Undeniable Truths Make Liberals Squirm

47% of Americans pay no taxes. Thats a fact stated by our own government.

The Palestinians do not want peace with Israel. They want Israel gone.

Islam is not a religion, it's a cult of murder and brutality based on the lies of a pedophile. Mohammdead was a pedophile. He screwed little boys and girls. Muslim men prefer boys for pleasure. Muslim men raped and sodomized our ambassador to Libya before they killed him.

Obama is a muppet.  His foreign policy is at best naive; at worst, deliberate and dangerous. I doubt he's that stupid, so I can only surmise what he and his State Department are doing in the Middle East is intentional and designed to create conditions which will justify the suspension of the November elections.

On the other hand, I'm just an ignorant peasant who can barely spell my own name.

He Paid More Than Me

The current anti-Romney commercial from the opposition claims Romney paid less in taxes than you did. Thats patently false, and they count on you just hearing the words: "He only paid 14% in taxes, probably less than you." That is the only part of this piece of video garbage they got correct; the rest is pure Bravo Sierra and we're going to call them on it.

According to the video garbage released by Obama's campaign, Mitt Romney paid 14% on 20 million dollars. Thats a 2.8 million dollar tax obligation. How many of you paid 2.8 million dollars in taxes? Did Queen Nancy or Prince Harry pay that much in taxes? How about Tim Giethner or Hizzoner Rahmbo of Chitown?

I bet Dear Leader hasn't paid that much in taxes. You know why? He's never created wealth the way Romney has. Thats the part that the marxists/socialists/dhimmis hate the most. They are incapable of creating that level of wealth by their own devices, which is primarily hyperbole, so they beat us over the head with a bunch of twisted half-truths about the ones who did create wealth on their own.

As a percentage of taxable income, Romney paid a lower rate than we pay on earned income. But that's a topic for another discussion once we have taken back control of our country from the claws of the unions and socialists and marxists hell-bent on destroying the means for anyone to create wealth anywhere.

The norm will be equal misery under the boot of an oppressive governemnt. Everyone will be equally poor. Everyone will be the same. Except for the ones who started it. They'll be living the life of luxury, cause they deserve it cause they are so much better and smarter than all of us.

taxes, wealth, false ads, dhimmi propaganda, marxist tactics, socialist engineering

A Little Political Humor Courtesey of The Patriot Post

"President Obama compared himself to Gandhi and Nelson Mandela in the struggle to bring about change. The comparison is flawed. They spent years in jail before taking political power, while politicians from Chicago do it the other way around." --comedian Argus Hamilton

"One of Warren Buffet's companies owes the government $300 million in unpaid taxes. So that's why Buffet doesn't mind higher taxes on the rich: He's not gonna pay 'em anyway." --NewsBusted's Jodi Miller

"The Air Force is pulling nine cargo aircraft from military operations to support President Obama's stepped-up visits to campaign events. Good. Now he can carry his entire ego with him on the trail." --Fred Thompson

"They say gasoline could be $6 a gallon. But the good news is the White House says President Obama is aware of the problem, and will continue to talk about it between fundraisers." --comedian Jay Leno

Something We Need To Watch Closely

Treat this as you would a poisonous snake in your backyard: as soon as you see it, take the hoe and chop off its head. Its the only way to be sure.

The Left’s Plan to Impose a Value-Added Tax and Why It Won’t Work for America

Liberals are finally facing up to the fact that their big-spending ways are leading to growing deficits. But they still insist that the right solution is to raise taxes to cover their profligate spending rather than living within our means.One proposal is to implement a European-style value-added tax on consumption on top of the income tax. This new tax, Heritage’s J.D. Foster explains, would “hammer private savings for an extended period as individuals and families slash their saving rates to sustain current consumption in light of the VAT’s higher prices.”

A new analysis from Heritage tax expert Curtis Dubay explains how the VAT really works and why it is wrong for America. He also debunks several myths about the VAT: that it would increase savings rates and investment; that it would boost economic growth; that it would promote exports; and that it would allow lower income taxes.

While Americans Are Taxed on Death, Political Elites Get a Handout

While Americans Are Taxed on Death, Political Elites Get a Handout

Despite being one of the more unpopular policies in America, the death tax is set to be resurrected on January 1st. How high it will ultimately rise remains to be seen. If the tax deal passes, it will return at a 35% rate and a $5 million exemption. While not good, that’s certainly better than the 55% rate and $1 million exemption we’ll see if the deal fails. Still, both rates would mean disaster for family businesses and farms.

The hard left has inexplicably decided that not pushing hard enough for excessive taxation without respiration is where they draw the line in the sand. Nancy Pelosi referred to any deal that would lesson the fleecing of Americans upon death as “a bridge too far.” Others have referred to its inclusion in the tax deal as “gratuitous.” That’s funny, given how apt the word describes the tax itself.

What are we to make of this inexplicable drive for such an unpopular policy? One explanation is that the left simply holds a profoundly distorted view of social fairness. Rather than seek equality before the law, they look to government to enforce equality of outcomes. But other forces might be at work as well.

Another possible explanation comes courtesy of a new issue brief by the American Family Business Foundation, which highlights the cozy relationship between the life insurance industry and big government. Because life insurance benefits are untaxed, even an overpriced plan can result in more money being passed on to heirs than a simple bequeathal. The life insurance industry benefits heavily from this arrangement, with an estimated $12.5 billion in revenue coming due to estate planning. Without a death tax, much of this revenue would be lost, making the $50 million per year spent on lobbying by the industry seem like a bargain.


