Tag: Obama

The most divisive president in U.S. History.

The Fiscal Cliff: ‘Twas the Day Before Christmas

On By kingsjesterIn Politics3 Comments

Obama ClausWhile we get ready to celebrate the Greatest Gift of All, President Barack Hussein Obama (mm mmm mmmm) is about to get his wish that we all give more…until it hurts.

BusinessInsider.com reports that

President Barack Obama delivered an unexpected update on the status of negotiations to avert the year-end fiscal cliff, saying he was still optimistic that a “comprehensive” deal could get done before a deadline in 10 days.

“I want next year to be a year of strong economic growth. … Call me a hopeless optimist, but I still think we can get this done,” Obama said.

At the same time, he called on Congress to ensure that taxes do not go up on middle-class Americans by Jan. 1, leaving open the possibility of putting off negotiations on a “grand bargain.”

“As of today, I am still ready and willing to get a comprehensive package done,” Obama said. But, he added, “there is absolutely no reason — none — not to protect” the middle-class from a tax increase.

Obama was more than a half-hour late to a scheduled 5 p.m. press conference, explaining that he had met with both House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid beforehand.

Obama said he hoped that the coming holiday break would give all parties in the fiscal cliff debate some “perspective,” telling members of Congress to “cool off, drink some egg nog, sing some carols” and eat Christmas cookies. Obama and his family will leave for Hawaii at 7:30 p.m. tonight.

“Now’s not the time for more self-inflicted wounds. Certainly not those coming from Washington,” Obama said. “Think about the hardship that so many Americans will endure if Congress does nothing at all.”

Obama’s statement came a day after a setback to John Boehner, who proposed a “Plan B” alternative after he became frustrated with the pace of negotiations with the White House earlier in the week. Boehner failed to garner enough support to bring Plan B to a vote on Thursday.

Boehner shifted the onus last night to Obama and Reid, who went back and forth with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on the floor earlier this afternoon. Reid also urged the House to immediately pass the Middle Class Tax Cut Act, which the Senate narrowly passed in July. The bill made permanent all of the Bush-era tax cuts on incomes of less than $250,000 for couples and $200,000 for individuals.

Boehner spokesman Brendan Buck said in a statement tonight that Boehner told the president it was “time for the Democratic-run Senate to act.”

Here’s the full statement:

“Though the President has failed to offer any solution that passes the test of balance, we remain hopeful he is finally ready to get serious about averting the fiscal cliff. The House has already acted to stop all of the looming tax hikes and replace the automatic defense cuts. It is time for the Democratic-run Senate to act, and that is what the Speaker told the President tonight. Speaker Boehner will return to Washington following the holiday, ready to find a solution that can pass both houses of Congress.”

In honor of this ongoing saga, which is headed toward a finish just like “Thelma and Louise”, I have penned this sonnet, with apologies to Clement Clarke Moore.

‘Twas the day before Christmas,

And all through the land,

Americans were seething

At John and his band.

Congress had gone home

And were snug in their beds

While visions of high taxes

Danced in Americans’ heads.

A Fiscal Cliff

We’re about to come to,

Meanwhile, up in the House,

It’s been quite a zoo.

It all started back when,

Our Leader, Dear

Submitted a budget

That would make Marx cheer.

Republicans, he said,

would have to agree.

After all he’s the Preezy,

And, this is his decree!

“The rich folks, he said,

Must pay their “Fair Share”.

If they lay people off,

I really don’t care.”

Speaker Boehner got mad,

He stood up and said,

“To accept this junk,

We must be brain-dead.”

So a counter-offer ensued,

And, to the Preezy was given.

Who then sent it back

With a lot of derision.

Upset and tear-filled

John made a vow:

Let’s go with Plan B,

We’ll vote on it now!

Then to the House Floor,

Boehner took his Bill.

The Reps said no,

This bill just won’t cut it,

Over the cliff we must go.

The RINOs exclaimed

“It’s the Tea Party’s fault,

We must tax the rich

And get “Revenue” 

from their vault.”

And, where was Dear Leader,

When it all hit the fan?

On a plane to Hawaii,

To work on his ?tan?

So, as the Preezy “hangs loose”

And the Cliff gets closer,

It’s hard to believe 

They re-elected this poser.

You and I will be worried,

About the taxes to come,

And, wondering if we’ll survive,

Four years of this bum.

We’ll make it, I’m sure.

We’re made of strong stuff.

Just remember the Depression

That sure was rough.

While we want answers

The President wants to hula,

“Merry Christmas to all,

Let them eat arugula!”

The NRA Fires Back…With Both Barrels!

On By kingsjesterIn Politics5 Comments

gun-controlYesterday, the President of the National Rifle Association, Wayne LaPierre, held a Press Conference to respond to the horrible murders in Newtown, Connecticut, which were committed by a blood-thirsty psychopath.

Here is an excerpt from the speech he gave to open yesterday’s Press Conference:

…The truth is that our society is populated by an unknown number of genuine monsters — people so deranged, so evil, so possessed by voices and driven by demons that no sane person can possibly ever comprehend them. They walk among us every day. And does anybody really believe that the next Adam Lanza isn’t planning his attack on a school he’s already identified at this very moment?

How many more copycats are waiting in the wings for their moment of fame — from a national media machine that rewards them with the wall-to-wall attention and sense of identity that they crave — while provoking others to try to make their mark?

A dozen more killers? A hundred? More? How can we possibly even guess how many, given our nation’s refusal to create an active national database of the mentally ill?

And the fact is, that wouldn’t even begin to address the much larger and more lethal criminal class: Killers, robbers, rapists and drug gang members who have spread like cancer in every community in this country. Meanwhile, federal gun prosecutions have decreased by 40% — to the lowest levels in a decade.

So now, due to a declining willingness to prosecute dangerous criminals, violent crime is increasing again for the first time in 19 years! Add another hurricane, terrorist attack or some other natural or man-made disaster, and you’ve got a recipe for a national nightmare of violence and victimization.

