‘Thoughts on America’ Category

  1. Where There Is Love

    December 21, 2013 by myeye

    I am so proud of my State.  New Mexico never passed a ban on gay marriage.  The language in our statutes was gender neutral.  A few months ago, a County Clerk in Dona Ana County began issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples because, in his opinion, there was no effective bar to such unions.  A few other clerks followed suit.  Then they all got together and the County Clerks filed a suit directly to the New Mexico Supreme Court asking the Court to clarify for everyone whether the gender-neutral language of the New Mexico Statute permitted them to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples.  Many, many organizations jumped in to write briefs pro and con.  There was extensive oral argument.

    On Thursday, December 19th, our Court ruled that marriage is a union between two human beings to the exclusion of all others.  The sexes of the pair were irrelevant to the legality of the marriage.  It was a fairness ruling, it was an equal protection ruling, it was the right thing to do.

    Yesterday, a Federal Judge in Utah overturned Utah’s ban on same-sex marriage, and on the same grounds.

    At a time when our country is so divided, when there is such blatant hatred of others, these two rulings are beacons.  These were rulings that uphold love and commitment, in the face of prejudice.  Justice should never be subject to popular vote or to public opinion.  I am so happy that anyone who loves another may join him/her in marriage until death do them part.

    Where there is love, there is still hope.

    Category Thoughts on America | Tags: | 5 Comments

  2. We All Won If . . .

    November 7, 2012 by myeye

    I am so happy to welcome the Obama family back to the White House for a second term.  I believe the President is a genuinely good person.  It will all be for naught though if we cannot find a way to reignite Statesmanship in the Congress.  All the sitting individuals must begin looking for ways to move the country forward as a group.  Our tax code needs major revisions, we must stop subsidizing companies that have made their largest ever corporate profits at the expense of the working poor, we must simplify access to the government at the same time we establish safeguards within social programs.  We must take care of our military both during and after their service.  Businesses must find a healthy climate to build and service within the United States.

    So, I’m asking for a great deal — but Christmas draws near.

    Category Musing, Thoughts on America | Tags: | 4 Comments

  3. Debating?

    October 4, 2012 by myeye

    Last night I watched the first presidential debate. One candidate was bombastic and overbearing, the other was polite, natural, and self-effacing. It was difficult to follow what was said because of how it was said. So, in case you really want to know who is promising what to the American people, you might want to read the transcript which is here.  One candidate was long on promises and short on specifics — as it has been for the past six months.  That candidate repeated lies that he has so often spoken that he probably believes them to be true.

    I’m not running for anything so I can criticize and make demands.  I can promise things that cannot be delivered.  THIS is what I want our Congress and the President to accomplish during the next term.

    I want to end the subsidies for the oil companies.  During the past few years of record gas prices, oil companies have set all time profit records — that was at my expense.  It’s doubly at my expense because I pay taxes — some of which goes to the subsidies, and I buy gasoline with after-tax dollars — that goes to the oil companies.

    I want the tax code to no longer take up two shelves in my bookcase.  Let’s eliminate all the deductions except mortgage interest on one home and $2000 per child up to a maximum of $8000.  Let’s set a flat tax rate of 25% on every penny over those deductions.  There should be no tax on unemployment compensation, workers compensation, social security, and pensions withdrawn after age 65.

    Corporations will no longer be persons.  However, they would be subject to the same 25% tax rate as people are.  Their deductions would only be expenditures that increase the probability that people in America will have more jobs available or that meet energy or environmental goals.

    Political PACs get to pay taxes at the same rate as regular people and corporations, and their contributors are not entitled to be anonymous.

    Political contributions (like $50,000 a plate dinners) shall be taxed at 25% — someone’s got to pay for all the security and expense that political campaigns engender.

    The programs for which workers pay — like Medicare and Social Security shall continue and Congress will be prohibited from borrowing from those funds.

    Transportation, clean air and water, child welfare, and health shall continue to be the responsibility of the Federal Government in concert with the States.

    The Postal Service will no longer be required to give Congress a $3 billion dollars a year contribution.

    I’ll bet there are hundreds of other wasteful and/or punitive measures that can be eliminated or revamped if someone was so inclined.  I’d say Congress and the President will be very very pleased that I am not in charge.  Yet.

     

    Category Musing, Politics, Thoughts on America | Tags: | 3 Comments

  4. Nothing More To Say

    September 19, 2012 by myeye

    Category Thoughts on America | Tags: | 4 Comments

  5. Nonetheless, It Is Our Country

    July 4, 2011 by myeye

    I grow weary of the almost-armed conflict among factions within the United States, I am amazed by people’s failure to accept responsibility for their own actions, I am disheartened by the lack of tolerance exhibited by so many of our citizens.  Nonetheless it is my country and here I am afforded opportunity that I would not have anywhere else, here I am free to believe as I wish and to publicly bemoan those things that I find abhorrent.  Here I am free to change — myself, the laws, the trends.  Happy Birthday America . . . and many more.

    This is the flag that waves outside of  the Federal Courthouse in Albuquerque.  I still want to believe that Justice prevails in that building.

    Category Musing, Thoughts on America | Tags: | 3 Comments

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