Showing posts with label Tax Cuts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tax Cuts. Show all posts

Saturday, September 22, 2012

The November election



The Middle East:  Obama broke it, now it’s his

With the Middle East now more hostile to U.S. interests than ever, the "Arab Spring" has become a major political liability for the president. Try as he may, he can't distance himself from it.
I know that Obama will try to say Bush had already broken it, but at this point that doesn’t fly anymore.



Is an Obama victory inevitable?

The MSM is pushing this meme, but it’s simply not true.

In the meantime we see Obama with big leads where the Democrats have been oversampled by big amounts.  The Reason-Rupe survey has Obama ahead by 7 points, but oversample the Democrats by 8 points (page 10 of 14).  They lose a point in the final numbers due to more independents liking Romney. 

The liberal meme is that more and more polls are showing Obama turning away yet all of these polls heavily oversample Democrats.  2012 is not 2008 where 7 percent more democrats went to the polls.

Reid was lying:  Romney releases tax information

Romney over the past 20 years has averaged paying more in taxes than Obama did this last year.  And he’s given a lot more to charity.

Here’s a breakdown of the taxes paid and charity donation by candidate including the VPs.  It appears the Democrats just aren’t giving their fair share to charity. 

And since VP Biden paid a greater percentage than the President did, does that mean Mr. Obama failed to pay his fair share? 

 

If Obama was your financial advisor would you fire him?

Absolutely, yes.  Here’s 10 reasons to fire him from the presidency.




How did Obama pay for this?

A funny ad since Obama uses the past tense meaning he’s saved families $3600 in taxes.  How did he pay for it?  The Democrats always say a tax cut should be paid for, so how did he pay for it?  I think his savings are like the fact that he tells us we are better off than we were four years ago. 


Barack M. Obama

The M stands for Mao as we see the cult of personality creep into American politics.



Comparing Obama to Bush

After the 9/11 attack in 2001, Bush got us through 7 more 9/11s without a successful terrorist attack.  Obama came in in 2009 and managed to get us through 3 before the streak was broken with the attack in Benghazi that killed four Americans including a US Ambassador.  Obama isn’t working. 




A Fracking Protest

The GlobalFrackdown website and campaign was developed by Food & Water Watch, a Washington, D.C. nonprofit that was once part of Ralph Nader's Public Citizen group. The campaign claims that fracking "has already damaged communities and ruined lives. It pollutes water and makes people sick."

Scientists disagree on the risks of fracking, a process that injects large volumes of water, sand and chemicals underground to break rock apart and free the gas. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and many state regulators, however, say that fracking can be done safely. The American Lung Association says natural gas has helped reduce air pollution as many dirtier coal-fired power plants shift to natural gas.

The immense volumes of natural gas found in formations of shale rock around the country has spurred a boom in natural gas production that has been credited with creating jobs and lowering prices for industry and consumers.

The Frackdown campaign doesn't mention the differing opinions over risks or any benefits of fracking.

Of course they don’t and requiring opponents to announce the other sides points if simply ridiculous.  Fracking is safe and good for the environment.  


Green Energy gives Germany Problems

The more a country depends on such sources of energy, the more there will arise – as Germany is discovering – two massive technical problems. One is that it becomes incredibly difficult to maintain a consistent supply of power to the grid, when that wildly fluctuating renewable output has to be balanced by input from conventional power stations. The other is that, to keep that back-up constantly available can require fossil-fuel power plants to run much of the time very inefficiently and expensively (incidentally chucking out so much more “carbon” than normal that it negates any supposed CO2 savings from the wind). 

Both these problems have come home to roost in Germany in a big way, because it has gone more aggressively down the renewables route than any other country in the world. Having poured hundreds of billions of euros in subsidies into wind and solar power, making its electricity bills almost the highest in Europe, the picture that Germany presents is, on paper, almost everything the most rabid greenie could want. Last year, its wind turbines already had 29GW of capacity, equivalent to a quarter of Germany’s average electricity demand. But because these turbines are even less efficient than our own, their actual output averaged only 5GW, and most of the rest had to come from grown-up power stations, ready to supply up to 29GW at any time and then switch off as the wind picked up again. 

In addition Germany has laws requiring that green energy be used first which make conventional plants unprofitable since they must be on standby and continually gear up and down.  Many are threatening to shut down completely.  





