All posts by Ross

Politics

The Tax Hammer And Abortion

The latest example of government greed and how politicians use the tax code, and create new taxes if they have to, to get access to your wallet and change behavior of industry, a company, or people, comes from a story from the City of Philadelphia.  The city has started a beverage tax in the amount of 1.5 cents per ounce. Beverages taxed are . . .

Soda (regular and diet); non-100%-fruit drinks; sports drinks; sweetened water; energy drinks; pre-sweetened coffee or tea; and non-alcoholic beverages intended to be mixed into an alcoholic drink.

Sales taxes and Excise taxes are levied on everyone. Like on cigarettes, gasoline, alcohol. Politicians pick either something addictive, a necessity, or otherwise popular for a reliable revenue stream.  No matter the reason they give for needing more money from you than they are already getting, just know that they’ve got you by the short hairs.

And there’s nothing more the Left likes more than taxes. Oh wait. Yes there is. They like abortion more. There is a whole abortion industry out there. And Planned Parenthood is the leader of the pack.

I don’t know why Democrats haven’t thought of this already? I did, and I hate taxes. I especially hate them when they are swung with The Tax Hammer to target a specific industry, goods, services, or people. Any tax will cause a behavioral change. A multi-national company might move offshore. A smoker might try cutting back. A poor person in the ghetto might tend to crime to help make up what he/she is paying in taxes.

How about we test the Left’s priorities on taxation and behavioral management. An excise tax on abortions. Maybe there will be fewer? There are already taxes on medical devices. Talk about a guaranteed revenue source, tax abortions. Propose that, sit back, and watch the fur fly.

Links: Philly’s Drink Tax Is Hurting Consumers, Businesses, and the Poor  |  Philadelphia Beverage Tax

Media, Politics, Whiners

aSide Order

1 Comment

Flashback to the 60’s

The political left is reliving the good old days. Time for responsibility and accountability at UCB. Gov. Reagan handled it like this.

No federal dollars to a sanctuary school and a school that won’t allow free speech and can’t control their “students.”

Bullshit News Explained

 

Trump Listens to Obama-Clinton on Immigration

Priceless.

Immigration, Politics

That’s Not Who We Are

I’m getting tired of hearing, from the people wanting open borders, and who want to snatch people from terrorist hotbed countries and bring them here, drone on about “we are a nation of immigrants” as though that grants some automatic pass to bring them here and, commit suicide in the process, gambling with Americans’ lives.

Tired of hearing it because, we are not a nation of immigrants. We are a nation of citizens. American citizens. Many of whom immigrated here. And American citizens have a right to decide whether, who, and how many immigrants we accept. Whose interests are immigration laws supposed to serve — and whose interests do current immigration reform proposals actually serve?

Sorry but, when there is no assimilation of American values and culture, that is NOT “who we are.” And that includes learning and speaking English.

There was a 40 year halt to immigration, 1925-1965, for the purpose of obtaining assimilation. Immigration resumed in 1965. Maybe it’s time to do that again?

There’s nothing wrong or un-American about this country being a so-called melting pot. What’s wrong is to let the pot melt.

Media

Media Watchdog Dead

Remember when the media was all aflutter about Republican  obstructionists, creating gridlock in Washington, when Barack Obama was president? Have you heard the media raise the specter of that now? It’s a rhetorical question.

What we hear from the media now is things like Democrats trying to stop Donald Trump on (fill in the blank). Democrats push back at Trump’s (fill in the blank.)

They can’t hide their bias any longer. They’re a joke, just like the anarchists in the streets.

Judiciary, Politics

Acting AG Replaced

President Trump, not one to accept insubordination by someone refusing to do their job for obvious political reasons, fired Sally Q. Yates, the acting Attorney General appointed by President Obama.

