The Incompetence of Los Angeles

Can you imagine a city that cannot make money from red light cameras? Try Los Angeles. They charge $446 per red light ticket and they still lost $2.5 million on them over the past few years. Yes, you read that right - FOUR HUNDRED FORTY SIX DOLLARS per ticket. In additional to that, they cannot even prove that safety has been improved. Their solution? Double the number of cameras! Apparently, they aren't losing money fast enough.

As Bugs Bunny would say, what a bunch of maroons!

(H/T Instapundit).

More on Mandatory Public Service ("pro bono")

The more I think about the Missisissippi Supreme Court's desire to force attorneys to do mandatory pro bono, the angrier it makes me. I'm not affected at all by this, other than the way it affects all of us; the mindset of those in government to control every aspect of a person's life. It's not your time, it's the government's time. It's not your money, it's the government's money. These people have a philosophy that everything belongs to the government and you only get to have what they allow you to have, be it time, money or whatever.

While some lawyers have been charitable in their views on this, I will not relent on my opposition by this type of activity against any profession. There is no free lunch. Who does this court think will bear the cost of this increased burden on attorneys? The reality is that the cost will be paid by the lawyers' other clients. In other words, it is an indirect tax on consumers of legal services.

If the government wants to give away more goodies, then it should at least have the stones to step up and call it what it is - a tax. Why not tax consumers of legal services directly instead of stealing time from attorneys?

Can the President Order the Assassination of an American without Due Process

Well, apparently, the answer is yes. It seems like some liberal ought to be saying something about this. Maybe those who were up in arms about Gitmo might oppose this. If it were George Bush, they would be screaming this from the rooftops. Money quote:

There are no mitigating factors, here. Obama is arguing the executive has the power to execute American citizens without a trial, without even so much as an airing of the charges against them, and that it can do so in complete secrecy, with no oversight from any court, and that the families of the executed have no legal recourse.

I find this to be disgraceful. Now, he not only thinks he's the Messiah, he thinks he's God.

Mandatory Pro Bono in Mississippi

A current proposal in Mississippi would require attorneys to perform 20 hours of pro bono service or pay a $500 fine. Don't tell Obama about this, or he'll seek to put the same requirements on doctors so that the doctors get so pissed off over such involuntary servitude that they decide to change careers.

The people who come up with junk like this ought to be tarred and feathered. It sounds more like a sentence handed down from the bench. Just change "pro bono" to "community service" and you get: "you are required to perform 20 hours of community service or pay a $500 fine." Your crime? You chose the wrong profession and the government wants a pound of flesh so it can implement its pet project.

Chief Justice Bill Waller, Jr. said "I am interested in making sure that the poor have the same access to courts as those who can afford to hire attorneys. These are challenging economic times. We must be vigilant in making sure there are sufficient funds and people available to represent the poor."

Stealing time from attorneys will not solve the problems of the poor any more than stealing time from doctors will cure all the sick. Chief Justice Bill Waller, Jr. should be impeached for his lack of understanding of liberty and the individual rights set forth in the Constitution.

Taxing the Rich

I love this from John Stossel:

As I've said before, a tax cut is not a handout. It simply means government
steals less. What progressives want to do is take money from some -- by force --
and spend it on others. It sounds less noble when plainly stated.

As they say, read the whole thing.

Why is Winnipeg hiding the red light crash data?

It's all about the money, of course. Here, they have a red light program that is causing more and more crashes, but they do not care. It is all about cashing the checks so they can spend money on pet programs.

We've had enough government. We need to starve it at every opportunity. Tea Partiers need to get on the anti-camera bandwagon as well because these cameras are a symptom of a larger problem - government ignoring our rights, confiscating money from us without due process and spending that money to increase the size of government. ENOUGH!

Manitoba finds red light cameras cause more accidents

More great news for chiropractors and orthopaedic surgeons... yet another study finds that red light scameras cause more accidents than they prevent.

