Obama's State of the Union Address Would Cost $40 Billion

The Taxpayers Tab: 

Barack Obama's 2014 State of the Union Address was one of his longest so far, and the price tag for all those words would add $39.995 billion a year to the deficit, according to National Taxpayers Union Foundation's (NTUF's) 14th line-by-line cost analysis of the President's speech.

"Even though the President largely reiterated or reframed issues that have long been on his party's current agenda, the proposals for new federal expenditures he outlined last night would still add up to a hefty price tag," said NTUF Director of Research Demian Brady. "Moreover, his push for new mandates, regulation, and tax hikes, particularly on energy, will give taxpayers and business owners plenty to be wary of."

NTUF's key findings on the President's fiscal proposals:

 

GET THE FULL SCOOP HERE! 

 

Congressman Allen West’s Weekly Wrap Up! Very Interesting!

Dear Patriot,


Greetings to our constituents, fellow Floridians, and all Americans, it is time again for my weekly report back.

Congratulations to the University of Kentucky for winning their eighth NCAA Men’s College Basketball championship -- only three more to catch UCLA!

This weekend, I was finally able to get back out and enjoy the underwater world off the coast of Florida’s 22nd Congressional District. About nine of us braved some 3-5 foot seas early to get in some really nice Easter weekend SCUBA diving. However, it was in driving back from the South Florida Dive Headquarters marina in Pompano Beach that I saw something disturbing.

There it was -- a purple banner flying in the wind at a gas station just east from I-95, “Now accepting EBT cards and SNAP.” For those of you who do not know these abbreviations, the EBT is the Electronic Benefit Transfer card, which is a plastic means by which one can utilize the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

This is not something we should be proud to advertise! Truly it seems the safety net is slowly becoming a hammock. This program has expanded well beyond its original intent and expanded to a far greater percentage of Americans. Now we see a growing number of businesses in this country, including sit-down and fast food restaurants, standalone and gas station convenience markets, and even pharmacies eager to accept SNAP benefits. The number of businesses certified in the SNAP program has gone from around 156,000 to more than 200,000 in five years, and food stamp benefits have ballooned from $28.5 billion to $64.7 billion. This is a highly disturbing trend. Food stamps were intended to provide a safety net for the small percentage of Americans who needed assistance. But since President Obama’s inauguration, the number of Americans receiving assistance has increased by 45 percent.

We continue to see polices coming out of the White House bent on dividing, not uniting America. The rhetoric of no blue and red states has now been replaced by divisive rhetoric and actions focusing on class, 1 percent vs. 99 percent, race, and gender. We are witnessing the degrading of the American individual citizen to being viewed as part of various collectives, and even referred to as units in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

The real group waging a war on women are liberals. Their fiscal failures evidenced by the growing debt burden threaten the future of America’s children and grandchildren. Their ineptness in keeping gasoline prices in America at a reasonable cost is resulting in harming the many soccer, hockey, and lacrosse moms who are struggling to get their children to tournaments.

Let us not forget the constant foreign affairs missteps that are resulting in a diminishing global influence for our country, and subsequently the children who shall inherit this degraded state. Think about the rockets and missiles that were launched from the Sinai desert into Eilat, which the media is not covering. Jewish mothers fret for the future of their children who now live under threat from a new front, now out of Egypt. This is the same Egypt now clearly under the control of the Muslim Brotherhood, to whom President Obama sent almost $1.5 billion in foreign aid because of their threat to Israel, and paid $5 million worth of American taxpayer treasure to Egypt to release some 19 Americans held hostage.

I reject this divisive rhetoric by the Obama administration because my focus is on our economic, energy, and national security. What can be more beneficial to men, women, and children in America?

The President’s criticism of the House GOP budget is almost pathetic when you consider the “support” he received for his own budget. Let me refresh your memory. The President’s Fiscal Year 2012 budget failed 0-97 in the Senate and the Fiscal Year 2013 budget just failed 0-414 in the House. Furthermore, it has been some 1,074 days since Harry Reid and the Democrat-led Senate has passed a budget.

Bottom line, President Obama presents a budget and policy which raises taxes, and never ever balances --but it does result in more debt, $15.6 trillion today, $26 trillion in 10 years.

President Obama must come to a very clear realization that his economic policies have led to the longest streak of consecutive months of unemployment at eight percent or higher. This is the longest “losing streak” in the history of America. I am glad that some 165,000 Americans were able to find a job in the last month. However, we still have close to 13 million Americans unemployed. There are around eight million Americans who fit the category of “underemployed.” Don't forget, one of the interesting reasons why unemployment dropped from 8.3 percent to 8.2 percent is because more Americans simply fell off the radar.

The question is, how many Americans have given up and are no longer being tracked by the Department of Labor? Some say this number is in the area of 1 to 1.2 million Americans.

Along the same lines, it seems that President Obama does not clearly understand the 1803 Marbury vs. Madison case, which established the premise of Judicial Review for the Supreme Court. It is the Supreme Court’s job, their raison d'être, to interpret laws against the supreme law of the land, the United States Constitution. Judicial activism, on the other hand, is legislating from the bench, creating laws, or over-turning the referendum of the electorate. In some 209 years, the Supreme Court has ruled approximately 150 laws as unconstitutional.

This was not a good week for the President’s administration, and lets not overlook the news reports that the Obama administration leaked information about Israeli air base usage in Azerbaijan.

In closing, I offer a Bravo Zulu to the two Unites States Navy fighter pilots aboard the F/A-18D on which they did their best to avoid creating a greater catastrophe. If this crash ends up being maintenance-related, perhaps this is a result of the excessive budget cuts to our Military, which are hitting our operating forces.

I am sad to see a Marine Sergeant may lose his career because he dared to criticize the President on a Facebook page. Should we have disciplined this young NCO? Yes. But to end this Warrior’s career with a less than honorable discharge is not the answer. This Marine had served nearly nine years in the Marine Corps and was planning to reenlist. Maybe if America had leadership that gained the respect of our military, instead of simply using them as stage props for speeches, this atmosphere would not exist.

Steadfast and Loyal,
ALLEN WEST
http://west.congressnewsletter.net/mail/util.cfm?gpiv=2100086639.21366.476&gen=1

AFP POLICY BLOG: They Can’t Even Cut the Obvious Waste

Last week, the Government Accountability Office – an official government watchdog – released its second-annual report on duplication, overlap, and fragmentation in federal programs. This year’s report finds 51 areas in the federal budget where savings can be achieved by merely adopting commonsense measures to run government more efficiently. Cutting waste won’t solve our budget problems but it will show that lawmakers are finally taking the problem serious. Unfortunately, right now they’re not.