When the death tax was phased out temporarily, the industry went to work fighting to ensure it would rise again. This is their customers money they are spending in order to promote higher taxes, which will then force those taxpayers to purchase their product if they want to fulfill the basic human desire of providing their children. Their work is now about to pay off. And this is where the left draws their line in the sand?

To add insult to injury, the very same elites who want to rob the graves of the newly departed will get a gratuity, courtesy of US taxpayers, should they die in office. Known as the death gratuity, this benefit consists of a payout equal to one year’s worth of their bloated salary to the family of a member of Congress that dies in office. So while American farmers are struggling to find a way to pay a gratuitous death tax without selling off their property, the families of the likes of Senators Kennedy and Byrd get gratuity checks of $174,000 or more. Where is Bernie Sanders to ask when enough is enough for these political elites?

They want us broke and desperate. They know disposable income is the oil that keeps the machinery running. Eliminate all the excess income, no matter that taxes have already been paid on its generation once.

I Have To Agree

Virginia Ballot Questions 2010:

Vote NO on 1, 2, and 3
by Rob Schilling on Tuesday, October 26, 2010 at 9:15am

On November 2, 2010 Virginians will be faced with several seemingly innocuous but fatally flawed ballot questions, primarily dealing with various facets of taxation in the Commonwealth.

At hand are three constitutional amendments, which appear on the ballot following a multi-stage approval by the Virginia General Assembly, as follows:

A constitutional amendment, as established in Section 1 of Article XII, can be proposed in either house of the Virginia General Assembly. If a proposed amendment is approved by a simple majority vote in one session of the state legislature, it is automatically referred to the next session of the state legislature that occurs after the next general election of members of the Virginia House of Delegates. If in that second session the proposed amendment is “agreed to by a majority of all the members elected to each house” it is then placed before the state’s voters. If approved by a simple majority vote, it becomes part of the state’s constitution.

Question 1 reads:

Shall Section 6 of Article X of the Constitution of Virginia be amended to authorize legislation that will permit localities to establish their own income or financial worth limitations for purposes of granting property tax relief for homeowners not less than 65 years of age or permanently and totally disabled?

Question 2 reads:

Shall the Constitution be amended to require the General Assembly to provide a real property tax exemption for the principal residence of a veteran, or his or her surviving spouse, if the veteran has a 100 percent service-connected, permanent, and total disability?

Questions 1 and 2 deal with real estate taxation. Helping veterans, disabled, and elderly people is a noble goal, as is tax reduction; the means by which the assistance will be granted, however, is insidious.

America’s founders recognized inherent peril in progressive taxation: a citizen exempt from paying taxes that his neighbor must pay, has no incentive in keeping the tax low because he, himself, does not pay the tax.

Alexander Hamilton warned against multi-tiered real estate taxation schemes in Federalist 35:

“No tax can be laid on land which will not affect the proprietor of millions of acres as well as the proprietor of a single acre. Every land-holder will therefore have a common interest to keep the taxes on land as low as possible; and common interest may always be reckoned upon as the surest bond of sympathy.”

The disastrous results of nearly a century of progressive income taxation can be seen in present day America where 47% of U.S. households paid no federal income tax in 2009. Those paying no tax actually have a vested interest in seeing rates raised for federal income-taxpayers, in order to maintain their own tax-free status.

Virginians would be unwise to allow their system of property taxation to emulate the federal model of progressive income taxation with its designated “winners and losers” and special “protected” classes.

By adding more exceptions to the rule, Virginia Ballot Questions 1 and 2 continue the erosion of “flat” (i.e., equitable) real estate taxation in the Commonwealth, ultimately to the detriment of maintaining Hamilton’s referenced common interests in private property rights and ownership.

Ballot Question 3 fundamentally enlarges state government at the expense of ordinary citizens and the overall state economy.

Question 3 reads:

Shall Section 8 of Article X of the Constitution of Virginia be amended to increase the permissible size of the Revenue Stabilization Fund (also known as the “rainy day fund”) from 10 percent to 15 percent of the Commonwealth’s average annual tax revenues derived from income and retail sales taxes for the preceding three fiscal years?

Increasing the allowable size of Virginia’s “rainy day fund” by 50% is a colossally bad idea. The state is not a bank, an investment, or a savings account; it should hold as little of the people’s money as is practical.

Funds retained by government are unavailable to the state’s economy and thus stifle economic activity both of businesses and individuals.

In addition, fattening the state’s “slush” fund encourages growth in the size and scope of state government, and it is a disincentive to vital cost cutting and budget reform/reduction measures.

Disappointingly, many known “conservatives” publicly are supporting some or all of these constitutional amendments— each of which was passed unanimously in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly. In reality, legislators will reap political gain and political power from the passage of the measures: this is another opportunity to buy votes and to curry favor from large constituencies, all in the name of providing assistance.

As an entire class, property owners are deserving of relief from crushing real estate taxation in Virginia, but such reprieve granted piecemeal is detrimental to property rights and to America’s common interest in limited government. There are better and more American-centric ways to assist veterans, disabled, and elderly people. And, growing the ability of the state to confiscate—and ultimately spend—greater sums will further saddle taxpaying Virginians and encumber Virginia’s struggling economy.

