Japan Certifies Toyota Plug-in Hybrid for Public-road Tests

Toyota seems to be rethinking their decision to remove the plug-in option on its Prius line of cars. Check out the PriusFuture.com site for more information and a virtual tour.

In World War II our nation's automakers made a massive shift from producing family cars to producing tanks and armoured vehicles in only 1 year. Why can't they move away from oil with the same level of zeal? The best thing we can do to fix the problem is make radical changes in our nations leadership that has formed an unhealthy co-dependent relationship with the automakers. Bush has given oil and auto industry leaders an incredible level of access to our Government. This relationship may turn out to be a tragic mistake that destroys their future viability. Bush's chief of staff for 6 years, Andrew Card, was previously the Vice President of Government Relations for General Motors while they were running a campaign to shoot down the California Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate. I would prefer to see an America company become the leader in this new technology, but they seem to be stalling and even subverting the process.

Great Posts for the Week...

I highly recommend this post on one of my favorite blog sites by Real Live Preacher. He also provided a link to one of the most honest and open posts I've read in a while here.

The best post may be this starling video called Rapture Ready: The Unauthorized Christians United for Israel Tour. It is scary and highlights the problems we are facing in our foreign policy today.

Christianized Medicine

Michael Moore has made a brilliant decision to begin calling his design for universal health care "Christianized Medicine". I'm a liberal Christian and I love the term. On a recent interview with Chris Matthews, Moore quoted Jesus (actually he slightly misquoted him but atleast he got the meaning correct) and referenced that this approach to caring for the sick is "what Jesus would do". I suggest that everyone begin using this term when referring to socialized, universal, health care. I applaud Moore for his activism and his creativity and I will take up the idea of using this term. Let's see if it will catch on. My prediction is that the first 2008 Presidential candidate to claim this term for their healthcare policy WILL WIN THE ELECTION.

Brian Mclaren's newest book...

Here is Brian reading a bit of his upcoming book. I thought it was relevent to my current frame of mind.

What happens in Vegas...

I had a good time in Las Vegas. I don't have any secrets to hide, so I'll let out a few details from my trip.

1. The World Series of Poker is a media frenzy
2. Two million in cash makes a big stack of bills
3. Phil Hellmuth and Mike Matusow are nicer guys than they appear on TV
4. I played poker with Phil Gordon
5. I won some money
6. I didn't become rich or famous and I'm glad

I enjoy poker and I play well enough to win a little money on these trips, but being around so much vanity and materialism for a weekend really left me with a sick feeling. I've always enjoyed the game for its social aspects and emphasis on logical decision-making but watching people in Vegas really left me feeling sad and unfortunately, you have to wade through the layer of slime that comes with the casinos to get to the poker room. I feel bad for people that are caught up in the love of money and the quest for beauty. It is good to be home.

Vegas Baby...

It is WSOP time and I'm off to Vegas. Wish me luck and don't worry, I haven't quit my day job...yet! If anyone thinks this liberal minded pacifist doesn't appreciate the positive attributes of capitalism, then you haven't played poker against me.

Poker exemplifies the worst aspects of capitalism that have made our country so great. ~Walter Matthau

If I somehow make it in front of a TV camera this weekend it won't be hard to recognize me. I'll be the only guy in the room with a pile of chips and a t-shirt that says "I [heart] Leo Tolstoy".

F**** Taxes!

Corey Pein at the Metro Spirit put together another great cover story last week. If you haven't read it then please read the full article which highlights many of the problems behind the fair tax initiative that is so popular in conservative circles. The FAIR tax that is supported by goofballs like Neal Boortz should be called the UNfair tax because it would be an extremely regressive tax system aimed at reducing taxes on the wealthiest Americans and creating a much higher average effective tax rate for working class tax-payers.

The article does a good job of pointing out several problems but missed the most compelling argument against the "fair tax". I really wish more people were educated about our tax system and I wish the article had gone further to explain about the structure of our marginal tax brackets. Many people assume that because their tax “bracket” may be 25% or 28% that a 23% sales tax would be a lower tax. That is NOT true. Most middle class people pay no more than about a 10-15% effective tax rate because of the marginal structure. If you are in the 25% bracket then only your last few dollars are taxed at that highest rate while the bulk of your income is taxed at a much lower rate. Deductions, which are mainly available for the wealthiest tax-payers, also play a huge role in flattening out what is supposed to be a progressive tax rate structure but is actually often flat or even regressive.

I think a brief description of marginal rates and a few statistics on median effective tax rates would have been enlightening for the audience of this article. If you are not sure about your effective tax rate, then try this handy online tax calculator. It will give you a decent estimate and it may surprise you. A couple earning 100k per year and having 1 child and an average mortgage currently pays around 10% tax after a few deductions. So unless this couple invests more than 50% of their income to avoid the sales tax then their taxes would go UP under the fair tax plan.

Sicko

Michael Moore has made another great documentary. I hope this movie will have a huge impact on the ability of America to end "for-profit" health care. The movie takes you on an emotional ride with insights that make you wish you lived in Europe one minute to moments of inspiration and national pride. When did it become patriotic to hate your governments ability to do anything well? The last 30 years has proven that privatization and deregulation do NOT help industries run more efficiently.

Keith Olbermann - Bush Resign!

Independence

Good things can happen when a bunch of rebellious men gather in the back room of a bar. I have to remind my wife of this when I call to say I'll be home a bit late because I'm stopping by the pub with the guys after work.

I’m not sure why we try and turn the people we admire into infallible mythical heroes. I seriously doubt the founding fathers of our nation were anything like the characters that we learned about in history classes. Thomas Jefferson is a perfect example. A lawyer and land owner who was largely responsible for creating the declaration of independence was also a slave owner and ended his life deep in debt despite being given more than his share of wealth, education, and opportunity. I still admire Thomas Jefferson. In the same way that I admire the architects of the Ten commandments even though those same people tried to blame God for their ancestor’s desire to wipe out entire enemy villages including innocent women and children.

I love the concepts that our nation was founded on and I think every American should take a few minutes to read the Declaration of Independence on the Fourth of July. I also appreciate Jefferson’s ability to reconcile his post-enlightenment education and his faith in the message of Jesus. His deist understanding of God may have left him with a faith that didn’t fully integrate into his personal life, but it also helped him approach the Bible in a way that motivated him and led him to become a powerful activist. I can't completely accept Jefferson's deism, but I do agree with his rejection of a strictly theistic image of a God that actively runs the world from some location beyond the universe. I appreciate the positive effect that his image of God had on motivating his sense of personal responsibility for political action.

“[The Jefferson Bible] is a document in proof that I am a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus, very different from the Platonists, who call me infidel and themselves Christians and preachers of the gospel, while they draw all their characteristic dogmas from what its author never said nor saw.” – Thomas Jefferson