Examples that they highlight include:

•Eleven agencies implement 94 different federal government programs to encourage “green building” practices in state and local governments and the private sector. GAO points out that only about a third of these programs actually have clear goals and performance evaluations, so that “the results of most initiatives and their related investments in green building are unknown.”
•Twenty federal entities administer 160 different programs, tax expenditures, and other initiatives to promote homeownership and affordable housing, costing taxpayers over $170 billion in the year 2010 alone. And GAO shows that some of these programs run at counter-purposes to one another. For example, one tax credit encourages owners to preserve the “historic character” of old buildings, but that undermines another tax credit that incentivizes the use of new energy-efficient building technologies.
•The federal government spent $30.7 million in 2010 on at least 15 different “financial literacy” programs administered by 13 different agencies. GAO notes that such “fragmentation increases the risk of inefficiency and redundancy and highlights the need for strong coordination, or potential consolidation, of these efforts.”
•In 2010, 83 percent of the 209 different programs to encourage educational opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) overlapped with at least one other program. As GAO writes: “Over the decades, Congress and the executive branch have continued to create new STEM education programs, even though there is a general lack of assessment of how well the programs are working.”

Sadly, these examples and many more all come on top of the 81 examples of waste and duplication that GAO identified in last year’s report. In a supplemental document, GAO discloses the troubling fact that only 4 of those 81 clear cases of government waste had been satisfactorily addressed over the last year.

In other words, while the President continues to grandstand about the importance of a “balanced approach to deficit reduction” (which is his code for tax hikes), he passes up even these easy opportunities to cut spending and streamline government. Congress is no less blameless: neither the House nor the Senate passed legislation last year that would specifically address the waste that the GAO identified.

CONTINUED:
http://www.americansforprosperity.org/030112-official-government-report-highlights-waste-and-duplication-federal-budget?tr=y&auid=10409839

Legislative Update: February 19, 2012

TPP Legislative Update & Newsletter

Compliments of Tea Party Patriots

February 19, 2012

Passion to Action
Your fellow patriots in Wisconsin desperately need your help to verify signatures in the recall elections!! From True the Vote: “We need your help! All we ask for is 100 minutes. In 100 minutes you can enter data for approximately 100 petition signatures. Nearly 13,000 volunteers from 49 states have signed up to participate in this recall effort. This is the real deal - citizens are taking control - let's stand together!” They are only 75% done and the deadline is February 27th!! Can you help?? If so, please click here to fill out the volunteer form and PLEASE FORWARD THIS!!!

Federal Budget
 

 No Budget: Tuesday, February 21, 2012 marks the 1028th day since the Senate has passed a budget under the leadership of Harry Reid (D-NV). Do not buy the spin that the Democrats passed a budget when they passed the debt ceiling deal. When we asked the RSC for a good explanation about why the debt ceiling deal was not a budget, this was their response:

• “The Budget Control Act is technically, functionally, and politically different from a budget. A budget is a ten-year document that lays out both a spending and policy direction for the country that includes spending, revenues, and economic projections—among other things. It is a message to the American people that outlines the direction that we think the country should go, and forces us to articulate and defend our choices. The only way that the Budget Control Act is all like a national budget is that it sets a top line spending figure for 2012 and 2013. But to call that a budget would be like a family sitting down at the beginning of the year and just saying, this is how much we want to spend this year, and leaving it at that. No discussion of how much money they expect to earn, where they need to make tough choices on cutting spending, or of the economic reality they expect to face”

 Payroll Deal: From Bob Williams of State Budget Solutions: “The recent payroll tax deal increases the national debt by $100 billion and is in violation of the PAYGO rules. Not only does it increase the national debt by $100 billion, but it also moves up the bankruptcy of the social security fund. Of course, Congress simply ignored the PAYGO rules. Repeatedly Speaker Boehner has caved in on principles and has been responsible for increasing the national debt. The Congressional Budget Office released a study showing than the Social Security Trust Fund had $1 billion less than expected. So rather than trying to put social security on a sound actuary basis Boehner caved in to the Democrats and once again raided the social security fund by cutting the payroll tax.”


 Rotten Highway Bill: According to Jim DeMint, the highway bill represents another example of DC politicians’ addiction to big spending. And he states, “Despite all the hyperventilating about a tea party takeover in Congress, the sad truth is that in 2011 Congress increased spending from the year before, raised the debt limit by $2 trillion, and funded ObamaCare.”

 No Solutions: Watch Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner laugh about the fact that the President’s budget doesn’t address our out-of-control debt, and admit that they have no solutions.
 
 Obama’s Budget: The President finally released his budget today, and as expected, it would give us deeper deficits, increased spending, bigger government, and higher taxes. Key facts from his budget:

• Spends Too Much:

               $47 trillion of government spending over the next decade
               Proposes a net increase over current spending projections

• Taxes Too Much:

              $1.9 trillion in new taxes
              Raises taxes, not to pay down the debt, but to fuel more government
                spending

• Borrows Too Much:

             Four straight years of trillion-dollar-plus deficits;
                no plan to reduce the debt
             Gross debt at the end of FY22: $25.9 trillion

• Budget Gimmicks & Broken Promises

             Overstates new deficit reduction by taking credit for savings already
                enacted
             Exploits discredited budget gimmick by “not spending” nearly $1
                trillion that was never going to be spent

Read more about President Obama’s budget here. And don’t forget, Obama has missed the budget deadline three out of four years. If you’d like to read the President’s one-pager on his budget, click here. Mercatus Center’s analysis is here.

 Crony Capitalist: Check out this graphic that shows the connections (i.e. flow of money) between the Obama administration and his cronies. (Note: It’s a graphic put out by the GOP and at the bottom they ask for donations. Including this graphic in TPP’s newsletter is not an endorsement or statement of support of the GOP. It’s just a good graphic to share.)

 Deficit Spending: Read a couple of good analyses of President Obama’s budget here and here. Also, check out this chart that highlights average annual deficit spending as a percentage of GDP.

Regulations & Jobs

• Stimulus Failure: Also from the RSC is a graph showing the jobs situation in relation to the stimulus. And read this report from the CBO on the failure of the stimulus.

Obamacare


Visit http://www.roadtorepeal.com/ to get info on the TPP rally in DC on 3/24!!!

• HSA Coalition files amicus brief
• Milliman, Inc. releases study of Medical Loss Ratio effects
• Sign the Virginia Tea Party Federation’s petition to repeal Obamacare!!
• Obama gives cabinet secretaries ability to fundraise for political organizations
• OMB Chief Contradicts Obama Brief: It's a Penalty, Not a Tax
• Payroll tax deal held some minor cuts to Obamacare
• Budgetary fraud
• Obama’s continued war on religious liberty: Chaplains treasonous?
• 45 Conservative leaders and organizations oppose HHS regulations
• Obamacare hurts small businesses hiring prospects
• United States Preventative Services Task Force – more bureaucrat control
•  Major “oops” in the law – don’t set up the state-based exchanges!!
• ACOs: HMOs Déjà Vu All Over Again
• AAPS opposes the individual mandate and filed an amicus brief
• Hidden mortgage tax

Education

• Disgraced Teacher Retires from NY City Schools. Former NYC "rubber room" teacher Alan Rosenfeld retires after making $100k a year since being removed from the classroom in 2001. NYC taxpayers will be on the hook to pay Rosenfeld $85,400 per year in retirement earnings plus health benefits for the rest of his life.
• Get Involved: Articles such as this demonstrate yet another symptom of a failed public education system. Rather than putting band-aids on the symptoms, why not join us at TEA for Education in our campaign to transform education? We are currently represented in 12 states and call on all concerned patriots to help us make education about the children. We cannot afford to waste another generation: get involved now!

