Author Archives: Editor

Signs of the Times : Why Support No New Taxes on August 4

Posted on July 30, 2009 | Leave a comment

By Daniel Downs

The signs are all around. Like flashing yellow and red stoplights, they remind us of the potential danger that lies ahead.

What danger?

In a popular Republic such as ours, participation in politics is a requirement. The continuation of our freedom and prosperity depends on it. The maintenance of those common benefits provided by elected government requires our time and consideration, and so do our local services like police and fire.

The yellow signs present us with the need to be cautious. On one hand, a danger exists that Xenia residents may loose quality of police, fire, or other tax funded services. The reduction of police, fire, or other personnel is an issue the current recession has forced upon the city. This threat is more likely to become reality if the proposed operating levy renewal is rejected.

On a national scale, signs of our times speak of big socialistic government, increasingly huge federal debt, and subsequently more taxes. These trends signal a negative economic future for us all. This alone should cause us to give greater consideration to best methods of dealing with local effects.

To some, those yellow and red signs sprouting up everywhere also portend more taxes. Unlike the new taxes proposed by liberals on Capitol Hill and the last proposed operating levy, this operating levy renewal is reasonable. No New Taxes is the big red promise of city officials and their yellow signs.

While liberals are burying the national economy with debt, our local economy is depressed along with the state coffers. As amazing as it may seem, our elected city officials do get it. That is why all of them just want the operating levy renewed.

According to City Manager Jim Percival, the levy renewal will only generate $409,000 in revenue. If we look at the big picture, we will see the operating levy generating a mere 2.3 percent of the total general fund revenue, which was $14.5 million in 2007. General fund revenue includes the municipal income tax (56.6%), other local taxes (9.6%), taxes shared by other county and state government (13.2%), charges for services not considered as enterprise (water and trash) (10.1%), fines, licenses, and permits (6.6%), intergovernmental grants (1.3%), and miscellaneous receipts (2.7%). If we consider just direct taxes, we will see the operating levy only generating a meager 3.3 percent. In 2007, direct taxes were $12.3 million.

Another important figure to keep in mind on August 4 is the year-end general fund balance. At the end of 2007, it was over $1 million. This substantial sum probably is included in the $3 million reserve fund that is required by Ohio law. I suspect the reserve exists to cover unexpected situations like major infrastructure failure, recessions, failed tax levies, and the like.

A legitimate question bouncing around in my cranium is this: If there is so much excess revenue, why should I support the levy? I can think of several reasons:

One very important reason is that the operation levy renewal will not increase current taxes. Another is a decrease in tax revenues. This decrease in city tax revenue is the glorious result of the engineered recession by liberal bureaucrats. The decrease is the outcome of increased unemployment among Xenia residents. As a result, city income tax revenue is down 5.6 percent or $204,000, according to Finance Director Mark Bazelak. It is also likely to cause a decrease in shared tax revenues as indicated by decreases in County property and income tax revenues and personnel reductions. All of which illustrates the city’s need for the operating levy revenue.

During a recent city council meeting, one elected official said the city would not have enough money to cover all operating expenses even with the operating levy renewal. Although she didn’t elaborate on the issue, I suspect planned increases in union wages and benefits accounts for the anticipate lack. While government union employee pay may be increasing above inflation, the income of many non-union employees in private industry is not. To the degree this remains the case, a proper response of affected taxpayers should be who cares. Why should we care about government salary increases or about the union contract law? Increases in government employee pay means more new taxes. If the city can attract more new residents and profitable businesses, more new tax revenues will flow into the city’s coffers eliminating the need for more new taxes. Besides, citizens do not exist either for the high cost of government programs or for the profits of low paying corporate millionaires or billionaires.

Like all Americans, what Xenia taxpayers need is real change. If it ever happens, the addition of new taxes for improved services and/or infrastructure will be a non-issue. Until then, I still think maintaining the city’s operating levy revenue will benefit us all.

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Alternative to Fair Tax

Posted on July 29, 2009 | Leave a comment

By Andy Myers

I’m not a proponent of the fair tax, and yes that makes me a target as was the case this past weekend at the gun and knife show. Our state sovereignty and audit the Federal Reserve booth was very well received by those who understand that our 2nd amendment rights come from a power higher than government, and we had well over 500 people sign our petitions. The NRA booth was next to ours and along with plugging the NRA to which I’d rather support GOA and the Buckeye Firearms Institute, he was plugging the Fair Tax. Most people familiar with the fair tax already know the details, so I would like to offer a “constitutional” alternative to the debate.

