The Frary Home Companion

TAX REFORM OR TAX FRAUD???

CLAIM: TAX “Reform” will lower the personal income tax rate to 6 1/2%, from the current 8 1/2%

REALITY: By eliminating the tax deduction for property taxes and health care expenses, the new rate is REALLY 8% - and the new law eliminates indexing also - so your taxes will automatically go up every year with “bracket creep”. And the new taxes include “Elimination of the minimum tax credit for individuals that may be claimed on returns due for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2010” which automatically raises your income taxes $150!

CLAIM: “87% of Maine taxpayers will see a decrease in taxes”. "REALITY: Every person making less than $19,000 a year will see an INCREASE in taxes." MOST homeowners and people paying for their own health insurance making less than $70,000 a year with see an increase in taxes. People with older cars, or who cannot cook much at home will see an increase in taxes. (Of course, people making more than $250,000 a year will see some tax relief. Until the legislature raises taxes again"2010???" CLAIM: TAX “Reform” is revenue neutral, i.e., does not raise overall taxes "REALITY:" This is really a Tax INCREASE . The Legislature got rid of indexing and reduced the standard deduction for Mainers. This will increase Maine taxes $50 million.

YOU CAN BET YOUR BOTTOM DOLLAR that next year (AFTER the ELECTION, of course), when a $ BILLION DOLLAR hole is "found" in the state budget, IF the spenders who passed this bill are still in office, they will raise the Income Tax again by “adjusting” the credits.

Democrat leaders will have achieved their purpose - BAIT & SWITCH..

Here is a PARTIAL LIST of the new taxes under this bill (SORRY, BUT IT TAKES 4 PAGES JUST TO LIST THE BULK OF THEM):

Meals & Lodging, Prepared Food Tax Changes • 8.5% tax (up from 7%) • 8.5% tax (up from 5%) on candy Car Rentals (less than 1 year) • 15% (up from 10%) Telephone Service • 5% (up from 0%) on residential long distance calls • 5% (up from 0%) on pre-paid cards TAXABLE SERVICES @ 5% Installation, repair, maintenance "Installation, repair or maintenance services" means all services involved in the installation, repair or maintenance of • jewelry • cameras • guns • musical instruments • electronic and mechanical equipment • lawn and garden equipment • computer hardware • office equipment • vehicles • appliances • tailoring • clothing • shoe repair • furniture repair and restoration • service and maintenance contracts Amusement, entertainment, recreation Tickets to • theaters • movies • lectures • concerts • amusement parks • water parks • fairgrounds except for licensed agricultural fairs • race tracks • carnivals • circuses • sports activities • stadiums • amphitheaters • museums • planetariums • animal parks • petting zoos • aquariums • historical sites • convention centers Admission fees for exhibition shows such as • auto • boat • camping • home • garden • animal • antique shows Scenic and sightseeing excursions including • aircraft • helicopter • balloon • blimp • watercraft • railroad • bus • trolley • wagon rides *Whitewater rafting and guided recreation. Entertainment services such as those provided by • bands • orchestras • disc jockeys • comedians • clowns • jugglers • children's entertainers • ventriloquists Proceeds from arcade games Personal property "Personal property services" means the following services related to personal property • dry cleaning • laundry and diaper services • not including self-service laundry services • embroidery and monogramming • car washing • pressure cleaning and washing • pet services such as • exercising • sitting • training • grooming • boarding for nonmedical purposes • picture framing Domestic services, including • house cleaning • furniture and rug cleaning • interior decoration • meal preparation • butchering • art restoration • warehousing and storage, including • rental of storage units and warehouse space, but not including warehousing and storage services provided to a business. • moving services • vehicle towing • boat mooring Transportation and courier services. "Transportation and courier services" means instate transportation of persons or property by • taxicab • limousine • courier services .

Wake up and SIGN the People's Veto and VOTE THIS DOWN!

