This is the last (or first, depending on how you’re reading it) part of the series “2011 Year in Review: The Good, the Bad, and the Ridiculous.”

Evil’s Class of 2011

2011 was a good year for tyrants to breathe their last.  Osama bin Laden, head of al-Qaeda and mastermind of the September 11, 2001 terrors attacks, was killed in a daring raid on May 2nd.  Muammar Gaddafi, the long-time leader of Lybia, was captured and killed October 20th.  Then, a week before Christmas, Kim Jong-Il, the North Korean dictator, breathed his last.  These three men did very little to soothe pain and suffering in this world, choosing rather to inflict it in an attempt to maintain their power and control.  As of today, none of these three men control anything – in my book, that’s a very good thing.  (Even better would be a change in direction, though that’s looking doubtful at this point, except possibly in Libya.)

Contrary to popular opinion, you can make value judgments about these nations (or, in al-Qaeda’s case, their organization).  Man has a God-given yearning to be free, both physically and spiritually.  God also made it plain in His Word that choosing Him is a personal decision – it must be made in one’s heart, not forced by government at the point of a gun.  Regimes can try to control behavior, but they cannot change hearts.  These leaders used violence and oppression to try to conquer the hearts of their citizens, rationalized in many cases via religion; the God of the Bible wants us to surrender our hearts to Him voluntarily.  These leaders worked against Him, and they are gone.

9-9-9

While the Cain Train’s derailment made the “bad” list, one positive to come out of his campaign was his 9-9-9 plan.  This plan scraps all existing tax code, and replaces it with a 9% income tax, a 9% national sales tax, and a 9% corporate income tax.  This plan is the first time a poll-leading presidential candidate has proposed such a massive overhaul of the tax system, and the only plan apart from the FairTax (which Mr. Cain also supports) that eliminates the ridiculous spaghetti of our tax code – spaghetti with a compliance price tag in the millions.  While there was the expected knee-jerk reaction from the usual sources (“What? You mean POOR PEOPLE would have to pay 9% on THEIR INCOME, TOO?!?!”), Cain’s analysis showed that this would bring in about the same amount of revenue.  Combine that with the vast simplification of the tax code, thus eliminating much of the compliance and enforcement expense, and you’ve got something that just might work.

I realize Cain’s analysis is that of someone running for office, but it does mesh with the analysis done by those that espouse the FairTax.  9-9-9 provides the most level of playing grounds – if you make $10,000, you’d owe $900; if you make $100,000, you’d owe $9,000; if you make $10,000,000, you’d owe $900,000.  Corporations, although merely voluntary associations of individuals, are taxed at this rate as well.  The national sales tax, balanced with reduced compliance cost to the businesses that would be collecting it, is nearly break-even.  This would encourage growth without punishing success.

I can’t remember where I read it, but it’s almost like some people are obsessed with making sure everyone has their “fair share” of the pie.  Others see the pie and ask “Hey, why don’t we just get a few more of those?”  9-9-9 clearly falls into the latter camp.  Basing economic policy on “It’s not fair that he has more than me” is poor; there’s a reason we teach children not to look at life that way.  Instead, we should compare our poor to the poor of other nations, and realize that even the “poor” in this country are better off than the average citizen in many other nations.

I hope that, the next time an alternative tax is pitched, we can have a rational discussion about it.  In fact, the FairTax is proposed nearly every year – if you read about it and like it, just let your Congress-critter know.

A Full Trip Through the Bible

Inspired by my Christmas gift from my family in 2010, I searched the web for reading plans and found this one, which looked very interesting.  I started a Facebook group and asked if any of my friends would like to join me on this journey, and 22 others joined me; I even made a few new friends along the way.  Each day I would post the reading for that particular day, and we could use the group to share, discuss, or encourage one another.  There were times I got behind (it happens), and when I posted an encouragement to the group, others were there with me.  We weren’t judging each other, we were simply encouraging one another – as Hebrews 10:24 says, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.”

The pace was quick, and although I enjoyed it and was blessed by it, I believe 2012 will see me taking it a bit slower.  I did flag several verses as I was reading through, and those are the places I’ll start digging in and digesting what’s there.

So, there you have it.  As in previous years, while I had to cut off the lists for the bad and the ridiculous, those all happened externally.  I could have filled the list for this post with solely personal things.  This tells me that I serve a God Who blesses me, no matter what sort of bad or ridiculous stuff goes on around me.  I believe more good is on it’s way in 2012, and some of it might not even be just for me.  :)