How about something that goes back beyond the fair tax all the way to June 2, 1944. The Liberty Amendment is an idea of Willis E. Stone, an industrial engineer. Born in Denver Colorado, who was a descendant of Ralph Waldo Emerson, the philosopher, and of Thomas Stone, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. As space in this letter is limited, I will paraphrase in the hopes that those who “understand the root of the problem is a federal government that has thrown aside the rules in which it was delegated.” will understand what the Liberty Amendment is about.

The Constitution is very specific in what powers the “sovereign states” granted it. And, there is a “proper and legal” way of changing it if need be. But our government disregards this process, for which they “swore an oath to” and continues to chain the people to a certain future of despotism. Stone’s Liberty Amendment on the other hand has been designed to fight all the multitude of apparently different battles at once, and win by “restoring the Constitution to full force and effect.” Once the Amendment is applied, a multitude of diversified battles will be won. The one thing about this proposal I disagree with is calling for a constitutional convention as this could likely lead to something far worse than what we could imagine. That is another subject that can not be adequately address in this letter.

The 4 sections of the Liberty Amendment are as follows:

Section 1. The Government of the United States shall not engage in any business, professional, commercial, financial or industrial enterprise except as specified in the Constitution.

Section 2. The constitution or laws of any State, or the laws of the United States shall not be subject to the terms of any foreign or domestic agreement which would abrogate this amendment.

Section 3. The activities of the United States Government which violate the intent and purpose of this amendment shall, within a period of three years from the date of the ratification of this amendment, be liquidated and the properties and facilities affected shall be sold.

Section 4. Three years after the ratification of this amendment the sixteenth article of amendments to the Constitution of the United States shall stand repealed and thereafter Congress shall not levy taxes on personal incomes, estates, and/or gifts. Henry David Thoreau once said, “There are thousands hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.”

Please go to www.libertyamendment.com and let us strike at the root of the problems being created by an out-of-control federal government.

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Ohio Supreme Court endangers children, violates parental rights, and supports the violation of law and decency

Posted on July 28, 2009 | 1 comment

On July 1, the Ohio Supreme Court upheld an earlier decision that allows Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Ohio (PP) to keep secret their reports documenting whether or not PP is notifying authorities of instances of statutory rape of pregnant minors seeking abortion services at the Cincinnati clinic.

The Ohio Supreme Court heard arguments last October on this issue after granting a Motion for Rehearing which was brought by attorneys for Jane Roe.

In Roe v. Planned Parenthood, the parents of Roe allege PP employees breached their legal duties when they failed to notify the proper authorities of the young girl’s sexual victimization by the 22-year-old male who brought her to the clinic. They further allege that PP violated Ohio’s parental involvement laws by failing to notify or get consent from them before performing the abortion on their 14-year-old daughter.

Attorney for Jane Roe, Brian Hurley, states about the decision, “We respectfully disagree with and are disappointed in the decision. It allows Planned Parenthood, under the pretext of protecting privacy rights, to prevent anyone from reviewing its redacted records to determine the truth of what many people believe is Planned Parenthood’s policy and practice of violating its duty to report suspected or known sexual abuse of minors. We believe that the protection Ohio provides to its sexually abused children has been significantly weakened and parents’ rights to protect their children from abuse have been undermined. We agree with Judge Donovan’s assessment that the decision is neither just nor reasonable.1

I agree with Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, who said,

“It’s hypocritical for the Ohio Supreme Court to be concerned about the privacy of girls receiving abortions at Planned Parenthood when, by keeping the redacted, anonymous records secret, it is in fact protecting the privacy of older men who abuse underage teens. The Court, by its decision, is enabling and perpetuating injustice.”2

Lila Rose, 20-year-old UCLA student and president of the non-profit Live Action, caught on tape Planned Parenthood workers breaking state laws requiring prompt reporting of statutory rape and parental consent laws.

Lila Rose went undercover at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Birmingham and told a counselor that she was 14-years-old, pregnant by her 31-year-old “boyfriend.” Rose said she needed a secret abortion so her parents would not find out about her sexual relationship with the older man.

