Neither party reassures voters

Rights Boy’s good friend Mike Burgher was featured in this morning's From the Editor's Inbox on the Des Moines Register website. You can find his edited letter, along with a lively discussion from other readers, here. The unedited opinion follows.

It’s always interesting to add up and compare the potential cost of various programs proposed by the presidential candidates. It’s often very surprising, sometimes downright depressing.

Barak Obama gave an interview to the Wall Street Journal a couple of weeks ago outlining the Democratic economic platform. It must have been the worst news ever for Wall Street, small business, and even the middle class when you think it through. It included the expected “soak the rich” themes along with repealing Bush’s tax cuts.

Most economists estimate the cost of Obama’s proposals and promises - including $150 billion for green energy, $65B for expanded health insurance, $60B for infrastructure -to total $800 Billion and counting. He says it will be funded by repealing the tax cuts and increasing capital taxes.

The problem is Obama’s math doesn’t work. With everything else the same, repealing the cuts combined with his proposed tax increases won’t pay for his spending. Using his own model on who should pay more, one recent estimate showed his plan would result in up to a 40 percent personal income tax, a 52.2 percent combined income and payroll tax, a 28 percent capital-gains tax, a 40 percent dividends tax, and a 55 percent estate tax.

That’s not going to happen, and that means the middle class is going to get squeezed even further, with taxes disguised as usage fees, access fees, entrance fees, licenses and assessments.

Obama will also have to raise corporate and capital taxes which will styme business production, raise the cost of everything, and will directly affect your your compensation and take-home pay.

Now we look at the other side. What will McCain cost us? He would certainly cost less than Obama domestically, because McCain proposes very little, with almost no economic impact. He does have a new-found religion on global warming, but I don’t think even he knows what he’s proposing yet beyond $300M for new battery technology.

It’s McCain’s foreign policy that jumps out. Another 100 years in Iraq at current costs would be about $2.5 Trillion dollars and the loss of about 80,000 more brave troops.

And you wonder why so many people feel totally disenfranchised by both political parties.

Iowa Flood of '08

IOWA Flood of '08

Survival Kit

Toilet Paper.......................................................check

Bud Light..........................................................check

Keystone Ice.......................................................check

Budweiser..........................................................check

Red Dog............................................................check

Misc. other bottles of alcohol....................................check

Piece of plywood to float your lady and booze on.....double-check

What role has race and sex played in the election?

Rights Boy’s good friend Mike Burgher opined about the role of race and sex in the election in yesterday morning’s Des Moines Sunday Register. Since the letter was submitted, Hillary Clinton has thrown her support to Barak Obama, so the Register edited the letter to discussing the race issue only.

Please don't read this and then invite Mike or Rights Boy to speak at your KKK rally or the next burn-your-bra bonfire. It's my opinion that charges of racism and sexism in this election serve no purpose but to distract voters with short memories from looking at real issues.

You can find his edited letter, along with comments from other readers, here.The unedited opinion follows.
___________

It was hard to follow the twisted logic in Leonard Pitts’ article “Let’s face up to the ugly Truth,” but I think he was concluding that a black person voting for Obama wasn’t racist, but a white person voting for Hillary probably was.

Pitts’ victim argument - that white and black people aren’t equivalent, the white man always keeps the black man down, blacks are “owed” – is so old and tired. But it somehow leads him to declare that even questioning race-based entitlements is automatically off-topic and not to be taken seriously.

Pitts claims that blacks have never had a choice but to support white candidates and implies that white voters somehow owe black candidates a ‘favor.’ I assume Pitts dismisses the viability of former candidates Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, and ironically forgot that when the Clinton camp made a similar gaff it was skewered as racist.

The race in the Democratic Party circus is historic this year. The sideshow includes the wooing of uncommitted super delegates as well as a game of musical chairs by Florida and Michigan. But the big tent includes a historic race between two viable candidates – a white woman and a black man.

What measure shall we use to determine the next leader of the free world? What are the important qualifications? So far, we have examined Hillary’s hair, cleavage, pantsuits, tears and her choice of ice cream. We’ve looked at Obama’s lapel, his family tree, dance moves and his church. Now pundits like Pitts are saying everything comes down to one issue, race, and white people won’t vote for a black man. I guess he’s confused on what happened in Iowa and many other states earlier this year.

