OK, I May Be Having Second Thoughts About James Webb

I know looks aren't everything, but....

It’s Time to Hold Politicians Accountable

This is an advance copy of a column that will run in the Newport News Daily Press on Sunday.

It’s Time to Hold Politicians Accountable
Patrick McSweeney
April 2, 2006

To one who closely followed the 1986 debate over the transportation tax proposal of former Governor Gerald Baliles, the recent statements by Governor Timothy Kaine and others who propose raising taxes by $1 billion a year for transportation are eerily familiar. We heard the same false promises twenty years ago.

This time around, politicians should be held strictly accountable for what they say to win support for a tax hike. If new taxes are enacted, those politicians who promised Virginians that the new tax revenues would relieve congestion and assure a reliable, long-term source of funding for all transportation programs had better hope for a different outcome than occurred after the 1986 tax hike. There has been no serious effort by the news media to press tax proponents to support their claims or to explain why a different result should be expected this time.

A 1989 Senate Finance Committee report confirmed that the 1986 tax hike hardly made a dent in the transportation funding needs of Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads. Although the report claimed that the new taxes had produced significant benefits, it acknowledged that this new funding source would not be a reliable, long-term solution. A January 1990 report to Governor L. Douglas Wilder found that anticipated transportation needs in 2010 would grow to $36.8 billion. Baliles had been forced to concede a year earlier that his transportation initiatives were running out of gas.

The media also refuses to explore whether the same growth impacts induced by the 1986 tax hike would be felt again. Kaine campaigned in 2005 on a promise to give local governments enhanced authority to control that very type of growth. Under pressure from developers and to the chagrin of slow-growth advocates who supported him in 2005, he abandoned that pledge.

Kaine now contends that, even though he abandoned this key proposal, he won approval of several other land use bills this year. But he fails to note — and the media ignores — that the land use legislation that was enacted already had the support of developers. Kaine finally acknowledged that the principal reason for backing off his growth-control pledge was to secure the support of developers for a transportation tax increase this year.

Baliles took the correct procedural approach in 1986 by calling a special session to consider his transportation tax proposal. He did not insert it in the state budget that year, as Warner and Kaine did in 2004 and 2006. Instead, Baliles asked for an up-or-down vote on his tax proposal. It was enacted on its own, not because he used an extortion tactic: holding the state budget hostage to win approval of the tax hike.

Last week, the media also gave a pass to U.S. Senator John Warner, who once again inserted himself into the deliberations of the General Assembly on a tax issue as he did in 1986 and 2004. This time, Warner warned state legislators that Virginia could lose matching federal transportation funding if the budget impasse isn’t soon broken and urged legislators to support a tax hike, as if that were the appropriate and constitutional way to break the impasse.

Not one editorial writer remarked on the irony of a member of the U.S. Senate lecturing a state legislature about how to handle transportation legislation when Congress enacted such a disgraceful, pork-laden highway bill last year.

When will the media begin to do their job?

Design for New World Trade Center

Via No Pasaran!

Quote of the Day: Tom Tancredo

"I don't think he's concerned about alienating voters, he's not running for re-election," said Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado. He said Republicans could lose the House and Senate over the immigration issue, and he said of the president: "I wish he'd think about the party and of course I also wish he'd think about the country."

Via Michelle Malkin
Macon.com

Message to Virginia's Republican Delegates

STAND THE STORM!

Who is Jim Webb?

United Conservatives of Virginia
I received an email from Jim Webb's campaign, and I was breezing through it, and at the bottom of the page, I saw this:
"P.S. The momentum on our campaign continues to grow. Today, General Wesley Clark endorsed my campaign for U.S. Senate! Join General Clark and support our campaign today!

Why would I support someone endorsed by Clark?

FAIR TAX BLOGBURST 03-29-06

Another Reason It's Time For The Fair Tax

By Doug Patton, courtesy of GOPUSA.com
March 27, 2006

As April 15th approaches, millions of us are again poring over receipts, records and other information relevant to our federal income taxes. After getting everything in order, we will be forced by the complexity of the tax code to take it all to an accountant or other tax professional, who will spend a few very expensive hours working through a process our own government doesn’t even understand much of the time. Finally, our tax preparer will place in front of us a stack of papers, some of which we will be expected to sign.

Now, do you read every page in that stack, or do you simply place your signature, as I do, on the lines indicated by this individual in whom you have placed so much trust? Millions of us do it every year. But what if among those papers was a consent form to sell your personal information to third parties to market their products and services to you?

This is the convoluted reasoning of the Internal Revenue Service, where career bureaucrats believe that such conduct should be allowed. In fact, the IRS is proposing new rules that would permit tax preparers to sell your private financial information, right up to and including your actual tax return itself, to marketers and data brokers.

Currently, selling client information to third parties for marketing purposes is prohibited. That would change, however, under the proposed rule revision. And since this policy could only benefit the person buying or selling your information, with no imaginable benefit to you, the motivation to obtain permission by any deceptive means necessary seems extremely high. Incredibly, according to a recent article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, IRS officials characterize these changes as “housecleaning measures needed to update regulations adopted before it began accepting returns electronically.”

Had enough? There is a solution.

The time has come for Americans to demand that our elected representatives come to grips with the fact that the current federal income tax code is broken and cannot be fixed.

The time has come for all of us to admit to ourselves that this system has been patched and “repaired” far too many times since 1913, when the 16th Amendment brought us direct taxation on our production, with the IRS as its primary enforcement agency.

