Obama's Global Poverty Tax

Barack Obama sponsored the Global Poverty Act which the Senate could vote on any day now. This would amount to a tax on the American people of .7% of the GDP, or in real money terms $845,000,000,000.00. Yes, that's right, 845 Billion dollars!

Gee, why isn't he touting this lovely little plan in his stump speeches? We keep hearing him tell us how dreadful things are for so many Americans, so why would he even contemplate this huge tax on the American people, coercing productive Americans into servitude not only to our own government but to the entire world?

Even more outrageous is that this is a bi-partisan bill, co-sponsored by Richard Lugar (R-Indiana). It passed the House by voice vote, so there's no paper trail. Oh, they're good. I'd like to know where in the Constitution they find the right to impose such a tax on the American people. What's happening to the sovereignty of our nation?

I've read quite a few articles and columns on this subject and the best one I have found is written by Edward Cline who asks "Are we not already burdened by our own lords and masters of "social policy" and "redistribution" in Washington and in every state capital, without inviting the depredations of a clique of international thugs and looters?" That's a good question, unfortunately, we get nothing but bad answers.

Top Political Pundits 21-30

The Telegraph's list of the top US political pundits continues.

30-Peggy Noonan
29-Ron Fournier
28-James Carville
27-Pat Buchanan
26-Arianna Huffington
25-Michael Savage
24-Laura Ingraham
23-Mike Allen
22-Dick Morris
21-David Gergen

I would say my favorite on this list is Laura Ingraham. Maybe it's just me, but whenever I read Peggy Noonan's columns I detect an air of elitism. Dick Morris has sound political analysis but his judgment appears clouded at times by his anti-Hillary bias. I disagree with nearly everything James Carville says, but he is entertaining.

Place the Blame Where it Belongs, Part II

I have to tell you, I'm really worked up about the price of gas, and every time I hear the stupid Democrats open their mouths I get more angry. Today, for the umpteenth time, President Bush called for allowing drilling for oil in ANWR. The majority of Alaskans want it. (Check out the website for ANWR.org if you don't believe me.)

So how do the Democrats respond? Senator Chuck Schumer gave the usual reply that it will take 10 years before new oil could be produced. He forgot to mention that for the past 7 years he and his buddies have stood in the way of drilling in ANWR, off our shores or anywhere in the continental US. He also forgot to mention that his buddy, Bill Clinton, vetoed a bill in 1994 which would have allowed drilling in ANWR.

Schumer went on to say he would like to raise taxes on oil companies. Memo to Schumer: Raising taxes has never reduced prices.

President Bush said he would be open to the idea of a "holiday" on the federal gas tax for the summer to ease the pain at the pump. This idea is also supported by John McCain and Hillary Clinton (of all people). But the rest of the Democrats, including Barack Obama, are against it. Heaven forbid they should give a tax break to the people paying their hefty salaries.

Be prepared to see gas prices increase even further. The price of food will continue increase while we waste tax payer money, gas and corn to produce ethanol. The liberals' policies are coming home to roost while the media and the American people give them a pass.

Update - 5/12/08
Related Links:

Americans Should be 'Oil' for More Drilling
by Donald Lambro

Put the Blame Where it Belongs
by Michael Reagan (do you think he reads my blog???)

Gordon Brown, Please Don't Come Back

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was visiting the US at the same time as the Pope's visit. Needless to say, Brown didn't get much coverage, so the speech he gave slipped past me.

He bagan his speech by lavishing praise on Senator Ted Kennedy, calling him "one of the greatest Senators in more than two centuries." The speech just went downhill from there. While he mentioned our Declaration of Independence, he seems to have forgotten what it took for our Union to gain independence when called for a new "Declaration of Inter-
dependence".

He went on to say "And the benefits will flow most widely and more effectively if instead of trying to pursue beggar-my-neighbour policies, or erecting national barriers to shelter people from change, we cooperate across frontiers to maximise the opportunities. But to do this we have no choice now – and this is my main argument - but to consider and agree new global rules and create new global institutions so that not some but all can benefit from change." So if he has his way you can forget about protecting our borders.