People vote for candidates for many reasons. During the Iowa primaries, an 85-year old black woman was quoted in the Register declaring, “I’m voting for Obama no matter what. I want to live to see a black man run the White House.” A white female friend of mine recently made a similar comment about Hillary and living to see a woman running the US government. Another black friend said that he was for Obama because it “just sent the right message to the world.” None of these people are making a decision based on the issues. But I’m not sure they are necessarily racist or sexist. Are they?

Some people are so quick to call anything racist these days and an article like this just perpetuates the tactic.

Latest Odd Iowa News

Iowa is once again making the “News of the Weird” all over the world. Yes, it’s a wonderful place full or wondrous people.

Stretching a penny. A man was hit in the head by a train Saturday afternoon in Davenport as he reportedly tried to put a coin on the railroad tracks. He was struck by a ladder on a railcar near the end of the train.

Now in his young and exuberant childhood, even Rights Boy put a penny or two on the rails just to see what would happen. But the thing is, the trick works much better if you set it up before the train arrives.

Here, have one of mine. A man was arrested this week in Des Moines for throwing candy at a police officer. The cop was conducting a hit-and-run investigation at a convenience store when he noticed several M & M candies falling to the ground nearby. After finishing the investigation, he arrested Sean McGuire and charged him with assaulting a police officer.

McGuire was taken to Polk County Jail only after urinating all over the back of the squad car on the way.

Rights Boy remembers the good old days. If you threw some candy at a cop you would probably get your lights punched out. And if you whizzed in the patrol car, you would never be seen again.

On the other hand, Rights Boy wonders… What if you throw donuts at the cop…?

Third-best Elvis. Michael Reed has followed his dream – to mimic The King — and thought it would lead to a lucrative career. It didn’t. The self-proclaimed “third-best Elvis in the world,” has earned $5,000 annually with his gig, has a credit score of 250, and four credit cards with a total credit line of $24,500. So he decided to borrow $12,000 for plastic surgery in a last-ditch effort to make his dream solvent.

"Plastic surgery is not going to save a failing career," said Eugene Cherny, an Urbandale surgeon who altered Reed's face. "Nobody ever said that he'd look like Elvis. We never said we could make him a star."

Rights Boy is sympathetic. I’m just sure he’s a Hunka’ Hunka’ Burnin’ Love!

Water, water, everywhere. In March, it was reported that a vast array of pharmaceuticals - including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones - have been found in the drinking water supplies. You can find that report here. This sparked a new panic and further switch to bottled water.

But in April, Des Moines was awarded the top spot on the list of Best Cities for Clean Drinking Water by Forbes magazine. “It's got a high-quality product, after all." according to the report.

Rights Boy is so confused. Bottled water is best last month, tap water is best this month. Drink eight glasses per day last year, that’s too much this year… Isn’t science wonderful?

New tourist attraction. Speaking of clean water, operators of Iowa livestock confinements could stockpile manure adjacent to homes and as close as 400 feet to Iowa waterways under a proposal in the Iowa House. The manure piles can be higher than 25 feet tall and half the length of a football field.

Rights Boy thinks it’s a great idea for a new tourist attraction. Come see the piles! Taller than your house and the size of Arena Football! See it! Smell it! Live it or live with it!

Come Join the Ban

The Iowa legislative session is finally coming to an end and thank goodness. Among the important legislation considered this round were lots of bans. Nanny bans. Stupid bans. Inconsistent bans.

Soda pop and candy were banned in middle and high schools during school hours. We need to limit our kids’ choices after all.

These same kids talk too much, so a ban on text messaging while driving was pushed.

To show our patriotism, Iowa State Representative Ray Zirkelbach introduced a ban on foreign-made flags. Good luck finding ones made in the USA!

We are banned from raising mixed wild/domestic hybrid cats, so keep your pumas and mountain lions to themselves.

We are civilized, so a ban on mixed martial arts, cage-fighting, was introduced.

