posted August 09, 2011 09:23 AM            

But, there is enough tax revenue coming in to cover Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, military salaries AND cover the interest payment on the bloated $14 Trillion debt...with money left over. After those essential expenditures are covered, government will have to prioritize spending with what's left over in tax revenues.

posted August 09, 2011 09:38 AM            

In the coming days we’ll sort through the repercussions of S&P’s downgrade of our credit rating, including concerns about the impact a potential interest rate increase would have on our ability to service our suffocating $14.5 trillion debt.

I’m surprised that so many people seem surprised by S&P’s decision. Weren’t people paying attention over the last year or so when we were getting warning after warning from various credit rating agencies that this was coming? I’ve been writing and speaking about it myself for quite some time.

Back in December 2010, I wrote: “If the European debt crisis teaches us anything, it’s that tomorrow always comes. Sooner or later, the markets will expect us to settle the bill for the enormous Obama-Pelosi-Reid spending binge. We’ve already been warned by the credit ratings agency Moody’s that unless we get serious about reducing our deficit, we may face a downgrade of our credit rating.” And again in January, in response to President Obama’s State of the Union address I wrote: “With credit ratings agency Moody’s warning us that the federal government must reverse the rapid growth of national debt or face losing our triple-A rating, keep in mind that a nation doesn’t look so ‘great’ when its credit rating is in tatters.”

One doesn’t need a Harvard Law degree to figure this out! Just look across the pond at Europe. European nations with less debt and smaller deficits than ours and with real “austerity” plans in place to deal with them have had their ratings downgraded. By what magical thinking did we figure we could run up perpetual trillion dollar deficits and still somehow avoid the unforgiving mathematics of a downgrade? Nothing is ever “too big to fail.” And there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Didn’t we all learn that in our micro and macro econ classes? I did at the University of Idaho. How could Obama skip through Columbia and Harvard without learning that?

Many commonsense Americans like myself saw this day coming. In fact, in June 2010, Rick Santelli articulated the view of independent Tea Party patriots everywhere when he shouted on CNBC, “I want the government to stop spending! Stop spending! Stop spending! Stop spending! STOP SPENDING!” So, how shamelessly cynical and dishonest must one be to blame this inevitable downgrade on the very people who have been shouting all along “stop spending”? Blaming the Tea Party for our credit downgrade is akin to Nero blaming the Christians for burning Rome. Tea Party Americans weren’t the ones “fiddling” while our country’s fiscal house was going up in smoke. In fact, we commonsense fiscal conservatives were the ones grabbing for the extinguishers while politically correct politicians and their cronies buried their heads in what soon became this bonfire.

With S&P and others now warning that we could face another downgrade if we don’t get serious about our debt problem (i.e., recklessly spending money we don't have), Washington needs to wake up before things get worse! We’re already hearing murmurs about QE3, which is just madness and will further debase our currency at a time when the dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency is already being questioned. The loss of the dollar’s reserve currency status would adversely impact us in every conceivable way. Our standard of living would decline as imports become more expensive (including imports of foreign oil), government wouldn’t be able to finance deficits as cheaply, and American corporations – employers – would lose a competitive edge. It would be another crack in our status as a financial superpower.

Last May, I gave a speech at Westhills Community College in Lemoore, California, to an audience that included farmers from California’s Central Valley. I tried to paint a picture for them of where all of this was heading. The following is an excerpt from my prepared remarks:

Now we’re all getting hit with rising food prices too. Back in November of last year, I predicted this would happen when the Federal Reserve dropped a $600 billion money bomb called QE2 on us! That’s short for “quantitative easing 2.” It’s a fancy term for running the printing presses and creating money out of thin air – which drives down the value of the dollar and makes the price of everything more expensive.

As I predicted six months ago, these policies will lead us down a path where for the first time in our history our fate will be taken out of our own hands and placed in the hands of the world’s capital markets. They will force us to make the responsible decisions that our leaders are unwilling to make. Just as the destinies of the Central Valley farms have been taken out of your hands by the federal government’s overreach into your water rights, so the destiny of our nation will be taken out of our hands because our leadership has failed to get our financial house in order.

