Sin Taxes are a Sin Themselves

I have to admit that this is a topic that is personal to me as well as one that just infuriates me to no end. On Wednesday, the government begins imposing the single largest federal tobacco tax increase in history. I have a pretty big issue with these sin taxes. This one in particular because it affects me, but all of them in general because of what they say about our American political system. What I am going to write may be a bit of a stretch for some, as I will bring Black Flag’s belief into the fray, but stick with me here and give it some thought. We may be closer to killing all the left handed blue eyed people than you initially think….

Obama Motor Corporation and Geithner LLC

Here we go again. We all knew it would come. The first bailout was not enough to save the big three automakers. As I promised back during the first stages of this, here is the second auto bailout from this group of pro state-run industry Democrats. Forget that the government shouldn’t be involved in the workings of the free market in the first place (seems to be a recurring frakking theme doesn’t it?). At what point do these idiots in Washington get the clue that they are simply throwing bad money after good? At what point do the rest of the America taxpayers get to the point where they get disgusted with having to pay for a company’s survival when the company that owns that company refuses to spend the money themselves?

Because Congress Only Wants to Do What is Best for America

As these stories continue to pour out of Washington about how we just aren’t understanding how hard our Congressional members are working to help “We the People” survive an economic crisis, I am going to continue to point out the crookedness of so many people in the Congress. There doesn’t seem to be a single person in the House or Senate that is interested in helping the people of the United States. This story is about a week or so old, and I was going to abandon it, but I just cannot forego the opportunity take the layup when it comes to the “soap box” Democrats doing exactly what they publicly rail against. Today’s hypocrite of the week is Representative Maxine Waters, a fine black woman representing the Socialist State of California, specifically SouthEast Los Angeles…

So What is All This Tea Party Hoo-Ha?

Being the informed readers that you are, you have already heard about the planned tax day tea parties that are being planned across the country. Over the last week or two I have seen several comments about them. Some feel that they are a good idea. Some feel they are a bad idea. Some feel that while a good idea, they will not be all that effective. In reading it all I came to the conclusion that many people simply don’t know enough about what is happening to be able to either support or oppose them. So I figured that maybe it was time to bring in an expert who would be able to answer the questions, both yours and mine. Fortunately for all of us, we have a subject matter expert on the subject right here in our readership….

Because We Cannot Let Maureen Dowd Suffer

I think you all know what I think of the Main Stream Media. All of them are biased. Most, but not all, of them are biased to the left. I chuckle at the sheer stupidity of anyone who attempts to make the claim that this isn’t true. They point to Fox News, but in reality Fox does pretty unbiased news during the day and freely admits that they turn the station over to conservative hosts at night. But it is far too easy to point out MSNBC, CNN, NBC, CBS, The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, LA Times, Keith Olberman, Katie Couric, and the wonderful Mrs. Dowd…. you get the point. The fact is that the news simply is not the news any more.

Homophobes, Racists, and Wall Street, Oh My

You know, I have already written on the fact that I am quite tired of the tactics of the far left in America when it comes to debate. The problem that I have is that the far left in America is completely unable to debate. Period. They just cannot do it. Their arguments are based on emotion, not facts. They rile up the masses using class warfare instead of telling the truth and finding a better way forward. They generally just annoy me. And when they realize that they are losing the debate horribly they resort to their fall back tactic… name calling.

In a Return Appearance….

OK, a couple of weeks ago I gave my forum over to one of my biggest opponents on the issues, Black Flag. He had written a very good post about economics that I thought was relevant and good for everyone to read. The response to his article was very positive. The discussions that ensued were respectful and productive. One of the things that I have realized over the last couple weeks is that Black Flag has a very good grasp on economic discussions and always adds insight that is productive and thought provoking. So I have asked him to make a return appearance as a guest commentator. And he graciously accepted the invitation and took the time to write another article.

Further Assaults on the Free Market

I have to make that statement about “further assaults on the free market” with a bit of a grin on my face. Because there is nothing free about the market anymore. Government has gotten its corrupt little hands into just about every facet of the free market and regulated and taxed and controlled it to death. But as we sit here watching the demise of the business world as we know it, I still find myself stunned at some of the moves. I wasn’t surprised when Team O’prompter used every miniscule misstep in the private industries to seize control and get government’s foot in the proverbial door. After all, that is what they do…. lie and get the American people fired up against a business and tell you that you need them to control this out of control company or industry….

