The Tea Party is Alive and Well in Southwestern PA

No matter what James Carville may think, the Tea Party is alive and well. The Southwestern Pennsylvania Tea Party held an event in Greensburg, Pa on Saturday July 7^th. About 1000 patriots filled St. Clair Park in the small Pennsylvania town.

Adam Schaeffer of the CATO Institute extolled the virtues of Pennsylvania's Educational Improvement Tax Credit program. The EITC helps students trapped in failing schools to attend the school that best fits their educational needs. Stressing the need to remove government from our educational system, Mr. Schaeffer discussed his work to expand and develop programs like the EITC that provide money for school choice without government intervention or mandates.

Ben Kinchlow, radio personality and author, delivered the keynote speech. Mr. Kinchlow talked about his youth and involvement in the civil rights movement. He delivered a resounding laugh line when he said he worked long and hard to get black people elected to office, and now he is working to get one out.

Mr. Kinchlow left us with this memorable quote, “When a government becomes powerful it is destructive, extravagant and violent; it is an usurer which takes bread from innocent mouths and deprives honorable men of their substance, for votes with which to perpetuate itself.” Though this could be said of our current government.” The quote is from Cicero about 56 B.C.

Obama's New Flat Tax

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An Open Letter to the Occupiers of Wall Street

The other day I wrote an article about the Occupy Wall Street movement, and what I saw as possible commonalities between that movement and the Tea Party movement. In my perusal of the Principals of Solidarity working draft postings, I was somewhat hopeful and gratified by some of what I saw there. Folks are understandably upset with the corruption of our government by special interests. In this, they are not different from the Tea Party, or the Founders of our Nation.

Today, however, I read that these loosely organized groups of peaceful protesters are about to be co-opted by the union thugs who terrorized Madison Wisconsin not so many months ago with threats of violence and mayhem. This is extremely unfortunate and predictable. It is much like the way protesters in Egypt who were interested in freedom and self-governance were quickly co-opted by the Muslim Brotherhood.

If those of you who are gathered in Zuccotti Park are serious about ending the influence of special interest groups in Washington DC, then I for one, would urge you not to let one of the biggest, most powerful special interest conglomerations in the country, organized labor, take control of your movement. If big business influence in DC is bad, so is big labor influence. Government of, for and by the people is meant to be just that, and co-option by any special interest, no matter what the stripe, is just as bad as any other.

What could be said about the current Administration in DC as well as the prior Bush administration follow to wit:

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offenses:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighboring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Cartel Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

These among others were the grievances listed against King George in the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America, the preamble to which reads:

