We don't need to raise taxes on ANYBODY!

President Obama rolled out his plan today to eliminate 4 trillion dollars from the budget deficit. Predictably, it included plans for a massive tax increase on "the wealthy".

Of course that sounds good...most of us aren't wealthy so it's easy to say soak the rich. But is that really a good idea?

Let's say you had a child who came to you and asked for a raise in his allowance to invest in his future. Now assume that child had a demonstrated history of reckless and irresponsible spending. Would you give him the allowance right away or would you make him prove his reckless days were over?

Common sense and parental love says that you would make the child prove that he had learned a lesson. Well friends, that child is President Obama. He wants a raise in the government's allowance. Evidently he thinks that he can convince enough people to throw common sense out the window and support his spending habit.

The President doesn't seem to understand that our government doesn't have a problem with revenue. It has a spending problem and a bad one at that. The truth is that we can't tax our way out of this hole. If we collected 100% of the income of all the people in the highest marginal tax bracket, we would still have over a 1 trillion dollar deficit in this year alone.

The President hasn't learned a thing and he doesn't deserve the raise he's asking for.

My current reading material...

I love to read and I read quite a bit. Sometime soon I hope to post a blog about some of my favorite books and how they have helped shape my thinking. Before I do that though I'll just share a list of what I'm reading right now. I'll try to post the current reading list every few weeks as I start a new batch of books.

Here's what I'm reading right now:

The Holiness of God by R.C. Sproul. Hard to believe I had never read this 25 year old classic.

A Praying Life by Paul E. Miller. Just getting started but the book comes highly recommended from people I respect a great deal.

Forgotten God by Francis Chan. Another great effort from Chan that challenges the average Christian in his understanding and appreciation of the power of the Holy Spirit.

The New Guidebook for Pastors by Mac Brunson and James Bryant. It's a very comprehensive and helpful guide for men at all stages of a ministry career.

Why Would Anybody Want to Chair the SC GOP?

Anybody who knows my history knows I've done more than my fair share of work in the Republican Party. As a student, I was Chairman of the state College Republicans for two terms. As a young lawyer, I was the Chairman of my home county's GOP. I've been a delegate to the national convention, and in recent times I've often been asked to endorse candidates or serve on various finance committees. I love politics. Always have, probably always will. That said, I have no idea why anybody in their right mind would want to be the Chairman of the South Carolina GOP.

Ok, I know that this sounds extremely hypocritical given my background of activism....but hear me out.

Now that the GOP has pretty much completely achieved one party rule status in SC, I just don't see what allure being party chairman would have. By definition the Chairman has to stay impartial in primaries. The primaries are the only elections that matter any more in this state. Why run for a job that a) means you can't take sides and b) doesn't pay a thin dime? I don't get it. It's like not getting paid to not participate. I can do that at home without waging a statewide campaign.

Many years ago Henry McMaster took the office of GOP Chairman with the mantra of making Democrats so scarce in South Carolina that we'd have to hunt them with dogs. Under his leadership and that of Katon Dawson, that work was accomplished. What else is there to do? Beating Democrats in South Carolina is like me pushing over my 3 year old nephew. There's no challenge in it.

Moreover, given the number of "Republicans In Name Only" (RINO's) that currently populate many high ranking elected positions in SC, the last thing that a real conservative activist who wanted to change things would do is to take a position that where you'd have to carry water for some of those clowns. I'd rather hunt these RINO's than feed them.

What we really need in SC are political leaders who want to make these RINO's so scarce that we have to hunt them with dogs. If somebody wants to lead that charge, then sign me up. Otherwise, I just don't see the point.