Sustainable Development and Property Rights

• States Fighting Back: Tennessee is working on a bill to define
• Executive Order: Sign the petition opposing President Obama’s Executive Order that allows for the further implementation of Agenda 21.
• People Power: Vista, CA is no longer a part of ICLEI due to pressure from the citizens! Congrats!
• Get Involved: For more information on any of these issues, check out http://www.agenda21today.com/.

Illegal Immigration

• Documentary: TPP North Carolina State Coordinator Mark Hager assisted with the documentary titled, “Invasion: Freedom Under Fire!” about the struggles of American citizens who live along the southern border. If you would like to order a copy, please click here for more information.
• Waivermania: Kansas’ Agriculture Secretary is asking the Department of Homeland Security for a waiver so that agricultural businesses in Kansas could hire illegal immigrants. The agriculture businesses and others in the business community are supporting this effort. So far the Obama administration have handed out healthcare waivers and educational waivers. Are illegal immigrant waivers next? When waivers become the law of the land, there is no law.
• Alabama Too: The Attorney General in Alabama is trying to get the legislature to gut their new, stricter laws dealing with illegal aliens because he doesn’t want to have to go to court to fight for it. The Chamber of Commerce and the agricultural businesses are also supportive of the attempt to gut the laws.

Constitutional Issues

• New Website: Please check out a new website called the Intolerable Acts at http://www.theintolerableacts.org/. There you will find resources to fight against the unconstitutional provisions embedded within the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). There are a number of states that are fighting back by passing resolutions. You can find templates, etc. on the website to use with your own local and state elected officials.
• Still Confused? Are you still confused about NDAA? Click here for a good explanation of why it’s so bad. And there’s more info here from the Tenth Amendment Center, refuting claims from pro-NDAA members of Congress.
• States Fighting Back: Tennessee (again!) is fighting back with legislation to help protect their residents from NDAA. North Carolina and Oklahoma are also fighting back against NDAA.
• Repeal: Ron Paul has a bill that would repeal NDAA, which would allow Congress to rewrite the funding portion of the bill without the unconstitutional portions.
• Enemy Expatriation Act: Read about it here.
• Fast and Furious: This larger-than-life scandal appears to run deep through three departments.

House of Representatives

Weekly Wrap Up – provided by the RSC

• Domestic Energy Production — Last week, the House approved H.R. 3408, Protecting Investment in Oil Shale the Next Generation of Environmental, Energy, and Resource Security (PIONEERS) Act, by a vote of 237-187. As you may have seen, the transportation bill was broken into several sections earlier in the week. The PIONEERS Act was the energy portion of the bill. The highway portion will likely be on the floor the week after recess. The following provisions in this legislation might be of interest to you:

           Keystone XL Pipeline - The legislation directs the Federal Energy Regulatory
           Commission (FERC) to, within 30 days, issue a permit for the construction for
           the Keystone XL Pipeline Project. If FERC does not issue this permit within 30
           days then the permit is deemed to have been issued.
           Oil Shale Leasing – It directs the Secretary of the Interior to conduct at least
           15 commercial lease sales for oil shale development. According to Section
           17003, each sale must consist of 25,000 acres. The legislation also codifies the
           2008 regulations by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the November
           17, 2008 BLM Resource Management Plan Amendments. These both pertain to
           oil shale leasing on federal lands.
           Offshore Oil and Gas Leasing – It also directs the Secretary to conduct
           several oil and gas lease sales off the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) in the Gulf
           of Mexico, offshore Virginia, and offshore southern California. However, oil
           and gas exploration off the coast of California must be done with existing
           offshore infrastructure or from onshore-based drilling. The legislation also
           opens for development approximately 1,350 square miles in the Eastern Gulf of
           Mexico. The Eastern Gulf is currently closed to oil and gas development.
           Further, the legislation requires the Secretary to conduct the proposed lease sale
           in the North Aleutian Basin, in the Bering Sea off the Alaskan coast. The
           legislation also establishes guidelines for revenue sharing for coastal states. Of
           revenues received by the United States, 37.5% shall be allocated to coastal
           states that are affected by the lease sale.
           Alaska Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing – The legislation also repeals the
           ban on, and directs the Secretary to implement, an oil and gas leasing program
           for the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The
           Secretary is also directed to conduct oil and gas lease sales for no less than
           50,000 acres in ANWR, within 22 months of enactment. The Secretary is also
           required to lease oil and gas lease sales of an additional 50,000 acres (at a
           minimum), at 6, 12, and 18-month intervals. The Secretary is allowed to
          designate up to 45,000 acres as “special areas” that are off limits for oil and gas
          exploration. This legislation also requires that 50% of the amount of bonus, rent,
          and royalty revenues from oil and gas leases in the Coastal Plain be deposited in
          the Treasury.

• Payroll Tax Cut Deal — Friday, the House approved a Conference Report to H.R. 3630 (see attached), the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act by a vote of 293-192. The deal reached will provide an extension of the current payroll tax rates for the remainder of calendar year 2012. In addition, it provides a fully offset delay in the implementation of the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (the so-called “Doc-fix”) and extends federally funded Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits (for the tenth time since 2008) for the remainder of calendar year 2012. Many conservatives argue that extending unemployment benefits creates incentives to delay returning to work, which has a negative effect on the economy. It offsets the cost of extended UI benefits and the Doc-fix with a number of provisions to reduce the deficit, including increasing pension contributions for new federal employees, cutting some funding of Obamacare, and auctioning spectrum frequencies. Some conservatives may be concerned that the new revenues generated from these provisions, rather than being used to pay down the national debt, are instead being used for new spending. In addition, the bill reforms the federal UI benefit structure by lowering the maximum number of weeks of UI eligibility and allowing states to require drug testing and job training. (NOTE: RSC Chairman Jordan voted against the conference report.)

            According to CBO, the Conference Report increases the deficit by $101.1
            billion in fiscal year 2012, and $89.3 billion over the 2012-2022 period. The bill
            reduces revenues by $77.6 billion over the 2012-2022 period and increases
            spending by $11.7 billion over the same period, according to CBO’s and
            JCT’s estimates. H.R. 3630 was approved in the House on December 13, 2011
            by a vote of 234–193. Currently these programs are operating under a
            two-month extension (H.R. 3765) set to expire on February 29, 2012.

