They're Not Going to Miss It
By haystack Posted in 2008 | GOP Freefall | Iraq Funding | Liberals | Tax and Spend — Comments (12) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
There's been a great deal of talk about the state of Conservatism in America these days and what (if anything) that may have to DO with the state of the GOP. For the sake of argument let's pretend ideological "purity" is irrelevant for the moment, and focus on the matter at hand; winning elections is all that matters in 2008...and let's all just get over it.
Like it or not OUR Political heroes are only focused on winning, and if you get after them about what they stand for you'll be ignored; "elect me no matter what I say because my opponent is worse than I am." Such is the state of politics now, and when you consider the most recent Gallup Poll that tags Congressional approval at 18%, they are ALL right - they ALL suck and we face the choices of "suck or suck less."
In a Karl Rove op-ed over at the WSJ, pay close attention to this quote:
No Congress has fallen as far and as fast as the Nancy Pelosi/Harry Reid-led House and Senate. Unlike President Bush, congressional Democrats will be on the ballot this fall, and can do little to improve their lackluster record before then.
The thing to remember here, folks, is that none of the candidates running for President have been around to actually vote on very much of the trash that's come from the Halls of Nancy and Harry™. The election in November may be "about" electing a President, but what will matter in our daily lives is who we put in Congress, and those decisions are not very hard to make. One need only consider Blue Dog leader Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark. and his thoughts on the effects of raising taxes on millionaires to pay for new Veteran benefits (not asked for by the President in this particular bill) via the Iraq Supplemental bait and switch trash headed for a veto:
"What we're talking about is a one-half percent income tax surcharge on incomes above $1 million," said Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark., a leader of the Blue Dog group. "So someone who earns $2 million a year would pay $5,000. ... They're not going to miss it."
More below the "it's not really hard to vote Republican" fold..
That's how Politicians perceive us; "things" that have stuff we can live without because we have "other" stuff to keep us distracted. And, while someone pulling down a million or two a year really might not miss 5 grand...it's THEIR freaking 5 grand. Besides, if we can "hand out" rebates to stimulate the economy at a 600 dollar clip, wouldn't 5 grand do a whole lot more stimulating?
Of course it would, but that assumes tax and spend politicians actually think through the things they say and do before they say and do them...which of course, they do NOT.
Roll Call [subscr] has a decent writeup of the latest shenanigans the Democrats are playing with OUR money in the Iraq Supplemental that President Bush will be forced to veto:
House leaders and Blue Dog Democrats agreed to keep enhanced GI benefits in the war spending bill — a sticking point for fiscal conservatives who argued that they needed to be offset — and to pay for them by tacking on a tax of one-half of 1 percent on the incomes of couples who earn more than $1 million annually.
This funding mechanism, dubbed the Patriot Tax Surcharge, would raise about $54 billion over 10 years. The GI bill would cost $52 billion over 10 years.
Blue Dogs came up with the idea and after agreeing to it, Rep. Allen Boyd (D-Fla.) pitched it to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), who signed off on it Tuesday night.
A senior House Democratic aide said party leaders agreed because it offered a "simple, straightforward way” to raise revenue. In addition, it reflected Democrats “clear choice about priorities,” the aide said.
This so-called "priority" for Democrats is raising revenue, and they mean to do it on the backs of anyone they can demonize or vilify to accomplish it...in this case, the "evil rich." What they don't say is how this priority trickles down and through to the rest of us.
See, the vast majority of families with incomes of more than $1 million are small business owners because the business is factored into their individual income taxes. About 83% of taxpayers with a million dollars or more in income are small business owners – where, again, their business income is the majority of that income. It’s basically a millionaire tax that taxes families earning well below a million.
The federal government just recorded its single highest monthly collection of taxes this past April – so it’s not a revenue problem, it’s a spending problem. The benefits in the GI Bill are about 0.1% of the all federal spending over the next 10 years. Democrats couldn’t (or wouldn’t) look for 0.1% of federal spending they could cut, so instead, they "prioritize" by trying to raise taxes...because it's just what they do.
