Posts with the tag Taxes

Find out where the stimulus money is going

Pat from Pittsburgh, PA — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:41:31 EST

So how’s that stimulus working for you? I wish I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard that question this year. Okay, let’s answer it. Yes, the money is moving. And yes, I expected more results by now, too. But it will take a long time to fix an economy that was so deliberately and horribly neglected for eight years.

CONTINUE . . . . http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-14931-Pittsburgh-Public-Policy-Examiner~y2009...

Ravenstahl still doesn't get it

Pat from Pittsburgh, PA — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:24:23 EST

Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl is still trying to scrape up money to fund the city budget, and he’s still wrong. Pittsburgh should concentrate on its existing activities that generate money rather than on inventing new, illegal taxes.

http://www.examiner.com/x-14931-Pittsburgh-Public-Policy-Examiner~y2009m11d11-Ravenstahl-still-doesnt-get-it

Tea Party Protest

George McCasland — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:58:14 EDT

Why is there never any mention that in the original Tea Party, it was the rich who got their indentured workers and employees to do that because they, the rich, were the primary target of the tax? When we won the Revolution, they the rich took control, not allowing anyone below their class to run for office, or even vote for decades? Today, we still see mostly the rich in office, using the media to direct how we should vote.

How are we to know the rich are not behind the current Tea Party Protests?

NO PUBLIC OPTION = BILLION-DOLLAR TAXPAYER GIVEAWAY TO PRIVATE INSURERS

V, aka VCubed/Virginia V — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 18:51:39 EDT

If we do not get a public option, we will pay billions of dollars in subsidies to private insurers only. 80% of people with no health insurance work, and rightfully, they will get subsidies.

Wrongfully, all that subsidy money paid with your taxes will go to private insurers, and pay for not only health care, but also for:

- Salaries of $20-$25 million for private insurance CEOs

- Perks like private jets, bonuses, and stock shares often worth over $100 million for those CEOs

No government employee gets millions of dollars a year, and perks and stock shares worth over $100 million.

. Your firefighter, police, highway patrol do not make $25 million a year.

. Your congressmen don’t make $25 million a year.

. Your President of the United States does not make $25 million/year.

. Your Medicare, VA and Medicaid bureaucrats do not make $25 million/year.

She Ain't Heavy... She's My Grandma?!

Economan — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 07:33:10 EDT

Ah yes, the "death panel" movement goes on. I heard a rumor that the band "Death Cab for Cutie" was considering a name change to "Death Panel for Grandma." Sounds scary, doesn't it?

Yet, out of all of us, grandma is the least at risk because she has Medicare. The average working American under the age of 65, however, is at risk. The problem I have with this "death panel" debate is that the your health and wellbeing are already controlled by your employer and the insurance companies. COBRA coverage runs almost 4 times more than normal health insurance, if you lose your job... there goes your life. Sound like a "death panel" yet?

Worst of all, the constant drumbeat of "NO TAXES FOR HEALTHCARE" is another problem. How insurance is different from a flat tax, I have no idea. We pay about 25% of our salary, which we would much rather take home, to health insurance. The rich and poor pay the same amount, unless one of the two wants more or less "care." Here's another problem, paying more doesn't necessarily mean "more care," it just means that you pay less for more care than someone who pays a lower premium. If you were healthy and used less care, you really are just throwing your money away to the insurance company. How different is this from paying your money to the government as a tax?

But We Already Have Paid for our Health Care, Mr. President!

Janis — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 18:01:24 EDT

If you charge the American citizens one penny for health insurance, this goverment is stealing from them once again. We pay enough taxes to provide a great health benefit and Rx for free. You say you need money to pay for it? STOP giving billions to other countries and take care of those that provide the Presidents Administration, Congress and Senate their salaries. "We the People" come FIRST before you kiss some foreign coutries a** with OUR money. For the working class, I would like to know who voted to allow the billions outside of this country?

"We the People" are sick and tired of all the fighting among the parties and it's a fact they only watch out for their benefits.

Your health benefits do not help the poor or middle class who don't have these funds. Nor those not quiet ready to draw off of Medicare which is a penny pinching rip off, too. Don't you think we have paid enough to this country without being raped further and brain washed with more lies?

Think about that Mr. President, Congress and the Senate, if it really matters what "We the People" feel.

Tax function

Biogeek — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 21:39:20 EDT

Most people are aware that the tax system is complicated. The more complicated something is, the more room for mistakes there are. For this reason, I think it ought to be simplified, and believe that it can be done to a great degree.

My ideal tax system would have the following properties:

There is a floor, below which one is not taxed.
The tax rate has an asymptote (it approaches a maximum).
The wealthy are taxed at a greater rate (it's progressive, not regressive [sales taxes are effectively regressive]).
The increase in money paid in taxes should never exceed the increase in income that caused it (that is, you should never have taxes such that you actually get less money when you're "making" more—while I wouldn't normally list this [it's kind of a no-brainer], it is an unfortunate side-effect of some functions and systems)

Financing going green

Regina from Palm City, FL — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 08:31:25 EDT

Since implementing stringent "green" guide lines in our home of 5, we have reduced our garbage from 3-4 bags to not even a tall kitchen sized bag a week. Every purchased item's packaging is revied of what part is recicable, items that we can compost we do and some items can be used again (Every bread bag makes a great lunch bag!) To the dismay of our recicling pick up crew we are now sporting 6 recicling cans in our driveway!!! Oh by the way,my three teenagers will take this lesson along with them as their move on in life and may be they will lead a less waistful life.

However too many times I see packaging materials that can not be recicled.

Why not introduce a tax to be paid by those companies that do NOT provide a recicable packaging material. In addition we should introduce a tax for those companies NOT using recicled materials for their packaging.

These actions would eventually force companies to use more recicled goods, increasing the production of these materials. Yes it would drive up the price of your favored cheap brand cookie because it's manufacturer now has to pay extra to use the cheaper packaging material. That's Ok though, its a small price to pay for becoming greener. Aditional revenues gained by the tax should be used to reward the greener companies and for investment of greener energy.

Who pays for health care?

Douglas from South Gate, CA — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 12:56:01 EDT

The Democratically controlled House of Representatives has just put forth their version of a health care bill -- doing away with exclusions for pre-existing conditions, protecting free choice of physicians by patients, and presenting a public option in "healthy competition" with the private plans (which shudder to think how they'll manage to compete against government-run health plans, whose administrative costs are, as in Medicare and Veterans programs, just a fraction of those of for-profit plans). And in keeping with President Obama's call that the program must be paid for, revenue-neutral, the Democrats are proposing to cover most of the cost with a tax surcharge on the wealthiest Americans -- families making over a half million a year, about the richest one percent of all American households (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/15/health/policy/15health.html?th&emc=th).

Remember, the cost of doing nothing is even greater: The current system is broken, delivering worse health outcomes for much more money per capitata than in any other industrialized nation; and according to best estimates, the average family of four can expect to pay $1800 more a year, year after year, to the health insurance companies, if our current, historic efforts at health care reform fail.

Republicans, of course, and some "centrist" Democrats are balking at taxing the rich to pay for health care for all; they are considering alternative plans. Well, if the richest won't be paying the most, guess who will be, however it's legislatively packaged.

Coming into this current economic crisis, we've had the greatest inequality in the distribution of our nation's wealth at any time since the years leading into the Great Depression. That's no coincidence: As long as the lion's share of the economic activity of our country (some 70% of the GDP) is spending by households, particularly middle class households, then the more that the wealth of our nation is concentrated at the top, the poorer our economy at large will be. It's not only unfair but also unwise to keep the middle class, let alone those at the bottom, from getting their fair share of the fruits of their labors.

Likewise, it's not only fair but also wise to tax the most those who profit the most in our economy, in order to pay for the health care system that benefits all of us: A nation cannot be fully productive if its laborers are not as healthy as they can and should be; and even "Harry and Louise," the fictitious middle-class couple from those insurance company-sponsored commercials that helped sink the Clintons' efforts to reform health care, better be concerned about health care for all -- because one day they, too, might become too sick to work or might otherwise lose their jobs and then lose their health care insurance, even if they can afford to pay the rising premiums and deductibles today.

Congratulations and thanks to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and all the House Democrats for making the "healthy choice." Now it's up to the Senate to follow suit, with of course more input and influence from smaller, typically more conservative states. Just don't let anyone forget that the costs of doing nothing are becoming increasingly unbearable; and the fairer the costs are distributed, the better for our economy as a whole.

Money Moves

AnnieT — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:35:03 EDT

I was talking to a friend who is pretty well off. He is the General Manager of an international hotel chain and a non supporter of President Obama. He is totally against taxing the rich and stated the reason. You know the rhetoric. 40% of people don't pay taxes, etc..., why should the rich suffer because of people like that. The conversation went on and he said that because of the new tax reforms people are moving to tax free or lower tax states and operating their businesses electronically. He said it with such satisfaction that I was appalled and all I could say is: 'That's not right'. Although I thought my words were lost on him, I just couldn't say anything else.

My stance is this. We don't live in a vacuum, or maybe some do. The money made by most businesses is the result of someone else is working. If it were not for the workers things would not progress. I understand workers are paid wages, but who gets rich? Not the workers. There are many reasons why, but most of all it because of high taxes unfairly distributed among people of varying economic stations.

I do not profess to be an economic genius, but I can add and substract. If anyone wants to educate me. Feel free.

Cusseta Fast Tax?

Tom Rodgers — Tue, 12 May 2009 18:36:12 EDT

I have received several calls today from clients of this firm. For some reason they thought I was affiliated with this firm. I am not affiliated with this firm in any way. I have been in Cusseta Ga for many years, to my knowledge this is the first year this firm has been operating in Cusseta GA.
If you are having problems with getting copies of your tax returns as these calls were pertaining to, I may be able to assist you. Please call me to set up an appointment at 706-464-6546.
You can also find information at my website
http://tomrodgers723.community.officelive.com
(click on the Tax Advocate located on the left of my main page) there is my contact information listed on this website.
I will be glad to assist you with all your tax needs.
Tom Rodgers
http://tomrodgers723.community.officelive.com

Where’s That Tax Cut?

Don — Mon, 04 May 2009 11:34:09 EDT

We’re still waiting for our middle class cut Mr. President. Huh??? We’ve already gotten our tax cut but most people don’t know that because the White House hasn’t hammered the message home. President Obama has delivered a tax cut for 95% of working Americans but Republicans are still drowning us in noisy claims that the president is raising taxes.

17 TRILLION DOLLARS!

LiliJ — Sat, 02 May 2009 02:55:09 EDT

http://blog.heritage.org/2009/03/24/bush-deficit-vs-obama-deficit-in-pictures/

President Barack Obama has repeatedly claimed that his budget would cut the deficit by half by the end of his term. But as Heritage analyst Brian Riedl has pointed out, given that Obama has already helped quadruple the deficit with his stimulus package, pledging to halve it by 2013 is hardly ambitious. The Washington Post has a great graphic which helps put President Obama’s budget deficits in context of President Bush’s.

President Bush expanded the federal budget by a historic $700 billion through 2008. President Obama would add another $1 trillion.
President Bush began a string of expensive financial bailouts. President Obama is accelerating that course.
President Bush created a Medicare drug entitlement that will cost an estimated $800 billion in its first decade. President Obama has proposed a $634 billion down payment on a new government health care fund.
President Bush increased federal education spending 58 percent faster than inflation. President Obama would double it.
President Bush became the first President to spend 3 percent of GDP on federal antipoverty programs. President Obama has already increased this spending by 20 percent.
President Bush tilted the income tax burden more toward upper-income taxpayers. President Obama would continue that trend.

President Bush presided over a $2.5 trillion increase in the public debt through 2008. Setting aside 2009 (for which Presidents Bush and Obama share responsibility for an additional $2.6 trillion in public debt), President Obama’s budget would add $4.9 trillion in public debt from the beginning of 2010 through 2016.

UPDATE: Many defenders are claiming that the numbers above do not include spending on Iraq and Afghanistan during the Bush years. They most certainly do. While Bush did fund the wars through emergency supplementals (not the regular budget process), that spending did not simply vanish. It is included in the numbers above. Also, some Obama defenders are claiming the graphic above represents biased Heritage Foundation numbers. While we stand behind the numbers we put out 100%, the numbers, and the graphic itself, above are from the Washington Post.

We originally left out the link to WaPo. It has been now been added.

CLARIFICATION: Of course, this Washington Post graphic does not perfectly delineate budget surpluses and deficits by administration. President Bush took office in January 2001, and therefore played a lead role in crafting the FY 2002-2008 budgets. Presidents Bush and Obama share responsibility for the FY 2009 budget deficit that overlaps their administrations, before President Obama assumes full budgetary responsibility beginning in FY 2010.

Overall, President Obama’s budget would add twice as much debt as President Bush over the same number of years.

Congressional Quarterly also makes the point that "debt subject to the statutory limit will grow to $17.0 trillion by fiscal 2014." As of yesterday, the national debt stood at $11.2 trillion.

The "Thirty Percent Off" Health Care Discount

Angelo Caiazzo — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 19:52:41 EDT

Well wouldn't you know it, here we go again.

Let's put some things in perspective. One of the reasons the Prez got elected in November was because American citizens were rightfully angry at the status quo. We have been taxed progressively more ever since World War I, we have continually fought wars of some kind abroad ever since that time, we have continued to decrease civil liberties, and we have since been getting robbed by a monopolistic health care industry, fleeced by insurance---a requirement to survive---and we have stood by like idiots while the Constitution gets torn to shreds in the name of unjust wars. We have more enemies abroad than ever before because of our unjustified aggressive actions. No WMDs in Iraq, and no quick exit from Afghanistan, not with all those oil possibilities by the Caspian Sea.

I write today because I have been receiving mailings from Moveon.org frequently as of late, the latest "we need your help" being about Prez Obama's "drastic" 30% health care discount. To me, this is an insult, a trick and a ploy to get the claws of the insurance business into everyone, like good mafiosi. Furthermore, it is insuting because SINCE WHEN does MONEY make the issues change? Yes, I am realistic, I know how it works, but enough is enough already. Nobody asks for research, or a court date, or a hearing, or protests. I get letters 3 times a week from the "representatives" of the sitting administration and Barrack Obama asking me for donations and phone calls to my representatives. You've got a goddamned phone, pick it up, and call them up, or email them, yourselves, it would seem you all know each other a lot better. Stop jerking the working man, the 80% of citizens in this country around. Stop running away from the term "socialized medicine." Look at places that have it, check the lifespan of the inhabitants, and you will see, we pay top dollar for at best mediocre medical care, or as I call it, the Parrot Squad of the Averages.

Nevertheless, before I lose this fire, and so muse (because I too have been hypnotized in the past, asleep to what is really going on), let me say that we don't need conspiracy theories when the facts, common sense, and plain observation prove the perspective we should finally now, undoubtedly, begin to see. For force of effect, let's put this perspective this way, as what Bob says: Bob says the government is our enemy. This government is no longer OUR government, as the founding documents of this country say it ought be; it is not us, it is the "other."

We elect representatives and so we are a republic, but scarcely half of us bother to vote. Of the half that do not enter the polls, a good percentage would vote, but do not for varying reasons, not all bad ones, for instance, they say "there is no real choice." Blue team, or red team only get to play, and they are in fact identical; there is no difference between a liberal republican and a conservative democrat. The green, orange, or yellow teams, who want to play, have to face tremendous handicaps to get the attention and media exposure required to relay messages these days. They both, blue and red, speak the same, they both speak the words the surveys say some people want to hear, they do not lead so much as carry on with the bullshit line we've had since Wilson. Hyperbole, possibly, the point is many do not vote because they feel it is FUTILE. "This machine is a-rollin', baby, and no amount of sanity, rationaility, or reason will stop it." So, they look out for their own, pay no attention, if, it seems, they are smart.

Some of these people got up and participated last election because they had hope. Hope for real change. Hope for the poor. Hope for universal health care. Hope for human rights, for the end of silly wars of American lives sacrificed for business deals, even hope we would stop arresting people for growing pot, or smoking pot. All these folks mobilized because they saw a possible breakthrough. But no, you see, the government runs itself as a business, a racketeering loanshark arm of coersion, as of the Sicilian school after Lansky, applied to not just a city, but the entire nation. Covered with the tired robe of rhetorical "change" we quiet down a bit and take the (Merck and Pfizer, e.g.) soma...we stay sedated.

These are some of the Big Businesses that are the strongarms of, let us say, the syndicate, or, or Joint, the different "families" involved in making the American people pay up or pay the price, not for any valid reason, but for the syndicate's own easy existence and material benefit. The choices they pretend to offer the American people, as in candiate Blue, or candidate Red, Bob says, are both already approved by the mafiosi government. His examples:

1. The Congress, the Judicial System, the Executive Branch

--All of these people are making a good living on you. This is not a congress of fellow blacksmiths and bartenders. This is a bunch of lawyers and sons and daughters of rich daddies, most of whom have done little real work their entire lives. All of them suck up taxpayer money, which money also goes to those lunches, airplanes, vacations, the best wine and liquor and champagne, and an endless supply of paper, pencils, and hot secretaries, I will not speculate about hot tubs and Vegas trips. Let's not forget about that great Health Insurance Plan, remember, the one the Prez said we would be able to buy into.

2. Arms Dealers

--The real Big Business, also the related guerillas, guns-for-hire, and departments of association concerned with buying, selling, making, maintaining, designing, and distributing weapons of mas destruction. And small guns and knives and buckles and uniforms and war paint. My friend Bob says the military is our friend, forced to fight wars to expend weapons and secure strategic or lucrative (as in oil) real estate.

3. Big Banking

--Let's recap: we have been hearing for years from the Fed, from the past administrations, that we are broke, that we have no money for children's schools, or to fix roads, or achieve even an efficient bank balance. Yet, when the banks came a-callin', we not only found them the money, HUGE money (WHERE FROM??? TELL THE PEOPLE!), but we gave it to them toot sweet. Do they think we are all imbeciles?

4. Insurance

--Wouldn't you love to have a business selling a product the government says you must have? For a home loan, for a driver's license, to own a vehicle...and now, maybe, for health care too? What is a 30% discount? It is an insult, because the increased business will actually benefit the insurance coffers in the end, with the increased business and perhaps total control in health care. WHY is it so hard just to offer a health care like Canada does, or like Germany does, or like most industialized nations, even Iran. Why, because insurance and banks have a long relationship. Reseach any of this yourself, thoroughly, and you will see. Insurance is one of the powers that be, and the way it looks, soon opting out will not be an option. This smokescreen about how difficult it will be to get ithe 30% frequent flyer discount is to make their aggressive move look charitable. It will pass, and the costs will rise, and the uninsured will still continue to pay cash rather than feed the insurance machine. Which brings us to another related "field":

5. Health care Industry

--All facets, nothing is exempt. Phramaceutical companies, hospitals, doctors, every single one of them is overpriced for what they do, and they know it. It's not as if they are compensated for success. Aspirin advertises 5% better results than placebo, and this is THEIR sponsored study. People die by the thousands yearly by taking only aspirin, and yet new, clearly untested pharmaceuticals hit the shelves at an amazing speed, pushing and selling pills and services with 1000% markup, with arguable success for the measures. They claim that they offer the best service, when clearly a look at your almanac, or here: http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-613.pdf

...will show that this is clearly not the case. Having been to some of those places, I have seen it with my own eyes. We must wait if we are not in emergency. Is that a problem? Only for Ph.D. pseudo-doctors who have the gall to suggest aesthetic treatment is in line with the oath of Hippocrates, or that the insurance will pay for it. 100.00 pills, 3,000 a night beds, 200.00 shots, it's ok, insurance will pay. If the doctors and beds had to take chickens, like in the old days, maybe we wouldn't value so highly someone who was lucky enough to get a good education. As is, they should be paid like bricklayers, who are much more tired after work.

There are more, many more, but I am getting tired. I am dismayed that a President who promised health care for everyone is seemingly resoritng to the bribe of a 30% discount on medical insurance. "Green jobs," to build what, again? Why not build public hospitals, schools, clinics, and let the working men really work and earn a living, in the mean time creating real infrastructure and jobs and facilities for millions in education and health care?

Aw don't worry , I am sure we can find the money.

Njanraj

Unknown user — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 05:21:34 EDT

Nabahe acaeka

invisiblechildren.com irs extension deadline 2008 andrew luster tea bag fairmont southampton stacey anderson file tax extension online woody allen american apparel casey patridge hope diamond greg paulus scott storch taxed enough already camping at peacham pond sons of poseidon ash fucking suppressors for 5.56 weapons department of defense and downsizing steel studs for soffits set decimal digits of a double java anmals sex drug wellbutrin baby 1st birthday countdown for myspace high tail hall twilight cavern alpha kappa alpha porn fabric doll patterns fairires gtachinatownwars cheats simbion which washington by eve merriam chateaubriand bouquetiere trevor dimen taz gay kamagra turquoise sims castaway walkthrough pc panty sex excel energy center seating chart silk yoga mat bag standardbreds status asthmaticus. fem gest stresa lake maggiore st robert bellarmine school speedster replica englischkurse england blue amn group birel kart stepps fanbook sonare enlightened millionaire system entierro de la sardina excell airways silicon controlled rectifier shunga art ethylene cracker skippers cove absract fahrradtacho slippery slope lemony snicket a walk to rememeber fazioli blaauwberg euroland properties fmx videos follajes acronis partitionexpert personal stm4 eteres slow loris folding knifes st adalbert school specialized hardrock bikes simon birch quotes soroka medical center simon marmion acgme competencies fill me up buttercup fingerpointing follow the drinking gourd foil algebra stadsbank van lening skinnybones spinach souffle recipes starlord stoffmuster slippery elm lozenges snorer steamtable pans equate pregnancy test stainless steel kitchen backsplash stb velocity english bulldogs rescue subfiles st francis of assisi statue europlan stopzilla serial six swedes on campus acidulants smooth hydrangea sprachschule freiburg sigillum foodtv.ca. farallon capital black wind clive cussler stuffed animal hammock acroprint ribbons

White House releases Obama, Biden tax returns

Unknown user — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 02:32:56 EDT

The White House released 2008 tax returns Wednesday for the Obamas and the Bidens.

