And the Truth Will Set You Free

The Problem With Socialism – Thomas J. DiLorenzo (Regnery Publishing)

I get the sense that Senator Bernie Sanders, the failed Presidential candidate may be one of the most honest men in America; he makes no attempt to hide the fact the he is a socialist and his goal to convert the United States into a socialist nation. The problem is folks like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton who have the exact same goal in mind without one iota of the honesty.

The problem for the people in the United States is that Sanders, Obama, and Clinton are delusional or clueless enough to believe that socialism can work and is the answer to all of our problems. Thomas J. DiLorenzo, a professor of economics at Loyola University, Maryland is here to set them straight in with his new book, The Problem With Socialism. DiLorenzo points out, not only the time, after time, after time, the dismal failings of socialist states but details chapter and verse how and why socialism fails.

 

DiLorenzo points out the frightening statistics from polls like, the yougov.com poll that found that 43% of Americans between ages eighteen and twenty-nine, have a “favorable” opinion of socialism and a 2016 Pew Research poll that 69% of those polled under the age of thirty, expressed a “willingness to vote for a socialist Presidential candidate.” Those numbers should be chilling, especially for anyone who is even remotely familiar with the tyrannical socialist regimes of China, the Soviet Union and North Korea and the millions of dead they left behind.

What DiLorenzo really spells out is the drip by drip approach that Obama, Clinton, Sanders and their ilk have taken to slowly and steadily shift public opinion to being accepting of socialism. It is a classic example of the story of dropping a frog into a pot of boiling water; it is in the frogs natural instinct to jump out. If you take the same frog and place him in a pot of cool water and slowly turn up the heat, the frog will remain comfortable right up to the minute the water begins to boil; which will be much too late.

That is the stage that we find ourselves in and DiLorenzo gives us a clear and concise path to pull ourselves out of the boiling pot of socialism.

So how did we get here? The American people have been sold a bill of goods by Obama/Clinton; the bill that includes government control of health care, so-called “fairness” and “equality”, and of the imbalance of capitalism. They have used subtle tools to sell this tale; rich capitalists only succeed because you fail and because they didn’t build the roads and infrastructure to their factory, the government and the people did. And it goes on and on.

One of the multitude of problems with socialism is there is absolutely no motivation to work hard and become successful; the equality that Obama and Clinton hold dear is that we are all equally failures. Why work hard when the government Daddy will provide? The biggest problem with socialism and socialists as British prime minister Margaret Thatcher famously pointed out, “they always run out of other people’s money.” When government Daddy can no longer provide, you starve! There is no free health care, free college education, free food, etc, etc. Somebody has to foot the bill!

While DiLorenzo is a college professor, The Problem With Socialism, is not a stodgy, boring, text book; it is a concise, easy to understand tome, which is perfect for student who came out of the “free” public education system. I highly recommend that parents pick up copies to share with their millennial offspring along with a clear message of the pending disaster that is a Hillary Clinton presidency.

Gun News Update

The Washington Examiner is reporting that President Obama is once again planning to take unconstitutional action; this time looking to impose a ban the sale of 5.56 caliber ammunition which is manufactured for the top selling AR-15 Rifle. Even word of the mere speculation of the push for the ban by the bureaucrats at the ATF has driven up prices and gun retailers and has outdoor superstore Cabela’s urging its customers to contact Congress to block the President’s action. Can’t imagine the so-called Republican leadership will do anything but roll over.

Bestselling author John Lott (More Guns Less Crime) authored an excellent rebut to the specious reporting of the New York Times by laying out the facts about the law abiding nature of concealed carry permit holders.

Please Oh Please Send Jen Psaki to the White House

Now that the lying P O S...I mean White House press secretary, Jay Carney has announced his resignation I am begging for President Obama to continue his winning track record, of placing clueless, drooling morons, as inept as he is into powerful positions on his staff. Please Oh Please! Give the call up to State Department spokesweasel Jen Psaki! After all tree stumps have registered higher IQs than this mind numbed douchebag. Here is just the most recent example of the statements this blithering idiot makes to the press corps at the State Department...priceless!

Things That Drive Me Crazy

Has we approach Election Day and the political season starts to boil, there are a huge number of things that drive me absolutely crazy! Stupid politicians, even more ignorant members of the media and generally stupid voters truly push me over the edge.

So I decided to run just a hand full down and try to explain the stupidity-

Stupidity- I just love when politicians, generally liberal, Democrat politicians say that “tax cuts cost too much” or we “we can’t afford tax cuts.”

