One percent transaction tax is proposed "President Obama's finance team is recommending a transaction tax. His plan is to sneak it in after the November election to keep it under the radar. This is a 1% tax on all transaction(sic) at any financial institution i. e. Banks, Credit Unions, extra. Any deposit you make, or move around within your account, i. e. transfer to, will have a 1% tax charged. If your pay check or your social Security or whatever is direct deposit, 1% tax charged. If you hand carry a check in to deposit, 1% tax charged, If you take cash in to deposit, 1% tax charged.This is from the man who promised that if you make under $250,000 per year, you will not see one penny of new tax." Emphasis added. Hat tip to Janie Sanford, California.
The Tainted Transaction Tax "Even if Congress could somehow “exempt” individuals with a refund, institutions would still have to pay the tax. Mutual funds, which conduct million of trades every year, will be forced to pass along these costs to investors in higher management fees or lower returns or both. This is why Dr. Litan correctly labeled the transaction tax a “direct hit on Main Street investors.” " Forbes
Lanny Davis Calls For A ‘Transaction Tax’ "One idea for raising taxes to pay down the debt is the bill introduced this February by Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.). His "Debt Free America Act" (H.R. 4646) would impose a 1 percent "transaction tax" on every financial transaction — whether paid by cash, credit card or any form of financial transfer, the only exception being transactions involving the purchase or sale of stock. Theoretically, everyone would pay one cent on the dollar for every such transaction in America every day — whether $3 million on a $300 million business acquisition, $300 on the purchase of a $30,000 car, or $5 on a $500 ATM withdrawal."
H.R. 4646: Debt Free America Act "To establish a fee on transactions which would eliminate the national debt and replace the income tax on individuals." http://www.govtrack.us/
Sunday, August 29, 2010
‘Islam Idiots’?
Victor Davis Hanson "And while Rauf the contemplative Sufi philosopher has a disturbing record of contextualizing 9/11, bin Laden, and Hamas, he has no need of nuance when it comes to America. He can be quite forthright in criticizing the United States for its perceived and apparently singular global transgressions — though he is quiet about far greater Russian and Chinese anti-Muslim violence. He claims he is for free expression, even when it so obviously offends tens of millions of Americans; but he has no problem criticizing the Danish cartoonists for their supposedly unnecessary and gratuitously offensive drawings. In a variety of ways, he has praised the Iranian Revolution, whose end result is horrific violence against women, homosexuals, democrats, and dissidents of any stripe, whether novelists abroad or reformers at home."
Top Muslims Condemn Ground Zero Mosque as a 'Zionist Conspiracy' "Westernized Muslims, on the other hand, have learned that they can get away with almost anything — so long as they slap the words "tolerance," "pluralism," "dialogue," or "bridge-building" to their endeavors, as the 9/11 mosque supporters do regularly. In short, a correlation exists between how well or how little a Muslim knows the West, and how aggressive or passive their Islamism becomes.
"Moreover, religious buildings are seen as symbols of supremacy by many Muslims; hence the reason mosques are ubiquitous to the Muslim world whereas churches are all but — and in some Muslim nations totally — banned."
Raymond Ibrahim is associate director of the Middle East Forum, author of The Al Qaeda Reader, guest lecturer at the National Defense Intelligence College (Washington, D.C.), and deputy publisher of the Middle East Quarterly.
Top Muslims Condemn Ground Zero Mosque as a 'Zionist Conspiracy' "Westernized Muslims, on the other hand, have learned that they can get away with almost anything — so long as they slap the words "tolerance," "pluralism," "dialogue," or "bridge-building" to their endeavors, as the 9/11 mosque supporters do regularly. In short, a correlation exists between how well or how little a Muslim knows the West, and how aggressive or passive their Islamism becomes.
"Moreover, religious buildings are seen as symbols of supremacy by many Muslims; hence the reason mosques are ubiquitous to the Muslim world whereas churches are all but — and in some Muslim nations totally — banned."
