Broad Ownership Needs Broad Taxpaying
By Scott Johnson and John Hinderaker

After the Sixteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, authorizing an income tax, was ratified in 1913, Congress enacted a levy immediately. Initially, just 1 percent of the population paid this income tax, and the top rate of 7 percent applied only to earnings in excess of $500,000-affecting very few citizens at the time.

Soon, however, amidst abundant calls to “soak the rich,” the personal income tax was expanded. By 1918, the top marginal rate had been pushed up to 77 percent. Over subsequent decades, income tax rates were raised and lowered many times, with the top rate peaking at 94 percent in 1944. (This was no wartime fluke: the top marginal rate was over 90 percent from 1950 to 1963, and was stable at a stiff 70 percent as recently as 1971 through 1980.)

The personal income tax became an important revenue source for the federal government during the ’40s. It was during this era that the mass of Americans began to face income taxes for the first time. The proportion of federal revenue raised by the personal income tax jumped from 14 to 40 percent in a decade.

Today, 43 percent of Washington’s revenue comes from the income tax. What started as a very limited levy has evolved into the federal government’s main source of cash. Yet it is still America’s wealthiest 5 percent who pick up most of the tab.
…. read the full article here.

I use to kid that some Deomcrats are socialists and hate democracy, but, well check it out for yourself. …. read this!.

Mideast – AFP

Arab states fear Iraq polls will fan reform calls, boost Iran

CAIRO (AFP) – Sunni Arab states fear the emergence of a hostile Shiite government in Iraq (news – web sites) after the first free elections there in 50 years that also threaten to bring new pressure to bear for political reforms of their own.

“Victory for Sistani,” the Cairo daily Nahdat Misr headlined Monday, referring to the Iran-born Shiite spiritual leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani who engineered a joint list that is widely expected to win power for Iraq’s long oppressed majority community.

Cairo University law professor Mohammed Nur Farhat asked if there had not been “an understanding, even partial, between the United States and Iran,” paving the way for the Shiites’ expected rise to power for the first time in centuries in an Arab state.

Jordan expressed concern that the Shiites might hold a monopoly of power in the new National Assembly after the much lower turnout reported from areas inhabited by the Sunni Arab elite that dominated Saddam Hussein (news – web sites)’s regime and all previous Iraqi governments.
…. read the full article here.

Churchill has been in the eye of a media hurricane since last week when students and 9/11 victims’ family members began to protest his scheduled Thursday appearance on a panel at Hamilton College, in Clinton, N.Y. Churchill had triggered angry reactions in many quarters with his argument that American foreign policy, including support for U.N. sanctions of Iraq following the first Gulf War, had done much to provoke the terrorists’ actions.

In his statement released Monday, Churchill protested what he called “grossly inaccurate media coverage,” which had “resulted in defamation of my character and threats against my life. What I actually said has been lost, indeed turned into the opposite of itself,” Churchill stated.

The essay, On the Justice of Roosting Chickens, was intended to make the point “that we cannot allow the U.S. government, acting in our name, to engage in massive violations of international law and fundamental human rights and not expect to reap the consequences.”

Denying that he is a “defender” of the September 11 attacks, Churchill said, he had simply been “pointing out that if U.S. foreign policy results in massive death and destruction abroad, we cannot feign innocence when some of that destruction is returned.”

“I have never said that people ‘should’ engage in armed attacks on the United States, but that such attacks are a natural and unavoidable consequence of unlawful U.S. policy. As Martin Luther King, quoting Robert F. Kennedy, said, ‘Those who make peaceful change impossible make violent change inevitable’.”

…. Thanx LGF for exposing this jerk.
…. And here is the article, judge it for yourself.

Well first, Howard Dean is set to be DNC chair.

(AP) State party leaders gave their backing Monday to Howard Dean in his bid to be chairman of the Democratic National Committee, putting the former presidential candidate in a strong position to win the election in about two weeks.

Rival Wellington Webb, former mayor of Denver, dropped out of the chairman’s race after the endorsement and also backed Dean. Webb’s aide Cindy Brovski said, “Mathematically, it looks like Dean is going to win on the first ballot.”