Reality- Tax cuts do not cost the government anything. Think about it. How does the government allowing you to keep more of your money, “cost” them anything? It’s not like you give them the money, they take possession of it, then they give it back! They never have/had it. Let me explain it in simple terms, even liberals should be able to understand; this would be like me saying to you, “hey you owe me $20.” You never loaned me $20. I never did any work or gave you anything that is valued at $20. When you don’t pay me; I go around and say that you cost me $20. Much like the government in the tax cut example, I assumed that you owed me $20 so it was just like me having that money; mystical, government thinking at best!

Stupidity – “Mitt Romney wants to give tax breaks to his big business cronies.”

Reality – Let me say this as clearly and simply as possible: BUSINESSES DO NOT PAY TAXES. Yes, you read that right…BUSINESSES DO NOT PAY TAXES. If you are a business owner, yes you built that! And if you want to keep it, you know that you have to price your products and/or services to include the amount of taxes that you will have to pay to the layers of government. I don’t care if you’re making widgets, creating web pages, or selling me breakfast, you know how much the raw materials cost, the cost of the staff to make it, turning the lights on and other equipment, heck even the cost of that equipment over time, and you price your stuff accordingly, including the taxes and some margin for profit. Those costs get passed through to your customers so at the end of the day, businesses don’t pay taxes! So when politicians talking about raising taxes, adding regulations, and things like raising the minimum wage, businesses aren’t going to pay the additional costs out of their profits, they will simply re-price everything to cover those increases and pass it along to the end consumer. If they are in an extremely competitive business, they may have to absorb some or all of those costs, then they may have to dip into that profit margin and that will have an impact on things like adding staff, growing product lines or locations and salary/benefit increases. 

Stupidity – when it comes to taxes; “The rich need to pay their fair share”

Reality – I am not sure what the definition of “fair” is; given that nearly 50% of U.S. workers pay NO FEDERAL INCOME TAXES. The top 10% of earners currently pay 70% of the total tax nut! What do you think is fair? I have always been a big believer in the mile/inch example. If liberals had their way the tax base would be an inch wide and the taxes would go a mile deep. I believe that fairness calls for the opposite; that the tax base should be a mile wide and that taxes should go an inch deep. Get it? We put more people into the work force to grow that base; in the process we spread the burden over a wider range of people. That way everybody pays something and the burden isn’t left with the few.

Stupidity – As Vice President Joe Biden scoffed and snickered his way through the VP debate he chuckled that the proposed tax increase would “impact only 2.5% of small businesses.”

Reality – while the chuckleheads in the Obama administration will tell you that the 2.5% is “small potatoes” they won’t tell you that that equates to 894,000 businesses! They definitely won’t tell you that if these increases take place, based on the current economic system most businesses project that they will cut 2-4 workers to absorb the impact of the tax increase…see businesses don’t pay taxes above. Do some basic math, cutting 2-4 employees would range from 1,788,000 to 3,576,000 more of your fellow Americans on the un-employment line. Small potatoes…right? Proving once again what a dumbass Biden is.

Stupidity – “The economy is better positioned to handle higher gas prices”

Reality – While driving one day, I heard that gem escape the lips of some member of the genius media class…unfortunately, I didn’t catch who dropped that pearl of wisdom. But it got me thinking; A- Does anybody really think that the fragile (and even that term is generous) U.S. economy is in any position to “handle” higher prices at the pump? B- Where are the Liberal, Democrat members of Congress who were soooooo apoplectic about blaming “oilmen” Bush and Cheney for the high price of gas? Then Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi  and the Dems held a price conference at a gas station with the price of $3.19 a gallon as the back drop, today a photo of that same station with a price of $4.45 per gallon.

 

Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) issued a release that day, July 12, 2006 stating; “Oil companies are tipping American families upside down and shaking money out of their pockets and guess who is helping them? The Bush Administration and this GOP Congress. Last week, a gallon of regular gasoline averaged $2.93 nationally, which represents a $0.71 increase over prices at the same time last year, and a whopping $1.66 increase over the $1.26 charged for a gallon of regular gasoline when Bush took office.”

Yet today they only thing coming from Liberal Democrats is…the sounds of silence…insert the sound of crickets here. Seriously…the price of gas has more than doubled since Obama took office (then $1.84 or $1.79 per gallon depending on the survey you read) and has remained consistently high and yet there is not talk about investigations or protest from Democrats. The solution is simple; start to tap into the resources available in this country. While Obama continues to lie about his record on domestic oil production claiming it’s increased, the reality is he has put a road block in front of new production that isn’t taking place on private lands; the only increase is coming on private lands, like the shale oil  in North Dakota and the Marcellus Shale right here in PA. Gee wonder why North Dakota has a 3% unemployment rate and a growing economy? It’s really not brain surgery.

