On Good Friday - a day that Christians observe the day Jesus was paraded through the streets of Jerusalem along with two other criminals, dragging a cross on his back, a cross that he would later be nailed through the wrists and feet to, and then have this cross posted in the ground and hang from to die - Barack Obama took to a riser-stage in Charlotte, North Carolina at Celgard, a manufacturer of lithium battery components. The company is expanding through an economic-stimulus-funded grant.
During the Obama Administration's promotional event to highlight Government Spending, President Obama took a few questions from the audience and the following situation of note transpired.
Obama took a question on the new health care reform law and higher taxes and he produced one of the longest answers that had been documented (YouTube video below) ... and he produced this answer without actually answering the essence of the question.
QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President. We're honored to have you here today. I'm Joyce Ravis (ph) from Lake Wiley, South Carolina. I work at Celgard. We have wonderful CEOs that take care of us and have really helped the company grow.
My question is, though, in the economy times that we have now, is it a wise decision to add more taxes to us with the health care, because it -- we are over-taxed as it is?
Time: 12:39 p.m. and 40 seconds, EDT
OBAMA: Well, let's talk about this, you know, 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.
Here's the bottom line. Number one is that we are the only -- we have been, up until last week, the only advanced country that allows 15 million of its citizens to not have any health insurance. And the vast majority of those folks work; it's just that they don't happen to work for a company that is either big enough or generous enough to provide them any coverage.
So that's point number one: There is a moral imperative that is important.
Boy, that was a long answer. I'm sorry, but I hope everybody -- but I hope I answered her question.
Time: 12:56 p.m. and 54 seconds, EDT.
This overview excerpted and edited from The Washington Post - Obama's 17-minute, 2,500-word response to woman's claim of being 'over-taxed' by Anne E. Kornblut - The Washington Post - April 5, 2010
Even by President Obama's loquacious standards, an answer he gave here on health care Friday was a doozy. ---- 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").
Always fond of lists, Obama ticked off his approach to health care -- twice. "Number one is that we are the only -- we have been, up until last week, the only advanced country that allows 50 million of its citizens to not have any health insurance," he said.A few minutes later he got to the next point, which seemed awfully similar to the first. "Number two, you don't know who might end up being in that situation," he said, then carried on explaining further still."Point number three is that the way insurance companies have been operating, even if you've got health insurance you don't always know what you got, because what has been increasingly the practice is that if you're not lucky enough to work for a big company that is a big pool, that essentially is almost a self-insurer, then what's happening is, is you're going out on the marketplace, you may be buying insurance, you think you're covered, but then when you get sick they decide to drop the insurance right when you need it," Obama continued, winding on with the answer.
Halfway through, an audience member on the riser yawned. ---- It was not evident that he changed any minds at Friday's event. The audience sat politely, but people in the back of the room began to wander off.
Even Obama seemed to recognize that he had gone on too long. He apologized -- in keeping with the spirit of the moment, not once, but twice. "Boy, that was a long answer. I'm sorry," he said, drawing nervous laughter that sounded somewhat like relief as he wrapped up.But, he said: "I hope I answered your question." Reference Here>>
Barack Obama - President Obama asks supporters to declare their support for his three core principles for health care reform, and to share their personal stories to help build support for the reforms that are so desperately needed. [ctrl-click to launch video] Learn more at http://my.barackobama.com/healthcare
"Madoffing America" - The Marketing Of ObamaCare
The atmosphere here in America is laden heavy with the feel of Caveat Emptor ... let the buyer beware.
We are being told almost daily, that the Government needs to get what the Obama Administration wants to get done in terms of (name program here) legislation immediately, otherwise (name imperative here) will befall all of us and people are suffering.
Further, the Obama Administration is responding to the information that is leaking out about some programs they are fighting for with plastered over non-truths in order to be able to give the patina of cover for the Congress as they go back to their districts during the summer recess.
Linda Douglass - In this video, Linda Douglass, the communications director for the White Houses Health Reform Office, addresses a story that makes it look like the President intends to eliminate private coverage, when the reality couldn't be further from the truth. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0XCl6OHgiM
The Obama healthcare agenda, ObamaCare, is rife with misrepresentations and lies that are designed to have people believe that what this Administration is proposing is not a single payer, a one-size fits all healhcare system, that will push out and eliminate free market solutions that exist today.
