Category — Taxes

I know it’s early, but President-elect Obama didn’t have a lot to say in today’s economic press conference.  In fact, he was almost the anti-Truman by insinuating that the buck stopped with President Bush until 20 Jan 09.  Other than that, he enumerated policies we’d heard before–bailouts, a new stimulus package, and in general a lot more spending.  There wasn’t a lot of talk about new revenue sources AKA taxes and an odd hedge on his promise to raise taxes on the “wealthy” by stating he’d have to wait and see.

My early take–they have no idea what to do, which leads me right back to the strategy I espoused yesterday.  Republicans just need to sit on their hands and wait.  That’s what Obama is doing.  Why do you think he’s so careful to insist that we have only one president at a time?  He’s not going to step up and put his neck on the chopping block and support President Bush.  That would be risky, bi-partisan, and might get him in trouble if a major mistake gets made.  Better to let President Bush sink on his own, so I say follow his lead.

The people gave Democrats power; now force them to lead.  The last thing Republicans should do is provide cover for tax increases, the Fairness Doctrine, or any other liberal programs.  When they appear, provide the conservative alternative, and vote against them.  Sure, the media will howl about partisanship, but so what?  Republicans won’t get credit for being bi-partisan, and they sure as hell won’t get an ounce of credit if the program is successful.  So, when faced with a zero-sum game, the best option is not playing.

Note to the President-elect:  The dig at Nancy Reagan was not presidential and rather mystifying given she’s not a public figure anymore.

I have a sinking feeling that NYC Mayor Bloomberg and President-elect Obama will be sharing similar tax plans this year:

To illustrate the problem, the mayor said a 7.5 percent increase in income taxes for a family of four earning $50,000 to $70,000 annually would mean they would pay an extra $116 a year.

That “does put in perspective what might have to change,” Bloomberg said.

Bloomberg defines the “rich” as a family of 4 making $70K a year in the world’s most expensive city.  You have got to be kidding me.  But that’s not all by a long shot.  Mayor Mike wants to eliminate property tax rebates, hike property taxes, fire 1,000 cops, raise sundry fees, and hire more meter maids to, as liberals would quaintly put it, raise more revenue.

I’m so glad the Republican Party supported the liberal Bloomberg.  He not only embarrassed the party by turning independent, but he continues to damage the Republican brand with liberal policies.  It would have been better to have a Democrat in office to push these liberal policies and let them own them.

That’s right.  If Republicans are going to rise from the ashes, they have to let liberals own their policies.  This will be especially important for Congressional Republicans.  If they follow the moderate “reach across the aisle” meme and provide a fig leaf for the failed Democratic policies soon to be pushed by Pelosi, Reid, and Obama, they’ll be slitting their own throats.

There’s nothing in Obama’s priorities that Republicans should support.  Are Republicans going to “compromise” on higher taxes?  Is muzzling talk radio via the Fairness Doctrine a good idea after the media just kicked the “moderate” McCain in the teeth?  How about adding 10s of millions to Democratic coffers by supporting card check for the unions?  Will the GOP add 20 million new Hispanic voters after they just broke 2 to 1 for Obama even though John McCain has been front and center on all their issues?

There’s nothing to do now but let the Democrats kill themselves.  They’ll overreach.  They’ll kill an already bad economy with higher taxes.  Be disciplined, take some media flack, get out of their way, and get ready to run against them when even a blind monkey could tell their policies have failed.

All of the tax cut promises, starting at $250,000, are now down to $120,000 according to Gov Bill Richardson. They will have to be paid for somehow. Guess how?

About what hasn’t he lied? From the Aunt in Boston, to illicit campaign contributions (from the Aunt no less) he has evaded the truth with the help of the dying MSM.

He’ll be after your savings, IRA’s, then higher taxes on income so that those who wish not to work, the idle poor, can live like the working class.

The end result: the money and power winds up in Washington and everyone else are kulaks getting what ever the state decides one may have.

Over at the Wall Street Journal, Alan Reynolds wonders where Obama will get $4.3 trillion dollars to fund all his new programs?  But never fear, Democrats won’t let a little thing like money rain on their parade.  They’re already floating a trial balloon that would net them $4.5 trillion:

House Democrats recently invited Teresa Ghilarducci, a professor at the New School of Social Research, to testify before a subcommittee on her idea to eliminate the preferential tax treatment of the popular retirement plans. In place of 401(k) plans, she would have workers transfer their dough into government-created “guaranteed retirement accounts” for every worker. The government would deposit $600 (inflation indexed) every year into the GRAs. Each worker would also have to save 5 percent of pay into the accounts, to which the government would pay a measly 3 percent return. Rep. Jim McDermott, a Democrat from Washington and chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee’s Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support, said that since “the savings rate isn’t going up for the investment of $80 billion [in 401(k) tax breaks], we have to start to think about whether or not we want to continue to invest that $80 billion for a policy that’s not generating what we now say it should.”

