The Tea Party Is Right: Speaker Boehner’s Plan Cuts Nothing

July 29, 2011 Leave a comment

Speaker John Boehner wasn’t able to push through his debt ceiling plan in the House last night. This of course means he has no control over his caucus. As a Tea Party supporter, I tend to think that’s probably a good thing. The Weeping Speaker isn’t all that conservative and his debt ceiling plan, like all of them, is ridiculous. None of the plans out there force the Federal government to live within its means. Even those that include a Balanced Budget Amendment won’t force the government to live within its means. I can easily name 14 states that won’t pass an amendment, thus killing it.

Let’s talk about the Boehner plan for a moment. His plan is to increase the debt ceiling by $1 trillion in exchange for a little more than $1 trillion in budget cuts. Here’s where things get absurd. The debt ceiling would increase immediately by $1 trillion. But the budget cuts are spread out over 10 years. In other words, on average the budget would be cut only $100 billion per year. But of course it won’t cut $100 billion this year. It will only cut the budget by a few billion this year while the rest of the cuts are years down the road and can be reversed by a future Congress. In other words, the Boehner deal is a scam.

The real kicker though is that the $1 trillion in cuts isn’t even a real cut. It’s only a cut in future growth. If Congress passed a budget today that was equal to last years budget, the CBO would declare it to be a $9.5 trillion cut over 10 years. Why? Because holding the line means that government doesn’t grow at the rate of inflation and thanks to the wizards at the CBO, this is considered a cut. As you can see, Boehner’s $1 trillion in cuts over 10 years is nowhere near holding the line. His proposal increases the size of government as it allows for government to spend more than the rate of inflation. There are no government cuts, there are government increases under the Boehner plan.

The fact that the Boehner plan increases the size of government hasn’t stopped Democrats from hysterically opposing it. Nancy Pelosi has declared that the Democrats opposing the Boehner plan are trying to “save life on this planet as we know it today.” It’s almost funny until you realize she wants even more spending. Pelosi and Obama not only want more spending, they want massive tax increases. In fact, tax increases will result in more spending as more Americans lose their jobs and end up on welfare. One wonders if this isn’t their goal. After all, government dependence has been the Democrat base since FDR.

The facts here are clear. The Boehner plan doesn’t cut the size or scope of the Federal government. It barely cuts government at all, with most of the cuts coming down the road when a future Congress can reverse them. The Harry Reid deal is no better, his calls for $2.7 trillion in cuts and an increase in the debt limit of the same amount. Again, all of the cuts are down the road and the debt ceiling increase is immediate.

If the Boehner plan passes, we’ll have a debt ceiling fight again next year when the national debt is $15.2 trillion. If Reid’s plan passes, we’ll fight over the debt ceiling in late 2012 when the national debt is nearly $17 trillion. Default and massive cuts are on the way whether they begin next week or a few years from now. Our national debt is unsustainable, especially so as both parties seem uninterested in balancing the budget and cutting spending.

Filed under economy, John Boehner, Nancy Pelosi Tagged with , , , , , , ,

Debt Default Is 100% Obama’s Choice

July 27, 2011 Leave a comment

If there is any debt default it will be Obama’s responsibility 100%. It is his choice to make, regardless of whether Congress votes to increase the debt limit. If Congress does nothing, the Federal government will have to live within its means. In August the government will take in around $200 billion. Interest payments on our $14.2 trillion debt is around $25 billion per month. If the United States defaults on its debt, it will be because the President decided to spend that money elsewhere.

In fact, not only would the Federal government have enough to pay for debt interest, it would have enough to pay for the military, Social Security and Medicare. It would also have money left over. What the government wouldn’t have money for are the gobs of bureaucrats in Washington. Of course, it’s up to Obama what programs he wants to fund. If he wants to fund the Department of Labor instead of Social Security, that would be his choice alone.

Only one man has the power to default the United States, that man is President Obama. Congress at this point has no say in the matter. Obama can choose to use $25 billion of the money the government takes in next month to service our debt or he can pay for his legion of bureaucrats. Default will not happen if Congress doesn’t pass a bill raising the debt ceiling this week. This an extremely important point that no one in the mainstream media is talking about. It’s all in Obama’s hands.

