SCOTUS and Same Sex Marriage

The Supreme Court has decided to take up the issue of the right of same sex couples to marry. You have got to be kidding me.  Let’s be realistic here, marriage was formed by religion to protect the family unit.

Wikipedia describes the etymology of the word marriage coming from Middle English, then French and finally Latin, MATER, meaning mother and MONIUM meaning state, condition or action. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage)  What could the state of a mother be? What about the children of this couple? What don’t you get?  Scientifically, same sex couples CAN NOT procreate within the union.  Should the person that gave them the sperm or the egg also be a part of the union?

Several gay men that I know argue the reasoning for acknowledgement of their marriage to a same sex partner is that they can not inherit from their spouse the same way that a husband and wife can transfer property at death.  Yes, the mother has raised children and worked in the home as an unpaid worker for years.  So what these men are saying is that they want to have their marriage recognized for the self-serving reason of paying less in income and inheritance taxes.

Laws regarding marriage were formed to protect a family of husband, wife and children.  The husband worked and the wife stayed home and took care of children.  Even in today’s world with the need for a second income, the woman working outside the home will make less money than the man, and contributes equally or more (in hours) to the man.  So is it not fair that the woman owns equally the household estate?

The suggestion that same sex couples should be able to equally own the household estate is ridiculous.  If the couple has an equal earning potential, and equally divides the work, they have a half ownership in the estate.  Do a brother and sister who have never married but maintained their family home equally with income and time have the same income tax advantages of a family?  How about two people that have moved in together to save on expenses, but have no romantic interest in each other?  Will our country then grant the “marriage” status and deductions to these classes as well?

My final thoughts?  Take a close look at the Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch, all three panels of the triptych.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Garden_of_Earthly_Delights.  If SCOTUS legalizes same sex marriage they are pushing us one step closer to the end.

A Rose by Any Other Name …

The names “Republican”, “Democrat”, “Independent”, etc. are just that, only names.  In fact, the Republican party was originally the “anti-slavery” party formed in the mid 1800′s by northern activists, and is now demonized as the party that as our ‘illustrious’ vice-president Joe Biden proffered wants to “put us back in chains.”  Talk about confusing!.  I thoroughly believe that many voters today vote for a name, not a belief.  I have friends that are vehemently democratic, yet most of their views are strong republican.

I just finished taking this political ideology test, http://www.pbs.org/newshour/vote2012/quiz/.  Very interesting, and one of the few that you don’t have to put all of your personal information in to get the results.  I found out that I am a Republican Black Male Christian, under the age of 18.

If you do take the test, be sure to click on all of the tabs and categories to see what your beliefs and candidate match are.  And above all, be honest.  No one will know how you answered except you.

Proposed South Illinois

One proposal for a new state of South Illinois would include the counties adjacent to and south of Springfield.  The area is approximately half of the state and includes 51 of the 102 counties of Illinois.  According to the 2010 census, that would make the population of South Illinois about 1,880,071 or approximately 15% of the current population of Illinois.  These counties have lost approximately 20% of their population between the 2000 and 2010 census reports.  The major reason is that our current political machine in Chicago does not invest in economic development in the south.  With our more more central location in the country, and large areas available for development, I believe that Chicago doesn’t want the competition.  From a business perspective, the corporate taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, etc. are so high that it is not feasible for them to develop in the south. Most deals are made for Chicago.

Lack of investment in infrastructure in the south has also caused the old cities to deteriorate.  But we were good enough for oil refineries and power houses!  Although this too is a problem.  Obama’s desire to drastically reduce the usage of coal will destroy even these jobs for South Illinois.

Housing is an interesting statistic to look at.  The proposed counties in this plan have 51% of the total single family housing units in the current state with a median home value of approximately $86,500, a median range of counties of $56,300 to $201,300. Statewide the median home price is $198,500.  It does sound bad at first, but the big thing that is not included in this is our famous, or infamous as some might call them, refineries and powerhouses.  Most importantly, it does not include our agricultural land.

That’s enough statistics for now.  If you would like to look at statewide and county statistics, you can see them at this link:  http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/17000.html.

Illinois Style Politics Will Force You Over the Fiscal Cliff

The sad thing about this administration is that now the rest of the country is now a participant in the nasty business of the Chicago political game.  As residents of Illinois, we have experienced the tactics used by our deal-making bacon-distributing President for years.  Sorry, America, of the lower 51 counties of Illinois only 3 voted to continue his bank-breaking policies.

Think about this scenario … you’ve worked all your life and paid taxes on your income and you have finally created an estate to leave your 2.5 children an estate worth 1 million.  After taxes, they will each get about $220,000.  Great!  they can a buy a house, and then their 2.5 children, your grandchildren, will each get about $48,000.  Sorry, they won’t be able to buy a house, let alone pay for college tuition.  That family farm?  It will have to be sold to pay for the taxes by your heirs.

Don’t let this President organize you or your children WILL pay.  If you don’t believe me, just take a look at bankrupt Illinois.

 

 

Time for Southern Illinois to Stand Up for Themselves.

It seems that since the beginning of time Southern Illinois has been controlled by Chicago.  I know that it is not true, I am quite familiar with Illinois history,  I think you would agree though, that residents of the north have absolutely no idea of the needs and life of the lower half of the state.

Let’s take a look at transportation.  Outside of metropolitan areas, the need for personal transportation is a must, not a convenience.  Schools?  We could certainly use more funds to help our school districts.  It would even be a boon for their budgets if they were paid the past funds they were told they would receive.

It’s time for the residents of Southern Illinois to stand up and say, “We need to govern ourselves so that we can look out for our own interests and needs.”