Capitol Punishment
March 4, 2006
The bleeding heart left winged liberals tell us "Capitol Punishment," is not a deterrent. Sadly, I must agree with them. The reason being when a person commits murder in the United States, oftentimes the person sentenced to death will out live the execution date. Some states allow appeals for up to 25 years. Naturally, if there is not any fear of execution, it may no longer be a deterrent. It is my opinion that once an individual has been convicted of murder, rape, or rape of a child (beyond a reasonable doubt) execution should be swift, especially if DNA was available for the conviction.
It would not be justice served--if an innocent person was executed. However this argument used by the bleeding heart liberals does not warrant abolishing the death penalty. I believe 12 months of appeals should be long enough-then execute! If a person contemplating murder knew they would be executed within 12 months of the date of sentencing, there would be far less murders. Besides, the death penalty is the punishment handed down to those already convicted of murder, and shouldn’t be viewed as an actual deterrent.
The cost to taxpayers to keep inmates on death row is astronomical! The state I live in Virginia, keeps the average death row inmate 7.3 years at a cost of $33,000.00 a year-total cost to taxpayers $240,900.00. North Carolina average stay is 15-20 years at $27,000.00 a year-cost of $540,000.00, California average stay is 20-25 years at $30,000.00 a year-cost to taxpayers $750,000.00, and Florida average stay is 12.74 years at $26,000.00-cost to taxpayers $331,240.00.
Presently there are 23 death row inmates in Virginia at a cost of $966,000, a year, North Carolina 190 at a Cost of $5,130,000.00 a year, California 649 costing the taxpayers $19,470,000.00 a year-yes that is 19 plus million! Florida has 388 at a yearly cost to taxpayers of $10,088,000.00. This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what it is costing taxpayers. Each time there is an appeal the state must pay for attorney fees to defend the appeal. Some of these death row inmates have become proficient at using the law libraries that ACLU attorneys say must be in prisons as well as color TV’s and work-out gyms! What do you think about that?
I’ve done a couple of talk shows on capitol punishment, of course we have some folks who feel the way I do and some who do not. However, majority have agreed with me.
What should the method of execution be? Lethal injection, electric chair, gas chamber, hanging or firing squad? You may be surprised to learn a large percentage of people who favor the death penalty believe public hanging or the firing squad with the execution televised would be a huge deterrent. I’m inclined to agree.
As I write this commentary Michael Morales, 46 of California is an admitted murderer and rapist of Terri Winchell a 17-year-old girl. Morales murdered her in 1981 by hitting her in the head with a hammer 25 times, and stabbing her in the heart 4 times. Yet the judge is concerned the first dose of the lethal injection may cause him pain, so the injection has been put on hold because there is not an anesthesiologist at the present time who will assist in the procedure to execute this heathen! Now this is a huge miscarriage of justice. What do you think young Terri was feeling as he raped and murdered her with a hammer and knife! I’d like for him to feel some pain-- a great deal of pain!
Larry Trailer with the Virginia Department of Corrections just gave me the following information: Out of 23 Death Row inmates-12 are black, 10 are white males and 1 white female.
Does it surprise you that Virginia with the smallest amount of time from sentencing to execution has the smallest number of death row inmates? Maybe capitol punishment in Virginia is a deterrent! I would like to think it is.
Robbery at the Pump!
March 12, 2006
When you put the gas hose into your automobile gas tank, do you feel like someone stuck a vacuum suction hose into your pocket? On Friday of last week, I was paying $2.10 a gallon for 87 octane gas. On Sunday morning while on the way to church, the gas prices had increased from $2.10 to $2.27 per gallon. This is an 8 percent increase in cost. I have to wonder why? It is my opinion "it is because the big oil companies can and will!"
Many of you are old enough to remember when gasoline was 25-35 cents per gallon. I remember it well. The first time I drove up to a gas station it was the kind of station that pumped your gas, checked the air in your tires, and cleaned your windshield with the gas 40 cents a gallon. I drove off vowing: "I will not pay 40 cents for a gallon of gasoline!" Boy, don’t we wish we could find a gallon of gasoline that cheap now? In 1973 we began to see gas prices rise and long lines to get fuel for our automobiles. I was holding a seminar in Mobile, Alabama in 1973 when two men who worked for me went into the wrong meeting room and after my seminar, they told me they had entered the room of a big oil company and gas would be 65 cents a gallon by the end of the year and the speed limit would be 55 mph. The news they had related to me happened, but didn’t last for long. The speed limit went back up, gas prices elevated --and they have been skyrocketing ever since!
We have had 30 years of warning about a fuel crisis, but our legislators and president, have chosen to ignore this dire warning. Why didn’t we demand an alternative fuel after the first fuel crisis of 1973? Was it because we could still buy gas? Was it because of the capitol investment required to build ethanol refineries? Was is because the big oil companies contribute so generously to the national politicians? Is it Detroit’s fault? How about the "oil producing nations?" Do you believe for one second when the price of a gallon of gas jumped to over $3.00 it was because of refineries not being able to produce or was it simply greed? Refinery capacity was reduced by 8-10%, but gas went up over 30%. What do you think about that? Now that America is so heavily dependant on oil from the middle east, it seems they just love to tighten the screws! Iran now is threatening to drop a nuclear bomb on us! So, what else is new? We are going to reap havoc from these rogue nations due to our funding their war arsenals by being dependent on them for black gold.
Things will not change until we expect more accountability from our leaders. Diesel fuel could be the alternative answer. We already have diesel engines that could be put into automobiles immediately. Ethanol could be a viable replacement for gasoline and nuclear power for electricity. There are all kinds of alternatives, and if we don’t demand solutions from the leaders of our great nation, we may (soon) be walking to work and shivering in cold homes!