WELCOME!

Welcome to the West Clay Conservative blog. I (“WCC”) am a husband and father residing in Western Clay Township in Carmel, Indiana. I practice law in Indianapolis, Indiana. Although I cannot be absolutely certain where this blog will go, I plan to blog on local (Carmel, Indianapolis, Indiana) and national politics, and maybe some I.U. sports. We’ll see. I have a passion for politics, and I hope this blog matures into a symbiotic relationship whereby I can learn from readers, and maybe I can persuade a few to join the Conservative cause.

WCC’s Point of View

As I believe that one of life’s great early lessons, often ignored, is to “consider the source” it is only fair to educate readers of my perspective at the outset.  So, here, in brief and in black and white, is where I’m coming from on some of the present hot-topic issues.

Abortion

The U.S. Constitution protects the right to life and not to deprive a person of such right without due process. An embryo is a developing life and person. Abortion is the intentional taking of the life of another. Abortion is homicide. Abortion is not due process. The “so-called” right to privacy was invented by activist Judges, not legislated by elected legislators, and is not contained within the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Constitution does not reference, directly or indirectly, a right to an abortion. There is something mentally wrong with any person who has viewed an ultrasound of a developing child and still believes that it is acceptable to kill an unborn child.

Budget & Government

Government should be efficient and minimal. Government does not exist to provide employment to nor to provide care-giving for those willfully unemployed, underemployed, irresponsible, or uninsured. Government exists, foremost, to provide security to and to protect the interests of its’ citizens.

Education

People respond to incentives. The American public education system is largely devoid of incentives. Until concepts like “tenure” and relatively guaranteed ongoing employment are eliminated, children in public schools will continue to receive substandard educations. Teachers must have incentives to improve performance to the same extent that those in private industry do.

In public schools and in higher education, significant reform must be instituted to ensure that the classroom is not used to inculcate liberal doctrines upon students. Race should not be considered in school admissions, solely merit and talent. Schools that use the phrase “holistic admissions policy” should lose their accreditation.

Global Warming

Man made global warming is another myth propagated by Anti-American, Anti-Capitalist forces. However, voluntarily purchased “Carbon Credits” are a great idea to the same extent that lottery tickets (a tax on those who can’t do math) are a great idea.

Mars is warming faster than the Earth. Human carbon dioxide emissions are not causing the global warming on Mars. Climate change is cyclical and the current cycle is not atypical. Al Gore is a troubled fraud. Many of the most prominent proponents of man-made climate change are either (a) affiliated with entities that would benefit financially from climate change legislation, and/or (b) anti-American and seek to impose climate change regulation to diminish the United States from its global superpower economic status.

Faith & Family

I am a holiday church attendee, but not, presently, a weekly church attendee. I plan to raise my children in a Christian church, and attend more often as my children grow because I believe that Christian religion imparts excellent values.

The U.S. Constitution does not provide for a “separation between church & state.”

The biggest problem facing the poor in the U.S. is the lack of a two-parent household, largely due to the absence of father figures, particularly in black homes. I believe that society and government should encourage two-parent households with a mother and a father.

The phrase “gay marriage” is an oxymoron.

Foreign Affairs

I believe in Sun Tzu and Ronald Reagan’s philosophy of peace through strength. A healthy military is critical to U.S. security. The United Nations has been proven to be a feckless and corrupt institution. John Bolton was an excellent U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. France, Germany, and Russia opposed the invasion of Iraq for self-interested financial reasons, thereby rendering a broader coalition impossible to obtain.

I believe that President Bush was correct when he stated after 9/11 that the U.S. should put all force to bear on those who harbor and support terror. Saddam Hussein obviously did so, by sending money to the families of deceased suicide bombers, and by terrorizing his own population including gassing the Kurds. The war in Iraq is a noble cause and General David Patreus’ surge is working, but forming a democracy is always difficult work and we must be patient as a nation with Iraq’s politicians who, truly, are acting no more slowly than our own (how many decades until we solve the illegal immigration crisis, for instance?). Failure in Iraq would be a tremendous set-back in the larger war on terror, a fact recognized by Iran and Al Qaeda who are working desperately to cause our premature departure.

