Category Archives: Media

2010 Election, Economy, Media, Politics

One Thing That’s Up, Poverty

The number of people in the U.S. who are in poverty is on track for a record increase on President Barack Obama’s watch, with the ranks of working-age poor approaching 1960s levels that led to the national war on poverty.
But here’s the good part. The sympathetic media calls it ‘unfortunate.’

It’s unfortunate timing for Obama and his party just seven weeks before important elections when control of Congress is at stake.

Unfortunate timing for Obama? Is that the news analysis? Screw the folks, their readers, I guess.

But rest assured that Obama will not rest until everyone that wants a job has one.

Link: Record gains for U.S. poverty

Florida, Iran, Media, Race Relations, War On Terror

Quran Burning Day, Misquided

No doubt that Rev. Terry Jones, the minister of a so-called church (in Florida no less) is out to get some publicity. Regardless of the fact that doing so will only stir up emotions among the good Muslims or those ‘on the fence’ in being on the right side of the war on terror, this fool is hell-bent on doing it. There is also no doubt that he can do it, legally. The same as that Imam Rauf guy can build a mosque in a building that was hit in the 9/11 attack, making it actual ground zero. But in both cases it would be wrong and insensitive to do it. Chaulk it up to having a secular government with inherent freedoms.

Gen. David Petraeus expressed concern that this Quran burning party would endanger U.S. troops in theater. More than they are already in danger. Also no doubt, the General has a point. But let’s face it. The enemy there is and always will be our enemy until they either surrender or die. Not burning a Quran is not going to change that fact. And given the motivation of those radical Islamists, who betray Islam, the best thing the General can do is kill them. War is about killing people and breaking things. The responsibility to ‘finish them’ belongs to the Commander in Cheif. Think that will happen?

Also, have you noticed the same people who ran in front of the camera in support of that Imam are missing with respect to Rev. Jones? Same issue, rights and freedom. But like the proposed ground zero mosque, just because it could be done, doesn’t mean it should be done. Rev. Jones needs to get a grip, same as Rev. Wright needs to get a grip. Both are preaching and fomenting hate. One is a race bigot, the other a religious bigot.

There is an opportunity and a role that the media could play in this sick display planned by Rev. Jones. They could flat-out ignore him. Ignore him in print and on TV. That would be acting responsibly.

Also acting responsibly would be to deal with the real issues of oppressive Muslim society where it comes to stoning a woman in Iran. THAT ought to be front-page, above the fold. Not this jerk in Florida.

This undated file image made available by Amnesty International in London on Thursday, July 8, 2010, shows Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a mother of two who was sentenced to death by stoning in Iran on charges of adultery. Ashtiani is now facing a new punishment of 99 lashes because a British newspaper ran a picture of an unveiled woman mistakenly identified as her, the woman’s son said Monday. (AP Photo/Amnesty International, File)

Related Links: EU decries ‘barbaric’ plans to stone Iranian woman |  Holder: Quran burning idiotic and dangerous

2010 Election, Florida, Media, Politics

Three Four-Way Debates in Florida’s Gubernatorial Contest

Good call for the Lakeland Ledger to call for a debate among the four leading gubernatorial candidates. The Ledger quotes Alex Sink as asking for debates. Good for the Ledger to call her on it.

“Let’s debate the issues in three statewide debates,” she said. “Let’s call out our differences instead of calling names.”

A four-way debate, fairly moderated, will show Floridians who has a plan, already proven to work, to rescue Floridians and Florida’s economy and create jobs. Only one candidate does, Farid Khavari. But don’t take my word for it. Look at his economic plan for Florida.

Thanks to the alternative media for calling it to our attention. Can’t depend on the media watchdog to do its job. That dog died years ago.

For a good example of media bias, check out the Miami Herald’s idea of the race for Florida’s governor. Talk about circling the wagons. . .   They omitted Dr. Khavari. Included Chiles, but excluded Khavari?

The Herald’s so-called ‘Public Insight Network’ is not showing any public insight at all.

Let’s have that debate. Floridians deserve it.

Links: Florida Newspaper Calls for Four-Way Debates in Gubernatorial Contest |  Candidates, voters, talk about the key issues | Khavari’s Economic Plan for Florida

2010 Election, Economy, Media, Politics, Venezuela

Biden, ‘We’re Moving In The Right Direction’

1 Comment

The media is dutifully in line with the administration in talking about this ‘summer of recovery.’ Obama was talking about this summer, right?

