STATE OF THE UNION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Foxfyre, I think your concept of starting tort reform at the state level is not only logical but practical too. We are already witnessing migrations like you suggest from income tax states to non-income tax states. Yes, why not add tort reform as an additional incentive?

Seriously, though I know Ican and Okie were both speculating tongue in cheek, Tico has already pointed out how it is very difficult to hold the U.S. government responsible for either negligance or incompetence which is a good thing since every American could be sueing the govenrment every day.

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The problem comes when products and services cross state lines. Here the Feds would have to be involved.

But maybe even reforms at the state level would create so much more friendly business environment, create jobs, raise the standard of living, etc. that the concept would become infectious.

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Guess who blocks needed tort reform? You guessed it. Democrats. Too many in the legal profession that control them. Another little tidbit. Such lawyers opposing tort reform are also use people otherwise known as "LOBBYISTS." I wonder how many dollars are involved behind the scenes to congressmen, etc. from such lobbyists? Just wondering.

"... if you fail to pass appropriations bills by the start of the fiscal year -- which is your job, which is what you are paid to do -- your paycheck will be held until you complete your job -- period."

--Senator George Allen --

You read that right! Senator George Allen wants to send a simple message to Congress -- DO YOUR JOB OR FORFEIT YOUR PAY!

Senator Allen just proposed a bill (S. 2262) which calls for the withholding of congressional paychecks if Congressmen and Senators fail to pass all appropriations bills by October 1.

This bill is part of a three-pronged attack to reign in pork barrel spending that also includes:

the passage of a balanced budget amendment

and giving the President a line-item veto


As Senator Allen put it, "It's absurd that full-time legislators can't get their job done on-time, by October 1 -- then several months later -- all kinds of unknown, unchecked spending occurs. They pass it in the dead of night, thinking nobody will notice what's in these appropriations bills."

Allen also said: "What my measure will do is say very clearly, if you fail to pass appropriations bills by the start of the fiscal year -- which is your job, which is what you are paid to do -- your paycheck will be held until you complete your job -- period."

Allen put his money where his mouth was: At the end of last week he introduced the "Pay Check Penalty" (S. 2262) in the U.S. Senate.

Allen said of his colleagues:

"I know this proposal will not be popular in the halls of Congress, but it will be much-appreciated and understood by real people in the real world. It provides powerful incentives for Senators and Congressmen to perform their jobs on time, with discipline, just like people in the private sector."

Let's give this good man all the help we can.

At last, someone on Capitol Hill remembers what the Republican Party has been saying for decades. It's time to stop stealing hard-earned money from the American people.

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I don't know about you guys, but if this guy is for real, then I think he's the next President of the United States.

I know very little. I've heard him interviewed on Hannity and sounds like a reasonable, balanced thinker. I believe he is the son of the famous coach, was it George Allen?

Your list sounds too reasonable. How about how much can the candidate promise to as many people as possible? I hate to be cynical, but that is probably how half the population will base their vote.

The Example of Our First President
by Edward Hudgins

[This commentary is from The Objectivist Center/Atlas Society archives, dated February 26, 2004. It originally appeared in The Washington Times.]

George Washington unfortunately has become a cliché. For an older generation, he was too often treated as such a mythic figure that it was difficult to appreciate his true importance. In today’s politically correct society many treat him as a white, male oppressor. Most of us celebrate his birthday by shopping the sales at the mall. This is not a bad use of our time, but it is appropriate to take a moment to reflect on the real greatness of the real Washington and the moral lessons he taught us.

Washington exemplified the spirit of early America. He was in his heart and for most of his life a farmer and an innovator who developed new crops and agricultural techniques. He valued the production of wealth as a worthy goal in life. But he also understood that the freedom to produce often must be fought for.

Washington was the general who won America’s independence from Britain, then one of the world’s strongest powers. It was an incredible feat. In 1777, when he marched his 12,000 ragtag volunteers to winter camp at Valley Forge, their prospects were as bleak as the bitter weather. Some 2,000 men died from the brutal cold and from sickness. But the volunteers persevered in large part because of Washington, who forged them into a formidable army. He was no great orator but he had the inspiring words of Thomas Paine read to his frozen troops: “These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.” This certainly is an appropriate epitaph for Washington and the Continental Army soldiers who ensured the survival of the United States.