The Week Ahead

The House will not be in session this coming week.

Senate:  No update has been sent as of this weekend. The Senate will not be in session this coming week.

• Read Mercatus Center’s "Blueprint for Regulatory Reform" and their analysis of the jobs situation. And here are a couple of their charts on employment/unemployment.

TPP Legislative Update & Newsletter: December 5, 2011

Passion to Action

 Call your Representative and ask them to support the REINS Act today!!!

Federal Budget & Spending

 Today is the 951st day since the Senate has passed a budget under the leadership of Harry Reid (D-NV).
 Federal spending has increased 5% in the first nine months of this year alone, contrary to claims that Congress or the President has cut spending.
 What do you think of this line-item veto proposal by Rep. Paul Ryan, who says it will help control wasteful spending? Read more about his “Legislative Text of H.R. 3521 - The Expedited Line-Item Veto and Rescissions Act of 2011.”
 Senate Democrats are trying to roll a payroll tax break extension into an increased tax rate for wealthier Americans, known as a ”millionaire surtax.” Republicans have now released their payroll proposal. Read about it here. What do you think?
 Eric Cantor is working to rescind the automatic cuts to defense that are scheduled as a result of the so-called “Super Committee” failing to agree on a deal. He’s offering House Democrats a deal that would pass their payroll tax break extension, an extension of jobless benefits, other spending measures that Democrats want, and a Medicare reimbursement rate for physicians in exchange for fewer cuts to defense.
 Obama and the Democrats are upping the ante with their class warfare rhetoric. Watch out for this and think about how you can go on the offensive against this divisive and dangerous strategy.

Regulations & Jobs

 Check out the Mercatus Center’s research summary titled, “Ready, Fire, Aim!': A Foundational Problem with Regulations.” You might also want to look at their Regulatory Report Card.
 The REINS Act, a bill that seeks to restrain the overreach and unbearable cost of regulatory adventurism, is the result of one Tea Party Patriot who decided to do something. Read about this tea party victory here.
 REINS Act — This week the House will consider H.R. 10, the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act—offered by RSC Member Rep. Geoff Davis (KY). The bill would restore Congressional accountability for the regulatory process, requiring Congress to take an up-or-down, stand-alone vote, and for the president to sign off on all new major rules—those with an annual economic impact of $100 million or more—before they can be enforced on the American people, businesses, or state and local governments.
 The Republicans in the House have passed 25 bills to help job creators start creating jobs. All 25 of these bills are stuck in the Senate, left there to die by Harry Reid.

Obamacare

 Over the last couple of weeks, the following states have accepted federal money to implement the Obamacare exchanges:
o Alabama, $8.5 million
o Arizona, $29.8 million
o Delaware, $3.4 million
o Hawaii, $14.4 million
o Idaho, $20.3 million
o Iowa, $7.7 million
o Maine, $5.8 million
o Michigan, $9.8 million
o Nebraska, $5.4 million
o New Mexico, $34.2 million
o Tennessee, $1.5 million
o Vermont, $18 million
o Rhode Island, $58.5 million

 GET READY FOR DEATH PANELS. Read about what this caller told Mark Levin. The basis of this is that government is going to be writing strict policies that do not take into account each individual. When government has to create universal policies for the entire country, there will be a lot of dehumanizing effects. This is the exact same thing that England has done since the 1940's to save on costs since it is a government-run system.

 Obamacare incentivizes employers to shove sicker employees off of private insurance and into the taxpayer subsidized exchanges. Make sure to frequently check out the Galen Institute for great up-to-date information about Obamacare.

 An Obamacare “bomb” exploded on December 2 when the HHS rule went into effect that requires private insurance companies to spend “80% of the consumers’ premium dollars they collect — 85% for large group insurers — on actual medical care rather than overhead, marketing expenses and profit.” Private insurers will not be able to sustain this sort of business model and will implode under this ruling. So while Obama may have removed the “public option” from the final legislation, this was his backdoor method of destroying private health care.

Education

 Read: How Replacing the Worst 7% of American Teachers Could Improve Education.
 Think back to your own school days when that extra special teacher had such a great influence on your life. Did that teacher inspire you to try harder and to reach for the stars? More and more studies are demonstrating a direct link between excellent teachers and improved student performance.
 At TEA for Education, we believe that the failure of public education is nothing less than child abuse. Competition through school choice will help weed out the worst teachers and reward those who truly care about the kids. Parents should have a full menu of options and opportunities from which to choose: school choice = freedom.
 Want to help? Contact Bruce Gardner at bruce@teaforeducation.com or Beverly Elliott at beverly@teaforeducation.com
 or visit our website at http://www.teaforeducation.com/  today!

Agenda 21

 Read about how the threat of coal mining shut downs are becoming a reality due to the EPA.
 Volunteers still needed in the following four counties in Tennessee to fight against Regional Smart Growth/Agenda 21 takeover: Meigs, Sequatchie, Bledsoe, and Marion. Please contact Karen Bracken at karenbracken5@gmail.com to volunteer.
 Rep. Joe Walsh has drafted a bill that would block US funding to the United Nations if the UN seeks to impose gun control on US citizens. No bill # yet.
 Information about the unconstitutionality of the International Baccalaureate program.
 The Labor Department is changing the rules about child labor on farms, making it impossible for farm children 16 and under to work on family farms.
 Watch out for a “Community Bill of Rights” initiative in your area next year. One leftist group has put out a template for Occupy groups to rally around and utilize in initiatives during next year’s elections. Here’s the template, here’s the Google doc, and a PDF. These are very bad, so stay on alert in your local community.
 Heritage Foundation writes about the threat of Agenda 21 here.

Illegal Immigration

 Remember, if you are interested in participating in the Tea Party Immigration Coalition’s weekly phone call, please send an email to berksteaparty@berksteaparty.org, expressing your interest.

House of Representatives

 Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act — Last week, the House approved H.R. 3094, the Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act, by a vote of 235-188, pushing back on yet another overreach of Big Labor and the Obama Administration.
 Eliminating Taxpayer Financing of Presidential Elections and the Election Assistance Commission — Also last week, the House passed H.R. 3463 by a vote of 235-190. The bill eliminates the Presidential Election Campaign Fund (PECF), terminates public financing of presidential campaigns, and returns PECF funds to the general treasury for deficit reduction.
 Regulatory Flexibility — Also last week, the House approved H.R. 527, the Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act, by a vote of 263-159. This bill closes loopholes that agencies are exploiting to avoid the requirement that they analyze the effect new regulations would have on small businesses.
 Regulatory Accountability — Again, last week, the House passed H.R. 3010, the Regulatory Accountability Act, by a vote of 253-167. The bill defines “major rule,” “high-impact rule,” “guidance,” and “major guidance” to broaden the definitions of rules that will be impacted by the bill.
 Farm Dust — This week, the House will consider H.R. 1633, The Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act—offered by RSC Member Rep. Kristi Noem (SD). The bill would prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from issuing any new National Ambient Air Quality Standards for coarse particulate matter (aka dust) for at least one year from the date of enactment of the legislation.