And here’s another dirty little truth that the media try their best to conceal: There exists in this country a callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow industry that sells, and sows, violence against its own people.

Through vicious, violent video games with names like Bulletstorm, Grand Theft Auto, Mortal Kombat and Splatterhouse. And here’s one: it’s called Kindergarten Killers. It’s been online for 10 years. How come my research department could find it and all of yours either couldn’t or didn’t want anyone to know you had found it?

Then there’s the blood-soaked slasher films like “American Psycho” and “Natural Born Killers” that are aired like propaganda loops on “Splatterdays” and every day, and a thousand music videos that portray life as a joke and murder as a way of life. And then they have the nerve to call it “entertainment.”

But is that what it really is? Isn’t fantasizing about killing people as a way to get your kicks really the filthiest form of pornography?

In a race to the bottom, media conglomerates compete with one another to shock, violate and offend every standard of civilized society by bringing an ever-more-toxic mix of reckless behavior and criminal cruelty into our homes — every minute of every day of every month of every year.

A child growing up in America witnesses 16,000 murders and 200,000 acts of violence by the time he or she reaches the ripe old age of 18.

And throughout it all, too many in our national media … their corporate owners … and their stockholders … act as silent enablers, if not complicit co-conspirators. Rather than face their own moral failings, the media demonize lawful gun owners, amplify their cries for more laws and fill the national debate with misinformation and dishonest thinking that only delay meaningful action and all but guarantee that the next atrocity is only a news cycle away.

Today, I will be out among the masses, shopping for my bride’s Christmas Present(s). However, not everybody will be shopping for the season, they’ll be shopping for their family’s defense.  They will be buying guns.

Whatever Obama and his Liberal Legion of Liars thought that they would be accomplishing by starting the War on Guns, again, the fact of the matter is:

Their threat to confiscate Americans’ guns is backfiring spectacularly!

Per CNBC.com:

The shootings triggered both a wave of anti-gun talk and a wave of buying by gun owners and enthusiasts. President Obama appointed Vice President Joe Biden to lead a gun violence task force. The group’s charge is to present to the President by the end of January the best ideas to reduce gun violence. It is a charge that has many fearing a ban on owning some, if not all, guns.

“Talk of banning the weapons is driving sales,” said Jeff Dillard, co-owner of the National Armory Gun Store & Range in Pompano Beach, Fl. “It’s an incredible knee jerk reaction to what the President said. He put Biden in charge of it and they [politicians] will go crazy like they usually do. So customers want to get weapons before a ban is put in place.”

Dillard called sales in the four days “incredible.” On Wednesday he said the store did four times the sales volume it did on the same day last year. “The expensive guns went first, then the middle of the road guns went next,” he said. “The cheap, less expensive guns will probably go today.”

It is not only guns that are people are buying up, it is ammunition too.

“I’ve sold more bulk ammo (1000 rounds) in the last three business days than I have all year,” said Henry Parro co-owner of Parro’s Gun Shop and Police Supplies in Waterbury, VT. “Customers are using their hand carts to load their cars.”

Parro said with Biden in charge of the gun violence task force, his clients sees the handwriting on the wall and they are deciding to exercise their right and buy guns now. As a senator, Biden steered a now expired ban on assault weapons through Congress, and has been a long-time supporter for stricter gun laws.

What Obama, his Administration, Internet-trolling Liberals, and their propagandists,  the Main Stream Media, have not figured out, is this simple fact:  Americans love our freedom. We are not like any other people on this planet. Just as our Forefathers were men of faith and conviction, so remain Americans here in the Heartland. 

You know of whom I refer: that massive ocean of red you see, when you look at a map of the way Americans voted on November 6th, 2012.

We remain the bedrock of America. The citizens who pay their taxes, work on its farms and in its factories, and fight and die on far-flung battlefields.

We are Americans. We never quit. We never surrender.

And, we will not give up our Second Amendment rights.

It’s a Freedom Thing.

It’s…an American Thing.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Fiscal Cliff: Congress Takes Their Toys and Goes Home

On By kingsjesterIn Politics3 Comments

demrepAs you’ve know doubt heard by now, even if you’re one of those “‘low information voters” , with your head stuck up your…ummm…I-pod, Congress is at a standstill, regarding negotiations over Obama’s Marxist, Class Warfare-based, ludicrous plan to over-tax Americans who make over $400,000 per year, while offering no spending cuts to reign in his Soviet-styled out-of-control Mega-Government.

So, Congress…both sides, both Houses, have pulled a Cartman:

Sc@#w you, guys. I’m going home!

Per The Washington Times:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday he plans to send his chamber home for Christmas and then reconvene on Dec. 27 to try to work through the “fiscal cliff” — even as House Republicans said they’ll keep their troops in town to try to strike a deal.

The moves come as both sides jockey for the upper hand in trying to avoid blame for a possible breakdown in the budget talks to avoid the fiscal cliff. House Republicans are poised to pass a bill Thursday that would prevent spending cuts and most tax increases, and have said they’ll stay here to get a deal done. But there won’t be anyone on the other side of the table — at least not until next week.

“We want to be able to get home for a few days for Christmas, even though we will be back on the Thursday after Christmas,” Mr. Reid, Nevada Democrat, said in opening the Senate’s session.

Senators will be attending a funeral service Friday for the late Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, Hawaii Democrat and the chamber’s senior lawmaker, who died this week. Many also will attend his funeral services this weekend in Hawaii.

“I honor the legacy of Dan Inouye; I’m going to the memorial service; I’m going to the funeral,” Mr. Reid told reporters later.

Nothing like blaming a dead guy, Dinghy Harry.

Across the Capitol, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said his lawmakers want to stay in town to try to get a deal done and will stay in Washington even if they pass their own “Plan B” approach to stave off tax increases and rewrite the looming $110 billion in spending cuts due in less than two weeks.

“We do not intend to send members home after this vote. We want to stay here. We want to avoid the fiscal cliff from happening,” Mr. Cantor, Virginia Republican, told reporters at a brief press conference. “I think the decision is for the White House and Senate Democrats to come join us so we can avoid the tax hike on the American people and avoid the fiscal cliff.”

