Obama IS Redisributing the Wealth!!!

During the presidential campaign, President Obama was notoriously quoted as saying that he is in favor of spreading the wealth.

I think when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody.

Well, in his 2010 budget, President Obama is doing just that: spreading the wealth.

Here are the numbers:

Tax increases:

The budget will impose the Clinton-era tax rates of 36 percent and 39.6 percent for couples earning more than $250,000 and individuals earning more than $200,000.. This change would generate $338 billion over 10 years.

The budget would also limit tax deductions for itemized deductions for families earning more than $250,000 and individual making more than $200,000. This would generate $179 billion over 10 years.

The plans would change capital gains tax rates to 20 percent, up from 15 percent, also for individuals above $200,000 and families above $250,000. This would generate $118 billion.

Tax cuts

The budget includes a tax credit that would provide a refund on payroll taxes of up to $400 per individual and $800 per family. This costs $536 billion over 10 years. It expands the earned income tax credit, costing $32 billion over 10 years. It expands the child tax credit, costing $70 billion over 10 years.

You do the math. Obama is taking in $635 billion from the rich and giving $638 back out to working families.

This might be a statistical anomaly, a quirk of statistics; but, knowing Obama, you can certainly believe that its intentional, can't you?

Will Obama Tax This Country into a Depression?

On top of straddling this country with billions of dollars in debt through the $800 billion economic "stimulus" package, a $410 billion additional spending bill, the $75 billion mortgage handout, talk of another bank bailout, and the potential of more money to the U.S. automakers, Obama has just proposed a $3.6 trillion budget for 2010.

How does he plan to pay for this budget, the largest U.S. budget be far?

Take more money from the people in this country most likely to spend:

Those Evil Rich People!

Let's just call them TERPs, shall we?

To pay for his unprecedented 2010 budget, Obama plans on taxing the TERPs even more. Obama would bump the tax rates for those earning more than $200,000 to 36% or 39.6%. At a time when we need more people spending money to help the economy, Obama is taking more money from the people most likely to spend it. How do you think this will help the retail sector? Home improvement businesses? Auto sales? Etc?

He is eliminating the mortgage interest deduction for TERPs. How do you think that will affect the housing market?

But, the sad news for Obama, facts that he doesn't seem to know or care about, even if Obama took all of the TERPs money, it still wouldn't be enough. If you are not a TERP, and you think he won't come after your money, you are sadly mistaken.

In addition, he is raising capital gains taxes by 25% (from 15% to 20%). At a time when the stock market is tanking, dropping on a daily basis, Obama is taking a large chunk of money out of the stock market. How do you think that will affect Wall Street and your 401K?

Business taxes are increasing. The U.S. already has the second highest business tax rate in the world. Even the slightest increase will give the U.S. the highest corporate tax rate in the world. How do you think that will affect your company's ability to expand, hire new people, give you raises, keep you employed?

What does it matter if we tax those big, nasty, rich corporations more? Consider what Choi Kyung-hwan, a member of the Korean Administration's Presidential Transition Committee and senior fellow at the Korea Rural Economic Institute had to say:

"(Koreas's proposed) corporate income tax reduction (from 20% to 15%) is not a matter of choice, but a matter of life and death for Korea in an increasingly globalized business environment.''

With Korea's corporate tax rate well below that of the U.S., one has to wonder why Obama feels so comfortable about raising the rates here further. Do you think that increasing corporate tax rates will help or hurt business?

With each word the president utters, with each appearance on television, the stock market drops. How do you think that Wall Street and your 401K will perform now?

Nothern Trust Is Right to Have Sponsored Golf Tournament!

We have all heard the hue and cry of liberals, especially, about how banks that receive federal government bailout money decide to operate.

Talking heads on both sides of the aisle have lambasted banks who receive these so-called TARP funds for honoring compensation commitments to executives and for completing deals made months prior for such perks as private jets.

Now, the latest bally-hoo from the critics is corporate marketing strategy.

It appears that some banks, one in particular being Northern Trust, are following-though with events that both thank customers and promote the bank, much to the chagrin of Washington light-weight Senator John Kerry.

