Random Thoughts: school lunches, EITC, election mandate

*** I hear liberals and many elected Democrats talk about 'fairness' all the time - usually in the context of "rich people" or "evil corporations" not paying their 'fair share' of taxes. But I never hear them talking about how UNfair it is for people who don't pay any taxes at all to get refunds.

Through the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which politicians have publicly pushed in the past, people with lower incomes complete their tax forms, report how much they've paid in taxes and often owe no more or might get some back. But many individuals, because of the EITC, get back more than they paid in.

For instance, a low-income family might actually owe $0 in taxes after completing their tax forms. But a single parent-two child family earning around $12,000 could still get around a refund of about $5,000, according to the Piton Foundation which has been 'helping' working families get their credits for about 20 years.

Also according to Piton, that family could get $1,000 per child for the Child Tax Credit, even if they owe no income tax.

So how, exactly, is it "fair" to just give people money ... because that's what this is - a blatant, outright payment to certain people. This is not money they've paid and they're getting a portion back. In fact, since the government doesn't have anything it hasn't taken from someone else, this is money other people have paid that is then 're-distributed' to people who didn't pay anything.

How can people who advocate 'fairness' ever support such a direct taking from one to give to another? If anyone can explain this to me, I'd appreciate it.

***Too often it seems that when Democrats win, they say it's because the public has spoken and they proceed with the attitude of a 'mandate' to implement their policies and goals. But those same individuals have a different opinion when Republicans win. When the GOP gets elected, they expect 'compromise' and complain - loudly and often - that the Republicans are enacting 'extreme' agendas.

Both cannot be true.

Either you get to enact your agenda when you get elected or you don't. Either you must compromise when you get elected or you don't. Either you have a mandate or you don't. It's hypocritical to say you have a mandate when YOU get elected, but your opponent doesn't have a mandate when THEY get elected.

As President Barack Obama told the Republicans after HE took office, elections have consequences.

*** Banning bringing school lunches from home isn't just about a 'healthier' lunch. A Chicago Public School has banned students from bringing their lunch from home, making them eat the lunch provided by the cafeteria. As the article explains:

But parent Miguel Medina said he thinks the "no home lunch policy" is a good one. "The school food is very healthy," he said, "and when they bring the food from home, there is no control over the food."

He gets it - it's all about control, but apparently parent Miguel Medina doesn't understand that he's just given up control over his child to a public school system. Of course, he fails to understand that he does have control over the food his child takes to school, as he could supervise the packing of the lunch, but that seems to escape him as well.

It's parents like Medina who are the biggest threat, because they willingly give up their parental right and responsibility to raise their children and turn that duty over to a bureaucracy which can do whatever it wants, so long as it can say it's for the child's own good.

Sad...very, very sad.

Single non-voter responsible for McCain win

Normally, I delete emails in my spam box from people and addresses I don't recognize. But the email from moveon.org had me a bit curious, so I opened the message and found this:

Dear maggie,

Your friend sent you the following video from CNNBC: "Obama's Loss Traced To Maggie Thurber"

Watch it here:

The link takes you screen with the following message:

Election Day Notice: The video you're about to see portrays events that haven't happened... yet.

It was prepared just for you. But if you go vote today you can make sure this joke doesn't become a reality.

Click here to continue.

Up pops a fake cnnbc news video indicating that "Obama's Loss Traced To Non-Voter, Single Nonvoter Tipped Election To McCain-Palin Ticket." It contained my name and the story of how I had to be taken into protective custody from all the Obama supporters who were rioting because I didn't vote.

The 'news' report also mentions a 'sliver' of people actually happy about the event, with cuts of President George Bush thanking me for my service, and the reporter asking how long it will be until we nuke Iran - probably Saturday, around lunchtime.

There is, of course, an option for you to customize the video for your friends.

This is certainly a unique idea, and it's not the first one I've seen. Earlier in the summer, a friend sent a customized video about a group of people who decide to nominate and vote for a 'regular person' so they picked a name out of a phone book and it turned out to be ... me!

My compliments to MoveOn.org for their cleverness and creativity.

GOP???

Post-Election Thoughts

For complete results of the Lucas County election results, you can go here, to the Lucas County Board of Elections, who did a nice job of regularly posting updated results throughout the night.

To the winners, congratulations. Now the hard work begins as any incumbent knows. To the newcomers: you'll be a bit overwhelmed at first with all the things you don't know, but you'll catch on very quickly and your constituents are counting on you to keep the promises you made. I wish you success in this endeavor.

To those who lost, my sincerest thanks and appreciation. You offered the voters a choice, which is something not everyone had in this election. You gave of yourself in terms of your time and energy - and often in terms of your own funds - and you sacrificed attendance at other events in order to be where the voters were. Having been through this process, I recognize the great toll running a campaign can have on you, your family, and even your shoes. I hope that, despite your loss at the polls, you are rewarded by your participation, by the supporters who worked hard on your behalf because they believed in you, and the votes you did receive.

Congratulations to the Library and the MetroParks for their replacement levies. While I questioned the amount of the money requested in these difficult (for many) economic times, there was never any question of the quality of your institutions nor of the services your provide. I do hope, however, that you will constantly re-evaluate what you do and how you do it. Your levies will be up again and, at that time, many of the same questions asked this time around will be asked again. It would be nice if you had a list of things you've done to reduce costs and stay within the budget we've provided to you.

Congratulations to TARTA for their win, as well. But...your success at the ballot box should not be taken as a mandate for continuing to operate as you have in the past. Severe dissatisfaction with the way services are provided still exists and you now have yet another opportunity to examine what services you provide and how to provide them more efficiently and at less cost. Instead of reacting or continuing the status quo, it would be nice to see you anticipate and plan for changing needs in the future. It would also be nice to see you provide a financial explanation on the actual cost of operations, how much is offset by rider fees and how many riders (not rides) you actually serve. Your other levy is up in 2011 and many of the same questions will be asked if you don't do something now to address them.

As for COSI, I hope that being rejected two times will be all it takes for you to either decide to close up or find another way to finance your operations. Despite all the claims of how much such a facility is needed, this second vote clearly indicates that the public doesn't want to finance your non-profit organization with tax dollars. The challenge you've had since 2005 when your board first approached the commissioners to ask for public funding has not changed. But as I was told at that time, going to the public for a levy was the 'easier' way to approach your difficulties. You now have to make decisions you should have made two years ago - and it will be even harder to do so having waited this long.

To those who took the time to research the issues and then vote, my thanks. To the 71% of Lucas County registered voters who didn't bother to cast a ballot ... your lack of participation has allowed the other 29% of us to make decisions on your behalf. I hope you're happy with what we decided, because you've earned no right to complain.