Raymond Ibrahim is associate director of the Middle East Forum, author of The Al Qaeda Reader, guest lecturer at the National Defense Intelligence College (Washington, D.C.), and deputy publisher of the Middle East Quarterly.
Travelling light, Obama-style: 20-vehicle convoy, SWAT team, Air Force One and nuclear codes accompany him on holiday
UK Daily Mail This has been typical of the security given to all recent presidents and not to just Mr. Obama. The only thing peculiar to an individual president is where he chooses to vacation and how often. And what about if the First Couple splits up, going in two different directions? TD
When Do We Get A Vacation? "Obama still is on vacation. Goodly for him.
"When do we get a vaction from the Democrats' relentless expansion of the federal government into every facet of our lives? The massive pieces of legislation passed in the past 18 months were just the opening shots. Now come the regulations and the Executive Orders, which will take place regardless of what happens in November."I don't know about you, but this August has been anything but relaxing. He's resting up, and we're on the verge of exhaustion." Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion
Republicans: Boehner's Pro-Growth Message
Larry Kudlow "Instead of playing it safe, it looks like Republicans intend to be aggressive in changing the statist, government-planning, socialist-lite agenda of President Obama, Majority Leader Harry Reid, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. It sounds like the new Republican party intends to end the ongoing war against private-capital investment, entrepreneurial rewards, free-market incentives, and private business that is plaguing the economy and sapping the strength of the recovery.
"In a little over two months, the election will take place. In a little over four months, the 2003 tax cuts will expire. And in just a few weeks, congressional Republicans will presumably put more meat on the bones of their new platform. John Boehner’s Cleveland speech was a very encouraging beginning. Now let’s see if the Republican’s next step will truly provide some much needed optimism to the economy and body politic*."
*Body politic - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia A body politic refers to the people of a nation, state or country considered collectively as a body of organized citizens."
"In a little over two months, the election will take place. In a little over four months, the 2003 tax cuts will expire. And in just a few weeks, congressional Republicans will presumably put more meat on the bones of their new platform. John Boehner’s Cleveland speech was a very encouraging beginning. Now let’s see if the Republican’s next step will truly provide some much needed optimism to the economy and body politic*."
*Body politic - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia A body politic refers to the people of a nation, state or country considered collectively as a body of organized citizens."
Saturday, August 28, 2010
In pictures: Washington conservative rally; from the BBC
BBC "Mr Beck, who once described President Barack Obama as a racist who hated white people, told the crowd America had "wandered in darkness" too long but was now beginning to "turn back to God"."
And So It Starts: ‘Tens Of Thousands’ . . . ‘Predominantly White Crowd’ "How do they figure only ‘tens of thousands’ attend?" Via Weasel Zippers
ABC Takes Palin’s Quote Out Of Context
Honor And American Pride Come To DC . . . UPDATED I, II, III, IV "CNN – “I have just gotten word from the media that there are over 1,000 people here today,” Beck said sarcastically.
“We are humbled that you are here,” he said. “The reflecting pool holds about 200,000 people. This field back here holds about 250- to 300,000 people. They are not only full here, they’re full in that field, they’re full behind me, and they are now across the street approaching the Washington Monument.”"
More screen shots of the crowd included.
Beck, Palin tell thousands to 'restore America' "A sea of people rallied at the hallowed site of the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday as conservative commentator Glenn Beck and other heroes of the "tea party" movement honored Americans serving in the military and delivered impassioned calls to turn the nation back to God and to protect the traditional values that they said make the country exceptional. "....
"King's niece Alveda King, an anti-abortion activist, addressed Beck's rally with a plea for prayer "in the public squares of America and in our schools." Referencing her "Uncle Martin," King called for national unity by repeatedly declaring "I have a dream." "I have a dream that America will pray and God will forgive us our sins and revive us our land," King said. "On that day, we will all be able to lift every voice and sing of the love and honor that God desires of all his children."
"The crowd was not visibly angry. Rather, people said they had come to express their fear that the country is at a perilous moment. "....