Kerry, it seems, calls the funding of these marketing events as an "idiotic abuse of taxpayer money." It should be noted that Kerry has supported each and every bailout and "stimulus" package over the past few months. He would certainly know about the idiotic abuse of taxpayer money.

Now, Kerry wants banks who receive TARP funds to be required to ask permission to host, sponsor, or pay for conferences, holiday parties and entertainment events.

If a bank wants to have a Christmas party for its employees to reward them for a hard year of work, they would have to get a waiver from big daddy government, aka Treasury Secretary Timothy Geitner.

Northern Trust did not seek, nor apparently want, to take the TARP funds. These events were planned months, if not years ago; to punish banks for following through on its obligations is ludicrous and clearly political posturing. NT reportedly used the TARP funds in the way they were intended, and to apparent success. NT may have been among the banks who report they were forced to take the bailout funds, whether they wanted them or not. They are not the only bank to make this claim.

It is time for the government to get out of the way of these -- and all -- businesses. If the government gives bailout funds to a bank, and the bank "squanders" the money and continues to fail, don't give them any more money! If they succeed, leave them alone!

It is shocking and irresponsible to define the terms of the bailout after the funds have been distributed.

The banks themselves must be allowed to make business decisions for themselves, and not Timothy Geitner

What's next, no more free pens with the bank's name on it? No more lollipops for kids in the drive-though?

It is outrageous and improper to change the requirements for receiving funds after the funds are allocated.

Jindall Delivers a True Message of Hope in Response to Obama

I couldn't bring myself to watch President Obama's address to Congress last night. I knew it was just going to be another cookie-cutter speech, cut-and-pasted from any other Democratic president, governor, or mayor.

Promise gobs of programs, and un-equalled spending with absolutely no hint as to how to pay for it all. I was right.

I was more interested in the Republican response to the address, given by Gov. Bobby Jindall of Louisiana. Despite seeming to be on an elevated dose of Lexapro, or some other anti-depressant, Jindall delivered a red-meat Republican retort to Obama's left-wing spending spree.

Jindall described the plan put forth by congressional Republicans and ignored by the Democrats. One that might actually work to save the economy in this country.

...Republicans put forward plans to create jobs by lowering income tax rates for working families; Cutting taxes for small businesses; Strengthening incentives for businesses to invest in new equipment and hire new workers; stabilizing home values by creating a new tax credit for home buyers. These plans would cost less and create more jobs. The Democratic leaders in congress, they rejected this approach. Instead of trusting us to make decisions with our own money they pass the largest government spending bill in history, with a price tag of more than a trillion dollars with interest.

This plan stands in stark contrast to Obama's pork-barrel program that will only serve to bury our children in debt and despair.

Another difference is that the plan described by Jindall has worked repeatedly in the past (see Kennedy, Reagan, Clinton, Bush), where Obama's spend-your-way-out-of-trouble plan has failed (see the Great Depression, Japan in the 1990s).

In Louisiana we took a different approach. Since I became governor we cut more than 250 earmarks from their state budget. To create jobs for our citizens we cut taxes six times including the largest income tax cut in the history of our state. We passed those tax cuts with bipartisan majorities. Republicans and Democrats put aside their differences; we worked together to make sure our people can keep more of what they earn. If it can be done in Baton Rouge, surely it can be done in Washington DC.

Jindall outlined the approach that has served this country well since it's inception, an approach that has been eroding over the past several years and will be obliterated by Obama, given the chance.

(The Republicans) oppose the national Democratic view that says the way to strengthen our country is to increase dependence on government. We believe the way to strengthen our country is to restrain spending in Washington, to empower individuals and small businesses to grow our economy and create jobs.

Despite his-too happy delivery, Jindall's speech was far more inspiring; acknowledging the good in this county, celebrating the fact that hard work yields rich results, elevating the individual over the government, and lampooning Obama's cries of catastrophe that he somehome seemed to forget in his address.

You know a few weeks ago the president warned that our country is facing a crisis that he said upon which we may not be able to reverse... Don't let anyone tell you that we cannot recover; don't let anyone tell you America's best days are behind her.