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

Good people occupying Wall Street, and those beginning to Occupy other locations in other cities, do not let yourselves be tricked into throwing out one bunch of tyrants in favor of another, for the other is no less tyrannical than the first. Those of us in the Tea Party movement understand your frustration with the current state of affairs in our Nation's Capital. We will be the first to agree when it is said that the type and amount of influence special interests, including those perpetrated by big business is entirely out of hand and unacceptable. Be cautious, however in your acceptance of leadership who would simply use your movement to exert their own flavor of special interest in the halls of government, for they are the same beast in a different coat.
A truly free market benefits everyone, yet we have not seen a truly free market in the United States for over a century. A truly free market allows market forces, the invisible hand if you will, to operate freely. In the 1930's the bankers and the large growers colluded with each other to keep wages unbearably low and profits unimaginably high. The system eventually collapsed when the starving migrants from Oklahoma, Kansas and the like refused to watch their children starve, and rose up. The collusion, however was not a free market force, but rather the opposite of it.
We are at a pivotal point in our evolution, and there are two or three courses we can take. One is down the road being followed by the progressive left toward communism and central planning. From each according to his ability, to each according to his need as Carl Marx put it. This sounds good on paper, it sounds very altruistic. The problem is that it fails to take human nature into account, and in the end, can only be imposed at the point of a gun. There will always be those who are a little more equal than others, and who will, to maintain their more equal-ness, oppress the rest.
The next possible course is Anarchy, complete chaos, and while this may have a certain swashbuckling appeal, I would urge the investigation of Somalia to see the results of that form of non-government. It is the best example we have in the world today. People are starving in the streets and the strongest among the people make the rules with violence and terror.
The third option, perhaps the most difficult, and the one requiring the most courage, it to repair or re-create our representative republic. That is the aim of the Tea Party. We submit that humans are basically good in their nature when guided in their spirit by a set of principals the most notable of which is, treat others as you would wish to be treated, and love your neighbor as yourself. We believe that all people are created equal and have the right to live free, own private property, be secure in their person, papers and property, have the right to defend themselves and the right to equal opportunity, have the right to fail miserably, and pick themselves up without being bailed out by taking from others. We believe in the right of all people to live as they wish, so long as their living does not infringe on the rights of others. We believe in the right of all people to worship as they choose wherever they choose, or to not worship at all if that is their choice. We believe in sound currency, free from manipulation. We believe in clean air, water, and a prosperous economy, and that these things are not mutually exclusive. We believe in the freedom of speech for everyone, not just the popular, and we believe in a free press. We believe in honesty and integrity and we believe emphatically that with these rights comes responsibility. We believe that with freedom comes the necessity to be responsible for one's own affairs. We believe in taking responsibility for our government as well, that only an informed and reasoned electorate can effectively govern themselves, therefore it is the duty of the citizenry to inform themselves, to discuss and debate among themselves, freely and civilly, the issues of the day.
We believe in caring for our elderly and our children. We believe in caring for those who, through no fault of their own, cannot care for themselves. We believe in the right of States to govern themselves, that local government is better and more responsive that state government, and state government is better and more responsive than Federal government, and the best government is that which governs least.
So I applaud your plumb, those of you who are gathered in the cause of freedom, but I caution you to beware of your bedfellows. I implore you to take a little time. Study our founding documents. Read the Declaration of Independence, Read the Constitution, Spend some time with the Federalist Papers. Read Bastiat's The Law. You might be surprised to find how much you have in common with those early patriots who threw the British East India Tea Company's tea into the Boston Harbor, because the Government had granted a big corporation a monopoly to sell tea in America.
While you work out your principals, and you are wise to do so, please remind yourselves why this country came into being. We have wandered far and wide from those principals for which our early citizens fought and died. Before we fight and die again in the cause of freedom, lets us take just a moment, spare a modicum of effort, and define for ourselves what we want that freedom to look like.
I stand with Mr. Henry when he turned the tide in the Virginia legislature with his ultimatum “I know not what course other men may take, but as for me...as for me, give me liberty, or give me death.”
Those early patriots believed that an informed electorate would be able to exercise wisdom, temperance and good judgment sufficient to govern themselves. Those of us in the Tea Party believe that as well. My question for you, brave occupiers of city parks in opposition to tyranny, is what sort of government do you envision. Is your choice to trade one of form of tyranny for another, to switch oppressors. Would you trade elected representation for Castro, Stalin, Hitler, or Chavez, all murderers and oppressors of freedom, or would you be inspired to free self governance like Jefferson, Washington, Dickinson, Paine, Morris, Rush, Franklin, Henry and the like.
So take time, freedom fighters, study well. The fate of our Nation hangs in the balance. The greatest experiment in self-governance and freedom of all people is on the line. This is no lark in which you have engaged, and now that the genie is out of the bottle, it cannot be put back. Choose well, my friends, my neighbors, study well and choose wisely. Perhaps you did not realize it when you took to the streets of Manhattan, but the course of the future is already irretrievably altered by your actions, and for that I applaud you. But if you choose leaders who are wolves in the clothing of sheep, if you believe promises of utopia that will emerge, if only to submit to their direction, you will have plunged this nation, and perhaps the world into an abyss of oppression, misery, and despair the likes of which the world has not seen since the dark ages.
But if you choose wisely, deliberatively, with a eye toward history, if you choose freedom, if you choose self-governance and responsibility, if you choose reason and compassion, if you look deep inside yourselves for guidance, then we have before us the greatest possibility for peace and prosperity the world has ever seen. I wish you well and pray for your inspiration.

Senator John Kerry Lobs Grenade at First Amendment in Ongoing War on Prosperity

On MSNBC yesterday, Senator John Kerry took aim at the First Amendment of the Constitution when he suggested that the media should censor the Republican Party and their members of the Tea Party.

“And I have to tell you, I say this to you politely. The media in America has a bigger responsibility than it’s exercising today. The media has got to begin to not give equal time or equal balance to an absolutely absurd notion just because somebody asserts it or simply because somebody says something which everybody knows is not factual.

“It doesn’t deserve the same credit as a legitimate idea about what you do. And the problem is everything is put into this tit-for-tat equal battle and America is losing any sense of what’s real, of who’s accountable, of who is not accountable, of who’s real, who isn’t, who’s serious, who isn’t?”

The problem for Mr. Kerry is that the public does know who is serious about debt reduction and who isn't.

In light of the fact that Standard & Poor's rating agency lowered America's credit rating from AAA to AA+ citing in part;

“The downgrade reflects our opinion that the fiscal consolidation plan that Congress and the Administration recently agreed to falls short of what, in our view, would be necessary to stabilize the government's medium-term debt dynamics.”