The president and the first lady reported an adjusted gross income of of more than $2.6 million last year, and paid $855,323 in federal income tax. The Obamas also donated $172,050, to 37 different charities, including $25,000 contributions to CARE and the United Negro College Fund.

The Obamas, who donated $26,270 to Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s Trinity United Church of Christ in 2007, did not contribute any money to the church in 2008. They donated $240,370 to 33 charities in 2007, including $35,000 to CARE, and $50,000 to the United Negro College Fund.

Budget: Promises Made; Promises Watered Down

Don — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 00:07:49 EDT

Why does it seem that the President is watering down his budget proposal to chase votes he won’t get? Republicans proved during the stimulus bill that despite all the concessions made to them then, they would never vote in favor of anything the President wants.

With Democrats, Independents and Moderate Republicans like me on his side, the President should focus on keeping his campaign promises because John Boaner, Mitch McConnell, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity are opposed to fresh air, sunshine and Jesus, so long as they think President Obama is in favor of them.

Mr. President, you have helped them marginalize themselves to the maximum extent imaginable. Now it’s time to stand true to your word. Frankly, not everything you promised was what I wanted, but if you do what you told us you’d do, I will continue to support you, and I will vote against those who oppose you, regardless what party they’re in.

Terrorizing the Terrorists

Don — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 13:34:58 EDT

How do you deter an enemy who is willing to kill himself in order to kill you? You strike at something more important to him than his own life. Defining that will be easy for me. The next question is can America be as ruthless as our enemies?

The time has come to end the fruitless and unsustainable effort to search and destroy every cave in Afghanistan and bomb every campground in bordering Pakistan. It’s counterproductive anyway.

What will put the fear of America into terrorist masterminds and those who would follow their orders is simple and radical revenge. Masterminds have families: Cousins, brothers and fathers. Eliminate them. All at once, or one at a time, it works just as well. The ones who survive an initial “hunt” will go into hiding. Having some adult male relatives killed and the rest hiding out in caves will demoralize masterminds and their loved ones. You cannot work and support your women like that. You can’t make more baby masterminds that way. You cannot continue the blood line. The women and children will pressure them to stop their plotting and bombing.

People want to leave a familial legacy, and they can’t do that under those circumstances over the long term.

Should America do that? Yes. Do we have the “intestinal fortitude” and sustainable motivation? I don’t think so. But we should, and it shouldn’t take another terrorist attack to get us there.

For the last seven years the CIA has been kidnapping people from other nations and torturing them. Why not just go in there and quietly shoot them to death?

Frankly, by not killing women or children the way those terrorists routinely do, we can even claim the moral high ground.

Cigarettes, Lies, and the New Tobacco Tax

Angelo Caiazzo — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 09:30:38 EDT

Sin taxes are not new to the United States of America. To sum these sorts of taxes up quickly, they are, in a nutshell, designed to punish people, monetarily, for activities and products that "the Establishment" feels are no good for public consumption.

What this new Sin Tax on tobacco has done is effectively double the price of cigarettes, and in every respect this is a losing proposition, and one entirely against freedom and the American Way. We might have to come to grips with the fact that this is no longer the usual American Way we grew up hearing about, with its emphasis on liberty and accompanying responsibility. No this is not our Daddy's America. This is damn near a communist state, by which I mean one where the government ever-exceedingly tells its people what to do.

Despite the crying and whining and childish "nasty habit" rhetoric of non-smokers, they do not want to tell you obvious facts about the lung cancer they are so concerned about. Namely, that well over half of people diagnosed with lung cancer never smoked at all. Try to find the actual circumstances of the studies in question, and you will get no more than a summary. They will not tell the details about the actual studies, nevertheless people, even our leaders, accept these "results" as gospel, that the ills of our country will be healed with the more or less prohibition of tobacco. They do not tell you, either, that we have yet---despite trillions invested over the years---to find the cause of one single cancer; how do you suppose we could be so lucky as to have stumbled across lung cancer's cause? Simple, if you smoke and have lung cancer, they mistakenly, and quite unscientifically, therefore cite that smoking as cause.

Well then let's consider our overall health and well-being and ask what else it is that we might not like and should tax, for reason that it is "not good for you." We could start with a primary educational system that is nothing more than learning how to follow orders. While we worry about cigarettes our young people are the most ignorant in the world, shoeless school-goers in Nigeria becoming more educated than our well-protected youth. We could cite hundreds of food products, preservatives, genetically engineered foods, and exhaust fumes which, undoubtedly, have a hand in that cancer rate among non-smokers, as we, the idiots, accept as truth their silly claims that "second hand smoke" from cigarettes is responsible. We could point to aluminum cans our "basic American foods" come in, caffeine in coffee, breakfast foods and snacks and fast foods empty of nutrients and loaded with carcinogenic material. We could point to fat people, who, well, they always disturb my sense of aesthetics, and so maybe they should be taxed for offending me, as does people's lack of washing themseleves properly, undoubtedly because that time in school that should have been spent on biology and hygiene was spent relaying to children the ills about smoking or sex. We could cite perfumes that make me sneeze and gag, obnoxious amounts of gold and diamonds, that nevertheless are legal and untaxed to any greater degree. We could point to atomic and hydrogen bomb blasts, ans pollutants from factories, all of which we inhale, every day.

But I am not here trying to get people to accept smoking. I realize this is a lost cause because of the venomous hatred so many have been instructed to generate towards a simple cigarette, and the godlike status of "science" to the simple-minded yet "educated" among us. What I wish to do is address these sorts of sin taxes on grounds of liberty. You cannot tax these cigarettes when diamonds and gold, hormone-injected meats and vegetables, obscene luxuries, junk foods and the like see no increase. Automobiles that are gas guzzlers, costing 100,000 dollars and more, are allowed to continue, and with no extra taxes added to the purchase prices.

The American spirit is fast dying. A proud people once leery of threats to any and all threats to their freedom, in fact who came here to preserve these liberties for themselves, now find themselves under the tyranny of the majority, without the corresponding respect for their minority. We have become docile sheep, willing to withstand anything the majority of brainwashed by shabby science people shove in our faces. Like sheep, we make not a peep, while the taxes we already pay are squandered by a wasteful and overall stupid government. To throw stuff into the sea would seem to be a citizen's recourse...until he estimates that as requiring just too much effort, especially when a cold six-pack awaits him in the refrigerator, a TV dinner in the freezer, and Family Guy on TV.

Finally, this tax is an insult to our intelligence. This government, which as the years go by exhibits more and more incompetency, somehow came up with almost a billion dollars to bail out the banking and auto industries, how, and where the money came from, we are not explained, but wouldn't you know it, we need to tax cigarettes, already taxed more than their cost to produce, in order to get kids health care.

This is an atrocity, and inane for yet more reasons. What happens if people quit smoking, as obviously the insurance industry, which started this whole mess, wants us to do? Who will pay for childrens' health care then? What will we tax? Isn't it funny how in less than 100 years, in fact about 60, we have gone from a country which barely taxed its citizens at all, to a country which taxes us left and right, and requires permits and licenses for just about everything. We are free? Free to pay taxes, and do what we are told. This is the worst form of tyranny, and the reason we parted with our last similar oppressor, England.

This tax is furthermore unconstitutional, as nobody in Congress represents the smoker; as it seems to me, this is called "Taxation Without Repesentation," and shows again our willingness to accept mediocre science and logic as national guiding principles, and a hot rod of burning tax up our behinds. Fast we are becoming a nation of a great divide, namely between those people who want to think for themselves, make their own choices, run their household their way, and raise their kids as they see fit, and those who want the government to support them, raise their children, tell them what to do, and tell them what is good or bad for them. These latter would get along anywhere, even in Afghanistan, or Rwanda, and not make a peep about the conditions, because they are by nature, sheep. Luckily, for America right now, the so-called "educational system" has been producing these mindless sheep at an ever-increasing rate, guaranteeing the need for nannies. Otherwise these stupid policies and infringements on personal liberties would not be allowed to happen.

Already the discontent is rising, I can feel it, I hear it from my friends, this discontent of the other half that knows and respects freedom and liberty, and what these things mean. The talk of stopping payment of all taxes to this government is growing by the day. Not only that, what will they come for next? You know the old story. They came for blacks, I wasn't black, so I didn't do anything; they came for the Jews but I wasn't Jewish so I didn't do anything. They came for the smokers, but I didn't smoke, so i did nothing. Soon, they will come for you, or what you enjoy, and you know what? There will be no concern left to help you.

Wake up America ...or whatever the hell this country has become, because it certainly is not what our founding fathers intended, read the old documents and feel it rather than parrot the interpretations, of which there is no shortage, by people with axes to grind. We talk about the old days as if we have somehow improved. On the contrary, our founding fathers knew what liberty means, and today would not recognize this Oligarchic Nanny State we call America...as we, with all our goody-goody rhetoric and fancy Blackberries can't add 2 numbers together, and slowly degenerate to a third world country. Obama says we don't need those outsourced jobs here in America, apparently secure that other nations will require the needs of a service economy---while we starve, or leave the handling of our foods and clothing and gadgets in the hands of Thailand, Korea, Malaysia, and China. Stupid, stupid policy.

Were we to truly tax sin, I dare say, 99% of the people running our government, the banks, the big businessmen...would be, right now, flat broke, despite their non-smoking facilities and green tea.

Shop, Save and Learn at Tom Rodgers Community Services Website.

Tom Rodgers — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 14:08:20 EDT

Tom Rodgers has a great place where you can Shop, Learn, Find Employment or just read the News. You can help Tom with his mission by volunteering or making a small donation.

Please check this site out.

http://tomrodgers723.community.officelive.com

Thanks,

Tom Rodgers

Taxing the Greedy Class

Fred & Annick from Weaverville, NC — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 13:10:40 EDT

Congress can do something about those AIG and Merrill Lynch bonuses, while at the same time raising some of the funds we badly need for President Obama's public works, education and health programs. It's quite simple and long overdue: introduce a new 100% tax bracket on all annual income exceeding $1,000,000.

We have a minimum wage; we need a maximum permitted income. Let's tax the greedy class. Surely no one should need more than $1,000,000 a year in income to lead a good life. If they do, they are the ones who should now be forced to sacrifice to help those less fortunate than themselves.

The Real Abominations Against God and Jesus

Don — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 00:04:47 EDT

The fact that Americans vote in favoring of paying our farmers to produce LESS milk in order to keep the gallon price of milk HIGHER than a gallon of gasoline while millions of American babies' parents can't afford milk is an abomination against God.People who, in the name of Jesus, vote to DENY medicine and treatment for babies in nations where it is otherwise not available suffering from AIDS because adults delivering help condone use of condoms to staunch the spread of AIDS are committing an abomination against God.People who vote against public sponsored healthcare for babies and children who cannot otherwise obtain it are committing an abomination against God.People who allow others to go hungry, homeless and sick, thus disobeying Jesus AND God himself, find the energy to rail against adults who behind closed doors have sex with other consenting adults are committing an abomination against God. They spend money, cast votes and change constitutions to deny those people rights to get divorced like 50% of the self-righteous people do every day.People who blatantly ignore the commands of Jesus and stated in all the gospels to care for the sick, the hungry and the homeless, and “judge not lest you be judged” while trumpeting an obscure sentence fragment from the Old Testament taken out of context while calling themselves Christians are an abomination against God and Jesus. Theirs is the greatest of blasphemy imaginable.When the mere idea that a person would not CHOOSE to be reviled, persecuted, fired from the military, and in some cases savagely beaten to death -- in other words, be gay -- is met by 'conservative Republicans' with such rabid, savage hostility, then one could reasonably believe that their position and their associated rage is intended merely as a distraction from their own actions which are immoral, inhumane and even criminal (refer to first five paragraphs).

Tommy's National Health Care Plan (theory)

Tommy from Russellville, AR — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 13:27:00 EDT

P=Population BT =Business Tax GDP=Gross Domestic Product

Tommy’s Health Care Plan for the Nation: National Health Insurance Plan P+HI=P (20%GDPtax) + BC(5)

I. The Federal Tax structure will be altered. 20% of GDP taxes will be pooled into Health insurance pool. II. 15% will go into Federal HI pool. 5% will go into State HI pool III. The Federal HI pool will be available to all legal Americans.a. Every American will receive a Debit/Insurance Card.b. This will be all an American needs for any type of emergency medical services.c. Those happy with current HI plan, can apply for a tax incentive to receive an insurance rebate.

Listening to Republicans and Democrats argue.....

LOL — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 17:42:24 EST

over whether tax cuts or bigger government are the answer to our economic problems is like listening to the captain and the first mate of the Titanic argue over whether more and smaller buckets or less and bigger buckets are the answer to their situation.

You know what would be to impressive and a confidence builder? If Obama came out and said, “I am not sure how to fix the economy just yet, but we have determined what the problem is. While I can not assure you that I can keep any of you in your homes or keep you from falling into poverty, but I can promise that your kids won’t be in the same situation.” That would signify to me that he actually understands the cause of our current situation.

Throwing money at the big banks and the irresponsible housing lenders and borrower is about as impressive to me as George Jr. bombing camels to protect America from guys with butter knives from taken over airplanes. Neither are actually going to keep the condition from being repeated. At least when it comes to guys with butter knives on a plane, I can trust Americans will rise up and fight off the offending situation. I am not sure that I can count on Americans to stop agreeing to terms they don’t understand, and borrowing more money then they can afford to.

When everybody involved realizes that taxes and incentives are red herrings and economically unsound ways to influence circulation. Lowering taxes on the wealthy doesn’t cause them to start businesses. Lowering taxes on businesses doesn’t cause them to hire more people. By the same token charging hire taxes and redistributing the money to the poor doesn’t make them any less poor. The government creating temporary jobs only gives people false security and unpredictable income.

If the administration could put somebody to work following the money once it reaches the market, I would feel much more comfortable. So you send a stimulus check out. Where does the (in the last case) $1500 go when you send it to them. Obviously they were paying their bills, or maybe they weren’t and for that month they do. If they buy merchandise, how much of it is retained here in the US and how much is spent on places outside the economy.

If Obama announces he has put somebody in charge of following money as it enters and leaves our economy, I will feel much more comfortable with the faith everybody is putting in him.

The George W Bush Recession and Depression

Don — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 02:13:08 EST

We need to give credit where credit is deserved: NAME this economic crisis after the man most responsible for it's creation.

$10 trillion deficit is what we had at the end of the Bush administration. In eight years, Bush more than DOUBLED all the indebtedness America had accrued in more than 200 years.

This is more than a talking point, this is a necessary reminder that should be made every day, so that the notoriously SHORT memories of Americans shall be stimulated on a regular basis.

Beware of Big Business Backlash

CardJAlb — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 13:48:19 EST

Closing tax loopholes, scaling back on tax breaks and liberal write-offs, and generally expecting big business to contribute to this nation's economic recovery by sharing more of their profits with the American people rather than top management all fall under the heading of "the right thing to do."

However, I sincerely hope the Obama Team has a plan for fighting back when big business instead raises consumer costs to make up for the "losses' these business will incur as a result of these policy changes. We all know that instead of sharing in the pain they will continue to find ways to covertly line their proverbial pockets while publicly proclaiming, "See, the president's economic policies are not working. They are serving only to increase costs to you, the consumer. What a shame..."

How successfull the Obama Team is in exposing and counteracting big business half-truths and deceptive tactics is the key to it all: the economic recovery, the power of the grassroots movement, the ability of the democratic party to lead this country and, ultimately, President Obama's re-election.

How we can revive the economy, and take gangs off the streets?

John from Milwaukee, WI — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 12:55:00 EST

The epidemic proportions of the drug problem in younger people are in direct correlation of the strict laws against alcohol. Alcohol is sold only by licensed merchants that require strict identification to purchase their products. When is the last time you saw an alcohol "dealer" on the corner? I'll give you a hint, it was just before prohibition was repealed. Young people who no longer have access to alcohol are turning to other more accessible drugs. The so called drug problem in this country is not because of the drugs themselves, but the laws that make them so lucrative to unscrupulous persons who are willing to do anything to sell their product. If drugs were legalized they would be regulated, keeping them out of the hands of children. PS A's could be aired on the dangers of harder drugs. Not to mention they could be taxed! Imagine this, a pack of cigarettes cost under a dollar to produce but often cost over $5 to purchase. Where does the extra $4+ go? TAXES! If drugs were legalized it would take drug dealers off the streets, squash dangerous gangs that thrive on illegal drug money, take them out of the hands of kids, and could pay for this "bail out" with the tax revenue in under 5 years. Not to mention creating jobs to make, distribute, and advertize different products. To me Sir it really seems like a no brainer. The likes of Al Capone in the 30's, Frank Lucas in the 70's, and Pablo Escobar in the 80's, made millions due to illegal drugs. I'm quite positive there are drug dealers still making millions that just haven't been caught yet. Prohibition didn't work then and it obviously doesn't work now. I hope that one day there won't be a drug problem in this country, but unfortunately that wont happen until it is properly distributed by licensed merchants.

"Marijuana" is NOT the proper name for Cannabis. Marijuana is a Mexican slang word for "weed". The use of the term was widely popularized in the 30's during the attempts to oust Mexican laborers who were taking American jobs in the depression. Please take note of this and stop using this derogatory term.

Our Human Nature is Beyond a Response to Stimulus

Maurice from Villa Park, IL — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 16:08:32 EST

Our Human Nature is Beyond a Response to Stimulus

An emerging problem facing many people today is that the price of a product that is presented to the consumer does not accurately represent the consumers’ real costs. I would challenge any person to walk into any new car dealership and figure out what will be the real price to be paid or the real cost incurred based on the listed price on the sticker, the advertized price with or without rebates, unknown “APR’s”, dealer price, employee price, and whatever information you can gather from the internet. I know that agreeing on a price, weather cash or credit, can take hours. And when I am finished negotiating and driving away in my new car I wonder if what I agreed to pay was really fair or did I hurt myself by paying too much? I wish I knew!

The finance charges of buying anything using credit must be added to the initial purchase price to know its real cost. The cost of buying anything on credit is hidden or disguised from unaware or ignorant people. The price held in a person’s mind or seen on the sticker certainly does not equal the total payments made over time. It is probable that three different people with three different credit histories will all agree to purchase an identical car at the same price and all three people will incur very different real costs to their lives. Three examples of financing $20,000.00 of the purchase price of identical cars over a period of five years for our three different people of various credit histories could be:

1. Excellent credit…. $20,000.00 at 3% interest over five years is 60 payments of $359.37 totaling $21,562.46.

2. Fair credit…………..$20,000.00 at 8% interest over five years is 60 payments of $405.53 totaling $24,331.62.

3. Poor credit…………$20,000.00 at 15% interest over five years is 60 payments of $475.80 totaling $28,547.91.

These examples are not made to pass any moral judgments’ on borrower or lender. The examples exhibit the difference between the same $20,000.00 price in each person’s mind and the three different total costs of $21,562.46, $24,331.62 and $28,547.91 incurred by each individual respectively. We all know that the real cost of buying an identical car is different for different people in different circumstances. Fair or not, differing real costs for differing consumers is the reality people experience. What is problematic is that many people confuse the price they have in their mind with the total cost that is actually paid over time. The total cost paid over time is reality while the price they have in mind is not. The $20,000.00 price in mind is believed to represent each individuals’ real cost when in the real world each individual incurs, respectively, the different real costs of $21,562.46, $24,331.62 and $28,547.91. What is believed to be real (as price) is not real (as is the total cost over time); the idea that the price accurately represents the total cost when credit is used is mistaken.

Imagine being a person of fair credit, believing he is paying $20,000.00 for a car, and in reality paying $24,331.62 for that car over time. How many times can the $4331.62 mistake be repeated? I do not know. You might say that ‘people really do know how much they are paying or at least they should know’. That may be true: but, the first point is that their purchasing behavior was based on the belief that the $20,000.00 price held in mind was the real price they are paying; and, the second point is that the idea of the $24,331.62 total cost, if it came to mind at all, came to mind generally as an afterthought which had little or no influence on their purchasing behavior.

I wish to drive this point home just a bit further. Imagine being the home owner when I ask you how much you paid for your house. Will your answer be the buyer/seller negotiated price (of say $200,000.00)? Or will you answer with the total cost calculated over time (of say $20,000.00 down payment, $180,000.00 mortgage over 30 years at 4.5% with monthly payments of $912.03 for a total cost of $348,333.52)? Most people say $200,000.00. This may be self deception on a mass scale; a deception that for some people makes huge differences in their standard of living. A home buyer with less down payment or worse credit might agree to this: $0.00 down payment, $200,000.00 mortgage over 30 years at 5.5% with monthly payments of $1135.58 for a total cost of $408,806.90. While there is a $60,473.38 total cost difference facing the different buyers, I will bet, most home buyers will say and believe and behave as though they paid $200,000.00 for their house.

Reality will not be ignored long before it demands to be recognized, and in the real world price does not always equal cost. If I define price as the number that is held in one’s head it will equal the physical number printed on the products sticker or it will equal an amount negotiated (that is often to be financed) between buyer and seller. Within a cash transaction price will equal the cash exchanged for the product or service and most importantly it will accurately reflect an immediate real cost. Within a credit transaction price will not reflect a real cost and thinking that it does can be a costly mistake. Reality for the cash purchaser is different from the reality of the credit purchaser.

