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Sunday, October 31, 2010

Alaska's KTVA Pulls a Dan Rather

Alaska's CBS affiliate, KTVA, are caught on tape conspiring to intentionally smear Joe Miller. And then they try the Dan Rather-esque defense that "the tape is real, but the allegations are untrue."

Media credibility at zero.

Bielat Brings in Brown: Frank Brings in....Dukakis

In the Bielat vs. Frank campaign yesterday, Scott Brown came to town to campaign for Sean Bielat. Meanwhile in Brookline, Barney Frank brought in his own Democrat big gun....former Governor Michael Dukakis. (No word on whether Dukakis brought in his tank and helmet.)

That about sums up this race.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Why Is Obama Going Back to Delaware?

Christine O'Donnell has been trashed by the media. Trashed by the elites (Republicans and Democrats alike). She has received the full Palin treatment. She was supposed to get blown out in a laugher.

Now Obama is rushing back to Delaware the final weekend before the election to campaign. Hmm.

For the record, I don't think O'Donnell will win, but is there no better use of a President's time than to campaign in a state that was a lock to win?

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Left Already Spinning: Landslide Doesn't Mean Mandate

It is borderline comical how the Left is spinning the coming landslide election loss for Democrats. Bloomberg says that, while it's true, it will be a total wipeout for Democrats, Americans are not giving the GOP a mandate to implement the policies they are campaigning on.

Hmm. Obama runs on cutting taxes and wins and it's supposedly a mandate to nationalize the entire U.S. economy and install socialism. The Democrats are headed for a tsunami wipeout, but voters are still not giving a mandate.

Justice O'Connor: Profile of True Judicial Activism

Despite being supposedly retired, retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who is officially now a political activist, has decided that by sitting in on important cases is the easiest way to activate her policies quickly. From Andrew McCarthy:

The decision in the case, Gonzalez v. Arizona, was not actually rendered by Ninth Circuit judges, only one of whom agreed with it. As Ed Whelan notes in a Bench Memos post, the deciding vote was cast by the supposedly retired Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O’Connor. Justice O’Connor claims the power to sit by designation on cases in the federal appellate and district courts, despite the fact that she is now an overt political activist. Under the rules of judicial ethics, that ought to sideline her as a jurist. But of course, a politician can get a lot more accomplished wearing a robe.

Interestingly, the other judge in this controversial 2-1 decision that overturns precedent, Jedge Sandra Segal Ikuta, was a former law clerk of O'Connor's. Hmm.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Dem Rep. Patrick Murphy: Vote Fraud Scheme

Uh oh. Dem Rep. Patrick Murphy looks like he is the typical Democrat - trying to steal an election. But unlike most Dems, he seems to have been caught. From NRO:

New reports are emerging that could spell trouble for Patrick Murphy’s campaign after it was revealed that his campaign manager controlled a post office box where voters were being instructed to send their absentee ballots. The ballots were then re-mailed to the county Board of Elections.

A letter from a fictitious agency, the “Pennsylvania Voter Assistance Office,” was sent to an unknown number of residents across the 8th district in southeastern Pennsylvania warning them that their ability to voter could be jeopardized unless they returned an enclosed absentee ballot in a pre-paid envelope that went to a privatepost office box in Bristol, Pa.

At issue is whether Rep. Patrick Murphy was directly involved, and whether absentee ballots were tampered with or discarded as they were proceeded through the post office box maintained by Tim Persico, his campaign manager.

Obama Seeking to Make Good on Electricity Price Promise

When Obama said that his policies would "necessarily make the price of electricity skyrocket," he wasn't being hyperbolic - he was deadly serious. And now that cap-and-trade is dead in Congress, he is using the EPA to make it happen by fiat. From the WSJ:

Yesterday the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, a highly regarded federal energy advisory body, released an exhaustive "special assessment" of this covert program. NERC estimates that the Environmental Protection Agency's pending electric utility regulations will subtract between 46 and 76 gigawatts of generating capacity from the U.S. grid by 2015. To put those numbers in perspective, the worst-case scenario would amount to a reduction of about 7.2% of national power generation, and almost all of it will hit coal-fired plants, the workhorse that supplies a little over half of U.S. electricity.