Democrats want to nationalize your 401K, and put it in Al Gore’s Social Security “lock box”.  You know, the lock box that our politicians spend every year and put a big IOU in.  In reality though, it’s really an IO”ME”, since the only way the government’s IOU on Social Security can be paid off is with more taxes on you and me.  That’s exactly what this plan will do too.

Barack Obama and Barney Frank will nationalize our 401Ks and that money will evaporate just like Social Security taxes do year after year.  Then you and I will be on the hook for paying ourselves back long after they’ve left office because remember, the government makes no money it doesn’t take from us.  But wait, there’s more!  If you act on this limited time offer, besides the asset seizures, Democrats will make you pay yourself $600 dollars a year with a guarenteed 3% return!  And believe it or not, if you act in the next 10 minutes, Democrats will throw in a 5% payroll tax just to sweeten the pot.  I bet you never knew you could be so generous to yourself.  What a steal!  (quite literally)

The Obama stock market discount is very real.  With the far left-wing firmly in control, the market may very well plumb fresh depths.  The key question now is will his policies turn 2009’s recession into 2010’s depression?

In the event, “That One” becomes president and especially if the House and Senate are veto proof, the country will see:

• Strict new gun laws enacted even though he promised he would not.
• The phrase ‘In God We Trust’ removed from all currency.
• He will back away from his pledge to Israel and leave them to the wolves of Islam.
• Hillary Clinton or Chuck Shumer named to the Supreme Court.
• Tax rates will return to their highest levels in 30 years as fewer persons pay income taxes. The capital gains tax will be at least double current levels.
• Retired Army General Wesley Clark named as Secretary of Defense. This General was fired for “integrity” issues.
• Open borders to all comers, especially those from the Middle East and South America.
• He’ll grant amnesty to all illegals now in the U.S regardless of status or even gang Members (MS-13).
• An abrupt termination to the Iraq war, the results will be tragic and the consequences to our military will be devastating.
• A massive drop in enlistments and reenlistments far worse than what occurred during Clinton’s terms.

There is nothing above that he has disavowed. On the gun issue, he has waffled so that he leaves himself free to do what he wishes.

Did someone slip Barack Obama some Sodium Pentothol?

“Your new tax plan is going to tax me more, isn’t it?” the plumber asked, complaining that he was being taxed “more and more for fulfilling the American dream.”

“It’s not that I want to punish your success. I just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they’ve got a chance for success too,” Obama responded. “My attitude is that if the economy’s good for folks from the bottom up, it’s gonna be good for everybody … I think when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody.”

Unless this plumber secretly leads a Fortune 500 plumbing company, there go all of Obama’s fallacious claims about helping small businesses.

I’m somewhat heartened by the fact that somebody is actually paying attention out there.  The last Democrat to propose and push a tax cut through—although posthumously—was John F. Kennedy.  Yet with 44 years of contrary evidence, many people actually believe Obama will lower their taxes.  Talk about the dumbing down of America.

But even more important and frightening than his lies about tax cuts are his economic theories.  Obama thinks that you can make people successful by giving them stuff.  It’s the same theory that led Democrats to give people houses with no documents, no jobs, no down payments, and no hope for repayment.  How’d that work out for us?  It didn’t exactly make them successful now did it, but that’s OK because the taxpayers can bail them out.

The fact of the matter is that socialist economic systems don’t work because rewarding low achievers doesn’t encourage them.  It does exactly the opposite, and it stifles growth because the achievers have less and less incentive to create.  Combine Obama with his socialist counterparts in Congress, and we’re in deep trouble.

We are in for a seriously rough economic ride if Obama becomes president.  The man doesn’t even know that small businesses don’t pay capital gains taxes.  Yes, he’s going to encourage small business growth by giving them a break on a tax they don’t pay.  How on earth did he make such a basic mistake when this supposed group of economists is advising him?  Most small businesses would be taxed as individuals or S corporations, and despite what he says to the contrary, those people are going to take a blood bath.

It was only a matter of time before Obama played the race card.  Question him or the people he associates with, and according to John Lewis, you’re “sowing the seeds of hatred and division”.  But that absurd statement isn’t enough for Lewis because he goes on to link McCain with George Wallace and church bombings.

