A Better Law: No Tax Exempt Status for Any Political Group

Make it universal, with no exceptions: then there
will be no easy opportunity for corruption, cheating,
BOLOs, etcetera. Why should any political
organization avoid paying taxes?  Whether we
mean the RNC, the DNC, the Socialists,
Public Citizen, the Tea Party (or any of many
offshoots), if you receive income, PAY
YOUR DAMN TAXES like everyone else
(except the Kochs and their fellow travelers)!

There are many "500" exempt categories in the
IRS list. Political groups enjoy tax-exempt protection
from "527", which category should be eliminated.
Only the destitute and ACTUAL charities deserve
designations denying tax-taking.

There are at least six 501 (c)s --we read and hear
about 501 (c) 3s far more than any of the others,
with their slightly different requirements. I'm aware
of fast and loose compliance problems in these
organizations. Several years ago the Sierra Club,
a 501 (c) 4, was quoted in the Chicago Sun-Times
backing a particular political candidate, illegal according
to the IRS. I called the Club and the Times; neither
wanted to admit error or culpability to me,
even though I had the relevant IRS restrictions/
requirements at irs.gov right in hand.

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--Do anything! --Say anything! --All for me and mine,
Let's grab great fistfuls of swag and hoard any monies
we've got now that we are demonstrably (and officially)
living la vida loca, the chaos of Back to the Wild West
in every aspect of public and private life.

Dear reader, don't counter with the objection that
good people still exist, I know that. However, not
enough of  them are cannily mitigating/militating
against every recent loss of progress, beginning
with the overturning of Glass-Steagall (1999),
which was (and is) one of the causative four legs
supporting the stool of the Great Recession, 2007
and counting. Voting rights, women's rights,
personal property rights, privacy rights, more,
are being seriously chipped away in favor of the rich
and powerful, which sets up an ever-increasing
drive toward BECOMING rich and powerful,
in fear of being marginalized or left out; hang
the moral hazards or harm to innocent others...
or the nation.

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But time and treasure are being wasted on this
IRS, BOLO business with Lois Lerner, the U.S. House,
et al. Don't we still have an untenable debt? Aren't
we being laughed at all around the world for our
weakness while we're shouting about a U.S.
"exceptionalism" which is no longer what it was?
(-Reminiscent of post-Napoleonic France's
posturing as THE preeminent world power.)

Rue it, everybody--then get down to work,
time and treasure intensive though THAT is, too.
Change the tax laws across the USA; no tax
exempt status for ANY political group, period.
Now THERE'S some mighty, moral "exceptionalism".

The U.S.: Better Off Than Brasil? Yes--and No

...They spell it with an "s", not a lazy "z".

Let's look at a few factoids, shall we?
 -Brasil has nearly 16% of its people living
   below the poverty line.
 -The USA? MORE THAN 16% of us exist
   below our poverty line; almost 20% of  U.S.
   children live this way.
 -Even considering the new discoveries of
   natural gas here at home, Brasil  has
   many more natural resources than we do.

A much more extensive comparison is better
done by others, but I get highly exercised
during 2014's World Cup fever when U.S.
media mavens bleat about Brasil's problems
as though we aren't facing many of the precisely
same ones, some of which are more
troubling here than there.

A little objectivity, anybody?
Are we better off than Brasil?
--Yes and no.

Non Nobis Solum-Not for Ourselves Alone

What a worthy slogan and sentiment! What if almost
everyone took this as their watchword? What a world
we would be...a far better one. This expression comes
from Cicero in his Duties; few have ever had the vision
and cogency of historian and philosopher Cicero--oh
Cicero and Solon, where are you two when we need
your wisdom, now more than ever before? Before these
polymaths of Ancient Rome and Athens there was a
use of Non Nobis in Psalms 115.1, The Bible, where
"not to ourselves" as a phrase is stated twice.

Chaos is spreading, clearly; the best of the West's talking
head experts are chewing their fingernails while sweating--
things look very dicey to them too. The USA may not,
perhaps cannot, gear up to mount a WWII-style effort
to quell the apparently approaching madness: As
"Policeman of the World", we freely now admit, we are
seriously understaffed, underfunded and (mostly)
uninclined.

The only solution is for almost everyone around the
Earth to care what happens to everyone else along
with themselves...

Non Nobis Solum: by caring for others we will best
serve ourselves as well.

The "Wizardry" of Dr. Oz: Merely a Magically Shameless Self-Promoter

...Until now, when he was hauled in front of the U.S. Congress
for touting all manner of minerals, organics, etc., in addition
to recommending the rarely tried and true, largely ignored,
"diet and exercise".