“The outlook on the long-term rating is negative. We could lower the long-term rating to 'AA' within the next two years if we see that less reduction in spending than agreed to, higher interest rates, or new fiscal pressures during the period result in a higher general government debt trajectory than we currently assume in our base case.”

It would seem that the Tea Party representatives were the ones making the logical case for a Balanced Budget Amendment, cutting spending in a real way and insuring those cuts take place by capping spending. It would seem in light of the results here that Mr. Kerry's party are the ones who are not living in the real world.

As the War on Prosperity being waged by the Democratic party becomes more and more vociferous, the American public is becoming increasingly aware of what is actually going on. The fact is that this country's economic problems, brought on by the Obama Administration's policies of attacking Prosperity, are becoming almost impossible to ignore. This has forced the generals on the Democratic side to try to reinforce their battalions in the Media by taking aim at freedom of speech.

The First Amendment of the Constitution states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

For a United States Senator to urge the press not to report a view held by a majority of the American public in blatant violation of the Constitution only shows that the opposition to the War on Prosperity is growing.

The public is aware that we have a real problem with government spending and regulation in this nation. Our national debt has now reached 100% of gross domestic product with this latest round of new borrowing. Americans realize that Spain's debt problems, which contributed to Thursday's stock market crash, are the result of Spain's debt ratio of 120% of that country's GDP. We are rapidly approaching an equal ratio of debt to GDP, and while those waging the war would like to have that much more of our children's money to spend in the US, the public knows it is unsustainable. The media knows it is unsustainable, and to continue to support the policies which exacerbate it is becoming ludicrous if not just plain silly.

Obama's War on Prosperity Continues

As the Vice President makes no objection to the accusation that the Tea Party are terrorists, the real terror is being foisted on the American public by the Administration's ongoing War on Prosperity. Aided by his obedient Democratic soldiers in the United States Senate, Big Union Labor Leaders, and the National Press, the Obama Administration pursues it's frontal assault on the nation's economy and the those who would lift it out of malaise.

Before the debt ceiling bill, which no one on either side of the aisle nor Wall Street likes, was even signed Tim Geithner was busy heaping another massive $600 billion of debt upon our unsuspecting children and grandchildren, further insuring their indentured servitude for generations to come.

Then Yesterday, another General in the War on Prosperity, Ray LaHood mounted a fresh assault on the American Farmer, by proposing a new requirement that anyone operating farm machinery, even on their own farm, must hold a Commercial Driver's License. What possible rationale can there be for that, other than to make it increasingly difficult for the family farm to eek out an existence while they do their best to provide the rest of us with sustenance, and to give the government a greater hold on the means of food production in our country?

The front lines of the War on Prosperity are many and varied. By edict issued from the Commander in Chief, all health insurers are now required to provide, free of charge, birth control and other reproductive services to all insured women. After the ObamaCare takeover of the entire health care system is complete, this edict will encompass all women. By requiring all insurers to now cover the co-pays for these services, Mr. Obama has increased the cost of health insurance for everyone, and made it just that much harder for any employer to hire additional employees.

The ObamaCare munition in the War on Prosperity has already taken its toll on tanning salons, some 3100 of whom have closed their doors resulting in the loss of 24,000 jobs. This due to a ten percent tax on tanning. The law continues to provide tremendous uncertainty for those who would like to hire, but find it impossible to compute the cost of doing so, and therefore do not.

Another front is lead by Big Labor, with heavy supporting fire from the National Labor Relations board. The NLRB is currently obstructing the hiring of thousands of manufacturing workers in South Carolina. At issue is the expansion of a Boeing Manufacturing plant in that state. Boeing wants to hire, workers want to work and the jobs are good high paying jobs, but the NLRB stands squarely in the way because of the workers right to choose against union membership in that state.

Meanwhile, the battalion lead by GE CEO Jeff Immelt, the Director of the administration's job council, has sent his corporation's medical unit to China, along with that unit's manufacturing jobs.

Leading the PR campaign in the War on Prosperity are the national press who either ignore the devastating effects this Administration's policies are having on our economy, or defend them.

On the science and technology front, NASA's space shuttle program has been brought to a halt, costing another nine to thirty thousand good jobs, and killing an unknowable quantity scientific and technological advances the program may have continued to produce.

The environmental army, meanwhile, pushes it's advance on the energy producers, preventing the mining of coal, the completion of pipelines, and the production of oil. This front, by far the largest against the unemployed is estimated to be preventing the creation of over a million jobs. From light bulbs, to low flow toilets, to washing machines, the EPA continues to lob grenades at manufacturers of every kind of good they can think of. It is estimated that their recent new CAFE standards requiring automobile manufacturers to produce cars averaging over 50 miles per gallon will cost another 200,000 jobs.

