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A fellow by the name of Joe Conforte took over the infamous Mustang Ranch about 10 miles east of Reno back in 1967. Four years later, Storey County licensed it as the first legal brothel in the state, not to mention the first in the country.

Conforte made a fortune from his 104-room brothel, but he was constantly in trouble with the federal government. Conforte dealt mostly in cash and kept few records. In 1990, Conforte fled to Brazil and the IRS had seized the ranch from Conforte’s cromies who had operated the brothel under a shell company that sent millions to Conforte in South America. The seizure put the federal government in the unique position of running a brothel.

The government tried to keep the business viable, but failed. After four years the IRS, in order to recover some of Conforte’s tax debt, auctioned off the assets of the Mustang Ranch, including beds and even the metal numbers that appeared on each bedroom doors.

So why do I tell you about this old brothel? I relate this story to you because right now we are being asked to trust the future of our country’s fractured and fragile economy to the same nitwits who couldn’t make money running a whore house and selling booze.

I don’t know about you, but this makes me pretty nervous.

Did President Elect Barack Obama know or suspect anything pertaining to Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich’s alleged scheme to enrich himself by selling Obama’s open Senate seat for cash or a lucrative job for himself? Did Obama have any idea at all that something like this was contemplated? Barack Obama says he never spoke to Blagojevich about any aspect of choosing his replacement. Yet his campaign chief David Axelrod, on November 23rd, said in a television interview that Obama had spoken to Blagojevich, and that the President Elect did not want to be seen as some kind of kingmaker, influencing his replacement in the Senate.

I know of no evidence that the President Elect had any connection with Blagojevich’s alleged “office for sale scheme”. Still, it is not only fair, but necessary, that we ask, and learn the answer about whether or not Barack Obama knew, or should have suspected that the Illinois governor might be corrupt. Everyone familiar with Chicago politics has suspected that for quite some time, and authorities have been looking into several matters of illegal dealings by Blagojevich.

What troubles me, once again, is how the mainstream media is handling this matter. It is as if there is a desire to protect the newly-elected Obama from any possible taint of scandal before he takes office.

Because Barack Obama is a product of the same checkered Chicago politics from which this latest scandal arises, and because it is his vacant seat that’s at the center of this investigation, in my judgment, the President Elect must not hesitate to clarify how, if at all, this might have involved him in any conceivable way. His denial of contact with Governor Blagojevich, contradicted by the comments of one of his closest advisors, is not a good start.

Imagine if Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and Benjamin Franklin had been offered a ride in a time machine back in 1789 when they were working on the text of the Constitution of The United States of America. What if they had been given an opportunity to travel to the present day to see how their efforts had paid off? They would discover how, over the last 220 years, we have interpreted their thoughtful words, and how we have applied them to govern our lives.

These American icons would see how we have permitted millions of illegal aliens to enter our country and partake of our limited resources without benefit of citizenship, and how we seem willing to just forget how they got here, and welcome them as citizens. They would see how we applied the Constitution to permit same sex couples to marry each other, and how we found constitutional support for the discretionary killing of our offspring when to raise them is not an acceptable option. They would see how the rights they so carefully articulated have been interpreted to mean that we should give up our guns, and forfeit our real property to local government to give to someone else whose use would increase tax revenues. They would discover how we have allowed the judiciary to make laws, and how the federal government has used taxpayer money to purchase significant assets of many of this country’s major private companies. The key framers of America’s Constitution would see how political correctness, partisan politics, overzealous ideology, special interest groups and big money have come to determine over time, what our Constitution means, and they would hardly recognize what they had written.

After this discouraging trip to the future, I think Jefferson, Madison and Franklin would return to their own time in Philadelphia completely demoralized and angry. Likely they would tell their colleagues that future generations of Americans are going to so badly distort and disintegrate this Constitution beyond recognition, that they might just as well burn the document. I’m afraid they would feel betrayed.

Gov. Chris Gregoire plans to release a balanced budget proposal in a couple of weeks. The budget will address the state’s largest deficit in history, and the Governor’s office says it will deal with the record shortfall without raising taxes. During her campaign for re-election, Governor Gregoire was allowed to get away with explaining dismal state finances by claiming that it was all the result of the national economy, stressed by the economic policies of George W. Bush. Now she will have to tell the truth. Her party spent us into oblivion over the last four years, and can no longer continue that practice.

The Washington State Legislature will take up the matter of the 2009-11 biennium budget when it convenes in January, and lawmakers will be forced to take a more conservative fiscal approach than they ever have before. It comes down to a simple question of what line items to keep and which get cut. Every decision will carry a political consequence that may cost Democrats the next time voters go to the polls. It was so much easier tossing a few shekels to every special interest group with their hand out in the last few years. Now the piggy bank is empty.