"The Sharpton rally was primarily African American." WaPo
Massive crowd for Restore Honor Rally "Scott Wong of Politico, also generally no cheerleader for conservatives, writes:
Tens of thousands? Certainly. One hundred thousand? Perhaps. Half a million? No one can really say for sure." Thomas Lifson, American ThinkerCROWD ROARS at Restoring Honor Rally as MLK’s Niece Alveda King Declares: “I Too Have a Dream!” (Video) "Alveda Celeste King, a pro-life activist and niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, gave a powerful and moving speech to the 500,000+ patriots gathered in Washington DC today at the Restoring Honor Rally. Today was the 47th anniversary of her uncle’s speech at the Lincoln Memorial. Like her uncle before her, she also had a message."....
"But, according to Al Sharpton and his leftist cohorts, she’s a racist."
Al Sharpton’s Counter-Freedom Rally Attracts Only 3,000 Supporters "Jaime Contreras, local SEIU president added this:"
“Shame on them. We still have a dream. We are here to let those folks on the Mall know that they don’t represent the dream. They sure as hell don’t represent me. They represent hate-mongering and angry white people. The happy white people are here today. We will not let them stand in the way of the change we voted for!“
More Government to Protect Us from Ourselves
Big Government "Putting more and more wolves in charge of guarding the henhouse might characterize the big problems we’ve now created for ourselves.
"Government is growing. The private economy is shrinking. Those wielding political power see fewer and fewer problems they believe private citizens can solve on our own. Soon, each one of us will have our own personal guardian bureaucrat." ....
"It’s good that our politicians are getting our financial affairs in order for us.
"Proof that we can rely on them is that our government debt is now almost 60% of our GDP and projected to reach 100% by 2020. Standard & Poor’s has just indicated that the AAA rating of US government bonds may have to be reduced, showing that the United States is now a credit risk." Star Parker
"Government is growing. The private economy is shrinking. Those wielding political power see fewer and fewer problems they believe private citizens can solve on our own. Soon, each one of us will have our own personal guardian bureaucrat." ....
"It’s good that our politicians are getting our financial affairs in order for us.
"Proof that we can rely on them is that our government debt is now almost 60% of our GDP and projected to reach 100% by 2020. Standard & Poor’s has just indicated that the AAA rating of US government bonds may have to be reduced, showing that the United States is now a credit risk." Star Parker
Why They Can’t Condemn Hamas
Andy McCarthy "Hamas is a shibboleth. If you want to know whether an ostensible Muslim “moderate” is really moderate, ask him if Hamas is a terrorist organization."
shib·bo·leth –noun Dictionary.com
1. a peculiarity of pronunciation, behavior, mode of dress, etc., that distinguishes a particular class or set of persons.
2. a slogan; catchword.
3. a common saying or belief with little current meaning or truth.
Is Hamas a terrorist organization? "The occasion of McCarthy's column was his appearance on David Asman's Fox Business Channel show debating Imam Dawoud Kringle of the New York State prison system, a supporter of the Ground Zero Mosque. McCarthy commented on his close encounter with Mr. Kringle: "Kringle...reeled off the usual talking points about how Islam forbids terrorism and, therefore, if someone commits an act of terrorism that act is, by definition, un-Islamic."
"That's beautiful. But when Asman then posed the question whether Hamas is a terrorist organization, Kringle froze up and looked like his life flashed before his eyes. " Includes video and sound.
shib·bo·leth –noun Dictionary.com
1. a peculiarity of pronunciation, behavior, mode of dress, etc., that distinguishes a particular class or set of persons.
2. a slogan; catchword.
3. a common saying or belief with little current meaning or truth.
Is Hamas a terrorist organization? "The occasion of McCarthy's column was his appearance on David Asman's Fox Business Channel show debating Imam Dawoud Kringle of the New York State prison system, a supporter of the Ground Zero Mosque. McCarthy commented on his close encounter with Mr. Kringle: "Kringle...reeled off the usual talking points about how Islam forbids terrorism and, therefore, if someone commits an act of terrorism that act is, by definition, un-Islamic."