Why is this Administration waging the War on Prosperity? What they say is that “Millionaires, Billionaires, Private Jet Owners and Oil Companies should pay their fair share” of the tax burden. The fact that the top 10% of Income Tax payers already pay 70% of the Income Tax, and the bottom 47% pay no Income Tax makes no difference to them, because who pays the tax is not what they mean by “fair”. What they mean by fairness is sameness. In other words, everyone should have the same amount of goods and services. Unfortunately, the only way to achieve sameness is to lower everyone to the least common denominator. All socialist philosophy works that way in practice. The problem is that it doesn't work. It requires that the means of production be eventually transferred to the state. And all work be performed for the state, and that compensation be equal for everyone. That is what the War on Prosperity is designed to do. Rather than echo John F. Kennedy's proclamation that a rising tide lifts all boats, the Obama regime has decided to lower all boats to the bottom to achieve equality. Unfortunately we will be equally poor and disenfranchised. This philosophy fails to take human nature into account. Humans are by their nature competitive, and some will always rise above others. The difference between free market capitalism and socialism is that the latter requires force for the elite to rise to and maintain their power, while the former requires ingenuity.

No wonder those on the left see the Tea Party as terrorists. They ARE terrified. As more and more of the American public figure out what the left is up to, the left begins to lose their ability to further enslave them. Just as King George viewed Madison, Jefferson, Washington, and Paine as revolutionaries, so must the Washington elite view the Tea Party. The Tea Party wants the same thing that those early patriots did, freedom from tyranny!

A Sad Day for America

Well, Congress just voted your children's future down the drain. Aren't you happy? Not only did they vote your children's future prosperity away, but also their freedom. As they have for a century, again they have given away their constitutional power and concentrated it in the hands of a few so they can avoid the responsibility they were granted by their election to our House of Representatives.

This is truly a sad day for America. The great experiment is over. Apparently mankind is not capable of governing itself. We have, by our apathy, voted away our rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We have traded it for American Idol, Earned Income Credit, and free condoms.

We have decided we need our Government to be our nanny, she can tell us what to eat, which light bulbs and toilets to buy, and how much of our labor we must devote to care for those who refuse to care for themselves.

I watched with disgust the debate on Harry Reid's debt ceiling bill in the House. I could not believe the self-interest displayed by those on the left side of the aisle. None of them cared a whit that our country is bankrupt, they only were concerned that they weren't getting enough money to spend, and they might not get political credit for raising the debt ceiling. They called it compromise. I was gratified when that bill failed, only to be dashed by today's passage of a bill which is much worse!

Webster defines insolvent as “unable to pay debts as they fall due in the usual course of business”. When we spend $300 billion dollars a month, and take in $200 billion dollars a month we ARE insolvent. The American government IS bankrupt NOW! When we point that out, and try to do something about it, they call us terrorists!

So what now? Our nation's credit rating is going to be downgraded because we are insolvent. Our interest rates are going to go up. The old people and the less fortunate that the Democrats claim to want to help are all going to be worse off now, as prices and unemployment rise.

There are no cuts in this bill. It is based on standard Washington baseline budgeting, meaning that spending INCREASES by 8% every year. So instead of adding 10 trillion dollars to the national debt over the next ten years, we are only going to add seven trillion...maybe. And we get tax increases, as the scoring was done assuming the Bush tax cuts would expire, giving us the largest tax increase in history!

American Idol is still on television, though, so I guess all is well.

God help us all!

Speaker Boehner Selling us Out Again!

John Boehner is selling us out again. He sold us out on the CR when the cuts turned out to be minuscule, and he is selling us out now with this new plan.

Imagine going to your banker and trying to borrow $24,000 with a monthly income of $2,000, expenses of $3,000 and total indebtedness of $150,000. Tell your banker you are going to spend $81.00 less per month next year and that should make you solvent. That is the loan application we have been given by Speaker Boehner and his conspirators in the Senate!

No loan officer in the country would approve that loan, and if it was found out he did, he would go to jail! We, as a country do not deserve an AAA credit rating, and this bill will do nothing to convince anyone that we do.

Why are the decepticons in congress working so hard to pass such a bad bill? Cut, Cap & Balance already passed the house. The Senate has not passed anything! Adjourn the House and let the Senate pass something. Without real spending cuts and a balanced budget amendment, there is no hope of ever getting our federal budget under control, and we will all be sold down the river!

Gang of Six Hustled by Democrats!

