Citizens have the right to speak up, rally and have their concerns heard. Any attempt to silence dissent should be frowned upon. Protestors should not be labeled rioters or insurrectionists, but merely demonstrators. Sometimes protests get emotional, sometimes property is broken or damaged. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have protests.
Now I get that the Florida anti-protesting law is mostly a response to the Democrats labeling the unruly and rather asinine pro-Trump protests at the US Capitol insurrectionists, and the abuse of the law by federal agents to aggressively prosecute those who marched on and in some cases damaged the Capitol grounds is gross. But two wrongs don’t make a right. Republicans shouldn’t be enacting a law because Joe Biden’s administration is being unfair to the January 6th protestors. And just because a protest is completely asinine and insane, doesn’t mean people don’t have the right to be heard and not be taken seriously.
There is a lot of injustice in the world today. People have the right to be heard. Law enforcement should work with demonstrations to ensure that people have a chance to have their voices heard, while minimizing damage to property and injury to fellow protestors and people going on their businesses. But remember broken glass isn’t end of world. The government breaks a lot of glass and tears down a lot of buildings with eminent domain to build highways, office parks and “public” works.
Protests may be asinine, and the may be inconvenient to people trying to get through daily business, but that shouldn’t be a reason to allow people to have their voices heard.
The law increases penalties for protesters who block roadways or deface public monuments. It creates a new crime, "mob intimidation." And it requires that anyone arrested at a protest be denied bail until their first court appearance, likely making for overnight jail stays. The law makes local officials in Florida liable to lawsuits from injured parties if they are found to have not done enough to respond to control violent protests. And it reacts to the "defund police" movement, allowing officials to appeal to the governor and his cabinet any decision by local officials to reduce funding to law enforcement.
Attorney Benjamin Crump, who represents the Wright family, said in a separate interview earlier this week that Daunte Wright "was doing, like most marginalized minorities, trying to run away and get away from the police because Black men in particular are afraid when the police interacts with them because it normally ends up in bad results."
Butler, who is Black, says he too is constantly afraid of being confronted by police.
"Any Black person who is aware of the news, who knows history, has to be anxious around the police," Butler says. "I'm older. I'm a professional. I'm law-abiding. Whenever I see a cop car behind me, my heart starts beating faster. I don't go to places late at night where I'd have to drive and be on a lonely road where I might be pulled over. I don't want to take the risk."
He argues, "if you don't immediately stop ... in addition to whatever traffic infraction, you're committing contempt of cop. And bad officers will make you pay for that. ... It's so arbitrary and so that police officers who are racist or biased, they have so much power."
Here’s an idea of where the government can make more revenue: tax other layers of government.
Right now, state and local government enjoys paying zero taxes on property and buildings it owns, on energy it consumes, on facilities it operates. City halls, government buildings, prisons, parks, even enormous the beautiful buildings owned by the police and owned the Pentagon are currently untaxed. There is an enormous amount of government property thatshould be taxed, but currently isn’t — because of antiquated laws that prohibit government from taxing other layers of government.
Imagine for a minute if the State of New York was required to pay both local and federal taxes on the Empire State Plaza. For one thing, such a lavish building complex would have never been built. But even if was built, they would have used much cheaper materials, to avoid paying so much in local and federal taxes. Likewise, imagine if the City of Albany had to pay state and federal taxes on City Hall — it would have been long ago sold off to private developers — who would turn this beautiful old building into a hotel, conference center or dinning hall. Government would move to an efficient, non-descript building in a lower-cost part of the city.
Likewise, imagine if the City of Albany had to pay state and federal income tax on fines, property tax payments, other forms of revenue. The City of Albany would likely find it necessary to cut services, and find economies — as they would be making less money on each dollar they brought in. Yes, local property taxes and fines might increase to cover some of the cost of paying taxes to other levels of government — but also local government would shrink. Correspondingly, the state and federal governments could cut their taxes, because the federal and state governments would be collecting income tax on the city’s fines, taxes, and other sources of revenue.
Taxes are a proven method of reducing spending. At first it might seem silly for government to tax each other layer of government, but taxes on government spending will discourage more government spending, leading to a smaller, more efficient government. No more lavish government buildings, no more lavish spending on politicians or bureaucrats, just a government that is a lean servant of the people. The more you think about it, taxing government could not only lead to more revenue, but also less government.
The George Fuller construction company is credited with being the first company to manufacture Quonset huts on behalf of the US Navy in 1941. The exact inventor or designer isn’t known, but the design is based on the Nissen Hut design that originated from World War I.?
In World War II, the U.S. Navy needed buildings that could be quickly assembled and disassembled but could withstand the rigors of the military and the Quonset hut was created. In essence, the Quonset hut wasn’t necessarily invented but was a vast improvement of the Nissen Hut.?
Government regulations are not neutral when they "treat any comparable secular activity more favorably than religious exercise," said the majority, noting that "it is no answer that a state treats some comparable...activities as poorly as...the religious exercise at issue."