But Mr. Reid said the House Republicans should forget about passing their bill and not bother sending the Senate anything, but instead go deal with President Obama.

“We’re here to reach out to our Republicans in the House and tell them, get back and start talking to the president,” Mr. Reid said.

Meanwhile, in the House, and on the other side of the aisle, Reuters reports

With only 11 days left for bickering politicians to prevent automatic tax hikes and spending cuts, U.S. stock futures fell sharply on the news of the rebuke to Boehner.

The Ohio congressman had hoped to demonstrate Republican unity by passing a bill through the House, known as “Plan B,” that would limit income-tax increases to the wealthiest sliver of the population – those earning $1 million and more, a far smaller slice of taxpayers than Obama wants to pay higher taxes.

But Boehner canceled the vote after failing to round up enough support from his party because many conservative Republicans are opposed to tax hikes on even the richest wage-earning Americans.

“The House did not take up the tax measure today because it did not have sufficient support from our members to pass,” Boehner said in a statement after huddling with other Republican leaders.

The White House pledged to work with Congress to reach a deal as quickly as possible.

“We are hopeful that we will be able to find a bipartisan solution quickly that protects the middle class and our economy,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement.

The bill, had it passed, would have put Republicans on record as supporting a tax increase on those who earn more than $1 million per year, breaking with decades of orthodoxy. It won the blessing of influential anti-tax activist Grover Norquist, but other conservative groups fiercely opposed it and many rank-and-file members said they would not support it.

Obama wants to raise taxes on families earning more than $400,000, a much lower threshold.

Unless these spineless, self-serving jellyfish sitting up on Capitol Hill return to work on Thursday, acting like adults, and performing the job they were all elected to do, average Americans are going to get clobbered with the biggest tax hike in American History.

To quote the late Slim Pickens from “Blazing Saddles”, 

What in the Wide Wide World of Sports is a’goin’ on here?

Hold on to something. Here comes another world-famous KJ Rant:

I want Conservative Leadership. I want somebody to stand up on their hind legs and tell Obama the way the cow ate the cabbage. I want someone to actually give a hoot ‘n holler about the average American, not the special interest groups, not the lobbyists, not “the smartest people in the room”…me.

I want an American President and competent American Congress people.

I want a dadblamed budget, first. I want them to be good stewards of MY money. Not their “revenue”. I want someone to stand up and be a MAN…or a WOMAN.

I am so dadgum tired of mealy-mouth squishes and political niceties and expediences, I could spit. Too many Americans are out of work and doing without this Christmas, while the three ring circus performs unabated under the Big Top on Capital Hill.

The American people are tired of cleaning up after the donkeys and the elephants.  

/rant off

Until He Comes,

KJ

Newtown: Obama, Progressives Gear Up to Take Our Guns

On By kingsjesterIn Politics4 Comments

gun rights

You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.

– Rahm Emanuel, Mayor of Chicago. IL, Former Obama Administration Chief of Staff

Yesterday, President Barack Hussein Obama spoke at a Memorial Service in Newtown, CT…and, of course, the cameras were rolling.

“I am very mindful that mere words cannot match the depth of your sorrow, nor can they heal your wounded hearts,” Obama said at an evening vigil in the grieving community of Newtown, Conn. “I can only hope that it helps for you to know that you are not alone in your grief.”

The massacre of 26 children and adults at Sandy Hook Elementary on Friday elicited horror around the world, soul-searching in the United States, fresh political debate about gun control and questions about the incomprehensible – what drove the suspect to act.

It also left a newly re-elected president openly grappling for bigger answers. Obama said that in the coming weeks, he would use “whatever power this office holds” to engage with law enforcement, mental health professionals, parents and educators in an effort to prevent more tragedies like Newtown.

“Can say that we’re truly doing enough to give all the children of this country the chance they deserve to live out their lives in happiness and with purpose? I’ve been reflecting on this the last few days,” Obama said, somber and steady as some in the audience wept.

“If we’re honest without ourselves, the answer is no. And we will have to change.”

He promised to lead a national effort, but left unclear was what it would be, and how much it would address the explosive issue of gun control.

“What choice do we have?” Obama said. “Are we really prepared to say that we’re powerless in the face of such carnage, that the politics are too hard?

Sounds to me like the Progressive-in Chief  wants to come take our guns away, Americans.

And, if that’s not blatant enough for you, boys and girls…check out this editorial being pushed as a news story, from abcnews.go.com.

Groups and lawmakers in favor of stricter gun laws haven’t wasted any time speaking out following the mass shooting in Newtown, Conn., but the pro-gun National Rifle Association has been silent.

The NRA, which frequently communicates through social media, hasn’t tweeted since before the shooting and its Facebook page has been taken down, a day after the group boasted of reaching 1.7 million “likes.”.

On Thursday, a tweet went out from the NRA’s official account saying: “@NRA “Did you hear? Our #facebook page reached 1.7 million “likes” today! Thanks for being a friend!”

The NRA couldn’t be reached for comment regarding whether the deactivation of its facebook page was connected to Friday’s mass shooting.

The debate over the nation’s gun laws took center stage today, when California Sen. Dianne Feinstein said she intends to introduce an assault weapons ban on the first day of the next Congress.

Connecticut Shooting: Churches Services Honor Victims Watch Video

Adam Lanza used a Bushmaster .223 semi-automatic rifle at close range to kill children and adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut on Friday.

Two handguns were also found at the scene, but law enforcement officials described the Bushmaster as the Lanza’s primary weapon. A fourth weapon was found nearby. The weapons discovered at the school apparently belonged to a family member, possibly his mother, according to authorities.

The NRA was a trending topic on Twitter Sunday with thousands showing their support and distaste for the gun lobbying organization, which plays a significant role in American Politics. That role was denied by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg in his appearance today on NBC’s “Meet The Press.”

“The NRA’s number one objective this time was to defeat Barack Obama for a second term. Last time I checked the election results, he won and he won comfortably,” Bloomberg said. “This myth that the NRA can destroy political careers is just not true.”