This isn’t some theoretical threat any more. It’s already happening. The world’s biggest bond investment fund PIMCO announced last month that it was dumping U.S. Treasury bonds. The head of PIMCO, Bill Gross, one of the world’s preeminent debt investors, warned that the U.S. is in serious risk of default with our trillion dollar deficits and no end in sight. And last week, credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s downgraded our credit outlook to “negative” – that’s the first time that has happened to us since the attack on Pearl Harbor. The IMF has even given us formal notice that, unless we do something to deal with our debt problem, we could tip the world economy into another recession.

It is a disgraceful and embarrassing situation when the United States finds itself justifiably chastised in the same tone normally reserved for near-bankrupt economies.

And in this, like in shutting off your water, the federal government has failed you. Their reckless spending and destruction of the dollar will make access to available credit for farmers and small business owners harder to get. And it will make transportation costs higher because it will hit everyone at the gas pump. You see, because the Obama White House won’t let us drill domestically, we’re forced to import oil that we pay for in dollars. So, when the value of the dollar drops, the price of gas goes up. And if you think $4 a gallon is bad, wait till you see what life is like at $6 or $7 a gallon.

Last November, the so-called smart people all laughed at me when I warned them of this. They told me not to make such a big deal about rising prices. Well, guess what – it became a big deal all on its own.

In fact, there was an editorial in the New York Sun that said – and I quote: “As gasoline is nearing six dollars a gallon at some pumps, the cost of groceries is skyrocketing, and the value of the dollars…has collapsed to less than a 1,500th of an ounce of gold. Unemployment is still high. Shakespeare couldn’t come up with a better plot. But how in the world did Mrs. Palin, who is supposed to be so thick, manage to figure all this out so far ahead of the New York Times and all the economists it talked to?”

Well, I’m sure the New York Times writers will remember the famous line: “You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.” And right now the American economy is in the howling, hot headwinds of a gathering storm. We’re printing up and buying up our own notes at an unprecedented rate, and the Fed is artificially holding interest rates down to nearly zero. Anyone with commonsense could see what was coming. Unfortunately, common sense is in short supply among our leaders. It’s like they never believe that the rules of common sense apply to them. They think somehow we'll escape from the consequences of their policies. It’s the same magical thinking that allows them to run up trillion dollar deficits and still think that we can “win the future.”

Every other generation has weathered recessions by sacrifice and belt tightening. But our leaders today decided that they could magically paper over the tough decisions by running the printing presses. A little history lesson might have showed them how well that worked out for Germany in the 1930s. The Weimar Republic inflated its currency so much that it took a wheel barrel full of paper money to buy a loaf of bread. That might be the main thing I remember from Mr. Crum’s history class at Wasilla High, but it told me all I needed to know about the inflationary dangers of a weak currency and why we must avoid it. What a shame Mr. Crum didn’t teach at Harvard.

That was just three months ago, and things have already gotten worse. We have to face this storm head on. It won’t be easy, but there are real solutions to grow our economy and reduce our debt.

First, we need to get serious about our deficit. No more accounting gimmicks. No more cuts in “out-years” that never materialize. The permanent political class in D.C. might be fooling themselves with these Enron-like accounting games, but they’re not fooling the world’s capital markets. And we don’t need any more happy talk from the White House about “investing” in solar shingles and really fast trains. The White House shouldn’t even bother floating these new spending programs. We can’t afford them. Period. We need to stop this deficit spending, balance our budget, repeal Obamacare, cancel all unused stimulus funds, and reform our entitlement programs. We have to have an adult conversation about our spending commitments; circumstances have changed, and we must adapt. I know none of this will be easy, but, “thick” or not, the average American outside the D.C. politico bubble knows that we no longer have a choice! We will have entitlement reform and a balanced budget; it’s just a matter of how. We can do it ourselves in a calm, methodical, and responsible manner, or we can wait for the world’s capital markets to ram it down on us. Let’s be responsible and do it ourselves. And let’s get serious about reducing the size of government across the board and rooting out waste. How many more reports (that today are destined to merely gather dust on the shelf) do we need about duplicative and unnecessary programs before we actually do something about government waste?

