POPE JOHN PAUL II

I'm not Catholic, though I was raised as an Episcopalian.  That, I suppose, is about as close as you get in this country.  One thing, though, has  become clear through this past weekend, and that is the deep and sincere feeling of loss that Catholics around the world feel at the passing of Pope John Paul II.  We offer to devout Catholics everywhere our condolences. 

NOW -- ORGANIZED OPPOSITION TO THE FAIRTAX

As little as two years ago there was virtually no organized opposition to The FairTax.  That is not true today.  As we finish the book promoting The FairTax we are adding a chapter on rising opposition to the idea of a national retail sales tax from a few groups, one of which is the National Retail Federation.  Now ... get this.  The NRF is opposed to The FairTax because they're afraid that once poor people are relieved of the responsibility for paying payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare -- and once poor people start getting 100% of their paychecks -- they may start saving money.  That's right, the opposition is centered on a fear that people will actually start saving money. 

Craig Shearman is the Vice President for Government Relations for the National Retail Federation.  Apparently he's worried.  Shearman recently said:  "A year ago this was an idea being touted by one obscure congressman from Georgia.  Six months ago, it was an idea being touted by the majority leader of the House. Now, it's an idea that is being talked about by the president of the United States."

Oh!  The Humanity!

For years economists have been warning us of the dangers inherent in a low savings rate among Americans, and now the NRF is here to tell us that saving some of your money, instead of spending it all, is a bad thing.

The book is almost finished and we anticipate sending it to the publisher one week from today!

THE POPE AND TERRI SCHIAVO

Part of the story about the Pope's final days goes that John Paul II was offered the chance to go back to the hospital in Rome in order to prolong his life, but instead he chose not to.  According to an official spokesman, the Pope was "informed of the gravity of his situation" and decided to remain in his apartment overlooking St. Peter's Square."  In other words, John Paul II chose to not to have his life prolonged by artificial means, but instead to stay home and let nature take its course.

So since his passing over the weekend, there have been a few stories circulating noting the parallels between his illness and Terri Schiavo's (the coverage of which has been mercifully knocked off the front page.)  The Pope was attached to a feeding tube....Terri Schiavo had a feeding tube.  The feeding tube wasn't enough to keep Pope John Paul II alive, in Terri's case it was enough to at least keep her body going.  The Pope said no.  Will we hear a peep out of the abortocentrist crowd about the Pope's decision to die with dignity?

Probably not.  After all, it doesn't fit their agenda.

SOCIAL SECURITY FEAR MONGERING

More evidence today that private Social Security accounts are dead.  Now those who would benefit the most from private, personal accounts are turning against the very idea.  The leftist group "Rock The Vote" has joined hands with AARP to defeat President Bush's Social Security proposal.

They are attempting to make the ridiculous case that somehow the idea of private accounts does not benefit young people.  According to the political director of Rock The Vote: "To us, it's totally black and white.  This is the first generation ever that would be asked to pay for their own retirement and Social Security at the same time. This is what private accounts do. They saddle young people with an unfair burden." 

Go ahead.  I know you'll want to read that again and again to see if the comment makes any sense at all.  After you've read it a few times you'll see that it doesn't.

Somehow this "Rock the Vote" myrmidon thinks that as long as the money is being taken from your paycheck and thrown into the federal government's general fund you're not paying for your own Social Security.  But .. if you're allowed to invest that money --- money that still comes from the same source, your paycheck --- then you are paying for your own Social Security.

This position is pure idiocy.  There is only one reason this Rock The Vote idiot can make such a stupid utterance -- because he's talking to young people who have been "educated," if that is the word, in our fabulous government schools.  Come on, let's face it.  You really have to be profoundly ignorant to listen to a statement like that and not run away screaming.  Come on, allowing someone to put their own money into a private account with their name on it is saddling them with an "unfair burden?" 

Diverting part of the Social Security payroll taxes into a private account that the government can't touch is the only way to ensure that the younger generation will have any money at retirement.  As it stands now, all of the money being paid into the system by those of working age is being spent on older retirees.  There is no money being saved, there is no retirement.  There's no special account with their name on it, there is no lockbox.  30 or 40 years down the road, there is unlikely to be anything remotely resembling the Social Security of today waiting for those that retire.

Those opposed to private accounts also can't do simple math.  Even at the average return of the stock market, they would receive exponentially more money at retirement than they would through the Social Security system.  It's too bad private accounts are dead.

RED INK TOO STRESSFUL

Teachers have been grading papers with red ink since red ink was invented.  Red is a warning.  Red ink on a student's paper is a warning that someone is not doing their work and learning their material.  Students turn in their work, it's graded and returned with corrections marked on it and a grade at the top.  If you do well, you might get an A.  If you fail, you get an F.  That's how it usually has worked over the years.

Parents of kids at the Daniels Farm Elementary School in Trumbull, Connecticut are complaining that the red ink being used to grade papers is "too stressful."  They call it a symbol of negativity.  So the school, spineless as ever, has stopped using red ink.  They're using other colors.  The principal, Joseph Foriska, has instructed the teachers to write with more "pleasant-feeling tones."  As you would expect, this is a government school.

How on Earth are we preparing our kids for the real world when we're worried about their (and their parents') self-esteem over the color of ink used to grade their papers?  We're turning out another generation of ignorant candy asses who will be completely unable to discern the difference between a private investment account and one controlled by the government. 

I ask you to consider the chances our nation has to survive in freedom and liberty so long as we depend on the government to educate our children.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

President Bush is expected to be the first U.S. President to attend a Papal funeral.  Expect the media in this country and around the world to start to criticize Bush's attendance and give us reasons why he shouldn't go.

The Minuteman project down along the Arizona-Mexico border has snared its first round of illegal aliens.  Perhaps this will persuade the Bush administration to do something about illegal immigration...or not.

A bill has been vetoed in Arizona to require voters to show a picture ID at the polls before voting.  The governor is opposed....naturally, she's a Democrat.  Which political party benefits the most from fraud?   Now you know why she vetoed the bill.

CNN is running a ridiculous poll that claims that to represent all U.S. Catholics....but if you read a little further into the story, you'll find they questioned only 254 people.

In sharp contrast to his stance during the Vietnam war, John Kerry is praising the Pope for his anti-communism.  Apparently The Poodle thinks it was OK for the Pope to be against communism, but not OK for the United States to actually fight it.

One of the investigators in the Oil-For-Food investigation says they did not exonerate Kofi Annan, despite his claims to the contrary.  Jack Kelly says Kofi can't escape blame so easily.

Pope John Paul II's return to Poland as the Pope in 1979 pierced the iron curtain and set the stage for the fall of communism 10 years later.  William Kristol looks at the life and times of the first non-Italian Pope in 455 years.

Professor Mike Adams attempts to write a column about Ward Churchill, but says there's really nothing special about the University of Colorado professor.  He says there are many professors throughout academia that are just like him.

Is Mahmoud Abbas the Palestinian peacemaker whose motivations are pure that we keep hearing about?  Joel Mowbray says no way, and presents the real Mahmoud Abbas, which looks a bit like Yasser Arafat.  Oh well.

George Will eulogizes Pope John Paul II, and says a great man has passed.  He says along with Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, the Pope aided in the collapse of communism around the world.

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Here's the New Florida Living Will that Neal read on the air.

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