President Obama talks about everyone paying their fair share and he uses the comparison between the top 1% Americans (Rich Millionaires) and the other 99% of Americans (This set of percentages is already a gigantic over-stated LIE). Well, let’s look at these two groups and find out what the truth is about these groups paying their fair share ( Let’s use the statistics from the Liberal Urban Institute/Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center to determine the facts). The 46% of Americans who did not pay a dime of taxes and who take the bulk of Federal welfare benefits vote Democrat in elections. In the first quarter of 2010, according to the Wall Street Journal, 48.5% of the American population lives in a household where at least one of the family members receives some type of Federal government benefits. More than one-third of Americans (34.2%) live in a household that received benefits from more than one of the 70 federal programs that provide cash, food, housing, medical care, and social services to the poor and low-income persons; this is a record high. No wonder, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) figures show that “The Federal Anti-poverty spending has soared from $190 Billion in 1990, to $348 Billion in 2000, and to $638 Billion in 2010 (All adjusted for Inflation).” The growth since 2000 for the Children’s Health Insurance program (CHIP) “has been remarkable at 470%, food stamps at 229%, energy assistance at 89%, and Medicaid at 80%.” Adjusted for inflation, anti-poverty spending is 13 times higher today than it was in 1965, when the War on poverty began; at the same time families in poverty has only doubled! Now, let’s look at the achievers in America (Heritage Foundation): - The richest 20% of American taxpayers shoulder 86% of the Federal Income.
- The riches 1% of American taxpayers (The top16% of taxpayers) shoulder 36.7% of the Federal Income.
Now I support the idea of the Millionaires paying more (1 or 2%), but it is a lie to say they presently don’t pay their fair share! By the way there are 3679 new millionaires this year. “President Obama intends to destroy the USA through his Plan for Redistribution and Federal Government control:- 48% of all Americans are considered “low-income” or are living in the “poverty level.”
- 57% of all children in the USA are living in impoverishment.
- 16% of all Americans are without work today as measured by 2007 Standards (The Obama Administration have changed the measurement).
- The average American needs 40 Weeks to find a job, if they are looking for one.
- There are fewer jobs in America today than in 2000 even though there are 30 million more people in the USA.
- The median household income has declined 6.8% since January 2008.”
“Welfare Spending Up 41 Percent under President Obama In 1964, when President Lyndon Johnson declared a “war on poverty” in America, the poverty rate stood at around 19 percent. Since then, total federal, state, and local spending on anti-poverty programs has amounted to $15 trillion, yet the poverty rate now stands at 15.1 percent, the highest level in nearly a decade “Clearly we are doing something wrong,” according to the Cato Institute, which has released a new policy analysis on welfare spending that calls the war on poverty a “failure.” The federal government will spend more than $668 billion on anti-poverty programs this year, an increase of 41 percent or more than $193 billion since President Barack Obama took office. State and local government expenditures will amount to another $284 billion, bringing the total to nearly $1 trillion — far more than the $685 billion spent on defense. Federal, state and local governments now spend $20,610 a year for every poor person in the United States, or $61,830 for each poor family of three. “Given that the poverty line for that family is just $18,530, we should have theoretically wiped out poverty in America many times over,” writes Michael Tanner, director of health and welfare studies at the Cato Institute and author of “ The Poverty of Welfare: Helping Others in Civil Society”. Most welfare programs are means-tested programs providing cash, food, housing, medical care, or other benefits to low-income persons and families, or programs targeted at communities or disadvantaged groups, such as the homeless. The federal government alone now funds 126 separate and often overlapping programs designed to fight poverty, Tanner points out. There are 33 housing programs run by four different cabinet departments, 21 programs providing food or food-purchasing assistance administered by three different federal departments and one independent agency, and eight healthcare programs administered by five separate agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services. The largest welfare program is Medicaid, which provides benefits to 49 million Americans and cost more than $228 billion last year, followed by the food stamps program, with 41 million participants and a price tag of nearly $72 billion. Other programs range from Federal Pell Grants ($41 billion) down to lower-cost programs such as Weatherization Assistance for Low Income Persons ($250 million) and the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program ($20 million). At least 106 million Americans receive benefits from one or more of these programs. Including entitlements such as Social Security and Medicare and salaries for government employees, more than half of Americans now receive a substantial portion of their income from the government.” “Clearly we are spending more than enough money to have significantly reduced poverty, yet we haven't,” Tanner concludes. The vast majority of current programs are focused on making poverty more comfortable rather than giving people the tools that will help them escape poverty. And we actually have a pretty solid idea of the keys to getting out of and staying out of poverty: finish school, do not get pregnant outside marriage, and get a job, any job, and stick with it. The Tea Party "Activate Debt Commission Budget" – organized by FreedomWorks – put together a serious budget – one that cuts $9.7 TRILLION from the budget. One that balances our budget within 4 years. The Tea Party Budget is a crowd-sourced, grassroots-generated document. "We traveled the country holding “field hearings. Over 55,000 activists voted for specific cuts on our online portal. Unlike Harry Reid and the Democrats, we listened to the people." In the end, 12 grassroots “commissioners” compiled the findings into a workable budget that: - Repeals Obamacare – in its entirety;
- Fully eliminates four cabinet departments, and shrinks or privatizes many others;
- Shrinks the federal government from 24% of GDP to 16% – a historical average;
- Cuts, caps, and balances federal spending.