...In a recent research note, Credit Suisse estimates that compliance will cost as much as $150 billion in capital investment by the end of the decade. All of this will flow through to rising electricity prices, which is the same as a tax increase on businesses and consumers.

So - increasing demand for electricity, a 7% reduction in supply and $150 billion in new costs. Who do you think will be paying for the higher electricity costs in a couple of years? (Hint: not Obama).

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Technicians at Problematic Voting Machines are SEIU Members

Figures. SEIU members are controlling the voting machines that already have Democrats' names checked off. Only rampant fraud can save them now.

Harry Reid Could Still Win

If these reports are true, then of course Harry Reid can still win - the ballots are already checked for him when voters come into the voting booths.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Mortgage, Child Deductions To Be Repealed?

If it's up to Obama and the Democrats, I think they would certainly take Obama's "Deficit Commission Panel's" soon-to-be-announced (after the election, of course) recommendations on "how to lower the deficit." According to the WSJ, they are likely to include eliminating child deductions and home mortgage interest.

Because who wants the housing market to recover?

RI Dem: Obama Can "Take His Endorsement and Shove It"

Rhode Island Democrat gubernatorial candidate Frank Caprio responded to the fact that Obama has declined to endorse him.

"He can take his endorsement and really shove it as far as I'm concerned."

A little political payback to Caprio's opponent Lincoln Chafee for deserting the GOP. The funny thing is, it will probably help Caprio a lot more than it will hurt him by distancing himself from the most destructive person in the U.S. today.

S.E. Cupp Interviews Sean Bielat

I really liked two of his answers in this light-hearted interview:

SE: You’re put in charge of national unemployment. What
do you do?
SB: Immediate reduction in income tax withholding and immediate reduction in corporate tax withholding. Issue a holiday on new business regulations so employers have a horizon in which to make
investments in a stable business environment.


SE: If you can make one promise to voters, what would it be?
SB: Not to make a career out of this.



We can compare this answer with Barney's history, who's been in the house for 30 years.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Newsweek's Polling: As Good as Garbage

Newsweek was sold for just $1 a few weeks ago. Looking at its poll results, it's not a surprise the business is in shambles. According to Realclearpolitics' seventeen presidential polls since October 1, Obama's approval rating is somewhere between +3 and -10. Newsweek's is a miraculous +14.

No big deal because I don't think even Newsweek readers take them seriously, but it is amusing.

David Zucker's 'Ma'am' Boxer Spoof

This is really a very funny video/ad created by Hollywood director David Zucker.

CBO: Obamacare to Reduce Jobs

The CBO said that the effects of Obamacare on the labor force would "probably be small," about 0.5%, or 651,000 jobs. Of course, the CBO also said that it would be revenue neutral (if we get to take 10 years of tax increases and 6 years of expenses).

So let's recap: Obamacare will lose jobs, prevent businesses from hiring new workers, bust the budget, ration care, force companies to drop existing coverages and put Congress in between you and your doctor. Why are voters so upset?

Friday, October 22, 2010

DeMint: Defund Public Support of NPR

Jim DeMint has proposed legislation that defunds the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which provided programming to National Public Radio.

It's about time. With the hundreds or thousands of television and radio options out there, why does the government need to fund tv and radio programming? Second, anyone familiar with the broadcasting industry realizes that the past few years have been a complete disaster, forcing huge budget cutbacks and layoffs just to stay afloat.

But not CPB, which continues to receive 3-5% budget increases every year. This is emblematic of every government agency and program. It's got to change.

Dem Rep. Moran: Military Service is Not Public Service

Far Left-wing Rep. Jim Moran, who serves Arlington VA, just outside Washington DC, is as liberal as they come. His view towards his opponent, Patrick Murray, is indicative of his view of the government; he says that Murray has never offered any public service, despite the fact that Murray is a retired Army Colonel of 24 years.