We need to get this economy moving again, and the real stimulus we’ve been waiting for is domestic energy development. We must reduce our dangerous dependence on foreign oil by responsibly developing natural resources here. This will provide good paying jobs, reduce our trade deficit, increase federal and state revenue, ensure environmental standards, and actually stimulate our economy without incurring any debt. That’s real stimulus! Affordable, plentiful, and secure energy is the foundation of every thriving economy. Let’s make it the foundation of ours. Let’s do the opposite of President Obama’s manipulation of U.S. energy supplies. Let’s drill here, build refineries, and stop kowtowing to foreign countries in asking them to ramp up energy production which makes us even more beholden to them as we rely on their foreign product. Let’s move on tapping our massive domestic natural gas reserves. Natural gas is the perfect “bridge fuel” to a future when more renewable sources are available. It’s clean, it’s green, and we’ve got a lot of it. Let’s drill. Let’s build an infrastructure for natural gas cars and power plants. Energy development can help kick start our economic engine.

In addition to energy security, I embrace a pro-growth agenda that can make American corporations far more competitive on the global stage. (I will be writing more about this in the coming days.) We need to tell the world, “America is open for business again!” And let’s welcome industry by reducing burdensome regulations. The Obama administration keeps strangling businesses in red tape. From the EPA’s rulings to that nightmare known as Obamacare, the Obama administration is hanging one regulatory albatross after another around the private sector’s neck. Let’s get government out of the way and give the private sector room to breathe, grow, and thrive. We can provide businesses confidence to expand and hire Americans in a stable environment.

Be wary of the efforts President Obama makes to “fix” the debt problem. The more he tries to “fix” things, the worse they get because his “solutions” always involve spending more, taxing more, growing government, and increasing debt. This debt problem is the greatest challenge facing our country today. Obviously, President Obama doesn’t have a plan or even a notion of how to deal with it. His press conference today was just a rehash of his old talking points and finger-pointing. That’s why he can’t be re-elected in 2012.

Our economic news is disheartening and the task before us can seem daunting, but we must not lose our sense of optimism. People look around today and may see only the negative. They see a culture and a nation in decline, but that’s not who we are! America must regain its optimistic pioneering spirit again. Our founders declared that “we were born the heirs of freedom.” We are the heirs of those who froze with Washington at Valley Forge, who held the line at Gettysburg, who freed the slaves, carved a nation out of the wilderness, and allowed reward for work ethic. We are the sons and daughters of that Greatest Generation who stormed the beaches of Normandy, raised the flag at Iwo Jima, and made America the strongest and most prosperous nation in the history of mankind. By God, we will not squander what has been given us!

Our destiny is still in our own hands if we pick ourselves up and act responsibly and quickly. We must all get involved. Concerned Americans must seek truth, work harder than ever, and be willing to sacrifice today to ensure freedom tomorrow. Please get engaged in 2012 electoral politics and support experienced, vetted, pro-free market fiscal conservatives who will dedicate all to preserving our Republic and protecting our Constitution.

posted August 09, 2011 12:55 PM              

why do i get the impression that she does NOT mean the 1% cream should sacrifice any of their hard-earned readies (or idle dividend readies either)

posted August 10, 2011 11:46 PM            

So are the 10% who already pay 70% of all income taxes.

Time for the 47% who pay nothing at all to get out of the wagon and start pulling their part of the load.

posted August 11, 2011 11:22 AM              

and the 1% STILL OWN AT LEAST 40% of the wealth in this country, so they are not overpaying at all.

it is time to admit that NO ONE IS ASKING them to pay an extra cent on the bulk of their earnings, but a few extra cents on the TOP BRACKET DOLLARS...IF the top bracket started at 250K (and that appears to be being adjusted upwards) those earning 300K would only have to pay $1500 more. the price of one really good suit!

how many suits do YOU need, jwhop?

posted August 11, 2011 05:51 PM            

Oh yeah, Palin canceled her bus tour!

Sarah Palin to resume bus tour Friday at Iowa fair

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP)
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin plans to visit the Iowa State Fair on Friday on the eve of the leadoff caucus state's GOP presidential straw poll and in the wake of a Republican debate at Iowa State University.

Palin says in an email to supporters she is resuming her summer bus travels to iconic U.S. destinations with a stop at the fair. The visit to the early voting state comes as most declared Republican presidential candidates will be in Iowa, and as Texas Gov. Rick Perry is expected to enter the race and visit.

posted August 11, 2011 06:01 PM              

i know what i'm talking about because i know people in that "bottom 47%". some of them get EIC for sure.

but is it only RICH people who should be applauded for taking every break legally available? why should someone who can't make ends meet BEFORE taxes have to pay when it's GREAT for a corporation to pay 5% or less on their billion dollar profits?

posted August 11, 2011 07:29 PM            

I agree that we are reading allot of entertainer Limbaugh in these posts JW, show me the money bro. Where are the facts?

quote:

---

47% of Americans pay no income tax whasotever....