All I can say is wow!  If Obama wins, it’s going to be a long 4 years.  Don’t like socialized healthcare?  You wouldn’t oppose it if Obama wasn’t black.  Higher taxes stifle the economy you say?  Whitey just doesn’t want black children to eat.

However, I’m not really that concerned about Lewis’ rant.  Anyone taking it seriously wasn’t voting for McCain anyway, and I think it’s a boon to McCain with independents.  Honestly, how hard is it to dismiss Lewis as a lunatic when he provides absolutely no evidence?

According to Lewis, McCain is the George Wallace of our time, but he can’t cite one example.  Is McCain associating with right-wing Jeremiah Wrights and Bill Ayers?  Nope.  And even if he was and we applied the Obama standard, he wouldn’t be responsible for his associations anyway.

Listen, I know a lot of people blame Bush and the Republicans (incorrectly in my opinion) for the financial meltdown, but let’s be careful here.  Is an inexperienced, left-wing moonbat the guy you want protecting us and leading us through the economic crisis?  That’s far too great a risk in my mind.

Everyone is worried about the economy, but here’s something to consider.  After the stock market crash of 1929, most economists agree that raising taxes and killing free trade through Smoot-Hawley deepened the depression.

What does Obama want to do when he takes office?  Restrict trade, which they stylishly refer to as “fair trade” and raise taxes.  In fact, Obama couldn’t produce one program he’d be forced to cut given the current economic climate in the last debate.  So, if you want a depression instead of a recession, vote Obama.

McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds:

“When Barack Obama released remarks today that praised the passage of America’s economic rescue plan, just before his allies in Congress voted to kill it, it revealed just how out of touch Barack Obama has been during this crisis.  As our country stares economic disaster directly in the face, Barack Obama has called for higher taxes we can’t afford, more federal spending we can’t afford and shown failed leadership we can’t afford.”

Honestly, I wouldn’t line my bird’s cage with the NY Times because that would mean I paid to read this:

Mr. Obama said that he would begin to address the country’s deep deficit by raising taxes on the wealthy, while cutting them for the vast majority of American workers. But he dodged the question of what programs he would have to sacrifice to help foot the proposed bailout’s $700 billion price tag. Mr. McCain dodged the same question with equal energy.

That’s  a lie.  McCain responded to that question with a spending freeze on everything but a few programs.  Obama couldn’t find one program that he would delay and called for a scalpel approach to spending eventhough the president doesn’t have line item veto powers.  And that’s only the tip of the iceberg in this hatchet job.  For example, how many times do you think the ‘paper of record’ called Reagan “sunny and avuncular” while he was president?  But when they want to draw negative contrasts with McCain, they have no problem repudiating their past history.

The media is way beyond bias now.  They’re the Fed and Barack is AIG–he’s ‘too big to fail’.

Who won?  Well, McCain has the substance and was better on style than I thought he would be.  We’ll see.  Not sure foreign policy will change too many votes given the current economic worries.

10:35 PM Obama points to father’s coming to America as sign of former greatness that we’ve lost it.  Has he seen the illegal immigrants streaming across the borders?  Still seems the same to me.

10:34 PM McCain hits Obama on surge again.  Clearly Obama goofed on that one.  Why not just admit it and put it behind you?

10:33 PM Obama argues for larger strategic vision.  Again, lack of al Qeada attacks undermines his arguments.

10:31 PM Obama says Iraq sole focus of administration.  Doesn’t lack of al Qeada attacks indicate that’s not true?  Somebody is paying attention to them.

10:30 PM McCain says withdrawal dates are dangerous in Iraq.

10:29 PM Obama back to al Qeada.  But we haven’t had any attacks on US soil?  His theory that Afghanistan/al Qaeda is critical seems poorly thought out given no further attacks and al Qeadas assertion that Iraq is the key battleground.

10:28 PM Do my ears deceive me?  Obama says we are safer now?  That must have been painful.

10:27 PM As someone who was tortured in Vietnam, you can understand McCain’s opposition.

10:26 PM McCain highlights differences on 9/11 investigation with the administration.  Trying to put distance between himself and Bush.

10:25 PM Interesting exchange between McCain and Obama on alternative energy.  Bit testy there.

10:25 PM McCain points to drilling as a way to help energy prices.  Markets are forward looking, so not a bad point.

10:24 PM Obama goes off on alternative energy.

10:22 PM Obama warned the administration about Russian troops in Georgia?  Really?

10:21 PM Obama agrees with McCain.  Obama doesn’t understand this issue like McCain does.  That seems evident.