He summed up his argument by saying:

"And my proposal here is that we set new global rules for a new 21st century global economic system with:

-a global trade deal that benefits rich and poor countries alike;
-new international financial architecture and economic institutions that end the mismatch between global capital flows and only the national supervision of them — with the IMF an early warning system for the global economy, focused on crisis prevention rather than just crisis resolution;
-and a new deal as bold as the Marshall Plan of the 1940s between rich and poor under which as developing countries open up to trade, address corruption and pursue policies for economic development and developed countries agree to make available new resources so that we can say of this generation: the preventable diseases of TB, polio and malaria are eradicated and for the first time in our history every child enjoys education. "

I wonder if he is crazy. Maybe he thinks we're all so crazy that we will put our economy, health care, and security in the hands of North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, Iran and Cuba in the name of "Globalization". We have the Democrats calling for a "New New Deal" for America and now this guy calling for a "New Deal" for the whole world. This guy is downright scary.

There is much more in the speech and it doesn't get better. For further analysis of the speech and of Gordon Brown's record in the UK read this column by Phyllis Schlafly.

Top Political Pundits 31-40

The Telegraph has posted the next ten in their list of the 50 most influential political pundits in the US.

40-Tony Snow
39-Dee Dee Myers
38-Michael Barone
37-Eugene Robinson
36-Newt Gingrich
35-Joe Trippi
34-Howard Kurtz
33-Rowland Martin
32-William Kristol
31-Juan Williams

I would say my favorite in this grouping is Tony Snow. I don't know how "influential" some of these people really are. I wonder if Keith Olberman is going to show up on the list. If so, we know not to take it seriously at all!

Top Political Pundits 41-50

The UK Telegraph has ranked the top US political pundits. I found it sort of interesting. They have published # 41 through #50. My favorite on the list is Mark Levin. I love his radio program. Someone from Air America is on the list, which I think is funny because I didn't know that Air America was still broadcasting.

50-Rachel Maddow
49-Mary Matalin
48-Paul Krugman
47-JC Watts
46-Mark Levin
45-Fred Barnes
44-Jeffrey Toobin
43-Paul Begala
42-Bill Bennett
41-Mark Shields

When they post the next installment I will let you know.

Who do you like?

Place the Blame Where it Belongs

People keep blaming President Bush for today's high gas prices. Although there is plenty of blame for the President on some other issues, I believe in this instance the blame is misplaced. Take a look at this article regarding the State of the Union address in January 2001, at which time he urged the Senate to pass a bill allowing drilling in ANWR. He tried again in 2006. The bill was supported by Alaska's two Senators. He's tried to get the useless Congress to approve the building of more oil refineries, but they won't.

If we had begun drilling in ANWR and other domestic sites five or six years ago, would things be different now? There is no way to tell, since Congress shot it all down. The people of Alaska want to drill for oil, it's good for their economy. Why on earth should a bunch of politicians who have never been there tell them they can't? It's ridiculous.

Burt Prelutsky put it quite nicely in his column today when he wrote:

Well, recently, a friend of mine reminded me that just prior to the 2006 election, consumer confidence was unbelievably high; regular gasoline sold for about $2.25-a-gallon; and the unemployment rate was 4.5%.

Since then, consumer confidence has plummeted; gas now costs about a dollar-and-a-half-a-gallon more; unemployment stands at 5%; American homeowners have seen their home equity drop by over a trillion dollars, with one percent of our homes in foreclosure; and, for good measure, the liberals refuse to eliminate earmarks.

It wasn’t all bad news, though. The Democratic-controlled Congress, no doubt in appreciation for what they regarded
as a job very well done, voted to increase their own salaries.

In fact, democrats in Congress would like to increase the federal gas tax by $.50 per gallon. What short memories some people have.

John Stossel-Arianna Huffington Interview

Did you catch John Stossel's interview of Arianna Huffington Friday night? I always enjoy his columns in Townhall.com and watching 20/20 when he is on, so I had to tune in for the interview with that buffoon, Arianna Huffington.

People like her crack me up. She had a Prius in the driveway of her mansion, as if the Prius somehow makes her less of a hypocrite about global warming. She even said that sometimes she just has to ride in private jets. Ariana called us conservatives the "lunatic fringe". Apparently, if you do not believe that high taxes and socialism will save the world you are a lunatic.

I wonder if she believes she was a lunatic when she was a Republican. I have a feeling that in her mind, anyone who disagrees with her is a lunatic. John Stossel showed her graphs and charts demonstrating how the policies she advocates don't work. At least she didn't try to refute his facts, she just said that even if poverty has been reduced, it wasn't fast enough, blah, blah, blah.