Just like Bernie Madoff, who induced investors to give his company money with promises of unbelievable returns, the Obama Administration, with the help of the Democrat Political Party leadership in Congress, are promising something they can not, and do not intend to deliver.
The principles, as outlined on the wbsite - http://my.barackobama.com/healthcare - claims the following so that we citizens can feel comfortable about the proposed Government take-over of one-sixth of our economy - the healthcare system.
Example:
The Principles
President Obama has announced three bedrock requirements for real health insurance reform:
* Reduce Costs — Rising health care costs are crushing the budgets of governments, businesses, individuals and families and they must be brought under control
* Guarantee Choice — Every American must have the freedom to choose their plan and doctor – including the choice of a public insurance option
* Ensure Quality Care for All — All Americans must have quality and affordable health care
All of the above principles are not only untrue ... they are impossible promises to deliver given the text of H.R 3200, America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 (currently 1,018 pages) passed through the House Energy and Commerce Committee on a 31-28 vote last Friday.
Obama to Jane Sturm: Hey, take a pill - Jane asks the President if her 100 year old mother (now 105) would have gotten a pacemaker under his plan. Well now that's a tough one ... that costs a lot and maybe we will have to say, just take a pill. Priceless. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-dQfb8WQvo
This excerpted and edited from the Charlotte Conservative Examiner and About.com -
Obamacare: death and taxes Hailey Wilson - Charlotte Conservative Examiner - August 4, 12:13 AM
House Democrats have narrowly pushed Obama’s Healthcare bill - H.R 3200, America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 - through a key congressional committee this past Friday. ---- The official vote [by all of Congress] should be sometime in September, leaving little time for representatives and Americans to learn what the bill is really about.
Here is a start:
This new healthcare plan will take the independence you have in deciding where and how you get your healthcare and put those decisions into bureaucratic hands.
Think about it this way: going to your doctor will be like going to your DMV—long waiting lines, substandard service and inefficient care.
There is one very important difference, however: you or your loved one will be sick, hurt or dying. The inevitable delays in government-funded healthcare mean death, pain or a worsened condition. And what is worse, the government will decide what quality of healthcare is acceptable.
Here are some of the provisions in Obama’s Healthcare bill:
Page 29: Health care will be rationed.
Page 30: A government committee will decide what treatments and benefits you get (and, unlike an insurer, there will be no appeals process)
Page 42: The "Health Choices Commissioner" will decide health benefits for you. You will have no choice. None.
Page 50: All non-US citizens, illegal or not, will be provided with free healthcare services. ---- About.com: Page 57, under section 163, there is something that would give the government power to reach into benefits recipients' bank accounts. It is called "Administrative Simplification," and Subsection 1173A of this measure, "Standardize Electronic Transactions" has a provision (a)(2)(B) that ensures that this new governmental power:
"be authoritative, permitting no additions or constraints for electronic transactions ..." (C) "be comprehensive, efficient and robust, requiring minimal augmentation by paper transactions or clarification by further communications;" and, finally, (D) enable the real-time (or near real-time) determination of an individual’s financial responsibility at the point of service and, to the extent possible, prior to service, including whether the individual is eligible for a specific service with a specific physician at a specific facility, which may include utilization of a machine-readable health plan beneficiary identification card;" ... (E) "enable, where feasible, near real-time adjudication of claims ..." (Emphasis added) ---- Page 58: Every person will be issued a National ID Healthcard.
Page 72: All private healthcare plans must conform to government rules to participate in a Healthcare Exchange.
Page 84: All private healthcare plans must participate in the Healthcare Exchange (i.e., total government control of private plans)
Page 95: The Government will pay ACORN and Americorps to sign up individuals for Government-run Health Care plan.
Page 102: Those eligible for Medicaid will be automatically enrolled: you have no choice in the matter.
Page 124: No company can sue the government for price-fixing. No "judicial review" is permitted against the government monopoly. Put simply, private insurers will be crushed.
Page 127: The AMA sold doctors out: the government will set wages.
Page 145: An employer MUST auto-enroll employees into the government-run public plan. No alternatives.
Page 126: Employers MUST pay healthcare bills for part-time employees AND their families.