Don’t be fooled by seemingly sympathetic subjects. Progressive taxation and government largesse have not benefited America in the preceding century. The 2010 ballot questions are bad news for liberty loving Virginians, and if passed, they will result in greater state control over our everyday lives.

Virginia Ballot Questions 2010: Vote NO on 1, 2, and 3.

The Continuing Conspiracy

Most epic book video ever?
Jonathon M. Seidl
Steven Malanga of the Manhattan Institute has a new book out Shakedown: The Continuing Conspiracy Against the American Taxpayer. If there is a doubt in your mind the labor unions, community activists, and the president are bedfellows, this book removes it. If that description doesn’t make you want to read the book, then maybe the marketing video will. Epic:

Words - Just Words

Defensive much? Obama gives rambling, incoherrent 17 minute response to concern about being ‘overtaxed’
By: Mark Hemingway

We constantly hear about the President’s supposedly cool demeanor and unflappability, regardless of evidence to the contrary. Keep that in mind as you read this Washington Post account:

Toward the end of a question-and-answer session with workers at an advanced battery technology manufacturer, a woman named Doris stood to ask the president whether it was a “wise decision to add more taxes to us with the health care” package.

“We are over-taxed as it is,” Doris said bluntly.

Obama started out feisty. “Well, let’s talk about that, because this is an area where there’s been just a whole lot of misinformation, and I’m going to have to work hard over the next several months to clean up a lot of the misapprehensions that people have,” the president said.

He then spent the next 17 minutes and 12 seconds lulling the crowd into a daze. His discursive answer – more than 2,500 words long — wandered from topic to topic, including commentary on the deficit, pay-as-you-go rules passed by Congress, Congressional Budget Office reports on Medicare waste, COBRA coverage, the Recovery Act and Federal Medical Assistance Percentages (he referred to this last item by its inside-the-Beltway name, “F-Map”). He talked about the notion of eliminating foreign aid (not worth it, he said). He invoked Warren Buffett, earmarks and the payroll tax that funds Medicare (referring to it, in fluent Washington lingo, as “FICA”).

But wait, there’s more!

From Their Lips....

Demo-gogues on ObamaCare

"If you're making over $200,000 a year, you're going to pay slightly more in taxes. It's the cost, I think, of having the kind of America that we want to have." --Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), who by "we" means "congressional Democrats"

"Well, the drug companies will have their profits reduced by close to $90 billion over the lifetime of this bill. That's part of the strategy moving forward." --job-killing, innovation-crushing Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius There goes the incentive for R&D.

"The harsh fact of the matter is when you're going to pass legislation that will cover 300 American people in different ways it takes a long time to do the necessary administrative steps that have to be taken to put the legislation together to control the people." --Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) caught on tape letting the Freudian goal of ObamaCare slip

"When the deal goes down, uhh, this talk about uhh, rules, we make them up, as we go along..." -- Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL), a former federal judge impeached for corruption and perjury, thus, in the small minds of rule-of-men-types, qualifying him to serve as a representative and member of the House Rules Committee, on the sausage factory recipe used to pass ObamaCare.

Lets Give the IRS More Authority, Shall We?

I wonder if they've taken delivery of their new toys yet?

Income
Rendition
Services

IRS to Enforce Health Reform

(CNSNews.com) – The Internal Revenue Service will function as the government’s chief enforcer for health care reform, should President Obama sign the bill into law as expected, monitoring both businesses and individuals to certify whether they have the insurance coverage the government requires.

The tax collection agency will be responsible for monitoring and enforcing compliance with the individual and employer insurance mandates which form the backbone of the Democrats’ hard-won reforms. The bill states that the purpose of the mandates is to regulate “economic and financial decisions about how and when health care is paid for, and when health insurance is purchased.”
/snip
The IRS would monitor individuals and businesses’ health insurance statuses through the mandatory reporting the bill requires. Under the law, every individual and most businesses are required to report to the IRS, on their tax returns, whether they have purchased or provided the required level of coverage and disclose to the IRS which months, if any, in which they failed to do so.
Using this information, the IRS would then determine whether an employer or individual falls under the mandate, which contains exceptions for religious conscience, hardship, incarcerated persons, and members of Indian tribes.

Yeah baby..Lets give the IRS more authority and better shotguns.

Written By A Former Marine

Attributed to Robert A. Hall, a Marine Vietnam veteran who served five terms in the Massachusetts State Senate.

I'm 63. Except for one semester in college when jobs were scarce and a six-month period when I was between jobs, but job-hunting every day, I've worked, hard, since I was 18. Despite some health challenges, I still put in 50-hour weeks, and haven't called in sick in seven or eight years. I make a good salary, but I didn't inherit my job or my income, and I worked to get where I am. Given the economy, there's no retirement in sight, and I'm tired. Very tired.

I'm tired of being told that I have to "spread the wealth" to people who don't have my work ethic. I'm tired of being told the government will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy to earn it.

I'm tired of being told that I have to pay more taxes to "keep people in their homes." Sure, if they lost their jobs or got sick, I'm willing to help. But if they bought McMansions at three times the price of our paid-off, $250,000 condo, on one-third of my salary, then let the left-wing Congress-critters who passed Fannie and Freddie and the Community Reinvestment Act that created the bubble help them with their own money.

I'm tired of being told how bad America is by left-wing millionaires like Michael Moore, George Soros and Hollywood Entertainers who live in luxury because of the opportunities America offers. In thirty years, if they get their way, the United States will have the economy of Zimbabwe , the freedom of the press of China , the crime and violence of Mexico , the tolerance for Christian people of Iran , and the freedom of speech of Venezuela .