After telling the counselor that her “boyfriend” is 31, Rose asks, “Is it a problem about my boyfriend?” The counselor, identified as “Tanisha” in the video, responds, “As long as you consented to having sex with him, there’s nothing we can truly do about that.” Rose then says that her boyfriend “said he could get in big trouble,” and Tanisha acknowledges that “he could, especially if your parents find out that he’s 31.” She then tells Rose that the clinic manager, OB/GYN Dr. Desiree Bates, “sometimes does bend the rules a little bit” and states that “whatever you tell us stays within these walls” and “we can’t disclose any information to anybody.”

Alabama code 26-14-3 requires health professionals to disclose suspected cases of sexual abuse to state officials immediately.

“The law is explicit about a healthcare provider’s duty to report, yet Planned Parenthood pretends they cannot say anything,” Rose notes of the investigation. “Planned Parenthood increases its business and influence by circumventing state reporting laws, but inflicts terrible harm upon the vulnerable young girls sent back to statutory rapists.”

In the video, Tanisha also seems to tell Rose that a signature from an “older sister that’s over the age of 18” or someone “with the same last name” could function as a substitute for parental consent so Planned Parenthood could perform an abortion on a minor. Alabama Code 26-21-3 specifies that the written permission of either a parent or legal guardian is necessary before a minor may obtain an abortion.

The new video is sixth in Live Action’s Mona Lisa Project, a nationwide undercover investigation that documents Planned Parenthood’s repeated noncompliance with state mandatory reporting laws for sexual abuse of minors. Alabama is the fourth state to be implicated in the controversy, along with Arizona, Indiana, and Tennessee.3

While Alabama's Attorney General is taking legal action, YouTube is banning this public evidence of Planned Parenthood's crimes. Are YouTube executives politically correct leftists or are they being strong armed by the Left's politicians and corporate members who are leading the drive help PP regain taxpayer funding for its baby-killing services? Because they are owned by Google, the ban on Rose's video is without a doubt politically motivated. Another reason for YouTube censorship is their executives partnership with billionaire George Soros, the global fund raiser for all thing Left like anti-Catholicism and abortion-on-demand.

Breaking state or federal laws is not limited to organizations like Planned Parenthood. Members of the Left seem to always break the law in order to achieve their agendas. It is no surprise that leftist politicians-at-law draped with black robes sitting high at the bar of justice collude with their associates. The false high wall doctrine of church-state separation was the beginning upon which all of the Left's goals have been achieved. Roe v Wade and all similar court decision– Roe v. Planned Parenthood–is merely one lethal example. Parents killing their unborn children is not a privacy right found in the US Constitution, but protecting life is.

References:

1   Christian Newswire, July 2, 2009.
2   Christian Newswire, July 3, 2009.
3   Live Action, June 30, 2009.

Lila Rose’s video can be viewed online at liveaction.org/alabama

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Posted in news, Ohio, politics

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Voters’ Voices Are Silenced By The Ohio General Assembly

Posted on July 27, 2009 | 1 comment

By The Ohio Council of Churches

For the past 20 years, Ohio voters have repeatedly said NO to expanding gambling. Two out of the past three years despite millions of dollars spent on advertising by gambling corporations, the voters have overwhelmingly voted No. Therefore, one has to ask the question why would a Governor, who has repeatedly spoken about the dangers of gambling, suddenly announce that he was supporting slot machines at Ohio’s seven horse racing tracks? Searching for new revenues to help fill a $3.2 billion hole in the 2010-11 biennial budget Strickland believes that this decision will create $933 million in the next two years.

If we step back from the rising pressure of falling Ohio tax revenues and rising unemployment, what are the probably impacts of such a decision? The seven racetracks are only required to pay $13 million of their $65 million license fee in the initial year. Therefore, they won’t have to begin any construction or expend any major funding until the November election when voters will decide the fate of Penn National’s casino proposal. The racetrack slots are not scheduled to begin until May 2010 with only two months remaining in the fiscal year. If the owners of the seven tracks decide that competition with the casinos will reduce the profitability outcome for them, they can withdraw from any further payments to the state and discontinue their plans to install slots at their tracks. Robert Griffin, owner of Scioto Downs racetrack, said they are willing to pay the initial $13 million, but questions if they will go ahead and put something in the ground if the casinos ballot issue passes in November.

