Surprise! The Lottery Had a Near-Death Experience.

On April 23, 2013, the Texas House of Representatives voted to abolish the state lottery, a few hours later they voted to reestablish it.  That the sacrosanct lottery was voted down, at all, came as a surprise to people on both sides of this issue.  For those who object to the lottery it was a surprise because they had long ago resigned themselves to it, and figured that things like this would just keep on keeping on.  For those who expected the stamp of approval to be routine (it was a Sunset Review procedure) it was more of a shock than surprise that so many legislators actually had the temerity to oppose such a long-standing and, perceived by most to be, profitable government program.

In 1991 the people of Texas voted to amend the Texas Constitution and allow a state lottery to be instituted.  Most of us thought, because we had been led to believe so by the prevaricating Democrat governor, Ann Richards, that the money made from the lottery would go to educate the children of Texas.  Only afterwards did she disabuse us of that notion and let it be known that the lottery profits would go into the general fund and be spent for any purpose whatsoever.  Laughably, in a moment of Clintonesque honesty, she said she hadn't actually lied to us, she had just not corrected it when she realized this was the prevailing belief.  So, having given the rabble their comeuppance, she made sure the money from the lottery remained in the general fund.  That is until she, and her Democrat cohort, lost the election and the Republicans gained control of Texas in 1996.  In 1997 the money from the lottery was dedicated to the state education fund, the way we thought it was supposed to be originally, and has remained that way ever since.

In 2011, the lottery provided approximately $989 million of the $69.9 billion spent for education in Texas.  While nearly $1 billion is nothing to sneeze at, it is still much less than 2% of the total education budget.  On Wednesday, for at least a little while, a majority of the state House of Representatives believed there was a better way.

Some people are of the opinion that state-sponsored gambling can change a society's culture.  Their rationale goes like this; when the state, which most people subconsciously think of as the arbiter of smart, puts its imprimatur on a practice, that practice automatically becomes either much more, or completely, acceptable depending on past resistance to it.  With gambling, and especially with high payers like a lottery, a great number of people gradually can succumb to the subconscious perception that making a small wager and waiting for the big score is preferable to working hard, planning, and saving for the future.  As this perception grows, more and more individuals become less and less sophisticated about the odds of winning the lottery, not because they are stupid, but because as a legal, accepted practice they do not look at it as closely as they otherwise would.  It's conventional wisdom.  And since a government sponsored lottery is specifically designed to extract money from the public, this expectation just doesn't pan out for the participants.  The overall effect is to drain industriousness, foresight and ambition from a population.

 With this in mind, it may be reasonable to conclude that societies make a Faustian bargain when they seek to fund their governments with gambling profits.  For those of us who realize that government-sponsored gambling exacts a cultural and moral toll, the profit from a lottery is not worth the price a society eventually has to pay for it.

 I don't know if this is the reason most of the members of the state House of Representatives from Tarrant County voted the way they did but I do want to thank them.  The members of the Tarrant House delegation, who voted (twice) against the lottery and for personal responsibility were; Jonathan Stickland, Matt Krause, Giovanni Capriglione, Stephanie Klick, Craig Goldman, and Bill Zedler, all Republicans.

Democrat Lon Burnam and Republican Diane Patrick voted against it the first time, then voted for it the second time.  So much for the courage of their convictions.

Republican Charlie Geren voted, like a Democrat, for the lottery then did not vote the second time.

The rest of the Tarrant County delegation, Nicole Collier and Chris Turner voted for the lottery both times, they are Democrats.

A Radical Remedy for Texas' Washington Problem.

This post has been updated on April 10, 2013, find it at the end of this article.

The Houston Chronicle article by Richard Dunham entitled " Hutchison's retirement is big loss for Texas", and printed in Sunday's Star-Telegram, illustrates one of the Catch-22's of federal financing.  Although Dunham focused on the money that Texas was going to lose because Kay Bailey Hutchison would no longer be around to bring it back home, he inadvertently laid out the reasons that federal spending is so hard to control.

He describes John Culberson, the Republican representative, and "Taxpayer Hero" of the group Citizens against Government Waste,

from Houston and Culberson's philosophy of "if the federal government is going to spend tax dollars, Texas deserves its fair share", which, it is safe to assume, means that a politician who is concerned about his state and constituents should be willing to do just about anything to make sure that Texas takes its fair and rightful place at the federal money trough.