The time has come to abolish this gargantuan, intrusive, tyrannical bureaucracy, the primary purpose of which is to harass individual taxpayers, who in turn have to hire and trust others to interpret and navigate the treacherous waters of the federal tax laws.

The time has come for the Fair Tax, a consumption-based national sales tax to replace the federal income tax, thereby trading a trillion-dollar anchor for an economic supercharger.
Imagine what you could do for your family, your church, your community, your future, if you had no federal income taxes, including Social Security, withheld from your paycheck.

Imagine the magnet for business the United States of America would become without a corporate income tax.

Imagine if the imbedded corporate taxes driving the cost of every product and service you buy were gone.

In fact, imagine if discounts on consumer products offset the cost of all federal taxes, leaving consumers free to save, give and, well, consume.

Just imagine.

Replacing the burdensome federal income tax with a 23 percent (inclusive) national sales tax would give every American taxpayer an immediate pay raise by allowing us all to keep everything we earn. And since approximately 22 percent of the cost of every product and service we buy represents embedded corporate income tax, competition would drive the cost of everything down by an amount almost directly proportionate to the amount of the consumption tax. In other words, the cost of the sales tax would be offset completely by the discounts on virtually everything.

But the best part of implementing the Fair Tax is abolishing the IRS. No more receipts. No more mileage logs. No more fear of an audit. No more April 15th.

The proposed new regulations are just one more indication that the time has come to turn Americans loose from the bondage of an antiquated tax system that impedes productivity, punishes generosity and penalizes thrift.

(For more information, visit Americans for Fair Taxation.)

---

Doug Patton is a freelance columnist who has served as a political
speechwriter, communications consultant and advisor to conservative
Republican candidates and elected officials, as well as public policy
organizations. His weekly columns are published in newspapers across the
country and on selected Internet web sites, including TheConservativeVoice.com and GOPUSA.com, where he is a senior writer and state editor. Readers may
e-mail him at dougpatton@cox.net.

Again, thanks to GOPUSA.com for allowing us to reprint this
article.

Finally, if you are interested in ongoing discussion regarding the FairTax, please consider visiting FairTaxGroups.com, your place to meet, greet, organize, and talk about the FairTax Plan.

The FairTax Blogburst is jointly produced by Jonathan of Publius Rendezvous and Terry of The Right Track Blog . If you would like to join us, please e-mail Jonathan or Terry. You will be added to our mailing list and blogroll.

FairTax Blogroll
Don Surber
Ogre's Politics & Views
Blue State Conservatives
Oblogatory Anecdotes
Euphoric Reality
Slobokan's Site O' Schtuff
Right Truth
Liberally Conservative
United Conservatives of Virginia
Third World County
Ms. Underestimated
The Buzz Blog
Area 417
Stuck On
Stupid
Publius Rendezvous
The Right Track
Cao's Blog
RightWing Nation
KimPriestap

Bordering on Insanity

The more I read and hear about SB 1033, the more I am shaking my head in disbelief. Rather than shoring up the borders and incrementally reforming our immigration policy, they are going to try to pass a bill that covers everything, will take years to implement, be a hugely expensive, cumbersome bureaucratic nightmare (how on earth will they see to it that immigrants learn english?) and possibly give instate college tuition to illegals. Everything from church soup kitchens to the war on drugs is included.

I am curious about people wishing to immigrate from Africa, Asia and other countries? How many of them will be included in the 400,000 new visas?

Insight into the legislation and issues on Virginia blogs and other sites:
American Daughter Guard the Borders BlogBurst
Numbers USA
SB 1033 Type in sb 1033 for the text of the bill
LinknZona
Cox & Forkum Mucho Caliente - heh
Jefferson Mammoth Nick was in LA
Expose the Left O'Riley interview with protest organizer Enqrique Morones (yes that really is his name.
Save the GOP RIP Brownback for President
From On High The Illegal Immigration Mess
Michelle Malkin How 'Bout Guest Media Workers
NoVA Townhall Dispatches Out In Force
Delmarva Dealings Immigration Protest Move Close to Home
I saved this link for last. Chris wrote: "If it wasn't for our boys in Iraq/Afghanistan...." and I agree. We can't abandon them to a Democrat administration but the Republicans are making it oh so hard..
Spank That Donkey Bush, the GOP & the Border

---

My side of the family are Heinz 57 Americans, the descendant of Scots, Irish, Brits, Basques, Germans, Dutch and a question mark (old family pix give a clue) immigrants.

The ancestors worked hard, even (especially) the ones involved in some questionable movement of cattle in the Missouri Breaks. Some of them worked in the steel mills of Birmingham, Alabama just as they did in Birmingham, England when they reached 12 years of age. Some were farmers in the midwest and south. Some became soldiers. One ended up the Captain of a riverboat on the Mississippi another was a smalltown banker. My Grandma, as a young woman, staked out a homestead in South Dakota and cleaned rooms in town. When they came over there was no welfare, no medicaid, no social security, no safety net but they came like other immigrants - in droves. Not all of them survived the hardships but the dream lived on and continues to do so.

They also came legally, learned the language and became Americans as did their children. I never once heard any of the old people refer to themselves as Irish-American or German-American.

America is enriched by immigration. I don't care if we have to cut down a few more trees to make room for more - come on over! Bring your family, your religion, your traditions, your recipes but please, love this country and raise your children to love and respect it and please, get the visa before you come.

Paris In the Springtime

There is so much going on today, I don't know where to start... ah yes, the fascinating French.


