Idol Chatter

I’d like to preface this post with a notation that I personally support marriage between gay people.  I am always surprised and confused about the objections those who are against it raise as not having any inherent logic behind it.  That said, I feel that as long as America has free speech, we can’t muzzle folks for having an opinion - especially when asked what their personal opinion is on national television.

I didn’t watch the pagent (had better things to do) but in catching the media buzz after the fact, one has to wonder why Perez Hilton asked such a pointless question.  A far better question would have been to ask the contestant to apine as to whether the issue should be governed by individual states as it is now or by the federal government and why.  Better yet force her to dig deep by then tacking on a second part to the question that forces the contestant to address how the resulting inequitable treatment of Gays between states is fair. But to ask the contestant what her personal opinions were was stupid.  Stupid because there is no good answer to the question.  There was certainly an answer Perez wanted to hear and didn’t but even if she had personally supported the issue of Gay marriage, she may have then offended some other judge.

Now Miss California has lent her name to an organization that is against Gay marriage.  This has offended some - even a few within the California state pagent organization.  This puzzles me a bit.  Again, while I do not support the outcome, the State of California recently took a vote on the issue and voted to retract Gay marriage rights.  So it appears that Miss California is representing her state - or at least the voting majority.

So it seems that the young lady is being harrassed for actually having the moral fiber to say what she believes even if that answer was going to cost her the Miss USA crown.  We don’t know if this runner up would have won with a different answer but the continued public angst against someone who’s willing to stand behind her beliefs says little about us as a country.

Instead I’d like to see someone from the Gay community have a meaningful discussion with her.  In a less harsh and critical environment, this young women and others in the US might just open their minds and begin to see that there can be a more encompassing view of how marriage should be defined.

It’s April 15th and that means it’s tax day here in the US.  You need to file today (your return or an extension).  When we look at how much we pay in taxes we have to wonder how this amount could go up if the current administration continues to spend at a hectic pace.

It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that the wealthiest 5% cannot pay for the spending increases contemplated in the budget Obama wants with a modest increase in the tax rates.  That means that either less must be spent or more will see taxes increasing.

So think about how much more you want to pay the next time you hear the administration touting how the full budget must be approved.

In what seems to almost be his trademark style, President Barack Obama is taking Europe by storm in what is his first visit as our President.  His wife, Michelle, our first lady is making an almost equally impressive impression as she meets with England’s Queen as well as normal school girls.

What is not clear is whether there is any real progress being made in a cohesive effort among the world’s leading countries to end the current recession.  Certainly the President brought enough staff to get that job done but the likelihood of accomplishing anything meaningful in such a short time frame is not probable.

Meanwhile the economy continues to show us a mixed bag.  Home sales are increasing but prices are lowering.  Unemployment continues to increase and has been recently reported as high as 8.5% but in March the stock market posted a 20% increase.  It is likely that we will continue to see a lot of volitility until all facests of our market start to move in a more unified upward trend.