Well, I guess the Democrats, (with the exception of Hilary, who is smart enough to pretend to move center and will be a opponent to worry about) clearly do not get it. Dean, Nancy Pelosi, and Kennedy, who will represent the Democratic party, have very little in common with the American mainstram. Kennedy actually had the nerve to suggest we pull out of Iraq the day of the election. If they continue on this path and the Republicans do not do anything dumb, then they truely will be a “National Party No More.”

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Guantanamo Bay terrorism suspects have the constitutional right to pursue lawsuits challenging their imprisonment, a federal judge ruled on Monday in a defeat for the Bush administration that struck down how the U.S. military reviewed their cases. The prisoners at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba have the constitutional right not to be deprived of liberty without due process of law, U.S. District Judge Joyce Hens Green said.

She ruled that the special military tribunals to determine the status of each Guantanamo detainee as an “enemy combatant” violated the constitutional protection of a fair hearing. Such a designation allows the government to hold the suspects indefinitely. Green said the procedures failed to give the detainees access to material evidence and failed to let lawyers help them when the government refused to disclose classified information.

In addition to those constitutional defects applying to all the cases, Green also cited problems with the tribunals relying on statements possibly obtained by torture or coercion, and by using a vague and overly broad definition of enemy combatant. More than 540 al Qaeda suspects and accused Taliban fighter are being held at Guantanamo after the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan (news – web sites) and from operations in the U.S. war on terrorism. The ruling involved about 50 detainees.

The judge rejected the Bush administration’s argument that the prisoners have no constitutional rights and their lawsuits challenging the conditions of their confinement and seeking their release must be dismissed in their entirety. “We respectfully disagree with the decision. The Department of Justice (news – web sites) will be looking at what the appropriate next steps are to take in this matter,” White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.

A spokesman noted that another federal judge recently came to the opposite conclusion and said the Justice Department (news – web sites) would move “expeditiously” in “resolving the issues” before the U.S. court of appeals. The tribunals, formally called a military commission, at the base were authorized by President Bush (news – web sites) after the Sept. 11, 2001, hijacked airliner attacks on the United States, but have been criticized by human rights groups as unfair.

At issue in the ruling was the July 7, 2004, order by Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz creating the “Combatant Status Review Tribunal” to determine whether each Guantanamo detainee had been correctly found to be an “enemy combatant.”

I wonder how many Nazi POW’s such judges would have freed had such judges existed back then? In theory, I might want some rules written down to handle such cases, however, I do not trust the bleeding hearts who care more about the rights of terrorists then their victims. I believe if these liberals were in power in WWII we would have lost the war and any hope of humanity.

The Communist News Network covered Iraq’s election by showing gravesights of American soldiers and discussing Iraq’s wartime economic damage. After 15 minutes, I had all I could stomach and switched to something less biased, Al-jazeera.

By Saul Hudson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States has rebuffed pleas to join a European diplomatic drive to persuade Iran to give up any ambitions to add nuclear bombs to its arsenal, U.S. officials and foreign diplomats say. For months, Britain, France and Germany have hoped to improve their bargaining power with the Islamic republic by involving Washington in a proposed accord over an end to its uranium enrichment activities.

That effort has intensified since President Bush (news – web sites)’s re-election in November, culminating last week with ministerial visits to Condoleezza Rice (news – web sites) days before she took up her new post as secretary of state, they said.

So far, the Americans show no sign of giving ground. A European diplomat acknowledged the lobbying had failed to overcome U.S. skepticism about the talks, but Europe hoped Washington would eventually be persuaded if Iran kept to the agreement that offers energy, technology and trade incentives.

If you are a democrat. …. according to the Daily Kos.

Is the Iraq Election a success? The early reporting is that there is good turnout among the Shia and Kurds. Does this qualify as success?:

Iraqis voted in their first democratic election in nearly half a century Sunday with many observers saying the day appeared to have yielded higher turnout than expected and less violence than feared. Insurgents killed about two dozen people, including a U.S. Marine. But the level of mayhem by forces striving to disrupt the process was less than predicted, especially in Baghdad where turnout surged during the day amid signs of enthusiasm for voting even in some Sunni areas.
Success?