---

Splain it to me Ricky.

If you have a valid chart even better me charts long time.

posted September 03, 2011 09:39 AM            

The Palin family circus just NEVER stops, does it? It’s just one embarrassing incident after another. How could any sophisticated, serious person consider someone with a family like that for the Presidency?

First off, look at the people Palin grew up around. Her father was a polygamist who abandoned the family when she was still a baby. Palin was then abandoned by her mother who left her in the United States to go overseas. Then there were her grandparents. Palin’s grandfather was a pot smoking Communist with a FBI file while she’s admitted that her grandmother muttered “racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.“

Is it any wonder that Palin is the way she is after growing up around people like that? Then there’s her backwards family. I hate to be unkind, but you may have never SEEN a bigger collection of misfits!

Look at her half-brother George. The man was living on a dollar a month — in a hut. Yet, with all the money that Sarah Palin has made, has she done anything to help him? Nothing. So much for her “Christian compassion.” Of course, it could be worse. Palin’s other half-brother Samson (What is it with the weird names in that family?) has been accused of trying to sexually assault a 13 year old. Then there’s Palin’s parasitic aunt who’s in the country illegally and living on the dole. Apparently, that sort of behavior runs in the Palin clan because her drunk driving uncle is here illegally, too.

posted September 03, 2011 10:16 AM            

Note that the bottom 50% of income earners in America pay less than 3% of federal income taxes.
http://www.ntu.org/tax-basics/who-pays-income-taxes.html

The bottom 47% of income earners pay no income taxes at all because their earnings and deductions for themselves and children, interest deductions etc allow them to escape federal taxes.

Many in the bottom tax bracket have no legal obligation to even file an income tax return.

Further, many in the lower..and even middle..tax brackets with children are elgible for the so called...Earned Income Tax Credit...which comes in the form of a check from the federal government in the following amounts.

Earned Income Tax Credit Amounts for Year 2011

The maximum earned income credit for 2011 is:

•$5,751 with three or more qualifying children;

•$5,112 with two qualifying children;

•$3,094 with one qualifying child;

•$464 with no qualifying children.

For 2011, earned income and AGI must be less than:

•$43,998 ($49,078 married filing jointly) with 3 or more qualifying children

•$40,964 ($46,044 married filing jointly) with 2 qualifying children;

•$36,052 ($41,132 married filing jointly) with 1 qualifying child;

•$13,660 ($18,740 married filing jointly) with no qualifying children.

posted September 03, 2011 03:19 PM              

you tend to gloss over the fact that about half the country earn less than 30K/year. compared to the other half who earn anything up to billions, their combined income does not amount to much, does it?

and by your own figures, a single person earning over 13K is not eligible. perhaps in florida it is possible to live on under 13K but not MOST places! unless you squat your living quarters and eat spam and rice on a regular basis...or grow all your own food.

whether or not this is a "living income" it does not describe 47% of the population!

and the fact remains that the top 10% get different kinds of deductions(much bigger usually!) which more than compensate for the lack of EIC! and own 70% of the wealth in the country. i don't hear you complaining about the living cost deductions of someone whose house costs 40K/month (more than the average yearly salary) nor explaining why they should be paying 15% for the main part of their income?

posted September 03, 2011 07:04 PM            

PS: Wait a second….did I say “Palin?” Oh gosh, in all the places I said “Palin,” I meant to say “Obama.” On the other hand, his narcissistic out-of-touch, emotionally-stunted behavior makes a lot more sense now, doesn’t it?"

Snarky katatonic?

Well, every single word is true about O'Bomber's family. Truth trumps bullshiiit!

I understand your angst at having someone point out the family flaws of your little Socialist idol...The One, The Messiah, O'Bomber.

What I've not seen from you is any angst over leftist morons attacking Palin..and her family with lies...all the way down to her special needs son.

How about it katatonic? Leftists like to dish it out but they're way too thin skinned to take their own medicine.

Btw, the numbers on who pays income tax and how much they pay comes from the Internal Revenue Service..IRS.

Further katatonic, you're not getting it that low income families get lots of government support. From EITC money, food stamps, cash from welfare, cash from family allowances from states, Section 8 housing and free medical.

