Miss Me Yet?
Since the day I realized what Obama really was… Long before he was elected.
And, yes, it’s a real billboard.
Rep. John Murtha dead at 77.
Normally, I express my sorrow at any elected official’s death, loss, or illness. I find my reaction to Murtha as a person so negative, that I feel I would be paying lip service by saying anything.
So, Rep. John Murtha, dead at 77.
Harrisburg, Pa. (AP) – Rep. John Murtha, the tall, gruff-mannered former Marine who became the de facto voice of veterans on Capitol Hill and later an outspoken and influential critic of the Iraq War, died Monday. He was 77.
The Pennsylvania Democrat had been suffering complications from gallbladder surgery. He died at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, Va., spokesman Matthew Mazonkey said.
In 1974 Murtha, then an officer in the Marine Reserves, became the first Vietnam War combat veteran elected to Congress.
The IRS Is Purchasing Shotguns. So?
A lot of people are making a big deal out of this. And there are some valid questions here:
- Why a shotgun? Why not a pistol or a rifle?
- Why a shotgun with a 14 inch barrel. Normal citizens can’t even purchase one with a barrel that short.
- What the hell does the IRS need to be armed for? They file suits, not invade.
Now for my “stop being paranoid” list:
- They ordered sixty(60). Assuming that the IRS is about to turn into a para-military organization, it will take them quite a while to get to my house if they only have 60 of these things. It’s not like they ordered arms for thousands of shock troops.
- They are being added to the arms they already have. If they aren’t attacking with what they have, 60 more ain’t gonna cut it.
- Can’t you think of where they might need these? How about the guy behind the counter at the IRS building? And with the absolute reaming that Obama is about to give everyone on taxes, it might not hurt to be better armed.
Calm down people.
Pay up or else.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) intends to purchase sixty Remington Model 870 Police RAMAC #24587 12 gauge pump-action shotguns for the Criminal Investigation Division.
Collecting taxes must be a pretty dangerous job these days.
50% Of US Federal Spending On National Defense, Social Security, And Medicare
Does anyone else find this disturbing? I am fine with National Defense using up a huge amount of the budget. Why? Because its one of the few things the Federal government is actually SUPPOSED to do. The others are liberal babies that are a drain on us.
Medicare just shows how well the US can run Health Care. It’s a disaster.
Social Security went from a savings plan for retirement to an underfunded fiasco.
National Defense is actually what the US should do.
Budget documents provided by the Obama administration show that in Fiscal Year 2009 50% of all federal spending went to national defense, Social Security and Medicare. When the cost of veterans affairs are included, that number grows to 53%. Five percent (5%) paid interest on the federal debt, and 42% was used for everything else in the budget.
Man Who Attacks Pope as “Hurting People in the Name of Jesus” Gets Appointed to Oversee Faith-Based Initiatives – Erick’s blog – RedState
Oh come on. This is just ridiculous. How many loons and radicals will this jackass put in charge of the things they should be kept far away from:
Homosexual, pro-pedophile, pro-prostitution = Safe School Czar
Anti-capitalist, communist = Manufacturing Czar
Pope-hating, anti-Catholic = Faith Based Initiatives Czar
and the list goes on…
Barack Obama has appointed Harry Knox to the White House’s Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
In March, Knox began an attack on the Catholic Church during a speech before the gay rights group Human Rights Campaign.
Knox, attacking Pope Benedict XVI directly, said the Pope and, through him the Catholic Church, is “hurting people in the name of Jesus.”
After his appointment, Knox was confronted with his comment and reaffirmed that he hates the Pope.
The Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships’ charter states that it “will work on behalf of Americans committed to improving their communities, no matter their religious or political beliefs.” Really?
A man who is willing, even with such an appointment, to attack the head of a church with millions of active congregants , cannot be trusted to fairly work with Catholics. The Pope is called the Holy Father for a reason and attacking the Holy Father does little to prove a commitment to improving communities no matter their religious or political beliefs.
The St. Michael Society has a petition calling for this man to resign. I’m Presbyterian, but I signed it too.
This man is an insult to the Christian faith when the basis for his attack on the Catholic Church is its position on homosexuality — a position shared across denominations of Christians.
Hot Air » Guess what rose “unexpectedly”?
How could this be? Unexpectedly, you say? Like almost every other week? Are these people unable to detect ANY pattern?
Do you get the impression that these “experts” have hands that are horribly scarred because they could never figure out that touching the hot stove would burn them? Seriously, how did they survive childhood?
Here is a hint, guys. No charge.
Obama = Higher Unemployment
Obama = Higher Deficit
Obama = Lower National Security
Assume each of these, and none of this will be “unexpected”. I’ll let you know when this pattern changes, but so far, we have a pretty good batting average here.
The Associated Press uses its favorite adverb today in reporting an economic development that is as predictable as sunrise (via No Runny Eggs):
The number of newly laid-off workers filing initial claims for jobless benefits rose unexpectedly last week, evidence that layoffs are continuing and jobs remain scarce.
Texas: State Rep. Terri Hodge(D) Pleads Guilty To Tax Charge
Nothing I need to say here.
Took me awhile to name that party.
DALLAS—Gladys E. Hodge, also known as “Terri Hodge,” who was to go on trial early next month on charges outlined in a 31-count indictment charging 14 public officials and their associates with various offenses related to a bribery and extortion scheme involving affordable housing developments in the Dallas area, has pleaded guilty, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. As a condition of her plea with the government, Hodge, who was elected to the Texas House of Representatives, District 100, in 1996, and re-elected to the same position in 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, and 2008, has agreed to resign her office and never seek or hold future public office.