Health Care

I believe that hospitals should not be required to provide care to illegal immigrants. Health Care is not a constitutional right. Less government regulation, not more, would improve Health Care in the United States. Health Care consumers need more information, specifically cost information in advance of procedure performance, and more choice.

Illegal Immigration

I cannot support any politician who purports to provide “comprehensive” immigration reform. “Comprehensive” reform means amnesty. George Bush is wrong on this issue and is abdicating his duty as head of the executive to enforce the law. There are many ways to incrementally improve the illegal immigration situation: (a) build a wall (which would in turn create jobs to build, support, and maintain the wall), (b) create legislation protecting those who guard our borders from frivolous lawsuits from illegal immigrants and coyotes, (c) authorize border guards to use all force necessary to protect the border and increase their numbers, (d) legislate and enforce more severe criminal and civil penalties for employers who employ illegal aliens (while creating safe-harbor legislation for employers that use certain prescribed citizenship verification procedures).

If, as illegal immigration proponents claim, illegal immigrants come in good will just to find work, and that well of work (and social services) dries up, the incentive to come and to stay will cease to exist.

Moreover, if these illegal immigrants are truly “doing the jobs Americans won’t do” American employers will be forced, by market forces to offer better wages to American citizens to do these so-called “jobs Americans won’t do” hence allowing market forces to increase minimum wages.

Finally, I am convinced that if employers were fined heavily and forced to hire American citizens at higher wages to do the jobs that they used to use illegal alien slave labor to perform, the housing market could be saved by increasing home values due to the increased labor costs to build future homes.

Property Taxes

In Indiana, one of the big issues we are currently facing is a dramatic rise in property taxes in some counties.  I like some aspects of Governor Daniels' plan, including requiring referenda on school construction.  However, I do not believe in the total elimination of property taxes.  Property taxes are nothing other than an imperfect "use" tax for those local items (roads, sewers, schools) that community members use (and yes, even those that don't have school-aged children get benefit out of and use the schools).  When you purchase a home, you know that you will have an obligation to pay your share of property taxes to pay for your fair share of the services.  Now, that being said, I think the fair thing to do is to eliminate assessors altogether, and assess property taxes based upon either the initial (for that buyer/resident) purchase price of the property, plus a fixed inflation factor so that whena  person buys a home, they know, and can budget for, the exact amount of property taxes they will have to pay for the life of the home.  It would be absolutely unfair to eliminate property taxes altogether, and heap teh local services tax burden upon only those still working, and away from those who, when they purchased their home, knew they would have to pay some property tax and should have budgeted for it.  For example, some of the wealthiest of the wealthy (and I am no class warfare agent) own large homes, and still use local services, but, if they retire, would have no property tax/ local services tax obligation.  They should be required to pay the amounts bargained for and in place when they purchased the home.  If property taxes were completely eliminated, we would have one more shift of financial burden from the baby boomers to the present and future working generations (see:  Social Security disaster).

Ultimately, however, I do not care what the local politicians call my taxes (income, sales, property, etc.), wrath will continue to be reserved for them as long as the ridiculous levels of government spending continue and the aggregate tax bill continues to climb.  It is time to take a hard look at and drastically cut welfare spending and healthcare spending.  It is time to remind Americans that while it is well and good to wish to take care of others in need (voluntarily) your primary responsibility is to your own family.

Media & Culture

WCC learns a great deal from www.nationalreview.com and stays abreast of important current events unreported or unfairly reported by the mainstream media via www.michellemalkin.com. However, WCC regularly peruses roughly twenty-five (25) news sources. WCC’s favorite talk-radio host is Laura Ingraham, but WCC also regularly listens to Rush Limbaugh, Neil Boortz, Sean Hannity, and Michael Savage, who WCC finds terribly entertaining and impressively passionate, if not consistently over the top. WCC watches Fox News Sunday, Brit Hume’s nightly newscast, and a few minutes of Bill O’Reilly each night depending upon the topic. I find MSNBC to be worthless, and that CNN is worth watching only when Miles O’Brien is talking about a space shuttle launch or landing, but not much else.

I hope that you enjoy the blog!