 

David Gelernter – America Lite – How Imperial Academia Dismantled Our Culture (and Ushered in the Obamacrats) (Encounter Books)

As a country and a culture, over the past 40 to 50 years the United States has gone through a seismic cultural shift. The rumble has been long and low; steady and slow, but devastating to our society and our country.

It is that cultural shift that is the basis for David Gelernter’s new book; America Lite - How Imperial Academia Dismantled Our Culture (and Ushered in the Obamacrats).  Gerlernter makes the case that that academia has inculcated and indoctrinated our children; starting with teaching theories of history rather than actual history.

Gerlernter details the depreciation of the study of not only history, but also religion and literacy; replaced liberal, left ideology, secular humanism that sprung up in the post war era. 

America Lite, gets you to ponder things like political correctness run amok, the victim mentality, the over-lawyered lawsuit culture, everybody gets a turn/trophy and we can’t keep score mentality. The shift has turned success into greed and a need to tear down what was once revered and aspired to.

The result of this educational fifth column has culminated in the election to the Presidency of Barack Obama; the poster child for this vein of twisted thinking. Given the results thus far, it’s easy to see that the election of Obama wasn’t so much that we were enamored with his policies, but with the idea of electing the first African American.

Clearly those results now add up to dismal failure; the question is will we recognize it, or make an excuse for it.

Missa...Misses the Point

Call me a political geek, but I love wandering around political candidate websites and dissecting their stances and positions. So recently I found my way to Democrat Congessional candidate Missa Eaton’s campaign site and checked out her “Five Point Plan”. Seems like every candidate feels the need to have a “five point plan”. I’m just not sure exactly what Ms. Eaton’s “plan” really is...sounds like more platitudes than plan.

So here is Missa’s message...that seems to missa the point. My responses appear in RED.

Missa's Message (Not sure what the actual message is here…other than muddled.)

Job Creation & Economic Development

·         Encourage Public/Private Partnerships (We’ll even say pretty please!)

·         Incentivize Private Job Creation (You mean we haven’t tried this already?)

·         Focus Public Re-investment for Local projects (A…okay…what exactly does that mean?)

·         Create Incubator Programs to Put Local Residents to Work (been there done that…)

·         Establish Retraining Programs for Unemployed & Underemployed    Residents to Prepare Workforce for New Businesses & Industries (Here’s a news flash…we already spend billions on these programs…yet we still have unemployment above 8%)

Social Security and Medicare Protection

·         Strengthen Social Security Trust Fund (WOW…That sounds great! What exactly is your Plan?!)

·         Eliminate the Income Cap for Individuals (We need more redistribution of wealth!)

·         Fight Against the Privatization of Social Security (Another shocker from the Democrat playbook…yes we wouldn’t want people to have control over their own money…)

·         Fight Against the Medicare Voucher Program (Yes by keeping Obamacare alive so we can continue to drain money away from Medicare)

·         Ensure the Solvency of Social Security & Medicare for Everyone (Again…SOUNDS GREAT!..What’s your plan??)

Investment In Our Future: Education Initiatives

·         Establish Early Childhood Education Guarantees (What are you going to guarantee? The funding of the program or the that kids actually learn something?)

·         Create Smaller Class Sizes (Is it really the job of the Federal govt to fund schools/teachers?)

·         Revise "No Child Left Behind" (To say what?)

·         Support Higher Education Including Trade Schools & Community Colleges (Now there is a bold concept!)

·         Address Student Debt Crisis (Really…what isn’t a crisis these days? Okay…your Plan?)

Access To Affordable Healthcare

·         Safe-Guard Small Businesses and Nonprofits From Rising Insurance Premiums (Exactly how do you do that? Do you support Tort Reform? Injecting marketplace into healthcare?)

·         Protect Patient's Rights (Now there is a bold concept!)

·         Allow Medicare & Medicaid to Negotiate Pharmaceutical Rates

·         Protect Women's Health Care (Now there is a bold concept! What exactly do you mean when you say Women’s healthcare? Sorry but abortion does not equal healthcare.)

·         Promote Cost Savings & Efficiency In The Health Care System (Now there is a bold concept! Now what’s your plan??)

American Energy Sustainability

·         Eliminate the $41 Billion Oil & Gas Industry Subsidy (and how will we search for our own energy resources? You might as well just tie us to high oil and gas prices from unstable middle east countries!)