What they don't do is give a rip about just exactly WHO'S money they're playing with...and what effect these brainstorms have on lives and people and business. They also don't consider to what extent THEY own what is happening to our economy, and whether any actions they take might actually make things worse. Instead, they suggest the economy is bad, that it's "Bush's fault" and they mean to change things if only they could have a veto-proof majority..."elect ME-I suck less and I'll give you more 'stuff'."
Look, whoever gets the nod for Pennsylvania Avenue in the fall means a whole lot less than how much control over our lives we're willing to hand over to Congress. They (Democrats) are in power and they like it - they want MORE of it.
I get that the Republican Caucus is a mess and I also get that our "leadership" sucks and I'm pretty pretty flippin' mad about it myself, but all that pales in comparison to what will happen to the country with veto-proof majorities in the Halls of shame that has become the worst Congress in history.
Whatever mess needs cleaning in the party, blocking the Democrats and the pillage and plunder they have planned for us matters first and foremost. There's time to fix our own mess later. Democrats may "like" supreme rule, but with so much of the "other stuff" they have, they're not going to miss it.
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They're Not Going to Miss It 12 Comments (0 topical, 12 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
I must disagree with one thing that you said as an accountant...
See, the vast majority of families with incomes of more than $1 million are small business owners because the business is factored into their individual income taxes. About 83% of taxpayers with a million dollars or more in income are small business owners – where, again, their business income is the majority of that income. It’s basically a millionaire tax that taxes families earning well below a million.
This is not correct, in fact small business owners get to deduct all of their business expenses before it is included in their income. If their business is not incorporated they fill out a schedule C which includes their gross income less all of their business expenses. Then only the net amount is transferred onto their 1040.
If their business is incorporated as a S-Corp then again only the net income after expenses is transferred to the 1040.
If their business is incorporated as a C-Corp then only compensation paid to the owner is taxable on the 1040 and the Corporation pays taxes only on the net profits.
Small business owners get a lot of deductions that individual taxpayers do not receive before they pay tax on the net income.
So I do not know how you say that these people are actually making much less than a million dollars...
That being said, I agree we should not raise taxes..
???WhoamI????
Given all the taxes, (beyond personal net income from the business itself) even if I have some specific numbers wrong here we do agree that adding more because it seems a defensible revenue stream to go after is a bad thing...
Iustum et tenacem propositi virum non civium ardor prava iubentium, non vultus instantis tyranni mente quatit solida.
-Quintus Horatius Flaccus
Which is what I ended my comment with...that we do not need to raise taxes on anybody...we have a spending problem not a taxing problem in Washington
???WhoamI????
Very insulting... This congressman probable will never be a millionaire on his own merits... To become a millionaire one must be very accountable with there income...
I'd like to see an end to Congressional pensions. Those folks won't miss it as they are usually doing pretty well to make it to the office in the first place. Secondarily, the end to Congressional pensions might foster self-imposed term limits.
Had the Graverobber Minority led by Clueless John Boehner got the message from the Rank and File about why they stayed home in 2006, you might get more enthusiasm for helping out the NRCC.
Only now are the Congresscritters getting serious about spending and earmarks, long after Mike Pence's Republican Study Committee warned us to get serious about out-of-control spending. Only now, after the catastrophic loss in MS-01, do these intellectual hubcap thieves come to the realization that voting like Tax and Spend Democrats will not work.
They were given fair warning after 2006. That was their wake-up call. Boehner, Blunt, Shadegg, and that entire crowd went along their merry way with Pelosi and Obey, as we knew they would. There was neither principle nor purpose to their action.
When you find a principled Republican to vote for, one who will stand on the principles of Eisenhower, Goldwater, and Reagan, then fight like hell for him. But when you run into some timeserver whose only natural talent is to dole out the pork? What then is the difference between him and the Democrat?
