Econ negative-101

No Lip Service: Dems Trade Higher Taxes for Social Programs

The Democratic presidential candidates want to raise your taxes.

Most of them aren't exactly advertising that fact when they talk about their plans for health care, the environment and education. But for a party that has long feared political fallout when talking about taxes, the Democrats' 2008 crop of presidential contenders is showing remarkable frankness in talking about the need for additional revenues to fund their priorities.

Sen, Barack Obama, D-Ill., became the latest candidate to call for higher taxes Tuesday, when he unveiled his plan for universal health coverage. He is calling for the tax cuts pushed by President Bush to expire in 2010 for upper-income earners -- an effective tax hike for more than 1 million taxpayers -- and is proposing a new tax on small businesses that don't provide health care to their employees.

"We now face an opportunity -- and an obligation -- to turn the page on the failed politics of yesterday's health care debates," Obama said in unveiling his health care plan in Iowa. "To help pay for this, we will ask all but the smallest businesses who don't make a meaningful contribution today to the health coverage of their employees to do so by supporting this new plan. And we will allow the temporary Bush tax cut for the wealthiest Americans to expire."

Obama joins former North Carolina Democratic Sen. John Edwards in calling for higher taxes to help fix the nation's health care woes. Edwards wants to roll back the Bush tax cuts for Americans making more than $200,000 a year, and said he would also consider raising capital gains rates and Social Security taxes.

In addition, Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., is proposing a "carbon tax" that would be assessed on businesses based on how much pollution they generate, with the money to be funneled into a trust fund for renewable energy technologies. Though individuals would not be assessed any new taxes, businesses would almost certainly pass on some of their costs to consumers, leaving Americans indirectly paying new taxes.

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Well, here's a true recipe for growth: raise taxes on the investment class and blow all the in-theory-only added revenues on new, ineffective, wasteful welfare programs that will most likely exacerbate whatever "crisis" is at hand.

Slay the Golden Goose!

How easy is it to spot someone who has spent scant time in the private sector?!

Having once run a lemonade stand should be a prerequisite for controlling the public purse.

This economy continues, thanks to the enhanced (since 2003) rewards for productivity and the lowered cost of capital, to expand and create jobs despite the slowdown in housing and the unreasonable shackles of Sarbanes-Oxley.

The Fed government has lately been deluged with tax revenues.

The deficit is approaching a meaningless 1% of GDP as tax revenues as a percentage of GDP approach Clinton-era levels.

Wages and compensation are on the rise.

And these people want to raise taxes -- albeit only on those nasty rich.

After the last round of tax cuts something like half of those eligible actually pay no net income taxes.

Indeed many receive subsidies via the silly EITC.

Presumably these are "the working families" lauded by our class warfarist friends.

Apparently, if you pay income taxes you are like Kennedy, Kerry and Rockefeller -- you inherited your wealth or married into it.

You certainly did not earn your wealth.

You are not a "working family".

Rather than gum up the Great American Growth Machine with higher taxes, we should be slashing taxes on corporations to get them in line with most of the rest of the industrialized world.

We understand that this is not as effective politically as "Eat the Rich", but it is sound economics.

Even the socialist economies of Old Europe get it.

And many of the governments of former captive nations in Eastern Europe have embraced the flat tax.

Some of the dopiest people we know have law degrees from American universities.

Senators Obama and Edwards included.

Memorial Day, 2007

Schoolmates mourn slain soldier

TORRANCE, Calif. - Schoolmates remembered Pfc. Joseph Anzack Jr. as a gentle jock Thursday, hours after Army officials confirmed the 20-year-old's body was found during an exhaustive search for him and two other soldiers ambushed in Iraq.

Friends at South High School observed a moment of silence and described him as a "pumped up" athlete who made them laugh and comforted them when they needed it.

"You'd be sad and sitting there by yourself, and he'd come up to you and just talk to you, and say, 'Hey, how's your day? Are you OK?'" childhood friend Erika Esquivel said.