The Jawa Report: Texas: State Rep. Terri Hodge(D) Pleads Guilty To Tax Charge
Reuters Middle Class Tax Hike Story Disappears Without Explanation | NewsBusters.org
Interesting. Very interesting. According to TPM, it was removed because the White House wanted it removed. The claim is “errors”, but why not issue a correction instead of removing the whole article. Anyone think they would have done that for the Bush White House?
Yesterday, The Drudge Report linked to a Reuters story that referred to the Obama administration’s plan to impose "backdoor tax increases that will result in a bigger tax bill for middle-class families." Reuters described the rate hikes that will take effect if previous tax cuts are allowed to expire:
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.
While the Reuters’ report is fair enough despite the ominous content, the problem arose when Reuters pulled the story later in the day without explanation. Those who browse to the old link find only a brief notice stating that the article was removed and will be replaced later in the week. (The story was reprinted later that day by Power Line blog, which provides the source for the above quoted portion.)
A major wire story detailing large tax increases on the middle class during an election year would seem to be big news. Yet scarcely an eye was batted when this story disappeared. The administration can ill afford to be seen as raising taxes on the middle class during a recession when the President’s Congressional majority is already imperilled. Reuters should be made to explain why this story disappeared.
Reuters Middle Class Tax Hike Story Disappears Without Explanation | NewsBusters.org
The Eternal Question: Is Obama Evil Or Just That Dumb?
It’s often hard to tell. Take this one for example. Obama is reducing the amount of a tax write off that people who make over $250,000 per year get when donating to churches or charities.
Now, is this:
- Evil: An attack on the churches and charities by destroying their high value donations
- Evil #2: An attack on those who give have the audacity to have made money and give it to charity
- Dumb: Does he actually believe, as they state, that this will bring in money?
Here is your answer, moron. People who make a lot of money and are living the “American Dream” are looking for ways to save money in taxes, which are insanely high on those making big bucks. One way is giving to charities. You will stop that and the donations will dry up as these people look for other ways to save a bit on taxes.
So, does he actually know that and is evil or is he too dumb to realize it. Only time will tell.
These are policies that President Obama has advocated in the past, so we shouldn’t be surprised to see them in his 2011 budget. Still, it’s hard not to be a little shocked. The budget says, at page 40:
Reduce the Itemized Deduction Write-off for Families with Incomes over $250,000.
Currently, if a middle-class family donates a dollar to its favorite charity or spends a dollar on mortgage interest, it gets a 15-cent tax deduction, but a millionaire who does the same enjoys a deduction that is more than twice as generous.
That’s because the "millionaire" pays income taxes that are more than twice as high. It isn’t "generous" for the government to refrain from taking all of your money. The document continues:
By reducing this disparity and returning the high-income deduction to the same rates that were in place at the end of the Reagan Administration, we will raise $291 billion over the next decade.
This is, of course, Orwellian. The "disparity" is in fact a disparity in tax rates–higher income people pay much more. And the reference to the Reagan administration must have been intended as a cruel joke on taxpayers. The "high-income deduction" will be the same as during the Reagan administration, but the high-income marginal tax rate won’t be, so now the deduction will apply to only half the contribution.
Power Line – Obama Attacks Churches, Charities and Home Values
The Jawa Report: Obama Refused to Get Unemployment Down in 2009 Because It Wasn’t An Election Year, Suggests…His Own Budget
I have been saying this for months. This was all part of the plan. Its also why he wants a new stimulus bill. More money to help prop the Dems up for 2010 and himself for 2012.
I am glad to see someone else noticed this and that Obama admitted it.
Erik Erickson makes an unsettling discovery in the Obama Budget Proposal on page 9:
All told, as of the end of November 2009, about 50 percent of Recovery Act funds—or $395 billion—has been either obligated or is providing assistance directly to Americans in the form of tax relief. BY DESIGN, the bulk of the remaining 50 percent of Recovery Act funds will be deployed in the coming months of 2010 and during the beginning of 2011 to support additional job creation when our economy continues to need a boost. Many of the programs slated to receive additional funding in the near future are those with significant promise of job creation. These include more than $7 billion in broadband expansion, approximately $8 billion in funds to lay the foundation for a high-speed rail network, and continued funding for other transportation projects. All told, the Recovery Act is on track to meet the goal of disbursing 70 percent of its funds in the first 18 months of its life.
So the plan was never to spend the stimulus money right away – something which Obama suggested he and his administration had done and were doing in his SOTU address:
Experts from across the political spectrum warned that if we did not act, we might face a second depression. So we acted – immediately and aggressively. [...](ed. -by withholding funds for a full year?)
[...] One in ten Americans still cannot find work. [...]
(ed. -and you did NOTHING to address this when it mattered for those people and (by design) didn’t act until it was politically convenient to do so?)
For these Americans and so many others, change has not come fast enough. Some are frustrated; some are angry. They don’t understand why it seems like bad behavior on Wall Street is rewarded but hard work on Main Street isn’t; or why Washington has been unable or unwilling to solve any of our problems.
(ed. - um, champ. That was BY DESIGN. Remember?
Erickson correctly notes that change has not come fast enough BY DESIGN.
The money (or much of it) was supposed to be put on hold – by design of the Democcrat Party/Obama Administration who wrote the legislation – while the country suffered agonizingly through 2009 and people were tossed into unemployment. This was done intentionally so that the taxpayers’ money could then be dumped into the private sector in 2010 so that he’d get "credit" for a "recovery."
If this is as insidious and callous as it looks, Obama should be impeached and thrown out of office. He’s been essentially holding voters hostage for a year for his own personal political ransom.