Page 167: Any individual who doesn’t have acceptable healthcare (according to the government) will be taxed 2.5% of income.
Page 170: Any NON-RESIDENT alien is exempt from individual taxes (Americans will pay for them).
Page 195: Officers and employees of Government Healthcare Bureaucracy will have access to ALL American financial and personal records.
Page 239: Bill will reduce physician services for Medicaid. Seniors and the poor most affected."
Page 241: Doctors: no matter what speciality you have, you'll all be paid the same (thanks, AMA!)
Page 253: Government sets value of doctors' time, their professional judgment, etc.
Page 265: Government mandates and controls productivity for private healthcare industries.
Page 272: Cancer patients: welcome to the wonderful world of rationing!
Page 280: Hospitals will be penalized for what the government deems preventable re-admissions.
Page 298: Doctors: if you treat a patient during an initial admission that results in a readmission, you will be penalized by the government.
Page 317: Doctors: you are now prohibited for owning and investing in healthcare companies!
Page 318: Prohibition on hospital expansion. Hospitals cannot expand without government approval.
Page 335: Government mandates establishment of outcome-based measures: i.e., rationing.
Page 341: Government has authority to disqualify Medicare Advantage Plans, HMOs, etc.
Page 354: Government will restrict enrollment of SPECIAL NEEDS individuals.
Page 425: More bureaucracy: Advance Care Planning Consult: Senior Citizens, assisted suicide, euthanasia.
Page 425: Government will instruct and consult regarding living wills, durable powers of attorney, etc. Mandatory. Appears to lock in estate taxes ahead of time. Reference Here and Here>>
There is more ... a lot more (and will be updated here from time to time) and it is not pretty.
Single Payer as articulated by now President Barack Obama at an AFL-CIO union meeting.
People are up in arms, showing up in record numbers at politician summer recess community meetings and having their voices heard. Last weekend, 10,000 people showed up at one of these gatherings in Ohio and the press reported that only 200 citizens were in attendance.
The Democrat Political Party leadership have drafted up some talking points to confront this display by condemning it as a manufactured response organized by "Big Insurance" companies, yet AARP, one of the biggest insurance marketers, is on record in supporting the Obama Administration's efforts - no matter what.
We, at MAXINE, are reminded of an anthem song produced by Bob Marley and the Wailers - "Get Up, Stand Up ... Stand Up For Your Right! [ctrl-click to launch music video] - don't give up the fight!" The time is now to not be duped by the efforts of our one-party leadership scheme and its efforts to nationalize healthcare, no matter how minimal their intrusion. Medicare and Medicaid are government programs that have failed, and all the Democrat leadership wants to do is give all of us this type of program as our only option.
Be very aware of the efforts of the one-party leadership represented by the Obama Administration and the Democrat Political Party led Congress to convince us to invest in their healthcare (big, bigger, biggest government control) ponzi scheme ... their Madoffing of America.
Barack Obama administration - This map of Barack Obama administration relationships is interactive. Ctrl-Click to activate (new window), once at the mapsite, click on names to explore and expand. (Requires Java.) - Image Credit: muckety.com
In the first fifty days of this once promising run of this nation's "First Elected Black President", we are set back on our heels as to how incompetent a government administration and its parts can be.
Where is the "Card Check" process for competence in Government when we need it?
I suppose this is what we can assume to be the norm going forward when we keep voting into office ACORN promoting, Tax increase loving (now with Omnibus $18,584 per household - soon to be upped to $80,000 with the Obama budget proposal), Freedom reducing, Organized Labor supporting, Social Engineering addicted, Government enlarging, Free Enterprise punishing, Judicial Branch lawmaking, Lawyer Class zealots from primarily the Democrat Political Party, with appropriating class Republicans!
Truth is, we have only ourselves to blame ... and boy, are we stupid.
The Government is only a reflection of ourselves and what we are willing to put up with when we set in motion a steady reliance on a central power assistance in our lives without an adherence of standards.
We, at MAXINE, believe this is what we can expect to happen when we see a mission creep of ""Corporate" (both private and public) selfishness.