·         Invest in Research for Alternative Energy Sources (One word…Solyndra. If that’s not enough I could add all of the other failed companies who recieved Obama subsidies)

·         Institute the Sustainable Communities Initiative

·         Protect Water Sources & Wild Lands Especially in Shale Areas (God forbid we tap into our on energy resources and create jobs in PA)

·         Reduce America's Carbon Footprint (Now there is a bold concept! What’s your plan??)

If you feel the need to run for public office and you feel the need to release a “five point plan” it might help if you actually had…A PLAN.

Worrying About Interrupting Obama…the Media Missed the Story

The media had their collective thong tied in knots over the story that a Daily Caller reporter interrupting President Obama during his Rose Garden announcement of an Executive Order which will offer amnesty to ILLEGAL ALIENS, and in the process they missed the story!

 

During his testy response to the reporter, Obama justifying this ridiculous order by saying; "This is the right thing to do for the American people, and here's why. ... These young people are going to make extraordinary contributions and are already making contributions to our society."

This is an amazing comment when you consider it comes from a guy who voted in favor of what amounts to a fourth trimester abortion when he was a state rep in Illinois. Just imagine the “extraordinary contributions” to this country that could have been made by the millions of aborted children who’s demise Mr. Obama and his ilk supported!

Ridiculous: Obama Justice Department Objects to Voter ID Law

I am not an attorney…and I don’t play one on TV…so I have a had time trying to understand the twisted logic of the Obama Justice Department and their latest step to file an objection to the Texas state law requiring voters to show photo ID before voting because it is discriminatory to Hispanic voters.

If the law is discriminatory because they don’t have photo ID, then how do these people do ay of the following:
Get a Driver's license

Buy alcohol

Buy cigarettes

Apply for welfare

Apply for food stamps

Cash a check

Purchase a firearm

Make any large credit card purchase

Open a bank account

Rent an apartment

Be admitted to a hospital

Visit a Physicians office

Get a marriage license

Get on an airplane

Adopt a pet

Purchase a home

Purchase a car

Obtain a passport

Write a check

Make a credit card purchase…if you don’t sign the back of the card

Purchase insurance for anything

Get a job

Rent a Post Office Box

Pick up a package at the post office

Get a hunting license

Get a fishing license

Get a business license

Rent a hotel room

Rent a car

Rent furniture

Rent tools/equipment

Receive Social Security

Buy a cell phone/service

Buy some over the counter cold/allergy medicines

Go into a casino

Go into a bar/be served

Go to college

Get electric service

Get natural gas service

Get cable TV turned on

Pick up a prescription at a pharmacy



Did I miss any?


How many times a day do you have to show ID to prove you are who you say you are? How many of these occasions where you have to whip out ID have been the product of some government regulation? I can’t even buy Claritan D for my allergies, without showing ID for fear that I am some Meth-head looking to cook up a batch.

The way things are going, you’ll soon need to show ID to wipe your own backside! Think I’m joking? Would you really be surprised if environmentalists wanted to track your toilet paper purchases?
Give me a ten pound break…this is just the Obama Justice Department’s way of protecting one of their special classes…the fraudulent voter!

Odds and Sods

• Now that Obama’s trampling of religious freedom has blown up squarely in his face, he is trying to sidestep the issue by changing his mind and putting a big government program in its place to dole out contraceptives. So much for the one year waiting period to role this out…this will be in place by August of this year, well in advance of the election so it can become another entrenched program. Quick! Name one temporary government program or tax? Can’t do it! Once this gets done, it will be mean spirited Republicans who don’t care about women’s rights if they try to role this up when Obama gets sent packing. The time to stop this is NOW! Think about it…what gives the Community Organizer in Chief the right to enact this? This guy is acting more dictatorial everyday; just imagine if he gets a second term?

• For years Liberals have accused Conservatives of wanting to be in everyone’s bedrooms; frankly speaking for myself and most conservatives, I don’t give a hoot what two consenting adults do in the privacy of their own home, not sure the same can be said about Liberals. You can’t seem to be able to keep Libs out of your kitchen with Mrs. Community Organizer wanting to tell everyone what they can and can’t eat and what schools kids can eat and now she’s even sticking her nose into the military’s chow lines trying to force feed veggies to the troops. Sorry but I trust these grown men and women to make their own choices when it comes to the food they eat! Don’t think they need Nanny Michelle to hold their hand.