And it does all of this without raising taxes, which means that our budget – unlike the rumored Democrat proposals (which they won’t even propose!) – actually stands a chance of passing! Allen Coburn
Yesterday I listened to Joe Pags interview Texas Governor Rick Perry. The left is making unusually outrageous charges against Governor Perry's refusal to take "free federal money" in order to expand Medicaid in the great state of Texas. Governor Perry responded and commented on the truth about federal grants and "free money". How I wish more of our local municipal, county, and state officials would think and talk like Governor Perry. This is not "free money" -- it is taxpayer money funneled to Washington where they skim off "their cut" and then "return" part of it to the local authorities where it should have been collected and spent in the first place (assuming it is for a necessary and warranted use, of course). If these misallocated funds are, in turn, funneled through state level bureaucracies, those also take "their cut" before doling it down to the local level. Everybody gets their cut at the expense of the beleaguered taxpayer. And, these grants and "handouts" always come with federal strings attached. These always require the local government to cede a part of its authority (and our liberties) to the federal bureaucracies and power brokers. It's part of why we're headed toward an all-powerful central government. Governor Perry is courageous and wise to begin refusing to step into these traps and fall for the lure of "free money". There's a nasty hook hidden inside that lure! And let's not forget a crucial principle here. The federal government is bankrupt. They're borrowing that grant money, adding to an untenable $16.8 TRILLION debt and $123.4 TRILLION in unfunded liabilities. By taking that money, you're hastening our national demise. Hey local officials! Listen to Rick and learn! Bill Cochrane
 CBO Budge & Economic Outlook 2012 - 2022 _The latest Congressional Budget Report has been published, and you can read or download the entire report here. It does not paint a pretty picture. It certainly does not paint the picture that the Administration or the Democrat Party would have you believe. One wonders how the Administration with its penchant for tight controls ever let this report be published. What does it say? Well, just to whet your appetite for reading it (it is lenghty just as you would expect a federal document to be), here are a few of the major points about the shorter term expectations. No one can accurately make five to ten year out projections, so we'll ignore those here. But the shorter term projections speak volumes about what we might expect in the coming months.● Taxes will shoot up by more than 30% over the next two years. Read more on this here. ● The CBO projects another $1.8 Trillion deficit again in 2012. ● We should expect the unemployment rate to remain around 8.9%-9% over the coming months and may rise to 9.2%. Read more on that here and here. Of course, the real unemployment rate will be much higher; the CBO is projecting the published statistical report. ● The Gross Domestic Product will grow only about 1.1% during 2012. ● The projected overall cost to the U.S. economy from the continuing recession over the coming months is projected at $3.1 Trillion. No matter how you look at it, 2012 is shaping up to be a dismal economic year. And if the European meltdown continues to a collapse and Middle East conflicts disrupt the world's energy supplies, the outlook is very dreary, indeed. Hey Joe! Still "biden" your time? Where'd those "green shoots" go? Bill Cochrane
_The Budget explained in simple English: | _● U.S. Tax Revenue: ● Expenditures: ● New Debt: ● National Debt: ● Recent Claimed Cuts: | _ $2,170,000,000,000 $3,820,000,000,000 $1,650,000,000,000 $14,271,000,000,000 $38,500,000,000 | |
_Now, let's remove 8 zeroes and pretend it's our household budget: | _● Annual family income: ● Money the family spent: ● New credit card debt: ● Outstanding family debt: ● Cuts in family expenditures: | _ $21,700 $38,200 $16,500 $142,710 $385 | |
_Stop the insanity. Vote them out and demand a balanced budget.
_This was recently sent to me by a very good friend and it rather brilliantly cuts through all the political doublespeak we get. . .