Witnessing a dog fight or cock fight was banned. "You don't just stumble across a dog fight,” says Josh Colvin with the Animal Rescue League of Iowa. Is that so? I’m looking outside, watching two neighbors’ dogs go at each others’ throat right now. I’m so illegal.

The legislature refused to lift a ban; self-imposed voluntary casino banishment. No Casino for you!

The crowning banning achievement by the legislature is Iowa’s new universal smoking ban. One year ago, they raised taxes on cigarettes by $1.00 per pack. Then the cigarette business went south, literally, and one-third of the tax revenue disappeared.

Now, after weeks of political wrangling, and all ‘for the kids,’ and for greater health of Iowa, we have a new statewide smoking ban. It is banned EVERYWHERE, except a couple of places. Like Casino floors, and hotels and motels, retail tobacco stores, private and semi-private rooms in care facilities, private clubs, limousines, outdoor areas, farm trackers and trucks, the Iowa Veterans Home, and your home.

I’m sure the bar and restaurant owners love this ban… Rural Iowa just dried up even more.

My favorite Iowa ban on the books: The sale of wild turkey bones. Bury those things when you boil off the carcass!

Carping about official state fish

Rights Boy’s good friend Mike Burgher opined about channel catfish in this morning’s Des Moines Register.

You can find his edited letter, along with comments from other readers, here.

The unedited opinion follows.

Another legislative session coming to an end, and no action on crowning my beloved channel catfish as the official state fish! Where is the justice?

The carp lobby has grown strong and become quite vocal this year. Even the walleye crowd, once considered an ally, has become a different kettle of fish.

This is one of the few things the Legislature can do that won’t cost the taxpayers a lot of money along the way. Oh, Brad Zaun, you express such outrage about your dinner; why aren’t you as concerned about mine?

Declare the channel cat as our State Fish!

Zaun, Raecker keep public informed

Rights Boy’s good friend Mike Burgher opined about his State Senator and Representative recently in the Urbandale Community Register. 100% of the reader comments support his opinion.

You can find his edited letter, along with comments from other readers, here.

The unedited opinion follows.

I would like to thank Senator Brad Zaun and Representative Scott Raecker for keeping their constituency so well-informed on the Iowa Legislature. Quite frequently, the Urbandale Community Register includes articles by Zaun and Raecker that discuss the important issues. They are always concise, intelligent and well thought out. They discuss both sides of the issues, and make very clear what Zaun's or Raecker's position is and why.

It’s so much better than receiving a glossy brochure from a Congressman that you never met, parroting phrases that you have heard a hundred times. If you would believe what is written by Congressman Boswell’s handlers, he’s already ended the war, stopped global warming and made it just a perfect place for everybody.

Thank you, Brad and Scott. I don’t always agree with your positions, but I respect them, and each time I read your articles it reminds me of why I proudly voted for both of you.

Now will one of you please consider running for Governor?

Friday Funnies

To heck with the Drake Bulldogs! Let’s talk about the true heroes today.

The pale-face four of the CIETC scandal managed to get their trial moved to Davenport, trying to get far enough away to find a jury that won’t convict then.

I don’t think it will work. I still have faith in Iowans that we’ll eventually throw these crooks in jail and throw away the key. Come on, where are the smiles in that picture?

And where is Archie Brooks? After receiving all those sexual favors from Mona, and writing all those check, he’s going to walk. He’s turning State’s evidence and squealing like a pig. But he’s not a pig. He’s a weasel.

Karl Rove and Alberto Gonzales seem to be in a race to be the highest-paid speaker after leaving this administration. Rove gets $40,000 for each engagement. Gonzales gets $30,000.


I’ve got to give it to ol’ Karl. He has a mind like Darth Vader and is smarter than most people in Congress or the White House. Rove is going to speaking in Iowa City soon, and I understand that there is quite a welcome planned. Watch for fireworks.

But Alberto Gonzales? He made John Ashcroft look like a man of the people. And John Ashcroft made Janet Reno look like a man of the people. Literally. But Alberto Gonzales was a complete disaster. He never understood anything about the law, he was a crappy manager, never took responsibility for anything, blamed everyone else for his ignorance and missteps, and made a nice lap dog for the President.


And that brings me to the Man!