Maybe that's why a recent poll suggests that Moran is up only 13 points, which is significant because he won by 38 points in 2008 and resides in an area that is 80% Democrat. 23% are still undecided.

New Poll Shows Frank Leading Bielat 49-37

WPRI just came out with a new poll, showing Frank leading, with 12% undecided. I love this, as it will likely give Frank a false sense of security. I think it's going to be extremely close, but I see Bielat taking it. Here's my analysis: In 2008, a huge turnout year for democrats because of Obama, Frank took 68% of his district, Two unknowns took 32% of the vote. In this year's race there's really only 2 candidates - and Bielat is quickly becoming known. To assume that Bielat only takes 37% of the vote is very unreasonable, considering two people with ZERO press recogntion got 32% in 2008.

The real reason for optimism is what Scott Brown did to MA district 4. In the key towns: Brookline, Dartmouth, Fall River, New Bedford, Newton, and Taunton - Democrats voted 34% less frequently for Coakley than they did 2 years earlier for Frank. But in those same key towns, Brown captured +65% more than Franks' Republican competitor in 2008.

It's hard to extrapolate Brown's race to Bielat because some might argue that Frank is not as bad as Coakley and that Bielat is not as good as Brown. I actually believe Frank is as bad as Coakley, but that Bielat won't attract as many votes as Brown did. So here goes: the simple math would be to say Frank will get 35% fewer votes than in 2008, and Bielat could capture 40% more than the Frank's two opponents did in 2008. I think these are reasonable assumptions. I'm calling it for Bielat 133K to Franks' 131K.

New Barney Frank Dancing Video

I think this will get some attention.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Coons Reverses Self: Extend Existing Tax Rates

Despite what you hear about the Delaware Senate race, Democrat Chris Coons must be worried. How else to explain the fact that he reversed his position on taxes? On his website, he says that tax rates should rise for the "wealthy" (not sure what that means, but probably for anyone with a job).

Now, though, he tells ABC that he wants to keep all tax rates as they are. My guess is that he wants to take this key issue away from Christine O'Donnell.

Boston Globe's McGrory Slams Barney Frank

Sounds like The Boston Globe's Brian McGrory knows Barney Frank pretty well, as do other MA democrats. But this quote tells it all:

Just about every Democrat in Massachusetts has a Barney Frank story, and very few of them would earn him the Citizen of the Year award. Frank belittles members of Congress. He berates Capitol Hill staffers. It’s not that he doesn’t suffer fools; he doesn’t really suffer anyone.


Sounds like Mr. Frank is an obnoxious man, but interestingly enough, he's either insecure or very afraid of what's happening to him right now, as indicated by the following exchange with McGrory. The dialogue refers to an incident where Frank's boyfriend, Jim Ready, heckles opponent Sean Bielat.


When I asked if Frank planned to apologize for Ready’s behavior, Frank said: “Jim should have broken it off and not responded. But Bielat shouldn’t have initiated the conversation. I don’t see what was inappropriate about taking his picture.’’ I’ll mark that down as a no. A few moments later, my phone rang again. It was Frank, adding, “Jim’s new to political campaigning. He takes it more personally than someone who’s used to it.’’ After we hung up, Frank called again, saying, “You know, he calls me dude. I didn’t realize that was troubling people. He calls all sorts of people dude.’’


As McGrory writes, Barney Frank has been an obnoxious politician over the past 30 years. For some reason people have excused his bullying behavior. But maybe this is the year people from Wellesley and Newton have had enough?

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Thank Democrats: Goodbye Free Checking

Unsurprisingly, banks are modifying their practices to make up for Democrats' push for financial regulation in the name of "consumer protection." The result is that we can expect to say goodbye to free checking accounts very soon.

I'm fairly certain consumers are not going to want to continue being "protected" like this.

Chevy Volt a Fraud

Investors' Business Daily has an interesting story on the car that requires a $7500 taxpayer subsidy and still costs over $40K to purchase. In short, the car gets nowhere near the 200 mpg that was hoped for, instead only getting somewhere in the 30s.