Courtesy of BulletBobCo

Free Republic (graphic is courtesy of FReeper BulletBobCo) has a live thread on the Student Riots which briefly falls out something like this:

On the left side of the European continent, French students and hooded yutes (guess who) continued their protests. Things got increasingly ugly as students and hooded yutes turned on the root cause of their distress, automobiles and motorcycles. Having incinerated most of them in previous riots they turned on the police. The police had water cannons. Not good. Looking about for fresh targets, the hooded yutes turned on the students. Heard throughout the streets of formerly Gay Paree, "Viva lalalalalalalalalalala France!"

No Pasaran! is posting the Paris Riot Watch. Well worth a read.

Virginia Blog Carnival 03/27/08

For those of you new to the Blogoshpere who are searching for Virginia blogs in particular, you can get a good sampling at the Virginia Blog Carnival (VBC) posted every week by different volunteer hosts.

The VBC features links to submitted blog entries from across the state. This week Shaun Kenney is the host and has done a great presentation so get on over there and check it out!

Another Reason to Love Bloggers and Despise the U.N.

Another good catch at Davids Medienkritick caught my eye and once again illustrates the appalling direction Kofi Annan's leadership has taken the U.N.



A German diplomat and former street fighter, Tom Koenigs, has been appointed by Annan to the position of Special Representative For Afghanistan.

The life experiences that led to Tom Koenigs' prestigious appointment include:

In his early years of inner turmoil, the banker's son from Cologne is supposed to have bequeathed his inherited wealth to the Vietcong. Later, as a member of the Green party, he served as the environmental counselor of the city of Frankfurt. Koenigs is supposed also to have figured among "Fisherman's Friends" as one strapped on one's motorcycle helmet before encounters with the police. Afterwards at the bar, according to the former Green Party member Jutta Ditfurth, the guys bragged about their heroic deeds in the confrontations with the "pigs" [Bullen – literally "bulls"]. FAZ.net for the original, Transatlantic Intelligencer for the translation

Check out Koenig's old buddy, Joschka Fischer, in the same article. Koenig and Fischer, along with Dany Cohn-Bendit, of the Paris 1968 riots, were members of (what else?) the Karl Marx Bookshop Co-op in Frankfurt.

I must admit, the European radicals make America's rad leftwing look like rank ameteurs. Let's hope they aren't taking notes.

The IRS Tax CodeTHAT's a Living Breathing Document

United Conservatives of Virginia

From the incredibly talented young people at Freedom Works and your FreedomWorks Richmond Chapter Leader.

On Tax Day, $125 Billion in Waste
It’s time to scrap the tax code.

Another dreaded April 15th -- Tax Day-- is upon us. Our annual tax ritual requires over 26 hours from the average person filing a standard 1040, and over 60 percent of Americans will seek professional help. The reason: the U.S. tax code now exceeds 60,000 pages, and those pages often give conflicting advice.

No wonder, back in 1976, President Jimmy Carter declared, “Our income tax system is a disgrace to the human race.”

In many ways, things are worse today than they were then. Our tax code is truly irrational, and Tax Day has become an embarrassing national symbol of waste and abuse.

Every year, Congress adds, extends, and changes the deductions, credits, and other special preferences in our tax law. Because of these loopholes, compliance is a nightmare and the overall complexity is mind-numbing. Worse, the final result is often unfair: taxpayers with similar incomes can game the system and pay vastly different amounts in taxes.

In fact, the U.S. Department of Treasury now estimates the total cost of complying with the income tax at $125 billion a year. (Other estimates are as high as $194 billion a year.) Either way, that is a staggering and complete waste of resources. By way of comparison, the entire U.S. automobile and auto parts manufacturing industry added $120 billion to the economy in 2004, according to the National Association of Manufacturers. Or to look at it another way, the 6.6 billion hours we will spend as a nation completing our taxes this year is more time than it will take to build every car, truck, and van produced in the United States America, once a land symbolized by the open road and pioneering muscle cars, is fast becoming the nation of the tax form and the dulled accounting pencil.

The cost of the tax code essentially amounts to $125 billion in investment capital we do not have for the U.S. economy, or for our education system (or for any other purpose you can think of). Unless Congress acts, over the next eight years, tax complexity will waste around one trillion dollars.

To look at it another way, $125 billion is more personal income than a lot of states create in an entire year. The tax code’s loss to our economy is so immense it is as though the federal government has assigned everyone living in South Carolina or Oregon to do nothing more than read and complete tax forms for the entire year. Thanks, Congress.

I.R.S. audits are up 21 percent over the past year, which only compounds the nation’s misery on Tax Day 2006. After all, even the I.R.S. does not understand the code they have been forced to administer. The IRS sends out eight billion pages of forms and instructions each year which, if laid end to end, would circle the earth 28 times. Nearly 300,000 trees are cut down each year to produce the paper on which IRS forms and instructions are printed. The blame lies with Congress, and the complicated mess our elected officials have foisted on the American people.

The current tax code causes tax season headaches and reduces our overall standard of living. It also is the leading driver of political corruption in Washington, D.C. Since 1998, 483 companies have lobbied the IRS alone, hiring 2,884 tax lobbyists, including 277 former federal government employees. While thousands of lobbyists in Washington are prospering under the current complicated tax code, the typical taxpayer clearly is not.

It is clearly time for reform. In a report to Congress earlier this year, Nina Olson, the National Taxpayer Advocate, called for “a sanity check” of regular reviews of the tax code. That would be a good start, but what we really need to do is completely scrap the code and start over with a design that makes sense.