A Slow Boat to China…

OK, Time to tie a couple of things together here and see what everyone thinks. I was talking to Revolution2010 about this through text messages and finally tonight on the phone and we agreed on the relevance. So I am going to do my best to convey the thoughts we were having. I will be interested in hearing form everyone as to whether they think we may be seeing the first moves of a problem or whether it is nothing to worry about. We have to really begin discussing the situation that we are putting ourselves into in terms of our ability to remain a viable world power. Is the countdown already started towards the demise of our United States?

Not In My Back Yard…

I offer a bit of a fluff piece for the night. I am currently at my brother-in-laws to celebrate my father-in-law’s birthday so I am in a strange house that takes me a bit out of my element for writing. But I saw this and it epitomized the movements towards energy independence for the US. The culprit this time is Diane Feinstein, a very liberal Democrat Senator from, you guessed it, The socialist republic of California. She is all for alternative forms of energy, so long as they are not in her back yard.

Failed Republican Economic Plans…

I couldn’t help myself with this one. You know, we have listened to the the Democrats get on their soap box for the last 3 months and tell us how the Republicans and their flawed economic policies have been exposed, and the Democrats are “through with listening to their failed ideas”. As may of you know I am not a member of the Republican party, but I still didn’t like hearing it from the Democrats on this one, because I am a fiscal conservative. I believe that the economic policies of the GOP are far better than those of the Democratic party. Sure, neither of them would be nearly as good as the policies me and BF would implement, but given the choice of the two parties in power’s economic ideals, I will take the Republican plan every time. 

Industrial Economy vs. Knowledge Economy

This is going to stray a little bit from the regular focus on pure politics for us. But I was sitting around thinking about this tonight and I wanted to get some of you smart folks to add your thoughts on where my head is at. As many of you know I am a full time student as well as the fabulous author of this blog, which means that I split a lot of my time between here and work and schoolwork (but only for 11 more days… another degree almost finished!!!). So my head is in the world of business for school a lot. In a lot of the writing I have been doing for school I have put forth the premise that we have begun the switch away from the industrial economy that made us a world power in terms of economies…

Why Don’t You Come and Take It From Me?

I have noticed a few comments on the site lately around the issue of the 2nd Amendment. I have never really addressed the issue directly on the site so I figure it is about time. I suppose the reason that I have not addressed the issue previously is because I saw it as so inane that I didn’t think about it much. When debating many political issues, I can usually at least understand the position of the opposite argument to me. But not on this one. I have still never run into a single logical debatable reason for the opposition’s stance. But I will give all of you the chance to give me one…

More of the Traveling Magic Show

I have listened to the news for the last couple of days swirl on about the bonuses being paid to executives from troubled insurance giant AIG. I understand that many of you are upset with AIG. I do get that we are seeing a company get bailed out with Billions of dollars of US Taxpayer money. And I do get that the contracts of these executives awarded them large bonuses that you don’t think are fair. I don’t think they are fair either. Let’s get that out of the way. But, my friends it is time to put a little perspective into play here. And once we have some perspective we can ask ourselves what is the real game afoot?

A little bit of a Re-Set here folks…

I want to thank all of you for your support of my position on the treatment of our veterans. With one lame exception, everyone agrees that this is an outrage. I want to apologize for my ending tone on that post. I have tried very hard to get fired up and speak my mind often without getting into the realm of the vulgar. I thought this was an especially egregious insult from the Obama administration and I vented a little. I will not take it back. I was glad to see my sentiment shared by so many. But I do want to emphasize that while being angry is OK on this blog, I would prefer that we now return to our more civilized and respectful tones in our discussions. I take a lot of pride in providing a forum where all ideas and points of view can be discussed with respect like adults. Please don’t think that I am berating anyone here. I am not trying to do that at all. I just want to make sure that we don’t lose what has made this site work so well. So let’s get back to arguing… Nicely. New post coming in an hour or so!