• I love how Liberal environmental types get so worked up about mercury in the water system, yet they want to force you to have mercury in your home, with their poison pigtail light bulbs! You need to get guys in Tyvek suits with special respirators to clean up if you break one of these stupid things! So really, what’s more dangerous?

• Liberals claim to be pro-choice unless your choice involves not paying for contraceptives, which fly in the face of your belief system, then choice goes out the window. Why won’t they just admit that what they really are; Pro Abortion! They are pro-government dependency! The whole argument over the Catholic Church being forced to pay for contraception speaks volumes about the mindset of liberals. They are so used to pimping for dependency that they think that people aren’t free to choose where they work. If you work for an institution that has a health insurance plan that doesn’t cover contraceptives and you want that coverage, here’s a news flash; you can go get a job working for a company that covers that under their plan! Freedom of choice- what a concept!

Bobby the Bundler...Looking Out of Pennsylvania

Running my finger down the list of some 351 campaign donation "bundlers" who collected some $55.5 million in campaign cash, in the most recent quater, for the Obama For America and Obama Victory Fund 2012 Volunteer Fundraisers mixed in among the Hollywood 1 Percenters like Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Katzenberg was none other than Pennsylvania Senator Bobby Casey Jr.

Bobby The Bundler apparently wasn't too busy looking out for the best interests of the citizens of the Commonwealth to take out some time to hit up enough foloks to lan himself a spot in the $50,000 to $100,000 catagory on the list

Could it possibly be that things are going so well that Bobby Jr. has nothing else to do but play bank teller to the President? Isn't bad enough that he plays rubber stamp in the Senate?

President Obama Left Speechless!

Oh the humanity! NBC affiliate WWBT TV in in Henrico, Virginia has broken a major news story, with word that President Obama was struck dumb today! No it's not some mysterious illness that has stricken the President's voice, but the fact that thieves have apparently stolen the President's Teleprompter from the parking lot of the Virginia Commons Courtyard Marriott, in advance of a Presidential campaign visit.

Known for his soaring orratorrical skills, the President rarely makes off the cuff comments, relying on the ever-present smokey gray screens with rolling text rimming the stage. One wonders what will happen to the man's schedule until replacements can be sourced?

What’s the Common Thread Here?

While President Obama was touring lily white flyover country in his Canadian built bus, talking up buying American to put people back to work, the Congressional Black Caucus led by Congress-monster Maxine Waters have been conducting a jobs fair tour in places like Cleveland, Detroit, Miami, Atlanta, and Los Angeles.

Waters made headlines at the Detroit stop when she was quoted as saying; “We don’t put pressure on the president,” said Waters to cheers and jeers as people interrupted at will and yelled at her. “Let me tell you why. We don‘t put pressure on the president because ya’ll love the president. You love the president. You’re very proud…to have a black man [in the White House] …First time in the history of the United States of America. If we go after the president too hard, you’re going after us.”

She then told the fired-up crowd that voters must “unleash” the Democrats on Obama before criticizing him for not visiting any “black community” during his bus tour:

“When you tell us it‘s alright and you unleash us and you tell us you’re ready for us to have this conversation, we’re ready to have the conversation. The Congressional Black Caucus loves the president too. We‘re supportive of the president but we’re getting tired ya’ll…we’re getting tired. And so, what we want to do is…we want to give the president every opportunity to show what he can do and what he’s prepared to lead on. We want to give him every opportunity…but our people are hurting. The unemployment is unconscionable. We don’t know what the strategy is. We don‘t know why on this trip that he’s in the United States now, he’s not in any black community…we don’t know that.”

I thought it was kind of interesting that the CBC chose these five cities to hold their job fairs. What do these five cities have in common? They have largely been run by Democrat Mayors for much of their history!

Look at the amazing electoral history of these cities and it’s easy to grasp the long term problems faced by their residents. The tour kicked off in Cleveland Ohio, a city that elected a Democrat 8 out of the past 10 Mayors, dating back to 1946; including Dennis “Spaceman” Kucinich! Need I say more?

Detroit, has had a Democrat Mayor for the past 49 years, dating back to 1962. Miami has had a Democrat Mayor every year since 1947, 64 years. Atlanta has elected 9 Mayors since 1942, all of them Democrats. Oddly enough it’s Los Angeles that has the most varied Mayoral past mixing both Democrat and Republican Mayors, but with the 20 year tenure of Tom Bradley dominating the cities recent history.

If you have any common sense it has to raise the question, why would voters, facing long term, deeply ingrained problems like unemployment, crime, drugs, poverty…you get the idea; continue to elect Democrats, hoping for a different outcome? Isn’t that the definition of insanity?

