Carmichael's Position

Rocky Mountain Airshow 2011

Went to the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport (formerly Jeffco) open house and airshow today.  It afforded me the opportunity to exercise the new Nikon D7000 for a few 100 rounds.

Still plowing through the images to identify the best of the litter but here’s a taste:

And then, so far my only HDR to turn out well (again no tripod and holding the camera perfectly aligned for three exposures is a bit of a booger)… I give you the Surreal Super Hornet!

More to come…

So Long as it is on Someone Else’s Back!

I get disgusted every time I read a poll taken that says Americans want the wealthy taxed more and Businesses taxed more. 

Well they didn’t ask this American’s opinion!

A CNN/ORC poll reportedly found the following:

Most Americans want a special congressional committee tasked with drafting a long-term solution to the nation's mounting federal deficits to include tax hikes for the wealthy and businesses and deep cuts in domestic spending, according to a new national survey.

… [it] also indicates that the public doesn't want the super committee to propose major changes to Social Security and Medicare or increase taxes on middle class and lower-income Americans.

My gawd… Did they take a poll of 3rd graders?

Little lesson for you here folks, we need to stop with this “Wealthy need to pay their share!” bovine scatology!  They contribute way more than their fair share!  Yes they have nice houses, yes they live a life of luxury, yes they may not suffer as much as the local McDonalds worker with 4 kids.  SO WHAT?!

Once he is content in his personal interest he has to do something with all that money!  Usually this excess is invested!!!  Look it up!

That wealthy bastard, more than likely owns a business or two that hires any number of employees who earn and contribute to the economy!  He buys capital items for his business with the funds his business earns!  Those capital items come from other companies who hire workers to manufacture them.  If the Wealthy isn’t a direct business owner/runner he more than likely owns shares in companies, these shares are offered to people like you and me to help fund the operations of said businesses!  Want to feel the power of ownership?  Buy a stock!

If we tax these so called wealthy more, that is mathematically less money that employer will have to hire someone.  Look, lets say we tax multi-millionaires another $500,000.00 per year… would that make you feel better that they didn’t have it and the government did?

Why? … Because the government will be so much more efficient with those funds? 

Think about it.  That’s 10 people that employer cannot hire!  That’s 10 more people in the unemployment line, that’s 10 more people taking from the government for literally doing NOTHING!  Except maybe for looking for a job that is not out there because we’ve taxed the wealthy more!

Seriously get off your stupidity horse!

Second part… Let’s tax business more!  Face-Palm-Smack!

There is NO SUCH THING AS BUSINESS!!!  It is PEOPLE!  By taxing business more, we are taxing people more!  Whether they be the consumer of or the employee of that business!  Again for every $30,000 in taxes levied on a “BUSINESS” that is one less employee to be hired!  One less piece of equipment purchased.  That OR the business has to raise prices of goods or services to compensate for the tax increase.  (Ergo a tax on the consumer!)  The monies to pay these taxes don’t magically appear like a fart from a pixie!  They HAVE to come from hard working Americans! 

Now as for… “the public doesn't want the super committee to propose major changes to Social Security and Medicare or increase taxes on middle class and lower-income Americans.”

It is precisely these entitlements that have the “Government” in the pickle its in.  But noooo we can’t touch these because they are so… What?…  effective????   Obviously you are giving the donkey one of your patented cranial enemas!

Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid absolutely need to be re-visited!  Increase the tax on EVERYONE if this is supposed to be for everyone!!! Raise the age of receiving these benefits!!! We’re living longer damn it!  It should ALWAYS be a function of the average lifespan!  And should be revisited every 10 years!  Whoever is born in “X” year is eligible for benefits in “Y” year!

“Don’t tax the Middle class or lower-income Americans…” Why not?  Do they not benefit from government services more than anyone?  Shouldn’t they be called upon to contribute their “Fair Share” too?

I say TAX EVERYONE EQUALLY!  Either a 20% income tax on everyone period!  No deductions!  or… let’s really simplify the tax code and institute a 9% sales tax on all goods sold to an end user (wholesale is exempt).  You pay a tax on that which you can afford!  Also we capture that missing trillion dollars in uncollected revenue from under-the-table employees and illegal aliens.

Also… this method greatly reduces the cost and the size of the IRS!  We could save 100’s of Billions in that alone!

Some good videos from a guy named Milton Freidman follow… good food for thought, if you’re willing to eat it.

The Free Lunch Myth--

Soak the Rich --

There you go…

Annual Camping Trip!

My friends and I have a bit of an annual ritual… Every summer we all give up many of our daily trappings and retreat to the near wilds of Colorado for a few days of R&R, fly-fishing, steak eating, beer swilling and fire poking!

This year we spent 3 glorious days at the base of the fourteen thousand feet Colorado Collegiate Peaks along the Arkansas River.

As I’ve gained in age, wisdom, and waist size… I’ve migrated away from the more rugged style of camping, sleeping in the tent on the ground in a 1972 psychedelic sleeping bag, to mooching off of a friend of mine, ‘Scooter’- and occupying one of his two double beds in his pop-up trailer- complete with heater!  (Yeah I know it’s August, but I’ll have you know that the ambient at 3:30am was indeed registering 38 degrees!)  Odd I know coming from a guy who does not wear waders when fly-fishing in 52 degree river water!

And speaking of wading, there was indeed opportunity to do that as well in Colorado’s Arkansas River… Note I specifically did not say fishing!  Because even though I had my fly rod in hand, casting any number of feathered bug-avatars into said flowing torrent… I’m convinced there were no fish to be wrangled this year!  (My wife and Clay, who both claim to have caught something, beg to differ -- I never witnessed either acquisition so I’m still convinced it was the river and not my angling skills!)  The rest of our herd is inclined to agree with me!  Lest their angling skills be impugned as well!

But the views more than made up for my shut out!

Alas, the closing day of the long weekend was upon us all too soon, and the campsite required we yuppie nomads to vacate the wilderness… with electric hookups, flush toilets… and coin op showers… no later than 11:00am.  We departed at 10:55 for our 2 hour journey back to civilization, all of us proud in the fact that not one of us deposited a single quarter in their Shower Racket!

Besides there is something immensely satisfying to arriving home, unloading the SUV and proceeding to spend 20 minutes in the master bath shower, rinsing off the smoke smell of 200+ store bought pine logs sacrificed to the meditation god known as the “campfire”! 

I bid you all a good evening, as I hope to dream of star-filled skies, gentle breezes, and the trickle of a nearby tributary… 

Thanks again to Scooter for setting this whole decompress up!  You’re a GIANT among men in my book!