"That's beautiful. But when Asman then posed the question whether Hamas is a terrorist organization, Kringle froze up and looked like his life flashed before his eyes. " Includes video and sound.
The Sources of American Anger
Victor Davis Hanson "Behind the anger over the Arizona immigration mess, the Ground Zero mosque, the economy, and the new directions in foreign policy are some recurring general themes that reverberate in each particular new controversy. In sum, they explain everything from the tea parties to the wholly negative perception of Congress to the slide in presidential popularity."....
"In other words, with the race/class/gender critique of the Obamians comes very little appreciation of the bounty, freedom, and affluence that they so eagerly embrace. Surely someone in the past — perhaps even white males — must have been doing something right for America to evolve into a place that our present-day critics apparently enjoy."
"In other words, with the race/class/gender critique of the Obamians comes very little appreciation of the bounty, freedom, and affluence that they so eagerly embrace. Surely someone in the past — perhaps even white males — must have been doing something right for America to evolve into a place that our present-day critics apparently enjoy."
Republicans: Boehner's Pro-Growth Message
Larry Kudlow "Well, Mr. Boehner’s speech was a very promising beginning to all this. Near the top he said, “Right now, America’s employers are afraid to invest in an economy stalled by ‘stimulus’ spending and hamstrung by uncertainty. The prospect of higher taxes, stricter rules, and more regulations has employers sitting on their hands.”
"His first proposal to break that uncertainty? Boehner said, “President Obama should announce he will not carry out his plan to impose job-killing tax hikes on families and small businesses.” In other words, extend all the Bush tax cuts. To this end, Boehner quoted former President John F. Kennedy: “An economy constrained by high tax rates will never produce enough revenue to balance the budget, just as it will never create enough jobs.”
"His first proposal to break that uncertainty? Boehner said, “President Obama should announce he will not carry out his plan to impose job-killing tax hikes on families and small businesses.” In other words, extend all the Bush tax cuts. To this end, Boehner quoted former President John F. Kennedy: “An economy constrained by high tax rates will never produce enough revenue to balance the budget, just as it will never create enough jobs.”
"And Boehner was just getting started."....
One of many points Boehner made: "He slammed Obamacare in general, noting the creation of more than 160 boards, bureaucracies, programs, and commissions, and the 3,833 pages of new regulations already in place."
One of many points Boehner made: "He slammed Obamacare in general, noting the creation of more than 160 boards, bureaucracies, programs, and commissions, and the 3,833 pages of new regulations already in place."
Cartoon: Eric Allie, Townhall. Article via Townhall.
Freedom’s Just Another Word For Not Regulated Yet
Healthcare issues
Deregulating Health Insurance and Health Care Providers in North Carolina "Mandates lock in current medical practices and payment methods.36 They limit competition among medical providers and strengthen the position of dominant insurers. As insurers and providers seek assistance from lawmakers, they focus more on political gains than on the market." Quite lengthy and deals with the relationship of state insurance regulations and the new Obamacare laws.
Government Greed, Not Human Need, Drives the Growth of Medicaid "Since President Obama took office, Medicaid has been accelerating in the wrong direction, a trend the American people have good reason to resist. The political class is exploiting the economic downturn to increase its control of our health dollars by making more people dependent on Medicaid, which sentences millions to inadequate care."
Via Heritage Insider. Illustration from The People's Cube
Another Presidential Rescue Mission in North Korea
Heritage Insider (August 25, 2010) "North Korea may interpret Carter’s visit as an indication that the Obama Administration wants to move beyond the Cheonan incident. Similarly, South Korea may question the resolve of its U.S. ally. Senior South Korean officials commented privately that Washington advocated a softer response than Seoul during last month’s bilateral military exercises, which were meant as a strong signal to Pyongyang. Carter’s visit may appear to be an extension of this perceived softness."
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