Wednesday, April 15, 2009
UPDATE
Here is the link to the full report. It states that veterans have leanings towards the neo-Nazis and that Americans that are concerned by actions of North Korea and Iran as "paranoid."
Fascists at the Gates
Yesterday the Washington Times (Link) has reported a disturbing position that the Department of Homeland Security has taken. In short many issues that a conservative would support has been flagged as “rightwing extremist activity.” Conservative causes have been lumped together with white-power militias or other hate-groups. Issues that have listed are abortion, illegal immigration (which was only labeled as “immigration”), federalism, and gun rights.
These report have has shown of this administration to silence any political opposition. As the Tea Party movement has swept across the nation in opposition of the massive expansion of government, sparked by CNBC reporter Rick Santelli, Homeland Security only sees Timothy McVeighs. Anyone who grumbles about taxes today might as well be a skinhead. This is a dangerous position that the administration to be holding, for it leads to fascistic behaviors.
Without specific threats, a blanket that covers many issues warning from Homeland Security to police departments is simply political intimidation. Political discourse is not extremism nor is grassroots movements. There were not even any specific groups named in the report. Potentially any activism for a conservative cause could place the activist on a terrorism watch list. The justification is that President Obama is black, which will attract racists and other skinheads according to Homeland Security.
Race bait tactics and political strong arming is turning DHS into the brown shirts of the government. The consolidation of the various security agencies into one department has allowed this development. No longer has it targeted specified threats, ideological opposition is justification to be watched. Be mindful of activism, for Janet Napolitano and Barack Obama are watching you.
These report have has shown of this administration to silence any political opposition. As the Tea Party movement has swept across the nation in opposition of the massive expansion of government, sparked by CNBC reporter Rick Santelli, Homeland Security only sees Timothy McVeighs. Anyone who grumbles about taxes today might as well be a skinhead. This is a dangerous position that the administration to be holding, for it leads to fascistic behaviors.
Without specific threats, a blanket that covers many issues warning from Homeland Security to police departments is simply political intimidation. Political discourse is not extremism nor is grassroots movements. There were not even any specific groups named in the report. Potentially any activism for a conservative cause could place the activist on a terrorism watch list. The justification is that President Obama is black, which will attract racists and other skinheads according to Homeland Security.
Race bait tactics and political strong arming is turning DHS into the brown shirts of the government. The consolidation of the various security agencies into one department has allowed this development. No longer has it targeted specified threats, ideological opposition is justification to be watched. Be mindful of activism, for Janet Napolitano and Barack Obama are watching you.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
The SCHIP Folly
Today the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) will see a massive expansion. At the same time there will be a massive increase on the taxes on tobacco products to fund SCHIP. Yet there lays the problem, funding an expanding program that would cover children that are in families earning up to 300% of the poverty line with a regressive tax.
SCHIP has been expanded to cover children that would be by most standards fully in the middle class. Yet the bulk of the tobacco taxes will be levied against the poorer segments of the population. Many advocates state that it would benefit the poor by encouraging them to quit smoking. That can be a legitimate goal; however it serves the opposite purpose of SCHIP, which is to fund a growing segment of the population.
Taxation cannot serve the goals of deterring use of a good and maximize the revenues collected at the same time. High excise taxes can help some people quit, but also provides incentives for the black market. Tobacco is notorious for its smuggling, whether it is organized crime and cigarettes, or the Cuban cigar trade. A good with such history of tax evasion, or in the case of Cuban cigars evasion of customs, does not seem like an ideal good to tax for the purpose of funding children’s healthcare services.
With the federal deficits reaching the $1,000,000,000,000 mark, the expansion of a program that is estimated to cost $32,800,000,000 over the next four years by taxing tobacco is foolhardy. The federal government has provided for greater smuggling, and to reduce the number of smokers, while expanding the edibility of the program. That will cause the costs and revenues to move in opposite directions. Congress will find that their efforts to act noble by penalizing tobacco users for their vice to provide for the children will only add to their exploding budgetary problems.
SCHIP has been expanded to cover children that would be by most standards fully in the middle class. Yet the bulk of the tobacco taxes will be levied against the poorer segments of the population. Many advocates state that it would benefit the poor by encouraging them to quit smoking. That can be a legitimate goal; however it serves the opposite purpose of SCHIP, which is to fund a growing segment of the population.
Taxation cannot serve the goals of deterring use of a good and maximize the revenues collected at the same time. High excise taxes can help some people quit, but also provides incentives for the black market. Tobacco is notorious for its smuggling, whether it is organized crime and cigarettes, or the Cuban cigar trade. A good with such history of tax evasion, or in the case of Cuban cigars evasion of customs, does not seem like an ideal good to tax for the purpose of funding children’s healthcare services.
