CommenTerry

Spend Some Money and Then You'll Need to Spend Some Money

You can go for months without having to make any unexpected involuntary expenditures, but any time you decide to make a voluntary expenditure, an involuntary expenditure will quickly rear up. For example, as soon as you purchase a new car, your heat pump will break down and you will be forced to spend money on it. It's as if it's saying, "Hey, spend some money on me, too."

Prospective 2008 Presidential Candidate: Mitt Romney

Note: This is the sixth in a series of posts I plan to do on the prospective 2008 presidential candidates from both major parties.

Before being elected governor of Massachusetts in 2002, Mitt Romney headed up the Salt Lake City Olympic Organizing Committee earlier that same year. He had also made a run for the U.S. Senate against Ted Kennedy in 1994 and lost. However, he did so much better against Kennedy that most of his previous challengers had done, that his loss actually helped boost his political career. Since being elected governor, he has become one of the bright young stars of the Republican Party and surprisingly finished second in a recent straw poll of Republican insiders. However, his Mormon faith could hurt him with religious fundamentalists in the GOP primaries. Many of them feel that Mormonism is a cult.

His father, the late George Romney, served as governor of Michigan and sought the Republican presidential nomination in 1968 but lost to Richard Nixon. His father's remarks made during the nominating process about having been "brainwashed" about Viet Nam ultimately cost him the nomination. Should Mitt Romney decide to run, he will want to avoid that kind of blunder.

Prospective 2008 Presidential Candidate: Hillary Clinton

Note: This is the fifth in a series of posts I plan to do on the prospective 2008 presidential candidates from both major parties.

New York Senator and former First Lady Hillary Clinton would seem to have the inside track to the Democratic nomination for 2008. However, she could be seen as a far too polarizing figure whose candidacy in the general election could bring out the evangelicals in droves for the Republicans as Kerry's did this year. She will probably have to moderate a bit over the next two years in order to prove that she could win a general election. If she can't do this, the Democrats may seek a candidate with broader appeal. Right now, though, the nomination appears to be hers to lose.

Prospective 2008 Presidential Candidate: John McCain

Note: This is the fourth in a series of posts I plan to do on the prospective 2008 presidential candidates from both major parties.

Arizona Senator John McCain is probably in the best position to capture the GOP nomination, should he decide to run. He was beaten by George W. Bush in the 2000 primaries, but he has since been one of the President's most loyal supporters, despite some differences of opinion. In addition, he has apparently moved to right on some of his positions to make himself more palatable to GOP primary voters. McCain continues to be of the most popular politicians in the U.S., winning re-election to his Senate seat in 2004 with more than 70% of the vote! Unlike the Democrats, the Republicans have a history of sometimes awarding their nomination to someone who has waited his "turn." A case in point is Bob Dole, who was rejected in his bids for the nomination in 1980 and 1988, only to finally get it in 1996. The only remaining question about McCain is: Will he actually run? Don't be surprised if he abruptly decides to stay on the sidelines. In almost every presidential election cycle, at least one major candidate who is expected to run decides to sit it out. See Al Gore in 2004.

Random Rants #51

Knowing some people are rooting against you is almost as much motivation for success as knowing some people are rooting for you.       

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More and more, I hear people say that, although they are Christians, they don't have time for organized religion. That's sounds crazy to me. It's like saying you are a baseball fan even though you never watch or attend any of the games!

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The other night, several tornadoes touched down in counties near where I live. In one county, they had a tornado that was particularly destructive - it not not only touched down, but also kicked the extra point!

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I once had a college government professor who had a bad habit of spitting when he pronounced words that began with the letter "c". No one wanted to sit on the first or second rows when he was lecturing on civil rights and civil liberties! 

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No matter what kind of problem I have, someone almost always has an solution for it. However, it's usually not an solution I'm looking for!

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The main differences between childhood and adulthood is that adults have to make decisions and provisions.

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The performance of any investment method will always be much better during "back testing" or "paper trading" than during actual practice.

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Just before most labor disputes are settled, both sides will declare that they've reached an impasse in negotiations and that they seem to have irreconcilable differences.

Prospective 2008 Presidential Candidate: Russ Feingold

Note: This is the third in a series of posts I plan to do on the prospective 2008 presidential candidates from both major parties.