Real costs involving credit are the total cost calculated as price plus interest paid over time. If I define cost as what will be actually paid then that number must be calculated and kept in mind if an accurate representation of reality is to influence a purchaser’s behavior. Believing that price equals cost does not make it so. At Wall Mart or at a grocery store the cash, check, or amount debited, is equal to the price of the goods purchased. When those same goods are purchased using a credit card the price printed at the bottom of the receipt will not represent the real cost of the goods for that buyer. It is the knowing and respecting of this fact that price easily misrepresents cost that will influence behavior. Masses of people behave in a purchasing manner that suggests that they do not know or respect these truths. For many buyers using credit the purchase price held in mind never represents their real costs; their real costs are actually out of mind. What they think is the price they are paying is a fantasy held only in their imagination; reality is actually a rising total debt because real things purchased on credit have a higher real cost than at first appears.

As simple and as obvious as this seems it is my contention is that it is the ignorance (by many people, businesses, and governments) of this real difference between that price which we picture in our mind and that total cost which we really pay over time that is at the heart our present economic crisis today.

It is often hard for many people to believe how big their debt is when they believe they didn’t really spend that much. And perhaps they didn’t spend that much, but for what they did buy they ultimately paid a high price. Most people that buy on credit behave as though the price they are paying for the good is what it costs them. In reality it costs far more. With regard to a credit purchase a person’s belief in mind could hold that the price is low enough to represent the thing as being worth buying; whereas, for the person mindful of the real cost that cost is too high to represent the thing as being worth buying. A person’s behavior is based on what they believe to be real; that is, they see reality as the sticker price that is easily held in their head or they see reality as the total cost paid over time. In the first case, when only mindful of price, the price (which does not equal real cost) appears low and they purchase immediately. In the second case, when mindful of the real cost, the real cost (which does not equal price) appears high and they put off the purchase.

Behavior based on mistaking the price for cost has profound ramifications for economic systems. Credit purchases based on this mistake will artificially stimulates a demand for the goods and services purchased because the price appears lower than its real cost. Businesses, however, will actually produce enough goods to meet this propped up demand for all the consumers that confuse or ignore the difference between the idea of a low purchase price and the real cost involving credit. Behavior of persons mindfully considering the difference between a cash price and the higher real costs incurred by using credit will adjust demand downward with regard to any good or service requiring the use of that credit.

Our present economic crisis is based in the fact that a great number of people are being forced to becoming aware of a need to consider this price/cost difference. Their behavior, which led to an over extension of debt and an overconsumption of goods, is a direct result of not considering this difference. Their changing behavior, which is now withdrawing from the use of credit, is based in having in mind the real cost of using credit. When the real cost of credit is kept in mind then demand for goods and services will no longer be artificially stimulated. Demand will come down to a level based on the real costs instead of the non-credit cash price greatly impacting businesses that use credit to help generate profits.

Businesses that generate profits by financing the purchases of their goods or services are now facing difficulties proportionate to their use of that financing for those profits. It is conceivable that some companies switched to generating their profits through financing because price competition for cash purchases drove profits very low. It then became easier to compete for profits based on financing because that financing hid the real costs from most consumers. Automobile companies, retailers such as Sears, conglomerates like GE and any kind of business that has become dependent on their own financing of purchasers to generate profits has contributed to the misleading relationship between price and cost by presenting to consumers prices that seem low when in reality the financed cost is high. When using financing to generate profit the price tag on a good or service will tend to be lower (to entice people into using credit) than what would be necessary to generate that same profit without using financing. It is probable that businesses highly dependent on profits through financing will even discourage cash purchases because selling for cash at the list price will produce little or no profit at all.

Ultimately businesses that financed the purchasing of their own products built a capacity to produce enough goods to supply a market where people behaved in a manner that mistakenly accepted the price as equivalent to the financed cost. Once consumers realize their mistake they will withdraw demand leading not only to an oversupply of goods but also to an over capacity to produce them (the basis of deflation). Thus if the use of credit decreases so will the ability to generate enough profit to stay in business. And if credit tightens an initial oversupply of goods and services will face deflationary pressures (of too many goods needing to attract fewer available dollars) leading to falling prices. Once the original oversupply is consumed the list price on goods will have to rise to a point that will make up for the loss of profit that was generated by financing purchasers if the business is to continue operating. Of course the higher list price will also discourage demand.

Retail businesses (that are not operated as finance companies) generate their profits based on what is paid for the product at the moment the transaction occurs. Whether a good is paid for using cash, check, or credit makes little difference to the retailer at the time of purchase; because, for the retailer the price on the sticker accurately represents what is received in payment. From the retailers point of view the sticker price represents the real cost to the consumer. Inventory is ordered and manufacturers produce goods for a market based on that retail price; but, that retail price that seems real to the retailer is not the same as the real cost to the buyer using credit.

The consuming of products purchased on credit has long term effects on retailers and their customers. From the point of view of the retailer corporate profits should be able to be estimated by taking the price paid by the consumer, minus the businesses costs involving the product incurred, multiplied by the number of units sold. While that will work for past purchases it will not work well for future projections. In reality, the cost of credit is incurred in the future and this has two results: first, future demand will be less than current demand; and second, the real cost to consumers is much higher than the price the retailer receives. Future profits must adjust downward with a cannibalizing of demand.

The lender of credit becomes the collector of the difference between the price paid to the retailer and the real cost to the consumer; the retailer collects the sticker price and the consumer pays to the lender a higher real cost over time. By extending credit for purchases today the lender enables an increased stimulation of demand for today. By collecting payments of interest and principal in the future on today’s purchases the lender will stimulate a decrease in future demand by absorbing the consumer’s future purchasing power. For the unaware retailer or consumer the lender of credit is, in reality, collecting a sacrificial cost from both the retailer (sacrificing future demand) and the consumer (sacrificing future purchasing power); and, both retailer and consumer let it happen because of either ignorance or the convenience of having one bird in the hand rather than having two birds in the bush. Both the consumer and the retailer, when dependent on credit to complete the transaction are related to the lender of credit as addicts are related to their pusher. The lender, who is extending credit to facilitate today’s exchange between buyers and sellers, when those buyers and sellers are blind to the real costs of purchasing things, is no longer profiting by performing the service of assessing practicality and risk; but, the lender is profiting from both purchaser (in lessoning future purchasing power) and seller (in lessoning future demand) by supplying the convenience of immediate gratification to anybody ignorant of real cost assessment.

Yes, I am pointing fingers at the banks issuing credit to ignorant consumers! I am pointing fingers at payday loan companies serving desperate people seeking loans at loan shark rates! I wonder, what would happen to people if banks would issue enough credit to people that they might have trouble paying it back? If I was a bank, I would like to keep borrowers just under that troubled threshold. If I was a bank I would be interested to know what profits I could generate if, as a bank, I were to raise the interest rate on my customers from 10% to 20% or even 29%. I might even justify the rate increase based on a late payment; I might even use the post office to help generate some late payments by mailing out payment notices near do dates and requiring the payment to be mailed to the opposite coast. I might even raise fees on those late payments. Another thing I might try, if I were a bank, would be to entice credit users from my competitors to transfer their loan balance to my bank by promising an absurdly low interest rate of 0%; I will bet that at the first late payment the interest rate could be raised to 25% -- 0% to 25% in a heartbeat – what a good deal for bank profitability.

Hmmm… if we, as bankers, could only keep people under that painful threshold of not being able to make their monthly payments: Hmmm… if we cannot then the huge interest rates we are charging will have to make up for the amount of people defaulting on their debt: Hmmm… if that does not work perhaps we could get congress to make it harder for people to declare bankruptcy. How profitable can we banks be and what might be the overall consequences?

Hmmm… if we could only get these people out of debt we bet they would thank us and feel relieved: Hmmm… if we could only encourage the debtors to exchange some of their short term debt (such as credit card or auto loan debt) for the equity that is in the home; in this case expensive short term debt will be exchanged for cheaper long term debt. We realize that it would be like taking out a 30 year loan on a car that may only last about 10 years and we realize it would not be a good habit to establish; but, people need relief from their pain now and they deserve a vacation from all their debt. Perhaps people will thank us bankers for bailing them out of their troubles.

What must it be like to have $10,000.00 in credit card debt? At 10% the cost of servicing that debt for one year is $1,000.00. At 20% the cost would be $2,000.00. And, at 29% the cost would be $2900.00. For those consumers habitually in $10,000.00 of debt, at 29%, it means that the goods they purchase every year for $10,000.00 really costs them $12,900.00. It also means that the $2,900.00 of interest payments goes to the provider of finance and not to the profits of retailers or producers; in fact, the $2,900.00 cannot go to purchasing any good at all. In this example, it means that $2,900.00 of the total cost of $12,900.00 goes to the production of no-thing beyond convenience. In this example, it means that $2,900.00 must be subtracted from future purchasing power. In this example, it means that the real cost of goods to consumers that are habitually in debt is very high. It also means that in saving this $2,900.00 there is real hope.

There is hope that once people become mindful of and as long as they stay mindful of the cost of credit their behavior will be modified toward less demand with regard to the real cost of things used. Our present mindfulness of the high cost of credit, whether caused by job loss, out of pocket medical expenses, a credit overextension that can no longer be refinanced, or the actual pains of bankruptcy, will encourage a behavior toward increasing savings. Increasing savings or bankruptcy are the only things that will get people out of at least short term and high cost debt. And pain is the encouraging factor in keeping people mindful of their real circumstances.

Once people are out of debt and as long as they stay mindful of the real costs of things, then the real benefits of working through the pain can materialize. Those benefits will ultimately be a real increase in disposable income of $2,900.00 for the future out of debt person in the above example. That amounts to an increase in disposable income that dwarfs any stimulus check sent to consumers by the federal government last year or coming from the government in 2009. Not only that, by saving, consumers are actually behaving in a caring manner toward themselves. And, that $2,900.00 saved may eventually go towards purchasing a future good or service instead of future interest payments. That could lead to more employment of people that actually produce things that will be used. But, please note, this real kind of recovery can only be achieved by working through the pain. Giving and taking pills to deaden the pain will keep out of mind the things needed to be held in mind if behavior is to change.

As human beings we do not respond to stimuli in the same manner as plants or animals. All organic life responds in a manner of moving toward or away from stimuli. Human beings do not have to respond in the same way as organic beings because we can respond through knowledge of the thing that is stimulating us. It is through thinking and feeling things that are outside us that we get to know them and our place in the world. Things that are outside of us stimulate us into thinking and feeling about them. It is for this reason that what we think and feel about any thing always has to be checked out in the real world. Are we thinking correctly about things? Are we feeling appropriately? Answers to these questions are revealed only through activities we undertake. If we do not get the results we expected by our activities then our thoughts about how something could be accomplished are wrong or our motive to act in the direction we felt to be right is wrong or both our thinking and feeling are wrong. In any case we had better stop what we are doing and reflect. Was what we were thinking and feeling about things accurately telling us something about the real world outside of us or was it really telling us about something inside ourselves? Knowing the difference is what allows us to act as human beings and not just respond to stimuli like plants and animals. Getting to know the world outsides us and responding to it as it really is distinguishes us as human beings. Generally, in getting to know the real world we will sometimes experience pain. Pain is often a sign that we have been moving in the wrong direction. Pain generally stimulates people to wake up and reconsider their relations to the world. Pain says pay attention. Anesthesia for the pain is no cure.

Even the granting of easy credit to help sell the initial over supply of goods left in the marketplace will not place the now known high cost of credit back in the bottle. People are now leery of using credit because of the pain they are feeling; for, it is this pain that is keeping credit’s real cost in mind. Since the real cost of credit is better understood by the consumer the businesses that have supplied the goods and services based on the use of that credit will have to scale back production and they will also have to figure out how to generate profits on goods that are purchased at or near a cash price because those goods that need financing will be purchased by pained consumers more fully aware of the real higher cost of using credit.

Credit has no need to disappear. Goods will come to an end of their useful life and need to be replaced. Big ticket items will still need to be financed. And people will be educated by pain as to what they have been doing to themselves by ignoring reality. Like it or not, many people’s idea of how they would like reality to be is not mirroring how reality actually is. A necessary process of disillusionment is affecting everyday life. It is part of a process of getting healthy. What people are coming to terms with is that our present standard of living is being borrowed from our future standard of living. The consumer, in withdrawing from overdependence on credit, is showing a mindfulness of the problem. To believe that the consumer should do more of what is causing them pain by encouraging the further use of credit (by making it cheaper to borrow) is insanity. Saving is an act directed toward the future. It is and act directed at taking care of ourselves over time. And it is about time that the idea of participating in our own care better take root in our minds if it is to have any hope in changing our behavior in our future.

Businesses and governments do not know how to respond to the consumer’s new mind. Businesses and government officials are crying for more stimuli, either through greater government spending (most Democrats) or through decreases in taxes (most Republicans). In begging for the reestablishment of old and blind habits businesses and government desire the dissociation of price in mind from real cost because it is the traditional way things have been done. If they could only eliminate the pain then the consumer’s mind would seem at peace yet stay asleep to reality. But the consumer is awakening to the real problems of the cost of doing things in our habitual manner. And reality is forcing us to stop and reflect on how we are doing things. Reality will painfully stand in our way when we are doing things wrong. Hopefully we can get to know things as they really are and behave accordingly as the human beings we really are.

Maury Garvey, 2/25/09.

Homeowner Stability Initiative - Rules

z0rr0 — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 18:24:29 EST

I really would like to see two rules implemented in the Administration's Homeowner Stability Initiative procedures, in addition to payments lowered to 31% of income.

First, no tax deductions for interest on bailed out mortgages. That would make the rest of us cover the sin twice.

Second, if and when a bailed out property gets sold for more than the mortgage principal, the "profit" gets taxed at 100%, until the incentives are paid back. Those incentives, of a thousand dollars here and there, are our tax dollars! They need to be paid back to the Treasury, not end up as "somebody's slick move".

The implementation rules must contain assurances that the $75 billion gets paid back by those who got bailed out, not by our children.

Mr. Geithner has several months for developing the implementation rules. The money comes out of TARP, which means he can do pretty much whatever he wants. Such rules should not be a problem for him, and it would be very reassuring, and FAIR, for those of us with the "responsible gene".

Let She Who Has Paid All Her Taxes Throw the First Stone

Henry M — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 10:27:22 EST

Maybe President Obama should grant some sort of amnesty for some percentage of back taxes up to some cutoff point.

I think that it would encourage people who owe taxes to try to make ammends.

Palin owes tax on per diem, state says
EXPENSES: Governor received meal money while living in Wasilla.

By LISA DEMER
ldemer@adn.com

(02/17/09 21:53:17)
Gov. Sarah Palin must pay income taxes on thousands of dollars in expense money she received while living at her Wasilla home, under a new determination by state officials.
The governor's office wouldn't say this week how much she owes in back taxes for meal money, or whether she intends to continue to receive the per diem allowance. As of December, she was still charging the state for meals and incidentals.
"The amount of taxes owed is a private matter," Sharon Leighow, Palin's spokeswoman, said in an e-mail. "If the governor collects future per diem, those documents would be a matter of public record."
The revelation about Palin comes as U.S. senators, including Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, are under scrutiny over back taxes. A survey by the political newspaper and Web site Politico (www.politico.com) found that Begich was one of seven senators who acknowledged having paid back taxes.
Some other state employees also owe back income taxes for travel payments and will be getting revised tax forms, Annette Kreitzer, state administration commissioner, said in an e-mail.
She wouldn't say which, or how many, employees will be receiving the notifications.
The payments became a touchy issue for Palin last fall when she was running for vice president and campaigned as a budget watchdog.
The Washington Post published a story in mid-September that said she had charged the state almost $17,000 for meals and incidentals while staying in her own home.
The state considers Juneau, where she lives in the Governor's Mansion, to be Palin's official duty station.
Palin billed the state for 312 nights spent in her Wasilla home during her first 19 months in office, according to the Washington Post. She received $60 a day tax free, money intended to cover meals and incidentals, while traveling on state business, her travel forms show.
"Last fall we raised questions about longstanding practices within the Department of Administration regarding tax treatment of per diem payments," Kreitzer wrote in an exchange of e-mails over the past few days with the Daily News.
"At the Governor's request, we reviewed the situation to determine whether we were in full compliance with the pertinent Internal Revenue Service regulations," Kreitzer wrote. "As a result of this review, we determined that per diem needs to be treated as income, requiring a revision of W-2 forms for any affected employees."
The new determination by administration officials won't affect state lawmakers, said Pam Varni, director of the Legislative Affairs agency.
Under IRS guidelines, legislators receive tax-free payments to help with living expenses while in Juneau for the legislative session -- if their home is at least 50 miles away, Varni said.
The current rate, set by the U.S. Department of Defense, is $189 a day. That goes to everyone except the three Juneau-based legislators, who get smaller payments that are taxed as compensation.
Legislators can also charge the state $150 a day for time spent on state business when the Legislature is not in session, but those payments are taxed as income, Varni said.
Begich's situation came to light through a political survey released last week by Politico about senators and their taxes.
Fifty-five senators, including Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, didn't answer the questions, and a few others owed money but didn't consider it "back taxes" for one reason or another.
On his way out of a meeting with veterans on Monday, Begich answered a few questions about the back taxes he paid on a vehicle provided to him by the city when he was mayor.
"I refused the car the first 10 or 12 months," Begich said. "I didn't want the car.
"Then they told me I had to have it because of liability and a need and security and blah, blah, blah. So I ended up getting a used car. The first time a mayor has gotten a used car." It was a former police SUV.
The tax obligation came to his attention in late 2007, as he remembers it, after a regular IRS audit of city issues. The city then sent him revised tax statements.
"They gave me a letter and said you got to pay taxes on it. So they revised my W-2s." He wouldn't say how much he owed. "It's irrelevant," Begich said.
Generally, people are supposed to pay income taxes on the value of an employer-provided vehicle that is for personal use. Police vehicles are among the exceptions -- officers can drive them home and not be taxed on the value of the commute.
There's no specific exception in the law for mayors or governors. Palin has had a state Chevy Suburban.
Begich said a mayor is always on the job. No other Anchorage mayor ever had to pay income taxes on a city vehicle, he said.
"That's the point. I'm always on call. Always. ... And I think that's what the city's view was, for the city manager and me, was that we were always on call," Begich said. "But the IRS viewed it differently."
"After that issue came up, I got rid of the car," Begich said. He was in a downtown parking lot getting into the Toyota Highlander hybrid he bought in late 2007 to replace the city rig.
The Politico story about the survey said his situation echoed that of Tom Daschle, who had to step down as President Barack Obama's pick for health secretary after revelations about back taxes, including taxes owed for a limo and driver.
"For Politico to say it's the same as Daschle -- that's bunk," Begich said.
Henry M

KCUF, 128 Kb/s on Shoutcast Unlimited and still the Most Eclectic Music on the WWW:
http://tinyurl.com/kcuf-on-shoutcast-limited/ to play, http://www.urdomain.us/kcuf.htm to see what's playing, and now available on RECIVA Internet-Radio receivers, http://tinyurl.com/kcuf-on-reciva

KCUF can now be listened to using a Windows Vista Sidebar Gadget: http://gallery.live.com/results.aspx?bt=1&q=KCUF

THANKS...AMERICA...reply

Citizens for Change in America! — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 12:55:16 EST

Where are the thanks for AMERICANS...

we pay our taxes

we pay our bills

we pay our house off

we pay our car off

we pay our childrens educational expenses

we pay our childrens college expenses

we pay into our 401k

we pay into our retirement

we pay for our business expenses

we pay for our food

we pay for our clothes

we pay for our gas

we pay for our heat and electricity

we pay for our cost to be an American...explain it to me...

WHAT DID I DO WRONG...what went wrong in AMERICA?

tell me your thoughts...

My Story

Shannon from Birmingham, AL — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 21:04:52 EST

I am a 31 year old student, full-time worker and gay. I cannot seem to make ends meet most months especially when mishaps take place. I am working hard for a degree that will allow me to serve my country to the best of my ability. However, my country does not seem to care about me.

I voted for Obama/ Biden in hopes for change. All I have seen are the same ole Washington cronies being announced to fill cabinet places. I have watched this ticket vote for a stimulus plan that would have worked better if the money would have been invested into the infrastructure of this country to create more jobs. This ticket simply gave a man a fish to eat for a day instead of teaching the man to fish so he could eat for a lifetime.

I truly want change but in order to change, we have to implement it, not pretend we believe in it. I want to believe in this man, and I know he holds the weight of the world on his shoulders, but you cannot change Washington by implementing failed packages and politicians of the past.

I am a homosexual. According to my government I have no more rights than my cat or dog. I want that to change. I want a tax break, I want to claim head of household, because I am! I want to marry, and have legal rights to my partner. After All, someone fought extremely hard for this man of color to even be able to be nominated for president!

Bankers CAN be heroes -- No 'vetting' required

Don — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 03:01:53 EST

Senator Dodd went rogue and inserted some crazy stuff into the new law, so the President will need to be creative. Perhaps we are looking for HEROES to run our troubled banks. A lot of wealthy patriots have made great financial sacrifices to serve in the Obama Administration. Like-minded people who don’t want to go through the vetting process and insane pubic humiliation of being outed on every little tax related or other embarrassment can now serve their country without becoming federal employees but while still consenting to be paid wages not all that far above that.

Gregg: Is This Petty Partisan Politics

Don — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 22:47:23 EST

I see nothing different Obama has said or done since 2004 and today -- perhaps Gregg's understanding of it morphed overnight between the time he was begging for the job and yesterday, when it came time to vote on the stimulus plan. Gregg seems to claim otherwise.

Obama should have known Gregg either hasn't the courage of his convictions or , far more likely, hasn't got any deeply held beliefs other than politics. We demand omniscience! How DARE the President not realize a man like Gregg would say anything to further his own personal ambitions?

