Wednesday, December 21, 2011

The Washington Times

HURT: Deflecting blame for tax-cut logjam

Democrats finally find a tax cut they can abide, and so both sides agree to extend it. But just as they are about to partake in the bipartisan peace pipe a few days before Christmas, Congress promptly grinds to a squabbling halt threatening a $1,000-tax increase for workers and the evaporation of unemployment benefits for those out of work.
Merry freaking Christmas, American people!
And then when it comes to explaining themselves, Democrats walk out with straight faces and blame - who else? - the tea party.
Yes, that would be that pernicious group of fed-up voters who banded together around the single premise that taxes were too high. Not too low, but too high. And so now, according to Democrats, they want to raise your taxes.
“Here we are, just a few days before Christmas, and the Republicans are just coming up with another excuse,” House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi told her liberal cohorts in the press. “It’s just the ridiculous tea party Republicans who are holding up this tax cut for the American people and jeopardizing economic growth.”
The three ways you know Nancy Pelosi is lying here are that she pays homage to “economic growth,” a “tax cut” and “Christmas” - all three of which her political career has been dedicated to destroying.
Yet in every corner on Capitol Hill, you hear this same absurd canard about how the tea party is somehow to blame for a looming tax increase. And the ever-adoring press obediently shovels it around for widespread consumption.
But wait! The vast majority of tea partiers in Congress actually voted in favor of extending this tax cut. In the Republican-controlled House, they overwhelmingly supported the bill to extend the tax cut for a year. The Democrat-controlled Senate, meanwhile, approved a bill to extend the tax cut for only two months.
So the tea party supports a 12-month extension, Democrats want a two-month extension, therefore the tea party wants to kill this tax cut. Only in Washington and only among liars.
The truth is that, in a very rare accomplishment, the Senate approved a measly two-month extension of the tax cut. Then they high-tailed it out of town for holiday vacations in far-flung places.
Calling them back to town to properly extend the tax cut for at least one full tax year would interrupt their sunny vacations and quite likely lead to yet another giant failure by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat.
It is moments like this that voters turn to the White House for leadership. President Obama may be miserably incapable of leading the country, but at least he might be able to show a little leadership among his own party in Congress. And he could be the hero who stopped a big tax increase and saved millions from losing unemployment insurance for the holidays.
But don’t count on it. White House spinners are too busy blaming the “tea party revolt” for raising your taxes.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/dec/20/deflecting-blame-for-tax-cut-logjam/

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Jobs bills collecting dust on Harry Reid`s desk!

 Someone asked: "Where are the jobs bills from the House?"

 The jobs bills already passed by the House are stuck on Harry Reid`s desk collecting dust.

Empower Small Business Owners
Small business owners are being bogged down by burdensome regulations from Washington that prevent job creation and hinder economic growth. We must remove onerous regulations that are redundant, harm small businesses, and impede private sector investment and job creation.

Review of Federal Regulations
H.Res. 72 - Passed by the House (391-28) on February 11, 2011

Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act
H.R. 872 - Senate has taken no action to date

Energy Tax Prevention Act
H.R. 910 - Senate has taken no action to date

Disapproval of FCC's Net Neutrality Regulations
H.J.Res. 37 - Senate has blocked a companion measure by a vote of 46-52

Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act
H.R. 2018 - Senate has taken no action to date

Consumer Financial Protection & Soundness Improvement Act
H.R. 1315 - Senate has taken no action to date

Protecting Jobs from Government Interference Act
H.R. 2587 - Senate has taken no action to date

Transparency in Regulatory Analysis of Impacts on The Nation
H.R. 2401 - Senate has taken no action to date

Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act
H.R. 2681 - Senate has taken no action to date

EPA Regulatory Relief Act
H.R. 2250 - Senate has taken no action to date

Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act
H.R. 2273 - Senate has taken no action to date

Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act
H.R. 3094 - Senate has taken no action to date

Regulatory Accountability Act
H.R. 3010 - Senate has taken no action to date

Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act
H.R. 527 - Senate has taken no action to date

REINS Act
H.R. 10 - Senate has taken no action to date

Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act
H.R. 1633 - Senate has taken no action to date

Fix The Tax Code To Help Job Creators
America’s tax code has grown too complicated and cumbersome. We need a tax code that is flatter, fairer, and simpler to ensure that everyone pays their fair share, lessen the burden on families, generate economic expansion, and create jobs by making America more competitive.

Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act
H.R. 4 - Signed into law by the President on April 14, 2011

3% Withholding Rule Repeal
H.R. 674 - Signed into law by the President on November 21, 2011

Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act
H.R. 3630 - Senate has taken no action to date

Increase Competitiveness for U.S. Manufacturers
The more that American businesses export, the more they produce. The more businesses produce, the more workers they need. This means job creation. Expanding market access for U.S. made products will be a shot in the arm for businesses small and large and will create jobs.