In her mind, programs that reduce poverty substantially are not good enough. So she advocates going back to policies that keep people impoverished. Now all the liberal bloggers are mad at John Stossel, it's pretty funny. HuffPo's blog has the video, the comments underneath are funny. One person called it a "conservative hit job". Daily Kos is even worse, they drop more F-bombs than anyone I have ever known. But we're the lunatics.

The Company You Keep

I remember when I was a little kid my parents told me I would be judged by the company I kept. There were a few kids that they didn't want my brother and me hanging around with. Did they think that we would become bad kids if we played with bad kids? Or did they worry that other people would think we were bad? Either way, I think it was pretty good advice.

I guess Barry Obama's grandma didn't teach him that lesson. Or if she did, he ignored it. We all know about his racist, hate-mongering pastor who preaches GD America. He tried to explain that away, comparing him to a crazy uncle. Don't forget about his criminal pal, Tony Rezko.

ABC News is taking flack for having the gall to ask him about his ties to domestic terrorists William Ayers and Bernadette Dohrn. He said that their misdeeds occurred when he was just a boy, and he's not that close to them, anyway. The fact that on 9/11 Ayers whined that he wished he could have "done more" doesn't seem to merit mention.

The latest that's come out about the company Obama keeps is his friendship with Jew hating, Hamas loving, former PLO employee Rashid Khaladi. Barry and his buddy William Ayers served on the board of The Woods Foundation together at the time the Woods Foundation contributed $75,000 to the AAAN (Arab American Action Network). AAAN lobbies for open borders and drivers licenses for illegals and they are openly anti-Israel. When Khalidi left Chicago for a job at Columbia University, the Obamas were at his farewell party.

The Obama camp is taking the position that Obama can't have guilt by association. I'll grant them that. But millions of children are taught that they will be judged by the company they keep. Are we not to hold a candidate for President of the United States of America to the same standards we hold our children?

John Adams

The HBO Miniseries "John Adams" concluded this week and it was fantastic. Even someone who isn't all that interested in American history would enjoy it, because it's about the people. I heard HBO went over budget in order to make it as authentic as possible. There were a few deviations, like when John Adams said that he and Jefferson were the last living signers of the Declaration of Independence. Whether Adams was incorrect in thinking it back then, or HBO was incorrect in their story telling, I don't know, but the last signer of the Declaration to die was Charles Carroll of Maryland.

The seven part series takes you from the Boston Massacre and the signing of the Declaration through the life of John Adams, the first Vice President and second President of the United States. You are given the sense that Adams always felt like he was playing second fiddle. He was overshadowed by his cousin Sam Adams. He deferred to Thomas Jefferson in the writing of the Declaration. He couldn't hold a candle to Ben Franklin's diplomacy in France. He was vice president under George Washington, with very little in the way of responsibility or authority. After Adams was elected President he kept Washington's cabinet who did everything they could to undermine him. His old friend and Vice President, Thomas Jefferson worked against him. Even back then "bi-partisanship" was a pipe dream.

Throughout the series you're reminded that life was anything but easy in the early years of our nation, not even for presidents and their families. Nobody smiled because they all had rotten teeth. The practice of medicine was barbaric. The Adams' son Charles died at an early age, after struggling with alcoholism and being disowned by his father, the President. A few years later, their daughter, Nabby, was diagnosed with breast cancer. The film depicts just how brutal the practice of medicine was at the time when her breast was removed while she was awake. She later died when the cancer returned. Then we see that John's beloved wife Abigail died. It was very sad, he lost his wife, confidant and best friend.

John Adams lived long enough to see his son John Quincy Adams become the sixth President of the United States. John Quincy told his father he wanted to raise taxes to build roads and schools. The elder Adams warned him about the tactics of his political opponents. Do you think they had any idea what the Federal Government would become? National health care plans! Ha! They couldn't even get anesthesia for an operation.

I'm left fascinated with Thomas Jefferson. He was so eloquent in his writing of the Declaration and I believe that he truly believed slavery was wrong. Yet he was a slave owner. The hypocrisy is amazing. I guess it makes sense that the current Democratic party is often referred to as the "Party of Jefferson." I still think that even he would be appalled at the Democrats today. (I'll do some more research on President Jefferson and get back to you.)

At the end of their lives, Adams and Jefferson corresponded with each other and renewed their friendship. They understood that in a two party political system, friends can easily become enemies. They both died on July 4, 1826, exactly 50 years after the birth of our nation. Ironically, the last thing uttered by John Adams was "Thomas Jefferson survives".