I'm tired of being told that Islam is a "Religion of Peace," when every day I can read dozens of stories of Muslim men killing their sisters, wives and daughters for their family "honor"; of Muslims rioting over some slight offense; of Muslims murdering Christian and Jews because they aren't "believers"; of Muslims burning schools for girls; of Muslims stoning teenage rape victims to death for "adultery"; of Muslims mutilating the genitals of little girls; all in the name of Allah, because the Qur'an and Shari'a law tells them to.

I'm tired of being told that "race doesn't matter" in the post-racial world of Obama, when it's all that matters in affirmative action jobs, lower college admission and graduation standards for minorities (harming them the most), government contract
set-asides, tolerance for the ghetto culture of violence and fatherless children that hurts minorities more than anyone, and in the appointment of U.S. Senators from Illinois.

I think it's very cool that we have a black president and that a black child is doing her homework at the desk where Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation. I just wish the black president was Condi Rice, or someone who believes more in freedom and the individual and less arrogantly of an all-knowing government.

I'm tired of a news media that thinks Bush's fundraising and inaugural expenses were obscene, but that think Obama's, at triple the cost, were wonderful; that thinks Bush exercising daily was a waste of presidential time, but Obama exercising is a great example for the public to control weight and stress; that picked over every line of Bush's military records, but never demanded that Kerry release his; that slammed Palin, with two years as governor, for being too inexperienced for VP, but touted Obama with three years as senator as potentially the best president ever. Wonder why people are dropping their subscriptions or switching to Fox News? Get a clue. I didn't vote for Bush in 2000, but the media and Kerry drove me to his camp in 2004.

I'm tired of being told that out of "tolerance for other cultures" we must let Saudi Arabia use our oil money to fund mosques and madrassa Islamic schools to preach hate in America , while no American group is allowed to fund a church, synagogue or religious school in Saudi Arabia to teach love and tolerance.

I'm tired of being told I must lower my living standard to fight global warming, which no one is allowed to debate. My wife and I live in a two-bedroom apartment and carpool together five miles to our jobs. We also own a three-bedroom condo where our daughter and granddaughter live. Our carbon footprint is about 5% of Al Gore's, and if you're greener than Gore, you're green enough.

I'm tired of being told that drug addicts have a disease, and I must help support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do. Did a giant germ rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder up their noses while they tried to fight it off? I don't think Gay people choose to be Gay, but I damn sure think druggies chose to take drugs. And I'm tired of harassment from cool people treating me like a freak when I tell them I never tried marijuana.

I'm tired of illegal aliens being called "undocumented workers," especially the ones who aren't working, but are living on welfare or crime. What's next? Calling drug dealers, "Undocumented Pharmacists"? And, no, I'm not against Hispanics. Most of them are Catholic, and it's been a few hundred years since Catholics wanted to kill me for my religion. I'm willing to fast track for citizenship any Hispanic person, who can speak English, doesn't have a criminal record and who is self-supporting without family on welfare, or who serves honorably for three years in our military.... Those are the citizens we need.

I'm tired of latte liberals and journalists, who would never wear the uniform of the Republic themselves, or let their entitlement-handicapped kids near a recruiting station, trashing our military. They and their kids can sit at home, never having to make split-second decisions under life and death circumstances, and bad mouth better people than themselves. Do bad things happen in war? You bet. Do our troops sometimes misbehave? Sure. Does this compare with the atrocities that were the policy of our enemies for the last fifty years and still are? Not even close. So here's the deal. I'll let myself be subjected to all the humiliation and abuse that was heaped on terrorists at Abu Ghraib or Gitmo, and the critics can let themselves be subject to captivity by the Muslims, who tortured and beheaded Daniel Pearl in Pakistan, or the Muslims who tortured and murdered Marine Lt. Col. William Higgins in Lebanon, or the Muslims who ran the blood-spattered Al Qaeda torture rooms our troops found in Iraq, or the Muslims who cut off the heads of schoolgirls in Indonesia, because the girls were Christian. Then we'll compare notes. British and American soldiers are the only troops in history that civilians came to for help and handouts, instead of hiding from in fear.

I'm tired of people telling me that their party has a corner on virtue and the other party has a corner on corruption. Read the papers; bums are bipartisan. And I'm tired of people telling me we need bipartisanship. I live in Illinois , where the
"Illinois Combine" of Democrats has worked to loot the public for years. Not to mention the tax cheats in Obama's cabinet.

I'm tired of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers and politicians of both parties talking about innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes or youthful mistakes, when we all know they think their only mistake was getting caught. I'm tired of people with a sense of entitlement, rich or poor.

Speaking of poor, I'm tired of hearing people with air-conditioned homes, color TVs and two cars called poor. The majority of Americans didn't have that in 1970, but we didn't know we were "poor." The poverty pimps have to keep changing the definition of poor to keep the dollars flowing.

I'm real tired of people who don't take responsibility for their lives and actions. I'm tired of hearing them blame the government, or discrimination or big-whatever for their problems.

Yes, I'm damn tired. But I'm also glad to be 63. Because, mostly, I'm not going to have to see the world these people are making. I'm just sorry for my granddaughter.