Anzack, who graduated two years ago, should be honored for "his service to America and for representing South High and Torrance so proudly and so well," Principal Scott McDowell told students in a second-period classroom announcement.

Outside, the front steps became a makeshift shrine of flowers, flags and balloons, marked with a sign reading: "You're our HERO." The soldier's Web page was also flooded with condolences.

Anzack, an Army gunner, vanished with two other soldiers May 12 when their combat team was ambushed about 20 miles outside of Baghdad. The attack, subsequently claimed by al-Qaida, killed four other Americans and an Iraqi.

Anzack's family had held out hope for the past 11 days. They had already endured a rumor weeks earlier that he was dead, then said Army officials told them Wednesday that a body found floating in the Euphrates River was his. The military confirmed Thursday that Anzack had been shot in the head, and his body dumped.

At South, Anzack played football and was on the wrestling and swim teams. He was "always pumped up and ready to try something new," Esquivel said.

Anzack's father told his hometown newspaper, The Daily Breeze, that family members had gathered in his home for a vigil led by an Army chaplain after hearing of the death.

"We said a prayer for the other two boys, then sat around and talked about Joseph," Joseph Anzack Sr. said.

Relatives remained inside their home Thursday.

In Iraq, members of Anzack's platoon choked back tears at news of his death and said they would not stop looking for the other two missing soldiers.

"We can't leave them behind. I just hope that they have enough faith to keep them going. What they're going through right now, I can't imagine," said Pfc. Sammy Rhodes, 25, of Albuquerque, N.M.

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A long time ago, we defeated Saddam's Iraq militarily, driving Savage and Sons into hiding and eventually ridding the world of all three.

At the same time, many of you -- you know who you are: MoveOn.org, Daily Krotch ... er, KOS ... AP, Reuters, MSNBC, Michael Moore, Bill Maher, Keith Blowberwoman, Blowsie -- were doing the bidding of the enemy .

Since then, there have been several elections in Iraq, wherein brave Iraqis risked being murdered by your "Minutemen" to vote for the government they would live under -- as opposed to the tyranny YOU would have them suffer at the evil hands of.

As the Iraqis have tried to build a government and infrastructure, you have continued to give aid and comfort to the "insurgents" -- by which we mean terrorists.

Since the war started, the Nutroots have been keeping a body count which they tie to Bush, Halliburton and the "Neo-cons", convenient bogeymen for children with an 8-year old's worldview.

Well we believe turnabout is fair play.

At this point, we have no problem with assigning partial blame -- for we certainly cannot excuplate the Jihadist troglodytes -- for the murder and certain torture of Pfc. Joseph Anzack Jr. -- and those of hundreds of Coalition soldiers and thousands of Iraqis -- to the Voices of Treason within America: The Looney Left (Rosie, Cindy Sheehan, et al), the Internet kids, their reps in Congress (Durbin, Reid, Kennedy) and the quislings in the media -- ABC, "The NY Times", "60 Minutes" and all fellow travellers.

Loose lips sink ships.

Treasonous tongues, cameras and keyboards lose wars and get people decapitated.

al-Qaeda have played you for the Useful Idiots you are, yet you cannot see beyond your Bush hatred.

You have, wittingly or not, given the enemy reason to fight on.

Though they understand that they could never achieve victory miltarily, they -- at least -- learned the lesson of Vietnam: Victory can be had by appealling to America's soft pink subversive underbelly.

Every IED blast, every car bomb and every kidnapping is aimed at YOU, and you lap them up like good little Dhimmi and turn around and, rather than spewing the vitriol where it belongs -- at the evil enemy -- you use it to undermine our Commander and Chief, the troops and their mission, which is, after all, the defeat of Islamofacism.

What you flakes fail to grasp is that yours will be the first necks on the chopping block when Sharia comes to the U.S.

All your loathing of Bush, Cheney and wiretaps will not save you from the blade.

If you think that "suffering" the mere disapproval of "radical" Christians is disconcerting, wait till this bunch is in charge. Suffice it to say we can't envision any abortion clinics or "adult" book stores left standing under the Sharia.