A number of the Sunday news talk shows including, ABC’s “This Week” invited an NRA representative on to their shows to discuss gun control. But the programs received a statement from the NRA declining to comment because details of the investigation into the shooting were still pending.

Evidently, Obama, his Administration, and all of his minions haven’t been paying attention to places where they’ve already taken away law-abiding citizens’ guns:

From dailymail.co.uk, October 27, 2009:

Gun crime has almost doubled since Labour came to power as a culture of extreme gang violence has taken hold.

The latest Government figures show that the total number of firearm offences in England and Wales has increased from 5,209 in 1998/99 to 9,865 last year – a rise of 89 per cent.

In some parts of the country, the number of offences has increased more than five-fold.

In eighteen police areas, gun crime at least doubled.

The statistic will fuel fears that the police are struggling to contain gang-related violence, in which the carrying of a firearm has become increasingly common place.

If they outlaw guns…

All of us average Americans will be helpless against enemies, foreign and domestic.

And, that seems to be the way Obama and the Progressives want it.

Until He Comes, 

KJ

Obama Certain Boehner Will Cave

On By kingsjesterIn Politics5 Comments

titanicIs the good ship, U.S.S. America, about to take an economic plunge into the Obama Abysss, which we may never recover from?

ABCnews.go.com has the story:

As the clock ticks toward a tax hike on all Americans in 20 days, President Obama predicted Republicans would join Democrats to extend current rates for 98 percent of earners before the end of the year.

“I’m pretty confident that Republicans would not hold middle class taxes hostage to trying to protect tax cuts for high-income individuals,” Obama said today in an exclusive interview with ABC News’ Barbara Walters.

“I don’t think they’ll do that,” he said of Republicans forcing tax-rate increases for families earning $250,000 a year or less.

The sign of optimism follows weeks of tense negotiations and public posturing to avert the so-called “fiscal cliff,” an economically toxic package of $6 trillion in across-the-board tax hikes and $1.2 trillion in deep spending cuts that could begin in early 2013.

The White House and House Speaker John Boehner have exchanged new, competing deficit-reduction plans over the last 24 hours, sources say, but there is little indication of real progress toward a deal.

Obama has taken a hard line against extending current, lower tax rates on income over $250,000, which would affect the top 2 percent of income-earners. Republicans have said those rates should be extended.

The standoff threatens higher rates for everyone unless a broad “cliff” deal is reached, or the middle-income rates are extended on their own.

“I remain optimistic,” Obama told Walters. “I’d like to see a big package. But the most important thing we can do is make sure that middle class taxes do not go up on Jan. 1.”

Obama met privately with Boehner at the White House on Sunday for their second face-to-face session on the fiscal negotiations, signaling potential progress toward an agreement. But neither side presented specific details about the outcome of the meeting.

“I think the tone was good,” Obama told Walters. “I believe that both Speaker Boehner and myself and the other leaders want to see a deal happen. And the question now is can we get it done. The outlines, the framework of what a deal should look like are pretty straightforward.”

Basically, Scooter believes that he’s got Boehner and his Merry Band of Moderate Republicans right where he wants them. In the non-political world, this is called extortion. Obama simply calls it “political manuvering”.

Brilliant Economist Dr. Thomas Sowell wrote the following for Townhall.com:

Amid all the political and media hoopla about the “fiscal cliff” crisis, there are a few facts that are worth noting.

First of all, despite all the melodrama about raising taxes on “the rich,” even if that is done it will scarcely make a dent in the government’s financial problems. Raising the tax rates on everybody in the top two percent will not get enough additional tax revenue to run the government for ten days.

And what will the government do to pay for the other 355 days in the year?

All the political angst and moral melodrama about getting “the rich” to pay “their fair share” is part of a big charade. This is not about economics, it is about politics. Taxing “the rich” will produce a drop in the bucket when compared to the staggering and unprecedented deficits of the Obama administration.

No previous administration in the entire history of the nation ever finished the year with a trillion dollar deficit. The Obama administration has done so every single year. Yet political and media discussions of the financial crisis have been focused overwhelmingly on how to get more tax revenue to pay for past and future spending.

The very catchwords and phrases used by the Obama administration betray how phony this all is. For example, “We are just asking the rich to pay a little more.”

This is an insult to our intelligence. The government doesn’t “ask” anybody to pay anything. It orders you to pay the taxes they impose and you can go to prison if you don’t.

…What about “investing in the industries of the future”? Does the White House come equipped with a crystal ball? Calling government spending “investment” does not make it investment any more than calling spending “stimulus” makes it stimulate anything.

What in the world would lead anyone to think that politicians have some magic way of knowing what the industries of the future are? Thus far the Obama administration has repeatedly “invested” in the bankruptcies of the present, such as Solyndra.

Using lofty words to obscure tawdry realities extends beyond the White House. Referring to the Federal Reserve System’s creation of hundreds of billions of new dollars out of thin air as “quantitative easing” makes it seem as if this is some soothing and esoteric process, rather than amounting essentially to nothing more than printing more money.

Debasing the value of money by creating more of it is nothing new or esoteric. Irresponsible governments have done this, not just for centuries, but for thousands of years.

It is a way to take people’s wealth from them without having to openly raise taxes. Inflation is the most universal tax of all.

All the pretty talk about how tax rates will be raised only on “the rich” hides the ugly fact that the poorest people in the country will see the value of their money decline, just like everybody else, and at the same rate as everybody else, when the government creates more money and spends it.

If you have $100 and, after inflation follows from “quantitative easing,” that $100 dollars will only buy what $80 bought before, then that is the same economically as if the government had taxed away one-fifth of your money and spent it.

But it is not the same politically, so long as gullible people don’t look beyond words to the reality that inflation taxes everybody, the poorest as well as the richest.

So, the old political chestnut, 

We’re all in this together.

is very appropriate.

Just as it was on the Titanic.

Is that “Nearer My God to Thee” I hear in the background?

