First let me say this, I grew up in Texas and my family has been in the oil business for 3 generations. I bleed light sweet Texas crude. The USN brought me to California. Of considerable note, when you marry a girl who is 4th generation Californian, you are not moving back to Texas. Now with the darlings we have established roots. Not really going anywhere for a while but that doesn't mean I have to give up everything!
Of note as well, I am an economist by training. The very fascinating world of economics boils down to two things; pain and pleasure. To put it another way; insentive or disinsentive. But for crying out loud, California is facing yet another $10B shortfall and we haven't even moved 2 full months of an 85 day late budget to close up the previous $17B shortfall. And the irony here; Californians have successfully passed Prop 2. Given the general consensious of putting 2 people in a room and you get 2 different ideas Prop 2 people on both sides lined up supporters and opponents. And I say yeah, so what. My egg producing chicken doesn't really need all of this fanfare to do its job; does it? These chicken are not produced to become egg layers and then fryers, they are produced for their ability to lay eggs. And when they reach the end of their useful life, their services are no longer needed.
So now Title 20 of the California Health and Safety Code is regulating the fact that egg laying chickens must be able to stand up and flap their wings. My question is this, "At what cost to the tax payers?" My Republican friends in the California Assembly and Senate understand that to raise taxes means all other services have been cut to the bone and nothing else is left BUT to raise taxes. I don't think so.
To get a proposition onto a statewide ballot, 500,000 people have to sign a petition that says they will at least understand what it means to vote for the proposition. So somebody had to have heard a complaint by a chicken to take up their cause. Chickens have no opposable thumbs and speech recognition to humans to canvas for supportive petition signers. Or did some body transpose their feelings onto what they think the chicken must be feeling? In that breath am I wrong just to assume those people are stupid? That the 500,000 petition signers are also stupid. Should we provide working hours and additional comforts to the chickens and let them organize into collective bargaining? Get real, this is nothing more than another example of wasteful beauracracy.
So now we have a junior senator from Illinois going to be the 44th President of the United States. Should I did out the clips where the democratic party itself says BO is not qualified and does not understand issues from a global perspective. Granted he only has one house; purchased from a man who is going to jail for being a crook, but there is no way he is going to do what he said he was going to do on the campaign trail. His voting record in Congress does not support the fact the he has a global comprehension of the issues at hand. Did W have the same comprehention, that is questionable. Were there other people more qualified? Yes and No. Did BO sell the American public on hope? Yep, he sure did. He said it was time for change. I believe it is time for a change as well but do I believe he is the person to lead that change. No.
Live and let live. American home of the free because of the brave!