This attitude when multiplied by the thousands of politicians in America who feel the same way results in an enormous pressure, and reinforcement for the federal government to spend, and continue to spend money.  It also results in political butt kissing by federal, and to a slightly lesser extent state politicians of Washington elite heinies which pushes the power buttons of the aforementioned elites and revs up the spending cycle even more.  Making it well nigh impossible to reduce the national debt.  Politicians don't even bother with the national debt, they set their sights on reducing the deficit which is only the amount of debt growth.

It seems to me the only way to stop this cycle is to prevent the money from going to Washington in the first place.  If you take civil disobedience, rebellion, and revolution off the table, you're left with only one other choice that might remedy the problem, at least for a while.  It's hard for me to say this but that choice is a STATE INCOME TAX.  Since I've never filed from any other state but Texas and haven't paid a whole lot of attention to what other states do I'm not real clear on this but I think the amount of state income tax that a person pays is deducted from his federal income tax.  In other words if your state gets your money before Washington does, your taxes are (somewhat) reduced and the state keeps it .

So there you have it, Washington removes tax dollars from taxpayers, state politicians want to get some of the money back, so they lick the soles of the Washington boot.  This makes Washington feel good, taxes are raised, more money comes in and out, boot licking all around.  Rinse, repeat until the nation goes over the cliff.  A Texas state income tax can prevent some of this money from going to Washington in the first place, at least until the tax code changes.

Note: if you spot any gaps in logic or fact in this article please let me know.  I believe the beginning of wisdom is the acknowledgment of one's own fallibility and ignorance.  Joel Downs


 Update, April 10, 2013.
  I've had misgivings from the beginning about this, and after I uploaded the article, I started to think about how a tax would be implemented. That's when I realized that a state doesn't just say "Abracadabra" and have the money appear in its treasury. An entire bureaucracy has to be created and staffed to process and collect the new tax, businesses have to be forced to withhold more money from their employees paychecks with appropriate fines and prison terms for noncompliance, plus a million other details need attending to. And to start it off, every step of this undertaking has to be planned and legislated, which would first require a lot of very smart people working very hard for a long time, then require arm-twisting, log rolling, compromise, bribery, and no telling what other kinds of political mischief, all of which would have to be accomplished in 140 days on a semiannual basis. Bottom line; a state income tax is a bad idea, was a bad idea, will always be a bad idea.  So, I am withdrawing it.  I am somewhat encouraged because, when taken from the abstract, to the reality, it turns out to be a very hard thing to implement which if you don't like state income tax is a good thing.

Of course, this leaves us with the original problem of what to do about our politicians dutifully trying to get some of their constituent's money back from the federal government and in the process submitting to the federal boot on the neck.

Tales of 2A: How Awesome Is That?

Something that few people realize about the Second Amendment is that it was written, put into the Constitution, and ratified while two rebellions rocked the newly minted nation of the United States of America.

At the time the Constitution which includes the Bill of Rights, was written (1787), the new United States of America had already been through the Shays Rebellion (1786-1787).  The Constitution was ratified in 1791, just as the Whiskey Rebellion was gaining momentum (1791-1794).

The fact that a new government cemented the rights of citizens to keep and bear arms in a Founding document while in the midst of  rebellion(s) speaks volumes about the character of the Framers.  And the fact that the States went ahead and ratified the Constitution, with the Second Amendment included, speaks volumes about the character of those early politicians.

Historically, what governments do when faced with rebellion is to (attempt to) disarm the population.  The Framers did not do that, their commitment to liberty was so intense that they made sure that every citizen had the means of rebellion on hand and ready.  This would seem suicidal to today's politicians, but apparently the Framers felt differently.  It worked out all right too, the new country survived and became the greatest country on earth.

The commitment to principle of our long-ago Founders fills me with awe and reinforces my resolve to do everything I can to preserve the precious, precious political structure that we have in this country.  It is unique in history, and in the world.

Sequester Scare Tactics in the Star-Telegram.

In the Thursday, February 27 Star-Telegram, print edition, the Letter to the Editor most prominently displayed was from Joseph F. Cleveland Jr., President of the Fort Worth chapter of the Federal Bar Association. He states that the sequester will require the layoff of 25% of all Federal court personnel and then goes on to recount the horrible things that can come about because of this. What he fails to do is provide any kind of context. Are these employees going to be laid off for a day? An hour? A month?  Years? Do the consequences, go on forever? Or for just an instant?