Dana J. Boente, who was appointed by President Trump this evening to serve as acting Attorney General, tonight issued the following guidance to the men and women of the department:

On January 30, 2017, Acting Attorney General Sally Q. Yates issued a memorandum barring Department of Justice Attorney’s from presenting arguments in defense of the President’s January 27, 2017, Executive Order entitled “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States.” At approximately 9:00 p.m., I was asked by the President to serve in the capacity of Acting Attorney General. After having dedicated the last thirty-three years of my life to this Department, I am humbled and incredibly honored to serve as Acting Attorney General. Based upon the Office of Legal Counsel’s analysis, which found the Executive Order both lawful on its face and properly drafted, I hereby rescind former Acting Attorney General Sally Q. Yates January 30, 2017, guidance and direct the men and women of the Department of Justice to do our sworn duty and to defend the lawful orders of our President.

Link: DOJ Press Release

Media, Organized Labor, Politics

Organized Labor Declines

The Dept of Labor released their report on Union Membership last week. Not surprisingly, the AP had a cow and came way far from reporting what the report means and what the report shows.

The only national number the AP used was comparing Wisconsin’s union membership, 8 percent, to be below the national average of 10.7 percent. There’s not a word about the serious overall national decline in union membership. Let alone the performance during the last eight years of the Obama administration. Those are facts the AP, whose journalists are mostly if not entirely members of the News Media Guild, doesn’t like. So it didn’t report them.

The AP then blamed right to work legislation as the reason for that shortfall without offering any “proof” that right to work legislation caused any part of Wisconsin’s union membership decline in 2016. Overall, Wisconsin’s union membership dropped by only 4,000 in 2016 to 219,000.

The situation for organized labor goes way beyond Wisconsin. Florida dropped 90,000 members since 2015, representing 5.6 percent of workers compared to 6.8 percent the previous year.

And this is what the labor union membership looks like after eight years of the Obama administration.

What else happened last week? The XL Pipeline and Dakota Access Pipeline projects got the go-ahead from President Trump. All union  jobs. And, Labor Union leaders met with President Trump in The White House to talk jobs. Reminds me of a question often raised in the 2016 presidential campaign. What have you got to lose?

Links: Union Membership (Annual) News Release  |  AP Ignores Falling Obama-Era U.S. Union Membership, Takes Aim at Wisconsin

Economy, Immigration, Politics

Cost Per Household?

Who knew that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was a numbers guy? He figured out that the U.S.-Mexico border barrier that President Trump ordered this week could cost a projected $15 billion, once. That translates to $120 per household, based on the latest Census date of U.S. households.

Here is another number that Majority Leader McConnell should be concerned with. How much are illegal aliens already here costing U.S. households? That is $113 Billion. And that translates to  $904, per year per household.

But the pressure on education, health care, infrastructure, prisons, jobs and unemployment are not the only cost. That $113 Billion does not count the people illegals have killed, raped, robbed, and assaulted. All preventable crimes if the border were secure. Can Sen. McConnell put a price on that? Is Sen. McConnell suggesting that Mexico reimburse the U.S. $113 Billion per year?

Let’s see, a one-time charge of $120 or an annual charge of $904. Where do I send my check?

Granted, even after the border is as secure as possible, and the welcome mat for illegals has been pulled, that $904 number won’t go away in the short term. Once illegal immigration is no longer an issue, it will in the long term.

I know President Trump ran on Mexico paying for it. His bravado. That would be nice. But not necessary. Mexico pays for the wall that they have on their southern border. For as little as it would cost to build, just do it already.

Mexico will “pay” for it in other ways. Like by having to deal with their own unhappy people instead of shooing them here, across the border, and transporting them from their southern border to our southern border, only to send remittances back.

Remittances used to be Mexico’s second highest source of income. Second only to oil. With crude oil prices dropping, remittances are now their highest source of income.  And that amounts to $2 Billion per month leaving the U.S. economy. That’s how illegals “contribute” to our economy. Kind of like how multi-national corporations “contribute” to the economy by sheltering their assets from the onerous tax code.

The bold truth is, the U.S. is not Mexico’s welfare department. And the U.S. isn’t here to be their auxiliary country because of the corruption in their government and the drug cartels. A secure border would not only help keep Americans safer, but it might be the wake-up call Mexico needs to clean up their act.

And on that “big beautiful wall, with a great big door,” post a sign on the south side of the door.  “Para ingresar a los Estados Unidos, diríjase al consulado más cercano. Ellos están ahí para ayudarte. – For entry into the United States, please go to the nearest consulate. They are there to help you.”