There's something wrong with a vetting process that cannot discern that a politically savvy adult who somehow got himself repeatedly elected to the US Senate would claim to have turned his back on Petty Partisan Politics but actually lack the moral fortitude to stand by his decision.

Economic Stimulus and Recovery

Faron, NC — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 09:08:17 EST

Unemployment: Regardless of the tax breaks, housing issues and all other ideas in any proposal. If you don’t stop the unemployment and put people back to work so they actually have money to benefit from the tax breaks and housing benefits proposed and so they can start purchasing items, getting loans for homes and vehicles, investing in stock and or otherwise spending money, then regardless of the amount of the package, you will not have stimulated spending or our economy. JOBS are the foundation of stimulation.

JOBS: It is vitally important that the jobs created are created throughout the country with various skills. I assure you that those that have lost their jobs and will lose their jobs are from various locations and with various skills. So specific projects, proposed in any bill, will not suffice since they are limited in both location and skill.

How do you create Jobs?: I continuously hear everyone say, including the President, that our small businesses are the backbone of job creation and our economy. Why is that? It’s because they are all across the country and provide a variety of jobs and they borrow and spend?
How do you stimulate small business?: Normally small businesses which are existing or that which wish to start up seek private funding through investement, loans and federal assistance. However due to the current economic EMERGENCY, the private sector options are no longer available. This leaves only Federal funding for small businesses.
Our Federal agencies hold many applications from small businesses.: Various agencies have applications from small businesses that want to do work, some of which the government is requesting to be done. Some of which they have come up with on their own, which are called “unsolicited proposals” but which could still be of value. Some of this work is manual labor, some of this work is research and a lot of it is a variety of other opportunities.
Some funds could already be available!: Many of these Federal agencies most likely already have some funds set aside for Grant funding or other funding. These agencies could pull all small business applications and Grand Total the amounts needed to fund all of them and the stimulus package could authorize additional funds, which may or may not be needed. The stimulus package and/or a Directive by the President should order these agencies to "clear their coffers". This may seem like an extreme measure, but these are extreme times.
Some may argue that this will diminish private investment opportunities.: Contrarily by providing these small businesses with funding to start up or perform work, they can begin to invest and seek investors with the capital which is provided to them and/or with their success as they grow .
Perhaps some of the funds being directed to the TARP packages could be redirected here.: Since the issue for our financial institutions is not neccesarily having the money available, but rather a way to move the money, our small businesses can provide for two means of helping with this issue. First they can provide the monies through creating bank accounts and/or making deposits into existing accounts. They will conduct daily business that will begin to rotate these funds and stimulate the economy.
The definition of small business has already been defined.: The Government has already defined the term "small business", so there is no need to redefine it or figure out what articulates into a small business.
These small businesses have already gone through the Grants.gov verification processes!: Before applying for Grants, SBIR’s and/or STTR’s each business must go through a verification process.
There are already established monitoring systems set up.: Government auditing, reports and etc..are already established by each agency.
Grants.gov already has bank routing numbers for each business.: As a requirement during the verification process, Grants.gov requires that a bank account already be established. The funds could be dispersed quickly and put to use quickly.
Unfortunately the amounts they offer, $100,000 to $150,00 in most case are not sufficient to actually start a business. A business beginning with nothing has to have the funds needed to buy supplies, lease property, purchase equipment etc… and cover salaries for at least a year to allow the business to grow and build a customer base which can sustain them. Another source for small business interest is the Small Business Administration.
It is important to provide enough funding: to allow for these businesses to start and to have enough to sustain them for at least a year, two years would be best, so that they can build a customer base to sustain themselves. Not all will succeed and it could be required that unused funds be returned if they fail. But I believe there will be many more that will succeed and some may even provide us all with some unexpected benefits.
So have theses agencies, a list of Granting Agencies is on Grants.gov, pull all small business applications and provide funding. Open up more opportunities for small businesses. These small businesses are ready, willing and able to begin work and put others to work, so let them.
What is the real benefit of small business?
They employ, they buy, they bank, they borrow, they invest, they provide investment opportunities and they spend all across the country.: This stabilizes current businesses and allows them to hire more employees, to buy, to borrow and to spend. They all pay taxes to their states, they pay for permits from municipalities, counties and/or other forms of government, creating State and local revenue. They are perpetual, in that they continue, whereas a stimulus check to Americans may help, it does not provide a continuing of spending and rotation of capital as small businesses would while conducting daily business. They do not require any trade agreement specifications or a “Buy American” provision.
Their employees buy, bank, invest, borrow and spend all across the country.: They pay State and local taxes which creates revenue for them.

In the end, the only real stimulation you could provide which can do what needs done, is through creating jobs all across the country with a variety of work skills. To meet that objective effectively you have to build up your small business base.

Taxes: This is another key part of the stimulation and recovery. Tax cuts can clearly help to build business and encourage spending by both the businesses and the workers, however to reiterate, if you don’t have a job, it does nothing.

Housing: Can be a part of helping and some legitimate proposals along these lines should always be considered.

State Aid: Some state aid can help, but keep in mind if you’re putting people to work you can reduce a large amount of funding for unemployment and Medicaid since it want be needed.

In closing, let's create jobs, create futures, stimulate capital rotation and continue this rotation and provide the ability to help pay back the debts incurred by the Federal Government. If small business is the backbone, then let’s support our back so we can stand up and walk, then maybe as we walk, we can soon begin to run again.

That way when all the other bills such as TARP and others can actually do some good.

Americans have a way of pulling themselves up. Give us a chance to show you how well we can do that and help us, help you, help us all.

Small Businesses, existing and new, could play a big part of stimulating our economy and progression to recovery. It should be included in conjunction with other ideas which are currently a part of the plan.

Without Taxes Would the Republicans Exist?

Miz — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 15:57:12 EST

Since the Republicans' only idea and response to any problem is lowering taxes, I have a proposal. Let's make them obsolete by getting rid of all taxes. Just think. Without taxes, the Republicans would have no reason to exist. What, I wonder, would they do if they didn't have the old "No New Taxes" strategy to fall back on. Would they have any ideas? Would they then become constructive participants in our government or would they simply find another "issue" they could use to victimize their constituents? Just wondering.

We Have a Clean and Honest President

Tom Awtry — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 02:24:48 EST

When is the last time you have heard a President of our country say “I screwed up?” Not in my life time and I’ve followed politics since I was in High School. This was the two part verb used by our president’s reference to Tom Daschle whom the president nominated for the administration’s Health and Human Services.

The above quote (“I screwed up?”) is what our President said in an interview aired on NBC with Brian Williams today. President Obama followed up with these words also:

“I’m frustrated with myself, with our team. … I’m here on television saying I screwed up,” “He repeated virtually the same words in interviews with other TV anchors.

Tom Daschle is the second major appointee who failed to pay all their taxes was a disappointment not only to President Obama, our country and myself but hopefully to himself.

For me this is unbelievable! While our President was campaigning he spoke of cleaning up Washington, which definitely needs the scrub over, but I’m sure the president is as shocked, as the rest of our nation is, of just how “dirty” things have gotten over the past years within perhaps all three branches of our government:

Tax avoiders
House and Senate Representatives on the take for kick backs
House and Senate Representatives sex solicitors
Costly, unneeded earmarks

The aforementioned I’m sure are just a few categories which need disinfecting.

Additional blog postings by Tom Awtry may also be found here.

Dear Barack, I Doubt Your Nominees Are the Problem. Complex Tax Codes Are!

Andrew Bairnsfather — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 15:54:51 EST

Dear Barack,

While I am not an expert in the matter of your appointments, and I am not an expert in taxes, I must tell you this.

OUR TAX CODES ARE SERIOUSLY SCREWED UP AND BORDER ON EVIL! If not actually going over that line!

I am willing to go with your first choices for these jobs. I am willing to overlook misc. infractions.

I heard that before being officially asked to take the position you offered, Mr. Daschle checked with his accountant to make sure his tax situation was ok. It seems it wasn't. Well the first thing that popped in my head was, "how can his accountant be an accountant, if the accountant is not accountable!" Isn't the accountant paid to make sure the taxes are paid and other things relating to finances?!

So now Mr. Daschle is humiliated due to his accountant not doing his/her job.

What sense does this make?

What is the moral of this story?

OUR EVIL TAX CODES ARE TOO BURDENSOME TO KNOW IF THEY ARE BEING FOLLOWED OR NOT!!!

You know things are screwed up when even accountants can't follow them!

I am NOT saying taxes are evil, that's a discussion for another day. But how they are implemented is something only the devil loves. TAX EVERYONE THE SAME PERCENTAGE! This is only fair.

Maybe Tom is responsible somehow for the current state of the tax codes, and this is just one example of what Jesus says, "when the blind lead the blind, the both fall in a pit." But maybe not, maybe he's totally innocent, I have no idea, and I don't consider it important for me to know.

What I DO consider important is you follow my advice in Dear Barack Obama and simplify our tax codes, even to the point of a flax tax where everyone pays the same percentage.

From what I've heard, you're a man who believes in parts of the Bible. I URGENTLY ADVISE you to take a look at Matthew 23, and in particular Matthew 23:3-6. It is clear one of the things that falls under Jesus' anger are the lawgivers putting heavy burdens on us (expecting us to be able to understand our tax codes), but don't lift a finger themselves. How many politicians do you think do their own taxes? I bet NONE. I bet they pay "accountants" to do their taxes for them! Now what sense does it make when the accountants don't even understand, or follow those tax codes because they are so complicated?

Here is what God says in the Bible: fix things, make them simple and straight forward.

You are the leader now, please lead. So what if there are some jerks who choose not to follow? As long as you are headed in the right direction it doesn't matter. It is the proverbial fool's errand to try to get everyone to agree with you, some people are stubborn just to be stubborn, like a child, testing the parents' resolve. Some people have a crooked conflict of interest they are hiding. Whatever the case is, being open is a great start, educating the public is a great start, reading my list I link to above is a great start.

Please! Things are too desperate to sit around watching football!

You are welcome to contact me at any time.

Respectfully, Drew.

pay your taxes

Paul from Holly Springs, NC — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 12:42:43 EST

He we go again, I voted for, campaigned for and donated to the Obama Biden ticket and already we are betrayed. Same old cronyism as before. If you dont know how to pay your taxes you should not be nominted for the highest posts in America. "The Change We Need" is to hirer the best and brightest people that do not break rules for there own personal profit. It is a disgrace that Tom Daschle and Timothy Geithner are even being considered they should both decline and if they dont then the nomination should be withdrawn. They already approved Holder I dont think you could suck the wind out of a opptimist any quicker than the actions of the last several days. Please call your Congressman today before it is too late! http://www.house.gov/zip/ZIP2Rep.html

Millions in Tax goes unpaid..defrauding the IRS and Georges is asking for an Tax audit and no response from IRS?

Georges from Beverly Hills, CA — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 18:44:42 EST

Georges Marciano who has been begging the IRS to audit him for over three years states that he owes IRS in the millions .....yes I said millions. I have emailed the IRS, we have sent letters. He has received a refund check from them and at the same time they sent him a letter stating he never filed? Georges has sent all the documents to the IRS, FBI, Los Angeles Sherriffs department, Beverly Hills police department and yet nothing....they have not even assigned anyone to the case....

http://irstaxneverfiled.wordpress.com/ on this site it shows the absolutely rediculous documents from the IRS . The question is why do they make such a big deal over Daschle and Geithner and their taxes and yet the Georges Marciano who actually wants to pay his taxes they are ignoring?

Daschel Car and Driver, Taxes and Change

rwordplay — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 14:35:51 EST

This isn't about taxes, it's about ethics. It's about encouraging or discouraging, deceptions large and small. What makes me increasingly angry is that the Daschel's advocates are rushing to defend what's truly indefensible. Read today's TIMES http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/01/us/politics/01daschle.html?hp and pay close attention to Schmer's comment. “We wish this didn’t happen,” said Senator Charles E. Schumer, a New York Democrat who is on the Finance Committee, “but he’s chosen such quality people that nobody minds taking a bit of an extra step to help get them in.” Senator Schumer has suddenly become very understanding but then he couldn't condemn Daschel without also condemning Rangel's curious management of his real estate or Rahm Emanuel's handsome earning servicing Bruce Wasserstein. Daschel is no Albert Einstein or even an Albert Schweitzer. I'm sure we have someone of equal "quality," but with considerable higher ethical values.

I'm expecting Obama to step in and start inquiring and shut down this revolving pay-to-play door, that open to all Democrats and Republicans who see public service as a means to make their fortune.

Some of my stimulus ideas

Tink — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 05:06:05 EST

-- Stimulus -- Keep it simple!

Halve Employer and Employee payroll taxes for small to large sized business for 1 to 2 years. Increase the Employer Tax reduction based on the level of health and retirement benefits provided to their employees.

This provides real and tangible salary stimulus increases to consumers while simultaneously adding incentive for employers to retain and provide health and retirement benefits to their workforce. Universal healthcare options can be later offered for additional savings to the employer once universal heath care services are in place.

Invest stimulus in transportation infrastructure; Road, Rail, Air and Sea, emphasizing security both environmental and homeland.

Invest in education infrastructure; facility and teachers with increase focus on early childhood services.

Provide low interest housing to all teachers, fire and police employees and military personnel.

-- Cash Flow --

Tax each trade/transaction in the Stock market approximately $0.50. This tax provides government revenue in both bull and bear markets. This would create around 1 trillion dollars per year using a current rough daily average of the Dow Jones alone. This may have a potential beneficial side effect of limiting stock trade volatility.

Increase taxes on large sized US corporations who operate globally but don't comply with US environmental and labor laws. Tariff foreign imports from International companies that don't recognize US/Global environmental and labour laws or that are uncompetitively subsidized by their governments..

Eliminate offshore tax shelters for US Corporations.

Marijuana key to economic recovery

John Sullivan — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 05:47:34 EST

POTPOLITICS

I recently got the inside word that President Obama will move for Legaliztion of Marijuana in June 2009

this is more an economic reality that can no longer be ignored. Marijuana now benefits street people and drug cartels and the government is left with the unecessary burden of a Police state and Prison cost. There is a strong element of useless people that profit from the current system, Judges countless Probation and Parole Officers none who add any real value to society. All these bureacratic positions need to be eliminated. The country economic and secrurity depend on this very measure.

Don't make the same mistakes over and over and expect different results.

You can follow along on my main blog POTPOLITICS

Thanks

John Sullivan

Hopeful signs in stimulus legislation process

Independent Voter for Obama — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 10:36:36 EST

As an independent voter who was/is a strong Obama supporter I'm watching the stimulus legislation negotiations for signs that the new administration will deliver on the promise of change to the partisan political process. So far I'm encouraged that Obama and the Republican leadership are at least talking and have some hope that the result will be better, more balanced legislation.

Just by way of background, in 2000 President Bush had also run partly on the promise of a bipartisan approach. Apparently he was not sincere because there was almost nothing bipartisan about his 8 years except briefly after the 2001 attacks when the Democrats came to him.

I believe that Obama is sincere about bipartisanship but I'm still afraid that the strong partisan currents will sweep his good intentions away. I'm enough of a realist to understand that partisanship will remain, but enough of an idealist to hope that our elected representatives may sometimes choose in favor of the greater good of the country rather than partisan advantage and that balanced, moderate legislation may sometimes result.

In the latest report on the stimulus neogtations I see both good and bad signs http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/24/AR2009012400661.html.

Bad:

- The Republicans say they were completely shut out of the stimulus drafting process

- The legislation bears some Congressional Chrismas tree imprints; such as money for the National Endowment for the Arts. (I don't object to funding the arts but don't understand why that should be in the jobs bill. Bills should be kept clean and specific to their purpose, not used as a way to sneak in funding for other things in a non-transparent manner)

- The bill will be very expensive and I don't understand how our country will ever pay off all its debts and if/when foreigners stop buying our Treasury bills we'll be ruined

Good:

-Obama met with the Republican leadership, listened to their input, and hopefully gave them reason to be constructive and bipartisan in their turn

- One of the ideas that Obama and the Democrats will reportedly consider is abatement of the effect of the AMT tax. (This tax is an abomination because it continually increases without Congressional transparency and accountability. And its abatement is arguably stimulative to the economy so it is not another Christmas tree ornament.)

Obama - Please listen to the people who know what they are talking about!

Pianoman — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 13:32:30 EST

Dear President Obama:

Though I admire your desire to build consensus with the Republicans on the Economic Stimulus Package I believe that you should ultimately take the advice of the people who truly know what they are talking about when it comes to the economy. People like Paul Krugman and Robert Reich know what they are talking about. Not the Republicans.

The Repubs have had 30 years to show that they are right. The stakes are too high and if you go their way and fail, they will still "stab you in back" (politically speaking) the first chance they get.

Pianoman

Democrats Lose Senate Majority (circa 2010)

Don — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 23:38:40 EST

(Can I say 'circa' if it's in the future?)

Democrats won't be controlling the Senate after 2010.

They rushed like lemmings to declare they'd never accept Blago's appointee.

A little time and forethought should have enabled them to reason that in order to create the illusion of innocence Blagojevich would be likely to find someone eminently qualified, of stellar reputation and far removed from the (alleged) illegal activities.

That would only be in his own best interests. And if there is one thing we have learned about Blago, it is that his own best interests are his first and last consideration in decision-making.

Senate Democrats have now pitted themselves against the Chicago Democratic Machine. Despite that Dick Durbin has lost touch with reality and thrown in with them, this is a battle Senate Democrats cannot and will not win. In this, there is no winning, only degrees of losing.

Should he be denied, Burris can run against any Illinois Democrat, including Durbin, and win.

As for that silly mausoleum? All politicians are narcissists. He's just 'concrete' about it.

Remember Republican Senator Ted Stevens who actually looked jurors in the eyes and told them he didn't notice people stuffing hundreds of thousands of dollars into his pockets. I dare say Bill Gates would notice if you stuffed a few hundred thousand dollars into his pockets. Ted Stevens,... now THAT'S a big ego!

It is also necessary to remember that this is the same US Senate that gave a seven-time convicted federal felon -- Ted Stevens -- a two-minute standing ovation, and two hours of praise-filled testimonials. And they are claiming to be observing their PRINCIPLES???

Republican and Democratic Senators must think we are stupid, stupid, stupid.

GOP needs America to fail (Democrats helping them)

Don — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 22:51:49 EST

Imagine what would happen if the immediate and long-term success, and even viability, of the Republican Party depended on Barack Obama failing to pull America back into PROSPERITY. Oh, wait, we don't have to IMAGINE that because it happens to be the current condition.

While refusing to offer any better ideas, Republicans stand in adamant opposition to everything the President-Elect suggests, even without knowing any details. I have to admit, he's been somewhat vague.

History suggests that America's realization of a sense of success by spring of 2012 will mean the GOP will be broadly out of power for one to two generations.

Every month that another 600,000 Americans lose their jobs is the direct result of Republicans acting on what they see is their own best political interests. While one of their many changing SLOGANS last year was "America First", in truth it is plain that they hold the Republican Party's interests above those of America and our people.

Every day that our children continue to suffer from a declining educational system in which mediocrity is celebrated; every day that more taxpayers lose high wage jobs only to go on welfare food stamps and unemployment; every day that more and more Americans are forced to sign up to work at the country's largest employer WalMart whose own accidentally leaked internally study said 43% of their full-time employees are on welfare and food stamps; every day that we lose what little remains of our manufacturing base so that when we next need to really go to war like in WW2 we won't have car factories to swiftly convert to making fighter jets and tanks so we'll have to order them from CHINA which the most likely enemy in a real war; remember that Republicans see that as MERELY another day closer to the time when they regain power over the White House, Senate and House -- which if not for the horrendous disaster they have created over the last eight years might not be so terrifying.

America stopped keeping up with the demands for maintenance of our infrastructure with the Reagan administration. We were told that things like that "the free market" would take care of things like that, but tell that now to New Orleans and their crumbling levees, or Minnesota with their collapsed interstate bridge, or Kentucky with their billion gallons of toxic sludge that spilled out of a mine containment area.

America's best defense against precisely the current financial system collapse, the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, enacted not coincidentally in the wake of the financial collapse of 1929, was REPEALED on the demands of deregulating Republicans -- with help from Bill Clinton in 1999. That law alone prevented financial institutions from becoming "too big to fail". That is, it kept each of the insurance, banking and real estate conglomerates within their own area. They could still become behemoths, but it's when they get into all three of those industries and start making up new ones that are totally unregulated like 'derivatives' that the failure of one company can bring down the American economy, even the world economic system.

The only thing the President-Elect can do to get us out of this disaster is to go back the way we came in, by resurrecting modern-day Glass-Steagall style regulations and stimulating the middle class segment of the system while taking back the giveaway tax cuts from the wealthiest 1% that over the last eight years gave money to people who already had more money than they knew how to spend. They squirreled it away someplace, or bought yachts built in Greece. Republicans love to claim that tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy leads to the creation of small businesses. In reality, it's Steve Jobs and Bill Gates when they had nothing who created small businesses that became leading world companies. Billionaires DON'T start small businesses, they BUY huge corporations then fire 50,000 or 100,000 employees to increase productivity and thus profits for themselves and large bonuses for the three to five top executives of each company. Oh, and they CUT wages of the few employees they do have to keep on.

That doesn't grow anything but unemployment and declining wages. Less taxpayers and more people surviving on public assistance.

If we don't stand up to these self-serving Republicans very few of us will have jobs in 2012, and they will be at WalMart. There won't be any real taxpayers to support the public assistance people need to get back into good paying jobs.

I'll get to the CRAZY DEMOCRATS on another post. I'll give you a hint that after 2012 Democrats will no longer be in control of the Senate.

3 Moves In 3 Weeks -- Way to Relocate

Don — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 16:26:33 EST

“A President must be able to do more than one thing at a time,” said then-candidate and now President-Elect Barack Obama, a few months ago when McCain was trying to weasel out of the big debate.

