Happy Independence Day, everybody. Here’s hoping everybody has a fun and safe weekend. This holiday certainly makes one think about America, doesn’t it? I mean, with all the fireworks, parades and flag waving. It’s a good time to reflect. So here goes. I know that as we get older, we sometimes pine away for the good old days. I think that’s a normal generational thing. But some items I stumbled across this week made me wonder where, precisely, we’re headed as a nation. WANTING TO LEAVE CNBC reported on a recent online poll of more than 2,000 American adults. The polls showed that 35 percent of American-born residents would consider leaving the United States to live in another country. This percentage greatly increases for those age 18 to 34. More than half of millennials, 55 percent, said that they would consider leaving the U.S. for foreign shores. Among them, 43 percent of men and 38 percent of women noted that a higher salary would be a factor in their relocation decision. SORE WINNERS With a big victory in the Supreme Court over same-sex marriage, one would think the left would be, well, satisfied – at least for a little while. One would be wrong. A post by Fredrik Deboer on Politico.com appeared Friday, not long after the Supreme Court ruling. Here’s the headline: “It’s Time to Legalize Polygamy: Why group marriage is the next horizon of social liberalism.” Following the historic ruling, the author notes: “The question presents itself: Where does the next advance come? The answer is going to make nearly everyone uncomfortable: Now that we’ve defined that love and devotion and family isn’t driven by gender alone, why should it be limited to just two individuals? The most natural advance next for marriage lies in legalized polygamy.” Cool. And on Monday, an item appeared on Time.com by Mark Oppenheimer under the headline “Now’s the Time To End Tax Exemptions for Religious Institutions.” An excerpt: The Supreme Court's ruling on gay marriage makes it clearer than ever that the government shouldn't be subsidizing religion and non-profits. Of course, the author clearly understands that what he is proposing likely would put a lot of religious institutions out of business. I don’t believe anyone should have to suffer discrimination because of their sexual orientation. But I don’t see why this has to be accompanied by beating on religious institutions. It will be interesting – or tragic – to see how this plays out. NATIONAL DEBT Conservative news sites like newsmax.com and cns.com were reporting this week that the portion of the federal debt that is subject to a legal limit set by Congress closed Friday, June 26, at $18,112,975,000,000. That’s according to the latest Daily Treasury Statement, which was published at 4 p.m. Monday. And according to the Treasury's statements, that makes 15 straight weeks that the debt subject to the limit has been frozen at $18,112,975,000,000. Every Daily Treasury Statement since, March 16, has reported the debt beginning and ending each day at $18,112,975,000,000. That amount, coincidentally, is about $25 million below the current legal debt limit. Apparently, we’re in some "debt issuance suspension period." No kidding. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, back in March, wrote to Congress, "As you know, in February 2014, Congress passed the Temporary Debt Limit Extension Act, suspending the statutory debt limit through March 15, 2015, Beginning on Monday, March 16, the outstanding debt of the United States will be at the statutory limit. In anticipation of reaching that date, Treasury has suspended until further notice the issuance of State and Local Government Series securities, which count against the debt limit." You know, Puerto Rico is going through a tough time right now. Their debt is $72 billion. That’s a lot of debt for a country with only 4 million people, right? Nah. Our debt makes Puerto Rico look frugal. Our debt works out to about $56,251 for every person in America. Puerto Rico’s works out to about $18,000 per person. By the way, when can I claim my "debt issuance suspension period"? CONFEDERATE FLAG In the wake of the abhorrent hate crime in South Carolina, I can see where the Confederate flag might be hurtful to some people because of its relationship to slavery. I don’t have a problem with removing it from public places. But as we can in America, we have allowed the controversy to erupt into abject silliness. According to numerous sources on the web, a TV Land spokesman confirmed this week that the network is pulling reruns of the series “Dukes of Hazzard” from its schedule. The show was airing a couple of times a day. No comment on why the show was pulled, but one would have to surmise that it was likely because of the car Bo and Luke drove in the show. It had a Confederate flag painted on the roof and was named “General Lee.” Also, Warner Bros. halted production of toy replicas of that car and Walmart, Amazon and other retailers have stopped selling items bearing the Confederate flag. I’m sure there will be plenty of other bits of fallout from the shooting. Soon, I guess, we will likely have to take down monuments to officers of the Confederacy and rename streets named in their honor them. I wonder why it took so long for us to figure this out? It’s only been 150 years. All things considered, I believe the USA truly is the greatest country in the world. But sometimes – especially on Independence Day – I feel just a little less independent than I used to.