AFPVA Lends A Hand With the Budget

A message from Americans for Prosperity:

Yesterday in Richmond, we rolled out our "Commonsense Model Budget" for VA. It was a packed house in the press briefing room at the General Assembly building and as you can imagine, there were lots of questions regarding where cuts should be made, how deep, and whether or not tax and certain fee increases would be appropriate to close the more than $4 billion shortfall we are currently facing. The reactions have been swift:

The Washington Post quoted Gov. Bob McDonnell's office as saying "The input from AFP will be very helpful in this process and we thank them for their innovative ideas."

The Lynchburg News & Advance quoted the report, pointing out that "even as the manufacturing, trade and services sectors of Virginia employment lost employees in the recession, government employment grew by 10,900."

WDBJ-TV in Roanoke quoted Delegate Ben Cline saying, "They (AFP) have put eyes on the budget and invested time, money and effort in reviewing our budget from top to bottom, and making specific recomendations."

The report details, by agency and department, where savings can be found by simply using controls that should have been used a long time ago. In all, we recommend more than $5 billion in cuts (including the $2 billion Gov. Kaine propsed.)

We made 5,000 copies of the 139 page report and will be distributing them to citizen activists around the commonwealth as we travel across Virginia holding dozens of town hall meetings in the next couple weeks.

I have to say, that in the more than two years as AFP's state director here in VA, nothing we've done to this point has been more important. It is time to turn the "cut spending" rhetoric into action.

Click here to contact your legislators and tell them, "No new tax increases in the
state budget,"

We have the opportunity to move Virginia forward. If we continue to make our voices heard, I know we will succeed. To view the report online, please visit our web site at www.afpva.org

In order to download the PDF, you must create a username and password by simply clicking "sign up."

Ben Marchi

Tax Rates Going Up

Work hard, Citizens. The wealth re-distribution is just getting started.

Backdoor taxes to hit middle class

NEW YORK (Reuters.com) --The Obama administration's plan to cut more than $1 trillion from the deficit over the next decade relies heavily on so-called backdoor tax increases that will result in a bigger tax bill for middle-class families.

In the 2010 budget tabled by President Barack Obama on Monday, the White House wants to let billions of dollars in tax breaks expire by the end of the year -- effectively a tax hike by stealth.

While the administration is focusing its proposal on eliminating tax breaks for individuals who earn $250,000 a year or more, middle-class families will face a slew of these backdoor increases.

The targeted tax provisions were enacted under the Bush administration's Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001.

Among other things, the law lowered individual tax rates, slashed taxes on capital gains and dividends, and steadily scaled back the estate tax to zero in 2010.

If the provisions are allowed to expire on December 31, the top-tier personal income tax rate will rise to 39.6 percent from 35 percent. But lower-income families will pay more as well: the 25 percent tax bracket will revert back to 28 percent; the 28 percent bracket will increase to 31 percent; and the 33 percent bracket will increase to 36 percent. The special 10 percent bracket is eliminated.

More here

Flat Tax or Fair Tax - We Need One or the Other

10% Flat Tax across the board. No deductions, no exemptions. Paid quarterly. Everyone pays.
If you want to access the "real cash" flowing daily in America, a 10% National Retail Sales Tax will get anyone who buys stuff. A VAT will only add to the base cost of goods, and will be passed on to the consumer.

Repeal the Sixteenth Amendment
by Paul Moreno
01/14/2010

One hundred years ago, Congress sent a constitutional amendment to the states to permit the federal government to tax incomes. The pressure for an income tax had been building ever since the Supreme Court declared the 1894 income tax unconstitutional -- as a “direct” tax, it had to be apportioned among the states according to population. Such apportionment would defeat the principal aim of the tax’s southern and western Populist proponents, which was to shift the tax burden onto the high-income states of the Northeast.

In 1909, these Populists wanted a corporate income tax as well as a personal income tax. The story goes that the conservative Republicans, led by Sen. Nelson W. Aldrich of Rhode Island, agreed to enact a corporation tax but let a personal income tax depend on the ratification of a constitutional amendment -- one that they were confident the states would not ratify. Aldrich openly stated that he would vote for the corporation tax in order to defeat the income tax.

To the Republicans’ surprise, the states quickly ratified the Sixteenth Amendment, and we have both corporate and personal income taxes.

The income tax, as its opponents a century ago predicted, has become a monstrosity. It has spawned a system of special privileges and penalties as Congress uses it to promote and discourage all sorts of policies that have nothing to do with raising revenue, nothing to do with the Constitution’s grant of power to “collect taxes… to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States.”

The income tax is also the source of our deranged health-insurance system. During World War II, the government prohibited employers from competing for workers via higher wages. Instead, employers began to offer health insurance as a tax-deductible fringe benefit.

The ridiculously arcane tax code has spawned entire industries, costing billions of dollars, in which individuals and businesses lobby for exemptions, try to exploit loopholes, or simply struggle to comply with the code. The system is so ridiculously complex that the Secretary of the Treasury (the chief tax-collector) and the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee (the chief author of the tax law) can claim that they failed to pay their taxes because they didn’t understand the tax code.

Our dysfunctional tax system has led many to advocate a radically simplified “flat tax.” Others call for the abolition of the income tax and adoption of a national sales or “value-added” tax (VAT). Conservatives dislike the VAT idea because, as an indirect and hidden tax, it makes it much easier for the government to raise taxes. Liberals dislike the VAT because it is regressive, taxing everyone’s consumption equally, rather than falling more heavily on the rich.