Evidently, President-Elect Obama CAN do far more than one thing at a time. He and his family are MOVING three times in three weeks! This, the weekend of 4 January 2009, he moves from his Chicago home to DC’s Hay-Adams Hotel. On the 15th, they move to Blair House, then on the 20th, they move into the White House. Yes he can! For most of us, the dreaded process of a single relocation is more stressful than death and taxes. But Superman is tripling-down on it.

At the same time, the President-Elect Obama is interviewing and hiring a government, from cabinet members, agency administrators, secretaries and ambassadors. He’s working feverishly on the economic crisis, the transition and inauguration, as well as homeland security and two wars. Throw in taxes, healthcare, unemployment, social security, Medicare and the crisis of the Big 3 automakers, plus Iran, Cuba, Russia, China, the Palestinians and Israel, plus all those special interest groups here at home, such as the disabled, veterans, senior citizens and gays, and you’ve got an enormous inbox.

After those daily national security briefings in which the President-Elect Obama is beginning to learn just how badly Bush has screwed things up for us around the world, it’s a wonder the President-Elect Obama can sleep at night. He needs all the rest he can get.

Enjoy your vacation, sir, you need all the recharging your batteries can get.

What Page of The Bible?

Don — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 00:07:57 EST

There are only two reasonable choices.

To evoke the vision of the world economy rising from the ashes of the torched-earth strategy of the Bush-Cheney-Rove administration, BHO should open the Bible to the gospel account of Jesus’ rising from death. Not only will it give us hope, but it will reinforce our knowledge of BHO’s Christianity, helping put aside the invocation guy.

Times are so serious that BHO should keep the Bible closed and put his hand on the whole thing – we’re gonna need ALL of it right now, and it underscores BHO’s whole ‘inclusiveness’ thing.

Welcoming the Ministry of Hatred and Scapegoating

Don — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 13:08:01 EST

There are always those who make their fortunes playing to the fears and insecurities of people frustrated with their own lives who need someone to blame, someone to hate, and it's easy for them to agree on certain groups to focus on.

Obama is moving America toward the point where those people will realize that if they don't have a good job, they have too little money, too much debt, their kids are in and out of jail and/or on drugs, or failing in school, it's not the fault of some group of "OTHERS". Not the gays, the jews, the blacks, or even those pesky illegal aliens, to name just a few.

It's time for a new era of Personal Responsibility in which we all take charge of our own lives while working together for all of us to achieve the American dream while making government do what it can to enable us.

Rick Warren is just an updated version of the same old Ministry Of Hatred represented by Falwell and Robertson (and so many others).

The coming of that new era is a direct threat to Rick Warren, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and all the other leaders of the Ministry of Hate. Just like the Republicans did during the long two year campaign, they will go down kicking and screaming all the way.

Tax and effect

Cliff — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 21:23:35 EST

I propose that a study be done on the benefit or loss resulting from limiting advertising expense tax deductions to an acceptable industry standard. This would generate more tax revenue, and possibly discourage the over commercialization of the media and environment. Many advertising campaigns are capital investments resulting in acquiring additional good will (an asset not an expense). Television, radio, newspapers, sporting events have increasingly been controlled and transformed by advertisers. Much of what is advertised does little or nothing to improve society.

Strange New York State Taxes...

Kathy from Elmira, NY — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 14:40:42 EST

Maybe I'm not understanding... New York State's Governor wants the best for health care and cost of economical crisis, but passing a bill to raise the tax by 18% on regular soda? Little bit ridiculous, don't you think? The Governor hopes to have it so obesed people drink only diet sodas, which half of them arn't really any better that the regulars.

Here are two possible outcomes:

The bill passes and New York State doesn't have to pay the high health insurance as much. However, the soda industries could possibly lose jobs due to lack of supply and demand.
The bill doesn't pass the economy keep staying up and the governor can deal with paying the health insurance.

Need all of your opinions. Please let me know what you think ok?

Crisis Briefings: Lies Like Iraq War Pretenses: Bushiness

Don — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 02:18:41 EST

The President who told at least a dozen lies to get us to go to war in Iraq has conjured up more than a dozen lies to set up President Obama for failure? The most miserable failure of an excuse for a President is leaving directions for the next President?

If it weren’t so serious, it would be funny! If your memory is longer than that of 99% of Americans you know that’s not a line I made up, and you may even know who did. Details.

I’m just saying, George Bush should be planning out where he’s going to hide to keep from being arrested and delivered to the Hague for trial in the World Court for War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity.

We didn’t let Hitler’s assistants off the hook, and neither can we afford to let Bush’s (the New Hitler’s) people go Scot-free.

We all know that all these recent attempts by Bush to rewrite history are mere hopes that America doesn’t do what’s right. If we intend to restore any sense of moral authority or regain any worldwide respect, we must follow our own laws and those international laws we largely wrote and have been demanding everyone else follow for decades until “W” took office.

If we don’t want our soldiers tortured when they in the future are captured, we must deliver to justice George Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, their generals and other high officers who ordered torture and passed on those illegal and immoral orders.

America is a chief signatory to the Geneva Conventions. In fact, before 2001, we liked to claim we largely WROTE it. What good is international law if those who claim to have written it are the worst violators?

America has long had laws against torture of prisoners of war. We cannot allow one power-mad egomaniac (or moron, depending on who is providing the facts, and there are plenty on both sides) to cause us to abandon our Constitution, or it won’t be worth anything, ever.

To put it simply, we cannot defeat terrorism by becoming the worst terrorists on earth. Long before we got to that point, any real President would have caught himself and found a better way. Why? Because Bush’s route could be seen even by people as unworldly as me to be a fool’s plot.

It started with Bush’s WAR-PRAYER-MEETING, right after 9/11. That was disturbing to me THEN, because, as a Christian and an American I wondered if Jesus would say that we should “turn the other cheek”.

What? “Turn the other cheek”. I know. I certainly wasn’t in the mood for that. But that’s what Jesus would have us do – according to the Bible. Those so-called religious Republicans have still never mentioned that, and they would castrate me for mentioning it if they could. (They don’t have the balls for it, so they’ll try to get you to do it, just like the Romans, according to the Bible, were forced to murder Jesus. Just reading it objectively and making no assumptions. NO benefit to me which side you take).

Strange, but when you think about the things that really were surprises, you can’t find any that Bush created that much cohesion to in that short a time. Can you? I can’t.

Almost makes you wonder WHEN Rumsfeld, Cheney and Bush KNEW 9/11 was going to happen, doesn’t it? Naaaaaaah. Certainly not. I don’t really know. Do I???

It WAS amazing that five seconds after the first jet crashed into the World Trade Center, Bush’s officials declared they knew it was Osama Bin Laden! Before the first tower collapsed, the Bush administration told us who to blame. I wondered why they didn’t PREVENT it since they obviously knew so much about it in advance.

Worse yet is the fact that for all of 2000, Bush campaigned claiming “America’s military is not ready!” Yet, during all of 2001, he did NOTHING to get our military ready. Why would you TELL our enemies that our military isn’t ready? Then, once in power, why would you fail to GET it ready/ Bush should spend the rest of his days in Guantanamo for that alone.

I always think you can know who caused something to happen by figuring out who BENEFITTED from whatever happened.

But I’ve already gone LONG, so I’ll have to finish the facts later. In the meantime, don’t read into what I’ve typed, anything you imagine I said. You may end up looking foolish by the time I tie it all together.

What To Do About It

Don — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:07:18 EST

Previously, I argued the likely consequences of the collapse of the Detroit automakers. And already my predictions are beginning to bear out in facts. Today, the Wall Street Journal reported, “Toyota will delay production at its new $300 million plant in Mississippi, citing a steep decline in the auto market.” What could we do about preventing it?Rather than pumping cash into them over the long term, what we COULD do is just take over something like 60% of the healthcare burden of only the pre-2007 retirees of the Detroit automakers.What? That would fundamentally lower the per-car cost while requiring them to bear their own burden of current and future labor costs. They will still have to make reasonable pay agreements going forward, but they won’t have to fire tens of thousands of workers who actually are cranking out cars that are of competitive quality. We CAN and should require that they immediately begin moving at an accelerated pace to make their entire fleet of cars meet California’s progressive fuel-economy standards.Why? Because that’s a smaller hit to the national economy than letting those people go on welfare, food stamps and unemployment and disability insurance. It helps keep those people paying taxes based on good wages. If those companies collapse, Medicare and Medicaid WILL be forced to take on 100% of all of those retirees from every decade. The few of us who still have jobs or own businesses will pay for that.Remember, according to THEIR OWN study, 43% of full-time WalMart workers are on food stamps and welfare. 43%. They are the largest employer in America. We cannot afford to doom another class of workers to that, because it’s costing us dearly.I don’t know if “60%” is exactly the right percentage, or if “pre-2007” is exactly the right year, but that can be worked out soon and by more knowledgeable people. What I do believe is that we can find a way to take on a much smaller share of the burden than the 100% we will inherit if those companies go down. What I know is that the rest of us will be better off with those people working and paying taxes alongside the rest of us than not.Rather than stirring up jealousy among people about UAW wages and demanding they take pay cuts, Republican conservatives ought to be working to get the pay other OTHER Americans increased so that more of us will be paying taxes at that higher rate, thus decreasing the burden on each taxpayer.Walmart workers, who continue to work full-time while having to also collect food stamps and welfare, are a major burden to all American Taxpayers. We need more high-wage jobs, not less. All that money spent at Walmart goes on a long trip, making a brief stopover in Bentonville Arkansas before flying directly to China to create more factory jobs – in China. If they have their way, conservative Republicans will have all Americans working seven days a week in 12 hour shifts making 90 cents a month like the Chinese.

How We Save America By Saving American Autoworker Jobs

Don — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 15:53:57 EST

Previously, I argued why all Americans, of all political persuasions, will suffer from the collapse the Detroit automakers. What can we do about the problem?I am far from being an apologist for the UAW or Detroit. There have to be consequences for this mess. But right now, we face bigger problems than that.American Taxpayers should consider carefully the consequences of letting another huge block of Taxpayers be forced to become dependent on welfare, food stamps and unemployment. It’s a double-whammy heaped upon the rest of us. Not only will they no longer be bearing their fair share by paying taxes and Social Security alongside those of us who still have jobs, but they also will be draining vast amounts of Taxpayer-funded money and other resources. What other resources? It takes more government employees, thus money, to hand out and track all those handouts. Can you guess who gets to pay for that?I am scared to death at the prospect of both taking on the burden of another half-million or so workers who will lose their jobs every month – like last month – but also paying much less in taxes myself due to the fact that I won’t be making nearly as much money once most of my customers are out of work. Come hell or high water, those people need to keep paying federal taxes just like me, and they can only do that if we keep them working.If you look at recently published studies on Appalachia – basically W. Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and northeastern Mississippi – the only place those unemployed people who will be living primarily on government assistance will be spending money is at WalMart* . All that money goes straight to China to create more jobs – in China. (Although it does pass through Bentonville Arkansas on the way.)As a direct consequence, many more jobs will be lost, though probably in northern states among people who tend to vote for Democrats. At least, that must be what Senator Shelby and the other conservative Republicans and southerners who subsidize those Japanese auto-plants down there must be thinking. But there are a lot of Republicans up here too. I voted straight GOP all my life, until November when I had to take an Independent stand. My non-auto-related small business will be killed, as will many others, and lots of individuals. Plus, many of those “plumbers” and others who work for small and large businesses that are not directly linked to Detroit will be financially killed. During the campaign Republicans swore they cared about them more than anything.People like that don’t go out and replace our Lexus or Toyota or other Japanese car or truck with next year’s model no matter where it’s built – even in the south. Moreover, people like that don’t switch parties and start voting with the GOP. People like that, including myself, don’t return to the Republican Party. People like that might not even REMAIN in the GOP. Republicans always campaign about being for plumbers and other workers and small businesses. Once the votes are all counted, the GOP kicks us right in our ‘bleepin’ behinds.From what I have seen, once out of work, those high-dollar hourly workers don’t take lower-paying jobs flipping burgers. Unemployed autoworkers sit at home and live off the Taxpayers, even by resorting to disability payments by making claims, not all of which are legitimate**. Those payments cost money, as do the investigators required to catch some unknown percentage of those making bogus claims. It costs more money to house them in jail, plus they never seem to get caught holding enough money to reimburse the Taxpayers for what they fleeced us out of.The bottom line is that we have to work hard to keep people working – especially those making good wages, thus paying more in taxes than those working at WalMart and McDonalds. We have to CREATE more high-paying jobs like that rather than focus on cutting their pay until they make the 9 cents a month they pay in China. To underline a point I’ve been arguing for quite a while, the Wall Street Journal reported today that “Toyota will delay production at its new $300 million plant in Mississippi, citing a steep decline in the auto market.” *To be fair, the studies show, the Appalachians also spend a great of money on liquor and guns. Those are available at WalMart too, but mostly not made in China. They also tend to spend a lot of time and money in church. These observations are in no way offered as commentary on lifestyles. This is all about where our money goes.**This is a concern based on studies which were not based on large sample groups, so they in no way can be asserted to reflect a majority of the group. Yet, any substantial percentage of this group engaged in this behavior would have a significant effect on an already severely depressed economy. Moreover, autoworkers were only a subset of the skilled workers discussed in the studies in general. No lifestyle judgments are implied.

Keep UAW workers paying taxes, not on welfare

Don — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 13:17:53 EST

Wall Street Journal: Toyota will delay production at its new $300 million plant in Mississippi, citing a steep decline in the auto market. The company says jobs in the state are "secure."

This is the beginning of proof of what I've been saying all along.

The most important detail not understood by southern voters and conservative Republicans is that they, too, will suffer by causing the collapse of the Detroit auto industry.

It's not only northerners whose non-auto industry jobs will be lost in the fallout. Those millions of former taxpayers on welfare, food stamps and unemployment and those around the country, including even the south, who will be dragged down with them, WILL NOT be buying those Japanese cars and trucks being manufactured in those taxpayer-subsidized southern plants.

People won't have the money, won't be able to obtain credit, and won't have the consumer confidence that enable such major purchases.

So all those high-paid UAW people Republican conservatives want to destroy will be merely the BEGINNING of the calamity.

We cannot afford at this time to have high-wage people lose taxpaying jobs while America’s largest employer, Walmart, according to their own internal report, pays wages so low that 43% of their full-time workers are on welfare and food stamps.

Blagojevich? Emanuel? Is that anything?

Don — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 01:42:47 EST

Blagojevich? Emanuel? Is that anything?

The FBI tapes may end up proving that Emanuel’s talks with Blagojevich only related that the President-Elect would offer the governor nothing more than “appreciation” for nominating one of then-Senator Obama’s “acceptable” candidates. Unless Emanuel “went rogue”. All stay together, and all hang together -- that's how they play it in the big leagues. Over the weekend, Mr. Emanuel apparently sent out his personal operatives – his ‘emissaries' – to put out his own SPIN on his alleged contacts with governor Rod. That would seem to point out that he’s the “weak link” – the person who screws up, then tries to protect himself at the expense of the team. His refusal to go to work last week was suspicious enough.

Innocent people don’t have to BREAK RANKS with their fellow patriots, shun the office so they don’t have to look into the eyes of their colleagues, or hide from the press, rather than just smile at the cameras and say “the Team will have something to say at the appropriate time”.

In addition to that, I do not understand why – if news reports and his statements are true – Mr. Emanuel would be getting threatened, or by whom. Regardless whether he is honest or dishonest, I don’t understand that at all – it seems illogical. Was he lying when he said that? Was the reporter lying about him having said that? I’d like some information on that.

You may not appreciate my questions, especially regarding the alleged claim of alleged threats, but I am someone who has been paying attention. Also, I have a very long memory, especially of politics.

I was just a kid more or less during the 80’s, but right then I was asking why we were crazy enough to be capitulating to the Japanese automakers. I seemed to be the only one in the 80’s who articulated that it was absurd for American automakers to keep making rounds of layoffs of tens of thousands of American autoworkers and then wonder WHY their sales continued to fall. “Who do they think are buying their cars?”, I asked. “The workers who build the cars are their best customers” I argued, “With their wages, they are the ones best able to afford them.”

More than twenty years ago, I could see that you can’t keep putting tens of thousands of your best customers out of work and then wondering why your sales keep declining. If a mere kid could see that over twenty years ago, why can’t beyond-middle-aged voters understand that now? American voters in general have very short memories.

There’s a reason they used to say “what’s good for GM is good for America!” Those workers made good wages. They paid equally large TAXES. They bought only American cars. They spent money only at American businesses that sold only American-made goods and services. One dollar spent on an American-made car meant eight-teen dollars (give or take a dollar) spent in America, to other Americans who paid TAXES in America. It pumped up the economy and created jobs for many AMERICANS.

Right now, we are at best buying cars made at plants in the south owned by Japanese companies that pay LOW wages, sending ALL the money we spend to Japan. Those low-wage workers spend all their meager income at WalMart. That money goes straight to China, where it creates more jobs – in China. Those workers reportedly make 9 cents a month. Do we want to “catch up” with them?

WORSE, when all those high-paid Detroit autoworkers lose their jobs, they will go right onto welfare, unemployment and food stamps. The rest of us will be paying ALL the taxes to support them.

I am terrified at the prospects of MY income decreasing due to the lack of customers directly and indrirectly linked to the Detroit autoworker economy. I am horrified that I will make LESS money but have to PAY MORE to support the government assistance to those people who should have been able to keep their jobs and PAY TAXES alongside the rest of us.

Rather than CUT the wages of union workers, Republican politicians should be RAISING the wages of the rest of American taxpayers, and NOT putting Americans out of work.

Southerners Don't See They Will Go Down With Us, Eventually

Don — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 13:59:26 EST

What's the most important detail not understood by southern voters and conservative Republicans?
That they, too, will suffer by causing the collapse of the Detroit auto industry.
It's not only northerners whose non-auto industry jobs will be lost in the fallout. Those millions of former taxpayers on welfare, food stamps and unemployment and those around the country, including even the south, who will be dragged down with them, WILL NOT be buying those Japanese cars and trucks being manufactured in those taxpayer-subsidized southern plants.
People won't have the money, won't be able to obtain credit, and won't have the consumer confidence that enable such major purchases.
So all those high-paid UAW people Republican conservatives want to destroy will be merely the BEGINNING of the calamity.
Moreover, those newly unemployed UAW members will have to head south, where, with their experience and new-found openness to accept lower wages, they will be the first to get hired at those soon to open Japanese plants if and when they do open. Even those openings in the works will be substantially delayed by the ongoing economic crisis.
But when those UAW people get down there and get the chance to vote, they won't forget which party is to blame for what they will be continuing to go through.
They will continue to vote for Democrats. That will increase the trend toward Red states turning into Blue states that start in 2008.
That, along with Republican tactics, will further ensure that the GOP becomes, for two generations, the party of Appalachia, Utah and Texas -- completely insignificant within the current Electoral College system.
Having just left the GOP last month to become an Obamican, or Independent in 8 years, that's a chance I'm willing to take.
Rather than trying to cut the pay of people who tend to vote for Democrats, those Republican politicians ought to be working to increase the pay of the rest of us. That's the only way we will BE ABLE to buy those Japanese cars over the next five years -- including two federal election cycles.

Blackberry Problem Solved -- Seriously

Don — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 19:03:05 EST

The President-Elect's communications are recorded and published, so he can't chat candidly on his own, but he can still keep in touch.

He has a close friend who is his new personal assistant. He can chat privately with his assistant, who can chat on his own personal Blackberry, which is private. What Obama's friends tell his assistant -- who is their mutual friend -- also is private. Use of such a go-between renders all that back and forth as mere gossiping, which, if not done on the President's phone or computer are entirely private.

The President's personal, in-person talks with friends can no more be public than the particulars of the bedtime stories he reads to his children. If some word of that got around "through the grape vine" through private channels, that's not the Peoples' business. Likewise, if information somehow gets back to him through a friend when that person just happens to be in the presence of the President, that, too, is his personal business.

President Obama can even sign a rule making it illegal for White House staff and also administration officials to profit from revealing what they learned during their work.

Federal Agent Insults All Illinois Citizens

Don — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 17:33:06 EST

99.9% of Illinoisans are law-abiding citizens. People who work hard and pay taxes should not be labeled corrupt by federal law enforcment officials, as was done in the announcement of the charges against the governor. Since that official has such a low opinion of Illinois and such a disdain for the citizens he should RELOCATE. At the very least, he should apologize and be fired.

Republcan Senator Ted Stevens is a seven-time convicted federal felon. Republican Senator Norm Coleman is a common criminal who merely hasn't been charged yet but has committed the crimes Rod has been charged with conspiring to committ. Are Alaska and Minnesota "corrupt" states? Should all their citizens be tarred because they've sent a few bad apples into elected office?

Admittedly, Alaska nearly re-elected Stevens, so virtually half of them actually ARE corrupt, one could argue.

Madigan's Blagojevich Blunder

Don — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 17:23:31 EST

Too bad Madigan didn't take a little time to think through her "evil plan" before acting.
She and other legislators could have drafted some legislation to be passed upon the Governor's temporary removal, and reach an agreement with the deputy governor on who would be appointed to the Senate once Rod's out of the way. Those could be acted on by the deputy governor immediately upon taking over, since it's likely that an appeal by Blagojevich would quickly see him back in his office holding things up once again.
If this wasn't just about furthering Madigan's chances of being elected governor, she would have done that and more. But like Rod's actions, Madigan isn't putting Illinois first because she's too busy looking out for herself.
Beyond that, even a layman can see that the Illinois Supreme Court would be as crazy as Blagojevich to jump into this mess this early in the game. It might set a precedent so that in the future any unpopular governor could have his tenure ended by his politic opponents filing a lawsuit, which is all Madigan has done.
He's not physically disabled, and though it appears so there is no scientific evidence that he is psychologically unfit. There is an unprecedented but good argument that under the circumstances he can't function because his most important business is appointing a Senator and the Senate is unlikely to seat his appointee, but she should have gotten affidavits from 51 Senators attesting to that -- 41 if you want to consider a filibuster. Because of the other claims in the complaint, his other actions, especially finance related, might be considered to be furthering a "crime spree". The weakness in the "inability to function" argument is that the fool keeps going to the office, apparently completing at least minor functions of his office.
Bottom line: I want him out of office, but even I can see Madigan didn't take time to plan this out. The court is likely to decline to take up the case. If they do hear it, there is a chance they could find in favor of the governor, which would further add to the perception that Illinois is lax on crooks in office.