The Skewering of Jon Stewart

Glen Reynolds calls him a rube, and rightfully so. [And yes, I tag Stewart with the media, since so many dumb masses consider his reports to be news instead of entertainment. Incidentally, those are many of the same people who cannot differentiate between news and opinion on Fox.]

Media ignores Edwards affair but will smear Boehner

In case you need any more evidence of the liberal media bias (tut, tut), it appears that The New York Times plans an expose on a supposed affair by Minority Leader John Boehner. You read that right, The New York Times, not The National Enquirer. Of course, they basically ignored the John Edwards affair until they became so embarrassed by it from the few outlets and bloggers who held them accountable.

How many more examples do the sheep of this country need to realize that, by and large, the mainstream media is a puppet for the Democrat Party?

Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic..

What a fitting title to this Althouse post. (H/T Instapundit)

Mourning in America

I think this sums up the mood of the country rather well. I don't think it is being disingenuous to call this a depression.



Ronald Reagan had an ad called "Morning in America." He thought America was great. King Barry apologizes for America.

Red Light Cameras - All About the Revenue

Just in case you've been living under a rock, yet another study shows that there is no appreciable safety benefit from red light cameras. They actually increase the number of rear-ender accidents. But, they did bring in $60 million to the City of Chicago in 2009 alone!

Now, let's do the red light camera hokey-pokey!

You put your hand
in
You pull your wallet
out
You pull the money out
and you shake it all about
You do the hokey-pokey
And you send the cash downtown,
That's what
its
all
a-bout

A tool to check the power of the federal government

Here's something that Tennessee politicians should consider as well: an Article V call for a Constitutional convention to propose an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would allow for 2/3 of the states to nullify any act of Congress.

Two points: (1) You probably wouldn't need this if you repealed the 17th amendment (direct election of senators), and (2) You could probably count on Kent Williams to vote with the Democrats to make sure this never made it out of the Tennessee legislature.

Why doesn't Tennessee sue over Obamacare?

My understanding is that Tennessee would be joining in the lawsuit with the 20 states who are suing the federal government if the bill authorizing it had passed the Tennessee house. Jerome Cochran says that the reason is that Kent Williams joined with the Tenessee House Democrats to defeat the bill.

Kent Williams needs to be sent back to Carter County to retire. He's a tax and spend RINO who cannot even be trusted by his own (former) party. For more background on Mr. Williams, start with the famous "Judas" photo.

I think a lot of people in Carter County think that Judas Williams brings something "to the table" because he is the Speaker of the House. However, when you think ahead a little bit, it is easy to see that Judas Williams' days as Speaker are likely over. A vote for Williams is probably a vote for Jimmy Naifeh, a Democrat, as Speaker. Judas Williams was elected as Speaker as part of back room, shady deal. It is unlikely that he will ever be able to pull that deal off in the future. He'd probably join up with the Democrats today if he didn't know that it would kill his chances of getting elected in Carter County.

Bill Clinton rips Jerry Brown

Great new Meg Whitman ad - Bill Clinton takes Jerry Brown to task. Hasn't California had enough Jerry Brown? He's clearly depending on the fact that most of the people who live in California today that would vote for him lived in Mexico the last time he was governor.

We can only hope!

A government shutdown if Republicans win in November? We can only hope. Now, there if finally some "hope" from King Barry's group that I can believe in!

You mean the traffic cameras are inaccurate?

Well, what would you expect? These cameras are "beset with accuracy issues." When guilt or innocence is determined in the STAR chamber and individuals cannot confront anyone with the camera companies or the police, this is the result that you are destined to have. The incentive they have is to issue as many tickets as possible. They have no incentive to make sure you don't get screwed. The government has no incentive to make sure you don't get screwed. Guess what? You're getting screwed.

Voters need to take care of business and elect people who will get rid of these anti-American devices.

Knox County Man Shoots a Scumbag

That's the way it is supposed to work. If you break into someone's property, you risk getting shot. In this case, the alleged burglar broke into a barn, but it could just have easily been a home. What's shocking is that there even has to be a consideration of whether to charge the property owner in a case like this.