That Obama has complete control over our nation defaulting is disturbing in the extreme. Obama’s roots are in radical leftist ideology, specifically Saul Alinskey. This group of radical leftists want to bring chaos to the country in order to take power. Generally speaking the best organized at at time of chaos ends up with power in the end. Just look at the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. The left here in the US is extremely organized and they’re prepared to take over in the event the nation descends into chaos.

That Obama has the power to trigger chaos is disturbing. But I don’t think that a default would result in a radical left-wing take over at this point. The United States has a history of blaming the party in the White House for any economic problems that exist. If the country defaults and the economy spirals out of control the left isn’t going to be able to take over. Obama will be blamed and Republicans will sweep away radical leftists for a generation.

This is why Obama isn’t going to default at this time. In fact Obama has already signaled to banks, allegedly secretly, that there will not be a default. Nevertheless, it’s disturbing to note that it is within President Obama’s power to default this country even if he isn’t planning on doing so.

Filed under economy, Obama Tagged with , ,

Obama’s Speech Proves Who Isn’t The Adult In The Room

July 26, 2011 Leave a comment

The adult President gave yet another primetime address last night. Since cable television and the internet the power of these addresses has been diminished. Less than 20% of the country watches these addresses, so the ability of any President to direct debate in the country is reduced compared to 20+ years ago. In any event, Obama’s address was more campaign rally than actual policy address. He called on Americans to call their Congressman to complain and told us he wouldn’t bore us with plan details. I guess we just aren’t smart enough to understand Obama’s plan but the drones are capable of picking up the phone and annoying Congressional staffers and interns.

The fact is that Congress already has two plans out there that have bipartisan support. Neither includes tax increases. Harry Reid has agreed to cut $2.7 trillion in spending in exchange for a debt ceiling increase that will put this issue to rest until after the 2012 election. Speaker Boehner has a plan for a $1 trillion debt ceiling increase coupled with $1.2 trillion in spending cuts and a committee to investigate and recommend an additional $1.8 trillion in cuts. Reid’s plan would likely pass the House, at this point Boehner’s plan would likely pass the Senate.

That leaves the President to decide whether he wishes to veto what a bipartisan Congress has passed. For all of Obama’s talk about bipartisan cooperation last night, if he vetos what anything that comes out of this Congress he is the one who will look like an ideologue. For all of Obama’s whining about House Republicans, he is ignoring bipartisan efforts taking place in the Senate. He said yesterday he opposed Reid’s compromise bill because it doesn’t include tax increases.

Speaking of tax increases, Obama trotted out the corporate jet tax again yesterday. He must think that plays well in the ears of the average American but his corporate jet tax has already been proven to be a meaningless political ploy. As of nearly three weeks ago, it’s been proven that his jet tax would only bring in $300 million a year and likely would cost jobs in the airplane manufacturing sector. Obama must think the American people are so stupid that they can’t get online and read all about this issue.

The President must also think the American people are to stupid to figure out that the top 2% (who barely make $250,000 a year) account for 40% of consumer spending in this country. They also pay the lions share of Federal taxes. Any tax increase on this group will result in two things. First consumer spending would decrease, which would negatively affect the middle class in both the service and manufacturing sectors. Second, investment would decrease which would result in loss of job creation.

President Obama is attempting to do what Congressional Democrats and President Bush did in 1991. Bush agreed to tax increases in exchange for some nominal spending cuts. The problem is that the tax cuts killed the economy and resulted in increased unemployment. As a result, more Americans went on welfare, food stamps and medicaid. The cost of having more Americans on these programs more than off set the spending cuts. Obama is playing a game here. He doesn’t want any reduction in Federal spending and he knows he won’t get one if there are tax increases.

Republicans need to hold firm. This President doesn’t have a plan of his own and as a result he will be stuck with whatever Congress passes. The fact that Obama doesn’t want to bore us with plan details shows us just how disingenuous he is. Obama will not commit to anything and has already shown us he’s willing to move the goal posts. Speaker Boehner needs to hold firm, even if it means going along with Reid’s plan. Let Obama veto a bipartisan bill.