Saturday, April 7, 2012

Happy Easter

What’s new Today 

Story #1 relates some of the inconsistencies in the unemployment numbers.  #2 talks about how the Obama Administration that is lambasting tax cuts from the Bush Administration is lauding the Chinese government for a new policy to tax cuts in China.





        1. Unemployment numbers

The March unemployment data has been issued. The government claims 120,000 jobs were created and the unemployment rate fell to 8.2% from 8.3% in February. However closer looks at the statistics reveal an altogether different scenario.

In March, an additional 164,000 people dropped out of the labor force bring the total of people not in the labor force up to nearly 88 million (a new record). In January of 2009 (when Obama assumed office that total was 81 million.

The published unemployment rate of 8.2% does not include those who have dropped out of the job market or are discouraged. However the Bureau of Labor Statistics does publish a statistic that takes into account the total unemployed, plus discouraged workers and those marginally attached to the labor force (but not the entire universe of those who have completely dropped out of the labor force), that they all the U-5 unemployment rate, which in March was 9.6%.

If the labor force participation rate (that part of the overall civilian population in the labor force) were the same as when Obama took office, then the actual unemployment rate would be 10.5%. As those not in the labor force has increased nearly seven million since Obama became President.

By comparison the last time the nation faced a severe recession (actually worse than what Obama faced) was in the early 1980's. The unemployment rate peaked at 10.8% (November 1982) under Ronald Reagan; however within 14 months that rate was down to 7.6% after the effect of Reagan's new policies took hold -- a drop of 30%.


In the past 12 months only 33% of the people who came into the age groups that make up the civilian population entered the work force vs almost 67% traditionally found there.  



2. Do as you do, Not as I say

While making positive comments about the most recent five-year-plan developed by the Communist government of the People’s Republic of China, Undersecretary of State Robert Hormats specifically applauded China’s decision to lower taxes because it would spur economic growth.

“What’s really encouraging to me is that there are a lot of groups in China that are reform-minded,” Hormats said while addressing a group of foreign reporters in New York City last week…

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/obama-administration-applauds-tax-cuts-people-s-republic-china

The hypocrisy of the left is paramount in this story.  The applaud tax cuts in China while condemning them here.  Kind of reminds you of Obama stopping drilling in America while applauding Brazil’s offshore drilling telling them we want to be their biggest customer. 


Tuesday, September 28, 2010

35 Days and counting


One step forward, two steps back

Here’s a study done by Christina and David Romer. You might remember Christina as President Obama's first chair of his Council of Economic Advisers. What makes it controversial is the fact it goes against the basic beliefs of the left. Raising taxes does not seem to be a good idea if you want to raise revenue.



A successful parasite must keep its host alive, finding the point where
it can maximize its intake without killing off its source of sustenance. So,
too, with governments taxing their citizenry. With taxation, governments can
reach the point where higher rates produce less revenue.


An academic study found that a tax increase of just 1% of GDP
causes a recession and then a permanent loss of 1.84% of GDP compared to what it would have been without the tax increase. The results of this study have some really broad and interesting implications.


http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/09/the_government_tapeworm.html


Kerry sums up his views on the electorate


The Boston Herald reports that Kerry took his pent-up election anger
out on clueless voters (emphasis mine):


"We have an electorate that doesn't always pay that much attention
to what's going on so people are influenced by a simple slogan rather than the
facts or the truth or what's happening."




Two points jump out at me. First is the unmitigated gall of Patrician John Kerry. Second is if he’s right, does “Hope we can believe in” fall into his simple slogan description?

Democrats fear Midwestern meltdown


Two years after President Barack Obama swept the Midwest, Democratic
fortunes in the region are sagging, with the GOP poised to make big gains by
scooping up disaffected independent voters in a wide swath of states hit by job
losses, budget woes and political scandal.


From Ohio to Iowa, there’s a yawning stretch of heartland states
whose citizens voted for Obama and congressional Democrats in 2008, but who have lost patience waiting for an as-yet undelivered economic revival that was first promised in 2006, and then two years later. Now, they look set to stampede
toward the out-of-power party.




Poll: Rocky road seen ahead for Obama

More bad news if you are a democrat.

A significant majority of voters are considering voting against
President Barack Obama
in the 2012 election, expressing sour views of
his new health care law and deep skepticism about his ability to create jobs and
grow the sluggish economy, according to the latest Politico/George Washington
University Battleground Poll.