With the federal deficits reaching the $1,000,000,000,000 mark, the expansion of a program that is estimated to cost $32,800,000,000 over the next four years by taxing tobacco is foolhardy. The federal government has provided for greater smuggling, and to reduce the number of smokers, while expanding the edibility of the program. That will cause the costs and revenues to move in opposite directions. Congress will find that their efforts to act noble by penalizing tobacco users for their vice to provide for the children will only add to their exploding budgetary problems.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Obama’s Smokescreen
The bonuses to the executives of AIG have gathered the attention of a wrathful president. The $165 million in bonuses is certainty a generous reward for utter failure, and is rightfully criticized by the public. Yet it is a drop in the bucket compared to the grotesque bailouts. The bonuses account for about 1/10 of 1% of the total money that AIG had received from taxpayers. Yet compared to the ever growing mountain of government intervention, it is trivial.
President Obama has not even reached his 100th day and he has signed into law two bailout plans that total almost $1.2 trillion. The AIG bonuses are 1/100 of 1% of that massive sum. If the president wants to attack rewarding failure, then the whole bailout plan should be brought into question. Fundamentally the bailout is about rescuing financial institutions, and the businesses linked to them, for making bad loans. Not having the foresight to see that lending to people that could not afford to pay back the loan deserves to fail, and should be treated as such. Yet the taxpayers are paying for such failures. President Obama and Congress are attacking rewarding failure, while at the same time handing out bailouts for failed corporate and personal behavior is hypocrisy as well.
President Obama has not even reached his 100th day and he has signed into law two bailout plans that total almost $1.2 trillion. The AIG bonuses are 1/100 of 1% of that massive sum. If the president wants to attack rewarding failure, then the whole bailout plan should be brought into question. Fundamentally the bailout is about rescuing financial institutions, and the businesses linked to them, for making bad loans. Not having the foresight to see that lending to people that could not afford to pay back the loan deserves to fail, and should be treated as such. Yet the taxpayers are paying for such failures. President Obama and Congress are attacking rewarding failure, while at the same time handing out bailouts for failed corporate and personal behavior is hypocrisy as well.
I Feel President Obama’s Pain
President Obama must really be suffering. He has not even been in office for a month and yet his cabinet is rattled with scandal. Former senator Tom Daschle withdrew his bid for Secretary of Health and Human Services over back taxes and fines amounting to over $128,000. The president’s choice for performance chief, Nancy Killfer, also had to withdraw from that position for tax issues. I feel for Timothy Geithner’s pain, the new Secretary of the Treasury who had failed to pay almost $50,000 in taxes and fines. Yet he escaped the cutting board and now handles the government’s treasury. These people, of all people, should have known the tax code better than the average American. Daschle after all helped to expand the tax code, and Geithner was the chairman of the New York Federal Reserve bank.
Yet they don’t. The US tax code is leviathan that continues to grow. No one, no matter how much they spend on tax accountants and attorneys can know the entire tax code. Conservatives have known this for years. These individuals have shown to the public the monster the tax code has become. It is time for a massive tax restructure. April 15th should not cause headaches and sleepless nights for Americans.
It is time for a flat tax. Americans should only have to fill out a simple form that only asks how much did a worker make in the last fiscal year, and if that worker had any dependents. No digging through receipts or asking if a driver counts as income. No special interests groups lobbying Congress to tweak the code so that coffee shops count as “manufacturing” firms. The excess burden on our economy, just to comply with the tax code, is immense. President Obama’s top cabinet does not understand the code, so how should everyday Americans? President Obama, I feel your pain.
Yet they don’t. The US tax code is leviathan that continues to grow. No one, no matter how much they spend on tax accountants and attorneys can know the entire tax code. Conservatives have known this for years. These individuals have shown to the public the monster the tax code has become. It is time for a massive tax restructure. April 15th should not cause headaches and sleepless nights for Americans.
It is time for a flat tax. Americans should only have to fill out a simple form that only asks how much did a worker make in the last fiscal year, and if that worker had any dependents. No digging through receipts or asking if a driver counts as income. No special interests groups lobbying Congress to tweak the code so that coffee shops count as “manufacturing” firms. The excess burden on our economy, just to comply with the tax code, is immense. President Obama’s top cabinet does not understand the code, so how should everyday Americans? President Obama, I feel your pain.
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Welcome to my blog. Here I will provide commentary on current events, particularly regarding government action. I hope that you will enjoy my insight and observations about those actions and how it can affect our lives.
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