Illegal Immigration and FairTax

I haven't seen anyone else tie these two issues together, so I'm going to jump in there with it myself on my dusty, barely-read blog. That'll make a splash!

Pretty much every way I'm hearing to deal with illegal immigration seems very weak. Amnesty plans simply reward criminal behavior and new rules around deportation seem destined to fail because our government either can't or won't enforce the rules we have already. The biggest problems we face with the massive influx of illegal aliens is the drain they cause on schools, hospitals, and other services that are funded by the law-abiding, tax-paying citizenry.

FairTax, a proposed national sales tax that would eliminate and replace our national income tax, effectively combats that problem. FairTax gets paid by anyone that buys anything, regardless of citizenship status. Illegal aliens pay the FairTax. Only citizens, though, get rebate checks covering subsistence spending. If you haven't played by the rules, you don't get the check. Of course, there will be those that figure out ways to game the system, but for the vast majority of illegal aliens, they will be forced to contribute that something extra by not getting the rebate.

A congressman who jumps out there with a solution to both complicated taxes and illegal immigration stands to attract a heck of a lot of attention, and the FairTax (and the American people) stand to win an awful lot. If the Americans for Fair Taxation organization were to tie FairTax to a workable, believable way to limit illegal immigration, they would have way more muscle behind the effort.

Polar Opposites

I was in an Indian restaurant at lunch the other day. The kind that have the all-you-can-eat buffets. I ordered a diet Coke with my buffet. When I asked for a refill, I was informed that refills cost extra. I asked the guy if it made any sense that for one price I can go back and take, say, eight whole chickens, but if I'd like another (microscopic!) glass of diet Coke to go with it, that's extra. This just doesn't make any sense to me.

After a minute of thinking about it, he agreed that didn't make sense. Then he went elsewhere to help other customers and I drank water for the rest of the meal - probably just as well for my health, but still. I thought about refilling my glass with sauce from one of the buffet dishes, but then that would be vengeful.

Buck was with me and I asked if he minded that I tried to make my point with the waiter. He said he didn't and that everyone needs a cause where they can pull out their soapbox for a few minutes every once and awhile. That's why it's cool that he's becoming a program manager by day focused on new product development, but is a poet in his spare time. More polar opposites.

Publisher

I've found out that in addition to my title of "President" I also get listed as "Publisher" on the title pages of the books we publish. The first one under my new tenure goes to the printer on Monday, the State and Regional Associations book. How cool is that?

Cunningham Falls

Today, I took Gregory and went hiking in the afternoon. Since he's only five and I haven't been hiking in quite some time, we picked something pretty easy, a hike out and back to Cunningham Falls that's just over a mile and only about 300 feet of elevation change. These falls are the highest in Maryland at something like 78 feet, which just doesn't seem like very much after the kinds of scenery I'd see in Washington.

They are in the Catoctin Mountains, part of the Blue Mountains, which are themselves part of the Appalachians. It's hard to believe that these were mountains that had once been similar in size and grandeur to the Himilayas some 200 million years ago as they've been worn down to nubby little hills that hardly count as mountains.

Not that I mean to be down on the Maryland countryside - it's beautiful, too - but I really like the sweeping majesty of high, craggy mountains. I choose to take this as an opportunity, reason to travel more often than I might otherwise.


Cunningham Falls

You can see in the photo above that there was a bit of snow around the falls, although the daytime temperature will in the mid-40s. The left-hand cliff face, doesn't get much sunlight, so there were a couple places where some secondary water trickles had created interesting icicle formations that reminded me of the flowstone formations I saw in the Cave of the Bells in Arizona.


Icicles

Gregory did great. The last trip I took him on was Sugarloaf Mountain, also in Maryland, back in June of last year. Climbing up the rocks along the side of the waterfall was the most challenging part and not part of the 1.2 mile hike. One particular rock started with a jagged step up about at his chest height. I gave him some pointers about where to put his feet and he struggled with that first bit, but after he got past that, he scrambled right up to the top of it before I could even think about following him up. He got to the top and sat down, so I got a picture of his success.


Gregory Conquers a Big Rock

Finally, Gregory seemed to really enjoy it and was telling me even in the parking lot that he wants to go again. I think this shot of him really sums up his excitement. Or maybe it doesn't, and it's just funny.


Gregory's Big Mouth

That's a Seven-Year-Old?

Elizabeth bought a pair of black platform boots from Hot Topic, wore them once, and decided she didn't like them after all. She's selling them on eBay. She tried taking some photos of herself wearing them, but they didn't come out very well, so Katerina offered to model them. They dressed her in a short skirt, fishnet stockings, and the boots - Elizabeth got three great pictures.

Katerina decided all the poses herself and they came out so cute! You also can't tell it's a seven-year-old modeling the boots. Here's the listing.