Filed under economy, John Boehner, Obama, Politics, Taxes Tagged with , , , , , ,

Obama Overplays Debt Ceiling Cards As Reid Caves

July 25, 2011 Leave a comment

Joseph Curl of the Washington Times wonders whether the President is a pathological liar. I am reluctant to accuse anyone of lying unless it can be absolutely proved. While I won’t call the President a liar concerning the debt ceiling negotiations, yet, he certain has shown what a poor negotiator he is. Obama takes a very elementary school approach to the Presidency. He’s like a 7 year old who thinks the President gets to boss everyone around and get his way no matter what. It of course doesn’t work like that.

The President misled the American people when he declared that Speaker Boehner walked away from the negotiating table last week. Boehner was about to agree to nearly $800 billion in new taxes before the President suddenly demanded $400 billion more. He moved the goal posts, despite the fact that he was about to get the Republicans to break a major campaign promise.

Obama’s move to demand even more tax money was perhaps rooted in his loss of liberal support in the polls. In the end it will cost the President dearly. Sen. Harry Reid is set to cave to the Republicans, agreeing to $2.7 trillion in cuts without any tax increases. The President has declared his opposition to the plan supported by Reid. But if this were to pass a bipartisan Congress, Obama would have almost no choice but to sign the bill. A Presidential veto may make the far left happy but it will ensure Obama’s defeat next year.

It didn’t have to be this way for the President. He had Boehner right where he wanted him. The Speaker was set to agree to nearly $800 billion in new taxes until the President got greedy. Obama could have beaten the Republicans over the head with such a deal, they would have broken their campaign pledge of 2010. But the President chose to cater to the far left and demand even more taxes, in the end he may very well end up with nothing. Meanwhile weaking John Boehner, moments from caving to $800 billion in tax increases, comes out the hero.

Why would President Obama do this? There are two theories that come to mind. First, Obama was a two year Senator (yes, he served four years but the last two were largely spent campaigning for President) and as such he came into office with very little negotiating experience. During his first two years, the President largely ignored Republicans and because of Democrat super majorities in Congress he never had to negotiate with Republicans. As a result, the President doesn’t know how to negotiate a major bipartisan deal. His missteps during this entire debate suggest he doesn’t know what he’s doing. After all if the President wanted more revenue so badly why did he extend the Bush tax cuts just six months ago?

It’s hard to believe though that this President is so naive as to not be able to handle negotiating a deal. Obama may be a socialist, but he’s not an idiot. He’s doing all of this intentionally. Whether he believes that he’ll score political points if a deal isn’t done or if he his ties to radical socialism have poisoned Obama to the point where a debt default would be good for his long term vision of socialism I don’t know. If the President believes the country will blame Republicans for a default he has another thing coming if he veto’s Reid’s compromise bill. If he believes default will create conditions for socialist revolutionaries to gain power, he’s sadly mistaken. The country won’t move to the left if Obama causes a default, the country will move to the right. This, after all, isn’t Europe.

President Obama is leading the nation towards debt default by refusing to seriously negotiate a deal. The President has been inconsistent and all over the place during the entire debate. He has yet to offer his own plan. He over played his political cards last week and it is going to cost him big. Whether he’s lying and whether he has some ulterior motive for all of this remains to be seen. What we do know is that the President over played his cards and he’s set himself up to take the blame when and if there is a default.

Filed under John Boehner, Obama, Taxes Tagged with , , , , , ,

Fox News Anti-Tea Party Bias Exposed

July 25, 2011 Leave a comment

I have just returned from a lovely trip to Northern Michigan with my family, which explains my absence during the last 10 days. I was without internet access up north, largely by choice. I wanted to enjoy my vacation, I did not want to spend the entire time reading articles about the debt ceiling debate. I know this may be shocking to some of you but there comes a point in life where one needs a break from debt ceiling negotiation watching.

While I did not have internet access, I did have cable television. I admit, I’m a glutton for punishment so about once a day I would pop on to see what Fox News was reporting. Much to my dismay, it appeared the Republicans were losing on all fronts. Public opinion was turning against the GOP, Obama was gaining momentum. Meanwhile John Boehner and Senate Republicans were caving in on all sides. The Gang of Six had some grand plan to cut spending and raise taxes, which Obama supposedly supported. This is all on Fox News, I never turned to CNN or MSNBC.