The context gap in this letter reveals its intent. And that intent is to scare people. Using the same method that a cruel, older child would use to frighten a younger child by telling him that there is a monster in the closet, Mr. Cleveland invokes the prospect of huge and terrible consequences if the sequester is implemented, but like the closet, the magnitude of the problem, like the size of the monster, is left to the victim's imagination.

When encountering budgetary scare tactics like this, remember that the sequester is $85 billion out of a Federal budget $3.62 trillion. And the sequester is a cut, not in spending but in the ANTICIPATED GROWTH of spending. If the Federal budget were $50 the sequester would be equivalent to $.10, in other words, one thin dime.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram should be ashamed of itself to give prominence, and oversize fonts to such an obvious, odious piece of propaganda.

Read the online letter here:
http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/02/27/4648559/cuts-will-hurt-courts.html#storylink=misearch

PENTAGON IS TO FURLOUGH 800,000 CIVILIANS, is this a bad thing?

PENTAGON IS TO FURLOUGH 800,000 CIVILIANS If you just read the headline you'd think that 800,000 civilians were going to be laid off, wouldn't you.  But if you read into the article you come to this confusing sentence. 

As I understand it, this means that 800,000 employees, each of which could face up to 22 days of furlough spread out from now until next September, with 30 days notice beforehand.  I base my interpretation on the above sentence from the article. (see screenshot)

I'm not sure that my interpretation is correct but if it's not is because the "THE HILL" report is not very precise.  Either they're trying to be deliberately confusing, or they need a smarter reporter and better editors.

STAY IN THE GAME.

Data from the Tarrant County elections office shows that approximately 20,000 more voters voted in the 2010 Republican primary than in the 2012 primary.  The 2010 elections were a banner year for conservatives all over the country and in Tarrant County.  I am going to assume that all, or nearly all of the 20,000 people who are missing from the 2012 Republican primary are conservatives who decided to make the effort to make a difference in 2010.  And I'm going to assume that the reason they did not vote in the 2012 primary is because: they accomplished what they wanted to do, or they have become disaffected with politics because they didn't get what they wanted.  This message is for them.

To the folks who got what you wanted.  If you think you can come in, work real hard, fix things, then leave because the job is done; you've got another think coming.  In politics the job is never done.  Victory and defeat only last until the next election.  You need to remain in politics and consolidate your gains for the next election.

To the folks who didn't get what you wanted.  Please don't go.  It is very important that people like you, conservatives, stay in the game.  Don't give up on politics.  It has become one of the factors that most determine the quality of life for the citizens in the United States.  If you have become disaffected because of the sometimes blatant disregard for the rules, and the seeming overwhelming power of the other factions, just remember, they would not have had to resort to such tactics if you, and people like you hadn't been nipping at their heels.  This means you have power, build on it and change the Party from the inside.  Never give up.

To all of you conservatives who were missing from the 2012 Republican primary, I know it's a chore, and a huge bore, especially for true conservatives who only want to be left alone, but you need to remain plugged in to politics to protect yourself and your way of life.  Pay close attention to local politics, City and County.  It is in local politics that political culture movements, which are the most enduring of change, are born and carried forward.  Talk to your neighbors, talk to your friends, talk to your relatives.  Profess your conservative ideals, and live your conservative way of life in such a way that people will admire it and want to emulate it.  There are numerous political clubs in Tarrant County.  Search them out, attend some meetings, get acquainted with other conservatives, join in and volunteer to help.

We've allowed a lot of liberties slip away, in this country, simply because we didn't pay attention.  It's time for that to stop. And we may disagree about the settings, speed, gear, temperature, etc., on the political bus but one thing that we all agree on is that it remain on the right-hand side of the road and keep traveling towards Libertyville.



Hat tip to Glenn Bucy for his Facebook post that provoked this train of thought.


Note: This is my take on this subject.  If anyone would like to point out mistakes in logic, reason, or facts, please do so. I believe that the beginning of wisdom starts with the acknowledgement of one's own ignorance. Joel Downs 

Seattle Times article about gun bill is not, or is no longer true.

Update: 02.21.13, the referenced Bill has now been pulled.