As we say goodbye to 2008, what do you think the future holds? I, for one, am very concerned about where this president and congress are going to take us in the economic arena. Whenever one party holds dominance over the House, Senate, and Presidency, bad things happen for the people, look at what the republicans did. They were supposed to be the party of small government, and they grew government more than at any other time in history. I worry that the democratic agenda is going to push us into a deep recession. Hopefully they will aggrevate enough people that in two years they will lose majority in either the house or senate. I’m also not looking forward to what they might do to education, as dems tend to throw even more money at that than reps do. I think we need to encourage more private/home schooling but still have government funded schools available. I don’t think more funding to an already broken education system is the answer, as has been documented in a number of places. (Those are by far not the only 3, do a google search on school funding vs. performance). Combine all this with the abysmal performance of all third party or independant candidates in the presidential election (not one received more than a million votes) and I don’t look back on 2008 fondly from a political perspective. On a less depressing note, I am going to make it my new years resolution to post at least one op/ed piece to the blog a week, in addition to any informative cross-linking I can find. I just have to catch up on all my political feeds on google now. *Sigh*
Archive for the ‘taxes’ Category
Goodbye 2008
Wednesday, December 31st, 2008Hillarycare
Thursday, August 2nd, 2007boortz.com: Nealz Nuze Today’s Nuze
Yesterday in the Senate, an amendment failed that would have cut government funds (your tax dollars) to provide healthcare for middle-income children and adults without children under the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. The program was originally supposed to cover poor children, not middle income children. Now the Democrats want to expand this coverage, and Republicans have failed to block it.
Meanwhile, in the House, the Democrats are trying to expand the SCHIP program to middle income families.. including parents. The effect of this expansion would be twofold: First, many middle income families who already carry health insurance would drop that insurance like a radioactive roach and sign on the toe SCHIP welfare version. Second, costs would soar .. into the hundreds of billions of dollars in no time flat.
In the House the Democrats have been trying to ram through these changes without allowing the Republicans to offer any amendments to the bill, and without affording the opposition any meaningful time to argue against the bill on the floor.
What we’re seeing here is simply an attempt to bring Hillarycare – socialized medicine – quietly through the back door. The couldn’t do it in one swell foop under Hillary, now they’ll just try to do it incrementally.
Remember the prime motivation here. It is NOT to provide health care to children. No children are denied healthcare under our present system. The motivation is to make more and more people dependent on government for their health care. That is exactly what happens when millions of Americans drop their privately held health insurance plans and opt to go into a government welfare health care plan like SCHIP. Once these people are dependent on government, instead of themselves, for their healthcare, politicians have them by the short hairs.
Something that Neal forgot to mention, just remember that it’s not only those that opt into plans like these that have put themselves on the short leash, but they are also putting you on the leash as well. How, you ask? Well, you do pay your taxes like a good little citizen don’t you (how can you not, they have the guns)? Where do you think the money to pay for these people who have opted into these programs comes from, a money tree out back of the white house?
Cost of Government Day, 2007: July 11
Monday, July 30th, 2007Cost of Government Day for 2007 is July 11. Americans now work more than half of the year – 192 days to pay their share of the cost of government with 84.5 of those days due to federal spending alone. This year, the average American will need to work an additional 6 days out of the year to pay off his or her cost of government compared to 2000.
The Meltdown
Monday, July 30th, 2007Citizens Against Government Waste: FEMA’s Ice Outrage: The Meltdown
The Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) has decided to liquidate nearly 85 million pounds of ice, worth about $24 million, left over from the initial 224 million pounds it had purchased in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. The agency had anticipated keeping the ice in reserve to address shortages during the 2006 hurricane season, but there were not as many storms as predicted.
So far, it has cost the agency $12.5 million to warehouse the ice in 23 facilities across the country. Paying to store the ice for two years is especially inexcusable since FEMA’s contract with the Massachusetts-based storage contractor, AmeriCold, mandated that the agency dispose of unused ice within three months of purchase.
Initially, FEMA attempted to donate the extra ice to another federal agency, but could not find any agency willing to take it. There was talk of giving it away to the public, but FEMA officials worried that, after so much time in storage, the ice might not be safe for human consumption. The idea of selling the ice, even at a discount, to willing industrial buyers in order to recover at least some of the costs was apparently never seriously considered. Instead, FEMA is paying $3.4 million to melt the ice, which is expected to take 11 months.
See, isn’t government great, look how well they manage! Now consider, if a private company were to pull stupid stunts like this one, how long do you think they would be in business? Not long, I’d wager, but with your friendly federal government running the show, you can’t get rid of agencies like this. Once they’re created, they’re here to stay.
Ron Paul for President ’08
Tuesday, February 27th, 2007Everybody should have one of these:
Among other issues, Paul also voiced support for abandoning the war on drugs, allowing gold and silver to serve as legal tender, repealing the Seventeenth Amendment – which lets voters directly elect U.S. Senators – and ending the practice of withholding taxes from one’s pay. Instead, taxpayers would have to actually write checks to pay their taxes, a move Paul figured would soon end what he called the present tax-and-spend philosophy of government.
