Throw The Bastards In Jail!

Barack Obama .... Harry Reid .... Nancy Pelosi .... Joe Biden .... John Boehner .... Mitch McConnell ....

Every one of these dumb bastards ought to be thrown into jail for what they are doing to us.  Fiscal Cliff, my ass.  Manufactured crisis, manipulated to create political theatre, just so these a*holes can stroke their egos and act important.

The Fiscal Cliff was imposed by Congress on itself to make sure that it acted - the consequences of inaction were made so intolerable that it was thought that no one in their right mind would wait and actually let it happen.  Well, there's that dirty phrase - 'in their right mind'. 

Congress and the President have placed this country and ALL of its citizens in an untenable position, one that will cost all of us money and harm our well being ... all for their own political agenda. 

Obama and the Dems want the Cliff to happen, so they can blame Republicans for it.  It also means evisceration of the military, which every liberal creams their pants in anticipation of.

Republicans are to blame for letting it get to this point.  These arguments should have been happening months ago.  Then again, everyone in Republican land was sure that they'd be running things now, and none of this would be taking place.  Oops.

Poor Republicans, they can't stand up for any of their principles.  They can't do anything to stop Obama.  Every attempt they make to try and compromise is met with another mover of Obama's goalpost.  If it isn't apparent to them all by now, then they are stupid ... Obama will not agree to anything.  If Republicans gave him everything he asked for - absolutely everything, he would come up with something else.

Joe Biden, Obama's Financial Sheriff (gag) and Mitch McConnel have been holed up in a room for over a day trying to hammer out an agreement.  Late today (Monday) they thought they had one, only to find out Obama had changed the ground rules again - His Highness had suddenly decreed that NO spending cuts would be allowed to happen EXCEPT for the military in any potential agreement. 

I heard a caller on a national radio show this afternoon sum it up pretty well.  Two men are playing poker, in secret.  The chips are our lives - our money, our future, our ability to make a living.  We as a people have no say in what they decide.  Once they play out their hands, His Highness has the untlimate (and only) say in what is put into place.  If he doesn't like it, it doesn't happen.  The President, who BY LAW and CONSTITUTION cannot levy a single tax, cannot collect a single dollar, cannot spend a single dollar, and cannot write a single law has decided he can do all of that, unilateraly. 

He has declared himself Dictator.

Update - well, they did it.  McConnell and Biden reached their grand agreement on the morning of the 1st, and now its off to the House to modify/bitch about/vote on.  Obama gets what he wants - multiple tax hikes on the rich, so he has his 'rich whitey' scalps to hang on his wall.  He did have to fudge a bit on the definition of rich, but no one is going to notice.  After all, it was about punishing the rich, not about raising revenue ...

No spending cuts.

This just goes to prove my earlier point - the whole Fiscal Cliff was a sham.  The requirements to avoid the fiscal cliff, as defined by Congress when it established the date for the automatic hikes, was a minimum of 1.2 trillion in budget cuts.  None of that happened, so how could the cliff have been avoided?  Because, Congress always had the power to void its own decree - it could have erased the cliff with the stoke of the pen - the same way it created the cliff.  So, what was the panic about?  Political theatre.

Update II - Democrat Weasel Bastards!  As the House looks through the Senate bill that was signed at 2:00am this morning, it is apparent the Democrats are trying to pull a fast one.  There are TONS of increased spending items buried in the bill.  Pages and pages of special interest liberal spending is added.  Dems are freaking out, saying you have to pass it right now.  No time to look at it.  Remember Pelosi saying 'we have to pass the bill to find out what's in it'?  Same thing with this.  The CBO graded the bill today, and has stated that it will ADD 4 TRILLION dollars to the debt over the next 10 years.  And it was supposed to cut spending!  There are even more green energy scam funds in it, to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.  Republicans who are saying slow down and look at this, it isn't what it seems to be, are being villified by Dems and the media.

Unreal - Obama railroads Republicans and gets everything he wants, and he has to heap more garbage onto the pile.  More hidden theft of our money.  More undisclosed ripoffs.  More horrendous debt ridden spending. 

