Is there a difference between the Ten Commandments symbolically displayed within the Supreme Court from an imposing monument outside its building? The answer is actually no, except that the founding fathers did not include such a monument in the architectural plans for the District of Columbia. Given that the early Americans, fresh from colonist existence, were wary of papal and puritanic laws filtering down into politics and favored a low profile of religion in politics is nonetheless no...

1. Amend Social Security by increasing the payroll tax incrementally at a rate of .001% for ten years and gradually increase the cap by $25,000 each year until a cap of $350,000 is reached and giving those above a $150,000 cap the option to invest one half the tax in personal accounts. 2. Put more pressure on NATO to speed up training Iraqis and Afghans for their countries’ defense. 3. Set up a minimum wage with the same annual automatic cost of living index as in social security. ...

Flying in the face of a bipartisan panel of legislatures from many states expressing harsh criticism of NCLB, Jeb Bush displays unabashed nepotism by following his brother’s Texas initiative. In lieu of facing up to the challenge of “failing” schools by lobbying for the tried and true formula of Title I, the program that was designed to assist schools in dire need, the governor, tail between his legs, scampers off with the solution of private school vouchers that have in no stretch of the imagi...

It would seem reasonable to solve social service problems in the order of urgency: Medicare is a far larger financial challenge than social security. The point of social security is to guarantee each generation minimal subsistence for the disabled, orphans and old age, not to diminish such guarantee. Those who wish to have a lifestyle in retirement comparable to what they have been accustomed, it is only reasonable to begin a savings or investment plan for the long haul. For those b...

The Thrift Savings Plan, choices of several stock and bond funds available to all federal employees, is heralded as comparable to Bush’s privatization plan in which yields are greater than the returns on Social Security. Advocates omit that these contributions are after payroll tax. The Thrift Plan is nothing more than an ordinary tax shelter for those who can afford it. On the other hand, the Bush plan lends 4% of the payroll tax to those who opt for it and at retirement anything above t...

All you ever hear nowadays is the excessive costs of supporting our senior citizens without ever mentioning how much they support us. Social security and early retirement totaling over $33 billion buttresses Florida’s economy — nationally, about a half a trillion — and virtually all disposable. The $40 billion impact on the health care sector in Florida alone is largely due to retirees, contributing immensely to hiring of health related employees, not otherwise possible, let alone the more affl...

The dominant Al Sistani power group list will not lead to radical fundamentalism as in Iran, despite both have in common democratic elections. For centuries the Shi’ites have been a minority splinter group in the Muslim world, ironically because the Sunnis were more adaptable to historical trends, willing to bend to limited modernity, though painfully slow, provided it did not seriously conflict with Islamic law. However, Sunni has its own radical fundamentalists such as Zarqawi and bin Laden w...

What’s bogus about private accounts tied into social security is that they are not really private, nor are they pure savings but speculation by virtue of the government loaning you, say, 4% of your wages that you would normally pay into the security system. The principal still belongs to the government and must be paid back. If the total return on your account does not exceed what the lien is you have struck out and right back where you started as though you had stuck with the traditional ret...

  Explain How Conservatives and Liberals would answer the following: 1> Is it fair that the office cleaner to get to work uses the same value subway token as a middle manager? 2> Should earned income credit be abolished in favor of a tax table set at 1% of taxable income for the first $5,000 and 2% up to $10,000, and 3% up to whatever the poverty line is? Keep in mind that taxable income accounts for the number of dependents. The point is that everyone should pay taxes r...

The way we have been bludgeoning Iran with our big stick while Europe wands the carrot, I can’t help but wonder if we have forgotten North Korea, and just how the administration measures the degree of evil. Could it be that it is nervous that Sistani might team up with Iran’s Ayatollahs?

There is little doubt that school “uniforms” portray a school in good order. Students think twice about having a scuffle in the school yard in such treasured threads. In class, since there are no fashionable surprises or distractions, they might very well be more attentive, though perhaps uncomfortable, at least until accustomed to the apparel. Still, dress does not make a better student and unless the school itself aims for scholastic excellence, the student will not wear the uniform p...

Whatever happened to zero budgeting? Shouldn’t there be $2.7 trillion in revenue to match the budget? Of course in the past there was the massive surplus of social security to bail out the shortfall; now there are Saudi Arabia, China and Japan are more recent Santa and elves. Had social security not been the bank for extended expenditures, the fear would be that the account would sit in a bank account gathering meager interest, whereas treasury bonds would yield twofold. In the early days had...

King George II and his Court are again revving up the fear of WMD by filling the media with nonsense and fear mongering in reverse: those over 55 have nothing to worry about because ironically the social security system is as solid as a rock; however, those under the age had better prepare for shock and awe unless they turn to Wall Street gurus for salvation. The Court accuses the Democrats of scare tactics directed at seniors while the Democrats charge the nobles with the same toward the you...

May I be so bold as to suggest the following? Unless we intend to nuke the Middle East, we must end the dream of democratizing the Arab/Muslim world by force. Aside from the glaring fact that we cannot afford to continue wasting our human and material treasures, the tribal and nationalist obstinacy of other countries resents our meddling and, as in Iraq, only lead to insurgency and radical terrorism — a tragic price to pay. In lieu of this, the president should offer a Marshall Plan with stri...

The no vote against Condoleezza Rice was not so much to protest her appointment as it was to signal disappointment in Bush’s unprecedented habit of rewarding unabashed loyalty; particularly when it was clear that Colin Powell was the president’s worst nightmare. Perhaps now that she has a “real” position, rather than advisory, she may prove to be a feisty independent woman. Copyright © 2005 Richard R. Kennedy All rights reserved. Revised: February 3, 2005. http://stevendedalus.joeuser.c...