Steer Clear of Buying Breakfasts for Voters

I would say, don't even buy them the dinners.

Don't buy them the breakfasts.

Running up to Saturdays state conventions, candidates have been buying breakfasts, lunches and dinners for delegates who will be voting for them.

My thought is, though a dinner might seem a small gift for a candidate to be giving to a voter, and while it might seem not enough of an investment to swing a vote, steer clear, anyway.

If you don't think it is helping your campaign, if you don't think it can, then why do it?
And, if you think it will help your campaign, all the more reason not to do it. If you think it will, that is a warning you might be buying their votes.

Steer clear. Buying a breakfast might seem like a small thing, but steer clear of it, anyway.

Don't Slap Away Warren Buffett's Hand

If a billionaire wants to give you a billion bucks, don't turn him away.

I'd recommend Uncle Sam take that money.

Some time ago, Warren Buffett suggested he and other fellow richlanders should pay a higher share of taxes. That suggestion earned him the honor of having a congressional bill named after him. President Obama and some other Democrats wanted to have every millionaire pay a minimum of 30 percent in taxes. They called their plan the Buffett Rule, and yesterday -- the day before Tax Day -- the Senate rejected it.

I don't know enough about the effects of the Buffett Rule to know if I would favor it. But, I do know our governing leaders should be jumping to take the money Buffett is offering. Set it up so he and his fellow richies can voluntarily contribute, supposing you don't want to actually tax them more. Do something. Don't let that money just set there on the table.

America is a poor boy these days. Don't turn Buffett away. What is that saying? Don't bite the hand that feeds you? Well, don't slap away the hand that wants to feed you, either.

'Few Men have Virtue to Withstand Highest Bidder.'

"Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder." -- George Washington

No time to post much, so I will return to posting a George Washington quote, as I did a week or two ago. I admire Washington much. Next to the Savior, he would be close to the man I admire most. But, not being too much of a scholar, I have never known how much wisdom he offered, till I started reading his quotes.

Is Owning a Business Protected by Constitution?

I'm neither scholar enough nor lawyer enough to know, but I wonder if the Supreme Court has ever considered how government regulation squares with the Fourteenth Amendment.

". . . nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law."

Is the right to own a business a constitutional right, inasmuch as a business can be considered property?

If it is, government restrictions against setting up shop might be in question.

This would be a delicate topic for the Court, for if we do consider businesses to be property, then what of the right of a person to open a medical practice -- without training and without license.

My inclination is to say we need training and licensing in medicine, so how would we square this with the Fourteenth Amendment?

Perhaps the Founding Fathers were thinking only of land and physical property when they wrote the Fourteenth Amendment. I do not know. But, inasmuch as businesses can be bought and sold, there is good argument they should fall under the Constitution's protection.

If there's too Much Regulation, Why don't We Shed Some?

You could probably poll elected officials in Utah and the majority would say there is too much government regulation.

Why, then, is it seldom heard of one of them proposing legislation that would reduced the amount of regulation? Would it really lead to bad haircuts, for example, if we tossed out licensing for hair care? Just said, Go ahead and cut hair. If the customers don't like the way you cut it, they probably won't frequent your business long.

If we looked at our industries one by one, searching for regulation that we could clean from the books, there would surely be a lot of regulations we would decide to keep.

But, we would find many to get rid of.

If we really think there is too much regulation, why, then, don't we get rid of some? Why?

I Want Choice When it Comes to Buying Electricity

Tell me, again, why the only place I can buy my electricity from is Rocky Mountain Power.

I see no reason why as many companies as might want shouldn't be allowed to sell me electricity. I should be able to buy it from a wind farm, for that matter, if I should so desire.

The power lines could be government-owned, with the power from the various providers all running together in the same lines. I remember back where I grew up, on a farm near Paul, Idaho, how the irrigation water for all the farmers came down the same ditch, and it was government owned, by an entity known (I believe) as the Minidoka Irrigation District.

It was a sound system, and it worked. We each didn't need our our ditch all the way from the well. A government-owned ditch allowed everyone's water to be in the same ditch. Electricity could be the same, owned by different parties, but all moving down the same "ditch," the same electric line.

Give me choice, even if it does mean the government owns the power lines. I'm fine with that.

In America, Did You Say?

In America, there might be only one electricity provider in each community.

And, one gas company.

In America, the government often franchises out ambulance service, so only one serves a community.

Sometimes, even the number of taxi companies are limited, and you need a franchise from the government.

In America, they limit how many medical schools there can be in various states. Yes, that's in America, too.

In America, sometimes you have a choice of one when it comes to insurance companies offered through your workplace.