If we can get more politicians of any party to stand up for the American people and not for the government, America's best days will lay ahead.

Obama: I Was For Massive Government Spending Before I Was Against It

It has already been pointed out many times how ludicrous it is for President Obama to lecture us on the need fiscal responsibility after blowing through trillions of dollars in his first weeks in office.

Listen to this gasser from Bloomberg about the man who just signed the trillion dollar check of borrowed money:

Obama wants to reduce the deficit because he’s concerned that over time, federal borrowing will make it harder for the economy to grow and create jobs, said the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Didn't he just craft a plan to create jobs and grow the economy, which is funded in near entirety by federal borrowing?

After blowing a hole in the national debt large enough for Sully to fly a plane through, he will now try to convince us that he is a fiscal hawk ready to tame the budget deficit during his only term in office.

Pathetic.

Why Doesn't ACORN Buy Foreclosed Houses?

The community organizer group ACORN, one of President Obama's pet projects and former employer, seems to have jumped into overdrive in using civil disobedience to prevent homes from being foreclosed.

ACORN operatives have reportedly broken into homes in the foreclosure process to prevent the bank from taking the property, among other criminal tactics.

On Thursday night, (ACORN member Louis Beverly) used bolt cutters to break a padlock at a home near Patterson Park in east Baltimore, telling supporters, "This is our house now."

Hey Beverly, here's an idea. Your organization was just promised billions of dollars from the "stimulus" package, why don't you buy the homes from the bank at full price and give the houses back to the homeowners free-of-charge?

I think ACORN would find it a lot harder to spend their own money rather than somebody else's.

Obama to Give People an Allowance to Pay Their Bills

You must remember this from your childhood:

Now, Billy, if you keep your room clean I will give you a dollar a week in allowance!

President Obama seems to be using the same tack for people to pay their mortgages:

Borrowers can get up to $1,000 a year for five years if they stay current on their modified mortgage payments.

What happens if you don't keep up with your mortgage?

Will he send you to your room without supper?

Pathetic...

Obama: Make the Loans Afford the Borrower, Not the Other Way Around

Normally, when one takes out a mortgage or any other loan, the lender (be it a bank, mortgage company, or your "cousin" Paulie), the lender tells you how much the loan will cost and you, the borrower, determines how or if you can afford the mortgage.

The lending business has worked this way for as long as humans have walked the Earth.

Obama wants to flip that paradigm on its head.

In Obama's world, it is up to the lender to match the loan to your ability to pay.

Huh?

The first step is solely in the hands of the banks and other mortgage servicers. They have to somehow get the monthly mortgage payments down to 38 percent of the borrower's gross pay. The government will not assist in that part, leaving the banks and investors to take a loss as borrowers' monthly mortgage payments shrink.

This move is as anti-capitalist as any move by Obama or any president.

In other words, if you bought "too much" house (a house that was too big, in a better neighborhood, had that 2-car garage) for you to afford, it is up to the mortgage lender to find a way to make sure you can afford it.

That's not the United States; that's Bizarro World!

We are entering an era where the U.S. government can establish the value of your house, not the housing market. But, only if you are in a preferred class that has not been established yet.

You asked for change; you got it.

Obama: Saves Adjustable Rate Mortgages with Adjustable Rate Mortgages!

President Obama released details of his plan to help struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure on their homes.

One aspect of the plan involves people who took out adjustable rate mortgages (ARM) a number of years ago. With the low interest rate offered by these ARMs, the homeowner could easily afford to pay the mortgage every month. However, when the rates adjusted up, as planned, the homeowner could no longer afford the increase in interest payment on the mortgage.

But, Obama has a plan to help these struggling homeowners.

He is giving them an Adjustable Rate Mortgage!

From ABCNews.com:

...3 million to 4 million homeowners with adjustable-rate mortgages, would be able to temporarily have their loans modified to a lower interest rate -- for at least five years.

Isn't this what got these borrowers in trouble to begin with?

Obama will give them a rate they can afford now, but in five years the rate goes up and they can no longer afford to pay the mortgage!

What a brilliant idea!

With this plan, Obama is guaranteeing that these homeowners will be in trouble again in five years, when he gets to do another bailout, or will pass the problem onto the next president.