I return home to find President Obama’s poll numbers lower than they were prior to the Osama bin Laden killing. Gallup had the President at 42 yesterday and Rasmussen had him at 45. Even the Fox News poll shows Obama at 45, yet their reporting and commentary would have led one to believe that Obama was winning the PR battle over the debt ceiling. So much for right-wing bias on Fox News. If anything, their reporting tended to bolster Obama at the expense of whatever the Republicans are trying to do.

So why have Obama’s poll numbers dropped? While I don’t think Speaker John Boehner is the best attack dog against the President, he and his Republican caucus have made one point that has resounded with the American people. President Obama has never offered a plan. The American people have seen this and it doesn’t instill confidence in the White House. If the President doesn’t have a plan of his own, he has a lot of nerve endlessly attacking every Republican plan. The end result is that his numbers have dropped.

In fact, not only has President Obama not offered a debt ceiling plan of his own, he’s never offered much of anything on his own. He never offered his own Stimulus or Obamacare plans, he relied on Congress to create the plans which he latched onto. He’s never offered his own budget plan. In fact, since Obama took office the Democrats have never offered a budget of their own. The Pelosi Congress went two years without passing a budget and the Senate Democrats still haven’t offered or passed a budget. That isn’t lost on the American people.

After spending a week away from the news it is clear that Fox News isn’t as conservative as the left wishes to make them out to be. They roundly attacked the GOP last week and suggested that Obama was winning the hearts of America again. He was doing no such thing. If Fox News is anything, it’s a supporter of RINO moderate Republicans who  have spent the last month in a panic over the Tea Party’s grip on the House GOP. The Tea Party is winning right now and perhaps that’s caused the RINO’s at Fox to panic. Either way, Fox isn’t the conservative network the left wants to paint it as.

Filed under economy, John Boehner, Obama, Politics, Taxes Tagged with , , , , , ,

Eat Our Peas? How About No New Taxes?

July 12, 2011 1 Comment

The condesending Obama has returned in fine form. Yesterday the President declared it’s time for us to “eat our peas.” Apparently eating our peas is code word being “serious” and raising taxes. The President complained that he would rather be talking to the media about “new programs” or “the NFL season.” In that little exchange Obama proved that he just doesn’t get it. New programs are the reason why the Federal government has the problems it has now. The government is spending to much and it’s time to reign in spending.

Meanwhile the Al Jolsen of the administration, Vice President Joe Biden, is busy telling an audience that no “real” economist believes tax increases will cost jobs. “C’mon man, let’s get real” Biden barked yesterday in his best street wise, man of the people voice. It is unclear which is worse, Biden’s condensending man of the people rhetoric or his condesending attitude towards economists who don’t agree with him. There are thousands of economists out there who will be happy to argue that tax increases kill jobs. But of course they aren’t “real” economists. Joe Biden is apparently the economist gatekeeper.

The fact is that tax increases will cost jobs. Around 40% of consumer spending in this country comes from the top 2%. If those people are taxed at higher rates, that means less consumer spending. Who do you suppose that’s going to hit the hardest? The middle class of course. It means fewer purchases, which hurts the manufacturing sector, the retail sector and all the jobs that feed off the middle class. Not to mention with less money, the top 2% won’t be able to invest in companies that create jobs. Tax increases are most certainly a job killer.

High taxes and massives spending deficits have hurt all of us. The down economy that Obama hasn’t been able to turn around has affected blacks the hardest. Black net worth has fallen by 83%. Black unemployment has increased dramatically under Obama. His policies have had an affect on people and unfortunately it’s not very good. The black middle class is fast disappearing thanks to this recession. It is Obama’s policies that have ensured that the recession continues on, sapping blacks of more of their wealth. Even worse, Obama’s policies are bleeding blacks of their upward move to the middle class.