So katatonic, low income families ARE NOT LIVING ON $13,000 PER YEAR.

You're just spewing the usual leftist bullshiiit!

posted September 04, 2011 07:43 PM              

since when has anyone ATTACKED sarah palin? words are words not guns and knives.

and while i have never said a word about her baby - because i know kids like this and their families are very glad they had them!..i am SOOO tired of seeing that baby trotted out as evidence of her sainthood. POOR people have a hard time raising these kids, not wealthy folk like our gal sal.

she jumped into the public arena and made herself a target and then complained about the gossip mill. so waat? obama also in the public arena has not dignified the slander with so much whining...

as to the help low income people get, yes, they do. but if you think section 8 is free you haven't looked into it. not only does it demand one third of your income no matter how small, but it generally takes years after applying to get it. IF you can find an open list to sign onto.

EIC usually comes in the form of a negative...tax credits generally do...in other words people don't SEE that money, they just don't have to pay it.

i am the first to admit people game the system. but when you can barely feed your kids it's a little more excusable than when you are banking offshore to skim a few million off the top..so let's not pretend its only the low income people who do it,'k?

and guess who makes, and profits from the food stamp cards paid for by the taxpayer? jp morgan is a main profiteer there. funny how they are EVERYWHERE isn't it?

most of these programs are paid into by the working poor, income tax or not.

but when it gets right down to it, jwhop, i have been in more than one tax bracket over the years and i have paid taxes in all of them...so i don't care what your source is, really.

posted September 05, 2011 05:17 PM            

People on food stamps typically have no personal out of pocket expenses for food...unless they want to chow down on a big mac.

"We are all our brother's keepers"
Barack Hussein O'Bomber

posted September 05, 2011 08:03 PM              

and i believe welfare or "cash aid" comes to a whopping $300/mo. take away one third for housing, add maybe $500 in foodstamps, add free medical (though prescriptions often are NOT free), and if you have a car to live in till the housing comes through you too can be ridiculed by rush limbaugh for wanting a bathroom and kitchen for yourself and your kids. if you don't, hey, cardboard boxes are free outside some stores, they make great houses and trousers.

PEOPLE ARE LIVING IN TENTS. where's their free housing?

obama's not perfect, but using people he has never known as fodder for jibes is just moronic. do you not understand what life was like before the safety nets? do you know what obama did when this story came to light? does it matter? the man lives in a hut...i wonder why? when section 8 and foodstamps are so easy to get?

posted September 06, 2011 07:11 AM            

Sarah Palin would be a gigantic up-grade in the White House compared to O'Bomber.

Welcome, Union Brothers and Sisters
by Sarah Palin on Tuesday, September 6, 2011 at 2:50am

In my speech on Saturday in Iowa, I said: “Between bailouts for Wall Street cronies and stimulus projects for union bosses’ security and ‘green energy’ giveaways, [Barack Obama] took care of his friends. And now they’re on course to raise a billion dollars for his re-election bid so that they can do it all over again.” This was shamefully on display yesterday at President Obama’s taxpayer-funded campaign rally in Detroit. In introducing the President, Teamsters President James Hoffa represented precisely what I was talking about as he declared war on concerned independent Americans and on the freshman members we sent to Congress last November by saying, “Let’s take these son-of-a-bitches out!”

What I say now, I say as a proud former union member and the wife, daughter, and sister of union members. So, as a former card-carrying IBEW sister married to a proud former Laborers, IBEW, and later USW member, please hear me out. What I have to say is for the hard working, patriotic, selfless union brothers and sisters in Michigan and throughout our country: Please don’t be taken in by union bosses’ thuggery like Jim Hoffa represented yesterday. Union bosses like this do not have your best interests at heart. What they care about is their own power and re-electing their friend Barack Obama so he will take care of them to the detriment of everyone else.

To the same degree Americans are concerned about irresponsible, greedy corporate execs who got cushy bonuses from taxpayer-funded bailouts, we should also be concerned about greedy union bosses who are willing to tank our economy just to protect their own power. As union history shows, power and greed corrupt. Just because you claim to represent union members doesn’t mean you are on the side of the angels. The greed of too many of these union bosses has all but destroyed the labor movement in this country, helped chase away our jobs, and is killing the American dream.