10:20 PM Interesting that McCain has meet a lot of leaders.  Do Democrats realize that attacks on Palin not meeting leaders highlight that their lead guy hasn’t meet any either?

10:19 PM Points to Russian action against Georgia first and Obama’s call for both sides to show restraint.

10:18 PM Obama uses Luger to gain bi-partisan “street ‘cred”.

10:16 PM Obama says Russia is a threat.  This probably won’t be that explosive.  Does Obama know that NATO is a hollow organization now?

10:15 PM On to Russia.  Do they make good beer?

10:14 PM Obama says his position is mischaracterized.   Now Obama says Bush supports him on meeting with Iran.  That’s a switch.

10:13 PM McCain hammers Obama on North Korea.  Points to Reagan’s trust but verify.

10:11 PM Does Obama realize that Bill Clinton gave the North Koreans the technology and time to develop their weapons through talking without preconditions?

10:10 PM Obama says we should talk without preconditions.  McCain’s point was the president meeting.

10:09 PM Even though McCain butchers his name, he makes a great point that you don’t loan the presidency to terrorists states like Iran.  Why strengthen them?

10:08 PM Obama says we need to talk to Iran and other nations. [Read more →]

If you’re a regular reader, you’ve read about the state’s spendthrift ways right here for years.  Well, the chickens finally came home to roost:

The Patrick administration is working behind the scenes to trim its own spending. Budget chief Leslie Kirwan called the national crisis “unprecedented,” and said the governor is preparing for the worst.

I hope Ms. Kirwan isn’t implying that the subprime mortgage fiasco pushed the state over the edge because she has been sounding the alarm bell on Beacon Hill for quite some time now.  Besides, everybody knew they were spending way more than they were bringing in as evidenced by their use of the “rainy day” fund to balance the budget.

The real problem on Beacon Hill isn’t projections or financial meltdowns; it was lack of restraint and fiscal responsibility.  Everybody knew they were living on the edge, but nobody was willing to make any hard decisions.  So, now we’ll go through a fire drill where our solons threaten to cut all the teachers, firefighters, and cops in an effort to scare up a tax increase.  Nobody will look at Patrick’s biotech payoff, his infrastructure funds, or other spending shenanigans.

Things in this state are so predictable.

BTW:  Why did the Herald use a picture of the president in an article about state spending cuts?  Let’s have a big smiling picture of Deval and some office drapes.  That’d be a lot more appropriate.

Senator and Veep candidate, Joe Biden (seen here, doing the Hokey Pokey) claimed on ABC that paying higher taxes is “patriotic”.  However, one feels about the distribution of the tax burden in the US, Biden’s judgement is, typically, moronic.

Slow Joe seems to believe that a higher tax burden upon earners above $250K, would permit dolts like himself to grant tax cuts to the middle class….something that could be done without any increase in taxes on anybody.   It would be interesting to see the balancing figures used by Biden to measure the effect of tax increases against tax cuts.  But never mind.  Biden’s a jackass, and, for now, we’ll ignore the patriotic angle of tax paying.

Given my usual powers of objectivity, I could - possibly - consider Obama’s truths as valid in a world I don’t inhabit.  I wouldn’t attribute dishonesty or cynicism or Marxism to Barack Obama in that world.  None of it.  Of course, I don’t inhabit Obama’s world, so I have questions. 

And the biggest question is…how can the candidate of change; a man presumably attentive to political merit and judgement, have chosen an idiot like Joe Biden as his running mate?  Whatever Obama’s political flaws, choosing a  broken-down, middling, Washington stooge to clarify and polish your credentials  is….nuts.

End of the speech…Barack delivers it well, but what exactly will he deliver?  No idea! And that’s why I think he’s still got problems.

10:56 PM “So many lives to mend..” but no thoughts on how to do it.

10:55 PM Outdoor venue not doing a thing for me.  Heard it wasn’t great for JFK either.

10:52 PM Barack has too big of a sense of himself.  He really believes he’s Abraham Lincoln. A little humility wouldn’t hurt.

10:49 PM McCain has no record to run on?  If Barack has a record and qualifications to run on, why can’t any of his supporters list them?

10:48 PM “We all put our country first”….Says the man who described himself as a “citizen of the world” in Germany.

10:46 PM  “The times are too serious”…so says the man with a Greek temple in the background who was running a concert at his convention earlier.

10:45 PM Flip-flop alert…”end the war responsibly”?  He said he’d start pulling troops out when he enters office.