An assistant shows the mock 'reset' button that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton handed over to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during a meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, Friday, March 6, 2009. Clinton handed Lavrov the block with a red button marked "reset" in English and "overload" in Russian, a reference to a speech by new US Vice-President Joe Biden in January signalling that the Obama administration wanted vastly improved ties with Russia. Image Credit: Fabrice Coffrini
This excerpted and edited from Pajamas Media -
A Presidential Crisis of Competence They (mostly) know not what they’re doing. March 11, 2009 - by Tom Blumer - BizzyBlog.com via Pajamas Media
Less than two months into this administration, three things are clear.
First, its agenda is every bit as radical as many of us expected and feared. ---- That some Obama supporters are surprised is a “tribute” to a media elite that treated decade-plus relationships with radicals Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers, and others as “distractions from the real issues,” and to a McCain campaign that refused to treat Obama’s candidacy as the threat that it was, and now is.
Second, despite strong signals that he is guiding the ship of state in the wrong direction, Obama and his administration have largely refused to bow to reality. ---- While the markets continue to beg to differ, Obama has been essentially indifferent.
The third clear thing is the one that has apparently blindsided Obama fans the most, but should have been the least unexpected: He and his administration seem not to know what they’re doing. Pick almost any area and you’ll find a trail of incompetence that goes well beyond benign rookie mistakes.
The administration’s nominee vetting record has become a national joke that could take up this entire column.
Then take the economy (please). We knew before the election that Obama doesn’t understand the difference between net worth and income. His statement about “profit-to-earnings ratios” comes from that same well of ignorance. ---- Barack Obama has surrounded himself with the likes of tax cheat Tim Geithner, who scares the markets almost every time he opens his mouth. Meanwhile, the new Treasury secretary has somehow managed not to hire 14 key people he needs. Could it be that there is a shortage of qualified people standing in line to be participants in what is shaping up to be the mother of all train wrecks?
Obama, as president-elect, cheered as General Motors and Chrysler received taxpayer bailouts. Apparently neither the incoming nor outgoing administration considered the obvious problem that fewer consumers would buy from the two bailed-out companies either for philosophical or practical reasons (or both). ---- Meanwhile, in a laugh-so-you-won’t-cry story, Geithner is heading an administration delegation that will “visit GM’s technical center in Warren, Michigan, to see car and truck models and learn about the technology being developed.” Uh, don’t lenders usually see what’s going on at the borrower’s place before they cut the loan check? Even staunch Democrat Jim Cramer has been forced to conclude that “it’s amateur hour at our darkest moment.”
The administration’s foreign policy crackups may not be as obvious just yet. ---- Start with the Russia-Iran missile defense saga. Step one was the overture: “Obama ‘ready to drop shield plans for Russian help on Iran.’” Step two, the backhanded dismissal, followed shortly: “Medvedev rejects Obama missile defense deal.” Step three was the blowback, as noted by Charles Krauthammer: “The Russians have dismissed it. We end up being humiliated. We look weak in front of the Iranians, and we have left the Poles and Czechs out to dry in return for nothing.”
While supposedly making a point that this administration will “reset” relationships throughout the world, the secretary of state’s entourage botched a Russian translation. (Those who cite the alleged decline in goodwill towards the U.S. have yet to explain why France, Canada, Germany, and other countries moved significantly to the right under Bush’s watch.)
Obama recently told the New York Times that the U.S. is not winning the war in Afghanistan and was considering (in the Times’ paraphrase) “reach[ing] out to moderate elements of the Taliban.” ---- Obama infuriated the UK last week in more ways than can be counted here. Now we’re supposed to believe that the UK snubs occurred because the poor guy was “too tired,” the same lame excuse that was used to explain away his 10,000-died-in-Kansas gaffe during the presidential campaign. ---- Obama, with no previous executive experience, appears to be falling into the same trap as Democrats Clinton and Carter before him: too obsessed with detail and failing to sufficiently delegate.
Incompetents often try to cover up their failures by attacking others and denying the obvious. This explanation would be consistent with the White House’s thin-skinned blasts at CNBC’s Cramer and Rick Santelli, and the president’s stubborn refusal to characterize his “spread the wealth” policies as what they are: socialist. ---- One thing we do know: Obama and his peeps [heads should roll] want to be totally in charge of health care. Feeling better now? Reference Here>>
With the passage of the "Omnibus" spending bill yesterday and the soon to be considered and passed Obama Administration $3.6 Trillion dollar budget proposal ... we may have created a one-party Government that has become - "To Big To Succeed!"