Half of the total is based upon a $65 million license fee from each of the seven racetracks creating a total of $455 million. However, they are not required to pay the total up front. The racetracks originally asked for a claw-back provision that would allow them to get any license fees that they have paid back if the casino ballot issue passes in November. The legislature has since removed this option. This indicates that the horse tracks may not be in this agreement beyond November and all the $933 million may not materialize.

Warren county commissioners have remarked that they are opposed to gambling on the fairgrounds and it is very unlikely that the Lebanon racetrack there will participate in the slot machine opportunity. This reduces the $933 million estimate by at least $100 million.

The Governor’s decision seems to have been born out of the pressure to fill a $3.2 billion hole in Ohio’s biennial budget. But as is often the case in most decisions made in haste, this one is based on faulty suppositions. Another potential problem is that the compromise reached by the Governor must provide authorization for the slot machines at the racetracks by Executive Order with the House and Senate providing some enabling legislation. The American Policy Roundtable in Cleveland, an anti-gambling organization, has announced their intentions to challenge the action in the Ohio Supreme Court as violating Ohio’s Constitution by allowing casino –style gambling without a statewide vote of the people. They will seek an injunction to prevent the gambling of slots until a ruling by the court. At the very least, this could markedly reduce the revenue for this biennium. It took Pennsylvania three years to handle political hearings and court cases before they could get their first dime from the slots.

I haven’t even mentioned the fact that the economy has severely reduced the revenues in gambling establishments across the country and the Midwest is now exception. The Governor’s budget representatives provided information to legislative committees that each slot machine could deliver over $200 per machine each day. However, the representative from coin industry advocating for the bars and taverns said that the University of Cincinnati study indicated that each slot machine could anticipate $76 per machine. Obviously the large difference in potential funding could drastically reduce the total amount that the racetrack slots could provide the lottery and Ohio’s budget shortfall.

Finally, Ohio law requires that profits from the lottery must be utilized only by Ohio’s primary and secondary education directly and cannot be supplanted for other purposes. Therefore, court action could be initiated if the Lottery Commission tries to transfer profits to the general fund to cover some portion of the state’s financial budget hole.

The Ohio Council of Churches joins with the large majority of faith-based organizations including mainline, conservative and independent churches in strongly opposing the expansion of gambling because of the many negative impacts on communities, families and individuals. But even among those who favor gambling, many can’t support a monopoly for one business or gambling company. The majority of Ohioans oppose putting them into Ohio’s Constitution as the only ones allowed. This is all done without a competitive bid to give Ohio taxpayers a fair share of the profits. Voters remember that only last year, the Governor authorized a Keno game projected to raise $73 million a year. Eleven months later, Keno has produced just $30 million according to Ohio Lottery officials.

The Columbus Dispatch makes the most salient point in an editorial calling the slots a bad deal for Ohio. Because Ohio’s current budget contains $5 billion in stimulus one-time monies, they point out that even if the slots perform as suggested the next biennium will be $4 billion short in the 2012-13 budget. The editorial says, “In the name of balancing the budget, Strickland is asking Ohioans to subject themselves to a parasitic industry, knowing full-well that it will not begin to solve the state’s long-term fiscal problems. Most of the devastating cuts to Ohio’s safety net will still not be funded in this biennium budget and the next without the $5 billion stimulus funds the outlook is even bleaker.

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Posted in Ohio, politics, schools, taxes

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Artwork of Melissa Faulkner-Vanzant at Express Yourself

Posted on July 23, 2009 | Leave a comment

Imagine drips, dramatic color combinations, and girlish icons scattered across a field of pastel stripes. A broad range of techniques grace the score of canvasses at a new exhibit by Melissa Faulkner-Vanzant at Express Yourself Coffeehouse & Art Gallery. Melissa was born and raised in Xenia and graduated from Wright State University’s School of Fine Arts. Sculpture was her preferred mode of expression during her college years, but she has found that painting allows her to better “express my love of color and interest in geometric shapes.” Over the last few years her works have been displayed in galleries and shows in Dayton and Yellow Springs to positive reviews.

M_VanzantArtThe public is invited to view the artwork and meet Melissa Faulkner-Vanzant in person at a “Meet the Artist” reception to be held at Express Yourself on Saturday, July 25. Light hors d’oeuvres will be served from 2-4 PM. All of the works are for sale and many are very reasonably priced. Her paintings will be on display through August 1 during regular lunch hours Monday through Saturday at Express Yourself Coffeehouse and Art Gallery, located a block from the courthouse at 78 E. Main St. in downtown Xenia. For hours and information visit ExpressYourselfCoffeehouse.com, phone (937) 372-7446 or by email at xeniacoffee@sbcglobal.net.