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

WEBMASTER — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 02:26:14 EST

The Pickens Plan: For those who would like to become an active participant in a solution for our nations energy needs I urge you to join with T.Boone Pickens in his quest for a cleaner planet through alternative energy.

Also see Green Wave Energy: Green Wave was founded by Mark Holmes and was formulated for viable alternative energy solutions. Green Wave Energy is promoting state-of-the-art energy-saving products and services throughout the country.

Green Wave Energy understands alternative energy technology will become “main stream” when

individuals and organizations understand that alternative energy technology exists and
when people see the economic benefits of using alternative energy technologies

Call 949.645.1701 for information on how Green Wave Energy can help you save the planet.

Alternative Energy
Source: David Apperson

url: http://veterans.barackobama.com/page/community/tag/alternative-energy

How to roll back Bush's last minute law changes

Don — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 16:49:59 EST

While President Obama won’t be able to simply undo every one of the midnight hour presidential signings President Bush is using to change American laws, there is a way to render them meaningless. I would suggest that Obama can simply “amend” Bush’s rules by signing new rulings that create laws or rules contradictory to those made by the previous administration.

Example: Bush says agencies can decide for themselves when to consider endangered species in their decisions on construction and other matters. Obama then states that after an agency makes it’s determination it must then submit that finding to the same body it used to have to go through for the same review process as before.

As for the sale of lands and oil drilling rights, it may be true that the federal government would have to buy back those contracts. However, what Obama could do is sign an order rescinding the sales. That way, the process is quicker and the owners don’t get to negotiate a higher price than what they paid.

Congress would have to legislate to overrule Bush’s changes, and right now Republicans can filibuster in the Senate. Yet, the same is true for Obama’s rule changes. The incoming Congress of Democrats won’t overrule changes that render meaningless the rules made by Bush, and even future Republican Senates can be filibustered by Democrats – in fact, there are some Republicans who don’t want oil companies to rape the land.

Senator Vitter the whoremonger claims moral high ground?

Don — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 14:14:19 EST

David Vitter the Republican Senator who confessed to being a regular patron of a whorehouse, is trying to claim he's on the moral highground by taking a stand against the workers. The Republicans have once again campaigned saying they are for working people, only to turn against workers right after the election. Those autoworkers are American taxpayers and it's far better for the country for them to keep working and paying taxes than to be unemployed and on welfare, food stamps and unemployment. Because they tend to vote overwhelmingly for Democrats (I wonder why) the Republicans are trying to financially kill them -- but this will take the rest of America down along with them. More petty politics. Republicans didn't learn anything from their losses in 2006 and 2008 elections.

Republicans Play Politics While America Burns!

Don — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 16:52:51 EST

Or was that "Nero fiddles while Rome burns"? Well, whatever.

So much for "Joe, the Guy Who Works for a Living".

As has been the case all my life, as soon as the election is over the Republican party screws the people it promised to work for during the campaign. That's been no surprise to me for a long time now.

What still confounds me is that there are still tens of millions of people possessing the right to vote in American presidential elections who don't have enough working brain cells to understand that. They fall for it every time.

Fortunately, this time there are enough of us -- people who think for ourselves, rather than rely on Fox Noise to tell us what to believe -- that we overruled the zombies.

Even now, the party in power when the government spent $13 trillion more than it took in now claims that the Detroit automakers don't know how to manage money.

Highest unemployment rate since 1982 -- when Ron Reagan was president!

Even as America is showing them out the door, Republican politicians are nutty enough to be 'warning' the President-Elect about what he should and should not do with respect to the economy.

As they lick their wounds after spending $13 trillion dollars more than they took in, they now are stammering on about being for fiscal responsibility.
It would be funny, if it weren't so serious.

McCain says Bush, Rumsfeld committed war crimes

Don — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:10:46 EST

Senators John McCain and Carl Levin -- after the election -- published a finding cited in a Washington Post article at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/11/AR2008121101969.html?hpid=topnews

They stated unequivocably that the orders to tortune prisoners of war were issued from the top of the Bush administration, beginning with an order Bush signed in February 2002.

Next year, George Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and their chief assistants should be arrested and turned over to the World Court at The Hague, where they should stand trial for crimes against humanity and violations of the Geneva Convention.

Their actions have made it a certainty that American soldiers captured in future conflicts by enemies WILL be tortured. Unless decisive action is taken by the appropriate authorities, the world will ignore our cries of outrage.

Americans cannot afford failing to repudiate the lawlessness of the Bush administration, which according to Republican Senator John McCain, has "strengthened the hand of our enemies".

As I have always said, we cannot succeed in our fight against terrorism by BECOMING terrorists. George Bush's conduct goes directly against everything Americans stand for -- at least "Real Americans".

By issuing those illegal orders to our soldiers, while writing decrees declaring those orders to be legal, Bush has made himself a criminal of unprecedented notoriety around the world. Only by delivering him to justice in an unprecedented manner can America restore claims of being a land where justice prevails.

The minds of American children have been damaged by the impact of Bush's immorality. How can we teach them that America is ruled by the Constitution and that we abide by the international treaties we sign, while tolerating Bush's blatant violations of the Constitution and the Geneva Convention, of which we are a signatory?

Lastly, every officer who obeyed and passed on those illegal and immoral orders must be court-martialed, as required by the United States Code of Military Justice. We didn't excuse the conduct of Nazi officers who claimed they were "just following orders", and neither can we afford to do so with our own.

Mr. Bush's two terms have been sad days for America. He has destroyed our economy. Let us not allow him to destroy our Constitution, our Justice System, and our military as well.

Even Richard Milhouse Nixon didn't believe he was THIS far above the law.

Blagojevich's state of mind

Don — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 11:02:25 EST

The President--Elect could open his remarks today by saying, "Look,... how was I supposed to know Blagojevich was crazy? And by "crazy" I don't mean mentally ill. I mean CRAZY. Only a crazy man would do what he is alleged to have done."

Then promise to have more to say about the matter tomorrow and leave the room.

Barack Obama has nothing to explain. The governor called him a "motherf@#$er" who "won't give (the govenor) anything but (his) f@#$ing appreciation", then said "f@#$ (him)".

Before Obama enters the room his aides should pass out a copy of that part of the criminal complaint to put his remarks in perspective.

He has absolutely nothing to explain. The guy who apparently did something said on FBI tape that Obama didn't do anything. Until something different happens, he doesn't need to do anything but remind everyone of that fact.

Just like in the last months of the campaign whe Obama kept saying, "McCain said that 'if we keep talking about the economy, we'll lose',... that's why I keep talking about the economy."

3 things he COULD have said about Blagojevich

Don — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 20:02:49 EST

Why didn't Barack Obama just say something less 'conventional' when asked about the arrested governor?
I wish he had said: "I want to thank the governor for his kind words... not the ones where he called me an unspeakable name, but the ones where he said I didn't participate in his schemes"
Or: "No one has ever been so happy to have been insulted than I am after hearing the governor's words."
Or: "I've never been so glad to NOT know about something."
When they play the soundbites that's funnier and more dismissive of the entire matter. After reading the quotes in the actual complaint -- yes, I read the entire complaint -- that's really all the President-elect needed to do. There was nothing left for him to confirm or deny.

The Fox Noise political operatives who tell the fascists who have hijacked the Republican party what to believe would not be able to so easily twist any of those quotes the way they have what he actually said. For people who don't think for themselves -- the Faux News watching zombies -- it's not what Obama says, but what the political operatives CLAIM he said that counts. He has to think about their likely talking points before making sound bites.

On the other hand, if he'd followed all my advice, he never would have gotten elected. For example, after those remarks by Rev. Wrong (Wright) I thought it was over. After the election, for the first time I viewed Obama's speech on race, on youtube, because I had to see what on earth he possibly could have said to get himself out of a jam like that. Turns out the truth was all it took.

THE CRISIS IN DETROIT

Don — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 20:50:00 EST

No car czar named by the same man who appointed those who drove our economy into the New Great Depression. When the first Great Depression occurred, America was not in two wars and was not buried beneath $13 trillion dollars in debt (counting the trillion Bush gave to Wall Street). A "Bush-named car czar is a non-starter".

Those who have run the big car companies into the ground deserve to face consequences -- so, too, do those who ran Wall Street into the ground, including the Bush administration and the Republican party deregulators. Bush and those who helped him rape the American economy are not the ones who should decide what those consequences are -- they are only trying to take the spotlight off their own failures and Mr. Obama needs to do what he did during the campaign -- point out their smokescreen.

The big banks we gave all that money to should be strongly asked by President-Elect Barack Obama to go in and try hard to work out a deal to loan the automakers the money they need, at least for three months until Obama is inaugurated and has time to find a long term solution. Obama should suggest that those bankers "will be sorry" if they don't try very hard to work out reasonable terms. Maybe the free market can ease the transition, especially after we gave Goldman Sachs $10 billion and they turned around and passed out $6.5 billion in "bonuses". Bonuses for what? Going bankrupt. After we gave Citigroup $50 billion then they turned around and fired 75,000 workers right before Christmas.

Mr. Obama should publicly excoriate the Republican senators for playing politics with America's future by refusing to bail out the autoworkers for purely political reasons. Republicans campaigned on the false claim that they were all about helping "Joe the Plumber", but now they are working hard to financially ruin "Joe the autoworker because: 1. they are union workers who tend to vote for Democrats (and now we see why), and 2. southern Republicans believe that if Detroit goes out of business Japanese automakers will build more plants down south.

Republicans are again betraying ALL Americans who work for a living, right after rushing to pump nearly $1 trillion directly into the pockets of the wealthiest 1%. They forced us into giving $12 trillion in tax cuts to the wealthiest 1% before that. Now they are killing "Joe the guy who MANUFACTURES things, which America does far too little of already.

Further, it would take the better part of a decade before any cars come out of any new southern auto plants. The Japanese will take two years to THINK before deciding to build more plants here or anywhere in this economy (or any economy, that's how they operate). They will take another two years milking tax abatements and other subsidies from American taxpayers by letting southern states "compete" for the plants, one plant at a time. It takes two to three years to BUILD a plant once that's all agreed to. As much as a year to dry run things, making sure the process works by building test cars before pumping out any cars for sale to the public. That's seven to eight years of absolute misery for all Americans while the southern Republicans get their non-union workers.

Mr. Obama should lobby hard for legislation prohibiting ANY tax abatements or other subsidies by any state or local governments for businesses. Why? Those subsidies directly hurt taxpayers and the overall economy by: 1. Paying corporations to move from one town to another, which is of no benefit to the overall economy. If they want to relocate, they should do it with their own money, then they will only do it if it makes sense to their operations. Taxpayers should not be forking out money to shift existing jobs from one American town to another American town. 2. Foreign comanies who decide to build plants in America should not be subsidized. They want to manufacture their products here because it is of financial benefit to them -- they avoid currency exchange costs. Why PAY them for doing something they already NEED to do? Giving them taxpayer money to entice them to build plants in one American town rather than another is of no benefit to the overall American economy, and it directly takes money out of the pockets of American taxpayers who must make up for the losses in government tax revenue. Don't pay foreign companies to do what's already in their best interests -- let them pay their own way.

Tax abatements to corporations are un-American and they harm local, state and national economies. Rather than subsidize individual companies, LOWER taxes for ALL taxpayers, or keep rates where they are -- isn't lowering taxes what those Republicans claim to be for?

KEEP ALL THOSE CAMPAIGN PROMISES

Don — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 20:48:36 EST

Now is the time for bold and decisive action -- not a rethinking of Obama's priorities. America thought over Obama's priorities for two very long years and now is the time to ACT.

The economy was crashing before and during the election and America elected Mr. Obama, so the bad economy is NO EXCUSE for failing to fulfill Obama's promises. The worst thing Obama can do for the economy is be reluctant to do everything he said he'd do -- he must do it all, and be quick about it.

Work to do everything Mr. Obama pledged to do right away -- in the first 60 days of his term. Why? America somehow elected Barack Obama AFTER two years of Republicans and rival Democrats arguing that we shouldn't let him do what he said he'd do. Obama won, by a landslide of electoral votes -- he has both a mandate and an obligation to carry through on his promises. He didn't get elected on some Nixonian "secret plan". American took two long years coming to terms with Obama's proposals, and we bought into it. I didn't really like some of Mr. Obama's promises, but after a lifetime of voting Republican I voted for Obama -- and all his policies.

One good example is cutting taxes for 95% percent of working Americans AND repealing the Republican tax giveaway to the wealthiest 1% -- those who don't work at all. Republicans will argue that "raising taxes during a recession is the worst thing we can do." Then, when Obama turns things around and gets the economy going again, Republicans will argue that "raising taxes during a soaring economy is the worst thing we can do." It's the same tired old Republican disingenuous argument that America finally rejected in November 2008. Should Mr. Obama fail to immediately strike while the iron is HOT -- while he has this resounding mandate that's fresh in the minds of all Americans -- Obama will lose this opportunity forever.

This is the only moment ever where Barack Obama can do the things he promised to do, and he probably won't be reelected if he doesn't manage to get the job done. Right now, we will have two or three years for things to shake out and level off before the next election cycle. This is the time to take those very bold steps, before Congression Democrats lose what little resolve they have.

Obama will probably have to publicly tell Democrats that they will either vote like Democrats or else when they need money for reelection campaigns they need not line up at the Obama money trough. If they want to show the voters how "independent" they are, they way congresspeople like Marcy Kaptur did right after Clinton took office, they should expect that some NEW candidate will be receiving money from me and others who donated money to the Obama phenomena when it comes time for them to run for reelection.

We need to pick out five or six week Republican senators and fund a recall drive against them. If they have to essentially run for reelection in the middle of their term they and others won't be so quick to do what they always do -- vote against America as represented by a Democratic President merely for the sake of petty politics.

Economy and the opposition

Don — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 20:47:03 EST

President Obama should not accept ANY advice on the economy from Mr. Bush and the Republicans whom America has convicted in November of destroying the economy by creating the current crisis.

That Republicans are "warning" Obama on their way out the door as to what he can or cannot do is LAUGHABLE, and Obama should publicly castigate them on that issue. They are seeking to rerun the election they lost, and if they want to continue to play politics Obama must call them on that every day in press conferences. Obama WON the election and if Republicans want to continue arguing that they have any authority on economic matters then that is precisely the fight Obama should take them up on. He won that fight and it's the perfect battle to keep in the forefront of American politics during the transition and pretty much his whole first term -- especially while he's using his mandate to keep all those promises he made.

Republicans spent two years losing that war and if they want to spend eight more years losing then they only rational thing for Obama to do is to let them. Help them.

Jump Start Consumer Spending

Jeffrey from Minneapolis, MN — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 12:23:56 EST

Since consumer spending represents a significant portion of our economy, following are a few ideas that generated some excitement with my family over Thanksgiving dinner.

1. Make credit card interest tax deductible, again.

2. Give a 10% (or more) tax credit for "qualified" household purchases between $500-$50,000. Qualified purchases can include: major household appliances, and home improvements. Increase the credit to 20% for energy-efficient purchases.

3. Use some of the Detroit bailout money to offer 0% interest loans for 72 months for new car purchases to anyone with good to excellent credit. The manufacturer also must extend (if necessary) its bumper-to-bumper warranty during the finance period.

4. Since we've bailed out some of the big financial institutions, order them to offer no-fee original and re-finance mortgages.

American Automotive Industry

Mickiboop (P.O.B.) Be the Change — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 19:08:28 EST

Although I don't like the idea of "bailing out" any more American companies, I believe that we MUST give the bridge loans (with restructuring) to our auto industry. There are many arguments on both sides, pro and con, for allowing these companies to fail, but the ONLY argument that stands out above all others in my book concerns the American people and how the Big 3's failure will affect the lives of families, friends, neighbors and communities. Here's some of the consequences of shutting down America's Automotive Industry:
* Loss of 3 + MILLION American JOBS
* Loss of 3 + MILLION Americans covered by employer based Health, Dental & Vision Care Plans
* Loss of 3 + MILLION Americans paying Mortgages, Insurances and House-hold Utilities
* Loss of 3 + MILLION Americans paying Soc Security, State, Local and Federal Taxes
* Loss of 3 + MILLION American Incomes assisting in reviving our economy through purchasing goods such as Food, Clothing, Houseware and services such as Beauty care, Child care, Entertainment, Travel and Restaurants.

Now, if you consider all of the jobs that may be peripherally dependant on the American auto industry, failure could mean the devastation of more than Four (4) MILLION American Jobs!!! Do we really want to venture into devastating lives in order to make a point concerning bail outs? Should we refrain from trying to help our economy in the long-term?

I think we should have stood up in strong opposition to the REAL bail out of the banking industry when we had the chance, but most of us were in Full-blown Shock and had not really taken the time to research all that should have been demanded before the congress signed the bill. This time We the People, Congress and the Pres. Elect's Economic team are demanding accountability and restructuring for a 21st Century transportation product that will bode well for America's future.

Therefore, I believe we must support the bridge loan. What say you my fellow Americans???

A Time to Lead; a Time to Fight

Valeroso2008 — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 16:57:48 EST

In the face of severe crises in diverse segments of the national and global economies, Democrats need to respond effectively and advance the principles and ideals that got them elected. As Martin Luther King, Jr., declared, “It is always the right time to do what is right.”

It's how the political office is used that's really important

Don — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 16:22:24 EST

The Office of Political Affairs is like any other tool -- it's value or detriment depends on whose hands control it. Reagan and Bush used the office with bad intentions, using heinous tactics, and to literally evil ends.
Now the Office of Political Affairs will be used properly, for the benefit of the American people in the Obama Administration. We have seen in Obama a man who behaves differently from other politicians. He doesn't operate out of the small-minded, abusive motivations of Bush, Rove, Reagan and Rollins.
We mustn't let our memories of the past abuses of the Office of Political Affairs by the Republicans color our perceptions of the future uses of the office.

Way to get beyond the "Clinton Problem"

Don — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:02:31 EST

The Clintons are not in talks with Obama's team because the Clintons are not team players. They have, from the beginning, made every effort to steamroll their way into the position of Secretary of State through leaks of false information to the press that supports her goal while undermining Obama.
The President-Elect needs to bite the proverbial bullet and flat out say that ALL "candidates" for the position must submit to the same vetting process and that the process evidently is too rigorous for the Clintons and that the country's need to get the process completed quickly means he must name someone else immediately.
With the Clintons causing this much trouble now, Obama must realize that should he name her, he will have absolutely NO control over anything related to foreign policy, plus she WILL leak defense and homeland security information to advance their interests.
It's time to wrap this thing up and call it the mistake it has been. Every President makes some mistakes, and life goes on if they don't let them grow and fester.

Mandate For Change

Don — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:42:10 EST

In the context of the current transition process, I am advocating for a more forceful attitude from Barack Obama on pushing through his agenda. Our agenda.

How should he do it? What will stand in his way? What can WE do about it?

I examine the real reasons we arrived at this point and what it means.

American Families & Small Business Investment Fund

John Manrique — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 23:28:13 EST

In his first weekly address, President-elect Obama today noted that while the road ahead to economic recovery is long, we will get there if "each of us resolves to pitch in." Americans yearn to do just that, though many are justifiably suspect of increased taxes being effectively utilized by the federal government to help hard-working fellow citizens who need some help achieving the dream. More likely, folks expect the money will get "lost" in the pockets of Capitol Hill.

So if we want to "spread the wealth," here's an idea to do just that. Instead of increasing taxes, create a fund backed by the Federal Government and managed by an independent financial/economic titan Americans trust (e.g. Warren Buffett) that is dedicated to helping American families and small businesses get through this tough economic period. Targeted at households earning $100,000 or more, the 24-month American Families & Small Business Investment Fund would be offered as a payroll option workers could allocate a small percentage of their salary toward with a tax-free benefit and nominal yield at its closing in 2011. In turn, the fund will act as a microcredit source for qualifying families and small businesses that need short-term financial assistance in this challenging time … it’s the 21st century American version of the Grameen Bank. Here’s how it works:

TODAY

· Jane the architect currently earns $4,000 a week - $208,000 a year.

· Approx. 8.8% of Jane’s weekly salary goes to pre-tax deductions for medical, dental, vision and 401k.

· Another 25.6% of Jane’s weekly salary goes to federal Taxes, Social Security, and Medicare.

· This leaves Jane with $2,715 a week.

ENTER THE FUND

· Starting in January 2009, Jane elects a payroll option to have 3% of her weekly salary invested in the American Families & Small Business Investment Fund - $109 a week or $5,668 annually at a tax-free, 2% interest rate – leaving Jane with $2,606 a week.

· The fund allows qualifying families and businesses to take short-term loans at a flat interest rate of 2.5% - different loan caps for families and businesses and payment terms TBD; “qualifying” is not based solely on ability to repay but more so on the difficulty of the economic situation facing the applicant.

· The 2.5% interest rate goes to pay fund investors 2% interest with the other half-percent covering fund operating, processing, and default costs (bad loans are anticipated to be few - Grameen Bank reports just 1.78% in bad debt).