Sen. Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Maria, votes no as the Senate takes up the budget bills Sunday morning without success. Image Credit: Brian Baer/Sacramento Bee
Please show a Republican backbone, an Abe Lincoln (the one who abolished slavery - abusive taxes are slavery) backbone, a fiscal backbone, a Magan's Law type of backbone for ALL of the citizens of this fine state.
VOTE NO ON THE STATE BUDGET - NO ON ANY TAX INCREASES.
Thank you for your backbone - Living in Los Angeles, I do not have a Republican State Senator to speak for me ... so you are my only voice.
Regards, Edmund Jenks Managing Editor - MAXINE, Oblate Spheroid, Symblogogy Feature Page Editor/Reporter - NowPublic Blog Roll - Pajamas Media
"This will get done," Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg [pictured] told Sen. Sam Aanestad, R-Penn Valley, who complained that the closed-door meetings were excluding the public. Image Credit: Carl Costas/Sacramento Bee
This excerpted and edited from the Sacramento Bee -
California lawmakers fail to pass budget deal By Steve Wiegand and Dan Smith - Sacramento Bee - Monday, February 16, 2009
California legislators tried and failed for a second day Sunday to close a $40 billion hole in the state's budget, still one Republican vote short of approving a package that contains $14.3 billion in tax increases.
State Sen. Abel Maldonado, a moderate Republican from Santa Maria, indicated in an interview with The Bee that he was willing to consider casting the decisive vote if he was satisfied with the final version of the tax proposal.
"I'm very concerned with the tax package," said Maldonado, who early Sunday had been quoted as saying he was adamantly opposed to the tax hikes. "We're still working on that. Everything's fluid. I don't like tax increases. … let me just work on the tax issue. I'm working on that. I don't want my state to go off the cliff, OK? I don't want that."
Senate President Pro Tem, Darrell Steinberg, seated, talks with fellow democrats at 5:25 a.m. as they attempt to get the one Republican vote needed to pass the budget plan in the Senate. Behind him from the left, are Senators Mark Leno, D-San Francsico, Christine Kehoe , D-San Diego, Ellen Corbett, D-San Leandro and Jenny Oropeza, D-Long Beach. Image Credit: Brian Baer/Sacramento Bee
Legislative leaders and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sought to find a way to persuade Maldonado to vote for the tax bill. ---- The Senate adjourned shortly thereafter, with plans to return at 11 a.m. today.
As all sides neared exhaustion, the delay was designed to allow Maldonado more time to mull over his choices.
"This will get done," Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg told Sen. Sam Aanestad, R-Penn Valley, who complained that the closed-door meetings were excluding the public. --- I wish to God that you could deviate just a little bit," he told Aanestad, "just a little bit from your philosophy, from this endless mantra of no new revenue, no new revenue ever, and be participant and a partner with us in solving this problem." ---- The key bills in the package, which has been hung up since Saturday, require two-thirds approval of both the Assembly and the state Senate.
That means at least three Republicans have to vote for those elements with the 51 Democrats in the Assembly, and three Republicans would have to do likewise with the 24 Democrats in the state Senate. Most Republican legislators have taken pledges never to raise taxes, and fear that doing so could lead to their defeat in GOP primaries.
Even so, legislative leaders had said the three GOP Assembly votes were there. The hang-up was that there were only two Republican senators – Senate GOP leader Dave Cogdill of Modesto and Sen. Roy Ashburn of Bakersfield – willing to vote for the package.
Another GOP senator, Dave Cox of Fair Oaks, was widely believed to be the 27th vote, but made it clear Sunday he would vote no.
The budget-balancing aspect of the package takes a three-pronged approach, with $14.3 billion in temporary tax increases, $15.1 billion in spending cuts and $11.4 billion in borrowing. ---- The plan also relies on voter approval of five measures at a May 19 special election.
Voters would be asked to OK borrowing money from two voter-created special funds for mental health and children's health programs, changing constitutional language that covers lottery operations and school financing, and creating a spending cap. Reference Here>>
The latter five measure conditions that require a vote by the public on May 19th are provisions that have been voted on by the citizens before - passing by 70% - and now this group of legislators will be asking all of us to overturn our vote on the use of these monies in the State Budget.