I’m really starting to warm up to President Bush in his last year in office. He has lightened up, and seems to be looking forward to retirement. He’s making jokes daily. Like he’s never heard that gas is headed to $4 per gallon. That’s funny! I think he is counting the days just like the rest of us.

And I really love it when he shakes his groove thing!

What do you think? Leave me a comment and let me know YOUR opinion. And click on a …bla, bla, bla.

Have a great weekend everybody! Root for the Bulldogs when they take on Indiana State today at noon in the MVC tournament.

A Personal Tribute

Today, Rights Boy wants to talk about men’s college basketball; specifically the Drake University Bulldogs.

Every once in a while something takes Right Boy’s mind away from watchin’ out for you, and makes him just sit back and marvel at an amazing, uplifting story. This year, the Bulldogs are such a story. They have had the greatest basketball season in Rights Boy’s adult life. They have won the Missouri Valley Conference for the first time since 1971; after being picked in the pre-season by so-called experts to finish ninth out of ten teams. They won it all!

With a conference record of 15-3, an overall record of 25-4, a win streak of 21 games, and ranked in the NCAA top 25 for the first time in 33 years, they were simply a pleasure to watch.

At the end of the last conference game against Wichita State, the three seniors were recognized for their outstanding contribution to the team.

Leonard Houston, whose father is in prison, was an inspirational story: overcame all odds against him, became an A student as a high school senior, sat on the bench at Drake for three season, and just exploded this year. You can read a great story on Houston at:
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080301/SPORTS020403/803010324/1097

Klayton Korver, from Pella, IA, has been a star on the team for four years and was second in 3-pointers, behind Josh Young. As part of ‘Iowa’s First Family of Basketball,’ Klayton is destined to follow his older brother, Kyle, to the NBA.

Adam Emmenecker, a walk-on (!) led the MVC conference in assists, was the NCAA Academic All-American Player of the Year, and has a good shot to be the MVC Player of the Year. He carries a 3.97 GPA and has four majors! That dude is going to walk into any Fortune 500 company he chooses.

Drake University does NOT mess around with academics; you can’t play sports at Drake and be a bozo in the classroom. The collective GPA of this team is one of the highest in the nation.

Finally, what can you say about Keno Davis? Wins it all in his first coaching season! He is a shoo-in to be the MVC Coach of the Year and has a good shot at the NCAA National Coach of the Year. The genes must run strong in the Davis Family! Dr. Tom turned the team over to son Keno this year, after coaching Drake last year to its first winning season since 1986. It was so great to watch Dr. Tom in the stands this year, just beaming with pride about the team and son Keno.

No matter what happens in the MVC tournament or the NCAA tournament, Drake has had the greatest basketball season since Rights Boy attended, way back in the day. Never thought I’d see it again in my lifetime.

The Rights Wife, not exactly a rabid sports fan, really got into it this year too!

Go Bulldogs! You have made the Drake Nation so proud once again!

Update: Today, Adam Emmenecker was named MVC Player of the Year, joining the likes of Larry Bird and Xavier McDaniel. Emmenecker received 25 out of 40 first-place votes.

On Thursday, Keno Davis was named the MVC Coach of the Year.

1 in 100

There was a great report in the New York Times yesterday about how 1 out of every 100 U.S.adults is now behind bars. You can read it at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/us/28cnd-prison.html?hp

We incarcerate 1% of our adults now, a higher percentage than any other country in the world.

How have we possibly gotten to this point?

I'm not talking about 'prisoner's rights' here, where the government is being sued for a not serving vegetarian meals, by some bozo who doesn't have the fortitude to move his meat away from the peas. I'm talking about how they get there in the first place.

Here in central Iowa we are spending millions on a new jail because the criminal population is overflowing our capacity to incarcerate everybody.

We throw people in jail for years in this country for stunningly trivial offenses. There were originally three ways to go to jail at the federal level - now there are over 4,500.

Is it the Federal sentencing guidelines? Because they have NOT resulted in what they were intended for, and now we are stuck with them. The U.S. Supreme Court has to rule on the fairness of these over and over again.

Is it ‘three strikes you’re out?’ There are people in jail now for most of the rest of their life because they were hungry and metaphorically stole some bread three times, Sort of like Les Miserables.

