Obama Tax Increases.

A note from my nephew:

I'm curious what you've heard Obama say and when he's said it that makes you think taxes on the middle class or small businesses will increase...

From Obama's web page:

Employer Contribution: Employers that do not offer or make a meaningful contribution to the cost of quality health coverage for their employees will be required to contribute a percentage of payroll toward the costs of the national plan

A mandatory increase in the labor costs for small businesses, one way or another. Obama doesn't say what the percentage is but why is my employer responsible for my health care? What else will employers have to pick up to cover for my lack of personal responsibility? My beer tab? Oh Rahh! I could give up beer and afford health insurance. Most "poor" I know could give up something, if they choose to, those that make too much to qualify for Medicaid anyway. I choose not to. Businesses that can will pass this cost on to consumers. Those that can't will cut employees. This study of California’s “pay or play” attempt shows it would have eliminated 71,000 jobs in that state alone. However many, jobs will be lost, probably mine which means back to prison for me at a time when it is now twice as dangerous as when I left. Hurray because the prison does have medical! I'll be insured! I'll need it.

Enact a Windfall Profits Tax to Provide a $1,000 Emergency Energy Rebate to American Families:Barack Obama and Joe Biden will enact a windfall profits tax on excessive oil company profits to give American families an immediate $1,000 emergency energy rebate to help families pay rising bills. This relief would be a down payment on the Obama-Biden long-term plan to provide middle-class families with at least $1,000 per year in permanent tax relief.

Take from the evil rich obscene oil companies and give to the poor. I think this is called income redistribution. Or communism. Problem is mom was big oil. Pensions, 401Ks, and IRAs are big oil. Half the income tax returns showing capital gains in 2005 earned less than $50,000. Three thirds earned less than $100,000. In any case if I invest in a company, putting my hard earned cash at risk, why should the government, who risked nothing, come in and take it? Why when your business makes a profit should the government say, well that's too much. And what is too much profit? Notice how they always put it in terms of so many billions? Not an obscene percentage in return on the trillions invested but a figure where they can say billions. Oil companies are earning a comparable rate of return to most industrials. Who do we go after next? Big pharmaceuticals? Big liqueur? (Remember the Whiskey Rebellion!) When these companies loose money do they get the tax back? Also consider the extra tax income the government gets from increased oil and gas prices. Why not give that back to the people? Consider that this only makes our public oil companies less competitive in relation to nationalized giants like those in Russia. Venezuela, and Iran. Our oil companies are at least trying to find us more oil as well as spending billions in alternative research. Nationalized oil companies are a cash cow for the regimes that control them and except for Russia their infrastructures are crumbling because so little is put back into the companies that production is in a downward spiral. Finally, and this is a basic economic tenant: No tax is ever paid by a company. As with any other cost, like health care for employees, it is passed on to the customer or the investor. The investor will not continue to take a hit and will divest. Someone pays, not a nameless, faceless behemoth called big oil but living human beings. That's why this won't work. Jimmy Carter tried it. According to a 2006 study by the Congressional Research Service, it generated less than one-fourth of the revenues that were expected and reduced domestic oil production by at least 8 percent. Less production is not the answer. Should Obama win I will make all my economic decisions based on the Carter years.

That's two I found with a quick look at his web page. More will follow. I throw this next one in even though it only soaks the rich because a tax increase that hurts the economy hurts the economy regardless of whatever class envy feel good feelings such increases may bring you.

Provide a Tax Cut for Working Families: Obama and Biden will restore fairness to the tax code and provide 150 million workers the tax relief they need. Obama and Biden will create a new "Making Work Pay" tax credit of up to $500 per person, or $1,000 per working family. The "Making Work Pay" tax credit will completely eliminate income taxes for 10 million Americans.

Fairness being I pay nothing, you pay for all of us 'cause you make a good earning. Obama will give a tax break to a hell of allot of people, (95% of Americans!), many of whom don't pay any taxes. How? My guess is by giving them more money like the Earned Income Tax Credit. Most of the taxes paid are paid by the top ten percent of wage earners, that's why any tax break intended to increase revenue has to include those who pay most of the taxes. But under Obama tax breaks for the rich will disappear, which is a tax increase that will hurt the economy. America's most productive earners will be further punished, taking the money out of their apparently talented hands and giving it to the, in my opinion, far less capable hands of the government. The fact that I get a cut in this extortion doesn't make it right in my book. The fact that the rich are getting stuck brings me no joy, those are the folks paying me to blog all night.

What Bias?

Some photos from an Atlantic Monthly shoot of John McCain by photographer Jill Greenberg.

Your daughters will die!