Russ Feingold is in his third term as a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin after serving three terms in the Wisconsin State Senate. He is considered by many to be one of the few moderate Democrats in the U.S. Senate. Some would even call him a maverick. Feingold is a staunch foe of party "soft money" and is best known for co-sponsoring (along with Arizona Republican John McCain) the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, along referred to as the McCain-Feingold Bill. He has been an outspoken opponent of the Iraq War. In recent Supreme Court confirmation votes, he voted in favor of Judge John Roberts, but against Judge Samuel Alito. Feingold's best shot at capturing the nomination would be if Democrats decide that they want a candidate who is (1) clearly against the War in Iraq and is (2) closer to the center of the political spectrum than Hillary Clinton. Feingold offers them both. It would be quite ironic if he is the Democratic nominee in 2008 and McCain is the Republican nominee. We already have the McCain-Feingold Bill - then we would have the McCain-Feingold election.

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Prospective 2008 Presidential Candidate: George Allen

Note: This is the second in a series of posts I plan to do on the prospective 2008 presidential candidates from both major parties.

George Allen is a rising star within the Republican Party. A former state delegate and son of the late Washington Redskins coach of the same name, he was elected to Congress in 1990. However, his district was redrawn by the Democrat-controlled (at that time) state legislature and he ended up in the same district as another, more established Republican congressman, Tom Bliley, by the end of his first term. He decided not to seek re-election in 1992 and was elected governor of Virginia in 1993 and then elected to the U.S. Senate in 2000. He headed up the GOP's Senate Election committee for 2004. The extra seats that the Republicans picked up in the Senate during that election cycle will be a feather in his cap. He is running for re-election to the Senate this year and is not facing a very strong challenge. He has strong conservative credentials but is relatively unknown nationally. Recently, he has been leading all other prospective 2008 GOP presidential candidates in polls taken of party insiders. However, it remains to be seen how he will do with with the party's rank and file come primary season.

Prospective 2008 Presidential Candidate: Evan Bayh

Note: This is the first in a series of posts I plan to do on the prospective 2008 presidential candidates from both major parties.

Many Democrats may see Indiana Senator Evan Bayh as just the candidate they need in the wake of John Kerry's 2004 loss. He is a strong Democrat from a solidly "red" state, i.e., he was overwhelmingly elected to a second term as senator even as George W. Bush overwhelmingly carried his state in the presidential election (as all Republican candidates have in recent presidential elections). Bayh had previously served two terms as governor of Indiana. He is one of the leaders of the moderate Democrat movement. His father, Birch Bayh, was also a U.S. Senator and ran in the Democratic primaries for president in 1976, but was defeated by Jimmy Carter. Bayh is my dark horse pick to take the nomination. The only negative about him is that he seems to have a smirk on his face all the time and looks like he belongs on a TV show like Saturday Night Live!

Having a Good Day? So What?

I don't gain any extra confidence just because a given day happens to be going well. Many of the worst things that have ever happened to me occurred on days that had been going well. Also, consider this: half of all sudden deaths throughout history victimized people were having a good day up to that point.

Fascism in the U.S.? Sad But True

In our headlong rush to protect our national security as well as our children, we are leaving our common sense, and consequently, more of our precious freedom behind. By taking away more and more of its citizens' freedom, is the U.S. on a slippery slope toward fascism? You be the judge. Witness just two brief examples of things currently going on in our country.

On the national security front, it has been revealed that President Bush has been authorizing (and continues to authorize) spying on U.S. citizens without court orders. Now, he claims Congress gave him this authority and it did, but only for a short while after 9/11. He claims this is necessary to protect us from future terrorist attacks and that he will be careful to use it only for that purpose. However, he has never once guaranteed us that the information collected on people via this type of spying won't also be used for purposes other than national security. For example, it might be used as evidence in criminal cases that have nothing to do with national security. It might also be used to embarrass political enemies of the President. Is that something we really want? 

On the child protection front, federal child pornography laws have now been expanded to ridiculous levels. People can now be sentenced to hundreds of years in jail for producing, possessing, reading, watching, and/or listening to material that involves no real children. That's right, fantasy stories and cartoons depicting acts of child sexual acts can get you sent to the clinker for 200 or more years. All of us want to protect children and I say we should aggressively prosecute those who actually hard them. But how in the heck can laws like this be in line with our long held principle of making the punishment commensurate with the crime?  Besides, if the government can put people away for life for reading fantasy stories and cartoons, is there any limit to what the government can do to anyone for anything? Think about it.