Obama is helping people who are having difficulty paying their Adjustable Rate Mortgages by giving them another Adjustable Rate Mortgage.

You go figure it out. I have no idea....

Obama: "Stimulus" Plan is the Beginning of the End

For once, I agree with Obama.

After signing the $800 billion "stimulus" package, President Obama said the pork-pie "marks the beginning of the end..."

He is right.

Obama in one pen-stroke initiated the end of any hope of economic recovery; the idea that that American people know what is best for themselves; capitalism in the U.S.; a system that rewards hard work and good decision making; and our standard of living in general.

With that same pen, he ushered in a new wave of socialism; tax-dollars handed to preferred political pet projects in the name of stimulus; a massive expansion of government; and our swift turn towards European-style of governance. It is the beginning of the largest spending spree in the history of the United States, if not the world; and the beginning of an obscenely massive pile of debt that this country will never survive.

But, thankfully, some of you will get that $13 a week extra in your paychecks. Whoopie!

Yes Barack, this is the beginning of the end; the beginning of the end of life as we know it in the United States.

Obama Calls Stimulus Bill "Terrible Tragedy"

FoxNews.com has the following videos relating to the "stimulus" bill"

Not surprisingly, Sen. McCain is strongly against the bill. And right-wing talker Laura Ingraham tries her own method to keep Sen. Arlen Specter from voting "Yes" on the bill

But, for once I have to agree with Obama that this "stimulus" package is indeed a terrible tragedy...

THIRTEEN DOLLARS??? All This Fighting (and Debt) for a Lousy $13??

Now that the modified "stimulus" package has been hammered out by the U.S. House of Representative and Senate, we learn that the "tax cuts" for "most individuals" will amount to a measly $13 dollars a week for a year. And the benefit won't kick in until "spring."

I thought we are on the precipice of crisis. Why wait until Spring to release this pittance of a payout. Think of how much you can do with an extra $13 in your paycheck every week!

Unless, of course, you are too rich, rolling in the dough with your $70K salary, to need or deserve this tax "cut."

I'm guessing that when you heard Obama promise tax cuts for 95% of Americans during the campaign, you were expecting a bit more than a baker's dozen worth of Washingtons.

And those $500/1000 stimulus checks that were discussed? Think again. Unless you are on Social Security. And then, the amount was tamped down to only $250.

How can Michelle Obama afford new earrings with that little dough to throw around? You're getting $600 - what can you do with that? ..go out and you buy a pair of earrings, she said of Bush's stimulus payout last Spring.

The "stimulus" bill also contain some $20 billion for federal buildings and perks for federal employees. (Someone help me with the math; I attended one of those old schools where kids can't possibly be expected to learn.)

But, fear not. Obama has assured us repeatedly that there is no pork in this bill, right Sen. Reid?

Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada., pressed for $8 billion to construct high-speed rail lines, quadrupling the amount in the bill that passed the Senate on Tuesday.
Reid's office issued a statement noting that a proposed Los Angeles-to-Las Vegas rail might get a big chunk of the money.

Well, at least we know that Republican Arlen Specter also supports the bill for all the right reasons:

Specter played an active role, however, in making sure $10 billion for the National Institutes of Health, a pet priority, wasn't cut back.

Enjoy your $13 dollars. That might be enough to take your family out to dinner -- assuming you go to McDonald's and stay on the Dollar Menu.

Maybe Pink Floyd will let us borrow their inflatable pig so we can fly it over the Capitol Building.

Let the Great Obama Cash Grab Begin!

FDR has his New Deal; now Obama will have his Great Cash Grab!

Ever seen one of those movies or TV shows where someone stands on top of a building with a satchel of cash and starts raining the money down on the crowd below?

People scrambling and shoving, pushing and pulling, stepping on each other and themselves in a grotesque melee to grab as much green as possible before someone else does.

Well, that's about to happen when our intrepid federal legislators approve the "stimulus" package and send it to Obama to sign like a big fat check.

Get ready for your elected officials lining up with palms up begging for their share of the pie.