Federal economic policy does have an affect on average Americans. It can be positive or negative. Over regulation, high taxation and high spending is bad for everyone. It stifles job creation, which hurts all of us. Smaller government, with tax cuts and spending cuts has the opposite effect. The more money in the hands of the private sector, the more jobs will be created. Money in the hand of government is little more than a waste.

While Obama is busy playing school yard bully or nanny, the Republicans have offered serious plans to get the economy rolling again. Obama wants to play class warfare, even if it means his policy hurts the lower and middle classes. It’s sort of incredible that the President has the audacity to push his weight around at this late hour, after having spent the first six months of the year avoiding Republicans at all cost. His class warfare is transparent. The GOP needs to stick to their guns. No new taxes!

Filed under 2012 election, economy, Taxes Tagged with , , , , , ,

Obama A Tax and Spend Liberal

July 11, 2011 Leave a comment

President Obama is apparently planning on doubling down on tax increases. He is holding a press conference this morning, no doubt he’ll mention private jet tax increases half a dozen times. Never mind of course that increasing private jet taxes will only net the government a few billion over a decade, while likely costing hundreds or thousands of jobs. The real hit is going to be on small businesses, which means the tax increases will end up hitting lower and middle class business owners. So much for never increasing taxes on those making less than $250,000, Obama’s long forgotten campaign pledge.

Apparently the Obama administration believes that because they broke their campaign pledge, it’s acceptable for Republicans to do the same. Obama and the Democrats offer taxes upon taxes, between $1-2 trillion depending on which proposal you look at.  Less than 2 years ago Obama said it would be foolish to raise taxes during a recession. With 9.2% unemployment and stagnate growth, this is surely a recession. Obama wants tax increases, we can only hope the Republicans stick to their campaign promises and refuse to raise them.

The Republicans have incentive to not raises taxes. Tax increases haven’t been popular for several decades, even taxes aimed at the rich. But the real incentive comes in the form of the Tea Party. Every single Republican who votes to raises taxes is likely to find himself with a primary challenger next year. Including Speaker John Boehner. The Republican Party cannot afford such an insurrection of the rank and file if they want to win the White House next year. It would behoove the GOP to vote against any tax increase and in fact it would be even better if the House refused to allow a tax increase to come up for a vote.

The problem isn’t tax revenue, the problem is spending. Tax revenue has rarely gone above 18% of GDP. Even when taxes were extremely high. Before Reagan, it wasn’t uncommon for the Federal government to have tax rates above 60%. At various times they went as high as 90%. Still, taxes never generated more than 18% of GDP. The only way to increase revenue is to have the economy take off. We’ve seen this happen four times since the income tax amendment was added to the Constitution in 1913. Taxes were cut in the 20′s, 60′s, 80′s and 2000′s and each time the economy improved and tax revenue increased. When income taxes have been increased, such as the 30′s, 40′s, 70′s and 90′s, long term the taxes never generated more than 18% of GDP and the economy never took off.

President Obama is trying to create a class conflict by pretending that tax increases are only for the rich. The fact is, we’ll all be adversely affected if taxes are increased. A stagnate economy does nothing for the poor and middle class. We will also all be adversely affected if Congress doesn’t slash spending. For this we need the Republicans to hold firm and refuse to continue funding unnecessary and wasteful government programs. So far Boehner is sticking with $2 trillion in cuts. If Obama refuses to cut a deal without tax increases any default is on him.

Filed under 2012 election, economy, John Boehner Tagged with , , , , , ,

Obama Fails To Lead; Dems Propose Trivial Tax Increases

June 27, 2011 Leave a comment

Negotiations over raising the debt ceiling have taken a turn for the worse over the past week or so. The Democrats want to raise taxes, the Republicans want no part of that. The debt ceiling shouldn’t be raised, it’s irresponsible to raise it considering our $14 trillion debt. It’s fairly clear that the House will not pass any tax increases. Any Republican who supports tax increases is likely to be voted out of office next year, so none of them appear interested in taking on that sort of battle. That hasn’t stopped the Democrats from stamping their feet for tax increases.

As usual, the President is largely uninvolved in the negotiations. Apparently he may be participating this week. For the last several weeks he’s left matters to Joe Biden and Congressional Democrats. This continues Obama’s streak of never getting involved in actual leadership. Rather than take the lead, Obama remains a passive bystander who occasionally comments on matters. It’s been fascinating to watch the President essentially play the role of television talking head when it comes to major pieces of legislation.