Guest Commentator… You Won’t Believe It

I have bumped this post back up a bit so that some of the new readers that join can partake in what BF added to the economic discussion. This article was originally posted on February 8. OK, I am going to take a bit of a risk here. As the hundreds of you who have followed this blog for the last couple of months are well aware, there have been some rather uncomfortable comment exchanges between myself and one of the more frequent commenters on Stand Up For America. We often disagree on well… just about everything. I have generally simply quit debating him. I have tried to be clear that it isn’t personal. I simply won’t debate when it devolves into lack of respect or any type of circular argument that doesn’t give me the courtesy of benefit of the doubt on my morals or principles. However….

The President has Crossed My Line

I have tried really hard over the last 6 months to give Barack Obama the benefit of the doubt on a lot of things. Perhaps he feels his health care thing is a better plan for America. Maybe he really believed that putting our grandchildren into debt was the best way to fight a flagging economy. Maybe they really do think that their delusions of a mandate give them license to make insane proposals. Perhaps he and his liberal posse are even good intentioned (albeit psychotically disillusioned) in their pursuit of Socialism and belief in the Global Warming Hoax. But my dear readers, they have crossed my line this evening. My normally sane and respectful tone just had its “pause” button pressed for the remainder of the night resulting in a phrase I vowed not to make on this blog….

Good… Now Both Parties Have Lied to Us Equally

I was perusing the news again tonight as I often do when I a) don’t know what I want to write about or b) Have some subjects in mind but don’t have the time to fully research those and write them so I have to find something with a little less research. Tonight was B. I have lots to say but not tons of time to research tonight and I wanted to point out this little piece of heaven. I felt it was a lie when John McCain said it back in September. So the Republicans were lying to me then. Now, after mocking Republicans for it on the campaign trail, the Democrats are now telling me the same lie because it fits their current agenda. The point is… I think they are both lying rather than Democrats finally admitting Republicans were correct.

Nancy Pelosi… Embracer of Republican Ideals

I was going to take the night off tonight as I was working on schoolwork and trying to find a way to bed at a decent hour. But I was looking at some news sites and ran across this article and I was so stunned by the headline that I couldn’t stop laughing. Imagine my surprise when I saw a headline that read “Nancy Pelosi denies she is Partisan”. WHAT!?!?!? The queen of the liberal movement is trying to claim that she is not biased? I started to scan the room, looking for the hidden camera. Then I looked for the headline that would read “Black Flag embraces government and their new tax increases”. Surely that had to be there if this ridiculousness was there about Pelosi. Had I stumbled into some alternate reality? Was Bizarro-Nancy now on the loose?

Government as Your New Daddy

I was sitting here thinking about what I want to write about tonight. I jumped over to Fox News and saw this story and I realized that regardless of what I wanted to write about I was going to write about this because it fired me up. Furthermore I think this topic is one that I have not dedicated nearly enough time to over the last couple of months on the site. I say not nearly enough time because I think it is one of the BIGGEST problems in America today and one of the things we need badly to overcome. The socialist agenda has been furthered so well because we are letting them get to our children before we have the chance to raise them ourselves. We are in this situation today because this problem was not addressed 25 years ago when it first started to rear its socialist head…

Pot versus Kettle, Part 2

One of the reasons I get annoyed with Democrats today is that they are complete hypocrites. I have to roll my eyes every time I listen to their whining about someone saying something about the President. I mean, Really? You are going to play that game? How dare Rush Limbaugh come out and say that he hopes Obama fails. That is un-American. No, my friends, that is uniquely American. It is what makes us what we are. A country where the opposition is free to voice their opinion without fear of prosecution. And here is the kicker Democrats, you better thank your lucky stars that America is like that. Otherwise, there wouldn’t have been enough of you left walking around free to elect this fraud to the White House.

Coming Soon… The Breathing Tax

I appreciate so many folks understanding my night off last night. I try not to take a night off of writing very often. I went back to school a couple of years ago to pursue another degree. I graduate in 3 weeks. I will have so much more free time then. I cannot wait. Thank you to everyone who submitted some ideas for what to write about tonight. I vow to cover all the ideas submitted over the next week or two. But it seemed as though the one that was wanted by the majority was the cap and trade discussion. So that is what we will cover. I know it is confusing to many, because the name doesn’t really tell us what it is about, but we all need to be paying attention to this one. And we need to rally against it hard….

