Has the CDC Grown Beyond Usefulness?

The Center for Disease Control was set up to understand and control the causes of sickness. One measure of whether a government agency has grown too large is if it starts acting weird, doing things that seem far outside the original charter. The EPA has gone too far with the CO2 endangerment finding the timing of which was suspiciously political. It came after Congress shot down cap and trade and the UN IPCC Climate Summit at Copenhagen was beginning. Obama needed more clout so he leaned on the EPA to produce this finding that is not only not scientifically founded (see Climategate) but is well outside the charter of the EPA. Again it happened at NASA, where the work of James Hansen, a self-avowed green activist, set out to advocate the theme (with the thinnest of shoddy data) that the globe is warming and much funding must be raised to work on the problem.

Two agencies, one theme: A far-future catastrophe awaits us in the form of global warming if we don't do something drastic (pay a lot of taxes, anyway).

Shift gears to a third government agency, the Center for Disease Control. What weird things have they done? Search global warming or climate warming on the CDC site and around 800 matches come up, speculations that are based on flawed temperature measurements located on paved parking lots and airport tarmacs. The temperatures contain major errors, so it is no doubt that the speculated rippling effects of those temperatures are even more far-flung and unreliable. How much time is wasted on these bogus scenarios at the CDC?

But I digress. It is the scare about the Swine Flu, also known as H1N1 that I want to talk about. While technically classified as a pandemic, it is no different than any other flu if not a bit milder in total impact. What the CDC is unable to do is predict the extent and severity of the pandemic. While the disease has not spread to everyone, the scare has, causing individuals and corporations to dig in, cancel travel and take other actions in the interest of safety.

It seems that the CDC has notched up their own importance by maintaining a fever pitch of excitement over the looming disaster. Looming disaster? This sounds like a page taken from the global warming playbook. And when a department has wandered so far from their original purpose to promote alarmism, it is time for a downsizing.

Obama's Unconstitutional Policies No Longer Under My Protection

I can defend him with my silence no longer. His unethical and possibly illegal methods to sidestep congress and push costly tax increases affect my blog too greatly. He has already influenced the EPA into issuing a CO2 endangerment finding, with new penalties and fees to corporations for use of carbon (the fees of which ultimately go to us). He is about to push through health care legislation that will cost us even more. Smaller fixes are long overdue and in all the flurry and earmarking to buy votes, many of the necessary fixes will be overlooked if not outweighed by the additional costs. Someone sent me the following diagram.

Now how do we fight unconstitutional acts? With constitutional challenges. Get ready for a long slog through the mud. Obama's shortcuts will prove to be long and drawn out. And maybe something good will come of it: This is practice for dismantling all the cumbersome government programs that Obama and others have put in place over many decades. Once we get going, who knows how far we can get.

Illinois Governor Quinn wants State Tax Raised 33%. Bad governor! Very bad governor!

The current tax rate is 3%, Quinn wants it raised to 4%, that's an increase of 1/3 or 33%. This is a downward revision of his unwinnable 50% hike. We need to make sure that this too is unwinnable.

He says it's for education. Wait just a doggone minute. That's why we pay a big part of our real estate taxes. Have I used up my minute yet? That's how the Illinois Lottery was justified. Still some time left? At a time when more people are considering enrolling their children in private schools, we should look at funding schools only on a basis of which students they actually have. This is a case where legislators completely lack the fortitude to foster quality education. They refuse to pay based on the appeal that the schools have because of their addiction to revenue, rather than focus on quality and positive/negative reinforcement of paying for results.

He also had the brainstorm of raising taxes to corporations by 1%. That will raise prices and therefore the cost of citizens living both inside and outside of Illinois.

A brief history of Illinois income taxes:

Year ............ Tax Rate
Big Bang to 1969 ... 0% (sales tax previously covered everything)
1969-1983 ........ 2.5%
1983-1984 .......... 3%
1984-1989 ........ 2.5%
1989-2010 .......... 3%
Proposed ........... 4%

During a recession, every company has gone through belt-tightening, but this is unheard-of in the government. It is clear that there is no fiscal responsibility in government, they can only grow. If this increase is approved, the legislators, will borrow and grow to the new maximum extent possible and come back to the Illinois taxpayers with their hand out again. Quinn's threats of cuts to education does not ring of sincerity either.

History shows that tax hikes are followed by more hikes and increasing debt. There is strong opposition to this irresponsible tax hike, but Quinn is doggedly determined. Let us hope is bark is worse than his tax bite. Let us hope he doesn't have "hydrophobie" (for a description, watch Old Yeller).