· Jane opts to invest $109 a week for the full 24 months, though participants can opt-out at any point (those who encounter economic difficulty themselves during the period can withdraw early less the taxes they would have paid on the amount invested).

· The fund closes on December 31, 2010, and Jane will be paid out $11,562 in 2011 – first half in January with the balance in July.

There are over 19 million households in the U.S. earning $100,000 or more. If just 30% participated at an average of $65 per week, the fund would generate over $38.5 billion in two years. If the average loan value is $7,500, the fund could help over 5.1 million American families and small businesses. In turn, it will also generate over $770 million in interest for investors.

If you like this idea or have others of your own for improving our country, visit www.Change.gov to share your thoughts with President-elect Obama and his transition team. We are the change we have been waiting for, and this our beginning. Make your voice count.

Middle-Class American | Relief or No Relief?

DJ Matt — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 13:29:11 EST

Under the Issues tab Obama's stance is ...offering middle-class tax cuts three times the size of McCain’s. In the next paragraph on McCain's stance, it states ...It ignores middle class Americans...

Can I get some help understanding how 3x nothing is something good? Or have I been lied to about McCain's tax plan?

America - Together (post election)

Alex Karoub — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 17:44:40 EST

..... Contact: http://Alex.Karoub@gmail.com

WHO IS THAT GUY BARACK OBAMA? HE IS US.

We have made historic headway by together pointing our nation in the right directions. After decades, we have America focused on the issues of fundamental importance. Now, each of us acting in concert can together move our country to lead the world to the fruitfulness of moral goodness. I have no doubts about my abilities and the abilities of fellow Americans to work smart and hard to achieve these goals.

Barack Obama has the visions, leadership, and integrity for us to correct and redirect our country to once again lead the world for the fruitions of good. Let's closely listen, learn, and move forward based on that which we know deep inside is good and which we can validate with our hearts.

I hope that those who had but a few reasons to support Obama, look further into the other issues more deeply. I found the more I explored, studied, and listened to Obama the more I found us in agreement. The couple of issues that I did not have depth of knowledge of, quickly became obvious in need. This was unusual for me since I have always refused to be any kind of a follower, and still am not. I find Obama to be a deep thinker who is articulate and inspirational; and, of most fundamental importance, Obama makes excellent moral sense.

Hopefully, our country has learned lessons from the past of mistakenly following leadership blindly, as was done with Nixon and Bush. There are leaders who are simply in it for themselves and will cater to individuals or groups in order to grab for their own benefit. Corrupt and bad leaders hide at all levels. This is especially true in city government as well as county and state government. The corrupt deals of politicians need to be exposed, and those responsible need to be weeded out in the coming local elections. Others need to be investigated by law enforcement and be prosecuted for illegal dealings; for deals they often make for their hidden personal agendas. Let’s look at the bad experiences of the past as bitter medicines, let’s eliminate the need for such bad medicine in the future. Let us use what we know is good to go forward.

I believe we have chosen wisely, not by greed and not by misguided retaliatory anger. I believe this time our country has chosen with open eyes, with each of us listening and examining our choice of leadership closely, driven and validated by our hearts.

I hope we can continue to make our efforts even more inclusive (in many more ways than I touch on here). Far right republicans will be stubborn to change, but we will need to include them to change if we are to succeed. Sure a few more will leave our country, but that is not the American way. No, we really don't need their false fronts of power, money, insider knowledge, or other trappings that they have taught many to 'respect?'. Let's recruit as many as we can, that's the American way, evolving and changing together as one nation. Try to be understanding as we move forward; by better understanding each as individuals and people with various desires and needs we will find ways to reach out with friendship and have them join our causes of good.

Be on the lookout, and root out bad leadership in government and business. Do not be intimidated by those who use the false fronts of power and give a false sense of security in order to lead. Be extra leery of those who say or imply ‘Trust me’; those who give a sense that they somehow omnipotently know better. No longer will Americans be dazzled by phony displays of brilliance or baffled by baloney. There are government aristocrats and business leaders who still believe in the old adage of: “If you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, then baffle em with bullshit”. We can embrace complexity by demanding true, fundamental, and understandable explanations. We can root out falsehoods by not accepting double speak. We as Americans know how to grow ourselves by first believing in ourselves. Don’t be a follower. Don’t be a follower of followers.

However, when we find leaders who are good; a leader that thinks, speaks, and acts from their heart; one that is honest, has integrity, and leads by sincere examples; then we need to in a big way, join them, support them, and promote their causes of good. From much research, investigation, and scrutiny, I believe Barack Obama is such a person. I hope we search for and find many more who are similar, who we can add to service at all levels of government. We need to add/replace leaders in business with ones that have honesty, integrity, and show quality in leadership. We need more people in leadership roles who are moral, like Barack Obama.

Remember, we are not fighting a battle, we are the artisans and sculptors of the future for ourselves and generations to come. Rarely do societies have opportunities to make such dramatic moves forward as we now have in this opportunity of today. Take pride and practice in being inclusive as we stride forward. In moving forward, create opportunity not only for yourself, but also for all. Hope is a wonderful thing to behold; but without opportunity, hope can become but a dream never achievable. We can, will, and must, create opportunity.

In the coming year I hope that we do not lose our spiritedness, but instead continue to build and make headway. I hope we all continue our campaign for change in government and business. We will succeed in moving forward once again, it will take much effort and good oversight on the part of each of us. We will make great strides in the months and years ahead in order to achieve the fruitions of good. Let's keep our enthusiasm progressing through these coming toughest of times. Let us use the light of goodness and love to motivate us with historic momentum.

I have chosen Barack Obama because he best represents my deepest beliefs in America. Please take time to read the issues that Barack Obama has published on this website. Also, give your attention to see how he leads us to move our nation forward in the time ahead. Most importantly, be part of America's great future, participate in the greatness that together we will make. Participate!

We will each and all flourish, if we think, speak, and act, by using the love in our hearts.

Your reply is welcome. Contact: Alex.Karoub@gmail.com

FEDERAL INTERNET GAMING LICENSE

rick_math_genius — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 22:02:09 EST

A01] 1 MILLION FOR LICENSE PER YEAR/QUARTER/MONTH (US COMPANIES ONLY]

A02] MUST RUN FREEPLAY GAMES GIVING [2000 CHIPS] 4/10 GO INTO CAR VOUCHER FINALS

CAN RUN ENTRY FEE GAMES GIVING [4000 CHIPS] 6/10 GO INTO CAR VOUCHER FINALS

FEDERAL VOUCHERS FOR TAX FREE ENERGY EFFECIENT AUTOS REWARDED VALUE $40,OOO

VIG IN CAR VOUCHER GAMES CANNOT EXCEED 10% OF WHICH 2.5% IS FOR AUTO VOUCHERS

REMAINING PROFITS FROM NON CAR VOUCHER GAMES WILL BE TAXED AT FLAT RATE OF 2.5%

A03] PLAYERS MUST REGISTER W/SSN AND

CONTROL OF UNDERAGE GAMBLING DECIDED BY PARENTS

A04] OFFSHORE SITES MAY CONTINUE , IF THEY WISH TO PARTICIPATE AT 50% ADDED FEES

A05] AMERICAN AUTOMAKER MAY ADVERTISE THEIR ENERGY EFFICIENT CARS

WITH FEE WAIVED UNTIL THEY BEGIN SHOWING PROFIT

A06] FOREIGN AUTOMAKERS MUST PAY FLAT FEE FOR ADVERTISING

CHOOSING FOREIGN CAR WILL RESULT IN 10% TAX

ON WINNER AND MANUFACTURER

A07] FULL DISCLOSURE - WEEKLY AND YEARLY TOTALS MUST BE REPORTED WITHIN 7 DAYS

A08] INCOME SHARED , EDUCATION , HEALTHCARE , RETIREMENT , HIGHWAYS , LOCAL , STATE , FEDERAL

PREPARED BY VITO RICHARD RAMUNDO - EMAIL vrichardram@hotmail.com

Flag of Surrender may be taken down 01-20-09

rhw007 — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 02:19:39 EST

Now that Obama n Joe have won on January 20th, 2009 the below will have less signifance...but it remains true until then. Tuesday, October 07, 2008Flag of Surrender October 6, 2008 I have been re-doing my MAIN site CommonSenseCentral.net rather than the politics one since it reaches more people more immediately. And right now America NEEDS IMMEDIATE attention and action. Your GOVERNMENT from the Administrative and Legislative (both "Houses") Branches have set forth a motion in passing this Economic Weapon of Mass Destruction Wall Street Bail Out Bill that "AMERICA" as we all know and love her...is dead. Starting with the shredding of the US Constitution to deregulating the top 400 families who own and do "business" on Wall Street....The America we remember before 2000 has been effectively "killed". And REALLY folks this time it WAS an "INSIDE JOB CONSPIRACY". It is so out in the open that those who REFUSE to see it DIFFERENT than say the "Kennedy Conspiracy", the "Pearl Harbor Conspiracy" , the "Moon Landing Conspiracy", the "9-11 Insider False Flag Conspiracy", nooooooooooooooooooooooo folks this one is even making the MEANSTREAM MEDIA finally shake off the wool from their "SHEEPLE" news coverage since they sold the "Iraq War on WMDs".

Let's be CLEAR...The Wall Street Insiders, White House Administrative Regulators, and Congressional Committee Oversight Insiders have INTENTIONALLY led us into this bloody bath of economic ruin of the country. IT WAS AND REMAINS AN INSIDE JOB. And according to the US Constitution...that fragile ol "piece of paper" as King Gorgie refers to this most precious Document in America's History...what "THE INSIDERS" did ARE "High Crimes and Misdemeanors" and also are "TREASONOUS".

A CBS 60 Minutes MUST SEE VIDEO FOR ALL TAXPAYERS RIGHT NOW !!!

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4502673n

If the file Wall-Streets-Shadow-Market-Video-CBSNews60minute-com does NOT play for you or "is lost" from Google or Yahoo please email me. Thanx and PAY ATTENTION to the FINAL PRICE OF THIS "Economic Weapon of Mass Destruction" as I first pointed out long before the "Meantream Media" was calling it that term...is going to be as large as $50-$60 TRILLION DOLLARS !!!

That's right...end the end...$50-$60 TRILLION DOLLARS !!! Watch the video above and my response below:

http://www.youtube.com/v/cHZim5AyRIA

My reply actual flv file you need to download to your HD then upload to YOUR YouTube account to USE this video as one of YOUR "available" video responses.

Ohhhhhh....Tommy Lee Jones' as Hank Deerfield at the end of the movie "The Valley of Elah" was right.

The American Flag IS flying upside down...it's just that no one wants to SEE the Common Sense Brutal Truth Reality of it.

And as he says at the beginning with "Flying the Flag Upside Down" :

HANK: You know what it means when a flag is hung upside down? (JUAN doesn't)

HANK: It's an international distress signal.

JUAN: No shit?

HANK: No shit. It means we are in a whole lot of trouble, so come save our ass, cause we haven't got a prayer in hell of saving our selves.

JUAN: It says a lot.

HANK: Yes, it does. So, you know how to do it now ?

JUAN: Oh, yes.

HANK: Good. Juan looks up at the flag flying. Hank walks to his truck.

That was the BEGINNING of the movie The Valley of Elah...the ending:

HANK gets up from his wife's side walks and gets dressed and picks up his son's flag. Sets out and brings it to JUAN's Flagpole and hangs his son's flag upside down and duck-tapes it to the flagpole and tells JUAN to leave it there...don't even take it down overnight...don't take it down ever.

So...Who's coming to save America's Economic WALL STREET FAT-CAT ASSES?

So WHO is coming to save MAIN ST? Small Town America? You..the "Middle Class" and your 'retirement' accounts?

So WHO is coming to save those who have no 'retirement' package, stocks, bonds, or even more than $50 bucks in cash and no health care?

The people at FedUpUSA.org have BANNED me because I was telling them COMMON SENSE BRUTAL TRUTH's and I don't even know if my last post was accepted where I pointed out the CBS 60 Minute interview where it CLEARLY showed this was an ENGINEERED and DELIBERATE "CONSPIRACY" to bring down the Economic house of America with this ECONOMIC WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION or because I was disabled and living off SS and they didn't "GET IN" on the scam before the bubble burst since they are mostly ALL there simply to "play the markets and make money".

There's a saying for that "There are none so blind as he/she who will not see."

Valley_Elah_rhw-clip1 AVI 440 MB File

Valley_Elah_rhw-clip2 AVI 360 MB File

Again...Buy The Valley of Elah

See what is happening to our youth today under the DOD and JCOS.

In EVERY Small Town on EVERY Main Street and the back roads all across AMERICA is a SOLDIER who has been DESERTED by THIS Administration and THIS Department of Defense's Veterans Affairs and Supplying the TROOPS with Equipment...See HBO's GENERATION KILL too.

Or DOD has an Army BRIGADE deployed since October 1, 2008 for "engagement" with the American people for riot control. Another "KENT STATE" is bound to happen. And will the youths in this Army fire on their Mothers and Fathers? Brothers and Sisters? Uncles, Aunts and Cousins? Citizen against Citizen?

All for the "WEALTH" of only about 400 families on the PLANET who own 95% of the Planet's WEALTH?

SOLDIER ! You Swore to uphold the US CONSTITUTION !!! WE ARE THE PEOPLE YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO PROTECT NOT KILL !!!

leave that to the BLACKWATER folks...they get 33 times your salary anyhow or don't you know?

ALL AMERICANS!!

IMPORTANT, WHISTLEBLOWER WHO WORKED IN TOP SECRET "BLACK PROJECTS" EXPOSES ON WHAT HE'S BEEN THROUGH IN LIFE. PART 1 OF 7.

http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=rzZzl8zCZvU

if ANY of these links no longer work PLEASE email me at rhw007@twcny.rr.com

Google assignment: Operation Garden Plot & REX 84

Bob...

http://commonsensecentral.net/

http://mycommonsensepolitics.net/

NEW VIDEO--VULTURE ECONOMICS--
http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=rKjivhiEGMk

Heavy on Hope, now what? How about eGoverment.

Case — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 01:52:42 EST

I "hope" Barack will deliver eGovernment tools to make it easier to get engaged and build communities and consensus in the political process. My main exposure to the federal goverment is by paying over $20,000.00 in taxes each year. Other than that, I can't say I remember much about interacting with the federal goverment. I guess I fall into the group that pays for all the services that are provided to others. I want my goverment to be more relevant in my life other than making it 99% about filing taxes. I'm 31 and still paying for college 9 years after I graduated. My first child was born two months ago and I'm saving $250 a month for her college. I'm told this might cover half the expense 18 years from now. If I have a second child .... well, I think you can see the dilema. Two years ago we made just over $200,000.00. Now we make $170,000.00 houshold gross income, but I am not able to afford to buy a house at this time. I need to save for a down payment for a few years because I was not able to make enought money on the sale of my last home in Kansas City. Houses are more expensive in town in Houston. The three bedroom ranch home we are looking at is 40 years old and costs just over $600,000.00. At 3% local taxes, that's $18,000 a year in local taxes on top of sales tax and federal tax. I think I pay something like 50 to $60,000.00 in taxes a year. My healthcare premiums are $425 a month and going up. I'm able to pay rent each month, eat, and save for retirement and college, but I certainly don't feel like I'm getting far ahead, or at least as far ahead as I think I SHOULD be making this much money. Such is the strange land of the American cities in which we now live.

Why McCain's plan will lead to a full depression.

Link48010 — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 11:35:41 EST

Cutting government spending, sounds like a good idea right now right? WRONG! Cutting spending now, on the eve of the worse financial crisis since the Great Depression is the worst possible thing that anyone can do. Back in the 20's, Hoover cut taxes and ceased government spending, mainly on infastructure work. This lost many people their jobs as companies and contractors couldn't get funding for the work, it also weakened the economy as a whole as roads fell apart and telephones went dead. This was a horrible mistake. To bring itself out of a slump, the economy needs to spend money, to littlerally spend itself out of the hole it's in. When the economy is good, thats the time to save. Barack's plan will increase the deficit, true, but where that money is being invested into is the important part. His tax system encourages development here in the US and also his spending will create jobs, which will pull the economy out of its slump. Spending money is exactly how Rosevelt pulled the economy out of the Great Depression, and it's only smart to follow the same road around the same pitfall.

Lancaster Eagle-Gazette, Mansfield News Journal, Coshocton Tribune Endorse Obama!

Michael in Ohio — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 02:08:02 EST

It's catching on: newspapers across the Buckeye state are backing Barack Obama for President--even in places where it wouldn't seem likely.

This past week, the papers in Lancaster, Mansfield, and Coshocton announced their support for Obama. Here are portions of each endorsement:

The next president will inherit a divided country, two wars burgeoning federal deficit, and a turbulent economy that has shed thousands of jobs, especially in Ohio, just this year alone. These times call for an extraordinary leader - one with a clear vision for our future as one nation, and the demonstrated steadiness and intelligence to set us on a new path.

We believe Obama is that person, and the one best suited to lead this country and help Fairfield County residents. We support Obama on several issues, but we've listed three we believe are most important to this community.
Ohio has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country. Residents are asked to support tax increase every year. Your pocketbook is not a Republican or Democratic issue. It's a human issue.

Obama's tax plan would provide a tax decrease for families with incomes less than $250,000. He plans to pay for it by eliminating President Bush's tax cuts for the wealthiest in our country.

At this critical juncture in history, with our country facing unprecedented challenges at home and abroad, Barack Obama is the right choice to become the 44th president of the United States.

The problems we face today require a new approach, new ideas and a renewed willingness to work in collaboration with conservatives, liberals and moderates.

The 47-year-old U.S. Senator from Illinois has demonstrated a willingness and ability to do all of these things.

As a candidate, Obama has built a broad base of supporters; an inclusive group that crosses lines of race, gender, income and other essential constituents.
We believe Obama offers the best opportunity to begin crossing these demographic and political fault lines, working for consensus and in communicating new directions and ideas to a nation badly in need of leadership.

Obama's personal background will assist in this effort. Diversity and acceptance of others and their ideas are critical today and Obama's understanding of these concepts through his own life experiences is a major advantage he holds over McCain.

America is in a real financial crisis, the worst since the Great Depression. But the truth is, Ohio has been in an economic free fall since the day George W. Bush took office.

The Buckeye State never recovered from the post-Sept. 11 recession. Ohio has lost almost 250,000 manufacturing jobs since 2000. The exodus from Coshocton alone has been devastating - General Electric, JII, Royce Craft Baskets and Pretty Products, to name a few. Our 9.1 percent unemployment rate is higher than the Ohio rate of 7.2 percent and well above the national average of 6.1 percent.

So if you focus on the key issues of jobs, jobs and jobs, only one candidate offers a forward-thinking plan for the future. That is why four of the Tribune's five editorial board members urge you to support Barack Obama for president of the United States.
Obama's detailed proposals offer a better alternative for virtually everyone in Coshocton County. His plan would cut taxes for all but the wealthiest individuals. He understands the urgent need for health care we can afford, and our nation's desire to end our unnecessary foray into Iraq.

Most important, Obama maintains the calm temperament needed during a time of crisis. He is a clear thinker who knows how to get his points across.

Buckeyes agree--Ohio needs Barack Obama. So let's get out the vote. Now.

Pennsylvania race is getting scary

Junaid Butt — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 04:55:10 EST

Hello everyone!

Can't sleep! Some recent polls out of PA are really scary. Are we spreading ourselves too thin and letting this state slip away? We urgently need a trip from Obama as well as Hillary Clinton especially in Western PA. There is only a 4-5 point lead remaining which could be easily eaten away how John McCain is camping there and misleading voters. According to Rasmussen, only 75% of Democrats are voting for Obama in PA. This has only changed in last 2 weeks thanks to John Murtha & Barney Frank. The only way this can be saved now is if he have an atleast 80% turnout in the African American community and 60% or less turnout amongst whites especially 65 and older. I can only pray or we need to get all the African American and Young vote out on election day.

It also seems like we are not doing a very good job of defending Obama's tax policy. We need to rip the media apart when they say Obama is going to raise taxes on the middle class and explain the tax plan in detail. Also I wish the 30 minute ad had included breakdown of the tax plan so no one could sow any seeds of confusion

Senator Obama if you are listening please use these words in your rallies:

" Mark my words- No Tax increase on families making less than 250K . This is my promise to you which I will not break. I will resign and seek your mandate again if a situation arises that would force me to break this promise."

Also it would be important to poing out that even small businesses making 400K may get a net tax break because of the 50% tax credit on health insurance premium.

A business with a 400K net income would typically employ 15 employees. Cost of Health Insurance Premium would be $200 per employee per month = 200 x 15 x 12 =$36000 per year. Hence 50% tax credit would be $18,000. However since Health insurance premium is currently tax deductible, they would have benefited $36000 * 35% = $12600 anyways. So net benefit of Health insurance credit = $18000- 12600 = $5400.

Increase in taxes for this business would be $150,000 * 3% = $4500

So this business will save $5400-$4500 = $900 in taxes.

Now if this business hires another employee, they will get another $3000 in tax credit. That would wash off any taxes off another 100K of the business' income.

One of our campaign representative will have to do this math with a whiteboard on one of the TV progams. Its still not too late!

Junaid Butt

On War and Why our Economy is the Way it is Today

PDSimic — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 04:43:06 EST

Political Punch: Jake Tapper, ABC News' Senior National Correspondent, October 31, 2008.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/10/obamas new-atta.html?cid=137258875#comment-137258875

Side Punch: Kristokoff

"PDSimic, your emotions are blinding you if you are not willing to find out why our economy is the way it is today..."

Counterpunch: PDSimic

- I know, it has nothing to do with the 10 billion a month that Bush and McCain and their neo-con friends make us pay for pursuing an ill-advised war in Iraq.