At least the liberal is being honest with you as he steals from your back pocket. He's not deceiving you into believing that he's a "fiscal conservative". At least when you vote for the liberal, you know you're getting a genuine Ayn Rand villian, instead of some Peter Keating wannabe who wants your vote so he can loot from your other back pocket.
If the choice is between Ellsworth Toohey and Peter Keating, people are going to vote for the Real Looter, not the squeamish Me-Too Republican Looter. When Republicans convince voters that they actually care about the public purse, about what entitlements will do to the budget, but also care about how to make Government programs work better for registered voters, that's when we'll win again.
When Republicans start producing Howard Roarks, that's when we start winning again.
"History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it"-Winston Churchill
We need to explode this urban myth once and for all.
The reason why the Republicans lost in 2006 (and may well get clobbered in 2008) is NOT because the base didn't turn out. An even larger factor was wholesale defection of Independent voters. Up till 2004, the GOP candidates used to make a decent showing with Independent voters. Not anymore.
And polls show that Independent voters aren't angry about earmarks. When was the last time you saw a protest demonstration to stop earmarks?
Independent voters were much more angry about the outright corruption they saw in Congress--Craig, Vitter, Cunningham, etc.. And they're still seeing it. Vito Fossella was just revealed to be a closet bigamist. Why doesn't he resign?
After Iraq, after the economy, after Bush, all we need is for some well-known Republican senator to be "outed" in October as gay, or a "john", or a bigamist, or an acceptor of bribes, or anything of that nature, and that will be the final nail in the coffin for the GOP.
That's another thing the congressional GOP leadership seems to be completely clueless about. In this Internet/YouTube age, they can't circle the wagons around morally corrupt Congresspeople anymore. Corrupt public officials have to be jettisoned before they drag the entire party down with them.
So I'm telling the GOP right now: Go hire some private investigators and clean house. If you've got ANY MORE Republican senators or congressmen like Vitter, Craig, Foley, Cunningham, or Fossella, you had better clean them out now, not three weeks before Election Day.
On the disgust meter, I'd put Foley and Craig above Vitter and Fosella, but none of them helped the party, Foley and Craig's homosexual antics were just worse.
But these "independent" voters admired the talk of the party about "family values", they were used to the Dems embracing of Barney Frank and "San Francisco values", when our "talk" was revealed to be only that, talk!, it gave independent voters more than pause, it focused their attention elsewhere, on Iraq and the economy, where the party is extremely vulnerable.
Like you, I fear a late fall surprise with a certain Congressman from California or Governor of a southern state, that completely wipes out our dwindling advantage on values and leaves us fighting to defend Iraq and gas prices/the economy. If that happens, the losses in Louisiana and Mississippi house races will just be a drop in the bucket.
I should be a Republican, but I am far too disgusted to want to associate myself with that gang of bloated swine feeders.
I live in Texas, and I am a long way away from forgiving them for that air hole Tom DeLay; not because of disagreement with his espoused principles, but because he was such a flaming hypocrite who was interested only in his own naked power, and d__n anyone who dared to try and stop him. That he was able to rise to the highest echelons of power in that mis-named gang of thieves called the Republican Party speaks for a deep-seated illness within. I do not live in TX-22, so I had the grim 'pleasure' of telling the local Republican Congressional primary candidates (in 2004) that it didn't matter who won the primary since the winner would only be another little Tom DeLay hand-puppet anyway. And, by the way, I have never received any response whatsoever from that joker McCaul, who bills himself as the Congressional Representative for my district. Angry?? You bet I am.
Senator Hutchison is a waste of space. No matter what I write to her about to express my views, concerns, positions, etc. all I ever receive back from her are the Republican talking points, and how hard she claims she will fight for them on my behalf – whether I agreed with them or not! It is as though she doesn't hear me. No, I do not expect a personal letter back from her, but I would even prefer a form letter stating that my views have at least been heard and she will consider them. From the responses that I get, I have no clue or hint that anyone on her staff bothered to read my letter beyond the subject line. Additionally, her staff is utterly pathetic about responding at all - I hear back maybe one out of ten times. Contemptuous?? You bet I am.