Republicans are going to cave in, and Obama is going to crow again about winning.  His liberal buddies and campaign contributors will reap millions upon millions more of our dollars - and our taxes are going sky high to pay for a portion of it - the rest will be borrowed from the Chinese.

How can this bastard keep getting away with this?  Because he has bought and paid for the Free Shit Generation (with our money!)

Update III - 12.1 BILLION dollars in tax credits for wind energy projects.  That's just a little part of the EMERGENCY FISCAL CLIFF agreement.  There are over 150 pages of crap like this buried in that bill, and the Senate members got a grand total of 3 minutes to review it before they were forced to vote on it.  The public got ZERO time to review it, which is a violation of law. 

Update IV - Outrage flowed today after the EMERGENCY $60 BILLION dollar Sandy relief bill didn't get voted on by the House.  Boehner pulled the bill from a vote, decideing to allow the House members to study this pork filled lard fest before being forced to vote on it.  Democrats howled bloody murder.  Republicans from the northeast, including Chris Christie, were vicious in their attacks on Boehner.

60 Billion dollars is twice the entire yearly budget of the State of New Jersey.  Representatives who were willing to talk about it stated that there is 9 Billion in actual hurricane relief in the bill, and 51 billion in pork projects scabbed onto it by Senators and Representatives looking to bring home their share of pork.  They were trying to pull a fast one, get all their cash without a review, under the false premise of it being part of 'hurricane relief'. 

Boehner and his staff should be applauded by all Americans for doing this.  A stripped down version of this bill should be introduced to the House in a few days, containing nothing but the 9 Billion in hurricane relief that has been identifed as critical.  The rest should be exposed as the theft of taxpayer funds it is - along with the sponsoring thieves who put each and every pork amendment into the bill while it was in the Senate. 

WTF Moment, Brought To You By American Express

Standing in line at the local Wally World today, waiting to pay for a minor purchase.  I see the now common wall of gift cards next to all the gum and candy in the check out lane display.  OK, gift cards are big business during the Holiday Season, and many people make use of them.

Something catches my eye.  American Express Gift cards, in $100.00 denomination.  Must be a hundred of them on the pegs.  Well, that might be a bit pricey for your average Walmart shopper, but whatever.  Huh, what's that?  A price tag of $105.84?    ???????

Yes, this $100.00 Gift Card will cost you $105.84.

WTF?

Puzzled (and a little bored, I admit), I ask the clerk to scan it for me.  Sure enough, it comes up as $105.84.  Not only that, but it triggers sales taxes as well.  If I want to get one of these cards for someone I know, it will cost me $114.57.

Normally gift card sales involve the entity the card is named for (a store, a service, etc.) paying the retailer who sells the card a percentage of the card's amount as compensation.  Either American Express is not doing this, and Walmart has decided they need $5.84 in profit to sell the card, or Walmart is double-dipping their profit margin.  In either case, the consumer gets screwed.

Charging sales tax is just plain theft from the consumer.  This may be an error in the checkout system software, which means that Walmart will keep all the 'sales tax' revenue collected by mistake.  Or, if this is indeed a tax code edict, then the city/county/state/federal governments who receive their shares of that sales tax are double-dipping ... since the goods/services that will be purchased with the gift card by its recipient will also be subjected to sales taxes.  In either case, the consumer gets screwed.

Be careful when you buy gift cards, folks ... so that you don't get ripped off.

(This sounds a lot like something Obama would do, doesn't it?)
 

College Football - Where the $$$ Is

Obama ought to be looking at Big Time College Football for a source of tax revenue.  If he wants to soak the rich, that'd be a great place to start.