Woops.

Chicago Fraud in Obama's Weatherization Program

Talk about a complete waste of money. The Department of Energy completed an audit to check up on Obama's much hailed "weatherization program," which gave taxpayer money to those who Obama chose in order to get their homes "weatherized."

As Byron York points out, the DOE found that 14 of the 15 homes they inspected failed the inspections miserably.

The findings are grim. "Our testing revealed substandard performance in weatherization workmanship, initial assessments, and contractor billing," the inspector general report says. "These problems were of such significance that they put the integrity of the entire program at risk."

A Free Repatriation Stimulus

John Chambers, CEO of Cisco Systems and Safra Catz, President of Oracle, had a great suggestion in the WSJ for Obama and Congress - simply allow a tax-free repatriation holiday for the $1 trillion in cash that belongs to U.S. companies but sits in overseas accounts because it would be taxed at 35% if brought back home.

The U.S. government's treatment of repatriated foreign earnings stands in marked contrast to the tax practices of almost every major developed economy, including Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, Russia, Australia and Canada, to name a few. Companies headquartered in any of these countries can repatriate foreign earnings to their home countries at a tax rate of 0%-2%. That's because those countries realize that choking off foreign capital from their economies is decidedly against their national interests.

...By permitting companies to repatriate foreign earnings at a low tax rate—say, 5%—Congress and the president could create a privately funded stimulus of up to a trillion dollars. They could also raise up to $50 billion in federal tax revenue. That's money the economy would not otherwise receive.

It's simple math, but in the name of Democrats' view of "fairness," they won't take advantage of this free $1 trillion surplus.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Coolidge in His Own Words

Amity Schlaes makes the case for Calvin Coolidge as the greatest President of the past century.

Coolidge makes the straightforward case of reducing the size of government, which he thought was way too big - $7.5 billion at the time - or only 2% of the size of Obama's government. (And now, inflation has not been 50,000% since then).

The Choice in Washington: Government Unions or Private Sector

William McGurn of the WSJ asks the most important question of this election cycle:

Do state budgets exist to serve their citizens or their government employees?

If you read the talking points, the unions are involved in this initiative because they see it as the only way to maintain vital health-care and education services. Under I-1098, that would mean a new 5% tax on individuals earning more than $200,000 a year and couples earning more than $400,000. An additional 4% would kick in for individuals earning more than $500,000 and couples making more than $1 million.

...Here's a better way of putting it. By taxing others, these unions want to insulate the governor and the legislature from having to make difficult choices about what the government should fund and what it might cut back.


The conflict here is obvious: taxpayers fund public salaries and benefits, which are used to fund union dues. The union dues then donate to politicians who are willing to increase their salaries and benefits. This needs to stop across the U.S.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Boeing to Employees: Obamacare is Raising Your Costs

Not surprising. Boeing is the latest company to tell its 90,000 employees, that thanks to Obamacare, costs for all non-union employees are going up for them next year.

And Obama couldn't care less about your costs...

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Obama Looking to Kill More American Jobs

Losing 8.5 million jobs isn't enough for Obama - he wants to kill more. Otherwise, why would he continue to insist on taxing American companies' oversea profits? All it would do is cause them to move their headquarters offshore.

"There is no reason why our tax code should actively reward them for creating jobs overseas," Obama said. "Instead, we should be using our tax dollars to reward companies that create jobs and businesses within our borders."

This is the view one would have in first or second grade. After one learns about the economy, one realizes he should be looking for a way for American companies to repatriate the billions of dollars that are trapped overseas because bringing it back to the U.S. would result in huge taxes. Giving them a repatriation holiday would create $100 billion true stimulus to the economy, providing a huge new investment and job source. Instead, Obama is forcing them to go the other way.

Sad.

Deval Patrick Stumbles in Big Debate

Sounds like Charlie Baker had a great performance against incumbent Deval Patrick in yesteday's debate, according to the Boston Herald. The Boston Globe, unsurprisingly didn't report anything like that. While there were a number of different areas that Baker outperformed Patrick, I'd have to say what left Patrick most exposed was his response to "Which living politician you would most like to be?"