As expected, turnout appeared to be very uneven around the country, with the majority Shiite community and Kurdish areas participating in the election to a much greater degree than the minority Sunnis. Voting continued in early evening in some places even after polls officially were to have closed. Carlos Valenzuela, the United Nations’ chief election adviser in Iraq, told CNN that he believed that overall turnout was considerably “better than expected.” That assessment was echoed by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who said, “Every indication is that the election in Iraq is going better than expected.” Rice conceded, however, speaking on ABC’s “This Week, that “it’s not a perfect election” and added, “there are going to be many, many difficult days ahead.”
The days ahead. Precisely. This Election is simply, in my estimation, an exercise in pretty pictures. Why? Because Elections are to choose governments, not to celebrate the day. Are the people elected capable of governing Iraq at this time? Without 150,000 U.S. soldiers? Or even with them? I have been accused of gloating by people right HERE because of my focus on the continuing violence. But my focus has been on the realities of governing a land in chaos, in the midst of civil war, with 150,000 U.S. soldiers the only force with the ability to provide security. And this is 2 years after the invasion.

So what the hell do the democrats believe in? It seems they no longer truely support democracy, freedom of speech, a strong family, or the military. Honorable Democrats like Roosevelt and Truman must be turning over in their graves. (If it matters, some sources say 60% voter turnout, which is still a strong number considering the threat of violence they all faced.)

John Kerry appeared on NBC News’ Meet the Press this morning and MSNBC has posted the transcript. On the matter of today’s election and our efforts in Iraq it makes predictably painful reading.

On a matter of special interest to us, Tim Russert gets around to asking Kerry questions about Kerry’s bogus journey to Cambodia with an unfortunately lengthy windup. Russert is a little late to this particular party, but I wonder if Kerry didn’t have the thought running through his mind — “What are these crazy questions they’re asking of me?” — from the old Randy Newman song. Here’s the exchange:

MR. RUSSERT: You cast yourself as a potential commander in chief during the campaign, particularly at the convention, “I am John Kerry reporting for duty.” What effect do you believe this book, “Unfit for Command,” and the Swift Boat Veterans had on your candidacy?

SEN. KERRY: Well, that’s for others to judge, Tim. I don’t know. I mean, obviously I could have and should have responded faster and more forcefully, I think, to that. But lies and smears were proven in the front pages of The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal. My crew, others, all spoke to those lies and will continue to. But, you know, there’s a new communication structure in America. And I think we could have done a better job of addressing it obviously. But that wasn’t–you know, what decided this race in the end was really 9/11. And, you know, I am not going to worry about the past. I am going to go forward to the future.

MR. RUSSERT: See if you could clear up one issue that I think has been left over from the campaign. And that is Steve Gardner, who was a foregunner on your PCF-44 boat, cut a commercial for the Swift Boat Veterans and made a very specific charge. Let me just show that and you can come back and talk about it a little bit.

(Videotape, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ad):

MR. STEVE GARDNER: John Kerry claims that he spent Christmas in 1968 in Cambodia, and that is categorically a lie. Not in December, not in January, we were never in Cambodia on a secret mission ever.

(End videotape)

MR. RUSSERT: Now, the New York Daily News editorial wrote an editorial, and it said this. “As for Kerry, he might ask why the Swifties’ attacks have been effective. The answer is his propensity to exaggerate. … It’s looking more likely that he exaggerated, if not worse, when he claimed through the years that he was in Cambodia on Christmas Eve ’68. He said the memory was `seared’ into him, but it’s now clear Kerry was elsewhere, at least at that time. He has yet to explain. Until he does, the Swifties will have a powerful weapon in their arsenal.”

And they refer, Senator, to a speech on the floor in which you said that you were there, that the president of the United States was saying you were not there, that there were troops in Cambodia. You have the memory seared in you. In a letter to the Boston Herald, you remember spending Christmas Eve ’68 five miles across the Cambodian border. You told The Washington Post you have a lucky hat given to you by a CIA guy “as we went in for a special mission to Cambodia.” Were you in Cambodia Christmas Eve, 1968?

SEN. KERRY: We were right on the border, Tim. What I explained to people and I told this any number of times, did I go into Cambodia on a mission? Yes, I did go into Cambodia on a mission. Was it on that night? No, it was not on that night. But we were right on the Cambodian border that night. We were ambushed there, as a matter of fact. And that is a matter of record, and we went into the rec– you know, it’s part of the Navy records. It’s been documented by the other guys who were on my boat. And Steve Gardner, frankly, doesn’t know where we were. It wasn’t his job, and, you know, he wasn’t involved in that. But we did go five miles into Cambodia. It was on another day. I jumbled the two together, but we were five miles into Cambodia. We went up on a mission with CIA agents–I believe they were CIA agents–CIA Special Ops guys. I even have some photographs of it, and I can document it. And it has been documented.