Indeed, a positive way to look at the current mess is to see that tax reform is a huge opportunity to boost economic growth in this country. Instead of creating new government handouts to help struggling American businesses, Congress needs simply to free our economy from the wasteful cost of the tax code. The goal should be a tax code that is simple, fair, honest, and flat. The average American should be able to complete their taxes without professional help, using just a single form.

On Tax Day 2006, as America’s workers try to pay their taxes, we should also demand that Congress scrap the code and pass fundamental tax reform.

FAIR TAX BLOGBURST 03/22/06

One of the original aims of the FairTax Blogburst was to establish a dialogue or healthy debate about this endeavor. We cordially invite all readers of this Blogburst to submit questions to their respective hosts. We believe that upon discovering the answers to questions, doubters will become supporters, and thus will further our effort in ensuring the passage of the FairTax.

A reader of United Conservatives of Virginia, one of the FairTax Blogburst participant blogs, posed a question about last week’s article that deserves a fair response:

Is this statement correct or is there a “typo” here? “According to the Tax Foundation, just the time and effort of complying with our massively complex tax code costs the average small business about $724 for every $100 it pays in income taxes to the government.” If there is no typo, I am having trouble understanding it.

The statement is correct, and comes from testimony given by Tax Foundation Senior Economist Arthur P. Hall before the House Ways and Means Committee. The entire document is available in PDF format on the Tax Foundation’s web site here (8 pages). The article containing Mr. Hall’s testimony can be found on page 3. (Incidentally, if you want a good laugh, go to page 4 and read Representative Jim McDermott’s (D-WA) comments on our current tax system, especially the first paragraph.)

In fact, the actual text from the report is more disturbing than we originally reported in last week’s Blogburst:

Dr. Hall’s calculations show that two-thirds of the federal income tax compliance costs are borne by U.S. businesses. Relative to asset size, small corporations (those with up to $1 million in assets — 90 percent of all U .S . corporations) bear a compliance cost burden at least 27 times greater than the largest U.S. corporations (those with $10 billion or more in assets). In fact, in 1992, the most recent year that complete income tax revenue data is available, small corporations on average had to pay at a minimum $724 in compliance costs for every $100 they paid in income tax. (Dr. Hall notes that, for those small corporations that did not end the year in the red, the figure was $377 for every $100.) [emphasis added]

It should be noted that Dr. Hall’s testimony was given 10 years ago in 1996, and referenced figures for 1992, the latest then available. The tax code has grown considerably over the last 14 years, so the cost of compliance in 2006 is going to be that much greater. But would the FairTax be any better? Take a look at the following chart which appeared in the report cited above. While it does not reflect 100% conformity with the FairTax plan currently under consideration as H.R. 25 and S. 25, it does represent compliance costs associated with a national sales tax:



The cost of compliance delves into an issue at the heart of why I personally want to secure passage of the FairTax. The American economy rests on the backs of small business, which remains the heart and soul of America. As such, anything that can break the shackles that bind our entrepreneurs can do nothing but help each and every American to become more prosperous. The very same Americans that Thomas Jefferson was speaking of when he took to drafting the indelible words “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

But, what specifically does it mean to pay $724 for every $100 paid in income tax? It essentially means that the small business owner must pay $724 in order to comply with existing tax law, in addition to paying $100 in taxes, or $824 total. This, after already having suffered through red ink in the previous year. I think co-burst owner Terry said it best earlier this week,

“The short answer is that ‘compliance’ involves much more than filling out forms on or before April 15 each year. It involves paying someone to maintain records on expenditures to a level that would otherwise be unneccessary, maintaining file space for the documentation required in the event of an audit, and paying an accountant to make sure you’re in compliance, among other things.”

So, not only is there a burden to pay the tax, but there is the hidden burden of compliance. Just think of what it takes for you personally to comply when it comes time to prepare your own taxes, then consider the plight of a small businessman with employees. These are costs our economy cannot afford during the best of times or the worst of times.

The FairTax plan would drastically reduce compliance costs literally overnight.

The FairTax Blogburst is jointly produced by Jonathan of Publius Rendezvous and Terry of The Right Track Blog . If you would like to join us, please e-mail Jonathan or Terry. You will be added to our mailing list and blogroll.

FairTax Blogroll
KimPriestap
Don Surber
Ogre's Politics & Views
Blue State Conservatives
Oblogatory Anecdotes
Euphoric Reality
Slobokan's Site O' Schtuff
Right Truth
Liberally Conservative
United Conservatives of Virginia
Third World County
Ms. Underestimated
The Buzz Blog
Area 417
Publius Rendezvous
The Right Track
Cao's Blog
RightWing Nation

Our Marine is Home!

We drove down to Camp Lejeune early this week for our son's homecoming. It was cold and raining but we couldn't have cared less. A tremendous shout went up from the families as the first Marine stepped off the bus and after a little searching through the crowd there he was, tired and hungry and smiling.

Here is a bit of what the 3/6 accomplished on this deployment.