I listened very carefully to Sean Hannity's interview of Saxby Chambliss on Thursday, and I am convinced that the so called Gangland of Six were set up by the Democrats and Barrack Obama.

Senator Chambliss maintained that the gang had been meeting for about a year to come up with a deficit reduction package. He insisted that they never had any intention of competing with Cut, Cap and Balance and were not that close to an agreement. He seemed genuinely shocked that people were upset with the gang for their work, or their final work product. One thing he said, that Hannity seemed to miss because Sean was so angry, was that on Tuesday, the day of the House vote on Cut, Cap and Balance, the three Democratic members of the gang suddenly capitulated to what was at the time, the Republican position!

Senator Chambliss seemed genuinely surprised that the Democrats suddenly dropped the rest of their objections to the current negotiations and moved to the Republican position. Happy with their sudden victory after a year of negotiations, Mr. Chambliss, and I suppose the other two Republicans on the committee, never gave a thought to the timing of the agreement. Happy to have reached a deal after so long, they went about their business without a care.

At that moment, our Liar in Chief must have gotten the phone call he was waiting for, knowing it was coming because he orchestrated the deception. He must have told the Mafia of Three to move to the Republican position so he could run out and interrupt Jay Carney's news conference. Obama made his “stop the presses” announcement, thereby undermining the House's vote on Cut, Cap and Balance.

In terms of public policy, there is no question that Obama is incompetent, unless he IS actually trying to destroy this country and everything it stands for, but politically he is every bit as slippery as Bill Clinton was! Do not take this man for granted my fellow patriots. If he is to be defeated it will require great skill!

President & US Senate Support Slavery of our Children!

That may sound like a provocative headline, and it is, but it is also the truth! Our current debt is $14.519 Trillion. That means my 12 year old daughter's share of that is currently $46,564.00. Add in the current unfunded liabilities of $114,751,918,000,000.00 and her share of the national debt plus unfunded liabilities for Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare is $414,583.72 or $1862.00 per month every month for THIRTY years. On top of that the US Senate and President Obama want to add an additional 2.4 Trillion dollars which, under the McConnell plan, have no spending cuts associated with it, and under the Gang (appropriate name for what they are trying to do) of Six plan nobody knows.

Assuming we stopped borrowing right now, and my daughter could get a job right out of high school making $40,000.00 per year, she would already owe her entire take home salary to the government. She did not vote for these debts. She did nothing to create them, yet there she is at twelve years old owing the Slave Owners in Washington nearly a half-million dollars. You owe that much too!

We are all rapidly becoming enduntured servants of the leviathan we call our government. It has long ago ceased to be a governemnt of the people, for the people and by the people. It has become instead a government of the career politician, for the career politician and his friends, and by the lobbyist and government dole recipient. Unfortunately soon there will be no producers left to feed the insatiable appetite of the gluttonous belly of the political beast in Washington DC.

So yes, the President and the US Senate, by refusing to support the cut, cap and balance plan which passed the House of Representatives last night, and offers a real chance to start to get a handle on our spending problem, are de-facto showing themselves to be in favor of enslaving our children and grandchildren now and long into the future.

It is time to stop the practice of making slaves out of ourselves and our children. It is time to stop NOW. We are the governors of this country, not the lazy, cowardly career politicians in DC. Let them know. Let them know that if they do not free your children from the yoke of bondage now, they will be sent home to labor under that very same yoke themselves. It is YOUR country, YOU can make a difference. You have until Saturday, and then it too late.

Serious Blog Alert! Our Government's Purse is Full Enough!

Our government does not tax too little, it spends too much.

In response to a “call congress” campaign to voice objection to a debt limit increase without a balanced budget amendment, real significant cuts in spending, and no tax increases, I received several standard “tax the evil rich” responses. In one response, a friend of mine stated that per capita GDP has increased throughout the economic meltdown. While it is true that GDP increased in 2007 and 2008, all be it at a very slow pace, GDP actually dropped in 2009 according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. That being said, this “tax the rich” philosophy beg the questions how much is enough, and who is it that you consider rich? Leaving aside the fact that if you confiscated the ENTIRE wealth of the fifty richest people in the US (many of whom are democrats by the way i.e. Gates, Buffett, Ellison, Bloomberg, Page, Brin, Soros, Perelman, etc.), you get about 650 billion dollars (figures from Forbes Magazine). That is not even enough to make up half the deficit in this year's budget.