Until He comes,

KJ

The Fiscal Cliff: Will the GOP Elites Cave?

On By kingsjesterIn Politics5 Comments

boehnerobamaPresident Barack Hussein Obama and Speaker of the House John Boehner met yesterday, regarding the “Fiscal Cliff” Negotiations.

Politico.com has the story:

President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner met at the White House Sunday in an attempt to break the logjam on the fiscal cliff.

It was their first face-to-face meeting in 23 days.

Both the White House and Boehner’s office declined to describe the meeting, putting out identical statements that said, “This afternoon, the President and Speaker Boehner met at the White House to discuss efforts to resolve the fiscal cliff. We’re not reading out details of the conversation, but the lines of communication remain open.”

Before the meeting, top aides said there was little progress made over the weekend. But the meeting between Boehner and Obama signals a new stage in the process to resolve tax hikes and spending reductions that take hold at the beginning of 2013.

The lines are clear: Obama says a deal will not get done unless tax rates increase on top earners. Boehner says he’s opposed to tax rate increases on anyone.

But in recent days, the options seem to have narrowed for Republicans. Democrats have held firm on rate increases, while a few Republicans have slowly peeled away. For example, Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) on Sunday indicated he would let taxes rise on top earners.

“There’s a growing body of folks who are willing to look at the rate on the top 2 percent,” Corker said on “Fox News Sunday.” “The shift in focus in entitlements is where we need to go. … Republicans know they have the debt ceiling that’s coming up around the corner and the leverage is going to shift as soon as we get beyond this issue — the leverage is going to shift to our side.”

Did you know that Americans listed as being in the top 1% of income-earners pay an average of $343,927 in Income Taxes, and overall, they pay 36.73% of all of America’s Income taxes?

Those in the 5% group pay an average of $154,643 per year, amounting to 58.66% of Income taxes collected.

The Great Dr. Walter E. Williams,who serves on the faculty of George Mason University as John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics, is the author of ‘Race and Economics: How Much Can Be Blamed on Discrimination?’ and ‘Up from the Projects: An Autobiography’, and is a long-time guest host for Rush Limbaugh, reviewed a recent work by fellow Black American Economist Dr. Thomas Sowell, who wrote a short paper on “Trickle-down Theory” and “Tax Cuts for the Rich”. In his review, Dr. Williams wrote:

…in 1921, Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon advocated tax rate cuts, which were enacted into law by Congress. Afterward, there was rising output; unemployment plummeted; and the resulting higher income produced greater federal tax revenues, even though the tax rate had been lowered. There were somewhat similar results in later years after high tax rates were cut during the John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush administrations.

The facts about the 1920s tax rate cuts are unmistakably clear for those who bother to check the facts. In 1921, when the tax rate on people earning more than $100,000 a year was 73 percent, the federal government collected a little more than $700 million in income taxes, of which 30 percent was paid by those earning more than $100,000. By 1929, after the tax rate had been cut to 24 percent on incomes higher than $100,000, the federal government collected more than $1 billion in income taxes, of which 65 percent was collected from those with incomes higher than $100,000.

In 1962, Democratic President John F. Kennedy pointed out that “it is a paradoxical truth that tax rates are too high today and tax revenues are too low and the soundest way to raise the revenues in the long run is to cut the rates now.” Both Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush made similar arguments, and the tax rate cuts had the effect of stimulating economic growth while increasing federal tax revenue and shifting a greater percentage of the tax burden on to wealthier individuals.

One very insightful part of Sowell’s paper is the discussion about what Mellon called the “gesture of taxing the rich” — namely, tax-exempt securities that he tried unsuccessfully to put an end to. Tax-exempt securities and other tax breaks are valuable tools in the politics of class warfare and envy. Politicians have it both ways. They get votes by raising taxes on the wealthy — or threatening to do so — and at the same time provide the wealthy with a way out of high taxes through tax-exempt securities. This explains how President Obama can raise tens of millions of dollars in campaign contributions from Hollywood millionaires and Wall Street’s rich and powerful. “Tax cuts for the rich” demagoguery is simply the height of deceit perpetrated on the gullible people and useful idiots.

When Speaker Boehner and the rest of the GOP Moderate Elite cave in to the President’s wishes, which will they be, boys and girls?

Gullible people, useful idiots, or both?

Obama’s Tax Plan: America’s New Kulaks

On By kingsjesterIn Politics4 Comments

obamamyworkA while back, on April 30, 2011, I wrote a post titled, “The New Politboro”. In it, I compared the propaganda and total media control of the Obama Administration to the rise of Lenin and the Soviet Politboro. Little did I know how right I was.

Word came out last night that Income Tax Rates are going to exceed 50% in California, Hawaii, and New York City!

The word came out through a paper written by Gerald T. Prante & Austin John, both of Lynchburg College, School of Business and Economics,Top Marginal Effective Tax Rates by State and by Source of Income, 2012 Tax Law vs. 2013 Scheduled Tax Law. The Abstract (Summary) states that

This paper compares state-by-state estimates of the top marginal effective tax rates (METRs) on wages, interest, dividends, capital gains, and business income for tax year 2012 to the rates scheduled for 2013 under scheduled law. Scheduled tax law for 2013 assumes the expiration of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts and the new PPACA taxes. Overall, the average top METR on wage income is scheduled to increase by approximately six percentage points (41.8 percent to 47.8 perent), while taxes on dividends would increase the greatest (19.0 percent to 47.9 percent). The top METRs on wages, dividends, interest, and partnership/sole proprietor income would exceed 50 percent in California, Hawaii, and New York City.

However, it’s not the uber-rich, that will be hurt. 

Per newgeography.com:

Ironically the new taxes will have relatively little effect on the detested Romney uber-class, who derive most of their income from capital gains, taxed at a much lower rate. They also have access to all manner of offshore dodges. Nor will it have much impact on Silicon Valley millionaires and billionaires, or the Hollywood moguls and urban land speculators who constitute the Democratic Party’s “good rich,” and enjoy many of the same privileges as their wealthy conservative counterparts.

