Where Will the GOP Go Next?

Here are some articles on the battle for the GOP's future--will the Republican Party be able to contain the competing viewpoints of its reformists, traditionalists, and secular conservatives?

David Brooks: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/11/opinion/11brooks.html

National Review: National Review Corner

Rod Dreher: Crunchy Con

Yours Truly: Hey, Hey, Ho, Ho, Palin's Got to Go

And, just for kicks, a biblical perspective on immigration: Dr. Lindy Scott

Retirement Options for the Self-Employed

If you're self-employed, you have access to multiple retirement accounts, including a SEP IRA, a SIMPLE IRA. and, if you run your business just by yourself, an individual 401k. But how much asset protection do you really have with these retirement options? I can't vouch for the accuracy of the information below, because it's from 2005, but the basic information appears to be useful:

http://www.financewin.com/html/Taxes/200511/IRA-Protection-10193.htm

Because I save a lot of money in my retirement accounts, I've always been concerned about what would happen if I somehow received a judgment against me. Perhaps I need not have worried.

On October 17, 2005, the bankruptcy reform law, formally named The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (11 USC 101), went into effect and apparently protects most retirement accounts.

SEC. 224. PROTECTION OF RETIREMENT SAVINGS IN BANKRUPTCY.

   (a) In General.--Section 522 of title 11, United States Code, is
amended--
           (1) in subsection (b)--
                   (A) in paragraph (2)--

[[Page 119 STAT. 63]]

                         (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``and''
                     at the end;
                         (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking the
                     period at the end and inserting ``; and'';
                         (iii) by adding at the end the following:
           ``(C) retirement funds to the extent that those funds are in
       a fund or account that is exempt from taxation under section
       401, 403, 408, 408A, 414, 457, or 501(a) of the Internal Revenue
       Code of 1986.''

Basically, it appears the bankruptcy law allows you to protect most retirement accounts against creditors when you declare bankruptcy. For more information, you should contact a CPA or tax attorney.

GM's Woes

The AP has finally reported that GM might be going bankrupt: AP Story on GM

The press, as usual, is slow to catch on. I predicted GM's bankruptcy last year, in a letter to The Metro: [Metro Letter]

[A]lmost no one in the private sector receives pensions or lifetime medical benefits, and all the private companies who used to offer such benefits, such as General Motors and Ford, are changing their policies and are slowly going bankrupt.

I hope Lee Iacocca was wrong when he (reportedly) said, "As goes General Motors, so goes the nation." But Mr. Iacocca seems to be blessed with accurate foresight--see Where Have All the Leaders Gone?, published May 2007:

Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder. We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, "Stay the course." Stay the course? You've got to be kidding. This is America, not the damned Titanic. I'll give you a sound bite: Throw the bums out!

It's just a little bit of history repeating...

Reason #3947 to Be Libertarian

The price of freedom is eternal vigilance--not just against foreign influence, but also against our own government agents. Our government has spent our money going after a man, Sayed Mousavi, who wanted to promote cell phones in Iran. He also did not report a portion of his taxable income (for which he should be punished financially). The government used a law called the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to convict him. Yet, no one believes this man is a terrorist except perhaps the American government and their lawyers. The most distressing detail is that our government removed Seyed Mahmood Mousavi's American citizenship by claiming he lied on his citizenship application. They apparently used mis-translated documents as evidence. 

To those would say America is a place where all citizens can breathe free post-Obama, the government's prosecution of Mr. Mousavi is a harsh lesson that vigilance must remain high. Even if Obama issues executive orders nullifying enforcement of the Patriot Act, such as canceling Executive Order 13224, more laws exist to harass citizens and non-citizens in America. 

Laura Donohue, a Stanford fellow, once said that counterterrorism activity increases "executive power both in absolute and real terms. This changes the balance of power at a federal level between the branches of government. It changes the relationship between the citizens and the state." Executive Order 13224, mentioned earlier, gave the White House and the Treasury the power to freeze assets of those they suspect of being terrorists and those they suspect have associations with terrorists. In other words, citizens "can have their assets frozen without being found guilty in any court of law for actually having any association with terrorism itself." "Between October 2001 and April 2005, 743 people and 947 organizations had their assets frozen underneath this order. 98% of the people, and 96% of the organizations, appeared to be Arab or Muslim." (Laura Donohue, Commonwealth Club speech, 9/11/08, page 20-21 of the November 2008 The Commonwealth magazine). 

Unfortunately, Obama is not proof that this country has progressed past its religious intolerance. Obama is Christian. Bobby Jindal, another political up-and-comer, converted to Catholicism. If you are not some form of Christian in America, and you have innocuous ties to Middle Eastern countries, the government is apparently willing to charge you with a crime. I realize Mr. Mousavi may have violated a trade embargo, and if he knowingly violated the law, jail-time is warranted. What terrifies me is our government, rather than prosecute him specifically for his violation of the trade embargo, actively expanded its prosecution to remove his citizenship--despite no evidence that he was a terrorist or danger to his community. 

Also, I've never heard of International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). It seems that so many laws have been passed, the government can classify any transaction with a Middle Eastern country or charity as illegal. Overly broad laws effectively intrude on personal associations and the right of peaceful assembly guaranteed under the First Amendment. For example, if I believe that my association with others can be used against me in the future, I may alter my behavior and self-banish myself from others who share minority religious or political views. Thus, the Patriot Act and other laws similar to it--which apparently do not require any malicious intent or actual damages--have the effect of violating the First Amendment by their mere existence. 

If you are interested in more information on domestic surveillance laws and activity, get the November 2008 edition of The Commonwealth magazine. One section of Donahue's speech is titled, "Better than the Stasi," referring to domestic law enforcement activities.

Norwegian Poetry

Props to the Norway for having such an eloquent king. From King Olav V of Norway:

When I look back
I see the landscape
That I have walked through
But it is different
All the great trees are gone
It seems there are
Remnants of them
But it is the afterglow
Inside of you
Of all those you met
Who meant something in your life

King Olav V
August 1977

Cars and People

Reason #1044 I hate cars and the driving culture:

Cars and Cities

She makes great points about cities being more hospitable when they are not built around an automobile culture.

Tech Geeks

Since Warren Buffett mentioned geeks earlier, I've been meaning to post something for my tech geeks--here are some links you might find useful:

http://kadster.blogspot.com/2008/08/destinations-for-open-web-knowledge.html

Just leave your financial formulas at home, and no one gets hurt.