Subtle as lipstick on a pig

I just got an e-mail.

I'm not undecided so I don't want this or anything else pertaining to the Republican ticket nor the repulsive jokes circulating around about Barack Obama. If you don't like him that is one thing but to circulate lies and disgusting offensive jokes is not acceptable. Not very Christian to be doing such things. All of you out there who are really undecided had better think about the fact that this Republican ticket will strongly be in favor of turning around Roe V Wade and what religious right wings they will try to appoint to the Supreme Court as justices. If any of our daughters or daughter in laws get pregnant and their lives are in danger they won't have a choice whether to choose to have the baby or not. The mother will have to die and the baby will be born without a mother and some of these babies will not even have fathers. I am not for abortion for myself but I do believe that it is a difficult choice for a woman to make if raped or other unforseen situations which are not black and white. I don't think that the federal government should be telling us what to do....and by the way, Laura Bush and Cindy McCain are also pro choice as was Barbara Bush. But believe me, the religious fanatic men who don't have to carry the babies after being raped or other unforseen situations that are not balck and white will have their way if you elect McCain and Palin. Oh, and by the way, the rich women and young ladies will get their abortions anyway because they will be able to afford to fly over to a country where it is allowed. It happened in the '60s and 70s and don't think that it won't happen again. It will just be a little dirty secret that they can keep to themselves as they criticize others. The poor women will just be expected to flounder on and on and take care of it in the back streets and then maybe we can throw them in jail for violating the law.

Also, our economy is in a shambles, middle class people are losing jobs, poor people are working two jobs and some people cannot find jobs so just maybe we need to try something different and that is not John McCain who just wants to give big tax cuts to those big oil companies and to the top 5% who don't need more money. Just maybe we who have a little more than others don't need more tax cuts and those who don't have much and are struggling can use a few more breaks. I don't know about any of you but my money isn't going as far as it use to, gas prices are up and I feel like we haver taken 3 steps back. Oh, and by the way again, John McCain has been in office for 23 years and is just now realizing we need to change the direction of this country. If you ask me he wants this presidency sooooo badly that he is willing to compromise some of the principles he has held strongly in the past.
This is how I feel and as you can see I feel very strongly about it so please don't send me anymore "stuff" about this.

Roe, Roe, Roe th' boat, sinking in the stream.
Panicky, panicky, panicky, panicky lying for the dream.



Now I saw this coming because of the blogs.

Roe vs Wade - Obama’s “ace in the hole”

The SCOTUS, Roe v. Wade and women’s issues was the BO campaigns “ace in the hole” according to Chuck Todd from MSNBO network. The BO spokesperson told Todd that they would use any means necessary to beat Hillary and if women were offended, they would come back to the party during the GE because their plan was to “play the Roe v. Wade card.” THAT is a direct quote from the BO campaign via Todd.

Let's dissect this puppy. (Well the first half, I'll talk about economics in another post, too much BS to shovel at one time.)

I'm not undecided so I don't want this or anything else pertaining to the Republican ticket nor the repulsive jokes circulating around about Barack Obama. If you don't like him that is one thing but to circulate lies and disgusting offensive jokes is not acceptable.

Then it goes on to spread offensive lies about Republicans.

If any of our daughters or daughter in laws get pregnant and their lives are in danger they won't have a choice whether to choose to have the baby or not. The mother will have to die and the baby will be born without a mother and some of these babies will not even have fathers.

Blatantly trying to scare the ignorant. First off nobody is going to deny abortions when the mother's health is at risk. Most conservatives even support partial birth abortions in such cases. I do. Also if Roe Wade was struck down, and just as a matter of it being bad Constitutional law it should be, each state would make its own laws, again, as the Constitution requires. What states will ban abortion, even the abortions of convenience liberals so love? Utah maybe. Most states are as down the middle on abortion as the country as a whole so I don't see it happening. A Constitutional Amendment banning abortions, and again that would exclude cases where the mother's life would be at risk, would require passage in 38 states. That's 75% of the states! We will never see it and neither will any Judges McCain appoints. And that's another thing, we are talking about McCain. Let's just see what kind of crap he'll pull once he doesn't need his base. He could appoint another Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

I don't think that the federal government should be telling us what to do

A conservative! Actually we draw the line at murder.

and by the way, Laura Bush and Cindy McCain are also pro choice as was Barbara Bush.

And by the way Bush was in office with both houses of congress for six years and no Amendment attempt.

Oh, and by the way, the rich women and young ladies will get their abortions anyway because they will be able to afford to fly over to a country where it is allowed.