Not content with his prestigious and profitable career as a
premier cardiac surgeon and department head, he has his own
TV show, numerous annoying ads on the web, appearances
at tux-required events, ad nauseam.  The vanity of this "doctor"
is enormous--does he ever take a moment for solitude and
reflection?

But blame attaches to his many acolytes as well. People
who want an easy way out or are something for nothing
artists eagerly lap up this mass-communicated nonsense.
Memo to Americans: You couldn't/didn't put on the brakes,
ingestion-wise, when noticing you packed on an extra
five to ten pounds? THAT is the time to get serious,
not after 50 or 100 units of unwanted, unneeded excess
poundage.

We are all our own worst enemies, ultimately, generally.
The "Wizard of Oz" can't help with that.

Time Travel Back to the Wild West All Too Real Right Now

Winter worries over the several Polar Vortexes have
given way to Summer Shooting Anxiety, public places'
random murders by gun.  The latest, in Las Vegas,
shows how pointlessly, painfully insane such tragedies
truly are--two anti-government extremists, a male and
female, shot two policemen, were shot themselves
and she killed someone else. Could this violence bring
down the government they stated they so hated?
--Hell no.

There are too many guns, too many nuts, and too
many gun nuts residing in the USA. Time to bring
back more sane mental health facilities while issuing
a clarification of the federal constitution's Second
Amendment, a Founders' statement few understand,
apparently. The simultaneous success of these two
suggestions could calm to a simmer Summer
wacked-out Wild West weirdness...

But banking on it is idealism traveling to a bridge
too far to find.

Recent Furor Over Our Vets Masks the Problem's Long History

...Dialing all the way back to our nation's founding. Our military
men and women have never been treated well by our government,
with ongoing respect and care, beginning with the Revolutionary
War, 1776-1783. (-!) Those who forget George Washington's
pleas for soldiers' supplies, such as basic food and winter clothing
must be shocked when hearing the current day's VA neglect news,
which has recently identified many hospitals in that beleaguered
system, not just in Arizona.

Consistently, with one exception, the immediate post WWII
period, vets are forgotten, the hospitals have known inadequacies
and deficiencies for decades; in Chicago, in the 80s, I was at the
now defunct Lakeside VA, 333 E. Huron, in the waiting area,
talking with vets. Their complaints were the same then as now:
slow and/or poor care--the only item missing mention was news
of the "doctored" lists, a sunny prescription providing proof of
great care, engendering bonuses for the reporting institutions.

Every enterprise CANNOT successfully model the identical
missions and practices employed by for profit businesses--
especially not municipalities, hospitals, schools and charitable
organizations, but God knows they've been trying--and failing.
This mistake also applies to major transit systems like Chicago's,
which has been troubled for decades after it was transformed
into an unholy, ultimately unworkable political/business entity.

The U.S. throws big, splashy parties/memorials about three days
a year for our military service personnel..how about TRULY
honoring them EVERY DAY??  That would mean better
health care, better salaries and supplies for the front line troops,
etc. That would also mean more taxpayer dollars required from
everyone else...

Or is the recent furor fodder for the chattering classes and
attendees at backyard barbeques, merely?  Talk is cheap
and easy. Only action proves sincerity in simply caring.

Who cares? I want to know.

Rahm, Your Poll Numbers Will Dive Even Further Now...

Since you have proven that you DON'T CARE
ABOUT SCHOOLCHILDREN. It doesn't matter what part
of Chicago a dilapidated school building exists in: as long
as the problem isn't in Lincoln Park or Hyde Park, well,
why care?  Mayor Emanuel (and Daley before him) were
somehow unable to cough up TIF or other monies to fix
schools on the South OR North Sides; the latest shocker
involves a hideously ruined school building in Rogers
Park, inches to feet of ceiling peeling paint, ad nauseam.
The photo reveal was broadcast on Chicago CBS TV 2, the
five p.m. newscast, 05/22/2014. 

R.E. closes 49 schools at once, which no system in the U.S.
had previously dared/attempted to do; he starts many money-
intensive projects (-tax payer paid?) which are completely
unnecessary, as they are duplicates of perfectly fine existing
entities. So he's tone deaf and somewhat stupid, attempting
to launch more luxurious places for the tourists and local
rich, even as his poll numbers dive, dive, dive...

With all your accomplishments, Rahm, how can you
forget poor people vote too?