You Can't Blame It On Crazy

How many more people must die before our nation is finally willing to have an honest discussion on the issues related to gun violence.  You can only blame it on 'crazy' so many times.  At some point we must move towards preventing the next tragedy....

Blog Post coming soon on the issues of gun violence, mental health, crime and prevention.

Gay Marriage Goes Supreme

Source: This is What Marriage Equality Looks Like

Follow Liberal is Logical on Twitter:@JeffDFreeman

In what could turn out to be one of the brightest or darkest days for civil rights in American history, the United States Supreme Court has decided to rule on the issue of gay marriage.  The Court announced Friday afternoon it will hear two cases challenging state and federal laws pertaining to marriage equality.  The challenges include Proposition 8, a controversial ban on gay marriage in California, and the federal Defense of Marriage Act, DOMA, which was passed by a Republican Congress and signed into law by Democratic President Bill Clinton.  Though President Clinton has since changed his position and called for repeal of DOMA, the fact the law was passed by both political parties gives some indication of how far we've come since 1996.  On the other hand, Proposition 8 was actually passed in California through popular vote in 2008 when President Obama swept into office; which had to be one of the most conflicting days for civil rights activists in modern history as the nation elects its first black president and simultaneously bans gay marriage in one of the most liberal states in the union.  However, it would appear after the most recent election the tides have officially turned in favor of equality.

The Price Of Life In America Is About To Go Up

Follow Liberal is Logical on Twitter: @JeffDFreeman

Occupy Wall Street Protests, Source: Occupy WallStreet

Many conservatives are calling Obama's proposal to raise taxes on the rich class warfare, but if there is a war going on, the rich are winning it hands down.  And if you happen to be one of the many Americans who oppose tax increases, even on the rich, then ask yourself what that position really means for your pocket book.  The answer may give you cause to reconsider your position.

Obama Says Tax The Rich, GOP Counter With The Working Poor

Image Source: The Age, Rich Getting Richer, 11/07/2010

Follow Liberal is Logical on Twitter: @JeffDFreeman

Obama asks the rich to pay a bit more and to no one's surprise Republicans counter with increased taxes on the middle class and working poor.  Obama's opening proposal in the fiscal cliff talks was in line with his promises on the campaign trail as they called for increasing tax revenue by allowing the Bush tax cuts for the top income bracket to expire.  Republicans scoffed at Obama's first offer and countered with their own proposal calling for extending the Bush tax cuts for all earners, including the top bracket, and raising revenue instead by allowing payroll tax cuts to expire; a truly inspired proposal given that 82% of working households pay more in payroll taxes than they do income taxes.[1]  Politics aside, at the end of the day, tax rates matter far less than a person's actual tax liability; in other words, what matters most is what people have actually paid after filing their taxes.  The answer to who pays what might surprise you.

Who Are The Most Underrepresented People In America?

New members of Congress, Capital Hill, Washington D.C.

Republicans in the newly elected House of Representatives recently selected committee chairs for the 113th Congress and in spite of the most diverse voting population in U.S. history all 19 chairs selected were white and male.  After intense criticism, the GOP revised their committee chair selections from 19 white male chairmen to 18 white male chairmen with one white female as chair of the House Administration Committee, a committee on which she did not serve in the 112th Congress.  Aside from being morally questionable, such an overt and deliberate lack of diversity has much larger implications.  The United States is a representative democracy, but if its representatives fail to reflect the diversity of the nation, then it will inevitably fail in its primary goal of being a government of the people, by the people and for the people.  This central question of diversity and representation in Congress deserves deeper examination.  So who are the most underrepresented people in America?  The answer might surprise you.

The Biggest Lie In America Today

Grover Norquist, Source: Business Insider, November 2012

Grover Norquist, a conservative lobbyist and founder of Americans for Tax Reform, has made a career by trumpeting the biggest lie in American politics.  The problem is most people don't know it's a lie.  By continuing to push the idea that Americans are overtaxed, Mr. Norquist has added to a growing misconception about taxation in the US.  The New York Times Reports that in 1944 when the US was engaged in World War II, in spite of historically high income tax rates, including a 94% tax rate on the highest earners, roughly 90% of all Americans believed their tax rates were fair.  Yet today, as the US remains entrenched in an eleven year war in Afghanistan and with historically low income tax rates including roughly half the country having no income tax liability at all, a shrinking number of Americans still believe their rates are fair.  In fact, it was the perceived threat of higher taxes that eventually gave birth to the conservative Tea Party movement, a group whose very name is an acronym for Taxed Enough Already.

Does Equality Threaten The Sanctity of Marriage?

Image Source: CBS News, 7 November 2012

Opponents of marriage equality often cite the need to protect the sanctity of marriage as reason for denying gay couples their right to equal protection under the law, yet there is no credible evidence that gay marriage has any influence on heterosexual marriage, let alone poses any real threat.  If it is true that marriage is a covenant between two people and God, then it would follow that the greatest threat to the sanctity of marriage would be anything resulting in a breaking of that covenant.  With divorce rates hovering around 50%, it would seem the greatest threat to marriage is divorce itself, so it's worth considering its leading causes. In truth, it's a complex issue and there are many causes of divorce for heterosexual couples, but gay marriage is not one of them.