Dumb and Dumber

Just when you thought liberals couldn't get any dumber comes this from Obama's Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack: "Well, obviously, it's putting people to work. Which is why we're going to have some interesting things in the course of the forum this morning. Later this morning, we're going have a press conference with Secretary Mavis and Secretary Chu to announce something that's never happened in this country -- something that we think is exciting in terms of job growth.

Yes...this really is Obama's Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack...amazing

I should point out, when you talk about the SNAP program or the food stamp program, you have to recognize that it's also an economic stimulus. Every dollar of SNAP benefits generates $1.84 in the economy in terms of economic activity. If people are able to buy a little more in the grocery store, someone has to stock it, package it, shelve it, process it, ship it. All of those are jobs. It's the most direct stimulus you can get in the economy during these tough times."

Common Sense Vs. Politi-speak

I love politi-speak. More often than not politi-speak comes about when liberal politicians need to use words to fashion a more voter friendly message. As the debate over raising the debate ceiling continues to rage we have been inundated by calls from President Obama and what passes as leadership of the Democrat party for a solution that includes;“an increase in revenues.”

Washington claims they need more money, so what better way to get more money than to “increase revenue” right? This poltii-speak has become very popular with the media; with members of the drooling moron media from MSNBC, CNBC, CNN and the like latching on and repeating the term with regularity.
The problem is, not one of the drooling set has called this politi-speak what it really is; an increase in taxes! The Democrats know full well that they can’t come out and tell the American people that they want to raise taxes!
Concerned that there might be a handful of folks who can see through the ruse of “revenue increase” the Democrats have also taken to painting this tax increase as “closing loopholes” in the tax law that give tax breaks to billionaires and corporations for private jets.
That sounds good too, right? Stick it to those greedy bastards and their luxury items. Once again the drooling moron media buys into this line of crap too. Hey even “Republicans” like Joke Scarborough from Morning Joke on MSNBC has labeled this idea as “common sense.”
Here’s the problem, you may think it’s absolutely stupid to give corporations and billionaires tax breaks for buying private jets, but think about it this way; not about who buys these planes, who builds these planes? Add to that who sells these planes? Add to that what goes into building those planes?
Think about it? There has to be millions of parts; plastic, metal, fabric, rubber, the list goes on and on that goes into the building of an aircraft. All of those parts and pieces are built by somebody, sold by somebody, engineered by somebody, manufactured by somebody, sold buy somebody. These somebody’s have JOBS! And they pay taxes! Yes they contribute revenue to the Federal Government!
If we follow the “common sense” thinking of Morning Joke, what is the likelihood that billionaires are going to cut back on buying new or additional planes? If this so-called loophole in the tax law encourages them to take advantage of savings and buy a plane, then that loophole is doing something the Obama administration has failed miserably to do; it’s created jobs!
Instead of closing this alleged loophole, maybe we should look at additional ways to encourage billionaires and corporations to spend more money! The same fundamental flaw exists in the Democrats “increase revenue” strategy. The U.S. economy is consumer driven, when you raise taxes, you not only take money out of the system that could be spent on goods and services, you also create an environment of uncertainty so consumers, businesses and even greedy billionaires stop spending.
This isn’t brain surgery! If you don’t buy that widget, then the guy who builds the widget doesn’t need to make more, and the guy who sells it, sells less and the guy who supplies the pieces of the widget sells less, and needs to build less, and the guy who supplies the raw materials for the widget sells less…and so on. In the end if you sell less then you may need less people, which means more unemployment and less revenue to the Federal Government.
So the genius of the Democrat strategy is to actually create more unemployed people during one of the most difficult economic periods in our history. Instead of raising taxes, what we really need Washington to do is to CUT SPENDING! and CUT TAXES!
If you cut taxes, you will increase revenue to the Federal Government! If you just swallowed your tongue: follow the logic. Tax cuts equal more spending which equals more goods needing to be manufactured, equals more people to make the stuff, equals MORE TAX PAYERS! Now look at history; every time tax cuts have been tried, it has resulted in an increase in revenue to the Federal Government. EVERY TIME!
Think about it; would you prefer a system that relies on a small number of people contributing to the tax base of a country or would you prefer to spread the responsibility of funding government over a wider group of people? What is a more stable foundation for anything; something that is an inch wide and a mile deep or something a mile wide and an inch deep? Spreading the responsibility over a wider range is truly COMMON SENSE!

Somebody Is a Liar...The Question Is Who?