To see where this leads, look at what’s happening to the working class in our industrialized cities. These cities are going to hell in a hand basket thanks to corruption, crony capitalism, and the union bosses’ greed. The union bosses derive their power from your union dues and their promise to deliver your votes to whichever politician they’re in bed with. They get their power from you, and yet their actions ultimately hurt you. They’re chasing American industry offshore by making outrageous, economically illogical demands that they know will never work. And now that they’ve chased jobs out of union states, they’re trying to chase them out of right-to-work states like South Carolina, so eventually the jobs will leave America altogether. But these union bosses will still figure out a way to keep their gig, and so will their politically aligned corporate friends. As long as these big corporations have a good crony capitalist in the White House, they can rely on DC to bail them out until the whole system goes bankrupt, which, I am afraid, is not very far off. When big government, big business, and big union bosses collude together, they get government to maximize their own interests against those of the rest of the country.

So, now these union bosses are desperately trying to cast the grassroots Tea Party Movement as being “against the workingman.” How outrageously wrong this unapologetic Jim Hoffa is, for the people’s movement is the real movement for working class men and women. It’s rooted in real solidarity, and not special interests and corporate kickbacks. It represents the needed reform that will empower workers and job creators. We stand with the little guy against the corruption and influence peddling of those who collude to grease the wheels of government power.

This collusion is at the heart of Obama’s economic vision for America. In practice it is socialism for the very rich and the very poor, but a brutal form of capitalism for the rest of us. It is socialism for the very poor who are reduced to a degrading perpetual dependence on a near-bankrupt centralized government to provide their every need, while at the same time robbing them of that which brings fulfillment and success – the life-affirming pride that comes from taking responsibility for your own destiny and building a better life through self-initiative and work ethic. And Obama’s vision is socialism via crony capitalism for the very rich who continue to get bailouts, debt-ridden “stimulus” funds, and special favors that allow them to waive off or help draft the burdensome regulations that act as a boot on the neck to small business owners who don’t have the same friends in high places. And where does this collusion leave working class Americans and the small business owners who create 70% of the jobs in this country? Out in the cold. It’s you and your children who are left paying for the cronyism of Obama and our permanent political class in DC.

Ask yourself if the folks you heard demonize concerned, independent Americans yesterday really speak for the working class when they’re all too happy to burden your families with the bill to bail out the President’s friends on Wall Street.

We should not forget that for all his lofty rhetoric, President Obama is a Chicago politician. Graft, cronyism, and quid pro quo are the well-known methods of an infamous Chicago political machine, of which Barack Obama emerged. This corruption isn’t just the result of a few bad apples. It’s the nature of a skewed system that’s typical of one not allowing a level playing field. If one desires opportunity for all, then the only solution is sudden and relentless reform. I know of what I speak. I too served in public office in a state that had a corruption problem. The difference is that I fought the corrupt political machine. Barack Obama used the machine in his state to advance. He never challenged it. And he’s evidently brought the same Chicago “pay-to-play” practices to the White House.

It’s sad to see much of the labor movement fall lock step behind a President whom Hoffa calls upon to partner in “waging war” against patriotic Americans. I will never forget that as a governor, in trying to be a friend to the working men and women in our unions, I gave a speech on August 27, 2008, at the annual AFL-CIO meeting in Anchorage. There, union members humbled me with a standing ovation for fighting the corruption in Alaska and for bringing parties together for progress on energy development projects. Then just two days later I landed on the national stage as John McCain’s running mate, and the union leadership turned on me from that day forward even though I had not changed one iota in my plans, principles, vision, and commitment to jobs for working class Americans. The only difference was I was challenging the politician the union bosses were committed to electing. It was almost comical, this lesson learned with their new spots revealed so quickly.

Recently someone commented: “I’m a union member. I’ve been a Democrat all my life. Now I’ll vote for anyone with a plan to save America.” I know what that person is feeling. I want all good union brothers and sisters to know that there is an alternative. The grassroots, independent Tea Party Movement articulates a real alternative rooted in free men and free markets, not the cronyism of Barack Obama and the permanent political class in DC. Their cronyism is why we have no job growth, massive unsustainable debt, and a housing market in the tank. Too many politicians are simply addressing the economic symptoms instead of fighting the underlying disease. The path forward is through reform. On Saturday, I outlined some ideas about that reform, and I will continue to do so.