U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement Implementation Act
H.R. 3078 - Signed by the Preisdent on October 21, 2011

U.S.-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement Implementation Act
H.R. 3079 - Signed by the Preisdent on October 21, 2011

U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act
H.R. 3080 - Signed by the Preisdent on October 21, 2011

Southeast Arizona Resource Utilization & Conservation Act
H.R. 1904 - Senate has taken no action to date

Encourage Entrepreneurship and Growth
America has historically been on the cutting edge of innovation and technological development, but we are increasingly falling behind our global competitors. We must make it easier for existing businesses to grow and allow more start-up companies to flourish.

The America Invents Act
H.R. 1249 - Signed into law by the President on September 16, 2011

Veterans Opportunity to Work Act
H.R. 2433 - Signed into law by the President on November 21, 2011

Small Company Capital Formation Act
H.R. 1070 - Senate has taken no action to date

Small Banks' Access to Capital Act
H.R. 1965 - Senate has taken no action to date

Entrepreneur Access to Capital Act
H.R. 2930 - Senate has taken no action to date

Access to Capital for Job Creators Act
H.R. 2940 - Senate has taken no action to date

Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act
H.R. 3012 - Senate has taken no action to date

Maximize Domestic Energy Production
The energy sector is crucial to our economic growth, and high energy costs have a major impact on job creation. We need policies that allow us to harness our abundant supply of natural resources in America, develop new sources of energy, and create jobs here at home.

Restarting American Offshore Leasing Now Act
H.R. 1230 - Senate has taken no action to date

Putting the Gulf of Mexico Back to Work Act
H.R. 1229 - Senate has taken no action to date

Reversing President Obama’s Offshore Moratorium Act
H.R. 1231 - Senate has taken no action to date

Jobs and Energy Permitting Act of 2011
H.R. 2021 - Senate has taken no action to date

North American-Made Energy Security Act
H.R. 1938 - Senate has taken no action to date

Pay Down America's Unsustainable Debt Burden
The federal government is spending and borrowing so much that the United States will soon go broke. Washington’s spending binge has put our nation in debt, eroded economic confidence, and caused massive uncertainty for private sector job creators. It's time to live within our means.

Budget for Fiscal Year 2012
H.Con.Res. 34 - Senate has not yet considered a budget of its own

Friday, December 16, 2011

Government

Why do we Americans continue to put up with this Government? Today`s news tells us that Government is about to vote on regulating the Internet in an effort to silence free speech. See link:

http://theintelhub.com/2011/12/14/in-less-than-24-hours-congress-could-vote-to-change-the-internet-forever/

Earlier this week we learned that Government is about to pass a bill which will allow Government to arrest and detain indefinitely American citizens without charge or trial. Our public servants have forgotten their place in American society. You people ARE public servants. You are NOT our rulers. Regulating free speech on the Internet stinks. They want to silence the American citizens to freely pass along information. They want you to only get your information from the Liberal mainstream media. Biased news.

I saw tee shirts for sale online a few months ago that said: Our Forefathers Would Be Shooting By Now. I bought one. And it`s true. Everything that`s wrong with America today can be traced to Government. This recession for example. Affordable Social Housing where Government forced the banks to open up billions of dollars a year in new credit to millions of Americans who previously did not qualify. Government bankrupted the banks. Then they blamed Wall Street. And they blamed George Bush even though Bush warned Congress something like 34 times about the dangers of Affordable Social Housing and the effect it could have on the entire economy. Bush was ignored. Barney Frank was the voice of reason... Thanks Barney for killing the economy.

Gun sales are at an all time high. Ever wonder why? It`s the people arming themselves because our President is waging a Class War. Our leader is telling the masses, it`s OK to hate anybody who has more stuff than you. Disgusting. And they are listening. The media will not even touch all the stories out there about these flash mobs going into American businesses in large numbers and just walking out with what they want. Mass looting. The stories are out there. Google it. ABC-DNC won`t touch these stories. They know why it`s happening. So do I.

ABC-DNC never told the people about Obama`s Radical Marxist past. They didn`t want you to know about it. He was NOT vetted by the media. He was asked hard hitting questions like: "How are you holding up on this grueling campaign trail?" Did they vet Herman Cain? Yes, they did.

Our Government is the problem. Our LAPDOG media to the Marxists is also a problem. Mark Twain once wrote: "If you don`t read the newspaper, then you are uninformed. If you do read the newspaper, then you are misinformed..." Twain got it right.

The ObamaCare mandate is a disaster in waiting. After Government successfully takes over paying for all our health care, they will then turn around and regulate what you eat. What you can and cannot drink. What you do. Where you can and cannot go. It`s a disaster. So much for Liberty and Freedom.