The current top rate for wage earners is 35% which cuts in at $379,150.00 of taxable income. My dear friend states that this is the lowest rates have been since shortly after the great depression. The fact is, however, that in 1992, the top rate was 31%. Be that as it may, let's explore this idea of taxing the rich some more. In 1992, the top 20% of wage earners paid 65% of the income tax. In 2001, when the top rate was 39.5% the top 10% of wage earners paid 64% of the income tax, and in 2008 when the top rate was 35%, the top 10% of wage earners paid 70% of the tax. The threshold for this 10% is an adjusted gross income of $113,799.00 per year. That is not what I would call excessively rich. The interesting thing about this is that the bottom 50% pays 3% of the tax, meaning that the other 40% of taxpayers with adjusted gross income between $33,048.00 and $113,798.00 pay 27% of the total income tax collected by the IRS. The percentage of tax paid by the bottom 50% has been steadily DECREASING since 2001. Federal Revenues have fluctuated from 2.0 trillion to 2.56 trillion from 2005 through 2010, peaking at 2.56 trillion in 2007, and dropping to 2.16 trillion in 2010. Spending, however, has steadily increased from 2.4 trillion/year in 2005 to 3.8 trillion/year estimated in 2011. The question we REALLY need to be asking, is where has that extra TRILLION dollars per year since 2008 gone? In 2009, 2010, and projected for 2011, we have spent an EXTRA trillion dollars more per year that we did in all the years gone before. Even under George Bush, who spent money like a drunken sailor, mostly on war toys, we weren't spending at anywhere close to the rate we are now. Were children starving in 2008? Were old people going without food, clothing and housing in 2008? I don't remember that. I don't remember autistic children starving in the street in 2008, do you?

So where did the money go? 28 billion dollars of it went to GE for high speed rail no one will ride. 0.5 billion for cash for clunkers, 10.6 billion for first time home buyers, 9.2 billion for child tax credits (one reason the bottom 50% pay a smaller share of the tax), 186 billion for grants to states to fund pensions, Medicaid and unemployment, 82 billion to the Department of Education and National Science Foundation (shrimp on treadmills program), 25 Billion to the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency, the list goes on and on. Of the 2.4 million jobs the administration has claimed to have “saved or created” each job cost $278,000.00 in stimulus money to create or save. That is a fairly expensive way to create and save jobs, which brings me to corporate taxation.

The current corporate tax rate is 35%. When a corporation is creating a budget for coming years, one thing it must take into account is its tax liability. Along with the costs of labor, raw materials, fixed operating costs and the like, they also estimate their tax liability. When a corporation decides how much to charge for its product or service, it must take its tax liability into account. If taxes go up, the price of the good or service goes up accordingly. That means the only thing increasing corporate tax rates, or capital gains rates for that matter, does is pass that tax on to the consumer. When tax rates are unreasonably high in comparison to rates in another state or another country, it provides an incentive for a corporation to move to another state or country. Please take note of the mass exodus of companies from New York, Michigan and California and the gain in Texas. We currently have the second highest corporate tax rate in the world, which explains why GE, our President's favorite corporation, moved much of its operations offshore, and paid NO corporate tax in 2010.

With all that said, it becomes clear that we do not tax too little, we spend too much. The only result we will get from raising top tax rates, is that we will shift an even higher burden on to those carrying 70% of the weight now, and diminish economic activity, pushing corporations overseas, and putting increasing strain on an overwhelmingly thin job market. With 9.1% unemployment, and REAL unemployment (including those who have given up looking) over 15%, the last thing that makes sense from an economic point of view is increase the burden on those who are carrying the bulk of the weight now. Anyone who has a sound background in market economics will say the same thing.

Finally, President Obama attacked private jet owners, saying they should lose the tax break that his administration gave them early in his term. This “break” allows a company to depreciate the cost of an airplane, or improvements to an airplane, over a period of five years instead of seven. For those of you without a background in accounting, depreciation is expensing a purchase over a period of time. If a company leases a car, for example, the monthly lease payment is an expense, and is subtracted from the company's income before tax is calculated on that income. If the company purchased the car instead of leasing it, the price of the car, minus it's expected value after seven years, has to be divided by the number of years (seven in this case) and 1/7th of that value is expensed from each year's income before tax is calculated. The only thing changing the length of depreciation for an airplane does is make the company either less likely to buy or refurbish an airplane, or extend the period of time in between such purchases. The reason the depreciation period was shortened in the first place, was to save airplane manufacturing jobs by encouraging companies to trade their planes in faster. Now we want to slow down the turnover of airplanes and put those jobs in jeopardy?