Nothing New Tonight

I was going to be writing tonight as usual, but to be completely honest I am just whipped. Long day today and longer day tomorrow. So I simply don’t have the energy tonight to devote a long time to a post with lots of research and thought. I apologize for not giving you something fascinating to read when you get up in the morning. I will be back writing tomorrow night so stay tuned. I have not yet picked a topic for tomorrow night’s post. Anyone want to suggest a specific topic you would like me to cover?

Has the Time Come for Republicans to Marginalize God?

OK, I know that this is upsetting some of you already. You read that headline and the hackles on your back went up. Let me say first of all that I am not saying that the answer to this question is yes. I am also not saying it is no. I am saying I want to have a discussion with all of you smart folks about this. We have been discussing a way forward for the Republican party. I believe the answer may lie in changing the party’s stance in order to re-create the party as one more for the moderate voters in America. And I believe that this question has to be asked as we discuss this subject. It plays into a bunch of platform issues, and the reality is that the vast majority of Americans do not fall into the extreme right or extreme left.

A Soldier’s Point of View….

The other day, one of the regular commenters on the site posted an interesting comment. Because the issue resolved around a hot button topic these days, I didn’t want to get this discussion lost in the threads where people won’t see it or get to comment on it. I am open to debate on my answers. I hope that other veterans will offer up their personal perspective. So this one is for you Just a Citizen. I felt your questions and your reasoning behind who you wanted answers from was valid, so we will have this discussion out in the open where we can all learn from it.

The Messiah Recants Again… and Again

I am going to continue to call out these things. It isn’t just because I disagree with the direction that Obama and the Democratic leadership (I despise even calling them leaders because it is an insult to real leaders everywhere) are taking the country. And make no bones about it, I completely disagree with the direction they are heading. I will continue to call out these things because I hope that some of the Democrats who read this blog, and who fully support Obama based on what he says, will eventually understand that he is lying through his teeth each time he addresses the nation. If the guy was actually doing any of the things he claimed I might support him a bit. 

Hello Pot? This is Kettle. You’re Black.

Since the last couple days have been spent on taxes, I thought this would make some of us laugh, in that way we laugh when someone says something about our mom. You want to punch them in the face, instead you laugh and tell them with a smile, “Dude, don’t talk about my mom”. In a laughable turn of events Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner issued a warning to all those out there that dodge your taxes.

New Page for Letters

I figured it might be interesting for us to share those wonderful form letters that we all seem to get from out elected officials. We constantly tell ourselves and our friends that we need to contact our representatives and tell them how we are feeling. After all, they are their to represent us, right? Well the reality is that our time and effort is usually rewarded with them doing whatever their party tells them to do and then sending us a nifty form letter that uses the same rhetoric they use on the campaign trail. For example in my first letter posted, he starts off with the need for us to get back to the fiscal responsibility of the late 90’s, another cheap lie about Bush. So click on the page up there and share your letters from your representatives. I look forward to seeing them.

Taxes Part 2… How Do We Fix It?

In part one about taxes I took the time to discuss my views on taxes; Which ones were constitutional in my view and which ones were not. And I am writing this one simultaneously. What is right and what needs to be the way forward are two different discussions in my opinion. So I wanted to keep them separate from one another. That thread for discussion of what taxes are constitutional and this one for what might be a better way to incorporate taxes in the government as I would attempt to run it today. So here goes…

My View on Taxes… Part 1

I hate taxes. I think we can all agree with that statement. I don’t go as far as calling all taxes theft. But that doesn’t mean that I am OK with all of the taxes that we pay. Black Flag and I had  this mini discussion a month or two ago and I said then I would write about taxes when I had a chance to clarify where I stand on them. And it is a harder piece to write than I would have figured, only because I had to really think about a lot of them and consider whether they are fair or not, whether they contribute to the greater good or not. But since I write about politics, I do feel this is an important thing to ferret out.