Washington’s achievements reflected his outstanding moral character. He set for himself the highest standards in everything he did and thus became exemplar for his associates and his fellow countrymen. Indeed, when he presided over the Constitutional Convention, he spoke little. It was his example—the fact that the other delegates were in the presence of Washington—that kept those delegates on their best behavior and inspired them to look to the good of the country.

But Washington was not some ever-frowning moralist; he enjoyed life, whether at a dance or dinner party or just riding through his beloved Mt. Vernon estate.

Washington hardly considered himself a philosopher like his friend Thomas Jefferson. But he lived his philosophy. For example, he was born into a slave society but his experiences in life led him appreciate the evils of that institution. He freed his slaves at his death. [Added note: He also provided for their upkeep, education or training for trades after they were freed.]

Perhaps Washington’s most important legacy was his attitude towards political power. After his victory over Britain some suggested that he be made king of the new America. He adamantly refused. He wanted to return to his farm. In this he followed the example of the retired Roman Senator Cincinnatus who was called away from his farm by a Senate that gave him absolute power to defeat an invading army. As general, Cincinnatus accomplished his goal in a matter of weeks and then, with total power, the esteem of his people and an army in his hands, gave up his position and returned to his plough. Sculptor Jean Antoine Houdon’s statue in the Virginia state house, the only one Washington every posed for, depicts him as a general setting aside his sword and returning to civilian life.

Illustrative of his deep integrity, Washington resigned from the Cincinnati Society, an organization for Revolutionary War veterans, because he feared it would create in the new nation a hereditary class of nobles. Washington believed that individuals should be honored for their own achievements, not for the achievements of their ancestors.

Washington, our first president, set the example for future presidents by limiting himself to two terms in office. He is reputed to have said, "Government is not reason, it is not eloquence—it is force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearsome master." This is an understanding that too many American citizens and politicians have lost.

George Washington indeed should be honored by all Americans today as he was by Henry Lee who wrote at the time of Washington’s passing that he was “First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.”

The Objectivist Center

They left out that he married into wealth.

born Feb. 22, 1732, Westmoreland county, Va.
died Dec. 14, 1799, Mount Vernon, Va., U.S.


American Revolutionary commander-in-chief (1775–83) and first president of the U.S. (1789–97).

Born into a wealthy family, he was educated privately. In 1752 he inherited his brother's estate at Mount Vernon, including 18 slaves; their ranks grew to 49 by 1760, though he disapproved of slavery. In the French and Indian War he was commissioned a colonel and sent to the Ohio Territory. After Edward Braddock was killed, Washington became commander of all Virginia forces, entrusted with defending the western frontier (1755–58). He resigned to manage his estate and in 1759 married Martha Dandridge Custis (1731–1802), a widow. He served in the House of Burgesses (1759–74), where he supported the colonists' cause, and later in the Continental Congress (1774–75). In 1775 he was elected to command the Continental Army. In the ensuing American Revolution, he proved a brilliant commander and a stalwart leader, despite several defeats. With the war effectively ended by the capture of Yorktown (1781), he resigned his commission and returned to Mount Vernon (1783). He was a delegate to and presiding officer of the Constitutional Convention (1787) and helped secure ratification of the Constitution in Virginia. When the state electors met to select the first president (1789), Washington was the unanimous choice. He formed a cabinet to balance sectional and political differences but was committed to a strong central government. Elected to a second term, he followed a middle course between the political factions that later became the Federalist Party and the Democratic Party. He proclaimed a policy of neutrality in the war between Britain and France (1793) and sent troops to suppress the Whiskey Rebellion (1794). He declined to serve a third term (thereby setting a 144-year precedent) and retired in 1797 after delivering his “Farewell Address.” Known as the “father of his country,” he is universally regarded as one of the greatest figures in U.S. history.

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The bottom line is that we need to get back to the discussion of whether it is more compassionate to take from the rich to give to the poor (the liberal view) or whether it is more compassionate to enable the poor to become rich (the conservative view.)