- I know, it has nothing to do with the fact that Bush and the wealth-will-trickle-down gang in his administration could not separate their ideological views - any regulation of banking system is bad, except "self-regulation" - from practical reality and their responsibilities to the American people.

Any Tax System is Redistribution of Wealth....(as it should be).

PDSimic — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 03:32:05 EST

Poltical Punch: Jake Tapper, ABC News' Senior National Correspondent, October 31, 2008.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/10/obamas-new-atta.html?cid=137258875#comment-137258875

Any tax system is a redistribution of wealth. It is just that in democracies, such as ours, the shape of the redistribution curve reflects (or better, *should* reflect) the dominant civil values of the population...

Taxes

Nobama08 — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 19:31:33 EDT

So I've been listening to Obama talk about "95% getting a tax cut" or some other nonsense. This would make sense if EVERYONE paid taxes. Unfortunately for Obama, there's a large chunk of Americans that have no federal income tax liability, like 40(ish) percent... So what doe this REALLY mean.

Take this with his "redistrbution of wealth" and "windfall profits tax" and you get somethiong like Robin Hood. You know, steal from the rich nad give to the poor. There are so many things WRONG with that that I don't know where to begin. So I'll start in a place that even you little brained democrat organisms can understand. If you do well the government will TAKE WHAT YOU WORK FOR and GIVE IT AWAY to SOMEONE THAT DOESN"T WANT TO WORK!!!! WHAT!?!?! I really doubt that that's legal, but if we have Obama (the radical) in office and 60 dems in chairs in the senate, we can pretty much kiss this country goodbye!!!

Anyone care to guess how much the government makes PER GALLON OF GAS? 5-10 cents? Not even close, that IS how much the "Big Oil" companies make. Uncle sam pockets closer to 40 cents per gallon. The alread take 4 to 8 TIMES what the oil companies profit, and now they want to take EVEN MORE!!!

But what does "Big Oil" do with this HUGE amount of money they make? The pay employees, pay to ship oil around the world, pay to procees it into gasoline, pay to transport it to gas stations, pay to explore for more resources, pay, pay, pay, pay... Sounds like a crappy deal. They take ALL OF THE RISK and will be expected to get NO REWARD for this if Obama is elected.

Oops, sorry about the tangent there...

Back to the taxes... If I pay nothing to the government in taxes is it fair to those that do for me to "get something back"? Wouldn't that have to be counted as INCOME? Wouldn't it be TAXED? Where's the equality in that?

Here's my "plan"... If Obama (the radical) is elected, I'll quit working and live off the government. Collect a check for doing NOTHING and live off the HARD WORK of OTHERS LIKE YOU!!!

Go McCain!!!

$69,000 Per Year Salary Willing To Accept a 4-7% Tax Increase

Randy Z — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 15:58:48 EDT

Hey Everyone,

Ok, I am a hard working Middle Class man with a Salary of just $69,000 per year. Well, even that is much higher than your average hard working middle class man.

I wanted to write this post because I hear the McCain campaign trying to bash Mr. Obama raising taxes on a $250,000 Net income of a small business to help our country. Well, in my eyes the way I see it is if I were to receive a tax increase of say 4 - 7% I would have no problem with that at all knowing that my contribution is going to help our economy..

The way it is, if the economy continues my $69,000 salary may become a $0 salary, then not only could I not help this Country but wouldn't be able to help my family or myself either!

So, if it means anything, I am way below the higher tax bracket but if a slight increase in my taxes would save not only the economy but my JOB as well, than heck yeah, take a little from me now and then give me back a little when we are in a position to do so...

Reforming the Welfare System

LaToya from Nesbit, MS — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 12:41:19 EDT

What you are about to read may be upsetting, but it's the life that I saw others live, and it upsets me. To date, Mr. Obama has not said much about this, but I'm sure he'll get around to it.

I am a graduate student getting my Ph.D. in English. People usually don't have a clue about how hard it is to work, support yourself, pay your own bills, go to school full time, read about five books per week, teach class, and attend class. In addition to that, I have had a little boy and gotten married.

Now, I'm not complaining about my plight. I chose to go back to school, walking away from a pretty good job. I chose English, which means a life of penury! I chose it because I love people. And I love reading about the relationships of people with one another. I also love teaching! I love teaching at the community college level because I see so many nontraditional students making the same choice that I made, and they are simply trying to improve their employment prospects. They are trying to be examples for their children, and teach the benefits of receiving an education. I also chose English for a selfish reason: one day, if I'm blessed, I'll be half as good a writer as Toni Morrison.

What I am upset about is all of my peers who chose to do nothing. These, young, healthy women and men don't even work. That's because they don't have to pay rent. That's because they receive Section 8. That's because they grew up on Section 8 and food stamps. That's because every time the benefits ran low, their mothers just had another baby!

I'm so sick and tired of this. I see people who abuse the welfare/Section 8/Medicaid benefits in Mississippi every day. And I'm not just talking about Black people...whites, too. It breaks my hear to see a whole generation being raised on these things fraudulently. Under the Bush administration, these people have been allowed to slip beneath the radar, and have received even more benefits. I once had a student from Chicago tell me that her folks drive to Indiana to receive Section 8 vouchers because they are easier to get there. I know people who make their children behave badly in schools so that they can get $375/mo in mental health benefits. I know people who claim to homeschool their children so that they can receive more funding, and they don't teach these children a damn thing. I know people who pretend to have eating disorders for money. I know people who doctor shop and get very expensive prescription medicines, only to flush them down the toilet because they are not really sick. I know workers in small towns who tell their friends how to behave to get a "crazy check," when nothing is wrong with them. I know people who get over $500 in food stamps and buy mostly processed food and junk for their children, and complain that that amount of money just won't feed them. I know a young lady (30 years old) with five children by five different men, who simply refuses to get married or to help herself to some birth control because it would lessen her benefits. To enhance the pain of this slap in the face, Mississippi has birth control medicaid. They can give you what you want for free!

It hurts me because somebody like Ms. Lena, a 91-year-old-woman in my neighborhood, really needs these benefits, and cannot receive them. They constantly tell her that she owns her own home, and that puts her over the guidelines for ownership allotment. Meanwhile, this lady has diverticulitis, and arthritis. She takes about six medicines per day. She does not receive full benefits from the federal government because she worked as a maid. At the time, maids did not receive pensions and other benefits that we expect today, neither did construction workers. So, there are many people, from our Greatest Generation, out there struggling while young and healthy people continue to sit on their butts and do nothing. Many college students that really need to use public healthcare (because their parents' insurance may have dropped them, or if they are nontraditional students they may be too old), and cannot get it because they may own a car. Maybe they need supplemental insurance, because many schools offer only a discounted plan to graduate students. That is not enough for students with families. Some of my students who could really use food stamps, often do not receive them because maybe the case worker has a chip on her shoulder.

In short, the very old and the very young are being victimized by this system, or they are being denied access to it.

And when you try to turn abusers in, either by letter or phone call, nothing gets done about it. Nothing. Under the Bush administration, it has become very easy to skirt the system. Nobody seems to care about it, but it costs us tremendous money in taxes. The Republicans talk much about this, but do nothing. The only president that attempted to rectify the situation was Bill Clinton, a democrat! I know that Mr. Obama, having seen his mother, a hard-working single mother, try to tough it out with private insurance companies, can understand how I feel. She had to tough it out with a job and fuss with insurance companies while somebody else, who is fraudently receiving benefits, can afford to flush prescriptions down the toilet. His mother encouraged him to be all that he can be, while somebody else's mother encourages him to be a social deviant. His mother ensured him a bright future, while somebody else's mother sold her child's future out for $375/month. That is a crying shame.

So, I propose that, barring the very old and the very young (babies), everybody gets three years. Three years. Three years of government housing, food stamps, child care, and other benefits, unless you are gravely, gravely ill. Think of what you can do in three years. Finish a degree. Get several trade certificates, get a graduate degree, find a better job. The possibilities are limitless. We now live with a system that does not put a time-constraint on these people. And it is hurting those of us who are trying to go to school, or trying to raise our children to value a dollar. It is hurting people like Ms. Lena, who really need these benefits, but cannot get them the way this system is set up.

Three years. It does not matter if you decide to have another baby at the end of those three years to renew your benefits. Three years.

Does anybody else experience what I experience?

Republican Former Secretary of State on Palin : "Of CourseShe is NOT Ready"

RK — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 12:26:09 EDT

WOW ! Bombshell from a Republican McCain supporter, and former Secretary of State, on Sara Palins abilities and readiness. What about our National Security ? With all her rheotoric, picture this in your mind, Sara Palin with her finger on the button of our Nuclear Arsenal.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/31/eagleburger-blisters-pali_n_139524.html

What the Experts Say About Raising Taxes

Marcia--One who believes in Dreams! — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 08:38:27 EDT

I read this this morning and found it to be very interesting...

Myth #5: Wealthy investors can breathe easier because the next president wouldn't dare raise income taxes in a recession
Investors don't like paying taxes, so Obama's proposals to raise taxes on the wealthy are a frequent subject of conversation among market professionals. Economists and Washington observers, however, see few prospects to avoid higher taxes — even if McCain is elected.

One reason is the federal government's bailout plan, which adds $700 billion or so to an already bloated federal budget deficit. Even before the crisis hit, President George W. Bush and a Republican Congress had been unable to extend Bush's tax cuts beyond their scheduled expiration in 2010.

[edit]

While higher taxes can hurt, a huge budget deficit is "really a problem in the long run," says Victor Li, an economics professor at the Villanova School of Business. "Whoever wins, the revenues have to be raised somewhere. Taxes have to be raised."

Many hope that Obama — or McCain, cutting a deal with a Democratic Congress — can delay this tax-raising until the economy revives. Obama "needs to be really realistic about raising taxes in an economic environment that could be really nasty," Church says.

"Right now, the focus of the Democrats is on stimulating the economy," says Daniel Clifton of Strategas Research Partners. However, a tax increase during a recession wouldn't be unusual, he adds. "Generally the government has to raise taxes in a recession because the federal deficit gets so big."

We have had the pleasure of all ready voting since my husband and I will be working the polls on Tuesday; however, it's still not too late to get this informatuon out there to those who are worried about an increase in taxes. The entire article can be found at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27362019/ Please pass it on!

AMERICA IN THE YEAR 2016

Peter from Portland, OR — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 06:02:06 EDT

I had a dream: We are writing the year 2016, America has left behind the economy crisis of 2008 and developed to a green, social and prosperous society. The unemployment rate is down at 2.3 %, the number of poor people dropped from 37 to 9 million, the national deficit is only a fourth of that in 2008. Every American has affordable health care now, and Obama`s tax cuts have put more money into the pockets of the middle-class American, which led to higher consumption, re-fueled the economy, and created millions of new jobs. Above all 5 million new created green collar jobs and a better, more effective environmental policy with solar, wind and other renewable energies dropped America`s energy bill, air pollution and CO 2 balance by 25%, making the country cleaner and almost independent of foreign oil. America´s is about to become the world leader in green technology, especially due to the broad-scale introduction of US built hybrid cars. In foreign politics America has restored faith and regained respect in the world community of nations as a wise and peaceful mediator in all conflicts. This and other measures also led to an improvement of the national security. The dark Bush years are history and America has made the real CHANGE to a better future - YES WE COULD - And due to the great achievements of Barack Obama`s successful 8 years in national and international politics a committee was founded, proposing the extension of his presidency for 4 more years, as applied during the Roosevelt administration.

Was all of this just a dream ? - No, you can make it happen by voting for OBAMA next Tuesday - It is now up to you, America !

SHOP AMERICA SUPPORTS OBAMA

John McCain – New Corporate Economy and Old Boys Corporate Club in Washington

Unknown user — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 09:07:20 EDT

(Dark humor and sarcasm)

I agree with John McCain, George Bush, and the Old Boys corporate club in Washington that we need to increase the already huge tax cuts to the corporation that have caused huge Federal deficits over the years and that have lead to the economic crisis and catastrophe. In fact, I would agree with just giving them all the money and stop the redistribution of wealth and taxes. I definitely want to be on the good side of the gravy train, if you know what I mean ;)

I know some would say the economy will not work this way, sort of like now, but it can work. The corporations will simply have to buy all the cars and houses and provide them to their members, a bit like having a butler and a maid living in a little house next to your mansion. We could all get corporate tattoo’s to show our allegiance and bar codes too. Instead of the hassles of having a wallet, paper money, and plastic cards our bar codes could simply be scanned and Voila! It’s paid for. The new corporate economy will provide safety and eliminate crime (not corporate crime). How is someone going to steal your wallet if you do not have one?

The only people who may have a problem with the new corporate economy are the trouble makers, lazy people, and people who have a bad or negative attitude. There’s a bit of a down turn to it though, corporations are about profit. So future conversations may go something like this “our earnings were a down a bit in the last quarter so we won’t be able to pay for your child’s medical bills” and “we are not in the elderly care business and your performance was not optimal in the last review, just how will your parents death affect your productivity?”

But it is Capitalism and Darwinism at its best! I’m certainly not a wealth “redestributor” supporter, I hate taxes, and too much government regulations just like John McCain does; And just like John McCain, I also have great confidence in the American worker’s ability to work until he can’t work no more.

Note:

I strongly believe in capitalism but this is not the kind of future I would like or want. Capitalism, Darwinism, Crime (like fraud), and Freedom all have different meanings but some people seem to confuse them.

Corporations are not the evil entities depicted above and they are in the profit business. Some of them do commit crimes and this is why regulations are needed.

Taxes

Jack from Bridgewater, NJ — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 07:34:05 EDT

Last nigh I was watching Obama's proposal. I think the tax plan is 100x better than McCain's. "I won't give tax cuts to big companies making a billion dollars. I'll give it to the hard working people like Joe the Plumber. And if you're not making a quarter million dollars, you'll see your taxes go down". On the other hand, McCain says "if you're not making $40,000 you will not see a penny is your taxes go up (or down)."

Adamsville school is having a debate.

Kudos to them,

Jack

Top Tier

Jared from Indianapolis, IN — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 23:43:05 EDT

I like Obama and will most likely vote for him, but I was wondering when the tax plan changed? Originally, the high water mark was $250,000, but today on tv in the 30 minute spot he said $200,000. Why and when did that change and why is nobody discussing it? I might still vote for Obama but I will be cutting my own nose off to do it. I just want someone to tell me when that changed. By the way, please don't be rude to me. I put myself through school and sit with $120,000 in debt btw undergrad and grad school, so please don't tell me like others due that I don't deserve the money I make. Any info will help me feel more comfortable with my vote. Thanks!

For Biden, let's clear this one up too...TAXES

Sin City Scott — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 02:51:38 EDT

Joe Biden was correct in his statement that folks making $150,000 would get a tax cut. The oversimplification of the Obama tax policy and the 'taking one phrase out of context' is again mccain/palin sleaze tactics.

Here it is; study it and learn it and make repulsivecants look bushesque!

Per the Tax Policy Center, here is how Barack Obama's tax plan breaks down for individuals:

$0-$18,891 = $567 tax cut
$18,982-$37,595 = $892 tax cut
$37,596-$66,354 = $1,118 tax cut
$66,355-$111,645 = $1,264 tax cut
$111,646-$160,972 = $2,135 tax cut
$160,973-$226,918 = $2,796 tax cut
$226,919-$603,402 = $121 tax increase
$603,403-$2.87 million = $93,709 tax increase
$2.87 million-plus = $542,882 tax increase

Spending, taxes, opportunity

Jeanine — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 22:20:22 EDT

John McCain says he will mend the economy by cutting government spending. His main focus is on earmarks. But it was Barack Obama who actually made progress toward controlling earmarks with his first legislative success, the so-called Google for Government law, whereby people can use a website to learn where federal tax dollars go.

Cutting all earmarks (which would include cutting funds for many worthwhile local projects) would not make up for renewing the Bush tax cuts for the very wealthy and would result in more debt for future taxpayers. So what else would McCain cut? He voted against safety equipment for the troops and against health care and education benefits for veterans. He voted against most initiatives for development of alternative sources of energy. It does not appear he will put money into rebuilding the nation's infrastructure.

By allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire, Obama is returning the country to the situation under the Clinton administration, when millions of jobs were created, new industries emerged, and there was prosperity for the rich, poor, and middle class. As Obama points out, we have done the experiment and it is clear: the trickle-down tax policies of the last 8 years did not produce new jobs, and problems such as crumbling bridges, climate change, health care costs, and access to energy were ignored. Obama recognizes that government spending can be used to solve problems and stimulate growth, providing opportunity to all Americans.

The Failed Policies of George W. Bush

Steven from Norman, OK — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 17:54:23 EDT

According to almost every news source in America, the Democratic Party will win big on November 4. Presidential candidate Barack Obama is far from the only Democrat who will ride into Washington on the coattails of bad feelings for President George W. Bush. Almost every Democratic candidate for office in America, fairly or not, has enjoyed a bounce in popularity by campaigning on a platform of being anti-Bush, or by linking his/her opponent to the "failed policies of the Bush administration". Indeed, George W. Bush has never had a lower approval rating than right now, partly because of the recent financial crisis. But what these Democratic candidates are not doing is reminding people what it is that is so bad about the "failed policies of George W. Bush" in the first place. If the American public remembers that it can't stand that Bush guy but can't remember why, then the "failed policies" will surely be repeated by elected members of the Government. So to serve as a reminder mostly to myself, I've jotted down 33 "failed policies" that I think have made our country worse off thanks to the 43rd President of the United States of America.

1) "The United States doesn't torture." Except when it does. George W. Bush vetoed anti-torture bills, watered down water-boarding by referring to it as an interrogation technique (like how rape is just a sexual technique), and flauted the Geneva Conventions time after time when confronted in interviews or press conferences.

2) Unfounded wars on sovereign nations. Bad intelligence that should have been ignored about WMD and yellow cake fissile material led to a war against Iraq. The previous sentence was the best-case, most P.C. explanations for George W. Bush's intentions in the Middle East. Speculation abounds as to his real reasons for war with Iraq, most of which would be inconceivable if you told it to anyone eight years ago.

3) Secrecy. Over-classification of classified documents.

4) The Patriot Act

5) Bullying. Bullying of foreign nations for support for the above unjust Iraq war. Bullying of congressional leaders for support. Bullying of the U.N. to pass the war resolution, or else. It's called negotiating when there's a give and a take, and it's called persuasion when there's a well-explained and well-grounded rationale for action. It's called bullying if threats are made and fear is induced in entities that should be our allies.

6) Over-simplification of foreign viewpoints. You don't have to be either "for us or against us".

7) "Axis of evil". Well so much for negotiation.

8) Isolating North Korea to the point that they needed to build an atomic weapon to get any bilateral negotiation with the U.S.

9) War on terror. How does one win a war against extremism? You can't kill 'em all. There are always fringe elements in even the most tightly regulated societies, like gay people in Iran, bloggers in China, and terrorists in America.

10) Pre-emptive wars. The "Bush Doctrine", I think. Even police *should* have to wait until a crime is committed to detain people. And speaking of detaining people...

11) Guantanamo Bay. And more importantly, the lack of trials for prisoners there. (I hesitate to call them "detainees".)

12) Oh wait, not "prisoners" or "detainees". "Unlawful Combatants".

13) "Extraordinary renditions". They lead to "erroneous renditions" in the absence of the law.

14) Over-reaching of executive power to facilitate illegal wiretapping. FISA courts are just not necessary anymore.

15) The Alberto Gonzales Department of Justice. Attorney firings for partisan reasons, mealymouthed testimony by most Department of Justice officials including the Attorney General himself on several occasions, the approval of warrantless wiretapping, and the attempted repeal of Habeas Corpus.

16) Incompetent "loyal Bushies" like "heckuva job" Brownie.

17) Highly competent yet highly evil "loyal Bushies" like Dick "Overlord" Cheney.

18) Anti-choice-ism

19) Anti-intellectualism

20) Anti-Europeanism.

21) Right-wing judicial nominees. I'm not talking about Roberts or Alito, which almost any other Republican president would have nominated. I mean all the other judicial appointments to lower courts that add unfounded legitimacy to an extreme right-wing judicial viewpoint by giving high-level careers to cronies. This will lead to future right-wing judicial nominees to the Supreme Court who should have gotten rejected long ago for their lack of objectivity being seen as legitimate. These juditial nominees also nearly tore up the rules of the Senate.

22) Federal Marriage Amendment. So glad that one didn't get anywhere.

23) Stem cell research. Not so much for the position (federal funds only for "existing" stem cell lines) but for the process of letting the church's viewpoint into a science decision.

24) Not signing the Kyoto protocol for anti-UN reasons.

25) While we're at it, John Bolton.

26) Sabotaging the EPA to the point where entities are now suing the EPA because it's not strict enough in regulating emissions.

27) Trying to privatize social security. How's that stock market idea looking now?

28) Increasing the national debt from about $5 trillion to about $10 trillion. This riles me up so much, I'm going to need some more bullet points about the budget.

29) Tax cuts benefitting the wealthiest of our society at a time when we were finally getting Reagan's debt under control.

30) Massive non-mandatory spending increases primarily benefitting the military industrial complex. We've got loads of money for super advanced fighter jets, but we're losing wars against people who make explosives out of pvc pipe and wire.

31) Making war spending separate from the budget. This would make sense only if the expenses were unforseeable.

32) Not addressing health care at all. Seriously, during a decade in which health care spending rose faster than any other industry, how was health care almost completely ignored by the Bush administration?

33) Well, he did address one thing. He vetoed SCHIP.

I'm sure there are plenty more policies I dislike, and I know there are plenty more policies that others dislike (No Child Left Behind, immigration). But none of this stuff gets specifically talked about by any of the Democratic candidates. We need to remember this so that we can hold future administrations accountable.

(cross-posted at quibblingpotatoes.blogspot.com)