First Patrick said nothing, or no one. Then finally, he said Mayor Bloomberg. Reason: For defending the mosque to be built at Ground Zero.

Umm. Of all things he could have said... I think we now know the true Deval Patrick. Not to far off from big buddy Obama. And now that Obama will be in Boston today, it's possible that Obama's appearance could be the nail in the coffin for Deval.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Massive Tsunami Coming for GOP?

I know things are going to be dreadful for Democrats (and deservedly so!) but this would be outright crazy if true:

According to the latest NPR Battleground Survey 86 Republican candidates are either tied or ahead of their democratic opponent in democrat-held districts.

Obviously, the GOP will have some districts that fall as well, but it seems that Americans are finally waking up to the absolute disaster of Obamanomics. I just pray it's not too late already.

Want Jobs? Follow Texas' Lead

Texas has created approximately half of all new jobs in the entire U.S. over the past twelve months. As Rich Lowry points out, the formula isn't rocket science:

What does Austin know that Washington doesn't? At its simplest: Don't overtax and -spend, keep regulations to a minimum, avoid letting unions and trial lawyers run riot, and display an enormous neon sign saying, "Open for Business."

According to Obama, Pelosi, Reid and the Dems, it's such a radical, right wing idea.

Blue Dogs To Die Painful Death

Kimberly Strassel has an interesting piece in the WSJ about the "Blue Dog" Democrats likely extinction this year due to their betrayal of voters in the past two years.

Today the Blue Dog label is a liability. At 54 members strong, the coalition had the muscle to block budget-busting Obama initiatives such as stimulus or health reform. Many of its members, including Mr. Boyd, instead gave the tax-and-spenders their victories.

Sorry, but any member who voted for Obama's agenda items can never, ever, call themselves conservative. Good riddance - you're as bad as Obama himself.

Barney Frank in Ethics Violatons

When a congressman accepts a free vacation on a private jet to the virgin islands, and then pays the giver $200MM in bailout money, what do you call it? There are plenty of reasons to vote out Mr. Frank - I think the biggest one is that he is just plain incompetent. But regardless of how you feel about his competence, isn't accepting this gift over the line? Frank says he did nothing wrong. But if he can't see the problem with what he did, then his judgement is whacked. Even if Frank in fact did nothing wrong, it give the appearance that he paid back his benefactor with a large sum of money. At best, this is extremely poor judgement, and at worst it's a payoff. Either way, why would people vote for the guy? Please Newton and Wellesley - consider an alternative to this guy!

Obama to Drag Down Patrick?

Boston Herald has an interesting article this morning speculating that Obama's visit to Boston could actually stir up Republicans more than Democrats. I said this a few weeks ago and I agree with the author's speculation. If there's one thing we're finding out about Obama, it's that he is just not inspirational at all. In most of Obama's speeches, there's a fair amount of complaining about the other side, whining about his predecessor, and of course, everything is somebody else's fault. I don't care what party you are, but these themes aren't going to fire up anybody but the opposition! Good luck Deval, but it will be hard to overcome the President's negativity.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Pelosi Family Jet Trips Cost Taxpayers $2.1 Million

Nancy Pelosi's family has spent a total of $2.1 million in taxpayer money just on jet flights, according to newly released documents.

Recession? What's a little more money out of your pocket to make Queen Nancy happy.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Military Ballots May Not Count in Illinois Either

First, New York City failed to send out ballots to the military on time, threatening their ability to vote. Now, Illinois does the same thing.

But don't worry - we've got Obama's Justice Department on the case. Let's hope it doesn't get the Black Panther treatment - or lack thereof. Besides, who gets punished even if wrongdoing is found? Only Republican candidates, who will likely win the overwhelming majority of military votes.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Your Share of the Local Public Pension Costs: $14K

State and local governments have long underfunded pensions in order to spend lavishly elsewhere. A recent study shows how much the average household owes to now pay these public employee pensions. (This does NOT even include the federal pensions, Social Security and Medicare.)