This succinctly states America's financial position in a more realistic perspective; and outlines the very same financial position countries in Europe are now facing!
Carol Wheeldon
Lesson #1: ------------------------------------------------------------ Why the U.S. Credit Rating was downgraded: • U.S. Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000. •Fed budget: $3,820,000,000,000. • New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000. • National debt: $14,271,000,000,000. • Recent budget cuts: $ 38,500,000,000. (claimed, not real)
Let's now remove 8 zeros and view this as your own household budget: • Your annual family income: $21,700. • Money your family spent: $38,200. • New debt on your credit card: $16,500. • Outstanding balance on your credit card: $142,710. • Total cuts from your budget: $385. Get It? This is pretty amazing when you realize that is really NOT our deb. This debt is a scam by the Federal Reserve and it's Associated Banks!
Lesson #2: ------------------------------------------------------------ Here's another way to look at the Debt Ceiling: Let's say, you come home from work and find there has been a sewer-backup in your neighborhood. . . and now your home has sewage all the way up to the ceilings.
What do you think you should do? Raise the ceilings? . . .or pump out the sewage?!
Your choice is coming November, 2012!!
 Hunter Jefferson The link below will take you to the blog of one of Moore Tea Citizens' fine young members, Hunter Jefferson. Hunter is a great conservative ― no, that's not really accurate. He, much like myself, is a staunch libertarian but without, I believe, going so far that he loses sight of practicality in a dangerous world. Hunter is bright, energetic, involved, and destined to make a real impact and name for himself, I'm certain. His economic proposal is sure to provoke thought and a reaction. I could get behind it 100%. How about you?Read: My Economic PlanBill Cochrane
An earlier entry here addressed the Tea Party Tax Proposal presented to Congress by a bloc of groups both national and local. I thought it was pretty good work ― a far sight better than anything that's come out of Congress itself, the Administration, or any place else. (You can read it yourself here.) Well, the CATO Institute, which I respect greatly, has just published their own analysis of the proposal. They like it, too. Perfect? Of course not. But pretty darned good nonetheless. And a whole lot better than Congress seems to be able to do. Read: The Tea Party BudgetBill Cochrane
Well, there haven't been any serious proposals, really, coming out of Congress, its stupid "SuperCommittee", or this Administration. There absolutely haven't been any proposals of actual cuts or reductions. Everything has been smoke-and-mirrors reductions in the intended rate of growth of future spending, promised with no possible means of enforcement. So all our government ― both parties ― have been doing is kicking the can down the road, selling out our children and grandchildren, jeopardizing the national security, selling us all out. So it's good to see a coalition of Tea Party organizations putting together a much more credible and workable proposal for restoring fiscal responsibility. It doesn't cut as much as I would like. It doesn't make as much progress as I'd like to make against the National Debt as quickly as I'd like to accomplish. But, in this political climate, it's a far sight better than anything else that's come up. Read the Tea Party Budget proposal for yourself. I think it's a much more balanced, thoughtful approach than anything I've seen from Washington. Will Congress pay any attention? Will people call Congress and support it? Will the Republican presidential candidates support it? I can hope. I can pray. Time and Providence will tell. Bill Cochrane
The House of Representatives has passed a bill to keep government running after September 30th, the day funding for the government runs out. Looks like it is a bill to nowhere as the Senate under Harry Reid has announced he will not let the bill pass. From Politico: Senate Democrats on Friday blocked a House Republican stopgap budget plan, intensifying a bitter impasse that threatens to bring government operations to a halt in a matter of days. On a 59-36 vote, the Senate voted to table the House plan, just the latest escalation in a government spending crisis that has dominated Capitol Hill this year. The vote now threatens to derail next week’s congressional recess, dry up federal funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency by early next week and shutdown many government operations by Sept. 30 — unless both parties and chambers can reach an accord in a matter of days. The situation is dire: FEMA has $174 million left in its coffers, according to House GOP aides. Depending on the rate at which they spend the money, the emergency pot could be empty as early as Monday and as late as Wednesday. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) scheduled a Monday evening vote on an alternative Democratic plan that mirrors the House measure — except for the corresponding spending cuts — but that appears destined to fail. Negotiations between party leaders are expected to continue in the meantime. All but one Senate Democrat voted to block the House bill, Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, a conservative Democrat up for reelection who said he wanted the impasse resolved. Seven conservative Republicans who want deeper cuts broke party lines: Sens. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.). Remember the media mantra a few weeks ago? It was the Tea Party holding the nation and the government hostage? Now, the House has passed a bill and the Senate does nothing. Where is the media decrying the Senate Democrats and Harry Reid, holding the nation and the government hostage? Judson Phillips
Congressman Ron Paul has identified the best solution to the debt ceiling crisis by calling out a central fallacy of our national debt - $1.6 trillion of it is owed to the Federal Reserve, an arm of the government for all intents and purposes. Forgive the debt to the Fed, says Rep. Paul, and we get our borrowing line back without raising the debt ceiling or a tax hike. Simple.