Is it because people don’t take any personal responsibility anymore? A lot of people in jail were never taken to church as a child, never taught good manners, and there were never any consequences for their bad behavior as they were growing up.

Is it the lack of gun control?

Or, is it because our society is simply fed up with crime, and it’s easier to throw people in jail forever, out of sight, out of mind, and let’s just forget about rehabilitation?

Because folks, it costs you and I a lot of money; almost $24,000 per year per person behind bars. Last year, we spent $49 billion dollars nationally keeping people in jail, and it just goes up every year.

What do you think? There is a survey to the right. Please vote and let me know your opinion. If you have any other ideas, leave me a comment by clicking on that little underlined comments thingy below, and I’ll add it to the survey.

Have a great weekend! And don’t do anything bad, because your butt will get hauled to jail!

I woke up!

Rights Boy has finally woken up from a long winter’s nap. And there is still eight inches of snow on the ground outside! When is this global warming thing going to kick in around here?

Today, Rights Boy wants to talk about a couple of his good friends.

First, I’d like to introduce you to Gul DuCurry – pride of the Cardassian Empire.

Don’t mess with Gul DuCurry; if you run into her in a dark alley, slowly turn the other way and run, because she will kick your ass!

Her nickname is Golda Curry, and you can see her demonstrating martial arts and coordinating competitions at celebrAsian, Iowa’s 6th Annual Asian Heritage Festival, on May 17th at the State Capitol East Complex. For more information, check out the site http://www.celebrasian.org/.



Second, please meet Mr. Clean. Mr. Clean hangs out on the Des Moines Register’s web site, http://www.desmoinesregister.com/, commenting on news stories and blogs. He’s sort of a Will Rogers, Mark Twain kind of guy; he can’t come up with anything original himself, but he likes to write short zingers at others.

He is often featured in the ‘Reader Comment’ sidebars in the printed version of the Register, recently on topics including the Drake Men’s basketball team, the endless Iowa winter, Urbandale pool situation, bike trails, and Erin Crawford’s garden.


So, summarizing me and my friends:

Rights Boy blogs here,

Mike Burgher writes letters to Editors, Congress, and anyone else who still accepts his mail,

Mr. Clean writes commentary on the Register’s website,

Gul DuCurry kicks your ass.

Any questions?

Click on the little underlined comment thingy below, and leave me a comment!

Ethanol Redux

Rights Boy’s good friend Mike Burgher opined in the Des Moines Sunday Register on ethanol; “A Crime against Humanity,” according to one United Nations official.

Rights Boy had previously posted the unedited version here. His favorite reader, Anonymous, ripped Rights Boy a new one for the opinion.

You can never please Anonymous!

First in the Nation in Weird

Most of the time, Iowans are normal, boring, middle-of-the-road farmers, bankers and insurance agents.

But when that special time comes around for Iowa’s ‘first in the nation’ presidential candidate selection, when the spotlight is on, Iowa proves that it is also first in the nation in weirdness. Odd news from Iowa has been so plentiful lately that we have been a regular feature on Fark.com and apparently under consideration for our own coveted weird ‘Iowa’ logo. We have finally made it.

The great pumpkin tax – Just in time for Halloween, Iowa started taxing pumpkins, deciding that they were decorations and not food. Forms were available at grocery stores and pumpkin patches where you could swear to the State that you were going to eat that pumpkin instead of making a Jack-o-Lantern and thus avoid the sales tax.

Boys with toys – A man was arrested in Cedar Rapids after a government agent allegedly found him in an office building restroom with his pants down lying next to an inflatable, anatomically correct doll. Everyone hoped that the doll was of legal age and didn’t have any communicable diseases.



Propping up the mammary industry – $200 or the best offer; a woman who doesn't want her breast milk to go to waste has taken out a newspaper ad in hopes of selling it.









Man’s best friend – Apparently deciding he’d had enough, a dog on a hunting trip pulled a Dick Cheney and blasted a man with a shotgun at close range. ‘Wufff! You go chase that damn duck!’

Stay tuned for more...

The Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy

No one can read our Constitution without concluding that the people who wrote it wanted their government severely limited; the words "no" and "not" employed in restraint of government power occur 24 times in the first seven articles of the Constitution and 22 more times in the Bill of Rights.
– Edmund A. Opitz


A recent letter to the DM Register by associate professor Kevin Gannon (“Civics quiz leans sharply to the right”) left Rights Boy wondering about his qualifications to teach history. See his letter at :

http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071023/OPINION04/710230360/1035/OPINION

I agree with Gannon on the need for more civic literacy in our country. It is a sad fact that immigrants who have studied to become American citizens tend to have a better understanding of U.S. history than a typical high school graduate.

But Gannon’s assertion that teaching the principles of “limited government” and a “free-market economy” is part of a vast right-wing conspiracy against academic freedom is absurd and shockingly ignorant coming from a college professor.

America was not founded on the principles of big government and socialist economics. Our Founding Fathers preached that “less is best” regarding government, and its citizens are owed little more than common protection and the opportunity to succeed through hard work.

Unfortunately, through a number of so-called populist or progressive moves, clearly unconstitutional, by both liberals and conservatives, we now have a massive federal government that domestically does very little other than redistributes wealth. The government provides welfare to every special group that you can think of: corporations, farmers, illegal immigrants, even the so-called “poor” that own a house and two cars yet cannot afford health insurance.

Gannon’s contention that right-wing groups are against academic freedom doesn’t match reality. Rights Boy's observation is that conservatives simply want a more comprehensive curriculum than the narrow, cookie-cutter, politically correct socialist nonsense that Gannon teaches.

Your Papers, Old Man ?? Part 2

Last Friday, Rights Boy’s good friend Mike Burgher opined about a recent traffic safety checkpoint in the Urbandale Register. He lamented about the chipping away at privacy, due process and protection from unreasonable search, all in the name of education or security. He also questioned the purpose and goal of this event as well as the cost, suggesting that it was a huge waste of taxpayer dollars.

Several Register readers agreed with Mike; you can read the letter online with comments by other Des Moines Register readers here.

By some strange coincidence, at 2:30 Friday afternoon, the Central Iowa Traffic Safety Task Force released the results of the checkpoint. You can find a summary of the results here.

After advertising this event as “more about education than enforcement,” the results showed the true purpose - 192 vehicles were stopped and 179 citations were issued. Some of the citations were stunningly trivial, such as not enough air in a tire. If this had been truly about education, they would have issued more warnings instead of citations.

This whole thing has demonstrated to Rights Boy that we are one step closer to a Police State, right here in little ol’ Iowa. What kind of priority is it to pull 40 officers off the street, keep them from doing something useful, dress them up in SWAT gear, and without any probable cause, pull vehicles over and intimidate drivers. Many Register readers weighed in after the results were published. Read those comments here.

What a country! I feel so much safer now.

Where are your papers, old man ??

Rights Boy’s good friend Mike Burgher opines about a recent traffic safety checkpoint in the Urbandale Register this morning. You can read the letter below and online with comments by other Des Moines Register readers here.


On Sept. 21, eastbound traffic on Hickman Road was subjected to a "traffic safety checkpoint" with traffic reduced to one lane, drivers randomly stopped, vehicles inspected, and licenses and registrations examined.

It was pretty high-profile, too - collaboration between the Governor's Traffic Safety Bureau, Central Iowa Traffic Safety Task Force and Urbandale, Clive and Windsor Heights police departments.

While it is quite legal in Iowa to set up a checkpoint and stop citizens without cause, request their papers and inspect and search their cars, it still bothers me. It reminds me how easily today we accept without question the chipping away at privacy, due process, protection from unreasonable search to name a few - all in the name of education or security or terrorists or whatever.What was the purpose or goal of this event and how much did the whole thing cost? What were the expected outcomes and did the event achieve its objectives? Because from my perspective watching, it looked like a huge waste of taxpayer money and took valuable public safety personnel off the streets.

We have a great police department in Urbandale as I'm sure there are in the surrounding communities. But I think it has more important things to do. As far as the Traffic Safety Bureau and Traffic Safety Task Force - if this is what these groups spend their time dreaming up, they should be dismantled and save the taxpayers some money.