A RESOLUTION--ROANOKE COUNTY REPUBLICAN PARTY

MEETING ON MARCH 20, 2006

Whereas, the General Assembly raised our taxes during the previous session, and
Whereas, the General Assembly is considering another tax increase, in the face of a budget surplus of $1.4 billion or more, and
Whereas, some Republican members of the Virginia Senate and Virginia House of Delegates are actually supporting Gov. Kaine's call for higher taxes,
Be it therefore resolved that the Roanoke County Republican Party STRONGLY OPPOSES further tax and fee increases of any kind and asks our elected Representatives to vote NO on tax and fee increases, and this request will be communicated in writing to each of them, prior to the late March budget special session.
Al Thomason
Chairman
Roanoke County Republican Party

Moonbats Can be Fun

InsaneHippie has a humorous rundown on the Anti-War, Anti-Everything Rally that was held in Monroe Park last Sunday, March 19th. The protesters numbered about 200. They carried a very large black flag with one red star on it at the front of their march.

The Pro-America counter demonstrators across the street numbered 13 and included a Gold Star Dad, Blue Star Mom, Marine, Navy, Army & Air Force Veterans and friends of the Military. We held several American flags, right side up, flapping proudly in the breeze. It was a good day to be an American.





Dispatches from around the state:
From On High: The Groundswell That Wasn't
RightsideVA: Valley Shows Its Support - Again and Photos
Commonealth Watch: Death to America
Bristol Views: The War at Three
Richmond Times Dispatch: Anti-war Activists Rally

A Change of Heart On Iraq For Governor Kaine?

Governor Tim Kaine had some very supportive remarks in the Richmond Times Dispatch about the war in Afghanistan and Iraq after his trip overseas last week. It is quite unusual for a high profile Democrat official to say:

"morale was really high. That was really a highlight . . . just to get a chance to say, 'Thank you."

... "I do share the president's view that . . . we're there and it's time to build a democracy. That's pretty noble -- it's difficult, but it's noble." The big question is when American troops should leave Iraq, he said.

"I have not been of a school that we should set a timetable to leave. I think that would be a real disaster. I feel that even stronger having been there," he said.

I felt that the following remarks in his response to the President's State of the Union Address in January 2006 were presumptious and insulting:

Our federal government should serve the American people. But that mission is frustrated by this administration's poor choices and bad management.

Families in the Gulf Coast see that as they wait to rebuild their lives. Americans who lose their jobs see that as they look to rebuild their careers. And our soldiers in Iraq see that as they try to rebuild a nation.

Has Governor Kaine experienced a change of heart or a change of strategy? I sincerely hope it is a change of heart. Our military men and women should never be used as political pawns.

FAIR TAX BLOGBURST 03/15/06

One question that seems to be bantered about from time to time as we delve into the issues surrounding the Fair Tax is the corporate tax. It would seem that many citizens are concerned that if the Fair Tax were enacted, corporations would not pay taxes at all. What our fellow citizens have not yet grasped is the false facade that is corporations. All citizens are able to see is the news thrust in their faces that aggrandizes the profits these corporations bring home. Case in point, during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, there was a time in the news when gas and oil companies were demonized for their outrageous profits.

Yet, our citizens do not stop to consider just what a corporation truly is. A corporation is nothing but a legal fiction, which means that there are individuals behind these fictions. Individuals just like you and I.

There is only one entity in this country that actually pays taxes, and that entity is the individual. Businesses and corporations merely collect the taxes from individuals and pass them on to the government. Taxes are paid from wages, and in this country, only individuals earn wages.
What is utterly amazing about this is the way this is politicized. Both of the major parties vigorously demonize corporations as though they are evil and out to rob the poor to fill the coffers of the rich. Yet, when one understands the simplicity of this 'fiction’, it is easy to see why politicians are able to get away with such disingenuous attacks. With such, no revenue is to be lost if we were the individuals forced to bear the load.

Tax collectors discovered long ago how convenient it was to disguise a significant percentage of government revenues as corporate taxes. Politicians realized that the average American knows no more about corporate accounting and taxation than Dan Marino does about hockey goaltending. After all, they run the schools, remember?

What's more, you may ask on top of the burden that is placed on each of us through this cover of darkness, think of how difficult it is to comply with your taxes each and every year. Once again, not only are the taxes paid by corporations a fiction that inevitably resides in your pocket, the cost of compliance is thrust upon our backs, as well. Usually, an individual has to set aside a significant portion of their time to prepare each Spring. This inefficient use of time could definitely be more fruitful if put to use for something of our own choosing. Now, picture the cost and time surrounding a corporation's complying with the behemoth known as the Internal Revenue Code.

The corporate tax rate in the United States is the third highest in the industrial world, and the burden falls most heavily on small businesses. According to the Tax Foundation, just the time and effort of complying with our massively complex tax code costs the average small business about $724 for every $100 it pays in income taxes to the government. It is hard to imagine a more incredible waste of human and business effort. In total, the Director of the Congressional Budget Office believes that it costs American businesses somewhere between $400 and $500 billion.

But what of the actual corporate taxes that are indeed paid? I think this, itself, would be the more legitimate question. For, it would be a concern to one actually concerned with the sizable revenue generated by the income tax.

So, the next time you begin to demonize a corporation in regards to the insignificant amount of taxes it pays, remember this post.

The FairTax Blogburst is jointly produced by Terry of The Right Track Blog and Jonathan of Publius Rendezvous. If you would like to join us, please e-mail Terry or Jonathan. You will be added to our mailing list and blogroll.

FairTax Blogroll
RightWing Nation
KimPriestap
Don Surber
Ogre's Politics & Views
Blue State Conservatives
Oblogatory Anecdotes
Euphoric Reality
Slobokan's Site O' Schtuff
Right Truth
Liberally Conservative
United Conservatives of Virginia
Third World County
Publius Rendezvous
The Right Track
Cao's Blog

Letter From the Mayor of Tall Afar, Ninewa, Iraq

This Sunday, March 19th, marks the 3rd Anniversary of the beginning of the War in Iraq.

