Posts Tagged John F. Kennedy
Terrorism Tax Essential To Deal With Threats To National Security!
Posted by Ronald in News and Politics on April 17, 2013
It is clear after the Boston Marathon tragedy that we will be dealing with the imminent threat of terrorism, whether external or internal, for many years, even decades.
At the same time, we have many who tell us we must cut Social Security and Medicare for the elderly, veterans, and the disabled. We are also told we cannot afford health care and education,. and that millions of Americans must be sacrificed on the altar of never raising taxes!
Well, it is time that those opposed to tax increases, in a nation with the lowest tax burden of any democracy in the world, start reconsidering.
So a proposal is to recognize the dangers that face us, and to see that we are engaged in a different kind of war, and in all wars except under George W. Bush, taxes went up to support the war.
So we need a “Terrorism Tax”, and it should be one percent on incomes under $25,000; two percent on incomes up to $50,000; three percent on incomes up to $100,000; four percent on incomes up to $250,000; five percent on incomes up to $1 million; and six percent on all income above $1 million, including unearned income!
The author knows he will be attacked for such a heinous suggestion as a “Terrorism Tax”, but our security and safety requires sacrifices from all of us, and those with higher income and assets should be expected to contribute more to the nation that has helped to give them opportunity to prosper!
As John F. Kennedy said in his Inaugural Address in 1961, all of us should share the responsibility of promoting our nation and advancing its agenda, that we cannot afford as citizens to sit on the sidelines and leave responsibility to others. Let us fulfill what Kennedy enunciated 52 years ago!
April A Particularly Historic Month In America’s Past
Posted by Ronald in News and Politics on April 1, 2013
The month of April is a particularly historic month in America’s past in so many ways, with 20 significant events listed below.
April 2, 1917—President Woodrow Wilson asks the Congress for a declaration of war against Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Turks.
April 4, 1968—The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.
April 6, 1917—Congress votes for entrance into World War I against Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Turks.
April 9, 1865—General Robert E. Lee surrenders to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia, marking the official end of the Civil War.
April 12, 1861—The Civil War begins, with the South Carolina attack on the federal military fort, Fort Sumter, in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina.
April 12, 1945—President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies of a cerebral hemorrhage in Warm Springs, Georgia, and Harry Truman becomes President.
April 13, 1743—President Thomas Jefferson is born in Virginia.
April 14, 1865—President Abraham Lincoln is assassinated by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theater in Washington, DC, dying the next morning at 722 AM
April 17, 1961—A failed attempt to overthrow Cuban leader Fidel Castro failed, coming to be known as the Bay of Pigs fiasco, and helped to lead to the later Cuban Missile Crisis, the greatest challenge faced by President John F. Kennedy.
April 18, 1775—The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, inspiring the first armed uprising against British oppression, occurred.
April 18, 1906—The highly destructive San Francisco Earthquake occurred, destroying much of the city, and killing 4,000 people.
April 19, 1775—The American Revolution began, with the Battle of Lexington and Concord outside Boston, Massachusetts.
April 19, 1993—The Waco, Texas tragedy of the death of 82 people in the Branch Davidian religious compound, consumed by fire, after an intervention by armored vehicles and federal agents occurred, inspiring conspiracy theories which led to the event below.
April 19, 1995—The worst domestic terrorist act in American history occurred, when Timothy McVeigh blew up the Oklahoma City Federal Building, killing 168 people and wounding about a thousand others.
April 20, 1914—The Ludlow Massacre of miners by company hired National Guardsmen, killing 19 people, occurred in Colorado over a desire for recognition of the United Mine Workers for the coal miners.
April 20, 1999—The Columbine Massacre in Littleton, Colorado, led to the worst mass shooting of students and teachers in public schools until the recent Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Connecticut.
April 21, 1836— The Battle of San Jacinto near Houston, Texas, led to the victory of Texans led by Sam Houston over the Mexican army of General Santa Anna, leading to Texas Independence.
April 22, 1994—President Richard Nixon dies at the age of 81.
April 24, 1800—The national library of America, the Library of Congress, is established in Washington, DC.
April 30, 1789—George Washington is inaugurated as the first American President at Federal Hall in Lower Manhattan.
The Biggest Loss Of A President Ever, Never Had Chance To Show His Brilliance—Our 20th President, James A. Garfield (1881)
Posted by Ronald in News and Politics on February 18, 2013
America has suffered the loss of eight Presidents who died in office, four by natural causes, and four by assassination.
Each one was a loss, but the greatest loss is clearly James A. Garfield, our 20th President, who served four months before being wounded by an assassin, Charles Guiteau, and proceeded being the victim of medical malpractice and ignorance, and died after 80 days, much of it in a coma.
Sure, the death of Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy were horrible losses, but all three had already made major contributions.
Sure, the death of William Henry Harrison after a month, and Zachary Taylor after 16 months, was a loss, but both, who had served as military heroes in wartime, did not have the same potential to have a dramatic impact upon history.
Sure, the death of William McKinley by assassination was a tragedy, but it caused America to have Theodore Roosevelt as President.
The death of Warren G. Harding led to Calvin Coolidge, who was certainly an improvement.
But the death of Garfield in 1881 was a case of a man who did not have a chance to show his brilliance, as pointed out yesterday in the Washington Post.
Garfield was born into poverty, but became a professor, Civil War general, businessman, and member of the House of Representatives, elected to the Senate at the same time he became President by a narrow margin, and the only President, therefore, to go directly from the House of Representatives to the White House.
A “dark horse” nominee who really did not want the Presidency, he gave a powerful Inaugural Address on March 4, 1881, speaking up for African Americans and civil rights, and also in his brief term, pushing hard for civil service reform.
Garfield appointed famous abolitionist Frederick Douglass and three other African Americans to posts in his administration, and he was said to have the ability to write in Greek and Latin with both hands, an amazing feat!
Garfield was a man of principle and conviction, and there are various memorials in Washington, DC and elsewhere in honor of a man who only served briefly in the Presidency, and a visit to his home in Mentor, Ohio, as this author has been fortunate to visit, is indeed a memorable event!
So as much as the loss of other Presidents is hard to deal with, the Garfield story is, in many ways, the most tragic!