The people MUST not allow Government to silence free speech on the Internet. Call, write or email your Congressman (RULER) today and tell them what you think about Government regulating the Internet.

"The U.S. Constitution is a limitation on the government, not on private individuals ... it does not prescribe the conduct of private individuals, only the conduct of the government ... it is not a charter for government power, but a charter of the citizen's protection against the government."

Mark Steyn gets it.

Where do you go to...? by Mark Steyn

Liberalism, as the political scientist Theodore Lowi put it, "is hostile to law," and has a preference for "policy without law." The Law itself doesn`t really matter so much as the process it sets in motion - or as Nancy Pelosi famously told the American people regarding health care, "We have to pass the bill so you can find out what`s in it." When Lowi was writing in the Seventies, he noted that both the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Consumer Product Safety Administration (CPSC) were set up by a Congress that didn`t identify a single policy goal for these agencies and "provided no standards whatsoever" for their conduct. So they made it up as they went along.

Where do you go to vote out the CPSC or OSHA?

Or any of the rest of the unaccountable acronyms drowning America in alphabet soup. For more and more Americans, law has been supplanted by "regulation" - a governing set of rules not legislated by representatives accountable to the people, but invented by an activist bureaucracy, much of which is well to the left of either political party. As the newspapers blandly reported in 2010, the bureausrats weren`t terribly bothered about whether Congress would pass a Cap and Trade mega bill into law because, if faint-hearted Dems lose their nerve, the EPA will just "raise" standards all by itself.

Where do you go to vote out the EPA?

Congress stripped provisions for end-of-life counseling (the so called death-panels) out of the ObamaCare bill, but Kathleen Sebelius, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, put`em back on her say so. And why shouldn`t she? As Philip Klein pointed out in the American Spectator, the new law contained 700 references to the Secretary "shall", another 200 to the Secretary "may", and 139 to the Secretary "determines." So the Secretary may and shall determine anything she pretty much wants. Plucked at random:

The Secretary shall develope oral healthcare components that shall include tooth-level surveillance.

"Tooth-level surveillance": from colonial subjects to dentured servants in a mere quarter-millennium.

Where do you go to vote out "the Secretary"?

And so "We the People" degenerates into "We the regulators, we the bureaucrats, we the permit-issuers, we the czars." Dancing with the czars is unrepublican. "Ignorantia juris non excusat" is one of the oldest concepts of civilized society: ignorance of the law is no excuse.

Where do you go to vote out the Czars?

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Latest...

Wow. A week and a half before Christmas and I still have not bought the first gift. Thank God for my wife Cindy who always shops early for our kids. I usually wait until the 23rd or 24th to do my shopping. This year will be about the same. It`s a tough economy out here. My job which I have been employed for over 20 years seems to be slowing still. Could be a tough winter in the ready mixed concrete business. Hope for the best.

I have not had a raise in over 4 years but the costs of everything just keep going up. We are doing some things to make up for the difference. We traded cars and cut our car payment in half. We are working on a home refinance at a better rate and should save alot per month with it. Just taking care of what matters. We had a rental property we did a short sale on last spring and we had to cut a check for about $4,600.00 to make things right. Done.

My kids make me so proud. Adam works his tail off and has always had straight A`s and in this his Junior year, he has at least five different advanced placement classes. Colleges send him stuff everyday. They are actively trying to recruit him even as a junior in high school. Katie makes me proud too everyday. She`s such a great kid and a real JOY in my life. She has a lot of my traits. I can see some of me in her. She has a big ole sweet heart. She gets up for 5th grade with no issues at all. She also gets great grades. She loves her friends and her family although, she never gets to see them much. My sister Donna sent her a gift and she simply adores it. Thank YOU Donna! (it relates to Mom Trent)

My Cindy. What can I say about my wife/best friend. We joke about "it`s us against the world." And it`s true. We also joke about "Just Keep Swimming" (Nemo) when one of us is having a tough day. I love her with all my heart and I know I am blessed because of her. Life is good!

I am not perfect. I make mistakes. However, I do not apologize for being an individual or a free thinker. I make some people mad and I don`t mean too. I`ve been called a lot of mean and nasty names over the last few years by people who should be close to me. People can be so intolerant...

I miss the days of big family get togethers at my Moms house when I was growing up. Such Good Times. The house would be full of just happy people. Nobody seems very happy these days and nobody ever really wants to get together anymore. Life`s tough, I know.

I read something about a month ago - "Sometimes there comes a point in your life where you realize, who really matters, who never did, and who always will." Pretty sure I know about that and I like it. That`s great. Anyway...

Life is great. I have a great family. My wife and I both work hard and we are raising good kids. What else is there?