It is not Un-American It is Free Speech

In an earlier post I stated that the church in Gainesville, Florida should not burn the Quran, but instead if they wanted to make a statement, that statement should be one of the entire church, as a corporate body on its collective knees in prayer.  I still stand by that. 

However, I heard something today that chilled me. 

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the administration hoped that more Americans would stand up and condemn the church's plan.
"We think that these are provocative acts," Crowley said. "We would like to see more Americans stand up and say that this is inconsistent with our American values; in fact, these actions themselves are un-American."(emphasis mine)

Since when is exercising your first amendment right to Free Speech and Freedom of Expression un-American? I agree that what they are doing is not the best way to protest, as I have indicated above and in my previous post, but seriously?  Un-American?

Washington needs to suck it up here and take a giant step back.  The church, in my opinion, is doing the wrong thing here by planning on holding the Burn the Quran day, but it is their right to do so in this country.

Eric

Can You Live On $169,300 A Year?

Can you live on $169,300 a year? I know I could. However, it appears that those in Congress can't.

After telling CEO's of various companies that they should only earn one dollar a year, and with over 2 million people newly out of work, Congress has "earned" itself another pay raise.

Granted, the pay raise is just 2.8 percent, but still. With the average congressional pay at $169,300 a year, and the average family income as reported by the Census Bureau at $50,233.00 a year, there seems to be somewhat of a discrepancy here in pay.

I will give credit to at least one incoming representative. Representative. Harry Mitchell, a first-term Democrat from Arizona, sponsored legislation earlier this year that would have prevented the automatic pay adjustments from kicking in for members next year. But the bill, which attracted 34 cosponsors, failed to make it out of committee.

Imagine that. Didn't even make it out of committee to the floor for a vote.

In the beginning days of 1789, Congress was paid only $6 a day, which would be about $75 daily by modern standards. I say we pay them that, and then let's see what happens to our government.

So, can you live on $169,300 a year?