Here in Massachusetts, the House leadership is talking about using the money to balance the state budget, while Gov. Deval Patrick wants to dedicate portions to help private developers by paying for infrastructure related to their real estate projects - costs that are usually picked up by the developers themselves

It will be pathetic and sad as mayors and boards of selectmen fight with state officials over why City A got more than Town B.

From Oregon:

The short timeline required by the federal stimulus bills is ... sparking a tiff between Metro (the Portland area’s regional planning agency) and some local government officials.

Metro (says it) is best suited to determine where the work should take place in the tri-county region, and is proposing that Metro oversee the funds in the Portland area.

Leaders in other jurisdictions say they would prefer to see federal money go directly to local governments, cutting down on administrative costs and allowing cities and counties the latitude to prioritize their own projects.

Let the greed and graft commence! Gentlemen, to your corners and come out fighting.

What is the over/under on when the first lawsuit over the funds is filed?

Let's hope that the process of doling out the funds gets nastier and dirtier than the fights you had with your siblings over that last slice of pizza in the box.

I want to see political back-stabbing in the State capitol building, screaming arguments in City Hall, fist fights at Board of Selectmen meetings, rifles flashed in the county commissioner's office.

After all, we'll be stuck paying this thing off for generations; we have to get some fun out of this...

Obama Comapres U.S. Negatively to China

In a televised "town-hall" style appearance today in Fort Myers Florida, as televised by CNN, a questioner lamented the state of roads, highways and commuter rail in the U.S.

Obama quickly agreed with the woman and instantly thought of another country blessed with good roads and highways: China!

Obama told us without a trace of irony that Beijing's infrastructure is far superior to the U.S.

Um, Barack, last I checked, China is a Communist country!! They can do pretty much anything they want regarding taxation and financing.

Those lucky Chinese have nicer roads than we. Of course, if you are a Chinese citizen and try to ask China's Premier Wen Jiabao about the need for more commuter rail, or say anything negative about the government, they will likely jail or kill you.

But, at least you'll have a nice smooth ride to the prison!

It Is The American People, Not The Government, Who Can Save This Economy

At his prime-time televised press conference Monday night, Obama boldly stated the power of the U.S. government to fix a problem no one else can:

At this particular moment, with the private sector so weakened by this recession, the federal government is the only entity left with the resources to jolt our economy back to life," he said.

With all due respect, Mr. President, you are WRONG!

The American people can save the economy if you allow them. Cut their taxes, allow business to operate unburdened by unnecessary regulation, then stand back and watch the true magic of the country. The American people with their strength and resolve, their intelligence and ingenuity, will use the intrinsic merit-based rewards of the capitalist system to thrive as usual.

Compare Obama's complete lack of faith in the American people with what Reagan said in similar -- or worse -- times:

In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.

Reagan was a true leader; Obama, as he showed us all last night, is not.

NPR's Mara Liasson Tells What is Wrong with the Liberal Agenda

National Public Radio's Mara Liasson asked one of the more foolish questions I have ever heard at a presidential press conference (or any press conference, for that matter).

At President Barack Obama's live press conference on the "stimulus" package Monday night, Liasson asked Obama about the Republican opposition to the "stimulus" package.

If it is this hard to get more than a handful of Republican votes on what is relatively easy: spending tons of money and cutting people's taxes how will Obama work with the Republicans on more difficult issues.

A soundbite that will dominate conservative talk radio for days to come.

By Liasson's thinking, and that of the Liberals in this country, spending billions or trillions of tax dollars on a spending package with a 30% chance of failure is a no-brainer..

In one statement, Liasson summed up the Democratic Party and Liberals in general. It is easy to throw other people's money at a problem, and there must be something wrong with anyone who could find fault with that notion.

Just Say No to the "Stimulus" Bill: Big Government Spending Cannot End the Recession

It never has; and never will.

According to Dominick T. Armentano, professor emeritus in economics at the University of Hartford, the federal government cannot spend us out of our economic quagmire.

The experience in the 1930s is instructive. Even though federal government spending increased from $9.8 billion in 1934 to $14.2 billion in 1940, the unemployment rate in 1940 was still a staggering 14.6%. A 45% increase in New Deal spending in six years did not end the Depression.

