Does everyone remember the outrage over the $1.2 million that Merrill Lynch spent to upgrade its executive offices? How about the outrage over that $50 million corporate jet for CITI? You know, the one — the one that CITI had ordered quite some time back, and ended up canceling the order because they got money from T.A.R.P.

While spending “public” funds for that sort of thing on “private” enterprise might seem outrageous, just remember the size of the “stimulus” spending our government engaged in last year. Merrill Lynch’s “outrageous” spending on decor rather than loans amounted to less than a millionth of the money our Congress and President extorted from the taxpayer. And, of course, since government is involved in this, there’s no limit to the hypocrisy involved either.

I am no prude, I enjoy the occasional adult beverage. 

Moving to Washington in 1995 I was rather shocked to find that Washington had such a choke hold on alcohol.

Imagine being in California.  Need a bottle of Scotch Whiskey?  No problem, head over to Safeway, or one of several privately owned Liquor stores in your local area, 7 days a week until 2am.

Compare that to the system in Washington, where you may not even live in a city where there is a State Liquor store, what stores there are are limited in hours, and almost half of them are not even open on Sundays.

Nothing I have seen in this State makes me laugh more, that we as consenting tax paying adults have to go to such measures to score a bottle of Brandy.

The left has got a legitimate complaint. There really are pressing social problems that need to be solved in our country and our world today. There really does seem to be a serious problem with our national economy, as well as the world economy. Despite the fact that America has finally elected its first black President, racism still runs rampant throughout our society. There’s a growing perception among some that we are destroying fragile ecosystems and ruinously altering the very fabric our world is made of with alarming consequences.

And “the right” is out there obstructing every effort to address these problems. According to some all conservatives and Republicans do is obstruct progress and never offer any solutions of their own. Conservatives whine and criticize without engaging in constructive dialog. Considering that, I’ve decided to try and offer some positive, constructive ideas for how to deal with the problems that face us today. Lets start with just one of them.

Which of these things demonstrates love? The giving of charity or the redistribution of tax revenues? Which of them works good upon the soul? Is the command to “Render therefore unto Caesar” greater than the command to “Go, and do thou likewise?”

If, as you said in your inaugural speech today the free market is the greatest force for producing wealth, why then do you and other politicians abandon free market principles to “redistribute” that wealth? Whatever happened to “if any would not work, neither should he eat?”

You said once that your own personal salvation couldn’t be realized without a collective salvation. What is the basis for that belief? Is it no longer true that “every man shall bear his own burden?” Are our relationships with others personal or collective? If they are personal, how then are they different from our relationship with God?

The stupidity and sheer gullibility of voters in the state of Washington, and in particular the city of Seattle, never ceases to amaze me. But then, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, since the vast majority of urban residents in the state of Washington are liberals who couldn’t vote for a Republican without first checking into a psychiatric clinic to verify that they weren’t losing their mind, or going to therapy afterward to assuage their “guilt.” And of course, the vast majority of voters in the state of Washington are urbanites. I present evidence of the stupidity and gullibility of Washington State’s voters below.

Washington State that is. Paula over at It’s Only Words has got two new posts up with a bit of information about Washington’s SB6900.

It seems that our beloved State Senators want to tack on some truly onerous fees to our car tabs, despite being told time and again by the electorate that we want them to be affordable. If you’ve got a 350 cubic inch V8 under your hood, you’ll end up paying $325.00 extra in fees just for the engine displacement. So, if you own a classic car, it’s going to really cost you. If it’s got a big block you’re going to pay through the nose to the tune of $400.00 or more.