That said, the proposals coming from the White House and Congressional Democrats are ridiculous. One proposal calls for eliminating all sorts of deductions for those making over $500,000. The Democrats claim it will raise $210 billion in revenue over 10 years. That comes out to a paltry $21 billion a year. The current budget deficit is $1.6 trillion. The Democrats proposal doesn’t even make a dent in the deficit and that’s assuming it will actually raise the funds they claim it will raise. Tax increases have a nasty habit of not producing anywhere near the revenue government would like.

The fact is, the Democrats proposal isn’t serious at all. It’s just a political game. They’re trying to set up the Republicans as the party of the rich, protecting them from increased taxes. But the facts are clear, the Democrats plan isn’t serious and will have little to no affect on the deficit. The country needs serious cuts in government spending, in the hundreds of billions if not trillions this year. Not two hundred billion over 10 years, we need cuts today.

The Federal government must cut spending. They need to cut back on farm subsidies, that do little more than funnel tax money into large agribusinesses at the expense of consumers. They need to cut back on welfare, food stamps and other federal welfare programs. It is absurd that we have 40 million Americans on food stamps, the number has skyrocketed since Obama took office. Food stamp fraud is rampant. We need to cut tax expenditures for oil companies, ethanol producers, makers of electric cars and a laundry list of big businesses that get paid by the government to produce goods or services Americans in the free market generally don’t want.

These are the cuts government needs to make. The Democrats want to play politics with tax increases at a time when unemployment is high and the private sector isn’t hiring. It’s absolutely absurd. Even more absurd is the hands off approach Obama is taking on yet another major issue. Is this President capable of leading? I’m beginning to think that Obama cannot lead unless he’s in a room filled with people who agree with him. The second someone voices opposition, Obama either folds or storms off to the corner in a huff. $21 billion in tax increases isn’t leadership when the deficit is $1.6 trillion.

 

Filed under 2012 election, economy, Obama Tagged with , , , ,

Obama Administration Seeks Small Business Tax Increase

June 24, 2011 2 Comments

A lot has been made about Eric Cantor and the Republicans walking out of debt ceiling negotiations with Vice President Biden and the Democrats over tax increases. We should surely support the GOP effort to not raise taxes. Hopefully they won’t chicken out and given into the Democrats. Tax increases at this time would completely destroy our fragile economy. There could be nothing worse for the economy right now than taking money out of the private sector and handing it over to government.

But the debt ceiling negotiations aren’t even the most interesting tax story of the day. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner told a House Committee that he wanted to raise small business taxes. Around two thirds of those employed by the private sector work for small businesses. It is small businesses that are having trouble accessing capital via bank loans and revenue. Yet Geithner and the Obama administration want to further limit their access to capital by raising small business taxes. No wonder the economy appears on the verge of a double dip recession.

Geithner doesn’t just want to raise taxes on small businesses, he wants to raise taxes on those rich people who earn $250,000 a year. It’s Geithner’s logic that is the most outrageous. He told the committee:

We’re not doing it because we want to do it, we’re doing it because if we don’t do it, then, again, I have to go out and borrow a trillion dollars over the next 10 years to finance those tax benefits for the top 2 percent, and I don’t think I can justify doing that.

Geithner is referring to the Bush tax cuts that the Democrats in Congress and Obama signed a two year extension on. His implication is that leaving taxes at their current rate is some sort of “tax benefit.” What Geithner is really saying though is that all income belongs to the Federal government and any allowance for individuals to keep their money is a “tax benefit.”

Geithner gets away with revealing the true nature of the progressive left and this administration’s view of taxes when they present it in context of the boogeyman rich. But let’s apply their logic to the middle class. If the 4% Bush tax cuts for the rich (keep in mind the Bush tax cuts were for everyone) are “tax benefits” then so are all sorts of middle class tax cuts. For example, child tax credits are “tax benefits” and so is the mortgage deduction and the property and state tax deduction. In fact, so is the personal exemption and all dependant exemptions. Charitable giving is a “tax benefit” according to the Treasury Secretary.