10:43 PM I will say that if Iraq wants us gone, we should leave.  They’re ultimately responsible for their country’s well being.  However, no denying Iraqi PM is playing political games.

10:42 PM  Not following McCain/Osama link..how did McCain not get bin Laden?

10:40 PM But how does throwing money at these programs encourage individual responsibility?  The bigger the net, the less responsibility one has.

10:37 PM Health care for everyone with big tax cuts?  How does that work?

10:35 PM Tax cuts for businesses/95% of Americans while investing $150 billion dollars in clean energy?  How does that work?

10:34 PM End oil dependence? Like we can snap our fingers and do that?

10:32 PM Why didn’t the Democratic Congress reward small businesses with tax breaks?  They’ve held Congress for 2 years now.

10:31 PM Finally some specifics?

10:30 PM I am my brothers keeper…sounds like big taxes to me.

10:29 PM Very average speech…just a big list of gripes so far.

10:28 PM Fortune 500 profits make jobs.

10:39 PM Shrink government?  Does anybody buy that?

10:35 PM Stadium was a bad idea.  They could have rocked the house indoors.  Feels a bit dead.

10:26 PM You’re on your own?  Has Barack seen the slate of social and welfare programs we fund?

10:25 PM The real gamble on Social Security is letting the politicians squander it.

10:23 PM  Has Obama seen the latest GDP numbers?  Revised upward significantly…Maybe Phil Graham was onto something.

10:22 PM McCain votes with Bush 90% of the time?  Dick Morris makes a great point about the number of bills commending high school football teams.  A very misleading stat by the Obama campaign.

10:20 PM Lot’s of grievances so far, but no specifics on fixes yet.

10:19 PM First Bush reference.  Are people buying the idea that McCain and Bush are synonymous?

10:18 PM How can we be one “American family” if half the family speaks Spanish? Of course, we all know which half Obama thinks should learn the other side’s language.

10:17 PM The Obama kids are cute.

10:16 PM The only “spirit” Kennedy embodies is Scotch.

10:15 PM Does anybody really believe the Clinton’s want Obama to win?

10:14 PM “Yes we can chants!” are pretty feint.

10:12 PM Barack finally takes the stage.  Maybe my expectations for crowd noise are too high?  Just not impressed.

10:10 PM I guess that was a picture of the “typical white” people grandparents.

10:07 PM Look at Barack’s Illinois state record on law and order issues.  It’s a horror show.

10:02 PM Obama video clearly trying to make the case he’s an American.

10:00 PM Fox not providing coverage of speakers on the stage now. Dick Durbin seems animated though.

10:56 PM Oprah with diamond studded Obama sunglasses?  I’m sure we can all relate. LOL

9:54 PM Love the Britney Spears references.  So much for escaping the celebrity albatross.

9:52 PM Another half hour till the Messiah?  Uhgh!

9:50 PM Obama repeating Kennedy’s outdoor acceptance speech.  Why am I thinking somebody who copies so much history will never make any of his own.

9:48 PM No specifics in Barack’s speech.  No surprise there.

9:43 PM Kucinich latest Democrat unable to answer why Barack is experienced enough to president.

9:38 PM Hurrah!  A picture of the Messiah entering Invesco!

9:37 PM Colmes says Obama right about prosecution of the Iraq War.  What about Obama’s opposition to the surge?

9:35 PM Lanny Davis says McCain is a conservative.  What’s he smoking?

9:33 PM Lanny Davis talking about “wrong direction” feeling in the country.

9:30 PM I tried watching the PBS coverage, but it was way to0 biased.  Fox News FTW!

9:28 PM It’s dead.  There is zero energy on the field.  I wonder if they overreached with the large venue.

9:27 PM Wonder if the shots during Obama’s speech will be different?  You can’t even see the Barack temple.

9:25 PM  Biden says America sucks.  Everyone’s being “knocked down”.

9:23 PM Biden makes a surprise visit.  Must be there to warm them up.

9:21 PM Did Mayor Booker just say he wasn’t aware of Barack’s public statements?  Yikes!

9:19 PM Newark mayor says the energy level is high.  The live shot behind him looks like everyone is sleeping.

9:17 PM Considering creation of my own Barack Obama Buzzword Bingo game.  How many times do you think he’ll say “Bush” and “change”?

9:13 PM Another hour before Obama hits the stage?  Not sure I’m going to make it.

9:08 PM  Saw Stevie Wonder earlier.  Hope Republicans avoid the Democrat’s Hollywood circus atmosphere.

9:06 PM  Could Al Gore have been less inspiring?  I’m surprised I’m still awake.