The result is a growing wave of pension shortfalls that threatens to wash over many local governments in the near future, the report said. The authors calculated that each household in the 50 cities and counties they studied owes an average of $14,165 to current and past government employees for their pensions.

That's scary, especially because not every family pays taxes, so those that do have to actually pay a much higher share. And at the federal level? Remember Obama's nearly $1 trillion stimulus bill (not counting all the other ones)? Every $1 trillion translates into roughly $10K in household debt - and since only 50% pay taxes, it's closer to $20K for those that pay taxes. Of course, if you're in a higher bracket, this figure is way too low.

So cheer up. Obama will only have added $80-100K in average (federal) household debt in his first term. Hope and change.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Obama Villifies Chamber of Commerce

Talk about McCarthyism. If you want a good view of why American businesses no longer trust a single word from Obama, look no further than his recent villification of the Chamber of Commerce (and its 3 million small business members).

Without any evidence of illegality, Obama throws out a claim from left field that they have been taking foreign donations. Meanwhile, Obama himself has taken more illegal foreign donations than any other politician in history.

It's a strange world. Red State has more.

Greg Mankiw on the Obama Tax Disincentives

Greg Mankiw explains clearly why the higher tax rates will reduce work among high earners.

Of course, Democrats assume that even 90% tax rates wouldn't impact behavior one bit...

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Top US Scientist: Global Warming a "Scam"

Top US scientist is appalled by the huge scam of global warming. As he said in his resignation letter from UCSB:

It is of course, the global warming scam, with the (literally) trillions of dollars driving it, that has corrupted so many scientists, and has carried APS before it like a rogue wave. It is the greatest and most successful pseudoscientific fraud I have seen in my long life as a physicist. Anyone who has the faintest doubt that this is so should force himself to read the ClimateGate documents, which lay it bare. (Montford’s book organizes the facts very well.) I don’t believe that any real physicist, nay scientist, can read that stuff without revulsion. I would almost make that revulsion a definition of the word scientist.

Saturday, October 09, 2010

O'Donnell's Resume Very Similar to Obama's

In reading the AP's description of Christine O'Donnell's experience, or lack thereof, one could easily get hers confused with our Dear Leader himself.

"I just don't know anything about her," said Sallie Wilson, a 71-year-old Wilmington retiree and registered Republican who wants to vote with her party but is having a hard time supporting O'Donnell.

...She used the broadcast experience to win mostly part-time work over the years as a public relations consultant or spokeswoman for a handful of small, loosely organized advocacy groups. She has briefly held a few full-time jobs since college.

But that's the extent of her resume, and that's where the questions begin....

Christine O'Donnell is, according to the media's view of her, the same experience level as Barack Obama. I'll still take her as a Senator any time before taking Obama as President. And for the media to continue to attack her, I wonder if they still wonder whether she might just win.

The One Good Thing About Obama

The one positive thing that can be said of Obama is that he has turned voters into stalwart conservatives - 54% according to Gallup consider themselves conservative.

The U.S. is immersed in socialism right now - and Americans don't like it.

Jerry Brown Calls Whitman "Whore" - Lib Women Endorse

One might think that a "women's group" like NOW would be outraged by Democrat gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown calling Meg Whitman a "whore." But of course, you'd be wrong.

Now and other women's groups are anything but advocates for women - they are simply advocates for liberal Democrats. Period. Democrat Kirsten Powers has more.

Friday, October 08, 2010

Deval Patrick to Increase Taxes on Businesses

Why? To replenish a state fund to pay unemployed workers more benefits. Rates are going up 40%!

Call me crazy, but I don't see how this is going to create more jobs. He has to stop listening to big buddy Obama on job creation tactics.

Welfare Card Being Used for Alcohol, Smokes, Casinos

This is why people are so disenamored, distrustful, and disgusted with big government. Ok, I understand that welfare was designed to help people, but no one within our government acts as a check to the benefits, and even if they are, they don't care.

It's not necessarily a party issue, but more welfare and more big government typically are programs espoused by democrats.