In other words, all of our money belongs to the government in the view of Tim Geithner and the Obama administration. Any of our income that we are allowed to keep is a “tax benefit.” The Obama administration may not wish to demonize the middle class like they demonize those wicked rich people earning $250,000, but it’s clear those of us in the middle class are the beneficiaries of “tax benefits.”

For small business, it’s clear that Geithner views all of their profits as property of the government and he wants to strip away their “tax benefits.” It doesn’t particularly matter to him whether tax increases will be good or bad for the economy. Geithner will go so far as to claim the tax increases will be good for small business. The guy will say anything to raise taxes. Even on the very businesses that create the most jobs with the most difficulty. Don’t forget, it is small business that is bearing the astronomical costs of Obamacare and Obama’s regulatory schemes. Now the administration wants to kill even more new jobs by raising small business taxes.

The Geithner position is an absurd view of what taxes cuts are, though sadly it is not uncommon among the progressive left or the government. Our income does not belong to the government, it belongs to us. We obtain income from our labor and our investments. Cutting taxes isn’t a benefit, this isn’t welfare. Such a position implies that government is entitled to all of our money, which they are not.

Tax cuts are not only good for the economy, they’re good for the treasury. History has shown that every time taxes are cut, treasury revenue increases and when taxes are increased treasury revenue either decreases or stays steady. Geithner should know this and he probably does. The issue with him is that he doesn’t care, just like Obama. Raising taxes is part of Obama’s fundamental transformation of America into a socialist, European style state. This is the hope and change that Obama campaigned on. Is this the change we want four more years of?

Filed under economy, Obama, Taxes Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

Two Ways The GOP Can Push Obama And Score Political Points

January 20, 2011 Leave a comment

Here are two ways the Republicans can push Obama on issues that voters favor the GOP on.

Yesterday the House passed a bill repealing Obamacare. Pressure will be on Sen. Harry Reid to allow a vote in the Senate on the repeal. I highly doubt it will happen. Even if Reid allows the bill to move forward, the Democrats will filibuster any attempt at a vote. Even if it passes the Senate, there isn’t any chance that Obama will sign it into law.

This of course doesn’t mean the repeal of Obamacare is dead. What the House Republicans ought to do next is pass a repeal of the individual healthcare purchase mandate. This is one of the most unpopular provisions of the bill but it’s also the glue that holds Obamacare together. Without the individual mandate, Obamacare sort of withers away. So what the House GOP needs to do is pass a repeal of this part of the bill and send it onto the Senate. In the Senate, there are any number of moderate Democrats who will consider voting in favor of the repeal in order to get re-elected next year. Don’t forget, 23 Democrat seats are up for re-election in the Senate next year. Senators like Ben Nelson might be willing to vote for a repeal of the individual mandate, knowing full well that Obama will veto it. The veto is key as it will cause Obamacare to continue being an issue into the 2012 campaign. Obamacare won’t be a distant memory, it will be a fresh memory with a fresh veto from the President.

Like Obamacare, the Republicans can keep the deficit issue going through this year and into next year if they play their cards right. The debt ceiling issue is going to go viral in the next six weeks. There’s been talk that the GOP will agree to raise the debt ceiling in exchange for spending cuts. The Republicans need to hold their ground on this and force the issue.

The GOP cannot raise the debt ceiling to high. They should only agree to raise it $500-750 billion in exchange for $100-200 billion in spending cuts. This sets up another showdown over the debt ceiling in the fall. At this time the Republicans can demand more spending cuts and defund Obamacare in exchange for raising the debt ceiling.

If the Republicans do these two things, they can score political points. They’ll keep Obamacare in the nation’s thoughts as the 2012 election ramps up. They’ll also force Federal spending cuts, which voters favor the GOP in doing. The spending cuts will annoy if not outrage Obama’s base, making him all the weaker heading into 2012. Meanwhile the GOP can continue running against Obamacare and they can wave around some modest spending cuts they forced the President to go along with.

Filed under 2012 election, Obama, Obamacare, Politics, Republicans Tagged with , , , , , ,

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