Even before next biennium, there is a more immediate problem: getting through the remainder of the current fiscal budget. Latest revenue forecasts show that the state must deal with a shortfall between now and next June of nearly 500-million dollars. Democrats will not appreciate hearing “I told you so” from minority Republicans, but the record shows the majority was constantly warned. So, let the cutting begin, and good luck managing the expectations of those programs and folks who think you’ll spare them.

One of O.J. Simpson’s sisters, on the way out of the Nevada courtroom where her brother was sentenced to fifteen years for armed robbery, stated that “this is not over.” I hope she is wrong. I hope that we will no longer have to put up with the media fascination with O.J., and that at last, Simpson will fade from public attention. For over a dozen years, Simpson has been a social pariah.

How a jury in 1995 was able to acquit the former pro football player will forever remain unfathomable. The case will serve, as it already has, as a symbol of how broken our jury system can be on occasion. While the judge in the Nevada Court stressed repeatedly that this case had nothing to do with the grizzly murders of Nichole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman, in the court of public opinion, Simpson’s conviction is seen as poetic justice, if not the judicial kind. May he go quietly off to the big house, and give us a break.

I must admit also, that I am hoping the sentencing may offer relief from the excessive hatred that has spewed from Fred Goldman. Anyone can appreciate how angry and wounded a parent might be if a young son or daughter were so brutally slain as was his son, Ron Goldman. But it has been 13 years, and Fred Goldman’s vengeance toward O.J. Simpson has grown onto a strange and twisted obsession that has become tedious and boring. Fred Goldman was in the Nevada courtroom for the sentencing last week. He seemed happy that Simpson is at last going off to the hoosgow. I’m glad he’s happy. Maybe now he too will just go away.

The O.J. Simpson saga was a sad chapter in many ways. He seemed to hang around like a bad penny. We always knew his luck would run out. It appears that it has, but then it has looked that way before, hasn’t it? Look for an appeal, and more O.J. news to come.

“At this season of the Winter Solstice, may reason prevail.”

These words open an anti-religion statement displayed on a sign near the official “holiday tree” in the Washington State Capitol rotunda. The messages continues:

“There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world.”

Would that this idea were true. I consider myself to be a reasonable person. I have significant education, and I also have faith, and neither are mutually exclusive, contrary to the misguided conclusions of the authors of this entertaining, but hardly reasonable proposition.

The sign text concludes with the following:

“Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.”

This is an old threadbare concept put forth in history by some of the most demented of humankind. You’ve heard the one about religion being the opium of the people, and one of my favorites is billionaire media dingbat Ted Turner’s claim that religion is for fools. I am neither drugged, nor am I the village idiot. Atheists are welcome to reject the notion that there is a God, or that there is a heaven, but I don’t mind telling you, I would love to be there when one of them croaks, and finds himself standing before his maker. I would love to see the startled expression on his face, and watch as he struggles to comprehend his predicament. I would also love to observe his demeanor when the Almighty forgives him for his self-important arrogance, and allows him into eternity anyway.

Until or unless these conceited non-believers are prepared to demonstrate how this universe of ours, with all its limitless diversity and incredible inter-connectivity and marvelous order, and how the human conscience came about without a creator, I’m not willing to concede that they have anything either reasonable, valuable mor compelling such that I would be willing to consider replacing my faith with their unsubstantiated, defective and incomplete secular theories. It occurs to me that they too are acting on faith, no less than am I. The difference is that they have faith in a kind of empty meaningless accident, and I believe in something far more bold and exciting.

They can dismiss me, but until they convince me, I’m sticking with my myths and superstitions.

The Peace and Justice Action League means well, but once again these zealots evidence a complete lack of understanding about the fundamental role of municipal government. Representatives of the League appeared before the Spokane City Council this week with a proposal to have the city mandate a raise in pay for workers employed by so-called “big box stores” operating within the city limits. They want a minimum wage for workers of these large retailers of 11.54 per hour.

I have no problem with members of the Peace and Justice Action League believing that these stores owe their workers what they consider to be a living wage, but what they do not seem to understand is that city government has no business making laws that tell local employers what they must pay their employees. This is a private matter between employers and their workforce.