There is no clearer example of this kind of thinking as when George Herbert Walker Bush went along with the luxury tax in 1990. The reasoning was the same. It went like this; “When people are hurting, and need jobs, why shouldn't the rich pay a little more. They are buying yachts and other luxury items, like diamond rings, and we ought to put an extra tax on those items.” Against his better judgment Bush 41 went along with congress on that one. The actual effect though, as one might guess, is that “rich” people quit buying yachts, or bought them offshore. The net effect was that revenues went down, and 200,000 people who worked in the boat building industry lost their jobs. Ultimately it cost Bush the 1992 election.

If you still think “tax the rich” is a good idea, I would encourage you to read anything by Allan Meltzer, Professor of Economics at CMU, Milton Friedman, Nobel Prize winner in Economic Science and Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago, or Ayn Rand for that matter. Rather than take money from the folks in this country who work hard, create business, and create employment for the rest of us just so we can give it to other folks to see what happens when a shrimp gets some exercise, we ought to stop the excessive spending. We should fix our long term problem of unfunded liabilities for Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security in a way that protects our seniors, and insures our safety net exists long into the future. That way we can let business get back to work doing what they do best, which is grow our economy!

Post in Which I Endorse a Candidate, I Can't Help Myself.

OK, I'll just go ahead and admit it now, I'm a Herman Cain fan. I have been trying to keep an open mind, but I've been leaning for so long now, I've fallen over. Actually, nothing would make me so ecstatic as a Cain/Bachmann ticket, but only the delegate counts will tell.

Why Cain? So many reasons. I think the thing I like about him the most is that he knows what he doesn't know. That is an extremely rare quality these days, particularly in politics. Yet it is an essential one for the leader of the free world. Now we have a guy in the White House, who thinks he knows everything. We all see how well that is working out for us. The current President knows more than his generals, his lawyers, the Congress, the Supreme Court, and the American People. Every single day, he is ignoring yet another advisor, commission, or court decision. It would be one thing if his arrogance proved out in the real world, but time after time the misguided policies coming from this Administration are leading us further down the road to tragic ruin.


I was impressed right away when, in the South Carolina sound bite fest, Mr. Cain said he didn't have enough information to make an informed decision about the troops in Afghanistan. He went on to describe a well thought out, reasonable decision making process that has served his enterprises well over these many years. That kind of thought process and honesty is something I can get behind.

My heart was warmed as well, by a man who says what is on his mind. Particularly since that mind is sharp. Donald Trump says what is on his mind too, unfortunately what is on his mind is Donald Trump, and his ideas only work on reality TV and Park Avenue. If we wanted to build a spiffy new embassy somewhere or create a new show; “Congress Unclothed”, Trump would be my guy, but we have a country to save.

Mr. Cain's platform is rock solid. He is strong on the military, noting that the common defense is a primary purpose of the Federal Government. On spending we have a man who had to not just balance budgets, but turn a profit. He know about serious belt tightening, and the fact that he hasn't done it in Washington is a bonus. As we all know, few of the folks there have ever balanced a budget and even fewer have the stomach for doing it now!

Cain talks about securing our borders and strengthening existing immigration law so that it provides a path for LEGAL immigration and puts an end to illegal immigration. He speaks about expanding domestic energy production by loosening regulations on oil and coal companies, and letting free market forces work on alternative energy sources.

On the economy he is an “empowerment” guy not an “entitlement” guy. On health care, Obamacare must be repealed and replaced by market-centered, patient-centered policies that make health care more affordable for everyone. On education, one of the most important issues, he recognizes what a dismal failure our public education system has become. Mr Cain has a plan for unbundling education from the one-size fits all, federal government system to provide local choice and local control for parents over their children's education.

On social issues, Mr. Cain stands right smack in the middle of the Tea Party ideals. This is a sharp guy, who gives a GREAT speech, can think on his feet, and believes in the principals that this country was founded upon.

The other thing that has made a big impression on me though is that the national media ignores him. This morning on “Face the Nation”, Bob Schieffer did not even mention Herman Cain despite the fact that Mr. Cain finished third in the Des Moines Register poll Schieffer was extolling. Set to interview Michelle Bachmann, Schieffer correctly said former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Minnesota Rep. Michelle Bachmann finished first and second in the poll. But then skipping Cain completely, even though he got 10% of the tally, he incorrectly said Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich finished next after the two front-runners. I was incensed.

Time after time I have watched as Herman Cain finishes at the top, or near the top of straw polls, and likely GOP voter polls, and the media insists he hasn't got a chance. I had the chance to meet a well known Washington conservative pundit recently, and I asked him about Mr. Cain. He can't even get nominated was the response I got. Then he won the first Presidential Debate in South Carolina. On June 16^th Rasmussen had Cain 3^rd with 10% of likely GOP primary voters, and gathering steam. Yet the main stream media largely ignores him, calls him a second tier candidate, and looks around for someone else to run.