The problem is that, like Nelson Aldrich, we will end up with both an income tax and a VAT. Indeed, that could happen even if we did repeal the Sixteenth Amendment. A good argument can be made that the amendment was unnecessary, because Congress had always had the power to tax incomes, and it was the Supreme Court that got it wrong when it struck down the 1894 income tax. The federal government had collected an income tax during the Civil War, which the Supreme Court upheld (at least with regard to professional earnings) in 1881.

So, to be really certain, we need to amend the Constitution in such a way as to prohibit income taxation.

YOU LIE! Pt 2.

On September 12th, 2008, Obama made the following promise to the American people:

"I can make a firm pledge under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes."

Apparently he has no intention of fulfilling this promise. Yeah, I'm not surprised, either....

From SusanAnne Hiller at BigGovernment.com and RedState:

Let’s look at the actual numbers for one category and compare them from 2009 to 2010:
2009 Biweekly, Single, Payroll Period, after subtracting withholding allowances

Not over $276: $0 in taxes
Over $276 – $400: 10% payroll tax
Over $400 – $1,392: $12.40 plus 15% of excess over $400
Over $1,392 – $2,559: $161.20 plus 25% of excess over $1,392
Over $2,559 – $6,677: $452.95 plus 28% of excess over $2,559 (Notice the large salary range)
Over $6,677 – $14,423: $1,605.99 plus 33% of excess over $6,677
$14,423: pays $4,162.17 plus 35% of excess over $14,423

Let’s look at the new numbers for 2010 Biweekly, Single, Payroll Period, after subtracting withholding allowances

Not over $233: $0 in taxes
Over $233 – $401: 10% payroll tax
Over $401 – $1,387: $16.80 plus 15% of excess over $401
Over $1,387 – $2,604: $164.70 plus 25% of excess over $1,387
Over $2,604 – $3,248: $468.95 plus 27% of excess over $2,604 (Notice the large salary range is gone)
Over $3,248 – $3,373: $642.83 plus 30% of excess over $3,248 (Notice the substantial increase and 30% tax rate on these wages)
Over $3,373 – $6,688: $680.33 plus 28% of excess over $3,373
$14,450: pays $4,169.99 plus 35% of excess over $14,450

Are you still HOPING to get any CHANGE back from your government? Remember, you have to pay taxes on that last stimulus check AND on any "cash for clunkers" credit, too.

MyHeritage.org

November 6, 2009 By Amanda Reinecker
Conservative Comeback

Tuesday was a big day for conservatives. The landslide victories of gubernatorial candidates Bob McDonnell in Virginia and Chris Christie in New Jersey, plus the Maine referendum upholding marriage as a union between a man and a woman, clearly illustrates that "the state of conservatism is strong," writes Heritage's Conn Carroll in Wednesday's Morning Bell.

But why would states that voted last year for President Barack Obama now vote against candidates the President himself campaigned for? Heritage Vice President Michael Franc explains that "it's all about taxes, debt, and too much government." In short, it's about the government's complete abandonment of conservative principles.

The results in Virginia, New Jersey and Maine confirm what has become increasingly evident over the past 10 months: conservative principles are very much alive and popular among most Americans.

Since taking office, President Obama has made it clear he is among the most progressive Presidents in our history. But he didn't win based on his progressive tendencies. In fact, Carroll explains that the President led a fairly moderate campaign:

Obama promised to address jobs, the economy, our national security and even hold teachers accountable for children's education. Obama promised that most of America would receive a tax cut. He promised to win a necessary war in Afghanistan. These are conservative principle.

Once elected, however, the President and his allies on the Left quickly abandoned these sound campaign promises in favor of big-government policies that increase taxes, kill jobs, raise the deficit and weaken our national security. As history has repeatedly revealed, there is an inherent conflict between these progressive policies and the "overwhelming conservative philosophy in America."

Tuesday's results exposed this conflict by demonstrating the broad support for conservative ideals. They reflect the same sentiments expressed at tea parties, protests and town hall meetings nationwide: enough is enough!
An even worse health care plan

On Thursday, over 10,000 people rallied on the steps of the Capitol to express their concerns about the harmful health care discussions currently under way in the House of Representatives. The House could vote on this proposal as early as Saturday, though this timeline could slip as moderates peel off.

"Look closely at the latest House bill," writes Heritage health policy analyst Bob Moffit in Human Events. "This 1,990 page beast contains all of the problematic issues Americans has with [the last proposal] -- and then adds more," all of which will adversely impact the lives of all Americans.

Moffit outlines a few of the major flaws with the House's "revised" bill:

1. The federal government will control the health insurance market, roughly one-sixth of the nation's economy;

2. A great deal of power will be granted to a newly appointed "Health Choices Commissioner," i.e. a health czar, who would define coverage and premiums for everyone;

3. Eligibility for Medicaid, a poorly functioning entitlement program in desperate need of reform, will expand, causing benefits to decrease for those who truly need them;

4. Federally mandated minimum benefits that will be subsidized by taxpayers, regardless of whether they need the benefits or not;

5. Individual mandates that will require everyone to purchase government-approved coverage or else pay an extra income tax of 2.5 percent; and

6. Employer mandates that will likely force small business owners to cut wages and lay off workers in order to meet the coverage requirements, or pay a heavy fine per employee by choosing not to provide coverage.

And all of this will be ours for a whopping $1.055 trillion over the next 10 years -- a price tag that will surely add more than "one dime to our deficits" and saddle future generations with massive debt. All of this is in the bill, but few will be able to see it, as Speaker Pelosi (D-CA) has rescinded her pledge to post the final language online for 72 hours before a vote.