Those who think Congressman Paul’s idea is whacky should say the alternative out loud: "The government owes money to itself, so it pays interest to itself, which is returned to itself. But rather than forgive itself its debt to itself, it will require itself to pay itself, plunging the world into chaos and destroying the dollar."
Now who sounds like a wing-nut? But Congressman Paul’s simple solution does not have a snowball’s chance in hell. Why? Because twads run our government. “Twad” is a densely compacted contraction of the words “nitwit” and “dickwad”. It is not an economic term; it is something I learned up North in the 5th grade. We were not allowed to cuss, so our vocabulary of creative slurs is quite highly developed.
Speaking of twads, when it was time to enrich his UAW buddies in 2009, President Obama didn’t hesitate for a second to repudiate the debts Chrysler owed to its bondholders. Those were billions of real losses he inflicted on real citizens back then, but now when it’s the Fed he won’t even consider what amounts to an internal bookkeeping entry.
The Federal Reserve is off limits because it is the vehicle that enables excessive government spending and debt; it is the President’s no-limit credit card and he has no intention of ever cutting it up. Neither do the rest of the twads; they are all promising to go on a fiscal diet in ten years while ordering the cheesy fries now.
The Fed and Treasury are the right and left hands of monetary policy run amuck; they are like two children who lent billions in monopoly money to each other and are now demanding that Mom and Dad pay them real-money interest before we pay the light bill. Or, in the President’s case, before we send social security checks to seniors.
Who didn’t see that one coming? Debt addiction withdrawal causes some mighty ugly and bizarre behavior. The Democrats now claim to have discovered a right to borrow and spend without Congressional approval in the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. The bizarre part is that they found a copy of the Constitution.
Launching a stealth operation that would make Seal Team Six proud, they helicoptered right over the hostile territory of the enumerated powers in Article I, Section 8; and dodged the suppressing fire of the first, second, fourth, fifth, ninth, and tenth amendments; and scaled the wall of the first three sections of the 14th itself to snatch up just six words from the whole of section four before returning to base to cobble up perhaps the stupidest argument in the history of argument.
They claim that that the disconnected phrases“public debt” and “shall not be questioned” give the President unlimited borrowing authority. The chunk they cut out in their truthendectomy contains the qualifier, “authorized by law”, which is more than a little significant since they are debating the law that would…um…authorize debt. Still think “twads” was a bit harsh?
We better not let them get anywhere near the Lord’s Prayer, or it will come out “Father…lead us…into…evil…forever, Amen.” And speaking of religion, Congressman Charles Rangel claimed that Jesus would weigh-in on the Democrat side of the debt ceiling debate had He returned to walk among us this summer.
Now, I hate to break it to you, Tax Cheat Charlie, but Jesus is more likely to descend in glory to spank your bony ass all the way back to Harlem for taking His name in vain than He is to fly wingman for President O-bysmal’s fiscal insanity.
“Forgive us our debts” does not mean what you think it does, Congressman, and the IRS won’t forgive yours even after the Rapture comes. If you were trying to scare them off by name-dropping the big J, you don’t know your tormentors very well.
Here is a simple-guy question: If that trillion dollar stimulus was a one-time investment to get the economy moving, then why can’t the President cut spending by a trillion dollars this year? He said it worked, and doesn’t one-time still mean less than two times?
President Obama told us that he had to reluctantly add a trillion dollars of one-time spending in 2009 to make up for the stupid mistakes of the guy who was President the year before. Since he now says we have to spend more than that every single year through the end of his second term, I presume he has concluded he is even more stupid than his predecessor and plans to remain that way every year.
Who am I to argue with the judgment of the President of the United States?
And you can throw in that gang of six, the leadership of both parties in both chambers, and the front runners for the GOP Presidential nomination. These guys are all unserious about cutting spending, shrinking government, and reducing the debt. They want to finagle some pixie-dust “framework” that dupes the talking heads (not too difficult an assignment), and then get back to the important work of fund-raising and earmarks.
The only budget that matters is the next one - Fiscal Year 2012, which begins October 1. Cancel your August vacation and balance that one, twads.
Tim Nerenz
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