So, concentrate on your bongs, bathhouses and vegan buffets and let the adults do the dirty work of defending Civilization from the predations of the vile beasts who murdered Pfc. Joseph Anzack and would massacre you and your family in the time it takes to pretend a Ted Rall is cartoon funny.

God bless America.

God save us from the Enemy -- without and within.

Kill the Planet!

Carbon Debits - Increasing Your Carbon Footprint...



Wonderful mockery of modern day indulgences!

Jerry Falwell, RIP

You can tell a lot about a person by the way he reacts to the death of a political rival.

When a devout lefty passes on, a preponderance of us at Free Republic set political differences aside and pray for the soul of the departed.

Contrast that with the giddy reaction of the Nutroots -- granted, many believe that cows have souls -- to Rev. Falwell's passing.

Grow up, kids.

In the mean time, you're [still] free to sin about the country (apologies to Southwest Airlines).

Wolfy to Fight On!

Wolfowitz will not resign from World Bank: lawyer

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz will not resign under the current "cloud" and would rather push the matter to a vote of the bank's board to clear his name, his lawyer said on Wednesday.

"Mr. Wolfowitz will not resign under this cloud and he will rather put this matter to a full vote," Wolfowitz's lawyer, Robert Bennett, told Reuters.

Reformer comes to counterproductive -- indeed, corrupt -- organization, informs them of potential conflict of interest.

Counterproductive -- indeed, corrupt -- organization, later demands that Reformer re-assign potential conflict of interest and arrange for pay raise for potential conflict of interest as compensation.

Reformer reassigns potential conflict of interest with pay raise.

Counterproductive -- indeed, corrupt -- organization attempts to cashier Reformer for alleged conflict of interest.

Interestingly, representatives of the under-developed countries that counterproductive -- indeed, corrupt -- organization was chartered to provide aid to support Reformer.

Counterproductive -- indeed, corrupt -- representatives of failed Euro-states conspire to calumny Reformer.

You can't make this stuff up.

Kudos to that Circuit City clerk ...

... for hipping the FBI to the N.J. Six.

We don't patronize the sites of the Looney Left, but there is undoubtedly, in those fevered swamps, scorn for this fine American and the FBI.

Were the rights of these junior Jihadists violated? Was there "domestic spying" involved?!

Someone phone Ramsey Clark!

Who can blame these dedicated disciples of Mohammed for plotting to massacre our Zionist-controlled troops?

A chill wind blows at Circuit City ...

John Edwards, Student of Life

Edwards Discusses Time at Hedge Fund

WASHINGTON (AP) - AP Video Democrat John Edwards said Tuesday that he worked for a hedge fund between presidential campaigns to learn about financial markets and their relationship to poverty—and to make money too.

In an interview with The Associated Press, the former North Carolina senator said his yearlong, part-time position with Fortress Investment Group helped his understanding of the connection but he has more to learn. Edwards has made eradicating poverty a focus of his second White House bid.

Edwards, a multimillionaire after years as a trial lawyer, would not disclose how much he got paid for a year of consulting beginning in October 2005. He said the amount will be revealed when he releases his financial disclosure forms due May 15.

Asked if he had to join a hedge fund to learn about financial markets, Edwards replied, "How else would I have done it?"

He said he considered going to an investment firm such as Goldman Sachs, but Fortress was the most natural fit. Presented with the suggestion that he could have taken a university class instead, he said, "That's true."

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Or he coulda read the works of Friedman and Hayek.

He's right, though, folks: there ARE two Americas!

One for the dudes with expensive haircuts, one for ... the real dudes!

Wanna study poverty? Google "Great Society" and strap yourself in.

Never Mind al Qaeda ... Global Warming is the Real Threat!

U.S. Intelligence Investigates Warming Security Threats

WASHINGTON -- Stepping into the rancorous national debate over global warming, the U.S. intelligence community has launched an examination of the security threats that could be triggered by rising temperatures and climate change, officials said Thursday.