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Posted in art, events, Xenia

If Democrat’s Health Surtax Is 5.4 Percent, Taxpayers in Ohio would be among 39 States That Would Pay a Top Tax Rate Over 50%

Posted on July 22, 2009 | Leave a comment

By TF Staff

New taxes to fund the federal government’s plan for higher health insurance spending continue to be debated in Washington. According to a new Bloomberg report, the top surtax rate will be 5.4 percent in the House plan. That will be the top rate in a three-tiered surtax aimed at high-income tax returns:

1 percent surtax on AGI between $350,000 and $500,000 (singles between $280,000 and $400,000)

1.5 percent surtax on AGI between $500,000 and $1,000,000 (singles between $400,000 and $800,000)

5.4 percent surtax on AGI beyond $1,000,000 (singles beyond $800,000)

States have been raising taxes on this same group, leading to concern over how high the combined tax rates would be in each state, especially in the growing number of states with double-digit tax rates. Some commentators merely sum the rates at the federal, state and local level to give a statutory total tax rate. A more accurate method is to calculate the effective marginal tax rate, which takes into consideration deductions and adjustments. For a description of the difference between effective marginal tax rates and effective average tax rates, see Average vs. Marginal Tax Rates Revisited.

In Table 1 below we present calculations of the effective marginal tax rate on top earners. We use assume that the 2008 weighted local average for each state applies to 2011, the top federal taxable income rate will rise as scheduled to 39.6 percent, the top state tax rate in each state will follow current 2011 scheduled law, and a new House plan for 5.4 percent surtax on AGI earned at very high-income levels will become law.

Table 1 (Ohio)

Top Effective Marginal Rates under Proposed Health Care Surtax by State

Sorted by Combined Top Tax Rate in 2011

State

Avg. Local Rate

Top
State Rate (2011)

Top Federal Ordinary Rate

New
Surtax

Medicare
Tax

Combined
Top Rate

Rank

Ohio

1.82%

5.93%

39.6%

5.4%

2.9%

54.27%

13

To see rankings of other states, go to the Tax Foundation website.

Commentary

Taxing the rich to pay for free health care is an ploy of the rich and powerful to rob the non-rich of both their freedom and their income. Anyone familiar with Roman history will recognized the strategy. The Roman imperialists tax the nations of the world to pay for their big agendas. Caesar and the Roman Senate taxed the wealthy elites of the respective states. In turn, leaders like Herod increased local taxes on productive peasants. In order to pay, many had to borrow money. When misfortune rendered them unable to pay it back, their land was confiscated. Most were allowed to continue farming the same land as long as they gave Rome via Herod or some other member of the rich elite the required amount, usually over 50 percent.

What this means under the Democrats’ taxing scheme is this: we peasants will end up paying for the huge tax increases of the rich in inflationary costs for products and services. In fact, I recently listened to what Canadians and British people have experienced under universal health care. They have had to endure long waiting lists for care and large increases in overall cost for their health care.

In every respect, universal health care is much more costly than market based care. The highest price for socialist medicine is dying while waiting to receive the promised health care.

One woman with brain cancer was able to come to the Mayo Clinic in America to get the necessary cancer treatment. That is she is suing her government. Had she waited she certainly would have died.

Americans who love the right to life as well as true liberty does not need Democrats’ impoverishing programs or their deadly health care.

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Posted in health, news, Ohio, politics, taxes

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Greene County “pay-to-play” politics may have compromised national security

Posted on July 21, 2009 | 1 comment

by John Mitchell

Recently released documents indicate that the 2003 BRAC Initiative Agreement between Greene County Commissioners and the Dayton Development Coalition (DDC) may have inappropriately facilitated the release of information sensitive to national security. In an August 19, 2003 email from a Greentree Group consultant to the Dayton Development Coalition CEO, a request was made by the Greentree consultant that a lobbyists with PMA, a defunct Washington lobbying firm, intervene with Headquarters Air Force and the Office of the Secretary of Defense to “determine the plans and status for making a decision on (a sensitive program that could be characterized as Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI)). A later email indicates the PMA lobbyist followed through on that request. The simple truth is that Greentree, the Dayton Development Coalition and PMA do not have the authority to get involved with plans, programs and budgets related to sensitive intelligence matters unless they are under contract with a federal government agency to do so. To add insult to injury, this was all done within the framework of noncompetitively awarded contracts funded by Greene County and other Ohio taxpayers.