 FROM THE RSC: With two weeks of session left before Congress adjourns for the year, a number of items remain outstanding. Some of the items you may be interested in include:

o A “megabus” spending bill will likely be on the floor the week of the December 12, reportedly containing the nine remaining un-passed spending bills. Many conservatives believe that we should not spend more than the House-passed budget level and that any spending package should at least include policy provisions that protect life, defund Obamacare, and remove barriers to economic growth.
o It is also likely that a package that includes an unemployment benefits extension and a payroll tax cut extension will be on the floor that week.
o We may also consider an extension package of expiring tax provisions (AMT patch, expiring credits/deductions, etc.) and the “Doc Fix” (which adjusts the way that physicians are reimbursed under Medicare). If not considered in 2011, any package considered in 2012 would likely be retroactive.

Senate

 The Senate has votes planned on five judgeship nominees. The schedule for the remainder of the week is less clear, as senior lawmakers work behind the scenes to reach agreement on year-end spending and revenue measures.

‘Supercommittee’ Fails to Reach Agreement, Obama Threatens to Veto Any Effort to Get Rid of $1.2T in Automatic Cuts

Posted on November 21, 2011

(The Blaze/AP) Congress’ supercommittee conceded ignominious defeat Monday in its quest to conquer a government debt that stands at a staggering $15 trillion, unable to overcome deep and enduring political divisions over taxes and spending.

Stock prices plummeted at home and across debt-scarred Europe as the panel ended its brief, secretive existence. Republicans and Democrats alike pointed fingers of blame, maneuvering for political advantage in advance of 2012 elections less than a year away. Both sides agreed action was still required, somehow, and soon.

“Despite our inability to bridge the committee’s significant differences, we end this process united in our belief that the nation’s fiscal crisis must be addressed and that we cannot leave it for the next generation to solve,” the panel’s two co-chairs, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Tex., said in a somber statement.

They added it was not possible to present “any bipartisan agreement” – omitting any reference to the goal of $1.2 trillion in cuts over a decade that had been viewed as a minimum for success.

President Barack Obama held a press conference at 5:45 p.m. Monday to discuss the committee’s impotence, and threatened that he will veto any effort to get rid of automatic spending cuts that would take effect in 2013 if Congress can’t find other ways of trimming government deficits:
CONTINUED and VIDEO HERE:
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/deficit-reduction-supercommittee-confirms-failure/

CCTA FEDERAL Watchdog Report- November 15, 2011

Lynn Childs—Federal Watchdog Report/Tea Party Report

Coastal Carolina Taxpayer Association
November 15, 2011

Beaufort Observer: Walter Jones votes "no" of Vets' job bill. One of only 6 no votes. Palombo blasts Jones' vote-- November 14, 2011
The Committee released this video: http://www.beaufortobserver.net/Articles-NEWS-and-COMMENTARY-c-2011-11-14-256985.112112-Walter-Jones-votes-no-of-Vets-job-bill-One-of-only-6-no-votes-brPalombo-blasts-Jones-vote.html

Rep. Walter Jones, of North Carolina's Third Congressional District vote against H. R. 2433. Jones was one of only six representatives to vote "no."
On November 10 the Senate passed the VOW Act. to review the key provision of the VOW Act. Frank Palombo, Jones' opponent in the May Republican Primary, said:  "It is inexcusable that Jones opposed the Veterans Opportunity to Work Act," said Palombo after his interview. "Veterans in eastern North Carolina deserve a Congressman who leads for their benefit," continued Palombo. "Instead we have Jones, who after 16 years in Washington, isn't influential enough to work on this very important bill for his constituents."

"After serving two tours in the Air Force and then building relationships with wonderful veterans while serving in law enforcement, I will be the strongest advocate in Congress for our military heroes and their families. Jones' vote against the VOW Act is another example of how his votes are harming eastern North Carolinians. After 16 years in Congress, Jones has lost touch with the citizens of eastern North Carolina."

RESPONSE FROM WALTER JONES OFFICE—Glen Downs, Chief of Staff:
First of all, “The Beaufort Observer” actually hosted Frank Palombo’s campaign website when he first launched his campaign. We most definitely consider alternative media to be legitimate news sources. But the Beaufort Observer is something else altogether – they are advocating for a candidate.

If he was a real news source, he most likely would have gone and checked our news release from October 13 (see link below), “JONES VOTES AGAINST $1.6 BILLION IN MORTGAGE FEES FOR VETERANS”, and learned his rationale. http://jones.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=268954

“This bill would force veteran homeowners to pay billions more in mortgage fees and then use that money to help other veterans find work,” said Congressman Jones. “Picking the pockets of some veterans in order to help out other veterans is a false choice, and this Congress can do better. To pay for these new work incentives, we should have cut funding for Obamacare, or foreign aid, or any number of other wasteful Washington spending programs, not take money from other veterans. “

Anyway, thanks for checking in to get the facts! Please share the word with other leaders that we are always happy to talk to Tea Party, Liberty, and Tax Payer leaders directly. They can express opinions or concerns, or ask questions, directly with us – no filters!!


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WEBSITE: HOLD THEIR FEET OT THE FIRE-- Feet to the Fire was created to be a one-stop-shop for conservatives seeking a clear view of what our members of Congress actually do, as opposed to what they say. To accomplish this, the site presents a clear and concise ranking showing which representatives adhere to the core values of the Tea Party movement. All bills, amendments, and votes from this session of Congress are easily accessible and are updated regularly throughout the day. Further, the site includes tens of thousands of frequently updated news stories related to members of Congress and to specific pieces of legislation. All of these items are easily searchable.
http://feettothefire.org/

SUPER COMMITTEE UPDATE:
The Hill: GOP wobbles on no-new-taxes vow-- Republicans are beginning to wobble from their categorical opposition to raising taxes, opening the possibility of a deficit-reduction deal by the beginning of next week.

Ten days until the supercommittee’s absolute deadline (counting today) ... six days until the CBO needs to know what it’s scoring if there’s going to be a deal ... and still no glimmer of a bipartisan bargain remotely in sight no matter what co-Chairman Jeb Hensarling says. In fact, Clyburn says his fellow Democrats on the panel are getting more and more itchy to get off the same page, and the Republicans in the group are getting ready for a fusillade of criticism from the rank and file — especially House members returning from a week back home — for their offer to raise $250 billion in new revenue (without actually raising tax rates), which would get one-fifth the way toward the panel’s $1.2 trillion minimum target.