MR. RUSSERT: You’ll release those photographs?

SEN. KERRY: I think they were shown. I gave them to the campaign, but…

MR. RUSSERT: And you have a hat that the CIA agent gave you?

SEN. KERRY: I still have the hat that he gave me, and I hope the guy would come out of the woodwork and say, “I’m the guy who went up with John Kerry. We delivered weapons to the Khmer Rouge on the coastline of Cambodia.” We went out of Ha Tien, which is right in Vietnam. We went north up into the border. And I have some photographs of that, and that’s what we did. So, you know, the two were jumbled together, but we were on the Cambodian border on Christmas Eve, absolutely.

MR. RUSSERT: Nixon was president-elect, not president, at that particular time. He wasn’t sworn in until…

SEN. KERRY: In 1968, he wasn’t sworn in yet.

MR. RUSSERT: But he was president-elect, not president.

SEN. KERRY: That’s correct.

Kerry fails to name a single individual who was on the bogus journey with him and Russert apparently doesn’t know that none of Kerry’s band of brothers has backed his story. Russert appears not to be aware of the absence of any such story in the account of Kerry’s Vietnam service by Kerry’s authorized hagiographer Douglas Brinkley, or in Kerry’s diary of his service as rendered in Brinkley’s book or the Boston Globe’s series on Kerry. That’s where Russert leaves Christmas in Cambodia; not exactly a model of rigorous preparation or questioning.

Russert then picks up the question of Kerry’s unreleased military records — the records that will document his bogus journey, I guess. They might have come in handy for Kerry last year. Wonder why he didn’t sign that Form 180 and publicize the records. Here’s the exchange on Kerry’s military records immediately following the last answer above:

MR. RUSSERT: Many people who’ve been criticizing you have said: Senator, if you would just do one thing and that is sign Form 180, which would allow historians and journalists complete access to all your military records. Thus far, you have gotten the records, released them through your campaign. They say you should not be the filter. Sign Form 180 and let the historians…

SEN. KERRY: I’d be happy to put the records out. We put all the records out that I had been sent by the military. Then at the last moment, they sent some more stuff, which had some things that weren’t even relevant to the record. So when we get–I’m going to sit down with them and make sure that they are clear and I am clear as to what is in the record and what isn’t in the record and we’ll put it out. I have no problem with that.

MR. RUSSERT: Would you sign Form 180?

SEN. KERRY: But everything, Tim…

MR. RUSSERT: Would you sign Form 180?

SEN. KERRY: Yes, I will. But everything that we put in it, Tim–everything we put in–I mean, everything that was out was a full documentation of all of the medical records, all of the fitness reports. And I’d call on those who have challenged me, let’s see their records. I want to see the records of each of those people who have put up a challenge, because some of them have some serious questions in them, and it hasn’t been appropriate…

MR. RUSSERT: So they should sign Form 180s for themselves as well?

SEN. KERRY: You bet.

It would have been nice if Russert had noted that Kerry had promised to release all his records during his last appearance on Meet the Press during the campaign. We’re still waiting, and I’m not holding my breath.

HINDROCKET adds: It’s interesting that Kerry backs off the obvious lie that he spent Christmas Eve of 1968 in Cambodia, but he still can’t bring himself to tell the truth. He doesn’t want to admit that he simply fabricated the Christmas Eve story that was “seared into his memory,” so he tries to pretend that the story is almost true: “[W]e were right on the Cambodian border that night. We were ambushed there, as a matter of fact.” But, as Kerry himself recorded contemporaneously in his journal, he spent that Christmas Eve at Sa Dec, fully fifty miles from the Cambodian border. And his boat wasn’t ambushed that night; he wrote that he had “visions of sugar plums” dancing in his head.

Only because mainstream reporters are so lame can Kerry get away with these serial lies.

Everyday I wake up and thank God John Kerry is not my Commander-in-Chief.

