News Weakly - 2/29/20

Down with Math
Bernie is doing well in the campaign. Last week he won in Nevada. I suppose it's partially because Sanders has a plan to take wealth from the rich and give to the poor. Sanders has a problem, though; he can't do math. He wants to add to the multi-trillion dollar national debt by adding additional debt for his multi-trillion dollar "Medicare for all" proposal (and more). His plan is to tax those above $32 million net worth so that their wealth is cut by half over 15 years. Why $32 million? Because, while he is a millionaire himself many times over, he's not that rich, so such a plan won't cost him anything. Just the ones that are employing the most people. Whether or not the Supreme Court will allow a wealth tax, the math will tell you that he won't raise the estimated $14 trillion over 10 years required for his universal healthcare plans, but that never stopped a wealthy socialist (this website defines "wealthy" as anything over $2.4 million) from trying a money grab, right?

Hear, Hear
No pithy statements or snarky comments on this one. The Catholic Church believes that marriage is between a man and a woman. Thus, for a Catholic foster care agency to exclude same-sex couples from serving as foster parents would simply be a matter of religious belief. Philadelphia disagrees and canceled its contract for foster care. Philadelphia apparently doesn't believe that religious beliefs ought to have any effect on practices. The Catholic group and some of the foster parents sued, and now the Supreme Court will hear the arguments regarding First Amendment rights. We'll see what happens. (I don't have high hopes for the Constitution or Bill of Rights.)

Paying for "Family Planning"
In a surprising decision, the U.S. appeals court upheld rules that prohibit taxpayer-funded clinics from referring women for abortions. Depending on your position, one of the best/worst things the Trump administration has done is this distancing of taxpayer funding from killing babies -- best if you're in favor of human beings and worst if you're not. If you think killing a baby is a suitable method of "family planning," this is a bad thing.

Negotiating Justice
A video surfaced about a school resource officer arresting a 6-year-old girl who assaulted a teacher who was trying to calm her down. Of course, outrage followed. She was pleading and begging. She didn't want to go to the police car. She begged for help. The officer was fired for failing to get permission to arrest someone under the age of 12 and the State Attorney dropped the charges against the girl. "When it comes to little elementary-aged children, we will not negotiate justice, ever."

I am not suggesting the 6-year-old should have been arrested or that the officer did the right thing. But let's not be unclear here. By dismissing it, justice was negotiated. With no legal consequences for assaulting her teacher, that 6-year-old received mercy, not justice.

News to Confuse
Back in December of 2018 the Senate unanimously approved legislation making lynching a federal crime. Now the House is trying to pass the Emmett Till Antilynching Act. Keep in mind, lynching (defined as "to put to death, especially by hanging, by mob action and without legal authority") is bad. (Understatement) It is illegal. It is murder. The bill passed by the Senate and now the bill before the House both make it a civil rights violation. Now, that's interesting. Is murder a matter of civil rights? And why is the Senate's bill that was passed unanimously in 2018 and sent to the House still not a law? Why two separate bills? Is this "one-upmanship" of the House over the Senate? I'm so confused.

Fair Play
Barack Obama is demanding that a super PAC anti-Biden ad be pulled. It uses his voice. It takes his words out of context. It is "twisting his words to mislead viewers." Obama wants it removed "In the interest of truth in advertising." This may surprise you, but I agree. However, I agree much broader than he does. I would love it if political ads had a "truth in advertising" rule to meet. Generally speaking, they don't. I'd love it if attack ads were banned. I'd love it if all we heard from the media -- television, Internet, whatever -- was the truth rather than the tortured, emotional tantrums we're fed all the time. But, of course, what I'd love is not their (Democrat or Republican) concern. So I'm delighted not to have television, especially during election seasons.

Kill It
Michael Bloomberg hit the news again this week when a saleswoman that sold the Bloomberg Terminal complained that he had told her "Kill it" when she told him she was happily married and pregnant. Planned Parenthood has now endorsed Bloomberg for president. (Okay, pay attention there. That last sentence was satire from the Babylon Bee. The "Kill it" accusation, however, was not.)

We Tried to Warn You
When the nation began changing the definition of marriage to mean "no longer a man and a woman" (without actually substituting a new definition), we warned, "Where does it stop?" Our opponents and other talking heads laughed at us. "It's a stupid 'slippery slope' fallacy." It's not a fallacy if it happens.