As the local moonbat contingent made their plans to exercise their right of free speech to protest on the 19th at the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond of all places, the Lee Brothers, Scott and Richard, read this letter on the air on WRVA 1140AM.

In the Name of God the Compassionate and Merciful

To the Courageous Men and Women of the 3d Armored Calvary Regiment, who have changed the city and Tall Afar from a ghost town, in which terrorists spread death and destruction, to a secure city flourishing with life.

To the lion-hearts who liberated our city from the grasp of terrorists who were beheading men, women and children in the streets for many months.

To those who spread smiles on the faces of our children, and gave us restored hope, through their personal sacrifice and brave fighting, and gave new life to the city after hopelessness darkened our days, and stole our confidence in our ability to reestablish our city.

Our city was the main base of operations for Abu Mousab Al Zarqawi. The city completely held hostage in the hands of this henchman. Our schools, governmental services, businesses and offices were closed. Our streets were silent, and no one dared to walk them. Our people were barricaded in their homes out of fear; death awaited them around every corner. Terrorists occupied and controlled the only hospital in the city. Their savagery reached such a level that they stuffed the corpses of children with explosives and tossed them into the streets in order to kill grieving parents attempting to retrieve the bodies of their young

This was the situation of our city until God prepared and delivered unto them the courageous soldiers of the 3d Armored Calvary Regiment, who liberated this city, ridding it of Zarqawi's followers after harsh fighting, killing many terrorists and forcing the remaining butchers to flee the city like rats to the surrounding areas, where the bravery of other 3d ACR soldiers in Sinjar, Rabiah, Zumar, and Avgani finally destroyed them.

I have met many soldiers of the 3d Armored Calvary Regiment; they are not only courageous men and women, but avenging angels sent by The God Himself to fight the evil of terrorism.

The leaders of this Regiment; COL McMaster, COL Armstrong, LTC Hickey, LTC Gibson, and LTC Reilly embody courage, strength, vision and wisdom.

Officers and soldiers alike bristle with the confidence and character of knights in a bygone era. The mission they have accomplished, by means of a unique military operation, stands among the finest military feats to date in Operation Iraqi Freedom and truly deserves to be studied in military science. The military operation was clean, with little collateral damage, despite the ferocity of the enemy. With the skill and precision of surgeons they dealt with the terrorist cancers in the city without causing unnecessary damage.

God Bless this brave Regiment; God Bless the families who dedicated these brave men and women. Form the bottom of our hearts we thank the families. They have given us something we will never forget. To the families of those who have given their holy blood for our land, we all bow to you in reverence and to the souls of your loved ones. Their sacrifice was not in vain. They are not dead, but alive, and their souls hovering around us every second of every minute. They will never be forgotten for giving their precious lives. They have sacrificed that which is most valuable. We see them in the smile of every child, and in every flower growing in this land. Let America, their families, and the world be proud of their sacrifice for humanity and life.

Finally, no matter how much I write or speak about this brave Regiment, I haven't the words to describe the courage of its officers and soldiers. I pray to God to grant happiness and health to these legendary heroes and their brave families.

NAJIM ABDULLAH ABID-JIBOURI

Mayor of Tall Afar, Ninewa, Iraq

Attorney General Bob McDonnell Speaks at 2006 Pro-Life Conference in Richmond 03-11-06

Attorney General Bob McDonnell addressed Richmond's first Pro-Life Conference (Pastors For Life) this Saturday, March 11th, 2006. Introduced by the Honorable Geline Williams, former Richmond mayor and chairman of the National Right to Life Committee, Mr. McDonnell spoke on his efforts to promote, introduce and pass pro-life legislation during his fourteen years in the General Assembly. The victories were few but notable: parental notification, informed consent and the passage of the partial-birth abortion ban.

The Attorney General spoke with conviction urging attendees to continue to perservere with patience and maintain a positive demeanor. This writer was impressed favorably with the speaker's own demeanor and the warm reception he received. The man has "IT" and it is not hard to imagine him seated behind that desk in the West Wing. Not hard at all.

The Richmond Times Dispatch covered the Conference but curiously made no mention of Bob McDonnell. The article did quote a Planned Parenthood spokesman who was not there.

The conference itself was very well organized and featured a wide range of excellent speakers who were black, white, young, old, male,female, local and out-of-state.

Dr. Clenard Childress, who really layed the message out about Black Genocide had the crowd on their feet.

Out of every 5 black women who become pregnant, 3 of them abort! Blacks comprise 14% of the population in our country and account for 35% of all abortions. Why? In large part because they have been targeted by Planned Parenthood from its inception. Built upon the racist eugenics of Margaret Sanger and her friends they target low income women, young women & girls and minority women to the extent that 78% of abortion "clinics" are in minority neighborhoods.

There are many conservatives who do not feel comfortable confronting the abortion problem but with 44 million lives lost to abortion since 1973, 14 million of them African Americans, it is a major, if not THE defining issue of American civilization. If you have any doubts about that, take a trip to the Holocaust Museum in Washington and look at the photos of the dismembered remnants of the "Jewish problem". We have not learned a thing.

John Edwards Does An About Face

Suspicions confirmed. John Edwards IS bassackwards.

Someone on the Edwards staff is having way too much fun.
Hat tip to Delmarva Dealings.

Warner & Bono: Money Talks But Who's Listening?