This is not real health care reform. Instead, Moffit argues, "it is a new health care entitlement that will speed up our fiscal insolvency, push new taxes on Americans in all income brackets and have a greater say over our health decisions."

In an exclusive interview recorded at The Heritage Foundation, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) explains that the current health care bill reflects a big-government approach to problem-solving. "The most outrageous detail in the current House bill is the philosophy on which it is premised," he argues. "It is premised on the philosophy that the government knows best how to organize one-sixth of our economy."

Real reform should be a bi-partisan product, based on America's core principles, that empowers the individual to choose the coverage that best suits his specific needs and budget and those of his family.

The Second American Revolution

To borrow the so apt retort to this article by the friend who sent it to me:

"Welcome to the party, pal"

The Second American Revolution

By Gerald Celente
August 12, 2009

The natives are restless. The third shot of the "Second American Revolution" has been fired. History is being made. But just as with the first two shots, the third shot is not being heard.

America is seething. Not since the Civil War has anything like this happened.
But the protests are either being intentionally downplayed or ignorantly misinterpreted.

The first shot was fired on April 15, 2009. Over 700 anti-tax rallies and "Tea Parties" erupted nationwide. Rather than acknowledge their significance, the general media either ignored or ridiculed both protests and protestors, playing on "tea bagging" for its sexual innuendo.

Initially President Obama said he was unaware of the tea parties. The White House later warned they could "mutate" into something "unhealthy."

Shot #2 was fired on the Fourth of July, when throngs of citizens across the nation gathered to again protest "taxation without representation." And as before, the demonstrations were branded right-wing mischief and dismissed.

The third volley, fired in early August, was aimed point blank at Senators and House members pitching President Obama’s health care reform package to constituents. In fiery town hall meetings, enraged citizens shouted down their elected representatives. It took a strong police presence and/or burly bodyguards to preserve a safe physical space between the politicians and irate townspeople.

The White House and the media have labeled protestors "conservative fringe elements," or as players in staged events organized by Republican operatives that have been egged on by Fox news and right-wing radio show hosts.

In regard to this latest wave of outbursts, health industry interests opposed to any reform are also being blamed for inciting the public. But organized or spontaneous is not the issue. (Here is where I take exception.) While most protestors exhibit little grasp of the complex 1000 page health care reform document (that nary a legislator has read either), their emotion is clearly real and un-staged. (I take exception because we do know what's in the bill.)

Rightly or wrongly, the legislation is regarded as yet another straw on the already overloaded camel’s back. A series of gigantic, unpopular government-imposed (but taxpayer-financed) bailouts, buyouts, rescue and stimulus packages have been stuffed down the gullet of Americans. With no public platform to voice their opposition, options for citizens have been limited to fruitless petitions, e-mails and phone calls to Congress … all fielded by anonymous staff underlings.

Now, with Congress in recess and elected representatives less than a stone’s throw away, the public is exploding. The devil is not in the details of the heath care reform, the devil is the government mandating health care.

Regardless of how the plan is pitched or what is being promised, to the public the legislation is yet another instance of big government taking another piece out of their lives and making them pay for it; again telling them what they can or cannot do.

Though in its early stages, the "Second American Revolution" is underway.

Yet, what we forecast will become the most profound political trend of the century – the trend that will change the world – is still invisible to the same experts, authorities and pundits who didn’t see the financial crisis coming until the bottom fell out of the economy.

Trend Forecast: Conditions will continue to deteriorate. The global economy is terminally ill. The recession is in a brief remission, not the early stages of recovery. Cheap money, easy credit and unrestrained borrowing brought on an economic crisis that cannot be cured by monetary and fiscal policies that promote more cheap money, easy credit and unrestrained borrowing.

Nevertheless, Washington will continue to intervene, tax and exert control.
Protests will escalate and riots will follow.

Fourth Shot of the "Second American Revolution": While there are many wild cards that could light the fuse, The Trends Research Institute forecasts that if the threat of government-forced Swine Flu vaccinations is realized, it will be the fourth shot. Tens of millions will fight for their right to remain free and unvaccinated.

Publisher’s Note: The power of the Internet and new technologies is inexorably fermenting the "Second American Revolution." However widespread and emotionally charged, had the tax rallies, tea parties and healthcare reform protests occurred in years past, they might have been covered by the local media, but might not have made national headline news and thus would have died stillborn.

Now, with the ubiquitous camera-equipped cell phone, universal access to YouTube, and millions of twitters and tweets, the uprisings cannot be ignored, contained, managed, spun or edited down. The revolutionary fervor will prove contagious.

Can anything stop it?

Trend Forecast: Before the momentum of the "Second American Revolution" becomes unstoppable, it could be derailed through some false flag event designed to deceive the public, or a genuine event or crisis capable of rallying the entire nation behind the President. In a worst-case scenario, according to Trends Research Institute Director, Gerald Celente, "Given the pattern of governments to parlay egregious failures into mega-failures, the classic trend they follow, when all else fails, is to take their nation to war."

A false flag attempt, a genuine crisis, or a declaration of war, may slow the momentum of the "Second American Revolution," but nothing will stop it.

Except that this nation is already at war, on two fronts, with the potential for a third front along the Iraq/Iran border. What would have to happen to justify the current adminstration's use of martial law or suspension of habeus corpus? How serious would an event have to be?

...promote the general welfare...