At his press availability President Obama denied any wrong doing in the case of the claim made by Congressman Joe Sestak that he was offered a job by the Obama administration to drop out of his primary race with Senator Arlen Specter. Sestak defeated the long-time incumbent in the May 18 primary and will face off with Republican challenger Pat Toomey this November.

The President told the media that his administration will release a statement in the near future that will clear up the matter and insisted that "nothing improper" happened.

There have been calls for investigation of the claim, including a call for Attorney General Eric Holder to empower a special prosecutor to look into the matter.

What this boils down to is somebody is lying! If the president is lying, then it is a serious, criminal offense. If Sestak is lying, then he certainly can't be trusted to represent Pennsylvania's best interests. The President said the statement would come sooner rather than later, given the tenor of the media outcry over the obvious delay in responding to the Gulf oil disaster, it's probably best if he doesn't drag his feet on the issue.

The interesting play will be how Sestak responds to the statement and if he gets out in front of the issue and stands by his earlier comment. either way it's more bad news for Democrats.

Laughing At the "Experts"

I can’t help but laugh at the so-called “expert” analysis of defeat of Senator Arlen Specter in Tuesday’s Democrat primary. Erie Times News reporter John Guerriero’s piece recounting the Franklin and Marshall College pollster G. Terry Madonna’s month old column headlined, “Admiral Hits An Iceberg” referencing Congressman Joe Sestak, who defeated Specter, and his prior career as a two-star admiral.


Why anybody still believes Gee, “I Never Get anything Right” Terry Madonna is beyond me! This guy hasn’t called a race correctly in years! But, he’s not alone when it comes to getting it wrong on the Specter loss. Most of the gurus think that Sestak did a great job of drawing a connection to former President George W. Bush, and that was what un-did the senior senator’s re-election bid.

The fact of the matter is that Specter’s defeat had nothing to do with Bush and everything to do with his support for the failed policies of the Obama administration and the seemingly endless self-interest of the Senator!

It was Specter’s own words, where he uttered the line, “changing parties will allow me to be re-elected” sounding more than a tad like WC Field, that was his un-doing. Those words proved that the Senator’s best interests were his own and not the voters here in Pennsylvania.

Elena Kagan and the L - Word

It’s been absolutely amazing to watch and listen to the lazy media tap dance around the “L- Word” when it comes to President Obama’s latest Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan.


The White House went out of its way to deny Kagan was “the first openly gay” Supreme Court nominee, after a CBS blogger, “with ties to the Bush administration,” surfaced an online entry.

Shortly after the nomination was announced Michael Smerconish, the often painfully, moderate morning host on WPHT (Philadelphia) kept referring to “rumors” about the personal life of Ms. Kagan while interview legal eagle Allen Dershowitz. Claiming not to understand the question or not having heard the “rumors” Dershowitz repeated “I don’t know what you’re getting at,” while Smerconish hemmed and hawed, refusing to utter the "L-Word."

Thankfully, Dershowitz pushed the host to get to the point and Smerconish finally! asked if it should matter if Kagan was a Lesbian, as it’s been reported/rumored in some corners. Dershowitz, whose famed poker games apparently once included Kagan as a regular, said he’d never seen any evidence of it and no it shouldn’t matter.

I couldn’t agree more! Who cares, who Ms. Kagan chooses to bed down with?! The truly frightening "L- Word" when it comes to Kagan it LIBERAL! Despite all of the talking point “concerns” being touted by Liberals in the lazy media about whether or not Kagan is “liberal enough” the fact of the matter is based on the minimal paper trail this first time judge nominee brings to the table indicates some troubling thoughts on Kagan’s take on constitutional issues like the Second Amendment.

Kagan’s writing for the Chicago Law Review; also portray some troubling thoughts on the First Amendment, free speech protections. Kagan wrote that speech that promotes "racial or gender inequality" could be "disappeared." The protection of disagreeable speech is a hallmark of the first Amendment, just because we find something troubling or distasteful does not give us the right to ban it. The troubling part of this thought process is who would be charged with determining what speech gets, to use Kagan’s line, ‘disappeared.”

The striking similarities in their paths to power between Obama and Kagan are striking. It’s almost as if Obama has nominated a female version of himself to the bench, which should frighten us all!

Specter Banner B S

While checking my e-mail the other night I noticed this banner ad pop up. By now you may have seen the television ad for Senator Arlen Specter's ever-tightening primary race with Democrat challenger, Congressman Joe Sestak, where President Obama touts the flip-flopper's vote for the economic Recovery Act.