One of America's wealthiest politicians hangin' with one of Rock's wealthiest musicians. Does that toe tag around Mark's neck read DOA '08? Love the feminine side of those Elvis shades, Bono! Party on dudes!


Hat tip to the Blue Dog.

Disinformation

History may be written by the victors, but, unfortunately, news is written by the media. So it’s up to us, the rightgirls and rightboys of the world, to correct the lies and misperceptions they promulgate throughout the country.

Richard Miniter provides plenty of material to accomplish this task in his book Disinformation: 22 Media Myths That Undermine the War on Terror. The UCV Book Club met on Wednesday to discuss Miniter’s book. We were in agreement that the evidence Miniter offers in his book strongly support his claims and give us a point-by-point way to dispute liberal allegations. Among the most common media myths: that bin Laden was funded by the CIA (myth #1), that Bush had advance warning of the September 11 attacks (myth #5), that Iraq had no WMDs (myth #11).

This book club member took issue with myth #7, that the-post September 11 world is more dangerous than the pre-September 11 world. Even after reading Miniter's thoughts, rightgirl still maintains that during the Cold War, at least we had MAD. Now, our enemy would destroy us even if it destroyed itself in the process.

Next up: The Clash of Civilizations by Samuel Huntington. See you April 12!

FAIR TAX BLOGBURST 03/08/06

Fair Tax, Flat Tax, No Tax - UCV members do not all agree on how best to reform or restructure the federal tax system but we do recognize the importance of learning as much as we can about the different options.

It is going to take a long time to create the momentum necessary for a serious overhaul of the Taxation system in America. To further that end we will be participating every Wednesday in the Fair Tax BlogBurst.

Thanks to Terry & Johnathan (links below) for all the hard work they put into this.

---

You may have noted a story recently that H&R Block, the tax preparation giant, is in trouble for, guess what? -- goofing on its own taxes.

Reuters, in a story dated February 23, says:

The company, which is in the middle of its make-or-break season preparing other people's tax returns, said it had underestimatedits own "state effective income tax rate" in previous quarters --

meaning it owes another $32 million in back taxes.

As a result, H&R Block said it would restate previously reported earnings going all the way back to 2004.

While this story seems to revolve around state taxes, the Federal Tax Code certainly doesn't make things any better. It is no secret that our Tax Code has gotten out of hand. As of 2003, the code comprised more than 55,000 pages of laws, regulations, and rulings. As of Tuesday, March 7, 2006, the IRS has 954 Forms and Publications available for download on its web site. This is up from 402 in 1990, and 526 in 2002. In addition to the common W-2, Form 1040-EZ, and others with which you might be familiar, some of the more interesting forms are:

• Form 709 (PDF) United States Gift (and Generation-Skipping Transfer)
  Tax Return


• 1200 Form W-8ECI Certificate of Foreign Person's Claim for
  Exemption From Withholding on Income Effectively Connected With the Conduct of
  a Trade or Business in the United States


• 0998 Form 1024 Application for Recognition of Exemption Under
  Section 501(a) or for Determination Under Section 120


• 1205 Form 8725 Excise Tax on Greenmail


• Five forms for reporting suspicious activity of various types


• Two forms for reporting matters related to "Indians" (I suppose the IRS never went to the politically-correct term "Native Americans")

While a tax attorney or accountant might be able to tell what these are for, I seriously doubt that anyone else can. It doesn't get any better with the "plain-language regulations" listed on the IRS web site, either:

• Revision of Income Tax Regulations under Sections 367, 884 and 6038B dealing with Statutory Mergers or Consolidations under Section 368(a)(1)(A) (January 2006)


• Miscellaneous Changes to Collection Due Process Procedures Relating to Notice and Opportunity for Hearing upon Filing of Notice of Federal Tax Lien (September 2005)


• Revisions Regulations Relating to Withholding of Tax on Certain U.S. Source Income Paid to Foreign Persons and Revisions of Information Reporting Regulations (March 2005)

Given the sheer volume of forms and regulations, here's the tickler:
if you call the IRS to ask a tax-related question, then follow the IRS's advice in completing your tax return and a mistake is found on that return, you, not the IRS, are responsible for
the error, including any late charges, interest, and/or penalties. To paraphrase a quote from Lt. Frank Drebin of the movie "The Naked Gun" (an entirely appropriate movie when it comes to the IRS), "Like a midget at a urinal, you'd better be on your toes."

It is the contention of those participating in this Blogburst that there is a better way, a way which is defined by simplicity, the complete transparency of all taxes collected (i.e., nothing is hidden), and one which requires no forms whatsoever on the part of the individual paying the taxes. The better was is, of course, the FairTax.

Under the FairTax, there is no need for forms used by the taxpayer. Most businesses are already completing similar forms for state and local taxes. The impact on these businesses will be minimal, merely one additional line on the state form. This means that rather than the almost
1,000 forms and documents currently needed by taxpayers and tax preparers now, one additional line on a form already in use will suffice, the form used by those remitting the collected tax to the Federal Government. All businesses serving as collection agents will receive a fee for collection, and the states will also receive a collection fee. The tax revenues from the states will then be sent to the U.S. Treasury.

Furthermore, the cost of compliance is greatly reduced. It is estimated that Americans spend at least $250 billion a year to comply with the tax code – that’s $850 for every man, woman, and child in America. Billions of dollars in compliance costs are wasted each year, and we have nothing of value to show for this expenditure – not one single productive service or product is added to our nation’s wealth. It is estimated that the FairTax dramatically cuts such compliance costs, perhaps as much as 95 percent.