Why do I like that, you ask. Well maybe you didn't ask, but I'm going to tell you anyway. The media is scared of Herman Cain. The Democrats are REALLY scared of Mr. Cain. Unlike Sarah Palin, or Michelle Bachmann, who they crucify on a regular basis, they have to ignore Herman Cain. He takes away their ability to claim racism every time someone criticizes our current President. If Mr. Cain is Barrack Obama's opposition in November of 2012, the race baiting tactic is all but neutralized, and the President is left to run on his record, which as we all know, and even THEY know, is abysmal.

The Tea Party loves Herman Cain. His stance on all the relevant issues is spot on. He is an inspiring speaker. He is a proven administrator. He is funny and personable and he looks good on TV. Herman Cain is the media and the Democrats worst nightmare, so they are pretending he doesn't exist for as long as they can!

If Thomas Jefferson were alive today

An unnamed congressman is responding to questions by Thomas Jefferson, who miraculously has come back to life and is presiding over a committee hearing. We arrive as the hearing is in progress, and we read only the responses to his questions:

“What was that Senator Jefferson?”

“No, we have not declared war on anyone.”

“Oh, Libya, Afghanistan, and Iraq? Well, those aren't really wars, you see.”

“Well yes, Senator, people are being killed, unfortunately.”

“You see, in 1973, after Richard Nixon ran a secret war, we passed the War Powers Resolution Act. It gives the President the authority to respond to hostile situations with the use of force, provided he notifies congress. Then after 60 days he has to get permission from us to continue.”

“Yes, Senator, it has been almost ninety days in Libya”

“No, sir He has not asked us for permission.”

“No Senator, I don't believe that congress has abdicated its duty. You see it's a dangerous world today. Things happen quickly. The president has to be able to respond if we are attacked...excuse me Senator?”

“No Libya didn't attack us.”

“No Senator, they didn't attack any of our allies”.

“Well no sir, you see they are just killing each other, and we are helping the Libyan rebels try to overthrow their government, besides, we aren't really fighting. NATO is running the whole thing. Excuse me sir?”

“Oh sorry, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, it is a bunch of countries bound together to protect each other.”

“No sir, Libya didn't attack any other NATO country. As I said, their leader Muammar Qaddafi is a pretty mean dude. He is killing his people, and they asked for help. What's that Senator?”

“No the President didn't ask us sir, but he did get permission from the UN”

“The United Nations sir. It a body with representatives from all over the world who gather to make sure wars and things like that don't happen.”

“The Constitution sir?'

“Well, that's a really old document sir. It's like a hundred years old. We don't pay much attention to that anymore.”

“Yes Mr. Jefferson, this is the United States of America.”

“Checks and balances sir?”

“Branches of Government, why yes sir, we have the Congress, the Senate, and the Regulatory Agencies”

“Well, you see, we don't actually go in for rule making to much anymore. We authorize regulatory agencies, and they make the rules.”

“No, a lot of the rules are unpopular with the people Senator, that is why we have agencies make them. That way we aren't blamed for their unpopularity.”

“Citizen legislature? No, Senator, most of us are career politicians. We spend the bulk of our time trying to get re-elected.”

“Enumerated Powers? I'm not familiar with that term sir.”

“Oh, yes, the commerce clause, things like that, yes sir. We used that to require everyone to buy health insurance from a private insurer, or we will fine them.”

“Excuse me Senator?”

“Yes, you see, health care costs are high now, and some people aren't buying insurance, so we decided to force them to buy it. That way, the taxpayer doesn't have to foot the bill for those without insurance.”

“Well, the insurance companies seem to like it sir, they wrote it.”

“Well I'm not familiar with all the provisions of the bill Senator. It was rather lengthy you see, and we didn't really get a chance to review it before it came up for a vote.”

“What's that Senator?”

“Oh yes, of COURSE I voted for the bill. It is important legislation!”

“Well it must be a good bill, the leadership told us to vote for it.”

“No, not always sir, not if they don't NEED my vote to pass a bill. Then I can vote the way I want.”

“Effect on the budget Mr. Chairman?”

“Well, we don't really have a budget, haven't had one in years.”

“No, we just pass a continuing resolution every so often to keep the country running, and we borrow what we need from somewhere.”

“I'm not really sure sir, the treasury department takes care of that, I think.”

“Me, sir? Yes I was elected overwhelmingly by my district!”

“Education? We provide everyone with a good education. The teachers union says so. We pretty much give them everything they want, why do you ask, sir?”

At which point, Thomas Jefferson pulls out a revolver and shoots himself in the head!