In the meantime, good union brothers and sisters, don’t let Hoffa tell you what to do. He doesn’t represent the real interests of working men and women. He’s not doing you any favors. He’s just living off your paychecks.

posted September 06, 2011 12:42 PM              

not to mention that while she may have taken the alaska machine by surprise, she felt compelled to leave after two years. do you ever question the surface story?

funny how she is not afraid to admit that crony capitalism is a large part of the problem. ( edit. reading too fast is bad for the answer!) but to call it socialism is just using knee-jerk psychology...which obviously works very well with some portions of the population...

as to my crack research it is done on the ground not from the comfort of an armchair on the internet listening to people who say what i want to hear. i am the first to admit people take advantage. that doesn't mean there isn't good reason for safety nets.

did it not occur to you that in this "foodstamp economy" where the poor are living in the lap watching TIVO all day, it is a little odd that said "george" was living on a dollar a month? that perhaps the story is a crock itself? talk about crack research!

in the 50s there were already people like you complaining that too many people were living the life of reilly off the taxpayer. and so it continues.

posted September 06, 2011 01:20 PM            

Brother George doesn't live in the United States. Brother George lives in Kenya..in a 6'x 8', hut subsisting on the equivalent of $12 per year.

I'm sure brother George is glad to hear O'Bomber say..."we're all our brother's keepers".

Palin didn't use a "cover story". Palin resigned to save the taxpayers of Alaska millions of dollars in legal fees from baseless, lying lawsuits that the Alaska constitution specifies must be defended against.

One other thing. Palin and Alaska won those lawsuit. They were dismissed in court as without merit.

posted September 06, 2011 11:17 PM            

Poll illustrates California voters' anger

Nearly 3 in 4 say the country is on the wrong track, and nearly half favor slashing government spending — a potentially dismal finding for President Obama, who will unveil a jobs plan this week....

By Shane Goldmacher, Los Angeles Times
September 5, 2011

....Although Obama has previously called for strategic government investments to stimulate the economy, only 37% of California voters said they favor such an approach. Instead, the Republican view — that slashing government spending to restrain the deficit will better lead to prosperity — was preferred by 49% of respondents...

Dissatisfaction with the nation's trajectory topped 60% across every age range, party, region and level of education, and among women and men.....

posted September 10, 2011 08:43 AM            

The last three days could not illustrate better just how far American politics have fallen as of late, and what it will take to resuscitate it and the nation from the coma into which President Obama has put it.

Start with tonight’s Republican Debate. One could call them the Seven Dwarfs, so little do they look while they obediently jump through the ridiculous hoops presented to the by the biased media that effectively works for Obama.

And even when they have glimmer of understanding how obviously they’re being manipulated, as Newt Gingrich did when he criticized moderator Brian Williams of NBC News for trying to instigate squabbles amongst them rather than allowing them to target Obama, they still stupidly play the game. After all, this was a MSNBC/Politico debate – what the hell else did the seven fools think they were going to get from two blatantly liberal outlets? If any of them really believed in what Newt said, to say nothing of having an ounce of strategic thinking, they would never have bothered showing up for this rigged dog-and-pony show in the first place!

Which brings me to the Joe Isuzu twins, Governors Romney and Perry. Admittedly, if elections were won based on who has the most presidential looking hair, suit, and smile, these two would be WAY ahead of the pack. Substantively, however, you can’t help but feel like you’ve just been smooth-talked by a smarmy used car salesman after listening to anything either says. I’m actually glad that the media has declared these two RINOs to be the ostensible front-runners, since their combined prefabricated-ness will increase the distrust of both all the more, and help the two Ken dolls cancel each other out all the sooner.

As for Obama’s ridiculous Even More Of The Same That’s Already Massively Failed Address, this falls under the old political axiom: when your opponent is busy committing suicide, get out of the way and let him. Speaker Boehner was right to decline a GOP response, thereby not adding any gravity to the speech as well as not giving Obama and the Dems a target to shoot at.

Finally, to Sarah Palin. She has been so right to avoid this whole farcical show. She already has 100% name recognition, will have tons of cash from Tea Partiers the moment she declares, and Snow White might as well let the Seven Dwarfs form the circular firing squad the media would have them make while she stays safely above and out of the fray.