Only 38 percent of respondents said Obama deserves to
be reelected
, even though a majority of voters hold a favorable view of
him on a personal level. Forty-four percent said they will vote to oust him, and
13 percent said they will consider voting for someone else.

And by an 11-point margin, voters trust congressional
Republicans
to create jobs more than Obama. His approval rating stands
at 46 percent, according to the poll of 1,000 likely voters, conducted Sept. 19
to Sept. 22.


The tea party movement, which has emerged as the
biggest threat to Democrats’ dominance of Washington is viewed favorably
by 43 percent
of respondents, compared with 35 percent who view it
unfavorably.




Obama's approval to go below 40%?
Here’s an interesting article on what’s going wrong with Obama’s administration.

I think Barack Obama will soon dip below a 40% approval rating. He’s
nearing there now. Why? A mixture of both the personal and political. Here
are five good reasons:

1) A bad agenda. Nearly every issue the president embraces polls against him, often at a 3-1 margin

2) Anything, anytime. The president does not conduct himself in a sober and judicious manner and neither do those around him. On any given day he can slur Arizonans as wanting to round up innocents on the way to ice cream. He can slander police as stupidly acting stereotypers.

3) There is no eloquence, period. Part is the fault of the worst speech-writing team in modern presidential memory. They make the most elemental of errors, whether turning Cordoba into a beacon of Islamic tolerance during the Inquisition or claiming “Mexicans” were here in North America before Americans, well before the idea of the nation of Mexico existed.
(This is a painful error in Obama's knowledge of history)

4) His team is imploding. We heard all this fluff last year about “Team of Rivals” as if our new Lincoln was going to collect brilliant and ambitious contrarians, and by sheer force of brilliance brew administrative excellence.

5) Obama has been lucky but it won’t last. You say, “No, wait a minute! After all he inherited two wars and a near depression!” Not quite.
(Really worth reading)


http://pajamasmedia.com/victordavishanson/president-4060/



NJ Gov Chris Christie For President


Much of the talk surrounding Mark Zuckerberg’s $100 million donation to
the Newark public school system concerned whether it was an image-building move
for the Facebook CEO just as a new movie is coming out that will make him look bad..

But what should be getting more attention is the effect it's having
on the image of Chris Christie, NJ's hardnosed GOP governor.



Wednesday, September 22, 2010


Black Panther case roars back to life


It appears there is more than a little hanky panky going on in the Obama Justice Department.
Thomas E. Perez, assistant attorney general for civil rights, is in big trouble.



Much more can and will be said about the gold mine of information unearthed
by Judicial Watch, which continues to press for the release of more documents.
For now, this much is clear: The department's claim that political appointees
were not involved in the case appears to be false. If so, Mr. Perez should be
held to account for his sworn statements to the contrary.



Liberals becoming more disenchanted with Democrats, USA Today/Gallup poll finds


Ominously for Democrats, the poll shows they are facing a problem from key elements in their base, those who define themselves as liberal or very liberal. A year ago, an absolute majority of the very liberal and close to half of the liberals approved of Congress, but now a majority disapproves.Though Democrats tend to enjoy an enrollment edge over Republicans, GOP voters tend to be more enthusiastic and more likely to vote, according to most polls. That is especially true this year, when conservative candidates have ridden the popular discontent and anger to capture GOP nominations in half a dozen states. Democrats have yet to offset that "tea party" movement enthusiasm edge.

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-congress-liberal-disapproval-20100921,0,5295847.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fnews%2Fpolitics+%28L.A.+Times+-+Politics%29


Economists: Extend Bush tax cuts for everyone





NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- With income tax rates set to go up on Dec.
31, Congress is hotly debating what to do next. But most economists agree: Keep
them where they are.



One option, to let the tax cuts passed during the Bush
administration expire for only the richest 3% of taxpayers while renewing them
for everyone else, is popular among Democrats and the choice of the Obama
administration.


But a majority of a panel of leading economists surveyed by
CNNMoney.com said that the tax cuts should be renewed for everyone.




Here's a fact you're not likely to see on tonight's evening news broadcasts: According to a recent poll, Arabs living abroad are more likely to be opposed to the "Ground Zero Mosque" than the American media are.



According to a recent survey by the Arabic online news service Elaph
(Arabic version
here), 58 percent of Arabs think the construction should be moved elsewhere. And according to a Media Research Center study released last week, 55 percent of network news coverage of the debate has come down on the pro-Mosque side.