P.S. Powerline has some great photos of the Iraqi election. Check it out. …. thanx Powerline.

thanx LGF:

Did you see the Fox video of Iraqi’s dancing in the streets for joy over the election? I wonder how the liberal media will try to spin this?

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Millions of Iraqis flocked to vote in a historic election Sunday, defying insurgents who killed 35 people in a bloody assault on the poll. Voters, some ululating with joy, others hiding their faces in fear, cast ballots in higher-than-expected numbers in Iraq (news – web sites)’s first multi-party election in half a century. Some came on crutches, others walked for miles then struggled to read the ballot, but across Iraq, millions turned out to vote Sunday, defying insurgents who threatened a bloodbath.

Suicide bombs and mortars killed at least 27 people, but voters still came out in force for the first multi-party poll in 50 years. In some places they cheered with joy at their first chance to cast a free vote, in others they shared chocolates.

Even in Falluja, the Sunni city west of Baghdad that was a militant stronghold until a U.S. assault in November, a steady stream of people turned out, confounding expectations. Lines of veiled women clutching their papers waited to vote.

“We want to be like other Iraqis, we don’t want to always be in opposition,” said Ahmed Jassim, smiling after he voted.

In Baquba, a rebellious city northeast of Baghdad, spirited crowds clapped and cheered at one voting station. In Mosul, scene of some of the worst insurgent attacks in recent months, U.S. and local officials said turnout was surprisingly high.

Samir Hassan, 32, who lost his leg in a car bomb blast last year, said as he waited to vote in Baghdad: “I would have crawled here if I had to. I don’t want terrorists to kill other Iraqis like they tried to kill me.” Hailing the election as a “resounding success,” President Bush (news – web sites) said: “The world is hearing the voice of freedom from the center of the Middle East.” By participating in free elections, the Iraqi people have firmly rejected the anti-democratic ideology of the terrorists.”

This should be a day celebrated in all freedom-loving countries. Two free elections in countries with no history of a democratic process is one hell of an accomplishment and Bush should get credit, but he won’t by anyone on the left.

By DAVID GINSBURG, AP Sports Writer

BALTIMORE – By adding Sammy Sosa to an already formidable batting order, the Baltimore Orioles (news) can salvage a disappointing offseason and give their young pitching staff more margin for error. “Maybe I’m putting my foot in my mouth,” Orioles pitching coach Ray Miller said Saturday, “but if you give me eight runs a game, I’ll figure out the rest.”

The deal to obtain Sosa from the Chicago Cubs (news) for second baseman Jerry Hairston and at least two minor league prospects had not been finalized yet. But Baltimore can already envision a lineup with Sosa batting cleanup behind Melvin Mora and Miguel Tejada and ahead of Rafael Palmeiro and Javy Lopez.
“We’ll probably hit him fourth, though we haven’t talked about it yet,” hitting coach Terry Crowley said. “It’s a big addition. It will make us better; I’m just not sure how much better.”

Sosa batted .253 in 2004, struck out 133 times, missed a month with a back injury and failed drive in 100 runs for the first time in a decade. But he hit 35 homers, more than any Oriole. “He’s going to be a great impact on the lineup,” Baltimore outfielder David Newhan said. “Plus, that personality, that energy he brings, it’s something we needed.”

from The Skeptical Optimist…. here is the site.

The facts say that the USA’s debt burden is lower than that of Japan, Canada, and France; on par with Germany’s; and higher than the debt burden in the UK, Russia, Iran, and Botswana. As with the Thermometer chart, the focus is on facts. Over time, I’ll post my interpretations of those facts. For now, just examine the chart and tuck away any facts that might come in handy for future discussions about deficits or the National Debt. And please don’t miss the most important fact on the History chart—the moral, which is this: Economic growth reduces the debt burden. That’s a fact, not an opinion.

I must say, they make a good argument. Check it out!
…. here is the evidence.

A few days ago in the Washington Post, Colbert King asks the question: Why the Crass Remarks About Rice?

I am also a Black man. And it’s about time we stop dancing around the issue. The evidence is piling up and the answer is obvious. Liberals are racist, too.