Maybe I'm missing something; or perhaps I misread the Preamble. It does mention "promoting the general welfare" right? So how is it that Congress, all of the members of which must take an oath to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution", decide that confiscatory taxation on "evil" corporations is "promoting the general welfare"?

In this addled old brain, it would seem to me that the best method of "promoting the general welfare" would be to make the things we use daily, the things we MUST have to function as a free society, as cheap as possible for the citizens and charge everyone else double.

Lets see; we need electricity. Hell, even Congress needs electricity. Yet they impose regulations on the power companies that drive up the cost of producing and distributing electricity, which drives up the cost to the citizen. Not to good for the general welfare.

Gasoline; yeah yeah, I know, we need to pay for roads. OK. BUT!!!! why not make it easy for the oil companies to extract the crude and refine gasoline and diesel fuel, thereby making it cheaper for the citizen. Keep the road tax in place. I don't mind paying for my half of the road, (and that really is the simplest method of collecting funds for road construction and maintainence,) but jeeez louise, if we stop buying oil from other countries and start using our own, it seems to me the price could be reduced considerably. Wouldn't that be good for the general welfare? Cheaper delivery costs, keeps the independent truckers rolling, and everyone is happy.

(Am I over-analyzing this thing?)

If you're gonna tax something, don't tax the stuff we need, tax the crap we want. You want a big screen TV, fine. Its gonna cost ya another $300.00 in taxes. Now that little 25 inch TV, you can have that for the normal price, plus the usual sales tax. You want a big fast boat? Sure Bro, but we're gonna have to get another $2500.00 in taxes from ya. Now that little 16 foot john boat over there, that one doesn't have any extra taxes on it, because we know you and your kids are going to be spending the day on a lake fishing somewhere and that is definitely "promoting the general welfare".

Someone grab my clue bat and meet me in the lobby of the Canon Building, I have a plan.

Senator Reid explains our "Voluntary" tax system

HOLD THE PRESSES! I'VE FOUND SOMEONE JUST AS DUMB AS PELOSI! THERE'S TWO OF THEM!!

This explains the Obama Cabinet Candidates! They thought that paying taxes was VOLUNTARY! Except, of course, when its mandatory.

Understand? Paying taxes is voluntary but you will go to jail if you "cheat" on your taxes. Except that you won't. Because its voluntary. And you're a Democrat.

We are voluntarily avoiding prison by paying taxes.....

h/t The Real Gun Guys

Dear Mr. President

Dear Mr. President:

Recently, you stated that: "There will be a time for profits...Now is not that time." Not since you made Joe the most famous plumber in America by telling him (and all of us) that you wanted to "spread the wealth around" have you been so transparent about your attitude toward the private sector.
You complain about "excessive" CEO salaries and bonuses. And I must admit that it strains credulity to imagine the chutzpah it takes for some of these companies to engage in such indulgences with both hands outstretched to the federal government for bailout dollars in numbers most of us can't even comprehend. It is unseemly at best to watch these jackals presiding over companies that are hemorrhaging buckets of red ink while they fly off into the sunset in their corporate jets with their golden parachutes -- paid for by American taxpayers.
Unfortunately, the same rules don't seem to apply to you and your cohorts in government. You have an equally arrogant, cavalier attitude toward the hard-working Americans who pay for your salary and your extravagant lifestyle. And you don't seem to play by the rules you create for the rest of us. Your new treasury secretary cheated on his taxes and yet was confirmed to oversee the Internal Revenue Service. Your nominee to run the health and human services department is the poster boy for limousine liberals who don't even pay for their limousines -- or at least not the taxes they owe on them. And your attorney general believes in pardons for terrorists and tax cheats.
Meanwhile, you and your Democrat Congress act as though the revenue you are using for your pork-laden bailouts and so-called stimulus packages just grew on the money tree in the back yard at the White House and is yours to do with as you see fit. Well, let me remind you of something, Mr. President: that money you are doling out is money my great-grandchildren haven't even earned yet. It is tax revenue your successor five presidents down the line will have to steal from them in order to pay for this madness.
The saddest thing about this whole scenario, Mr. President, is that you are killing the one entity in our society that is actually creating jobs. Any high school Economics 101 teacher can tell you that in good economic times, 75 percent of new jobs in this country are created by small, independently-owned businesses. In times like these, when corporate America is slashing workforces like mad, that number is 100 percent!
And yet who gets the bailouts? Joe the Plumber or Sam's Handyman Service, who eek out a living trying to find enough work to keep themselves and one or two employees afloat? No, it's Citibank and the bloated auto industry. We're told that they are "too big to fail."
Well, let me tell you something, Mr. President. Granted, it would be a pretty big ripple through the economy if General Motors went under. But if you put every small entrepreneur in this country out of business, our economy, as we know it, will be gone.Mr. President, small business owners are being crushed by a largely hysteria-created recession.
Their credit has been cut off because of the irresponsible behavior of Members of Congress and the greed of some on Wall Street. These entrepreneurs aren't asking for a bailout. They just want you and your bloated, obstructionist government to get out of their way!
Not the time for profits, indeed! With all due respect, this is precisely the time when businesses need profits. But then, the ignorant souls who voted for you -- many of whom don't even pay taxes -- have so wrapped themselves in victim status and class envy that they are cheering you on as their new Fairness Czar; so I guess I don't expect you to listen to me. I won't have a real say in the matter again until the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November 2012. See you then.
Respectfully,
Doug Patton
An American taxpayer