Since November 2007 this reporter has been seeking documents related to the 2003 Base Re-alignment and Closure (BRAC) Initiative Agreement. In fact, just last month the Greene County Common Pleas Court dismissed our public records request suit against Greene County elected officials to force them to provide those documents. Strangely enough, the Greene County Prosecutor, a defendant himself as well as legal counsel for past and present Greene County Commissioners named as defendants in the suit, ignored the court’s ruling and released at least 26 binders packed with BRAC Initiative Agreement documents. This is the legal equivalent of ENRON being acquitted of securities fraud, but then settling with plaintiffs after the fact without an appeal. This is strange behavior indeed, but completely consistent with career politicians taken to the edge of the abyss with no other option than to delay accountability until after the next election, in the meantime hoping to wear down the whistleblower. Fortunately for the citizens, the damaging evidence was in the second binder reviewed and not the 26th.

It’s important to note this isn’t just a sweetheart deal between Greene County Commissioners and the Dayton Development Coalition. Federal legislators including Dave Hobson and Steve Austria were deeply entangled in the “pay-to-play” shenanigans in Greene County that ran through Columbus and on to Washington, D.C. Hobson and Austria both had representatives on the DDC Wright Patt 2010 Committee that helped steer well over $100,000 in contributions to their campaigns from Coalition employees and directors, Greentree associates, and lobbyists formerly with PMA, which has disintegrated since last November when they were raided by the FBI for allegations of violating campaign finance laws.

It’s bad enough that fraud, waste, abuse and corruption place in jeopardy the economic future of our children and grandchildren, but when career politicians put their personal interests above national security, enough is enough. Kevin DeWine, State Chairman for the Ohio Republican Party, recently rolled out a 10-point plan to save the Ohio GOP, which includes, “Enforcing a zero-tolerance policy for misconduct.” It’s time to hold Kevin DeWine and the Ohio Republican Party to that commitment by demanding they rid the party of self-interested politicians and replace them with candidates who will uphold both the letter and spirit of the law, not to mention their sacred oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic.

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Posted in economy, Greene County, news, Ohio, politics

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Children’s Summer Theater Workshop and Play

Posted on July 19, 2009 | Leave a comment

Xenia Area Community Theater will present “Without Strings,” a childrens’ production. “Without Strings” is an adaptation of Carlo Collodi’s classic Pinocchio by Patrick Rainville Dorn.

Children’s Summer Theater Workshop

This isn’t Disney’s Pinocchio. Though with similar characters “Without Strings” finds a boy who becomes a puppet who becomes a boy. His journey encounters many crazy creatures. But his journey to understand the importance of telling the truth is a lesson for all.

The play is for children ages 8 to 14.

Classes and rehersals begin on August 10 and continue daily through August 14. A second series of classes and rehearsals start on August 17 and continue through August 20. All classes and rehearsals start at 10am and last until 3 pm. BYOL (Bring your own lunch)

Cathy Bengson and other X*ACT volunteers will host and teach.

Participating children will learn and work backstage and onstage. They will also learn the principles and practices of lighting, makeup, costuming, and stage props and scenery.

Performance date is August 21, 2009
On-site registration is August 10, 2009

Registration is free. Pre-registration forms are available at the theater located at 45 E. Second St., Xenia

Call Orion Monroe 372-0516 with questions. Parent volunteers are also welcome and appreciated.

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Spanking is now a criminal act according to the UN’s Convention on the Rights of the Child

Posted on July 18, 2009 | 2 comments

Parents spanking their own children for breaking the rules and for other harmful behaviors may soon become illegal. According to the Parental Rights organization, [t]he United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which was adopted by the UN in 1989. Since then, only two members nations, the United States and Somalia, have yet to ratify the treaty. This treaty is interpreted to mean parents’ corrective spanking of their children for bad behavior is a form of torture and abuse that must end. The result is that the Committee on the Rights of the Child – a panel of 18 UN “experts” gathered in Geneva, Switzerland – decided on their own that they should tell the entire world how to raise their kids. The CRC’s prohibition of spanking in the home will become the Supreme Law of the Land if Americans allow the U.S. Senate to ratify it. If ratified, spanking will be considered a criminal act. Every parent, who still practices the biblical injunction ‘to spare the rod spoils the child,” will become a criminal. Good parents will lose the freedom to raise their children as they deem best and they will loose their children. (Go to Parental Rights website to learn more.)