Oh, and by the way, any women and young ladies, (young ladies aren't women?), will get their abortions anyway because they will be able to hop aboard the many Planned Parenthood Abortion Tours that will be offered. Follow the money, there is a huge abortion industry that makes over a billion dollars annually, a third taxpayer money,so they want every woman who can to have an abortion. From the last link:

Yes, I’m talking about that gigantic growth corporation, Planned Parenthood. There has likely never been a more misleading name for any major business, of course, because this smooth-running industry does anything but “plan parenthood.” It quite openly and proudly makes sure, for a great majority of its pregnant clients, that they won’t birth their babies at all, and there will be no “parenthood” to plan.

According to Care Net, a leading pro-life counseling and nurturing provider across America, Planned Parenthood’s “services” result in abortions outnumbering adoption referrals and kept children by 180-to-1!!

Surprised? You shouldn’t be — this is a business, a money machine. There is no profit in convincing young girls to keep the children they’ve created or give them up for adoption by eager parents that will love and nurture them. Though occasionally that is the outcome, and the staff and administrators of the slaughterhouses love to publicize those few incidents, the recently revealed numbers tell the true story: Their annual income now exceeds a billion dollars, including $336 million in taxpayer funding!

Now I haven't even looked this up but:

The poor women will just be expected to flounder on and on and take care of it in the back streets and then maybe we can throw them in jail for violating the law.

Has that ever happened? Ever?

Update: Pen of Jen says:

Good to see you point out planned parenthood (planned notparenthood) as there
annual profits are 11% vs...the BIG EVIL OIL CO...whose profits float around 9%.

We need to hit them with a windfall profits tax. Palin might know how to do that, lol. Be afraid, be very afraid.

Never forget.

Michael Uliano probably would have preferred to be somewhere other than at the 105th Floor of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. An options broker for Cantor Fitzgerald, Michael enjoyed his work but would rather have been an actor. Surpassing his love of the stage was his love for fishing. To his fishing lure customers on the net he was known as Artie Fishhills, a play on the word artificial because of his knack for tying fishing flies. So if he could have Mike might have been fishing and clamming off Cape Cod in his old ’73 Jeep with the Shark’s mouth grill instead of one of millions of New Yorkers reporting to duty at thousands of desks across the world’s financial nerve center.

Michael's quilt at the United in Memory Gallery.

Michael acted off Broadway and was working on a screenplay. He so loved acting that he endured the amusement of his fellow Ithaca College football players and took ballet lessons. Many of those expressing fond memories of Michael at Legacy.com remember him on the stage or the football field. As quarterback of Canton high school Mike’s Number 10 was retired. He is survived by his wife Linda Buffa, his mother Gail, and eight brothers and sisters.

I Love this woman.

McCain just announced Palin's daughter is pregnant. This violation of the family's privacy, something Obama professes to respect, is in response to vile left wing smears.

McCain officials said the news of the daughter’s pregnancy was being released to rebut what one aide called “mud-slinging and lies” circulating on liberal blog sites.

According to these rumors, Sarah Palin had faked a pregnancy and pretended to have given birth in May to her fifth child, a son named Trig who has Down syndrome. The rumor was that Trig was actually Bristol Palin’s child and that Sarah Palin was the grandmother.

A senior McCain campaign official said the McCain camp was appalled that these rumors had not only been spread around liberal blog sites and partisan Democrats, but also were the subject of heightened interest from mainstream news media.

MSM thinks this will hurt her. MSM is clueless, seeing the Christian right as some monolithic hate monster.

Update: 9/3/08

Fox is comparing the Obama Us magazine cover:


with Palins cover.



What media bias?

I was debating whether I could vote for McCain. I figured if NM was in play I'd bite the bullet, otherwise I would not cast a vote for POTUS. Now I'm jazzed. She was not selected because she could get women votes, she was selected to energize the base. Like me. Like Jungle Mom. Like Pam. The more the MSM attacks her the more I love her. Who has evoked such a Deranged Syndrome since Bush, to whom the Bush Deranged Syndrome was originally named? If she is such a bad choice why the panic? Just say'in.

Obama on the relative experience he and Palin have:

Well, my understanding is that Governor Palin’s town of Wasilla has, I think, 50 employees. We’ve got 2,500 in this campaign. I think their budget is maybe $12 million a year. You know, we have a budget of about three times that just for the month. So I think that our ability to manage large systems and to execute I think has been made clear over the last couple of years.

What happened to Alaska? As Byron York points out at NRO:

Just for the record, Alaska's FY2008 operating budget is $11.2 billion, and the state employs approximately 15,000 people.

So his Presidential experience is predicated on his Presidential campaign experience. Makes since because he has done a lot more campaigning than legislating.