The people whose wallets will be drained in the new war on “the rich” are high-earning, but hardly plutocratic professionals like engineers, doctors, lawyers, small business owners and the like. Once seen as the bastion of the middle class, and exemplars of upward mobility, these people are emerging as the modern day “kulaks,” the affluent peasants ruthlessly targeted by Stalin in the early 1930s.

The war against the kulaks (successful people, a class known in Russia, as the bourgeoisie) actually started before “Uncle Joe” Stalin.

Britannica.com explains:

kulak, (Russian: “fist”), in Russian and Soviet history, a wealthy or prosperous peasant, generally characterized as one who owned a relatively large farm and several head of cattle and horses and who was financially capable of employing hired labour and leasing land. Before the Russian Revolution of 1917, the kulaks were major figures in the peasant villages. They often lent money, provided mortgages, and played central roles in the villages’ social and administrative affairs.

During the War Communism period (1918–21), the Soviet government undermined the kulaks’ position by organizing committees of poor peasants to administer the villages and to supervise the requisitioning of grain from the richer peasants. But the introduction in 1921 of the New Economic Policy favoured the kulaks. Although the Soviet government considered the kulaks to be capitalists and, therefore, enemies of socialism, it adopted various incentives to encourage peasants to increase agricultural production and enrich themselves. The most successful peasants (less than 4 percent) became kulaks and assumed traditional roles in the village social structure, often rivaling the authority of the new Soviet officials in village affairs.

In 1927 the Soviet government began to shift its peasant policy by increasing the kulaks’ taxes and restricting their right to lease land; in 1929 it began a drive for rapid collectivization of agriculture. The kulaks vigorously opposed the efforts to force the peasants to give up their small privately owned farms and join large cooperative agricultural establishments. At the end of 1929 a campaign to “liquidate the kulaks as a class” (“dekulakization”) was launched by the government. By 1934, when approximately 75 percent of the farms in the Soviet Union had been collectivized, most kulaks—as well as millions of other peasants who had opposed collectivization—had been deported to remote regions of the Soviet Union or arrested and their land and property confiscated.

The similarities between the Bolshevik Revolution and rise of Lenin’s Soviet Union and Obama’s Economic Policy are frightening, aren’t they?

The aim of Obama’s drive to increase taxes on “the wealthy”, is actually nothing but a plan, inadvertent or well-thought-out, to “radically change” OUR country and create a new cradle-to-grave nanny state, or Politboro, and to overtax America’s successful citizens (i.e., the Job Creators), thereby, creating a new Proletariat Class, totally dependent on the state for its very existence.

Elections have consequences.

Please allow me to leave you with some quotes from Vladimir Lenin.  Their relevancy is amazing.

A lie told often enough becomes the truth.

Democracy is indispensable to socialism.

Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted.

It is true that liberty is precious; so precious that it must be carefully rationed.

One man with a gun can control 100 without one.

Our program necessarily includes the propaganda of atheism.

Sometimes – history needs a push.The best way to destroy the capitalist system is to debauch the currency.

The goal of socialism is communism.

The press should be not only a collective propagandist and a collective agitator, but also a collective organizer of the masses.

The way to crush the bourgeoisie (kulaks) is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation.

Until He comes,

KJ

I’m 54 Today and I’m Not Taking It Anymore

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics17 Comments

jesterluteI’m 54 years old today.  It has been a remarkable journey.   Some years have passed by much too quickly.  Others have been as slow and painful as Morning Joe on MSNBC.   Some of the lessons that God has taught me have been more painful than others.  But, through it all, His Grace has been sufficient for my every need.

I’ve always had a big mouth.  One of the most painful lessons I’ve had to learn is when to keep it shut.  However, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve noticed that those who seek to impose their will on us, as a free nation, appear to be doing and saying whatever outrageous, hurtful, treasonous, and unpatriotic things that they want to, counting on all of us average, Christian Americans (78% of the population, per Gallup) to keep our collective mouths shut.

Well, you know what?  I’m 54 and I’m Not Taking It anymore.

05_08_11---Three-Crosses_webI’m not taking it anymore off of the less than 10 % of our population who are so self-involved and bitter in their belief that all of this fantastic Universe around us just happened, that they try to make Christians as bitter as they are.  Especially, this time of year as we celebrate the birth of our Savior.

These learned individuals completely ignore the writings of brilliant men, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, who said:

All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.

or G. K. Chesterton, who said:

When men stop believing in God, they don’t believe in nothing.  They believe in anything.

WashingtonPrayingOur nation was founded by people who wished to practice Freedom OF Religion, not Freedom FROM Religion. They were not led in their decision-making by an earthly king, but by their love for the heavenly King.

American Christianity is not comprised of empty rituals. It is fueled by an intrinsic understanding of where our freedoms come from, and Who gave them to us. It is a legacy of Faith handed down to us, generation through generation.

Just as my father, who landed on the beaches of Normandy, made sure that I got to Sunday School, so did I make that opportunity available to my daughter, step-sons, and grandson. I am blessed by the fact that one of those young men is in seminary as I write this.

Shake your fist and try to believe that Divine Providence had nothing to do with the growth of this nation, you will still find that the majority of Americans will not believe you.

hyenasI’m not taking it anymore from the bunch of amoral, treasonous hyenas controlling the entertainment industry.  These are the brilliant individuals who have brought us such cinematic masterpieces as Redacted and The Golden Compass and such high brow television entertainment like @#$% My Dad Says! 

In the music industry, the song  @#$% You! (which was sung on Glee as Forget You!) was, at one time, honored for an industry award.

I can remember when The Rolling Stones had to change the words to their hit, Let’s Spend the Night Together to Let’s Spend Some Time Together on The Ed Sullivan Show because of the CBS Censors.

By the way, they are on tour right now…sponsored by Geritol, I think.

spoiledlakerI’m not taking it anymore from spoiled, crybaby, collegiate,and professional athletes.  These young men have been gifted by God with extraordinary abilities, placing them in the spotlight. They are followed and proclaimed as role models by American’s youth.