I will give Senator Cronyn a bit of credit. He started his term as little better than a cheer-leader, which role he still spends a great deal of time playing even today. But he has actually started to hew a bit of his own path these past two years. The responses that I get back from his staff at least let me know that someone read my letter. Perhaps there is hope for the boy, but he has given my little to be proud of so far…
The only saving grace in all of this is that I will vote. I do not view voting as a civic right: I view it as a civic duty. And yeah, I'll probably vote Republican, too, as the lesser of two evils - as so many folks do (as if that is something to be proud of). But I will eagerly vote opposition parties if presented with a candidate who can use his/her own brain. I don't even have to agree with them; I just have to be convinced that they will honestly consider my views. I can talk to a person like that. I am sick to death of talking to a freakin' wall. The Republican Party spat on my loyalty; I spit on them.
The idea of them not missing it, and it being a small increase that will not effect anything actually reminds me of a philisophical point that I remember from my college class. The point goes something like this:
If I take a handful of sand, and add a single grain of sand, is it still not just a handful? At what point, after continuously adding single grains does this handful amount to a pile? Where is this arbitrary cut off? If I keep on when will that pile become a hill and the hill become a beach?
The point is this: small increases in things can be made to sound worthwhile and good. They're just another drop in the bucket, or another grain of sand. This line of thinking taken through to the end adds by far more, and we end up not recognizing the point at which it goes from a light but neccessary tax burden to a bloated boulder weighing down everyone in the country, most especially the middle class.
Whatever mess needs cleaning in the party, blocking the Democrats and the pillage and plunder they have planned for us matters first and foremost.
You're not going to like what I have to say, but I'll say it anyway:
Right now, your best hope to block the Democrats is McCain.
Moderate as he is on some issues, a President McCain, with some political capital from his popularity and trust with the public, is the best "finger in the dike" the GOP has left. He may end up being the only finger left.
The polls show that McCain has a roughly even chance to beat Obama--if the GOP works real hard at it.
That's far more important than the Congressional races for three reasons:
1. The GOP can't hope to win much this year. At best they can limit their losses. But the Democrats will strengthen their hold on both houses of Congress, so they will continue to set the congressional agenda.
2. The poll numbers, campaign funding, retirements, resignations etc., are looking increasingly hopeless for the congressional races. You could pour millions into many races and lose them anyway.
3. The public is definitely unsure about Obama, which gives McCain a shot to beat him at the national level. But if these recent special congressional elections are any indication, invoking Obama won't help the GOP win congressional seats much because as Tip O'Neill said, "All politics is local."
4. The War on Terror. The President is far more important to negotiating with foreign nations than is Congress.
5. The President is always the most visible exponent of his party. A successful McCain Administration could repair the GOP brand that Bush tarnished. I don't see how any congressional legislative finagling on the part of GOP congressmen can ever repair the GOP brand.
So if it were up to me, I would tell the GOP to just pour everything they have into making sure McCain beats Obama. Even if McCain has to live with a strongly Democratic Congress.
The reverse--small GOP losses in Congress but electing President Obama with a large mandate--would be far worse for the country and for conservatism.
With Barack Obama and the upcomming super majority, we'll have the perfect storm.
The damage done to the conservative cause and way of life might be forever changed.
More spending that will never be cut(new entitlements such as healthcare)
Much, much higher taxes on anything from income to energy.
Property rights will be diminished to accommodate for new global warming taxes.
Unions will have massive new powers and worker and employer rights will be crushed.
Perhaps the once in a life time chance to finally get a origionalist Supreme Court will be lost.
And much much more.
But the really scary thing is that these changes will be with us for long long time if not forever. The threat to conservatism isn't McCain and Republican Moderates. Its liberal spending programs and bureaucracy. They could kill of conservatism and send it to the history books. It's extremely hard if not impossible to change entitlements and entrenched bureaucracy.
There's also Net neutrality, fairness doctrine, huge increase of endangered species, massive amounts of new regulation for everything imaginable.....
Its all so depressing...