Why don't we all vote to end taxation slavery and get a whole new bunch of legislators who know how NOT to tax and spend.
A reflection in a stock market display in Tokyo. Image Credit: 2005 - Katsumi Kasahara
From Lost Decade To Lost Generation
Barack Obama, in his first news conference of his tenure as the 44th president of the United States, dashed all hope and signaled a change from the United States being a free enterprise economy to a socialist based economy.
Citing the economic downturn as the reason why our elected leaders should pass the current large scale government spending legislation (with interest, over one trillion dollars) that is in front of them, Barack Obama invokes other economic downturns in the world.
One of the key examples he used as how a government spent itself out of economic troubles was the “Lost Decade” that Japan went through when their economy shrank and the government took over the fiscal control of many business enterprises. The funny thing is, the economy in Japan turned around when the government turned over major government operations back to the private sector after holding on to them for nearly a decade.
If our congress passes this spending bill, our country will not only revisit some of the worst economic times we have ever experienced (most recently the “Stagflation” Carter years with a misery index of 22 – currently the misery index stands at 7.6), we will loose major freedoms of choice for not just one decade … but a generation.
Another perplexing element tucked away in this trillion dollar “Stimulus” bill is the government’s reach into an un-funded yet subsidized health care.
The Democrat Party led Senate has confirmed New York Federal Reserve Bank Chief Timothy Geithner as President Obama's Secretary of the Treasury. The vote was 60-34, as many lawmakers questioned Geithner's failure to pay all of his taxes ($46,000) from 2001, to 2004. He has since paid them in full. Image Credit: NECN
This excerpted and edited from Congress Daily via NACS Daily -
Stimulus Package Contains Risky COBRA Provisions Congress Daily - February 10, 2009
Senate leaders began debate on Friday on an economic stimulus bill that has some business community leaders concerned about the costs associated with the proposed health provisions, particularly one that would expand COBRA coverage.
Congress Daily writes that the health provisions of the Senate’s version of economic stimulus bill would subsidize COBRA premiums to allow “laid-off workers to afford to keep their job-based insurance for up to a year” However, the House-passed $819 billion version of the stimulus bill would “go a step further” and allow those who have been “on the job at least 10 years and who are age 55 or older to keep their job-based insurance until they become eligible for Medicare.”
On Friday, Senate leaders agreed to “a $5 billion reduction in COBRA subsidies for unemployed workers to buy health insurance” and instead of having the federal government subsidize 65 percent of the cost for nine months, as prescribed in both the House and Senate bills, the Senate bill reduces the subsidy to 50 percent but extends it for one year,” writes Congress Daily. ---- These costs would significantly increase if people could keep COBRA longer as they approach Medicare eligibility...COBRA should not be considered a long-term source of coverage and was not intended to be one...Both current employees and their employers would face significant cost increases to finance the committee’s proposals to indefinitely extend COBRA coverage.” ---- The Senate – with pressure from President Obama – is expected to pass its version of the economic stimulus package today. The bill will then head to a conference committee to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate versions. Reference Here>>
This additional drag on the structure of business expenses has the opposite effect on the economy as it relates to stimulus and growth.
The new Treasury Secretary of the Obama administration, Timothy Geithner, has just announced his new plan that proposes yet another two (yes, that’s 2) trillion dollars of taxpayer money committed to propping up our mortgage banking industry.
Process without consequence is NO PROCESS at all.
We are living in the parallel universe described in the Superman comic books known as Bizzaro World (all things are flipped to the opposite) ... where everything Good is labeled and reacted to as Bad - and everything Bad is labeled and reacted to as Good.
In this real world, the outcomes and consequences are not flipped and actually remain the same.
United States' Social Engineering through the US Congress created entities of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, left unchecked ... has led to this world economic disaster.
All "Bailout" scenarios leave these Social Engineering processes in place.
A trillion here, two trillion there ... WHY NOT? is what we, at MAXINE, say!
Bend over and kiss the future generation’s economic and personal freedoms goodbye.