Just last week, the Captain of the University of Memphis’ Basketball Team, walked away from a practice, telling the coach that he just “wasn’t that into it.”

He’s back with the team, now, after a game’s suspension and a “come to Jesus” meeting with the Coach.

Some leader. Gimme a break.

mitchdanielsI’m not taking it anymore from so-called Fiscal  Conservatives (i.e., Moderates and Liberals), who believe that whatever you want to smoke, whomever you want to sleep with, is fine and dandy, while expecting Social (Reagan) Conservatives to keep our mouths shut about where the GOP is headed, as it slowly swirls down the porcelain receptacle.

michellestinkeyeI’m not taking it anymore from the Obama’s, and the pinheaded bureaucrats and academicians in their administration who believe that they have the right to tell us how to raise and what to feed our children.

These are our children and grandchildren.  We will raise them as we see fit.

Not only do they want to tell us what we can feed to our children, they want to control what our Armed Forces eat! They want the finest fighting force in the world to run on arugula!

Feed our Brightest and Best steak every day! They deserve it!

I’m 54 years old. If I want to have Popeye’s Fried Chicken with mashed potatoes, fried okra, and biscuits, it’s none of your dadblamed business, Michelle (ma belle).  People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.  Have you surveyed your own Southern flank lately?

pelosigavelFinally, I’m not taking it anymore from Obama, his administration, his political party, and Congress.  These people are so riddled with self-importance, and so intellectually constricted by their self-imposed boundaries of the Beltway Elite society that they live in, that they have completely lost touch with the citizens of the country that they are supposed to represent.  They somehow believe that it is in their best interests to govern on behalf of the 18 % of Americans who identify themselves as being Liberals.

And, judging from the Fiscal Cliff Negotiations, those who don’t really believe in this Liberal/Progressive/Marxist ideology, don’t seem to possess the intestinal fortitude to man up and actually serve the people who elected them.

This oblivious pack of political scavengers seem bound and determined to gnaw as much meat off of the bones of the American Dream as they can.

However, as angered as I am by the irrational, amoral nature of American politics and popular culture, I always have hope.  My hope springs not from any political figure or political ideology, but from the One who created me and loves me, in spite of all my shortcomings.  This video of one of my favorite songs sums up what I’ve been trying to say.   God is good.  All the time.  May God bless you all.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Terrorists in Thomson, IL (Say Hello to Your New Neighbors)

On By kingsjesterIn Politics3 Comments

Thomson CCWhen Barack Hussein Obama ascended to the throne of the Regime, he promised to close Guantanamo Bay, in acquiescence to the wishes of the clown car known as the United Nations and Obama’s donors…err…I mean, friends….err…I mean, fellow Muslims…umm…let me just say that he was trying to appease Middle Eastern Muslims and quiet their claims of torture going on at Gitmo.

On 22 January 2009, two days after being sworn in as the new U.S. president, Barack Obama signed several Executive Orders covering the detainees at Guantanamo Bay, interrogation techniques, and CIA secret detention sites. Summaries of these executive orders, as provided by the White House, are provided below.

1. Executive Order regarding Guantanamo Bay detainees:

This Order requires closure of the Guantanamo detention center no later than one year from the date of the Order. Closure of the facility is the ultimate goal but not the first step. The Order establishes a review process with the goal of disposing of the detainees before closing the facility. The Order sets up an immediate review to determine if it is possible to transfer detainees to third countries, consistent with national security. If detainees cannot be transferred, there will be a second review to determine if a prosecution is possible and in what forum. If there are detainees who cannot be transferred or prosecuted, the review will examine the lawful options for dealing with them. The Order directs the Secretary of State to seek international cooperation aimed at achieving the transfers of detainees; directs the Secretary of Defense to halt all military tribunals until the review can be completed; and requires that the conditions of confinement at Guantanamo comply with Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions and all other applicable laws.

2. Executive Order regarding Detainee Policy:

This Order creates a Special Task Force to consider the policy options for apprehension, detention, trial, transfer, or release of detainees. The Special Task Force must submit its report to President Obama within 180 days of the date of the order.

3. Executive Order regarding Interrogation:

This Order revokes an earlier Executive Order (No. 13440) issued by President G.W. Bush replacing it with the requirement that all interrogations of detainees in armed conflict, by any government agency, follow the U.S. Army Field Manual interrogation guidelines. It further prohibits reliance on any Department of Justice or other legal advice concerning interrogation that was issued between September 11, 2001 and January 20, 2009.

The Order requires all departments and agencies to provide the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to detainees in a manner consistent with the Department of Defense regulations and practice.

It also orders the CIA to close all existing detention facilities and prohibits it from operating detention facilities in the future.

Well, they blew that EO with the reported detention facility run through the ill-fated American Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, didn’t they?

Finally, this Order creates a Special Task Force to review the U.S. Army Field Manual interrogation guidelines in reference to the CIA’s methods. This Special Task Force will also look at rendition and other transfer policies to ensure the U.S. policies and practices comply with all obligations and are sufficient to ensure that individuals do not face torture and cruel treatment if transferred.

Also in 2009, Obama and his minions announced that they were interested in buying Thomson Correctional Center in rural Illinois, in order to bring the Islamic Terrorists who want to kill all of us, to the United States.

The Chicago Tribune has the story:

Under orders from President Barack Obama, the U.S. Justice Department moved forward Tuesday with the purchase of Illinois’ long-dormant Thomson prison, cutting a $165 million check to the cash-strapped state and bypassing the objections of a powerful veteran Republican U.S. House member who had blocked the sale.

“At this point, the president had to intervene and do this directly. I hope people understand he’s doing it for his state,” said U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, the state’s senior senator and No. 2 Democrat in the chamber. Durbin acknowledged it was a “rare” move to bypass the written approval of a high-ranking House Appropriations Committee member to proceed with the purchase of the facility in northwest Illinois.

…The Thomson sale has been mired by Washington politics for at least three years. Built for $140 million in 2001, the state never opened the prison because it lacked the money to operate it.