With one possible exception, U.S, cities have understood their limitations in dictating wages hours and working conditions, and have correctly refrained from immersing into this area. It is simply beyond their purpose, and outside their authority. The Spokane City Council was wise to let the League seek signatures to place this proposal on the ballot for voters to decide. The concept failed last time it was before voters, and if it makes it back on the ballot, I’m confident it will fail again. The reason is simply that cities have no business adjusting private sector wages and hours, and voters don’t want that to change. Washington State already has the nation’s highest minimum wage, and if the city started dictating minimum wages locally, it would drive much-needed businesses away.

This proposal is just a case of barking up the wrong tree.

A new study illustrates what I mean, when I say the nation is going in the wrong direction. One in three high school students say they have stolen an item from a store. Nearly seven in ten say they have cheated on a test. Many of those say they do it all the time.

Leave it to typically liberal, self-esteem centered educators to rationalize that the reason young people are so morally corrupt is that they are subjected to more intensified pressures than previous generations, and therefore many students choose to cut corners.

What a crock.

Mel Riddle of the National Association of Secondary School Principals claims that competition is greater and pressures on kids have increased dramatically. Riddle says today’s kids have more opportunities to cheat than their predecessors. The temptation is simply greater.

Sixty-four percent of students reported that they cheated on a test in the past year. 38 percent admitted doing so several times. Over a third of the students surveyed said they used the Internet to plagiarize an assignment. Forty-two percent said they sometimes lie to save money.

The worst part about this survey is that 93 percent of respondents said they were satisfied with their personal ethics and character. This is the hardest news to swallow. These morally dead kids actually think they are worthy of praise as decent, straight shooters. They consider themselves more ethical than their peers. What we have here is a new generation of Americans largely devoid of basic honesty and integrity, and educators are making excuses for them. It all makes me so proud of American parenting, and so confident in our educational system.

Moral bankruptcy is far more dangerous to our national fiber than financial bankruptcy. Ah but who cares….they’re just kids, right?

On this “Black Friday” the nation’s retailers can take some solace in the fact that the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which hit an all-time low in October, has improved moderately so far in November.

The Index now stands at 44.9 up from 38.8 in October. Still, Americans cut back on their spending in October by the largest amount since the 2001 terrorist attacks. The Commerce Department says consumer spending fell 1 percent last month, even worse than the 0.9 percent decline that had been expected.

Notwithstanding the gloom and doom news background of the last 45 days, the Commerce Department also reports that personal incomes in America were up 0.3 percent last month, slightly better than the 0.1 percent gain analysts had expected.

Consumers are concerned that the economy is falling into a deep recession, but the indicators seem to susomething more mild, despite the huge bailouts being doled out in Washington, D.C., and all the companies that are crying the blues. It is important to understand that in our economy, consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of all economic activity. That means it matters what American households think about whether the economy is good or bad.

A one-percent reduction in consumer spending means that we are spending at the rate of 99% of what we spent in October, and in October we spent 3-tenths more than in September, and in September consumers spent about one-tenth more than they did in August. To put it another way, our spending, throughout this period of perceived “crisis” has been fairly consistent with what consumers spent before the problem was front page. What that means is that though consumers will likely not be in the market for those high ticket items this holiday season, they aren’t exactly going to stuff their money under the mattress either.

My conclusion: It’s not yet time to sing a requiem for retailers.

Apparently many Americans aren’t sure exactly what a “bailout” is.

That would explain why so many people looked up the word so often on Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary. Now the Merriam publisher says “bailout” is the top choice for its annual Word of the Year honor. A couple of things come to mind as suggested by this information.

The first is how uninformed we are as a nation. I’ve spoken about this before, but it bears further scrutiny. I know most of you have never been in jail, but you must have run across the term “bail”. Alleged offenders are often bailed out of jail. In other words, they are given a temporary reprieve from jeopardy.

That’s of course what many U.S. banks, investment firms, manufacturers and adjustable rate home mortgage payers want for Christmas this year. Of course, you the taxpayer, are supposed to give like Santa Claus. That’s the second thought that comes to mind when the term “bailout” comes up. The vast majority of us, upon occasion, have known tough times. When things became difficult, the first thought that came to mind wasn’t how the government should come to our aid. We expected to find solutions to our dilemma without the help of anyone else. We did not consider ourselves “victims”, and we were not looking to blame our problems on anybody else. In other words, we sought no bailout.

Why then, are we now expected to cover hundreds of billions of dollars in bailouts for companies that for the most part, could’ve prevented their current discomfort, but chose not to? Who victimized them?

“Bailout” probably is the Word of The Year in 2008. At no time in our history have more organizations and individuals been looking for a hand out than have this year. This seems to be the year of the tin cup, doesn’t it? What has become of personal responsibility?