Moreover, in her speeches in Iowa and New Hampshire ripping both parties for “crony capitalism” and Facebook post on the Obama-approved call for union violence against Tea Partiers by Jimmy Hoffa, Jr., she laid out more detailed plans and laid into Obama with a ferocity none of the other candidates would dare – or be allowed to by the Obamedia running the debates.

Palin simply isn’t going to play the usual game by the establishment’s rules. As Dr. Phil says, if you’re going to do what you’ve always done, you’re going to get what you’ve always gotten. In that case, it’s the media trying to produce the most liberal GOP “opponent” possible for the Democrat, which the conservative Tea Party base will hate. This will help an otherwise doomed Democrat have a chance to win, even if it must be alá Clinton 1992: a slim plurality in a three-way race. And if even that isn’t enough, then at least the GOP winner will be the most leftist of the group, ensuring that nothing the Democrat has created will be touched, much less dismantled.

Small wonder then, that the media is doing everything possible to claim it’s too late for Palin and that she polls horribly – the simplest way to beat her is for her to never get in the race and the next simplest is to get her in too early so they can beat up on her as long as possible.

Yes, Sarah will have to officially get in soon in order to be on the ballot in IA and NH, but why on earth should she expose herself to enemy fire any sooner than absolutely necessary? And if the point of such an unconventional campaign is to break the establishment’s hold, then the first step is to refuse to kowtow to their unwritten rules.
http://conservatives4palin.com/2011/09/david-karki-a-gop-debate-an-obama-speech-and-sarah-palin.html

posted September 10, 2011 09:13 AM            

The following article was written by Anand Giridhardas of the NY Times:

[Palin] delivered a devastating indictment of the entire U.S. political establishment — left, right and center — and pointed toward a way of transcending the presently unbridgeable political divide.

The next day, the “lamestream” media, as she calls it, played into her fantasy of it by ignoring the ideas she unfurled and dwelling almost entirely on the will-she-won’t-she question of her presidential ambitions.

She made three interlocking points. First, that the United States is now governed by a “permanent political class,” drawn from both parties, that is increasingly cut off from the concerns of regular people. Second, that these Republicans and Democrats have allied with big business to mutual advantage to create what she called “corporate crony capitalism.” Third, that the real political divide in the United States may no longer be between friends and foes of Big Government, but between friends and foes of vast, remote, unaccountable institutions (both public and private).

In supporting her first point, about the permanent political class, she attacked both parties’ tendency to talk of spending cuts while spending more and more; to stoke public anxiety about a credit downgrade, but take a vacation anyway; to arrive in Washington of modest means and then somehow ride the gravy train to fabulous wealth. She observed that 7 of the 10 wealthiest counties in the United States happen to be suburbs of the nation’s capital.

Her second point, about money in politics, helped to explain the first. The permanent class stays in power because it positions itself between two deep troughs: the money spent by the government and the money spent by big companies to secure decisions from government that help them make more money.

“Do you want to know why nothing ever really gets done?” she said, referring to politicians. “It’s because there’s nothing in it for them. They’ve got a lot of mouths to feed — a lot of corporate lobbyists and a lot of special interests that are counting on them to keep the good times and the money rolling along.”

Ms. Palin’s third point was more striking still: in contrast to the sweeping paeans to capitalism and the free market delivered by the Republican presidential candidates whose ranks she has yet to join, she sought to make a distinction between good capitalists and bad ones. The good ones, in her telling, are those small businesses that take risks and sink and swim in the churning market; the bad ones are well-connected megacorporations that live off bailouts, dodge taxes and profit terrifically while creating no jobs.

“This is not the capitalism of free men and free markets, of innovation and hard work and ethics, of sacrifice and of risk,” she said of the crony variety. She added: “It’s the collusion of big government and big business and big finance to the detriment of all the rest — to the little guys. It’s a slap in the face to our small business owners — the true entrepreneurs, the job creators accounting for 70 percent of the jobs in America.”

Is there a hint of a political breakthrough hiding in there?

Ms. Palin may be hinting at a new political alignment that would pit a vigorous localism against a kind of national-global institutionalism.

On one side would be those Americans who believe in the power of vast, well-developed institutions like Goldman Sachs, the Teamsters Union, General Electric, Google and the U.S. Department of Education to make the world better. On the other side would be people who believe that power, whether public or private, becomes corrupt and unresponsive the more remote and more anonymous it becomes; they would press to live in self-contained, self-governing enclaves that bear the burden of their own prosperity.