Des Moines – It’s a Good Thing

Rights Boy’s good friend Paul Chastain visited central Iowa over the Independence Day holiday. Paul grew up in Des Moines but has lived in Texas for a number of years. After a few days here, he reflected on how Des Moines had changed over the last 30 years.

“The downtown is really built up, although the Ruan Center is still the same old rusty building,” he remarked. “The new walking bridges over the freeway are really cool and the bike trails are everywhere and are just world class.”

On Friday night we went to an I-Cubs game in one of the best minor league ballparks in the country. The I-Cubs won and there was a great fireworks show afterward.

What Paul said is so true; and it took someone that had been away for awhile to remind Rights Boy what a good thing we have here. Central Iowa is a wonderful place to live and a great place to grow up, work or retire.

Which brings me to Project Destiny; the tax scheme that raises sales tax by 17%, promises to reduce property taxes, and invest in all of the “cultural amenities” that we are missing here in central Iowa. The latest arguments I heard from the “Yes to Destiny” crowd were 1) People leave Iowa and move to the west coast because of the bike trails, and 2) How will we ever be like Denver without more investment?

These people are getting desperate with their arguments. I don’t want Des Moines to be Denver or Los Angeles. I love the way the Metro area is right now. I want to enjoy it the way it is for awhile without an additional tax burden.

Rights Boy will be voting NO new tax. However you feel, don’t forget to vote tomorrow. Don’t assume your vote is not important.

Lots happened this last weekend!

Your government at work. President Bush stuck his fishing boat against the rocks this weekend. Luckily, divers from the Secret Service where there to free the Command Guy.




Beautiful! Patriotic! An artist turns a 700-pound block of Land O' Lakes cheddar cheese into a replica of Mount Rushmore.




Not the CornCobs. Des Moines' new NBA-affiliated minor-league basketball franchise will be known as the Iowa Energy.

No to Destiny. Opponents of a proposal to raise the sales tax in Dallas, Polk and Warren counties outnumber supporters nearly 2 to 1 among likely voters in a special election on July 10.

Ron Paul – Iowa Rally on Saturday, June 30

Congressman Ron Paul is coming to Des Moines, Iowa Saturday, June 30th to hold a rally, where he will share his message of freedom, peace and prosperity. Rights Boy will be there too! Come out to show your support.

Details about the event can be found here.

RSVP for the Rally today!

Ten reasons to vote for Ron Paul in 2008:

He has never voted to raise taxes.

He has never voted for an unbalanced budget.

He has never voted for a federal restriction on gun ownership.

He has never voted to raise congressional pay.

He has never taken a government-paid junket.

He has never voted to increase the power of the executive branch.

He voted against the Patriot Act.

He voted against regulating the Internet.

He voted against the Iraq war.

He does not participate in the lucrative congressional pension program.

He returns a portion of his annual congressional office budget to the U.S. treasury every year.

OK, that was 11 reasons; all pretty good ones.

What does sales tax mean to Register?

Rights Boy’s good friend Mike Burgher opined on the Destiny sales tax in the DM Register on Saturday. You can read the opinion and comments by other Register readers here.

The unedited version follows.

Practically on a daily basis, The Des Moines Register prints yet another article supporting the Yes to Destiny tax scheme. You people need to move this stuff to the opinion page because it’s not news and by now everyone certainly understands your position on the issue.

I will give the Register credit though for continuing to push Destiny so publicly. Seems like the rest of the Greater Des Moines Tax Partnership has disappeared; sort of like a bunch of weasels hunkered down in their holes. I think they know what’s going to happen on July 10 when Destiny is brutally defeated, and they don’t want to be so publicly associated with it.

It would be interesting to see specifically what the Register gets out of Destiny. How much property tax relief does the newspaper and the others in the Partnership anticipate for themselves? On the other side, it looks like you and the partners are at most marginally affected by a 17% sales tax increase, since none of you make any significant retail purchases.

I know the Register is a private business, but as much as it preaches about open records and transparency and everybody’s right to know, you should set the example - lay your cards on the table and disclose financially what you have to gain from this new tax.

Vote NO to Destiny. Demand more accountability from government.