Simply put, the FairTax is easier for the government to administer and easier for the taxpayer to comply with. These facts alone demand that the FairTax receive serious consideration.

---

The FairTax Blogburst is jointly produced by Terry of The Right Track Blog and Jonathan of Publius Rendezvous. If you would like to join us, please e-mail
Terry or Jonathan. You will be added to our mailing list and blogroll.

FairTax Blogroll

• Cao's Blog


• Right Wing Nation


• Kim Priestap


• Don Surber


• Ogre's Politics & Views


• Blue State Conservatives


• Oblogatory Anecdotes


• Euphoric Reality


• The Buzz Blog


• Slobokan's Site O' Schtuff


• Right Truth


• Liberally Conservative


• United Conservatives of Virginia


• Publius Rendezvous


• The Right Track

The Lee Brothers on WRVA March 8th, 9th & 10th

The Lee Brothers will be filling in for Mack Watson on 1140 WRVA on March 8th, 9th, and 10th from 3-6 PM.

You can listen live on line at www.1140wrva.com (requires a quick registration) and call in at 804-345-1140.

These guys do an awesome show. A favorite segment of mine when they were on 1480AM was "The Patriots Hour".

Best of luck Scott & Richard!

TankerBrothers Give "The Unit" Three Thumbs Up

The TankerBrothers, stationed in Iraq, have viewed the premier of "The Unit" and give it a Holy Sheemoly! Based on that, the McDonalds, will definitely tune in tonight.

Paradise Lost

Cox & Forkum

Israeli Shipping Company Supports UAE Ports Deal

Here is an interesting bit for those of us trying to understand the UAE ports deal. Picked up from AP/Yahoo News:

DP World is owned by the government of Dubai, which on its books supports the boycott. But the boycott has crumbled over the decades, and the UAE does not force DP World to bar Israeli goods and companies from the European, Asian and Mideast ports it manages.

CNN reported Thursday that a prominent Israeli shipping company, ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd., wrote to a U.S. senator noting it does business with DP World and supports the U.S. deal.

"As an Israeli company, security is of the utmost importance to us and we require rigorous security measures from terminal operators in every country in which we operate, but especially in Arab countries. And we are very comfortable calling at DP World's Dubai ports," ZIM chairman Idan Ofer wrote, CNN said.

The letter said ZIM is allowed to operate at Dubai ports despite the formal boycott and that DP World handles ZIM operations in Dubai, according to CNN. Ofer did not specify if those ZIM operations were subsidiaries or directly owned.

In Israel, ZIM's headquarters confirmed that Ofer sent letters to several senators.

Also worth reading: The White House Fact Sheet and Gen. Tommy Franks' take on things.

Government Agencies Need More $ But Please Don't Ask For Details

Delegate Chris Saxman continues to fight the good fight in the struggle to get state spending under control.

Recently, we have heard from top officials that while they cannot tell us how many people actually work for the state and that they physically cannot show you what they do, we need a lot more money in the meantime. Sadly, this has not been the focus of the debate. Virginia Cost Cutting Blog

I wonder how long it would take Walmart to come up with the number of people they employ worldwide, how much they make and their job descriptions? My guess is, not long at all.

The Law Is An Ass

MorningJournal.com 03/03/06
Judge Tygh M. Tone, using the U.S. Supreme Court's abortion rights case Roe v. Wade for case law, ruled in favor of the hospital, now known as Firelands Regional Medical Center, on four major claims. The 1997 class action lawsuit was brought on behalf of at least two women who had miscarriages or stillbirths at the hospital.

In addressing the women's allegations against the hospital, Tone quoted case law, including Roe v. Wade, which offered a definition of ''person'' and set precedent that legal rights of a ''person'' have ''generally been contingent upon live birth.''

snip

Ohio law and Roe v. Wade ''leads this court to believe that fetal tissue cannot be mishandled in the same regard as a body, and the alleged mishandling of fetal tissue would not constitute the common law tort of mishandling a body,'' the ruling said. ''Fetal tissue is not a 'body,' and this court refuses to extend the definition of a 'body' or 'person' to include the term 'fetal tissue.'''

snip

The hospital stated it ''would take care of the tissue, and no matter if it was stored or grinded, the tissue was removed from the care of the plaintiffs and taken care of,'' Tone wrote. Firelands hospital also had no duty to disclose how it would dispose of the tissue, the ruling said.

The hospital's protocol for tissue disposal required the fetal tissue to be disposed of in a ''tissue grinder.'' The grinder ''appears to operate similar to a garbage disposal, where the tissue is placed into the device, grinded up, and then the tissue is eventually emptied into the sanitary sewer system,'' the ruling said.

The women who initiated the suit did so because their babies were kept in jars on a shelf before "disposal" because an employee had qualms about running them through the "grinder".
A photo of Judge Tygh Tone (D) can be seen at the Ohio Democratic Party website.

CSI Has Joined Forces With 24 !!!!

What a great concept!










Preview the upcoming episode here!

Video: Commander-in-Chief in Afghanistan

I was browsing Free Republic earlier this morning and came across a link to the Pentagon Channel which can be viewed online - a good source for briefings, info & updates.






There is a video of the Commander-in-Chief shot in Afghanistan, March 1, 2006 that is a must see. The soldiers received him enthusiastically and Condi got a warm, rambunctious reception when introduced.

BTW: Best viewed in Internet Explorer. Curiously, near the end of the footage a soldier shouted, "We love you, sir!" and my monitor screen got blurry.