The theme is ripe for a SNL skit. The media and administration are trying to put lipstick on a pig by saying that the economic recovery isn’t happening as fast as they had expected. The punch line is you first have to have a recovery.

They just can’t and won’t admit that the policies implemented are making matters worse, not better.  Saying that it isn’t happening as fast as hoped entirely misses the point.  (The media watchdog died years ago.) There hasn’t been any recovery yet. Unemployment is still high and getting worse. The FUD factor (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) created by this administration has not abated one bit. People and entrepreneurs are holding on to whatever assets they have, afraid of what the administration will do to them, their business, their taxes, or to their employees next. Working people are hitting their retirement accounts just to get by. Just like Obama is providing their children’s and grandchildren’s future debt, their parents are spending their retirement money before they retire. See any red flags here?

And Vice President Biden is still bold to say . . .

There is “no doubt we’re moving in the right direction.”

I have to agree with Biden on that point. There is no doubt that we are moving in the direction that Obama wants. It is required if he is to remake America like he said he wanted to do. So from Biden’s perspective, yea, Obama is a genius and everything is just dandy. We’ll be brought to our knees economically until socialism seems to be better than starving. Until we all are dependent on the federal government. It would be enough to make Hugo Chavez jealous.

And, November elections can’t come soon enough.

Biden: ‘We’ve seen this movie before’: The Swamp.

Media, Politics

Media Focuses On Obama’s Religion, Disappointing

For the first time (I’m guessing) in the history of the United States, an official at The White House has issued a statement that says the President is a Christian. And that he prays daily. The statement wasn’t clear whether he prays to Allah, God or Karl Marx. The fact that such a statement was even made underscores the fact that the question is out there. A rather stunning question about the President of the United States.

My reaction to this ‘news’ that Obama is a Christian falls in the ‘disappointed’ category.

First and foremost, disappointed that his religion should be a topic at all, let alone newsworthy. If you understand the First Amendment, he is free to believe or not to believe in whatever religion he wants. The fact that liberalism itself has become a religion is besides the point. In much the same way that Islam is inextricably connected to government, social behavior, and all aspects of public and private life. The Left sure made a big deal about Gov. Romney’s religion didn’t they?

But in America, and as far as I’m concerned, I don’t care if he is an atheist or a witch doctor. It’s what the president does and says that matters to me.

Second, that 18 percent of the American people believe he is Muslim, and only 34 percent believe his is a Christian, and a whopping 48 percent don’t know, says a lot of how disconnected this president is from the American people. That’s disappointing. It is symptomatic of his style. Don’t commit to anything, even your faith, else there is someone out there who will be offended. (Like radical Muslims) He is the total opposite of say, Ronald Reagan. Everyone knew who he was and that he stood for America and every American within its borders, and of every faith. He did not play favorites.

For Obama, he traipse around the world, into the Muslim world, and apologizes for American mistakes and arrogance (his words). He doesn’t attend a National Prayer breakfast, but does host a Ramadan dinner at The White House. He, and his Attorney General, go to great lengths to afford Gitmo terrorists, who also happen to be radical Muslims from foreign lands, the protections of our Constitution and civilian court system. And most recently, he spoke in favor of building a mosque (a trophy mosque to Islamic extremists) in the shadow of Ground Zero in New York, totally offending not only the victims’ families but seventy percent of Americans.

Taking his actions and words into account, it is not hard to understand why two-thirds of the country either think he is a Muslim or just don’t know what religion he is. And that’s disappointing indeed.

Link: White House says Obama is Christian, prays daily

2010 Election, Economy, Fair Tax, Media, Politics

What Happens When Bush Tax Cuts Expire?

1 Comment

Income taxes punish work, stifle innovation (except in ways to avoid a tax liability) and risk-taking. Coming to a network news outlet near you, in addition to all the racial stirrings provoked by the ‘post-racial’ Obama administration, prepare yourself for the next chapter in the Obama administration’s (aka Saul Alinsky) handbook; class envy/warfare.

It comes around in election seasons, which seem to never end nowadays. And it comes around whenever tax reform is discussed in the form of ‘tax cuts for the rich.’

