dip recession or a multi year recession.
Daniel J Hoban

The Obama rules by fiat By Daniel J Hoban

The Obama it seems has the power to change long held laws simply by saying it shall be so. Recently he has been successful with something called cramdown. This is when lenders are forced to take less than they are owed and less than they are entitled to under the law.

We have seen it with subprime mortgages. There the owners of these notes were told take far less than they are due according to the mortgage that they hold. Its not completely unknown for a bank to write a mortgage and then later to modify the terms but whats different this time is that mortgages have been sliced up and sold off in small parts . There may be 50 part owners all over the world that hold a piece of your mortgage. They have a binding contract with clear terms and US real estate backing it up in the event of default. Cramdown takes their contractual rights and tosses them out the window. There is no vote to modify the terms, no court order, just new terms. Essentially just take less and shut up because The Obama said so.

Now the same thing is happening in the Chrysler bankruptcy. Debt holders are always assigned priority when debt is raised by a company. The best debt is known as senior, then junior and the weakest is called unsecured. Senior debt is often backed by a specific asset of the company like equipment or buildings and real estate. Right now the Obama has declared by fiat that unsecured creditors (unions) shall get first position. This is a banana republic move. It takes long held laws that keep the credit markets working and trashes them for short term political gains. Why should anyone lend if the Obama can simply change the rules at the last minute to protect a small group that he favors. What will other countries think of US contracts if we keep doing this? Lets just write all of our contracts on toilet paper and flush them if we feel its politically expedient. If anyone objects The Obama will publicly ridicule them , call them out by name and question their character and morality.

This will have a chilling effect on lending . Credit will dry up. Foreign lenders who had become accustomed to the strong rule of law in the US will be hesitant to work with our companies. This will cause the cost of borrowing to increase. Essentially this move by The Obama will slow the economy at a time when we are trying to get it going again. It will also damage our standing around the world.
DJH