Link: Trump’s wall could cost an estimated $120 per US household  |  The Bank of Mexico says money sent home by Mexicans overtaking oil revenues as a source of foreign income for the first time  |  HOW MEXICO FACILITATES ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

2016 Election, Media

aSide Order

Liberal Talkers Move To Russian Media

Where do liberal talk show hosts go when they have no ratings? They go to Russian media RT of course. You know, part of that Russia propaganda machine that liberals and the Hillary Campaign say got Trump elected.

Rush Limbaugh wannabes like Ed Shultz and Mike Papantonio.

endofstory

The Swamp Is In Auto-drain Mode

U.S. Border Patrol Chief Mark Morgan has reportedly left the agency a day after President Trump signed an executive order to build a wall on the Mexican border. That he didn’t resign years ago when President Obama tied his hands behind his back in enforcing immigration law says a lot.

Four senior level management people at the State Department resigned yesterday. Described as the entire senior level of management at the State Department. Part of an ongoing mass exodus of senior foreign service officers who don’t want to stick around for the Trump era.

Saving President Trump the trouble.

endofstory

Dishonest Media Should Pay The Price

That there exists a dishonest media, one with its own leftist tilt, isn’t even debatable. This has been highlighted in the news cycles and Daily Press Conferences since Inauguration Day last Friday.

We’ve seen MSNBC’s personality Chris Matthews refer to Trump’s inauguration speech as “Hitlerian.” We’ve seen CNN make fake news reports and get called out on it by no less than President Trump himself.

trump hitler

Yet there has been no media cacophony suggesting that Jim Acosta, CNN and Chris Matthews and MSNBC be banned from future access and interviews, like Barack Obama did after Barbara West of Orlando’s WFTV asked VP Candidate Joe Biden what Americans would think about Marxist / Socialist tendencies of then candidate Barack Obama. Some were calling for her to be fired, for asking questions that the mainstream media would dare not ask. And never did. One could argue that, had candidate Obama been vetted by the press, Hillary Clinton would have beaten Obama in the 2008 primary.

Immigration, Politics

Mexico’s “Migrants”

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, like his predecessor Vicente Fox, is using the ‘M’ word, in speaking about Mexicans. He spoke with President Trump by phone on Saturday, and said Mexico would demand that the U.S. guarantee humane treatment and respect the rights of Mexican migrants.

No, Mexicans are not migrants. Animals migrate. Human beings immigrate. And like Mexico, we have immigration laws that we will now start enforcing.

His reference to Mexicans as being migrants is to presume that they can’t help themselves, they are driven by Mother Nature, like hummingbirds, to migrate North into the United States. But unlike hummingbirds, they don’t return to where they started.

Nieto doesn’t want the remittances interfered with. Wire transfer of money from illegals to Mexico is Mexico’s second largest revenue source. If it were me, I’d not allow wire transfers to or from illegals in this country. Call it a matter of national security. After all, terrorists can do it too. And we don’t need to help terrorism.

All the humane treatment an illegal alien is owed is free passage South of the border. And whether that should be “free” is debatable.

Link: Mexico Vows to Protect Migrants, Free Trade in Talks With Trump Administration

Economy, Fair Tax, IRS, Media, Politics

How Is The FairTax Fair?

Glad you asked. Actually, a FB buddy, John Ingraham Berry said, and asked:

Burdensome on those families and individuals who have very little… have a little trouble grasping and seeing the fairness of this concept.

It’s really very easy, especially on the poor. Once you understand what’s in the bill, it’s like a ‘slap yourself in the head’ brilliant concept. For lack of any media excitement or mediocre coverage of the FairTax, getting people to learn what’s in the bill, as opposed to what the establishment says about it, which is pure demagoguery, is the biggest challenge.

Under every circumstance EXCEPT the FairTax, a consumption tax is regressive. By percentage of income, it hurts the poor the worst. The FairTax doesn’t do that. It is progressive in a way that benefits the poor the most, as you will see below.

Here’s the short version.