Barring any intervening legislation, these are the numbers by income tax bracket of how the tax rates will change when ‘the Bush tax cuts’ expire.

• Up to $16,750: Rises from 10 percent to 15 percent
• From $16,751 to $58,200: Stays same at 15 percent, but entire bracket pays 5 percent additional on the first $16,750
• From $58,201 to $68,000: Rises from 15 percent to 28 percent
• From $68,001 to $137,300: Rises from 25 percent to 28 percent
• From $137,301 to $209,250: Rises from 28 percent to 31 percent
• From $209,251 to $373,650: Rises from 33 percent to 36 percent
• $373,651 and up: Rises from 35 percent to 39.6 percent

The spreadsheet below shows how much more of your income (not counting all the income credits and re-distribution schemes contained in the 75,000+ page Internal Revenue Code) you will owe Uncle Sam on every dollar you earn beginning January 1, 2011. Note the gimmick in the second tax bracket, where the poor and not as poor ‘working people’ reside. You know, the one class that Obama claims to advocate for. These brackets capture the majority of the income earning population. The tax rate remains the same, but the entire bracket pays 5 percent additional on the first $16,750. The consequence of this magic trick is putting the largest tax burden, as a percentage of income, square on the backs of the poor. The rate of increase on the next bracket, those whose income falls between $58,201 and $68,000, goes up by a massive 86.67 percent. The so-called ‘working people.’ I add ‘so-called’ to the discussion because this administration would like the dumb masses to believe that rich people don’t work. ‘Working people’ is class envy for the poor aimed at the rich, by the ‘uniter’ himself. It is a necessary function of class envy, which this administration so effortlessly employs. And so far gets away with.

From $ To $ From % To % $ Increase % Increase Increase as % of Income
$0 $16,750 10.00% 15.00% $838 50.00% 5.00%
$16,751 $58,200 15.00% 15.00% $9,568 0.00% 16.44%
$58,201 $68,000 15.00% 28.00% $8,840 86.67% 13.00%
$68,001 $137,300 25.00% 28.00% $4,119 12.00% 3.00%
$137,301 $209,250 28.00% 31.00% $6,278 10.71% 3.00%
$209,251 $373,650 33.00% 36.00% $11,210 9.09% 3.00%
$373,651 $500,000 35.00% 39.60% $23,000 13.14% 4.60%

Obama’s Tax based on his 2009 income. $5,505,409 35.00% 39.60% $253,249 13.14% 4.60%

Don’t be fooled by the tax brackets or these numbers either. They give the illusion that everybody is actually paying taxes. Everyone is not paying taxes. The truth is, for 2005, the top 1% of income earners paid 39% of all tax revenue. That’s up 2% since President Bush took office in 2000. 86% of all federal income taxes were paid by the top 25% of income earners. And 97% of all taxes paid are paid by the top 50% of income earners.

The power to use the ‘tax hammer’ to micro-manage voting, social and economic behavior is the drug the politicians must be weaned from. The FairTax takes that tax hammer away by putting the economic power where it belongs, with the people. All the people. Not Washington politicians and lobbyists. Because the FairTax is transparent, the FUD factor goes away. The Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt goes away, and citizens and entrepreneurs can make business decisions with some certainty of risk and tax consequences. 

The FairTax unleashes the potential for economic activity, innovation, job creation, personal wealth and financial security without the interference of Washington and without increasing the national debt. And as a not insignificant side effect, the class warfare game with taxation becomes a thing of the past. Allowing the elected officials to concentrate their efforts to serving their constituents instead of trying to rob them.

Media, Politics

Not Blind, Color Blind, Or Transparent

Such is the modus operandi in the administration that, according to candidate-turned President Barack Obama, is not open, not transparent, and not for equal justice but for a non-equal ‘social justice.’

The warnings of what Obama was all about when he was a candidate, which were laughed off as just angry white folk rhetoric, have all come to fruition this past 18 months. And the most egregious examples of this happened this week.

Two biggies that the Obama administration got a pass from the dead media watchdog were the dropping of a case which, by any other color, was nothing short of voter intimidation and a level of a ‘hate crime’ involving a black version of the KKK called the ‘new’ Black Panthers and the appointment of a czar to be in charge of Obamacare.