The review was announced by the nation’s intelligence director even as congressional Democrats and Republicans sparred over whether it was appropriate for the beleaguered U.S. spy services to spend resources studying threats posed by the environment.

The review is expected to identify security problems that could erupt if rising global temperatures cause flooding, food shortages, migration shifts and other disruptions in already volatile parts of the world. Republicans warned it could divert spy agencies’ attention from terrorism and other targets.

“It’s going to take resources from other places,” said Rep. Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee. The panel voted Wednesday to require the intelligence community to produce a comprehensive report on security threats caused by climate change.

Hoekstra warned that CIA officers and spy satellites might be pulled away from what he described as more dire threats to provide input for the climate change report.

“I expect that we will go to the (CIA) chief of station in different African countries and say ‘What do you think will happen in Nigeria or in Kenya if temperatures rise and the agricultural land decreases by 20 percent,’ ” Hoekstra said in a telephone interview. “Guess what? Radical Islam is active in both those countries.”

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A bazillion committees studying the Global-Warming-as-Armageddon hoax yet we need ANOTHER --one that diverts monies from the pursuit of real threats!?

Well, perhaps the car bombers, cowed by the likes of Al Gore, Cheryl Crow and more than a few limp-wristed pussies we know, will switch to hybrids.

Once again, folks -- these are the SMART people!

Al Qaeda: Surrender Not Enough

New Tape: Al Qaeda No. 2 Wants 200,000-300,000 U.S. Dead in Iraq
Ayman al-Zawahiri Says Al Qaeda Wants to Spill More U.S. Blood Before America Withdraws

In a new video posted today on the Internet, al Qaeda's No. 2 man, Ayman al Zawahri, mocks the bill passed by Congress setting a timetable for the pullout of U.S. troops in Iraq.

"This bill will deprive us of the opportunity to destroy the American forces which we have caught in a historic trap," Zawahri says in answer to a question posed to him an interviewer.

Continuing in the same tone, Zawahri says, "We ask Allah that they only get out of it after losing 200,000 to 300,000 killed, in order that we give the spillers of blood in Washington and Europe an unforgettable lesson."

Based on the references to the bill, the tape, produced by al Qaeda's propaganda arm, as-Sahab, appears to have been made after Congress passed the legislation last week but before President Bush vetoed it on Thursday.

According to Laura Mansfield, a counterterrorism analyst with Strategic Translations, an organization that monitors al Qaeda postings, the tape was posted on the Internet this morning and covers the usual range of Zawahri's topics including Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine.

There has been a flurry of audio and video releases featuring Zawahri, although no new communication from Osama bin Laden since mid-2006.

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The Disloyal Opposition has to be beside themselves at this rebuff!

What the Hell do these people want from them?

Perhaps Ms. Pelosi could donate a kidney to Usama.

Does Michael Moore get royalties when al-Zawahiri parrots his stuff?

Criminal Infiltrators Take to the Streets

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Some 200,000 flag-waving, sign-carrying protesters marched in cities across the United States on Tuesday in orchestrated rallies intended to demonstrate the political might of Latinos and win amnesty for illegal immigrants.

But the May Day demonstrations failed to live up to the promise of last year, when some 500,000 people poured into the streets of Los Angeles and Chicago in marches that were hailed as the start of a new American civil rights movement.

Organizers blamed the lower turnouts in part on the failure of Spanish-language media to galvanize young people. Experts said immigrants and their leaders felt less urgency since a tough reform bill from last year was no longer before Congress.

The marchers waved U.S. and Mexican flags and said they were angry about raids to nab illegal workers and Congress' failure to grant them amnesty. They hope to send a message to Washington as the 2008 presidential race heats up.

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So ... was the ICE there with a really big net?

Suggestion to these scofflaws: Enter this country legally, as our great grandparents did, insist that your kids be educated in English, embrace what it is to be an American and make a better life for your children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

This is not East Italy, West Korea or North Mexico.

This is the United States of America.

Quislings

Congrats, kids! The enemies of Civilization salute you!