Over the last few years, I’ve become quite disappointed with the Democratic party on a number of fronts. I believe the party is too reactionary and offers up no ideas of its own. They more or less just oppose whatever the Republicans want to do. I believe the party is too soft on national defense, and is more worried about opinion polls in France than defending the country. I believe that the Democrats are more worried about pleasing certain special interest groups than implementing worthwhile ideas (teacher’s unions vs. school vouchers). And so forth. But nothing has surprised or saddened me more than to see the overt racism from the left.

Examples? Fine. Let’s start with …. Check it out here.

Secretary of State Sam Reed filed court papers this week siding with Republicans on key legal issues in the lawsuit over the governor’s election, saying, for example, that the dispute should stay in the courts and not move to the Legislature as Democrats want…. Check out the Hedgehog for more.

A federal judge Friday called it “significant” and “troubling” that The Sun’s state house bureau chief and a columnist are being denied the information they need to do their jobs, but the judge also suggested the governor has a right to direct his staff who they can and cannot talk to.

The Baltimore Sun Co. has sued Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., alleging that his administration’s order banning state employees from speaking with two Sun writers is a violation of their First Amendment rights. The case was heard in court for the first time Friday, with The Sun asking the ban be lifted while the case proceeds. The state asked for the lawsuit to be dismissed.

U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles Jr. did not rule on either request. Instead, he asked for more information from the state on which employees are subject to the order. The judge’s request also gives both sides at least another week to reach a settlement…. From the Baltimore Sun.

Is it not also troubling that the media in our city is no longer objective or partial and has become the editorial board for the Democratic Party. Also, why would you want to talk to a reporter whose only objective is to cast you and your job in a negative light, Finally, where in the Constitution does it say reporters have a right to speak to elected officials, especially when they make no effort to report the news fairly.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Insurgents hit the U.S. embassy with an audacious rocket strike on Saturday that killed two Americans and wounded four, and also killed 17 Iraqis and an American soldier on the eve of Iraq (news – web sites)’s landmark election.

Militants who have sworn to turn the poll into a bloodbath and kill anyone who dares to vote frequently fire rockets and mortars at Baghdad’s fortresslike Green Zone, but Saturday’s attack was the first in months to cause Western casualties.

The rocket struck the American compound after dark, setting off an explosion that could be heard throughout the city center. Most of the U.S. embassy’s nearly 1,500 staff work in the compound, part of Saddam Hussein (news – web sites)’s former Republican Palace.

“It hit near the embassy building,” embassy spokesman Bob Callahan said. “There are two dead and four who are wounded … all Americans.”

I think this Tet flashback will work too effectively, regardless of what the liberal media will want you to believe, simply because the majority of Iraqis want elections, don’t support the foreign and ex-bathist terrorists, and the Iraqi army is getting stronger, not weaker. This is not Vietnam, guys.

Chicago (Sports Network) – The Chicago Cubs (news) are reportedly on the verge of trading slugger Sammy Sosa (news) to the Baltimore Orioles (news).

ESPN reports the Cubs will send Sosa to the Orioles for second baseman Jerry Hairston Jr. (news) and at least two minor leaguers. The deal would have to be approved by commissioner Bud Selig and the Players’ Association and would only be finalized if all players involved pass physicals.

Sosa is due to make $17 million this season and his option for 2006 is worth $18 million. One thing apparently that’s been holding up Sosa from being traded is another option. If he’s traded, the option for 2006 would be automatically exercised, and then there would be a $19 million option for 2007. Both the 2006 and 2007 options could be bought out for $4.5 million.

However, there have been reports that Sosa’s agent, Adam Katz, would possibly void the option part of the slugger’s contract so that a trade could be facilitated. The Cubs would also reportedly pay a large part of Sosa’s salary to the Orioles for next season.

Selig would have to sign off on the trade since more than $1 million is being exchanged between teams.

The 36-year-old Sosa hit .253 with 35 homers and 80 RBI last season. His statistics took a big hit this past year, but Sosa played in only 126 games. His run of nine straight seasons with at least 100 RBI came to an end. Sosa was sidelined for a month with a back injury, which he suffered after a violent sneeze.

What the O’s have not addressed is pitching. And I do not see us being competative angainst the Sox and Yankees without pitching. In my humble opinion baseball is doomed without a salary cap. I am tired of watching the O’s suck every year, but I am not willing to pay the high prices needed to compete against the Yankees. I am sure others in non-competative cities feel as I do.