Thursday, October 07, 2010

Charlie Crist: Pathetic First Pitch

I don't know whose first pitch was more pathetic - Obama's girl throw or Charlie Crist's awful toss.

Companies Must Kneel Before Obama to Get Health Waiver

Obama has apparently granted 30 health plans a one-year waiver so that companies such as McDonald's aren't forced to eliminate them for thousands of employees.

So now companies have to beg and kneel before the Almighty One to get a saving grace. The power to take health care plans away from millions is quite a power for one man to hold.

*Update*
I've got good company in my beliefs on this point.

Tax Tables May Be Delayed


As the WSJ notes, the irresponsibility of Democrats have caused a very rare and disconcerting problem for Americans - no one has any clue what tax rates are going to be in less than three months.

The issue: 2011 tax-withholding tables. Treasury officials usually release the tables, which determine the take-home pay of millions of wage-earners, by mid-November because it takes payroll processors weeks to adjust their systems before Jan. 1.

But congressional leaders recently postponed voting on taxes until after the election and lawmakers don't reconvene until Nov. 15. The Senate is scheduled to take up several nontax issues when it returns and is expected to leave for Thanksgiving soon after, possibly pushing a vote on taxes into December.

...Lawmakers' recent track record on dealing with tax matters doesn't inspire confidence that they will act with dispatch. Congress has yet to resolve the estate tax, which expired at the end of last year and is set to snap back to high rates come January. Nor has it tackled the alternative minimum tax for 2010, a levy that is set to hit 32 million taxpayers this year, compared with five million last year.

So a tax that was designed to hit only a few thousand exceptions when it was enacted in the 60s is now going to hit 32 million people because of the idiocy of Congress to index the amount to inflation. Nice.

Most importantly, the WSJ points out in the chart above just who will be impacted if Congress doesn't take action - and lo and behold - it's not just "the wealthy" as Democrats claim. I guess everyone really did benefit from Bush's tax cuts after all.

MA 6th District To Go To Republicans?

I'd say Massachusetts 6th district could be in play. John Tierney's wife suddenly has tax problems with her illegal gambling business. Not going to help. Republican Bill Hudak said he was already within 10 points before this tax scandal dropped. I'd say it's in play.

Wednesday, October 06, 2010

Race Relations Deteriorating Under Obama

Not surprisingly, race relations in the U.S. have worsened since the "post-racial" Obama was elected.

I guess that's the result when you have a Justice Dept. unwilling to prosecute black-on-white voter intimidation and a president who thinks that "white man's greed runs a world in need."

Tuesday, October 05, 2010

Millions in Welfare Spent at Casinos, Cruise Ships, Hawaiian Hotels

It is good to be on welfare in America. Only in Obama's America can people get welfare debit cards and blow it on casinos, cruise ships and Hawaiian vacation resorts.

Obama Coming To Boston

He's coming to Boston on October 16th. It'll be interesting to see how many Democrats run for the hills. Think about over the past nine months what has happened every time that Obama has travelled to lobby for someone or something:

- Copenhagen to get the Chicago Olympics - lost
- Virginia for Creigh Deeds - lost
- New Jersey for Jon Corzine - lost
- Massachusetts for Martha Coakley - lost
- Pennsylvania for Arlen Spector - lost

With this track record, he's not exactly the type of guy you want in your corner. Will Deval run away from his unpopular buddy?

The Bill Gates Income Tax

Arthur Laffer has a great editorial in the WSJ today, explaining the pitfalls that come along with increasing state income taxes, as Washington state, led by Bill Gates, Sr., is trying to do.

To imagine what such a large soak-the-rich income tax would do to Washington, we need only examine how states with the highest income-tax rates perform relative to their zero-income tax counterparts. Comparing the nine states with the highest tax rates on earned income to the nine states with no income tax shows how high tax rates weaken economic performance.

In the past decade, the nine states with the highest personal income tax rates have seen gross state product increase by 59.8%, personal income grow by 51%, and population increase by 6.1%. The nine states with no personal income tax have seen gross state product increase by 86.3%, personal income grow by 64.1%, and population increase by 15.5%.