1.) Everything everyone (poor included) buys today is paying all the income and corporate tax, capital gains, gift, estate, alternative minimum, SS and Unemployment tax, and self-employment tax of everyone involved in bringing that item to market, from raw materials, to manufacturing, to transportation, and all the costs of a wholesaler and retailer to bring the item to you, the final consumer. Call that the “embedded” tax. Everyone pays it, it’s in the cost of the item. It just isn’t itemized on your receipt. It’s hidden in that way, but it is there. Under the FairTax, the amount of federal tax you pay will be printed on your receipt. Totally transparent.

Now imagine what the same item would cost if there were no embedded taxes, if that product could be made with none of the above taxes. After over $22 million of research, the percentage amounts to about 22 % less.

The research included, of course, finding out what people buy at all income levels. No small task. That done, for the FairTax to be ‘revenue neutral,’ the FairTax percentage comes in at 23%.

That doesn’t mean an item automatically costs 23% more under the FairTax than it does today. When you remove the 22% embedded tax, and replace it with a 23% sales tax, you see a 1% increase in price on a widget. This is an average, not an absolute. One method is swapped with the other, having a negligible effect on cost to consumer.

2.) Here’s what the critics don’t tell you, or don’t know about. There is NO TAX on used items, including a car, motorcycle, boat, or house sold that was not bought by the ORIGINAL owner. The sales tax is ONLY for NEW items purchased for the FIRST TIME. Fair thing is, this applies the same to everyone, at all income levels. Including tourists, diplomats and other non-citizens.

3.) Because it is a consumption tax, assessed to new items sold, everyone pays it. The tax base instantly expands to 320,000,000 people instead of only legal citizens who have a job. What we have now is an income tax. No income = no tax revenue. And a tax base less than half of that. And because of that dynamic, the FairTax is a more stable revenue source. Fair thing is, this applies the same to everyone, at all income levels. Including foreign tourists, diplomats and other non-citizens, legal or illegal. And that tax never exceeds 23%.

4.) This is the part that makes this consumption tax progressive, instead of regressive. The Prebate. Designed to be the same, aka fair. Everyone gets this prebate based on the number of people in the household. And the prebate is for legal U.S. citizens only.

Now a new term to learn, effective tax rate. Based on the consumer spending research mentioned above, the amount of the prebate is figured to offset the sales taxes that would be paid for the basic necessities that everyone buys up to the poverty level as determined by HHS. It is paid to the household every month. Taking the prebate into account, lower income people pay less than 23%. In fact, the prebate at the lowest income levels make the effective tax rate a negative number. An income stream.

5.) Absent all the embedded taxes, at the federal level, the term ‘take home pay’ becomes obsolete. Your gross pay is also your net pay. THAT makes a big difference for all people, especially the poor. Currently, for every job, and many people do have 2 or more jobs, they pay those embedded taxes. Can’t get more regressive than that. Imagine the effect when they are not taxed every time they get another job. Purchasing power goes up for everyone, only greater for the poor. The rich pay the maximum 23%. But since “the rich” also buy more, they pay more taxes in dollars, obviously, than the poor, when they buy their yachts, cars, planes and other high-end toys. That’s how it affects families of all income levels, on the personal level.

6.) No more income taxes to file. And because of that, there is no compliance cost incurred to pay them. No tax preparers, accountants, or tax lawyers to pay. In total, a saving of over $400 billion. And, the IRS is effectively gone.

7.) On the national, macro level, absent the income tax, the $10-15 trillion that U.S. companies have sheltered overseas will come back to be invested here, since there will not be a tax obligation to shelter it from. Then, with the absence of an income tax, foreign business will come here and open up shop. The U.S. will become a global magnet for businesses. The U.S. will become the “offshore tax haven.” There will be a job for anyone who wants to work. Maybe more jobs than people. And competition between employers to get employees will do what? Increase wages. We will experience real economic growth on a personal and national level. And none of it  government subsidized, adding to the national debt.

fair-tax-before-after1

How the politicians spend that is another matter. The FairTax is only to be the replacement source for funding the government. It has nothing to do with how that money is spent or where it is allocated.

You can read the text of the bill HERE. It’s not 75,000 pages like the current IRS code. H.R. 25 is a whopping 132 pages long. And more information is available at the link at the upper right-hand corner of your screen.

Link: H.R. 25: FairTax Act of 2017