The boomlet today is for the idea that the deal would do nothing more than set reconciliation instructions for a net-revenue-rasing tax overhaul (size not yet determined) to be written next year — and with the same up-or-down-vote/no-filibuster process that’s supposed to help the supercommittee now. It’s the last plausible escape hatch left for the supercommittee to wriggle through, especially because the lawmakers can say their move would be more than kicking the can down the road — it would be facing the reality that rewriting the tax code in a few days would be nearly impossible, because of the prospect that a single misplaced comma could mess things up seriously down the road.

The talk of dismantling the punishment trigger — the across-the-board sequester cutting both military and civilian programs in the absence of a deal — is getting louder again today, mainly because Obama over the weekend made clear that he opposes the idea but pointedly did not use the word “veto” in discussing how he would react to a bill that would disarm the trigger.

2nd Amendment Alert: H.R. 822 is scheduled for a floor vote today!
H.R. 822 is scheduled for a floor vote today, and it is imperative that you call Rep. G. K. Butterfield at (202) 225-3101 and let them know that the federal government has no business messing around with your concealed carry permit.

As you know, I’ve been vocal about my opposition to H.R. 822. I’m worried it will open the door to MASSIVE federal overreach and intrusion into the concealed weapons permit process.

The LAST people we want involved in setting concealed weapons policy are the federal government.

In fact, one of my biggest concerns about concealed carry permits -- the lists of gun owners a permit process creates -- should send shivers down your spine: Imagine Eric Holder and the BATFE with a national database of concealed carry permit holders.

It’s bad enough to have those lists exist at a state level. Once Eric Holder and his cronies find a way to request that list from a state, they’ll do it -- all the in the name of “implementing H.R. 822.” See post on our blogspot!

SUPREME COURT AGREES TO HEAR OBAMACARE LAWSUIT IN MARCH 2011! The Supreme Court said Monday it will hear arguments next March over President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul – Focused on the heart of the 2010 law, a requirement that individuals buy medical insurance starting in 2014 or pay a penalty--a case that could shake the political landscape just as voters are about to decide if Obama deserves another term.

The decision to hear arguments in the spring allows plenty of time for a decision in late June, just over four months before Election Day. This sets up an election-year showdown over the White House’s main domestic policy achievement.

The justices announced they will hear more than five hours of arguments, an extraordinarily long session, from lawyers on the constitutionality of a provision at the heart of the law. The provision in question is the requirement that individuals buy health insurance starting in 2014 or pay a penalty, and other related questions about the act.


CAUTION: ELENA KAGEN still refused to recuse herself—while uber-liberal left and lamestream media try to discredit Clarence Thomas because his wife is Tea Party Supporter—so, if you disagree with Obamacare you can’t hear the case

TEA PARTY PATRIOTS ALERT: Deal in the District--ALERT--November 17, 2011, 12pm-1:00 Local Time -- URGENT! This Thursday, thousands of Tea Party Patriots from across the nation will visit their Representatives’ local offices to tell them…


No more gimmicks. No more lies. Make REAL CUTS and prioritize. Note: Please visit the office at any time on Thursday if you can’t go at noon.  More information on our blogspot: http://cctaxpayers.blogspot.com/2011/11/tea-party-patriots-alert-deal-in.html

TEA PARTY WIN: My inspirational friend Helen in Cary, has been working the phone on the Occupy Wall Street Movement (and helped kick start the eviction in NYC). The plan is we tea partiers would like to camp out and live rent and tax free on government lands and has a tax free organizations set up to help feed and provide us. And while we are at we can cure the homeless problem and move all the homeless to the cities!  See The Blaze and our blog for more information on the OWS efforts!


ANNOUNCEMENTS
Our regular website is http://cctaxpayers.com/
Be sure and read today’s on CCTA Blogspot at http://cctaxpayers .com
And read Lynn’s Daily’s News Digest at http://cctaxpayers.blogspot.com/p/lynns.html

Respectfully,
Lynn Childs
Federal Watchdog and Tea Party Chairman

They're at it again! Dems are using a page from the Gephart playbook to demonize GOP Medicare plan.

Posted by Arthur Bruce Robertson on May 31, 2011
http://www.teapartynation.com/profiles/blog/show?id=3355873%3ABlogPost%3A942934

I first became aware of the cunning manner in which facts are distorted for political purposes back in the 1994 election cycle. Then Missouri Democratic Congressman Dick Gephart demonstrated a mastery for twisting the truth by mis-characterizing it altogether. When Newt Gingrich introduced his "Contract with America" concept for the GOP platform that year, Gephart craftily destroyed what could have been one of the best programs to improve America ever conceived. I found myself frustrated and enraged at the lies and mis-characterizations Gephart kept pounding to defeat Newt's excellent ideas.


I was further dismayed at the seeming lack of active 'defense' offfered by other Republicans, who should have stepped forward to defend against Gephart's oft-repeated lies. I was also amazed at the lack of accountability required by the 'media'. It seemed that regardless of the outrageous claims made by Gephart, no one in the media challenged him to back them up with fact or example. Watching all this political gamesmanship play out is what actually caused me to start paying attention to politics and government generally. The effectiveness of lying, fear mongering, and demogogery proved too much for Newt's Contract With America, especially given that virtually no one was making any effort to defend it or clearify its intentions and benefits.

Today, I am watching history repeat itself, as the Republican plan for an intelligent and necessary re-structuring of Medicare is being assaulted with lies, fear mongering, and demogogery just like the Contract With America was seventeen years ago. Congressman Paul Ryan has stepped forward to boldly address the crisis which looming bankruptcy of Medicare poses. He has offered a simple and effective solution to assure future generations of retiring Americans that healthcare will be available to them when those who are now 55 reach 65 in 2022.

The plan involves ending the fee for service arrangement of today, which has been proven to be horrendously inefficient and fraught with waste and fraud. In its place, the government would simply provide the money for seniors to purchase health insurance in the open market. This plan would utilize the competitive forces at work between the various insurance companies to create a better product at a lower cost. By moving seniors into the private market for their healthcare, the climate for waste, fraud and abuse would be eliminated, while giving Seniors more choices. A much better way of handling the healthcare needs of retiring Americans, while saving taxpayers billions. With the budget deficit and National debt under discussion, Ryan's plan, endorsed by most Republican members of Congress, offers one giant step toward fiscal responsibility and a balanced budget. A good thing for America, right? Of course it is, but the wicked Democrats can't stand it.


No, they must seize the opportunity to politicize Ryan's plan, painting it as 'doomsday' for Seniors and for one purpose: If they can scare Seniors and others approaching retirement into believing the Ryan plan is not in their best interest they hope to turn them against not only the plan, but against Republicans generally, and secure them as Democratic voters in 2012. By lies and mis-characterizations Democrats hope to frighten voters into believing Republicans are scoundrels and Democrats deserve their support. Even though Democrats have not offered any solutions of their own, other than "Obamacare", they want to destroy the Ryan plan before it gets traction in the Congress or with the public at large. Regardless of its merits, they would use lies and scare tactics to defeat it, simply to convince more voters to vote Democratic in 2012. That is not only dirty, it is patently unpatriotic!