Mr. Armentano is not alone. More than 200 economists from a countless number of top-flight universities signed an open letter countering Obama's claims that big government spending will work.

More government spending by Hoover and Roosevelt did not pull the United States economy out of the Great Depression in the 1930s. More government spending did not solve Japan’s “lost decade” in the 1990s.

This is not me speaking. This comes from a bevy of experts far more intelligent than I (heck, I have tennis shoes smarter than I am).

It is time to put aside grandiose plans of some newfangled New Deal and do what works. Cut taxes, cut regulations, cut government waste and abuse. Let the American people spend their money on what they deem essential and growth of business and the economy will quickly follow.

It worked in the 1960s, 80s, 90s, and the 2000s.

Massive government spending has never helped fix an ailing economy.

Obama 's Pick for Labor Secretary Has Tax Problems??

Here we go again!

A Senate committee today abruptly canceled a session to consider President Obama's nomination of Rep. Hilda Solis to be labor secretary in the wake of a report saying that her husband yesterday paid about $6,400 to settle tax liens against his business -- including liens that had been outstanding for as long as 16 years.

Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose...

Hey Obama: Why Not Just a Stimulus Bill??

President Obama tells us that the U.S. economy is in such crisis that we might never recover.

From the Washington Post this morning (link requires registration):

And if nothing is done, this recession might linger for years. Our economy will lose 5 million more jobs. Unemployment will approach double digits. Our nation will sink deeper into a crisis that, at some point, we may not be able to reverse.

If we are in such dire straits, then why don't we craft a pure stimulus bill, loaded with tax cuts, to kick start the economy. Then, together we can tackle the fundamental challenges such as energy independence and the high cost of health care.

Tax cuts do stimulate the economy, far better than massive spending programs. You know it; Congress knows it; most (if not all) economists know it; and history has proven it.

It really is simple:

• Income tax cuts for all Americans to give us all more money to spend
• Business tax cuts to stimulate growth and hiring
• Capital gains tax holiday to get money back in the stock market

I don't have the proposal in front of me, but Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C. filed a proposal that "would have eliminated all the spending and replaced it with a series of tax cuts." But, the Deomocrats defeated in a partisan stance (note that the AP doesn't mention the word "partisan" here).

This package Obama is pushing is not a pure stimulus bill, or even a stimulus bill on any level. Obama admits that: This plan is more than a prescription for short-term spending -- it's a strategy for America's long-term growth and opportunity...

Folks, if you are in dire financial trouble, no matter how much you need that new car, that new water boiler, or the addition on the house, you fix the finances first.

Every day, our economy gets sicker, Obama tells us. Well, maybe it is time to get the economy well instead of worrying about connecting every corner of the country to the information superhighway.

It is time for the government of the U.S. to fix the finances before engaging in massive expansion.

You know it and I know it. I hope Obama and the Democrats admit to the truth and do the right thing now.

Obama: Slashing Health Care for Our Soldiers

Word is, President Obama will announce soon that he is going to slash the health care benefits for soldiers and their family.

Again, in a time when we are fighting a war on two fronts, the soldiers and their families won't need health care.

Obama will continue to decimate the military and return us to the empty-suit military of the Jimmy Carter era.

Developing....

Obama: Slashing Military Budget; One Reason to Hope He Fails

A few weeks back, I posted a long list of reasons for not wanting Obama to succeed. I got comments that I was being unfair, short-sighted, and just plain wrong.

One of my stated reasons for not wanting Obama to succeed is:

• He wants to decimate our military by slashing its budget, shutting down weapons programs...

Well, it's true!

The Obama administration has asked the military's Joint Chiefs of Staff to cut the Pentagon's budget request for the fiscal year 2010 by more than 10 percent -- about $55 billion -- a senior U.S. defense official tells FOX News.

...Service chiefs and planners will be spending the weekend "burning the midnight oil" looking at ways to cut the budget -- looking especially at weapons programs, the defense official said.

But, while we are engaged in a war on two fronts, we certainly don't need weapons systems.

Obama; the Change that Will Destroy the U.S.