The MRC study also found that on the question of whether opposition
to the mosque demonstrated a widely held "Islamophobia" among Americans, 93
percent of network news soundbites answered ion the affirmative. In
contrast, when asked whether the United States is a "tolerant" or
"bigoted" society, 63 percent of Elaph respondents chose the
former
.




Sarah Palin more in touch with real voters than Obama


Fifty-two percent (52%) of Likely U.S. Voters say their own views are
closer to Sarah Palin’s than they are to President Obama’s, according to a new
Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.


Just 40% say their views are closer to the president’s than to
those of the former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential
candidate.

Among the Political Class, however, 68% say their views are
more like Obama’s, while 63% of Mainstream voters describe their views as more
like Palin’s.



With the Democrats and Obama you have slick packaging which the MSM has touted over and over again. The problem is the dogs don’t like the dog food. With Sarah Palin you have the opposite case. The MSM has absolutely castigated her, yet her message hits home with a majority of Americans. So they don’t like the package, but they do like the dog food.


The TEA Party Challenge


There is a lot of chatter these days about the effect of the Tea Party movement on American politics. In the short term, the answer is blindingly obvious: It’s a huge boost for Republicans. The energy and enthusiasm the Tea Party movement is generating will work for GOP candidates and against Democratic candidates in almost every race in the country. Democrats are on course to be administered an epic defeat, one that will exceed, perhaps by a sizeable margin, even the one they experienced in 1994.


For starters, Republicans say they will try to withhold money that
federal officials need to administer and enforce the law. They know that even if
they managed to pass a wholesale repeal, Mr. Obama would veto it.


“They’ll get not one dime from us,” the House Republican leader, John
A. Boehner
of Ohio, told The Cincinnati Enquirer recently. “Not a
dime. There is no fixing this.”


Republicans also intend to go after specific provisions. Senator Orrin
G. Hatch
of Utah, a senior Republican on the Finance Committee, has
introduced a bill that would eliminate a linchpin of the new law: a requirement
for many employers to offer insurance to employees or pay a tax penalty. Many
Republicans also want to repeal the law’s requirement for most Americans to
obtain
health insurance.

Alternatively, Republicans say, they will try to prevent aggressive
enforcement of the requirements by limiting money available to the
Internal
Revenue Service
, which would collect the tax penalties.




Senior Democrats are reluctantly concluding that it's time to hit the
panic button. They understand that it's not a characteristic of a tsunami to
make a U-turn, and the hour is growing late.


Cautious Republicans are rightly wary of "peaking too soon," which
haunts the dreams and wishes of every candidate and campaign consultant, but the tsunami seems to be still building, already capable of crushing everything in
its path. You could get testimony to this from both Republicans and
Democrats.



Suddenly it's fashionable in certain skeptical precincts to start being nicer about the "tea party."



Not what the Democrats were hoping for



Republican Joe Miller has opened up a commanding lead in the Alaska
Senate race, even with defeated Republican Lisa Murkowski joining the contest,
according to a new Rasmussen
poll. Some Republicans had feared that
Murkowski's decision to launch a write-in bid would split the GOP vote, paving
the way for Democrat Scott McAdams to squeak by with a victory. In fact, the
poll suggests that Murkowski is actually taking more votes from the Democrat
than she is from Miller.


In the poll released this morning, Miller is the choice of 42
percent of Alaskans polled, Murkowski is at 27 percent, and McAdams is at 25
percent. In a two-way
poll taken at the end of August, Miller was at 50
percent and McAdams was at 44 percent.


http://spectator.org/blog/2010/09/21/rasmussen-miller-has-double-di


Unemployment rose in 27 states last month

Most of the decline was due to the loss of temporary census jobs




WASHINGTON — More than half of U.S. states saw their unemployment
rates rise in August, the largest number in six months, as hiring weakened
across the country.



The jobless rate increased in 27 states last month, the
Labor Department said Tuesday. It fell in 13 and was unchanged in 10 states and
Washington, D.C. That's worse than the previous month, when the rate increased
in only 14 states and fell in 18. It's also the most states to see an increase
since February.


Nevada, plagued by a vicious housing slump, reported the nation's
highest unemployment rate for the fourth straight month, at 14.4 percent. That's
a record high for the state.


The next highest rates were in Michigan, with 13.1 percent, and
California, at 12.4 percent.