Terms like, "kill Medicare", "destroy Medicare as we know it", "hand Seniors over to the evil Insurance industry", "deny Seniors that which they've spent their whole lives building" and other such gross misrepresentations are already having their effect on uninformed and gullible Seniors. Witness a recent State election in which the Democrat won in a formerly very Republican stronghold. If Republicans nationwide don't take action to properly define and frame the Ryan plan for Seniors, I fear for its success. If Democrats succeed with their scare tactics, based on lies and mis-representations, we may once again witness the counter-productive results of the Gephart stategy. Dems will do their best to make the 2012 election a referendum on Ryan's plan to reduce Federal spending, balance the budget and save Medicare from bankruptcy. And they will be using the Gephart playbook all the way to election day.

FEDERAL LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

U.S. Congress


Continuing Resolution for Current Fiscal Year:  On March 17, 2011 the Senate passed another short-term Continuing Resolution (CR) for this fiscal year, which extends funding of the government until April 8. The vote was 87 to 13. Both Senators Burr and Hagan voted for the bill.


Some notable conservative Republicans such as Senators Jim Demint (R-SC), Rand Paul (R-KY), and Marco Rubio (R-FL) were among the nine Republicans voting against the CR because it only cut $6 billion in funding from current levels that both Republicans and Democrats had targeted. In addition they may have considered that mandatory federal spending as of March 16th exceeded all federal revenue (Weekly Standard cited by Red State). The $6 billion in CR cuts were mostly for earmarks, wildfire-suppression efforts, and technology funds for the Social Security Administration.

The two parties are $50 billion apart on cuts to the budget for the current fiscal year, that include riders identified by the House such as funding for Obamacare, Planned Parenthood, Environmental Protection Agency Clean Air regulations, and other liberal priorities. (The Wall Street Journal)

The House voted on the CR on March 15 where it passed 271 to 158 with 3 not voting.

NC Representatives voting for the CR: G. K. Butterfield (D-1st), Renee Ellmers (R-2nd), David E. Price (D-4th), Virginia Foxx (R-5th), Howard Coble (R-6th), Larry Kissell (D-8th), Sue Myrick (R-9th), Patrick Mc Henry (R-10th), Heath Shuler (D-11th), and Brad Miller (D-13th).

NC Representatives voting against the CR: Walter B. Jones, Jr. (R-3rd), Mike McIntyre (D-7th), and Melvin L. Watt (D-12th).

The House of Representatives

Federal Funding of National Public Radio (NPR):  On March 17the House voted on HB 1076 to end federal funding of NPR, and to prohibit federal funds from being used to acquire radio content. The vote passed 228 to 192 with 1 voting present and 11 not voting. For NC Representatives, the vote was along party lines with Republicans voting to end federal taxpayer funding of NPR and Democrats voting to continue the funding.

Final Vote on Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) Termination:  On March 16, the House passed legislation to end the NSP program enacted in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The bill was for the "redevelopment of abandoned and foreclosed homes and residential properties" as assistance to local and state governments. The bill cancels all funding balances that are unobligated (have no legal liability).

The vote was 242 to 182 with 8 not voting. NC Republican Representatives voted for the bill and NC Democrat Representatives against it.

Sick and getting sicker, Social Security will run at a deficit this year

Social Security Fund to Be Empty by 2037

Sick and getting sicker, Social Security will run at a deficit this year and keep on running in the red until its trust funds are drained by about 2037, congressional budget experts said Wednesday in bleaker-than-previous estimates.    
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/01/27/social-security-fund/

CNSNews.com

Debt Has Increased $5 Trillion Since Speaker Pelosi Vowed, ‘No New Deficit Spending’


Monday, October 25, 2010


By Terence P. Jeffrey

(CNSNews.com) - When Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) gave her inaugural address as speaker of the House in 2007, she vowed there would be “no new deficit spending.” Since that day, the national debt has increased by $5 trillion, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.

"After years of historic deficits, this 110th Congress will commit itself to a higher standard: Pay as you go, no new deficit spending,” Pelosi said in her speech from the speaker’s podium. “Our new America will provide unlimited opportunity for future generations, not burden them with mountains of debt."

Pelosi has served as speaker in the 110th and 111th Congresses.

At the close of business on Jan. 4, 2007, Pelosi’s first day as speaker, the national debt was $8,670,596,242,973.04 (8.67 trillion), according to the Bureau of the Public Debt, a division of the U.S. Treasury Department. At the close of business on Oct. 22, it stood at $13,667,983,325,978.31 (13.67 trillion), an increase of 4,997,387,083,005.27 (or approximately $5 trillion).

Pelosi, the 60th speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, has added more to the national debt than the first 57 House speakers combined.

The $4.997-trillion increase in the national debt since she took the gavel is more debt than the federal government amassed from the speakership of Rep. Frederick Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania, who became the first speaker of the House on April 1, 1789, to the start of the speakership of Rep. Newt Gingrich of Georgia, the 58th speaker, who took up the gavel on Jan. 4, 1995.


The national debt first topped $5 trillion on Feb. 23, 1996, more than a year into Gingrich’s speakership.

Gingrich served as speaker in the 104th and 105th Congresses, officially taking the office on Jan. 4, 1995 and leaving office on Jan. 3, 1999. During that period, according to the Treasury Department, the national debt increased $812.4 billion dollars ($812,423,595,162.98), rising from $4.8 trillion ($4,801,793,426,032.89) to $5.6 trillion ($5,614,217,021,195.87).

Rep. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), the 59th speaker, who presided over the 106th, 107th, 108th and 109th Congresses (serving as speaker from Jan. 6, 1999 to Jan. 3, 2007), enjoys the distinction of having increased the debt more than any other speaker except Pelosi. During Hastert’s time, the national debt increased $3.1 trillion ($3,061,785,703,851.74).

Thus far (the 111th Congress will not be done until the end of the year), Pelosi has increased the debt by an average of $2.5 trillion for each Congress she has led as speaker. Hastert increased the debt by an average of about $785 billion per Congress, while Gingrich increased the debt by an average of $406 billion per Congress.

Under the U.S. Constitution, the federal government cannot spend any money that has not been approved by congressional appropriations; and, by congressional precedent, appropriations bills originate in the House.

"No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law," says Article 1, Section 9, Clause 7 of the Constitution.

“By precedent, appropriations originate in the House, with the Senate following suit,” says the House Rules Committee in an explanation of the appropriations process.

Annual federal expenditures have increased by about $730 billion in the Pelosi era, while annual deficits have increased almost 8 fold. In fiscal 2007, when Pelosi became speaker, the federal government spent $2.73 trillion and ran an annual deficit of $162.8 billion, according to the Treasury Department. In fiscal 2009, the federal government spent $3.52 trillion and ran an annual deficit of $1.4157 trillion. In fiscal 2010, the federal government spent $3.46 trillion and ran an annual deficit of $1.2941 trillion.