Time for my annual rant against the money in college football.  Here's a list of the 35 bowl games we are going to be subjected to this season:

Gildjan New Mexico Bowl
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
San Diego Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl
Beef 'O' Brady's St. Petersburg Bowl
R-L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
Maaco Las Vegas Bowl
Sheraton Hawaii Bowl
Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl
Military Bowl Presented by Northrup-Grumman
Belk Bowl
Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl
Advocare V100 Independence Bowl
Russell Athletic Bowl
Meineke Car Care of Texas Bowl
Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl
Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl
New Era Pinstripe Bowl
Valero Alamo Bowl
Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl
Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl
Hyundai Sun Bowl
Autozone Liberty Bowl
Chick-Fil-A Bowl
Heart of Dallas Bowl
Taxslayer.com Gator Bowl
Capital One Bowl
OUtback Bowl
Rose Bowl Presented by Visio
Discover Orange Bowl
Allstate Sugar Bowl
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl
AT&T Cotton Bowl
BBVA Compass Bowl
Godaddy.com Bowl
Discover BCS National Championship

Notice that EVERY single one of them has sold the naming rights to their 'bowl' to a corporation.  Big money in those rights, to be certain.  There are many of these bowls that would not, could not exist if it were not for those named sponsors. 

I remember back when any bowl game that wasn't played on Jan. 1 was a sideshow, not to be taken seriously.  There weren't many of them, maybe one around Christmas day, and one or two on Dec. 31 - but you never watched them unless your team happened to be unlucky enough to be stuck in one.  Now, there are so many of them it is impossible to keep up.  35 games, 70 teams.  That's right 70 teams are playing in bowls this year. 12 of those teams had .500 records, and one even had a losing record!

It's all about money, of course.  The individuals who put on the bowls want to get rich.  The colleges want to bring in money for their football programs (and rest assured, all of it will go into the football program, and nowhere else).  The host cities for the bowls are counting on the local economy getting an influx of money from the schumcks coming in to see the game.


And as a related, parting shot, I have to mention the winner of the 'Weasel of the Year' Award, sponsored by a major feminine hygeiene product.  That distinguished person is Tommy Tuberville, who took millions of dollars to 'coach' the Texas Tech Red Raiders over the past 3 years.  Tommy Tuberville, whose coaching philosophy was '2 yard run right ... 2 yard run left ... 2 yard run up the middle ... punt'.  Tommy Tuberville, whose biggest moment in Lubbock was getting caught on national TV slapping one of his student coordinators on the sideline.  Tommy Tuberville, whose departure from Tech occurred not in a news conference, where he would have thanked the University and the people of Lubbock for their wonderful support, BUT INSTEAD chose to excuse himself for a bathroom break in the middle of a dinner being held for football recruits, and was never to be seen in Lubbock again.  Way to go, douchebag!  Way to be a professional!  Sure hope you have a really successful run in Cincinnatti!  (Man, I sure feel sorry for the people of Ohio ...)




And, (with apologies for the obvious) Mack Brown, leader of the mighty TU Steers, reacts to the hiring of Kliff Kingsbury as Tech's new Head Coach ...





Related topic - There is a never ending discussion regarding whether college football players should be paid to play.  The arguments pretty much center around how much money they make for the football program (note, I did not say the university).  Well, they do get paid - at least those who receive a scholarship.  A 4 year free ride in exchange for playing football could be worth anywhere from $50,000 to $400,000, depending on the school and state residence status of the student.  That's a pretty good salary for someone in their late 'teens. 

Now, if the student athlete wastes that free ride, and gets a degree in pottery, or no degree at all, that's their fault for wasting the money and the opportunity.

Related topic - big school college football coashes are paid too damn much money.  When I read that Mack Brown gets 6-7 million a year for standing on TU's sideline, it steams me.  Why does a SCHOOL need to waste that kind of money on a FOOTBALL COACH?

Update - Figures just released show that schools who are in the BCS spend an average of more than $100,000 per student athlete for their 4 year 'education'.  This is 6 to 12 times what is spent on normal students.  The biggest variance is in, surpriuse, the schools of the SEC, which spends an average of $163,000 per athlete, while only spending $13,390 for students. 

How Will The Left Spin This Into GOP Racism?

South Carolina Governor Haley appointed Rep. Tim Scott as replacement for Jim Demint, who resigned his US Senate seat after winning reelection.  Rep. Scott was elected to the US House of Representatives as part of the 2010 GOP landslide.  Rep. Scott is considered by Republicans as a conservative that can be counted on to uphold conservative values while in Congress.

Those on the left will immediately label this as another example of right wing extremist racism.  Why not?  Eveything that Republicans do is labeled as racist.