Professor John Frary of Maine is a scholar, patriot, gourmand and curmudgeon and Board Member of Maine Taxpayers United as well as a former US Congress candidate and retired history professor, and an associate editor of the International Military Encyclopedia. and can be reached
at: jfrary8070@aol.com

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TORTURE, American Style

I assume that everyone understands the politics of the torture debate. The Democrats see an opportunity to seize the moral high ground by comparing Republican wickedness with Democratic sensitivity and humanity. The hardcore left sees the torture issue as another weapon with which to condemn the War of Terror, along with profiling, wiretapping, border security, rendition, military commissions, Gitmo detention, bombs, bullets and weapons in general.

Generally, they detest anything that compromises the moral purity of the United States. Never mind that leftward writings on American history typically assert that American history is an unbroken record of misogyny, racism, imperialism, colonialism, genocide, brutality, and capitalist exploitation. Patriots must take pleasure in their belated discovery of our precious heritage of moral grandeur.

The relevant passage in international law defines torture as any act by which "severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person." United States law adopts this definition in prohibiting torture. So the CIA lawyers ask the Office of Legal Council to, in effect, define "severe." The OLC lawyers produce a rather comical list of permissible techniques of coercion, e.g., you can bitch-slap your prisoner upside the head but you mustn’t punch him with a closed fist. These methods of coercion are delicately term "enhanced interrogation" techniques.

The liberals and leftists aren’t buying this. If they recognize any form of coercion as acceptable they have not taken the trouble to disclose it. We would be putting words into their mouths if we said they believe that interrogation must be gentle and reassuring, a form of therapy intended to relieve the prisoners of any form of stress which might constitute mental suffering. We simply don’t know what they consider suitable methods of interrogation. They decline to define.

And they are not content to condemn torture as morally indefensible. They insist on having it both ways by asserting the torture, er, "enhanced interrogation" is ineffective because the information gained is unreliable.

Sure it is. And so what? There is no form of intelligence-gathering which is guaranteed reliable. There are disinformation techniques for them all. We know that the rule in the French Resistance was that if the Gestapo took one of their operatives they had just 24-hours before he told the tale in full. It is enough to condemn the Gestapo as a pack of merciless sadists. No need to characterize them as incompetent bunglers as well.

Col. Leo Thorsness who experienced a great deal of torture in North Vietnam has some expertise on the subject and I’m inclined to accept his judgment over that of the usual agitated wind-bags. I quote: "Torture, when used by an expert, can produce useful, truthful information. I base that on my experience. I believe that during torture, there is a narrow "window of truth" as pain (often multiple kinds) is increased. Beyond that point, if torture increases, the person breaks, or dies if he continues to resist."

Thorsness and Bud Day don’t consider waterboarding torture. John McCain does. It looks like torture to me. Torture or not, Colonel Thorsness has this to say: "If I were to catch a "mad bomber" running away from an explosive I would not hesitate a second to use "enhanced interrogation," including waterboarding, if it would save lives of innocent people."

Senator Schumer (D-NY) concurs. He had this to say on tape (you will find it on the Internet) during a hearing of the senate judiciary committee on June 8th, 2004. "I think there are probably very few people in this room or in America who would say that torture should never, ever be used, particularly if thousands of lives are at stake. Take the hypothetical: If we knew that there was a nuclear bomb hidden in an American city and we believed that some kind of torture, fairly severe maybe, would give us a chance of finding that bomb before it went off, my guess is most Americans and most senators, maybe all, would say, Do what you have to do."

Advocates of American moral purity condemn this. For the sake of clarity they should specifically state how many American lives they are willing to sacrifice for their high ideals—a hundred, a thousand, a hundred thousand? Their unwillingness to do so exposes their moral posturing for what it is.

So what can we conclude? It will be odious and destructive to make torture a national policy. We are unwilling to deliberately sacrifice lives in defense of a legal or moral principle. Perhaps we can only hope that we have responsible officials who are willing to do the dirty at the risk of prison or dismissal when it is necessary; and that they will be allowed to get off with light sentences and their pensions.

Not a very satisfactory, much less absolutist, resolution is it? Damn, there must be some way to escape the real world.

Professor John Frary of Maine is a scholar, patriot, curmudgeon and Board Member of Maine Taxpayers United as well as a former US Congress candidate and retired history professor, and an associate editor of the International Military Encyclopedia. and can be reached
at: jfrary8070@aol.com

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