“The 2010 deficit was equal to 8.9 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), CBO estimates, down from 10.0 percent in 2009 (based on the most current estimate of GDP),” the Congressional Budget Office said in its October Monthly Budget Review. “The 2010 deficit was the second-highest shortfall—and 2009 the highest—since 1945, relative to the size of the economy.”

SEE VIDEO: 
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/debt-has-increased-5-trillion-speaker-pe

It’s the Spending, Stupid

September 24, 2010 by Chip Wood



(NOTE:  Congress has now put off acting on renewing the Bush tax cuts until after the election, in an effort to get re-elected first, then rest assured they will put the screws to us!  PLEASE SUPPORT CONSERVATIVE CANDIDATES NOW--AND GET OUT AND VOTE NOVEMBER 2nd!~Lynn)
Now there’s a message I hope you’ll see and hear a lot between now and election day — on bumper stickers on the backs of cars, in email messages and letters to the editor, on radio talk shows and a hundred other places; including in front of every polling place in the country, if that were allowed.
Please do your share to pass it around — including sending this column to a few dozen friends and family members who should read it. I wish I could take credit for the slogan — an obvious twist on the James Carville/Bill Clinton message two decades ago — but I can’t. It was the headline in a Daniel Henninger column last week in The Wall Street Journal.


Henninger began by quoting the president at a town-hall meeting in Fairfax, Va., where our Obfuscator in Chief attempted to explain the election victories of various Tea Party candidates.

“They saw the Recovery Act. They saw TARP. They saw the auto bailout. And they look at these and think, ‘God, all these huge numbers adding up.’ So they’re right to be concerned about that.”

Right. You feel our pain. I think we’ve heard that before.

Of course, the president could also have mentioned new deficits of more than a trillion dollars a year, two $3-trillion budgets since he took office, and a trillion-dollar healthcare entitlement shoved down our throats. Voters aren’t just “concerned,” Mr. President. Many of them have had it up to here with bloated, wasteful government spending. They are, to quote a wonderful old movie, mad as h**l and they’re not going to take it anymore.

If you consider yourself one of the “they” referred to above, you can take heart from the latest poll results. Last week the Rasmussen poll queried potential voters. Nearly seven out of 10 — an outstanding 68 percent of the total — said they want smaller government and lower taxes, even if that comes at the cost of fewer services.

The number was highest, of course, among people who identified themselves as Republicans, with 88 percent saying they wanted spending reduced. Democrats scored the lowest, but a still impressive 44 percent in favor of cuts. And where did the independents fall? Some 74 percent joined the anti-spending crowd.

My liberal friends, you’ve got trouble. Big trouble. And not just in River City. I’m not sure there’s a lie big enough, or a smear nasty enough, to keep you from getting your heads handed to you this fall.

f I were running against an incumbent, one of the first questions I would ask is, where were you when the tax cuts expired? And why did you do nothing to preserve them?

In case you’ve missed all the hullabaloo, here’s what’s happening… or, to be accurate, not happening.

Back in 2001, blessed by a healthy Republican majority in the House and Senate, George Bush persuaded Congress to approve some of the largest tax cuts in our country’s history. The Democrats couldn’t stop the legislation, but they very cleverly exacted a condition: The tax cuts would expire on Dec. 31, 2010, unless Congress extended them.

We’re getting awfully close to the witching hour and thus far, Congress hasn’t done a thing… except expend a lot of hot air. If Congress does nothing over the next three months — and usually, I’ve got to admit, that’s exactly what I wish the esteemed men and women who represent us would do — you and every other taxpayer in this country will see a lot more money taken from your pocket next year and given to Uncle Sam.

In fact, it will amount to the largest tax increase in U.S. history. And it will impact almost every taxpayer in the country. The front-page story in my local paper said it all: “Unless Congress acts, almost all earning levels will be paying more — from the wealthy to the working poor.”

And please don’t let anyone sucker you into believing that what’s at stake here are “tax breaks for the wealthy.” That is a bunch of hokum. Listen to this: “A typical family of four with a household income of $50,000 a year would have to pay $2,900 more in taxes in 2011, according to a new analysis by Deloitte Tax LLP, a tax-consulting firm,” according to a story by The Associated Press.

But if you do make more than Obama’s $250,000 threshold, get ready to be really hammered. Starting on Jan. 1, 2011, the top marginal income-tax rate is set to increase to 39.6 percent from 35 percent. The phase-out of itemized deductions will raise that rate to 40.8 percent. Now that Obamacare has passed there will also be a 3.8 percent healthcare tax, starting in 2013. So the total Federal tax rate for our highest earners will be 44.6 percent.

But, in fact, it will be even higher. When the Bush tax cuts expire, taxes on stock dividends and capital gains will go from 15 percent to 20 percent. President Barack Obama has said he would like to see them raised as high as 28 percent.

And here’s an astounding fact that is known (or should be) to every member of Congress: Whenever Congress has increased taxes on capital gains in the past, actual tax collections have gone down.  (PROVEN FACT)

That’s right: When government raises the tax rate, actual receipts drop. When you think about it, it’s not hard to understand why. Capital gains only occur when someone sells an investment and reports making a profit on it. But most of the time, they don’t have to sell. Given the mood of the country right now, how many investors will sit on their holdings rather than give more and more of them to a greedy, grasping, irresponsible government?

Oh, and there’s one more monstrosity racing down the road toward us. That is the re-imposition of the dreaded estate tax. Beginning next year the estate tax is slated to return to 55 percent on inheritances above $1 million. Right now, because Congress did nothing last year, the estate tax is zero. That explains the delirious joy on the part of the heirs of such billionaires as John Kluge and George Steinbrenner.

By dying this year, they saved their families over a billion dollars in taxes. Imagine — their heirs got all the money, not Uncle Sam. No wonder the distributionists among us are having apoplexy.

Where does all that money go? Part of it makes certain that Federal employees now make, on average, more than twice as much as workers in the private sector. That’s the startling conclusion of an analysis by USA Today, which found that anyone lucky enough to be gobbling at the Federal trough receives, on average, some $41,791 in benefits a year.

That’s in addition to a salary, on average, of $81,258 a year. Private workers, in comparison, earn only $61,051 in total compensation.

Let me repeat the first number, to make sure you grasp it. The average benefits of a Federal employee, above and beyond the salary he or she actually gets paid, comes to $41,791 a year.

If that isn’t enough to make you want to throw some tea into Boston Harbor — and a whole bunch of incumbents along with it, I don’t know what will.

Until next time, keep some powder dry.

— Chip Wood

http://www.personalliberty.com/conservative-politics/government/its-the-spending-stupid/?eiid=&rmid=2010_09_24_PLA&rrid=243405105