It is true other forms of punishment can be effective in correcting children’s bad behavior. Taking away the freedom to play, eat favorite foods, watch favorite programs, communicating with friends, using the car, and the like can be effective in enforcing the rules and moral laws. Those methods do not always work. And, the younger the child is the less likely they will be.

Spanking, in fact, produces more long-term benefits to both the child and society. Spanking is a form of punishment usually intended to teach children that bad behavior has painful consequences. People whose behavior lands them in prison know the meaning of painful consequences. Living in a society condoning bad behavior also results in painful consequences of at least two types. One is the result from doing wrongful behaviors. Bodily injuries, disease, guilt or shame, rejection or alienation, and the like are consequences of doing wrong in a permissive culture. Another is the reciprocation of others, which compounds the consequences. A recent example of this is the murder of the late term abortion practitioner George Tiller. The ultimate consequence of moral crimes (sin, unethical behavior, etc.), however, is death. Death is the separation of individuals from a mutually beneficial working relationship. A long healthy marriage exemplifies such relationships. Divorce is a form of death. Abortion often results in the death of unborn child and parent. Ultimately, as prison is hell on earth so is life after death for those whose moral crimes end in the eternal punishment biblical religion calls hell. Many a revived clinically dead patient have told practicing doctors about going beyond barred gates into a place the Bible calls hell.

I have heard men honor their fathers for what seemed at the time very cruel punishment. The benefits of those harsh spankings produced the fruit of self-discipline hat made it possible for them to achieve their goals and enjoy their lives. This simply means that the Biblical injunction is true: Withholding painful punishment for wrongs done spoils the child so he or she may never enjoy the benefits of a moral and productive life. It also supports the widely known problem with leaders of the UN and their legal conventions–moral corruption. Evil doing brats often grow up to be evil doing adults.

That is another reason why America does not need the secular left’s God and Christianity hating wisdom. Nor does America need them dictating to us about how to raise children, how to live, how to practice religion, or how to make and spend our money. As a matter of fact, America would be much better off without them attempting to spend all of our hard earned income on their global imperial agendas like universal health care, education, or economic development. They have ruined enough of the American culture and economy; we do not need them to destroy the family too.

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Congressman Steve Austria on Cap and Trade

Posted on July 15, 2009 | 1 comment

On June 26, the House of Representatives approved an unprecedented climate change bill, also referred to as “cap and trade”, by a vote of 219 to 212. While we all want clean air and policies that promote cleaner, more efficient energy sources, I voted against this bill due to my concerns surrounding the negative impact this legislation could have, particularly on the state of Ohio.

If enacted into law, this bill would have major implications for almost every sector of our nation’s economy. The bill places a “cap” on U.S. carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and ultimately amounts to a new energy tax on everything we consume from gasoline to electricity. As may you know, Ohio derives almost 90 percent of its energy production from coal, which will be heavily taxed under this proposal. This energy tax will be passed along to families and small businesses already struggling in the midst of the harsh economic climate. Anyone who turns on the lights and uses electricity, heats their homes with natural gas or puts gasoline in their car will see an increase in the cost of energy.

In addition, this bill will make U.S. businesses less competitive globally as they are forced to compete with businesses in countries, which do not have similar restrictions, such as China and India. Ohio’s economy relies heavily on manufacturing and this new tax could result in signficant job losses as businesses, which can not afford to meet the cap, will be forced to shut down or move operations overseas.

I was also disappointed with the process by which this legislation was considered. The bill was changed significantly at 3 a.m. the day of the vote, which I believe gave members insufficient time to read its 1,400 pages. Additionally, few amendments were permitted to be considered – amendments that may have improved the bill. In my view, when Congress is considering an issue as important as fundamentally changing out nation’s energy policy, we need to do it thoughtfully and correctly. I hope that when the Senate considers the bill, it is given the time and diligent attention it deserves.

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Posted in business, economy, Ohio, politics, taxes

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