The Black Panthers were already guilty by default judgement when they failed to appear in court. All that was left was their arrest and sentencing. But AG Eric Holder’s people stepped in and said, nevermind. Case dismissed.

The amount of restraint necessary, if not pure journalistic malpractice, to not make THAT a front page above-the-fold story is both amazing and disgraceful at the same time.

Then, the recess appointing of Donald M. Berwick to administer the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services was not done because Republicans would use the filibuster or try to delay him from getting the appointment. On the contrary, Republicans very much wanted to have confirmation hearings in order to hear his testimony on his widely known ideas on the rationing of health care and on the redistribution of wealth to administer health care. Like Obamacare itself, which was put into law by by-passing the normal legislative process, this appointment was made to be anything but open and transparent. But hey, you can’t say we didn’t warn you what Obama was all about.

This is not an argument about ‘all presidents make recess appointments, so this is no different. Republicans are just upset because Obama is black,’ or some such nonsense. At issue here is that the reason for the recess appointment was to keep the people from knowing exactly what Obama and Donald Berwick have in store for us regarding government-run health care.

Republicans, like the rest of America, would want to be assured that there won’t be any rationing (death panel) of health care under Obamacare or any form of government-run health care. Obama knew that having open hearings on his confirmation would bring all that out in the open for even the most fervent of Obama supporters to see.

refrain . . .

The amount of restraint necessary, if not pure journalistic malpractice, to not make THAT a front page above-the-fold story is both amazing and disgraceful at the same time.

Media, Politics

Useful Idiots And Fundamental Change

Transformational change is happening before our eyes. What began as a country governed by the rule of law is morphing into a country governed by men. We all need to be reminded of the words of philosopher George Santayana, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”  From Thomas  Sowell’s latest article entitled Degeneration of Democracy . . .

A democracy needs informed citizens if it is to thrive, or ultimately even survive. In our times, American democracy is being dismantled, piece by piece, before our very eyes by the current administration in Washington, and few people seem to be concerned about it.

Those who cannot see beyond the immediate events to the issues of arbitrary power— versus the rule of law and the preservation of freedom— are the “useful idiots” of our time. But useful to whom?

Let me qualify Mr. Sowell’s statement  ‘few people seem to be concerned about it.’ Few people in power and the so-called media watchdog don’t seem to be concerned about it.

Continue reading Useful Idiots And Fundamental Change →

Iran, Media, Politics

Blogger Flees Iran, To London

The blogger who sent the image of a dying protester, Neda Agha-Solta,  around the world a year ago has just arrived in London after fleeing Iran via Turkey.

Neda Agha-Soltan
Sayeed Valadbaygi helped make Neda Agha-Solta a symbol of the protest movement through a film of her death on street of Tehran.

Sayeed Valadbaygi thinks the UN sanctions are not enough. Ahmadinejad and his colleagues should be ostracised by all governments, he believes.

“We need change in Iran,” he said. “We want a proper system of government, elected by the people, for the people. I want to breathe, to speak freely. I want to be able to walk down a street holding my girlfriend’s hand.”

The United States ought to be doing whatever it can to help Sayeed and the opposition movement in Iran. It is unfortunate for the cause of freedom and human rights that we have a president with no guts to help. On the international stage, it’s called voting ‘present,’ just like he did when he was a U.S. senator.

Link: Blogger Sayeed Valadbaygi who alerted world to Iran’s brutal crackdown flees to London – Times Online.

Media, Politics, Venezuela

Chavez To Jail TV Station Owner

Not to be upstaged by President Obama’s taking over of one industry after another, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (the hemisphere’s idiot) has put out arrest warrants for the owner and his son of the last TV station in the country that ‘takes a critical line’ against Chavez and his regime.

Red flag moment!

We now know that, for all practical purposes, this administration’s definition of the word ‘bailout’ has become synonymous with the terms ‘takeover’ or ‘nationalize.’

We also know the propensity for President Obama to mimic the actions of Hugo Chavez.

Understand now what the Hugo Chavez version of reinventing the media means. Given free reign, don’t think for a New York minute that Obama woudn’t just love to control the media like his socialist soulmate Hugo. Why, to a Progressive, what could be better than a high-paying, Cadillac benefit, union job like that?

Link: TV channel owner ordered arrested in Venezuela