Rock’s Rantings!

As a Conservative Republican I must agree with National Review’s opinion that Senator Ted Stevens should resign in the wake of his indictment of committing perjury in front of a Grand Jury. We should lead the way. If it was enough of a reason to approve Articles of Impeachment on President Bill Clinton it is a good enough reason for a Republican US Senator to step down from office.

One of Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens’s most memorable moments of the last few years came during the Senate fight over the infamous “Bridge to Nowhere.” In 2005, when Sen. Tom Coburn introduced a measure that would have redirected the money Stevens had earmarked for the bridge to hurricane-ravaged New Orleans, Stevens gave an apoplectic speech on the Senate floor in which he threatened to resign if the Senate passed the measure. It was the nation’s loss that the Senate voted the measure down, simultaneously missing two opportunities.

Now that a grand jury has indicted Stevens on seven counts of making false statements, it is time for him to make good on his threat. Stevens is of course innocent until proven guilty of the crimes with which he is charged. But even if he committed no crime, the facts that have emerged over the course of the federal investigation into his personal finances are damning enough on their own. The indictment was just the last straw.

I found this blog post of great interest and wanted to share it with my followers.

This past week, 15,677 signatures were filed with the North Dakota Secretary of State’s office for the Income Tax Cut Inititiave. Sponsored by the North Dakota chapter of Americans for Prosperity, the initiative, if certified for the November ballot, would slash North Dakota’s state corporate income tax rates by 15 percent and the individual income tax rates by 50 percent starting in 2009.

Apparently, North Dakota exepcts a budget surplus of anywhere between $700 million to $1 billion next year, so supporters of the initiative are looking for both tax relief and restrained government spending during these “sunny days.” Smart!

But the AARP is opposing the measure because “it would hamper state and local governments’ and school boards’ ability to respond to emergencies or shifting priorities in the future.” The North Dakota Farm Bureau is also opposing the measure citing “worries that it would place the burden of spending on increased property taxes.” Now maybe North Dakota should start a government “rainy day fund” that is concomitant with this tax cut, but it’s amazing what poor excuses are made to not cut taxes. (But I invite any North Dakotans to explain why voting Yes on this inititiave would be a bad idea.)

The Bill of Rights Returns to Illinois!

Click Here to read the story from the Daily Herald

The village of Morton Grove has voted 5-1 to repeal its ban on the possession of handguns.

The northern Chicago suburb was the first community in the country to enact such a ban in 1981. Village leaders said Monday that they had to amend the village’s ordinance because of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last month overturning a similar ban in Washington D.C.

That decision affirmed the right to keep guns for self defense in the home. Gun rights advocates have sued the village over its ban in federal court.

Patrick Kansoer is a plaintiff in the lawsuit. He says he’s pleased with the vote but isn’t sure it will affect his lawsuit.

Wilmette also has repealed its gun ban.