Casting the tax debate as a “values” issue Saturday, Barack Obama said John McCain was "out-of-touch" for equating the Illinois senator's plan to cut taxes for middle class families with welfare. /// “It comes down to values – in America, do we simply value wealth, or do we value the work that creates it?” Obama said at a rally under the Gateway Arch. “I’m not giving tax cuts to folks who don’t work. I’m giving tax cuts to folks who do work. That’s right, Missouri – John McCain is so out of touch with the struggles you are facing that he must be the first politician in history to call a tax cut for working people ‘welfare.’ – Barack Obama in St. Louis Oct. 18, 2008 – Image Credit: Ethiopian Review
Trickle Down Growth Or Trickle Across Poverty
“Joe The Plumber” has really struck a cord with the average American that does not want to loose their hard fought freedoms.
The truth is that most Americans are not opposed to paying taxes to a Government that creates and maintains roads and infrastructure, creates and maintains laws that secure our sovereignty, and gives us protection from forces that want to take over our freedoms that our forefathers envisioned us having here in the United States – Religion, Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit Of Happiness!
What most Americans do not want to do is pay taxes for WELFARE knowing full well that this is the cancer that attacks our productivity, creativity, economic health, and the wide variety of choices we have come to expect in our "7-11 society" (access to almost anything at anytime of the day).
One measure of how well people connect with a vision of America that “Joe The Plumber” articulates and its effect on our election process for President ... expect a machine generated “robocall” from the Democrat Party featuring “Bob The Plumber” - That’s right, BOB … THE PLUMBER! The inventive “Bob” is the main character in a phone call people get while they are eating dinner, espousing the virtues of a Barack Obama economic vision that invests in the middleclass.
This Reference (edited) found at The Huffington Post –
Obama Launches Own 'Joe The Plumber' Robocall Sam Stein – The Huffington Post, October 18, 2008
Barack Obama's campaign is trotting out its own "Joe the Plumber" to counteract efforts by John McCain to make inroads on the white working class vote.
A reader in Colorado sends over word that the state Democratic Party and the Obama camp are blasting out robocalls from "Joe Martinez," a plumber in Colorado who vouches for the Illinois Democrat's tax plan.
A spokesman for the Colorado Democratic Party confirmed the robocall and said he would try to track down audio. The rough script goes like this:
"...During this week's debate, Barack Obama talked about cutting taxes for middle class families like mine, lowering health care costs for everyone and bringing the change we need in Washington. John McCain ignored the issues and used the debate to launch false attacks against Barack Obama. In fact, McCain - for the third debate in a row - didn't even say the words 'middle class'. So, take it from Joe the plumber, if you want a president who will put middle class families first - join me in voting for Barack Obama. Paid for by the Colorado Democratic Party...."
What "Barack The Socialist" says is that 95% of all working taxpayers will receive a tax cut – only about 60% of all Americans actually pay taxes so this means the rest of the taxpayers will receive a “tax credit” in the mail. If a taxpayer did not pay money into a tax system, a tax credit is wealth redistribution, which is WELFARE … or socialism.
This excerpted and edited from the Los Angeles Times -
McCain Compares Obama's Policies To Socialism By BOB DROGIN and MARK Z. BARABAK Los Angeles Times - October 19, 2008
John McCain sharpened his attack on presidential rival Barack Obama's economic proposals Saturday, accusing the Democrat of seeking to turn the United States into a socialist country and convert the IRS into a giant "welfare agency" that would dole out cash at Washington, D.C.,'s discretion.
----
In recent days, McCain has seized on a comment that Obama made in defending his tax policies to Samuel J. Wurzelbacher, an Ohio man now better known as "Joe the Plumber." Obama, who was canvassing Wurzelbacher's neighborhood last weekend, told him: "When you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody."
Delivering a national radio address before setting out for stops Saturday in North Carolina and Virginia, McCain said Obama's approach "sounded a lot like socialism."
"At least in Europe, the Socialist leaders who so admire my opponent are upfront about their objectives," the Republican nominee said. "They use real numbers and honest language. And we should demand equal candor from Sen. Obama. Raising taxes on some in order to give checks to others is not a tax cut. It's just another government giveaway."
Obama has said that his plan would cut taxes for 95 percent of working Americans, including Wurzelbacher. McCain has said 40 percent of Americans don't pay income taxes, either because they are elderly or don't make enough money."
