Tony Island Blog - Sane Thoughts for an Insane World

Welcome to Tony Island Blog! Today, September 17, we celebrate Constitution Day and Citizenship Day! On this date, in 1787, the Constitution was signed and sent to the states for ratification. Here's a wonderful animated short about the Constitution by Schoolhouse Rock: Doesn't that video give you a warm, fuzzy in your heart? Enjoy your liberties granted by the United States Constitution - you don't know when they'll be gone. Thanks for reading Tony Island Blog!

Tony Island Blog respectfully remains silent on this day of remembrance. 9/11/2001 - 9/11/2011

Welcome to Tony Island Blog! As much as I carped about the President's jobs speech last night, I really think the Republican-controlled House should pass the bill intact. As is, no changes. Rubber stamp it and send it to the Senate. The Senate should rubber stamp it and send it to the President. Sign it and be done with it. The same would hold true for his "deficit reduction" plan he's going to propose sometime in the next month. Rubber stamp that baby and pass it into law. Lickety-split, time's a-wasting. Why the sudden change of heart? It's mere politics - let's stop the silly posturing - the Republican controlled House can't make changes that the Democrat Senate won't allow. So, why waste politcal capital? The people don't understand the nuances of freedom. They're addicted to the Federal tit. Show the people that "we" can work together - any tax increases can be overturned in the next Congress - a mere 16 months away. ...

Welcome to Tony Island Blog! Did you watch the President's "jobs speech" tonight? If you didn't, it's no big deal as he said the same thing he's said before: spend more money now to put people to work tomorrow. If you listen carefully to his coded speech, you'll see that the President wants to funnel jobs to union members: construction crews to fix bridges, roads, etc. Money to "first responders" which translates to unionized police and fire fighters. Money to teachers to educate our children - ie, unionized government workers. This bill won't cost anything because it will be paid for by raising Warren Buffet's tax rate (he pays a lower rate than his secretary - the outrage!! But don't lower his secretary's rate, just raise his...well, Warren did ask for it, the President tells us)  We'll eliminate corporate loopholes so we can lower the corporate tax rate (but not to zero - God forbid)...isn't it outrageous how oil ...

Welcome to Tony Island Blog! Did you catch tonight's Republican Presidential debate on MSNBC? If not, here's the first of 4 parts: You see the rest by following the suggested links at the end of the video. I thought it was a solid debate by all the candidates. There were some great lines ("If 10% is good enough for God, then 9% should be good enough for the Federal govt.", Herman Cain on his 9/9/9 tax plan). I'm not sure I could pick a winner - I thought they were all about even, though I don't see Jon Huntsman gaining any traction. I think the race will tighten up in the next few weeks. There's another debate scheduled for Monday, Sept. 12, 2011. What are your thoughts on tonight's debate? Did it change your mind on your candidate? Are you closer to choosing a candidate if you are undecided? Please share your thoughts with us by leaving a comment below. Thanks for reading Tony Island Blog!

Welcome to Tony Island Blog! Today, we're going to examine the 500lb gorilla in the room - gay marriage; but, we're not going to discuss the moral issues surrounding this highly touchy subject, simply (ha!) the political dynamics surrounding this issue. For many Republican presidential hopefuls, "states' rights" is a key issue this campaign season: devolve Federal power back to the states and let the states decide their own fates. All is well and good until the issue of gay marriage comes up. Here, the hopefuls make a 180 and decide that the Federal government must be involved and it must be a Federal law or Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. A typical explanation from the hopefuls is Mitt Romney's. Romney is fearful that one state won't recognize another state's legal gay marriage (ie, if a gay married couple move from New York to Utah, they'd be in legal limbo) and thus a Federal gay marriage ban needs to be in place. So which...

Welcome to Tony Island Blog! Happy Labor Day, 2011 to you! This Labor Day (as the past few have) brings a few important questions: 1) Are you working? Bonus: How long have you been employed by your current company? 2) If not, how long have you been unemployed? Bonus: How long were you employed before your layoff? 3) If you are working, how's the health of your company? Your industry? The President is scheduled to make a "major" jobs speech this coming Thursday. What do you think he'll propose to get the jobs engine running again? What do you think he should propose? Feel free to vent some frustrations here in our comments section - it sometimes helps. Thanks for reading Tony Island Blog!