There's no denying Specter cast a deciding vote, but the claim that his vote created "thousands" of jobs in Erie, I find more than a little hard to believe! I'd be curious to have the Specter camp detail exactly where those "thousands" of job are.

Clicking through the banner ad led to the turncoat Senator's campaign Website, where they detail the multitude of taxpayer dollars and pork that Specter "brought to the Erie community" but I've got to tell you, I can't see the numbers translating to "thousands" of jobs being created here.

One of the bullet points details: "Senator Specter's key vote for the Economic Recovery Act pumped hundreds of millions into the region so teachers could stay in their classrooms - and paid for police and fire fighters to stay on the job and continue to protect our families." Huh?! Did I miss something? Can't seem to remember any reports of big bucks going to school districts or municipalities to keep these folks on the job.

Even if that is the case, which I doubt, how does that equate to creating "thousands" of new jobs? The reality is this is out and out BULLSH*T on the part of Senator Specter and his campaign! Where is the lazy media? Why is this allowed to pass with no one raising a question and demanding an answer?

***UPDATE- The same banner ad is also running on the Erie Times News, Goerie.com Website, so clearly the "reporters" at the Times News should be aware of the Specter claim.

News Flash- Businesses Don't Pay Taxes!

 

This may be a surprise to some and will likely outrage others, but here is a news flash; Businesses DO NOT PAY TAXES! Business owners may be crying foul, but the fact of the matter is that any person who operates a business that wants to stay in business rolls the cost of their taxes into the price of their goods or services.

That simple fact alone should have every person in the United States screaming mad and running for the phone to call their elected officials! No! Not to protest that businesses don't pay taxes but to make in absolutely clear that the Obama administration floating the possibility of a value added tax or VAT is a non-starter and would destroy any makings of an economic recovery.

For those not familiar with the VAT, it is a tax that is rendered on every step of the process of taking a raw material and adding value to it. Let's take a bolt for example. Take all of the raw materials that go into making a steel bolt, now add a tax on each one of those steps. The cost of that bolt rises dramatically. Think about it; the raw materials are formed into a steel bar, tax. The steel bars are formed in into steel rods, tax. The rods are machined into the form of a bolt, tax. The bolts are threaded, tax.

Imagine that multi-taxed bolt is used as part of the manufacturing of a car, along with thousands and thousands of other parts, each taxed every step of the way. What do you think is likely to happen to the cost of that car? Certainly the automaker isn't going to eat the cost of the increased taxes, anymore than the the bolt maker would for all of the taxes on the bolts. So the costs get passed along to the final end purchaser, you the car buyer.

Now to multiply the effect. Say the car manufacturer buys new equipment for building the vehicle, the company that makes that equipment is hit with taxes every step of the way so the cost of that equipment goes up and naturally get factored into the cost of doing business for the automaker and gets passed along to you once again.

The Obama administration will try to sell this as a way to cut down the Federal Government's spending deficit and the debt built up by decades of overspending on he part of the Federal Government. This tax will have a detrimental impact on any economic recovery we may be experiencing. The tax will hit hard on the lower and middle class as well as higher income earners.

The only way to avoid the VAT will be to avoid any unnecessary purchases and history has shown that to be the reaction. As part of the 1990 Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, then President George H. W. Bush, broke his “read my lips, no new taxes,” pledge by placing stiff tax on luxury items like cars, planes, yachts, and other items costing in excess of $100,000. Sounds about right, right? Tax the rich who can “afford” to pay the cost if they can buy $100,000 plus boats.

The Joint Committee on Taxation projected that the lux-tax would generate $31 million in 1991. The actual number, $16 Million. Why? Because even so-called rich people don't like to waste money. George Will ran the numbers in a 1999 column as follows: “According to a study done for the Joint Economic Committee, the tax destroyed 330 jobs in jewelry manufacturing, 1,470 in the aircraft industry and 7,600 in the boating industry. The job losses cost the government a total of $24.2 million in unemployment benefits and lost income tax revenues. So the net effect of the taxes was a loss of $7.6 million in fiscal 1991, which means the government projection was off by $38.6 million.”

So when the Obama administration starts floating out wondrous projections for the impact of the VAT, take it with a grain of rock salt. They won't talk about the negative impact on jobs, purchasing and the economy as a whole. Keep in mind we live in a consumer driven economy, with consumer spending generating two-thirds of the U.S. economic engine.

Unlike the healthcare mess where they sold us a bill of goods, we need to demand answers up front on the impact of this ridiculous idea. Unless the goal is to make the United States a Third World Country, this idea should not see the light of day!