Deductable?

via Acidman

A bank robber has been allowed to claim the £1,400 cost of the gun he used
as a legitimate business expense.

The 46-year-old criminal was able to set the price of the pistol
against his gross proceeds of £4,700, which he stole in the southern Dutch town
of Chaam.
Jailing him for four years, the judge at Breda criminal court
reduced his fine by that amount.
The Dutch prosecutors' service said
yesterday that the judge had followed sound legal precedents.

Leendert De Lange, a spokesman, said: "You can compare criminal acts to
normal business activities, where you must invest to make profits, and thus you
have costs."

Read the rest. Oy. Citizens are treated like criminals when they defend themselves and crimals are treated like legitimate businessmen when they deduct the "tools of the trade". Good grief. And Michael Moron thinks we should be more European? Over my dead body.

Social Security Reform

There is a lot of banter lately about President Bush's proposal to allow younger workers to place some of their retirement funds in private accounts. The seasoned citizens and many, many, many others are wailing and gnashing their teeth over this. I heard a report this morning where an older gentleman said: "They should just leave it the way it is, I don't want my benefits cut." and a young(er) lady said: "I don't know anything about investing, I think they should just do it for me."

Sheesh. Where is the personal responsibility that everyone is so keen on? Where is the knowledgeable debate? The old guy should have known that his bennies wouldn't be affected by this reform. He's golden and going to stay just like he is. The lady makes me sick by her logic that since she doesn't want to learn about it, the rest of us should suffer.

The plan is to allow younger workers (probably younger than 45, I hope, since I'm only 41!) invest a portion of their SS monies into a privately-managed account. That means that we could invest some of this just like we do our 401k and other retirement assets. What's so scary about that? I know why the polititians are not supporting it...Because it takes away some of their power. But why are the citizens opposed to it? Good grief. Do you not know that all of the money you "contribute" to the Social Security fund is:
1. No longer yours
2. Not in a fund at all

Al gore talked all about his "lock box", but no one ever brought up the fact that there is no money in SS at all. NONE. AT. ALL. Did you get that? All of the money that is take in under the current system is immediately put in the general fund and spent with reckless abandon, with an I.O.U. slip put in the SS "lock box". Luckily, we still put more money in than is taken out, so the IOU's aren't more than the revenues needed to pay the recipients. That is all going to change...Soon.

Did you also know that no matter how much you "contribute" to the fund, there is no guarantee

that you will get any of it back. remember, it's your retirement money. You earned it sweating out the years at work, but you have no claim to it at all. If you should die at the age of 50, having contributed 10's of thousands of dollars, your estate does not own any of that asset.

What if it was in a private account and you died? Hmmmm? Your estate would control the funds and they could be used any way your deem proper. That thought strikes fear and loathing into the hearts of the money-grabbers on Capitol Hill.

Think about this before you have a knee-jerk reaction to the breathless reporting from the press.

Local Politics

From Chris Graham

LANDES MARKS SUCCESS IN EFFORT TO STRIP THE CODE:
Weyers Cave Republican Del. Steve Landes has been working since 1997 to
remove outdated and obsolete laws from the state code.

On Tuesday, the sixth bill in his 2005 legislative package aimed at
stripping down the code book passed the House of Delegates.

The legislation covers areas from definitions for highway vehicles to a
1950 law requiring Dickenson and Buchanan counties to pay for game wardens to a
1954 prohibition against hunting deer with a rifle in Essex County.

"I am grateful to my colleagues in the House of Delegates for adopting
these common-sense measures to reduce the number of obsolete laws we still have
on the books in Virginia," Landes said on Tuesday.

"This yearly effort, which is now completed by the Virginia Code
Commission on which I serve, simplifies and clarifies the Code of Virginia and
the Acts of Assembly for all our citizens," Landes said.

This is a great effort. Any time a legislator removes laws, it is a good thing. Go Steve!

Blog, Interrupted

Sorry, life got in the way for a couple of weeks. But mom-in-law is now moved in and we should be getting back to a somewhat normal schedule now