When I was a kid, I couldn't wait to grow up and be an adult. This sh!t is not what I expected.
- "Robert E. Lee was offered easier terms at Appomattox, and he lost the Civil War, " Charles Krauthammer on the terms offered by the Democrats regarding "fiscal cliff" negotiations. And he's right.
- The White House is still seeking $1.6T in new taxes. In addition, one of their key provisions, is a $50 billion stimulus package. Yo! If $800 million in stimulus didn't work, what makes anyone think another $50B will work? Also, the White House is offering spending cuts---but down the road. In other words, they want us to believe in yet another promise.
- Having said this, all parties are to blame for this mess we're in. Obama and Congress created this fiscal cliff when they were both unable to come up with a plan to take on the $16T debt in 2011 (Recall all the rhetoric then about, "kicking the can down the road." Well, at the end of that road is a big, friggin cliff).
- So what happens if we go over that cliff?Bush tax cuts expire. Payroll tax holidays end. More Americans will be hit with the alternative minimum tax. And a number of corporate tax breaks expire. Spending cuts will be felt largely by Defense. Moreover, there will be lower payment to Medicare providers and expanded unemployment insurance will end (no more 99 weeks).
- Add ObamaCare costs and uncertainty to this mix, and you see why companies are nervous.
- Quite frankly, if both parties were serious about avoiding the fiscal cliff, they would admit the truth and it's this (lean in, I'll have to whisper this in your ear): everyone should be taxed not only the rich. Right now, half the country does not pay any taxes. The administration's plan of taxing the rich will not significantly increase revenues. The taxes raised by taxing the rich will help run the government perhaps a few weeks. That's why both parties are hypocrites.
- Leno regarding Benghazi: "Very dangerous to White House if journalists start asking real questions."
"This was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal." Pres. Obama
- As many of my readers know, I like to begin my posts with some type of Late-Night joke or a headline from The Onion. I decided to use the megalomaniacal line from a speech Pres. Obama gave in 2008. To this day, it still makes me laugh my ass off.
- Is Amb. Susan Rice toast? I ask that question because moderate Republican (and I "Republican" use that loosely) Senator Susan Collins of Maine suggested support for Amb. Rice is eroding. Moderate Republicans like Collins and McCain are often darlings of the lefty presstitute media until the moderate Republican goes head to head with a liberal Democrat. McCain learned that very quickly in 2008. As a moderate Republican, he was the darling of the left-leaning media until he ran against Obama. For example, in 2008, the NY Times ran a piece that suggested McCain had an affair with a lobbyist. He didn't.
Recession-Proof Jobs Include Any In Which You Witness Your Boss Kill Someone...The Onion
- It's often been said that elections have consequences. Well, buckle up, we're in for a ride in the next four years. Regarding the impending fiscal cliff (I contend we went over it the day Pres. Obama took office), Congress appears to be playing chicken right now. Pres. Obama and Democrats have been making it clear they still want higher taxes on the wealthy. Republicans, on the other hand, want to preserve the Bush era tax cuts including reductions in government spending. That's the dilemma: can a nation cut taxes and cut spending and still continue to raise revenue? If Congress was serious about cutting spending, it would work. The problem with Congress has always been this fact: the more money we give them, the more they spend. The proof? Just look at the past four years of over $1T deficits. And where is Pres. Obama in all of this? He'll be going on another campaign tour touting his plan.
- And sitting out there in the parking lot is Social Security. The Democrats contend it's not in a crisis, so they don't want to include it in the fiscal cliff negotiations. On the other hand, Republicans contend it is in crisis. Whose right? Republicans are. The data is clear. In the president's own budget (which has not been approved by anyone, including Democrats), it shows Social Security ran a $45-48B deficit last year. The CBO reported Social Security began exceeding payroll tax revenues in 2010. USA Today
- How pathetic are Democrats in all of this? Once again, they are politicizing the process by exploiting the Navy SEALs again. Dick Durbin said this yesterday regarding the tax issues: "Hedge fund managers make as much in two minutes as Navy SEALs make in a year." Now you know why his first name is Dick.
Baby Knocked Out With Cough Syrup Praised For Being Such A Good Little Traveler...The Onion
- Yesterday the news broke that Jamie Fox referred to Pres. Obama as our "lord and savior." That was troubling enough. Now comes word out of Boston that a painting depicting Obama as a crucified Christ in hanging in an art gallery (pictured above). Normally, it would be a waste of time criticizing a bunch of nitwits who portray a president, a man, as the Messiah. And I'm not looking at this from a religious or spiritual standpoint (although I wouldn't criticize people of faith who would), I'm looking at this portrayal of the president as a savior by many in our culture as rather creepy, disturbing and troubling even pathological. And history does not speak well of countries and cultures who treated their leadership as "Gods" either.
Study: Everyone, Everything Linked To Paranoia...The Onion
- When I first read the headline in NewsBusters about comedian Jamie Fox referring to Pres. Obama as "our lord and savior," I thought I was reading another headline from The Onion. Unfortunately, it's true. This Hollywood Oscar winning nitwit actually made those comments at the Soul Train Awards (which I'd like to refer to as the No Brain Awards as are all the award shows and awards they keep bestowing upon themselves). One commentator remarked Obama is the lord and savior alright because he made us all equally miserable.
- In the last week, there have been several reports of some Republicans appearing to be willing to break their no tax pledges. This weekend alone, Sens. McCain and Graham, said they no longer believe their anti-tax increase pledge is binding on them (in the last ten years, over 200 House members including about 40 Senators signed the pledge). All of this is in response to the approaching fiscal cliff should Bush era tax cuts expire and not be renewed. Even The Weekly Standard's editor, Bill Kristol, who was against raising taxes (in 2009, he said it's the "stupidest thing you can do" in a bad economy) signaled support for additional "revenue." That's code for raising taxes as is the phrase often uttered by the president and Democrats, "We need to invest in America."
- My response to Congress: unless you cut government spending and waste, don't even think of raising taxes. In fact, Ernst and Young, one of the nation's leading accounting firms, reported Obama's taxes would destroy 700,000 jobs (and since most of the projections are often underestimated, you can double that number). Even Obama's own Council of Economic Advisors said of the tax hikes, "appear to have a very large, sustained and highly significant negative impact on output."