Governor Nikki Haley is female.  She was born Nimrata Nikki Randhawa, to Sikh parents who immigrated legally to this country from India.  A rising star in the GOP, she is a conservative - and a female - and a minority.  You would think that this would make her a darling to the liberal left.  Not so ... her politics aren't liberal, so her sex and heritage are irrelevant - she is still an evil, racist, rich, fat cat toy of the rich whities who make up the Republican Party.

Rep., now Senator, Tim Scott is an African-American male.  He is a staunch conservative who was swept into the US House by the Tea Party wave in 2010.  He will be the only black US Senator in the upcoming Congress.  He is the seventh black US Senator in the history of our country.  You would think that the Democrats would be praising Obama (or God) for such a progressive moment.  Not so ... Scott has been labeled Uncle Tom, racist (for abandoning liberal principles), token, irrelevant, and worse.  He is a target for the left, not an accomplishment.

7 black Senators in our history.  Why?  If African-American accomplishment is so important to the Democrat Party, if they are the champions of the minorities, why haven't they put forth more black Senatorial candidates?  You figure that at any given time, there are an average of 50 Senate seats owned by Democrats.   How many of those seats should be held by blacks, or Hispanics, Native Americans, or Eskimos, etc ... during any specific Congressional session - if you listen to the Democrat line of equal, fair, racially proper representation?

By the way - here are those 7 Senators, their states, their terms, and their parties ...

Tim Scott, South Carolina, 2013-2014, Republican
Roland Burris, Illinios, 2009-2010 ( Obama's replacement, as designated by Rod Blagojevich), Democrat
Barack Obama, Illinios, 2006-2008 (resigned to take the office of President), Democrat
Carol Mosely Braun, Illinios, 1993-1999, Democrat
Edward William Brooke, Massachusetts, 1967-1979, Republican
Blanche Kelso Bruce, Mississippi, 1875-1881, Republican
Hiram Rhodes Revels, Mississippi, 1870-1871, Republican

You will notice that the only three Democrats on this list all held the SAME Senate seat, one after the other.  Where are all the other blacks that should have been in the Senate representing the Democrat Party over the past 200+ years?  According to the Democrat mantra, there should have been at least two black Democrat Senators in each and every session of Congress - that is if Democrats actually considered black Americans as anything other than a captive voting block.

And Republicans are the racists ... seriously?

Senator Scott - Congratulations.  I wish you all the success in the world as you represent your state and conservative ideals.  I mean this with all the respect in the world ... I don't care what color your skin is.

Obama's War On The Rich, Opening Salvo

With the focus on the Fiscal Cliff negotiations, the details of Obamacare's assault on 'the rich' have been lost in the shadows.  However, the IRS has detailed it in 159 pages of new Obamacare tax regulations to be implemented in 2013.

'The Rich' will pay a 3.8% income tax surcharge on investments beginning in January to fund part of Obamacare.  Profit from stocks, bonds, and many other investment mechanisms will be hit.  This is in addition to any change to capital gains taxes that result from the Fiscal Cliff negotiations.

'The Rich' will also pay a 0.9% income tax surcharge for Obamacare.  This will be tacked onto the taxes withheld on payroll checks.  This is NOT part of the tax rate increase being volleyed back and forth during the negotiations - it is an additional increase.

So, if you are 'rich' and Obama has his way, you income tax rate will go up to over 40% on Jan.1 - AND you will lose an additional 3.8% of your profit from any investments.

As big as his assault on 'The Rich' is to his base, I am not sure why Dear Leader and his minions aren't out there flooding the MSNBC airwaves with details for the Koolaid crowd to orgasm to.  Surely this is a big victory in their war on the evil rich?

Update - The income tax brackets for Hawaii, California, and New York next year will be 50-52% for the upper level - when state and federal income taxes are both paid.  Considering that all three of these states are solidly Democrat, and have a large number of 'rich' people in them who support Obama, I find this to be particularly delicious.    Take that, you  rich bastard 'play socialists'.  Lets see how many of you try to weasel every deduction you can to cut down you tax bill next year!  I Hope you all choke on that check to the IRS you're gonna have to write!