In other words, Barack Obama's tax plan would convert the IRS into a giant welfare agency, redistributing massive amounts of wealth at the direction of politicians in Washington," McCain said in his radio remarks.
----
For decades, Republicans have portrayed Democrats as acolytes of big government, top-down solutions. But socialist theory is more radical and arguably more sinister-sounding. It calls for collective ownership of most private enterprise and the creation of an egalitarian society. Karl Marx said that socialism was a transitional phase between capitalism and communism.
If one studies the economies of the countries that have embraced socialism as a component of their economic and governmental structure, what one finds with this practice is an average standard of living that becomes reduced. Socialism reduces incentive, investment, growth, and empowerment - the tenants of "Trickle Down Growth."
What Barack Obama aims to achieve with his tax plan besides having the Government be able to make more decisions over how one leads his or her life, is a wealth redistribution which amounts to an economic plan that can be termed as - "Trickle Across Poverty!"
"Sour Grapes" - Grape fields, full of ripe grapes, ready to be picked in the South of the Big Valley (Arvin, CA). Image Credit: Edmund Jenks, Copyright-2005
Alien Labor Gains Net Hollywood Math
We often hear how producers of a successful Hollywood movie, you know, one that had very strong attendance figures (box office) is never is able to turn a profit.
Many joke that what is actually happening is “Hollywood Math” (while others call it creative accounting) where profits are sucked up and losses are recorded so that the production company does not have to pay out on contract deals that were based upon a percentage of profits.
Many argue that the influx of low-skilled alien labor helps our country in that it keeps us competitive in the world economy.
A real study of the gains netted through low-skilled labor contributions develops a different picture, so states a report from The Heritage Foundation.
When one begins to look at the actual cost to the social infrastructure - taking into account the outflow of money from the tax monies collected to these same low-skilled alien workers, one finds that alien labor is a losing proposition.
The joking reality of Hollywood Math has found a home (in reverse) with the logic and policies used by our elected officials. Our country pays out three times as much in Government supports and welfare programs than it collects in taxes derived from the gainful employment of low-skilled alien labor.
Alien labor is not a good deal for America. It just doesn’t add up to good “Box Office”.
Excerpts from The Washington Times -
Low-skilled aliens exact a burden By S.A. Miller, with contributions from Stephen Dinan - THE WASHINGTON TIMES - April 5, 2007
Immigration reforms that increase the number of low-skilled workers entering the United States threaten to impose a high cost on taxpayers, says a study being released today.
The Heritage Foundation report calculates that for every $1 unskilled workers pay in taxes they receive about $3 in government benefits, including Medicaid, food stamps, public housing and other welfare programs.
It should serve as a warning to President Bush and lawmakers proposing to give illegal aliens a so-called path to citizenship or what critics call amnesty, said Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, which handles immigration bills. ---- The report on low-skilled workers, who are defined as those without a high school diploma, did not focus on immigrants, but its authors say 25 percent of legal immigrants and 50 percent of illegal aliens fall into the category. About 9 percent of native-born Americans lack a high school diploma.
Using data from 2004, the report shows the average household headed by a low-skilled worker paid $9,689 in taxes but received $32,138 in benefits a year. The more than $22,000 difference is the "tax burden" which rises to $1.1 million over the worker's lifetime.
Mr. Bush has called for legalizing the estimated 12 million to 20 million illegal aliens in the United States, and for a new program to allow more foreign workers in the future. ---- "The Heritage Foundation report proves what we already know, that illegal immigration is a drain to the American people," the California Republican [Rep. Brian P. Bilbray, chairman of the Immigration Reform Caucus] said. "At more than $22,000 a year, it's like having the American taxpayers buy everyone who doesn't have a high school diploma a brand new Ford Mustang convertible." ---- In 2004, according to the Heritage Foundation report, the country had 17.7 million low-skilled households that together cost taxpayers $397 billion that year. Those households, without an influx of new unskilled workers, will cost at least $3.9 trillion over the next 10 years.
The Heritage Foundation plans to release a separate analysis focused solely on low-skilled immigrant households in the next few weeks. Read All (subscription required)>>
The great elaborator: Obama gives 17-minute answer to health-care query in N.C. Image Credit: Polypore International, Inc.