...Over the past 50 years, 11 states have introduced state income taxes exactly as Messrs. Gates and their allies are proposing—and the consequences have been devastating. The 11 states where income taxes were adopted over the past 50 years are: Connecticut (1991), New Jersey (1976), Ohio (1971), Rhode Island (1971), Pennsylvania (1971), Maine (1969), Illinois (1969), Nebraska (1967), Michigan (1967), Indiana (1963) and West Virginia (1961).

Each and every state that introduced an income tax saw its share of total U.S. output decline. Some of the states, like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Ohio, have become fiscal basket cases. As the nearby chart shows, even West Virginia, which was poor to begin with, got relatively poorer after adopting a state income tax.


Yet liberals are oblivious to this history. Or, more likely, as Obama once answered in a presidential debate question moderated by ABC News, even if raising tax rates reduces revenue, that doesn't matter - this is about "fairness" - let's all be equally poor rather than less equally wealthy.

Saturday, October 02, 2010

Al Qaeda and Democrats Have Same View of Climate Change

An audio tape from bin Laden apparently rails against climate change. He could be Obama, Gore, Pelosi or any other wingnut Democrat when discussing this issue (or, frankly several other anti-American issues).

"The huge climate change is affecting our (Islamic) nation and is causing great catastrophes throughout the Islamic world," he says in the tape.

"It is not sufficient anymore to maintain the same relief efforts as previously, as it has become crucial to deliver tents, food and medicine."

Friday, October 01, 2010

Carnahan Brother Gets $107 Million Stimulus From Dems

Tom Carnahan, brother of U.S. Dem Rep Russ Carnahan and U.S. Dem Senate candidate Robin Carnahan received $107 million in taxpayer funded stimulus dollars for his pet wind farm project in Missouri.

His family connections were just a coincidence though. Democrats and corruption - it never ends.

AAMC: Obamacare to Dramatically Worsen Doctor Shortage

Who would have guessed that the doctor shortage was going to get significantly worse in just five years under Obamacare?

Oh yes, just about everyone knew that when Democrats shoved the law down the throats of Americans...

Bloomberg: We Should Just Let Obama Destroy the Country

No, that is the exact quote, but that is what I take from the following absurdity from Mayor Bloomberg:

“Obama never said he would be anything other than what he is now. He is a liberal guy, very pro-union, not particularly interested in business. He said this,” Bloomberg said. “And everybody said, ‘Oh, he’ll change when he gets in there.’ I have more respect for him for not changing. This is what the public wanted and I think we should all pull behind the president and help him as much as we can.”

Help him as much as we can? They guy is purposely destroying the private sector in the country! No rational person would want to help him do that.

Deval Patrick in Trouble? Cahill Running Mate Ditches

So Tim Cahill's backers have left him, and now so has his running mate. Paul Loscocco has decided today to exit the race. His reasoning:

I cannot sit idly by as my friends and supporters cast their votes for my ticket, knowing that the best chance to defeat Governor Patrick is with Charlie Baker. I cannot and will not let my ego get in the way of doing what is right for Massachusetts.


I think Patrick is toast if Cahill drops out, but this news itself, will begin to influence independents not to vote for Cahill. Maybe now Baker can get his one on one debate with Patrick.

Bielat Could Win

Byron York explains that, although still the underdog, Sean Bielat is within 10 points of Barney Frank, in a district that Frank won by 43 percentage points just two years ago. That's a 33 point swing in two years assuming the polls are representative. And rightly so, considering Barney Frank and Chris Dodd were the two biggest defenders of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which were the companies most responsible for today's recession.

Bielat, a 35 year-old marine with degrees from Georgetown, Harvard and Wharton, is a serious guy that has a real chance at victory if conservatives turn out in force a month from now.

Obama's Health Care Exchanges To Reduce Care Quality

Maybe this is why a few people I know who work on the Hill are praying that they are not forced onto these Obamacare health exchanges like the rest of those ordinary American chumps.