Though the prison was appraised for $220 million, federal and state officials agreed on a $165 million sale price. Justice Department officials presented the check to a federal judge in Rockford as part of a “friendly condemnation suit,” Durbin said.

“This is excellent news that will create more than 1,100 jobs in northwestern Illinois and provide relief to taxpayers across the state who will no longer be forced to pay for an empty, unnecessary facility,” Gov. Pat Quinn said in a statement.

A Quinn aide said an undetermined amount would be used to retire bonds that funded construction of the facility. The governor’s office said it will work with lawmakers to earmark the remainder to offset some of the state’s multibillion-dollar backlog of unpaid bills.

You know what Obama and his minions are not telling you?

Thomson Correctional Center is located on 1100 One Mile Road in Thomson, IL.

That is 3/10ths of a mile off of Highway 84N.

Guantanamo Bay is on the island of Cuba, at an American Naval Base surrounded by a mine field.

It does not take a genius to figure out which prison location would be safer for the American people if  these Muslim Terrorists  were housed there.

What is Obama’s motive for this stupid move?

A.) Kissing up to the Muslim Brotherhood

B) Providing clients for AG Eric Holder’s old law firm

C) Because he can

D) All of the above

Aw…you guessed.

This must not be allowed to happen. Please contact your Congressman/woman.

Until He Comes,

KJ

The Fiscal Cliff: The Spartan Defense

On By kingsjesterIn Politics2 Comments

As the date for the Bush Tax Cuts to cease looms ever closer, it appears that the Republicans might actually be trying to man up and mount a defense, reminiscent of the Spartans defending the pass through the mountains in the movie “300”.

Foxnews.com reports that

House Republican leaders said Wednesday they’ve done their job in negotiations to solve the looming fiscal crisis, while President Obama is returning to the campaign trail to sell tax hikes that studies show won’t have much, if any, effect on solving the problem.

“We have done our part by putting revenue on the table,” said House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.

Cantor and fellow House leaders have agreed to close tax loopholes to generate revenue to reduce the $1.1 trillion annual deficit. But they argue the president has yet to say publicly what cuts he will make to the federal budget — specifically to costly entitlement programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security — to reduce the deficit.

They also say the president’s plan to extend tax cuts only to middle-class Americans will not generate enough revenue to significantly reduce the deficit.

The leaders made their argument the same day Gene Sperling, director of the president’s National Economic Council, told House Democrats that failing to extend Bush-era tax cuts to the top 2 percent of income earners could trickle down to hit the middle class, sources tell Fox News.

On Wednesday afternoon, the president ramped up his public pitch amid a backdrop of hand-picked, middle-class voters at the White House.

“Right now, as we speak, Congress can pass a law that would prevent a tax hike on the first $250,000 of everybody’s income,” he said. “And that means that 98 percent of Americans and 97 percent of small businesses wouldn’t see their income taxes go up by a single dime.”

He also urged Americans to use social media to try to persuade their congressional representatives to take the deal – telling them to use Facebook and their Twitter accounts. Obama even announced a new White House hashtag My2K — a reference to the estimated $2,200 tax increase that a typical middle-class family of four would see if the Bush tax cuts expire.

Of course, when word got out that Obama and his minions came up with that goofy #Mt2K idea, Conservatives immediately started hijacking it. Your’s truly was no exception:

kingsjester ‏@kingsjester1

Our money – Washington’s “revenue” – #My2k

kingsjester ‏@kingsjester1

“From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.” – #My2k

kingsjester ‏@kingsjester1

We’re all going to be too poor to pay attention – #My2k

Have you ever noticed how these modern Democrats try desperately to mask Marxism with the cloak of nobleness?

For example:

We’ve got to raise taxes! It’s for the children!

Republicans want control of your uterus!

and, of course,

The Republicans want you all back in chains!

How…noble? No. Self-serving.

If the Dems were as noble as they claim to be, they would keep their promises.

Like, the promises they made in the Debt Ceiling Compromise last August:

House Speaker John Boehner had to rely on a blend of Republicans and Democrats to push the bill through his chamber, with some conservatives unhappy about key provisions in the compromise.

House Democrats don’t want to carry Republicans’ water, though. Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y., said earlier Monday that every Democrat who votes for the bill takes a Republican off the hook — he urged colleagues to wait until Republicans put at least 200 votes on the board “before we give them cover.”

Liberal Democrats are unhappy in part because the first phase of the plan relies solely on spending cuts — $900 billion worth of them.

The second phase of the plan relies on a special committee to come up with roughly $1.5 trillion in additional deficit reduction. Both sides are wary about what that process could produce, in terms of entitlement reform and tax reform.

And conservatives are particularly agitated about a provision that would enact sweeping defense cuts if the committee’s recommendations are not approved by the end of the year. Plus some are peeved that, while the package would call for a vote on a balanced-budget amendment, it would not require its approval in order for the debt ceiling to be increased.

About those Spending Cuts…they never happened.

This scenario, concerning the battle on the edge of the Fiscal Cliff, is, actually just a continuation from the recent presidential campaign.

On one side, you have Obama and the Democrats, playing the class warfare card for all it’s worth, blaming those eeevil rich people (I never got a job from a poor man.) and those wascally wepublicans (The Dems are huntin’ Entitlements. Heheheheheh.) for standing in the way of Baracky Claus delivering all the free stuff that his base really, really wants…err…needs.

On the other side is Speaker John Boehner and the Republicans, trying to man  up and find a Conservative spine among all that Moderation, in order to put on a good show for the home folks.

How long the Republicans will hold to their convictions remains to be seen.

This bunch, who gave us Mitt Romney, the candidate who thought that Obama was a good guy, who is just in over his head, seems to suffer from the same indecisiveness as Romney’s Campaign.

They can’t seem to figure out whether to stand and fight against Obama’s tax increases, go back into negotiations, or, just drop their guns and run.

(By the way…is anybody out there interested in two WW II French Army Rifles? Dropped once. Never shot.)

The question remains…are the Republicans going to be Spartans? Or, Vichy French?

Until He comes,

KJ