Author Archive
Friday, May 1st, 2009
Our Dear Leader & his wife are not feeling any pinch due to the current economic downturn (Thank you very much Barney Frank).
This is made quite clear by our Dear Leader‘s wife venturing out casually wearing $540 sneakers.
Way to show that our so called “leaders” are completely out of touch with the problems of everyday Americans.
Update:Smell the hypocrisy as we recall the left’s ranting over Senator McCain’s shoes, and complete lack of outrage from the DNC/MSM over our Dear Leader‘s wife wearing $540 designer sneakers from a Paris line. The only sound from the leftist media is the fawning over her ‘fashion sense.‘
Posted in Our Dear Leader, Politics | 2 Comments »
Thursday, April 16th, 2009
Amazon has a nice program going for years, called the Associate program. Associates link to Amazon from their websites for books, music, table saws, etc., and if someone uses that link to buy the item, the associate gets a referral fee. It’s a small fee, we’re talking pennies from a new paperback sale, but it adds up and a lot of Associates get their referral fee in Amazon gift certificates, so the money gets poured back into Amazon.
Recently, Amazon changed it’s policy on Kindle ebook referrals. The associates don’t make any referral fee at all. Nix, nada, nothing.
Thanks Amazon, at least you could have bought the associates dinner and couple of drinks first.
The book I was going to buy as an ebook from Amazon is now a sale going to go to my local brick & mortar bookstore as a dead tree version.
Posted in E-Commerce | 2 Comments »
Sunday, April 12th, 2009
Freedomworks.com sums it up nicely.
Adam Smith famously noted in the Wealth of Nations that complex tax codes are “more burdensome to the people than they are beneficial to the sovereign.” Our tax code is broken. It’s unfair, complex, inhibits saving, investment and job creation, imposes a heavy burden on families, and undermines the integrity of the democratic process. We should scrap it and rebuild a simple, low, flat, fair, and honest tax code.
Here is the list:
1. THE CODE IS TOO COMPLEX.
2. THE CODE IS BEYOND COMPREHENSION.
3. THE IRS IS TOO BIG.
4. THE CODE CORRUPTS THE CULTURE IN WASHINGTON. DC.
5. THE CODE TAXES SOME INCOME TWO OR MORE TIMES.
6. CONGRESS USES THE TAX CODE TO LEGISLATE MORALITY.
7. HIGH MARGINAL TAX RATES PENALIZE SUCCESS.
8. COMPLYING WITH THE CODE COSTS AMERICANS BILLIONS.
9. THE CODE DRIVES POLITICAL DONATIONS
10. LAWS SHOULD REST ON PRINCIPLES OF JUSTICE.
Stop by and read the whole thing.
Posted in Politics, Taxes | No Comments »
Wednesday, April 1st, 2009
The Washington Post reports that US Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr is ignoring an unpublished opinion written by Justice Department lawyers earlier this year that the federal District of Columbia voting rights bill pending in Congress is unconstitutional.
Color me not surprised at Holder’s actions.
Posted in Politics | No Comments »
Wednesday, April 1st, 2009
The GOP has an alternative budget to our Dear Leader‘s plan to tax our great grandchildren.
Here are some of the high points:
– Deficits/Debt. The Republican budget achieves lower deficits than the Democratic plan in every year, and by 2019 yields half the deficit proposed by the president. By doing so, we control government debt: Under our plan, debt held by the public is $3.6 trillion less during the budget period.
– Spending. Our budget gives priority to national defense and veterans’ health care. We freeze all other discretionary spending for five years, allowing it to grow modestly after that. We also place all spending under a statutory spending cap backed up by tough budget enforcement.
– Energy. Our budget lays a firm foundation to position the U.S. to meet three important strategic energy goals: reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil, deploying more clean and renewable energy sources free of greenhouse gas, and supporting economic growth. We do these things by rejecting the president’s cap-and-trade scheme, by opening exploration on our nation’s oil and gas fields, and by investing the proceeds in a new clean energy trust fund, infrastructure and further deficit reduction.
…
– Tax Reform. Our budget does not raise taxes, and makes permanent the 2001 and 2003 tax laws. In fact, we cut taxes and reform the tax system. Individuals can choose to pay their federal taxes under the existing code, or move to a highly simplified system that fits on a post card, with few deductions and two rates. Specifically, couples pay 10% on their first $100,000 in income (singles on $50,000) and 25% above that. Capital gains and dividends are taxed at 15%, and the death tax is repealed. The proposal includes generous standard and personal exemptions such that a family of four earning $39,000 would not pay tax on that amount. In an effort to revive peoples’ lost savings, and to create an incentive for risk-taking and investment, the budget repeals the capital gains tax through 2010 for all taxpayers.
On the business side, the budget permanently cuts the uncompetitive corporate income tax rate — currently the second highest in the industrialized world — to 25%. This puts American companies in a better position to lead in the global economy, promotes jobs here at home, and strengthens worker paychecks.
The democrat‘s plan is to massively increase our debt and massively increase inefficient government spending. Increased national debt and out of control government spending is what got us into this mess. More of the same is not going to fix the problem.
Posted in Politics | No Comments »
Wednesday, April 1st, 2009
Quote of the Day:
“Remember: The guy who’s trying to nationalize industry and start his own youth corps isn’t the fascist. That was the previous occupant.” — Jim Treacher
Update: Chris Muir of Day by Day has identified this behavior also.
Posted in Politics | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 31st, 2009
The political cartoonist team of Cox & Forkum are back, at least for one new cartoon.
This one illustrates the truth behind our Dear Leader’s plan for massively increasing the size of government.
From The Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights: Obama’s Backward Economics by Yaron Brook.
“Barack Obama claims that Americans can only stave off economic disaster by trillions in government spending–which means trillions of dollars taxed or borrowed to finance government make-work programs,” said Yaron Brook, executive director of the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights. “Obama-nomics couldn’t be more wrong. “Prosperity requires that the government drastically cut government spending. That way, as much real capital as possible will remain in private hands, and be put to productive use by entrepreneurs to create valuable goods and services to sell at home and abroad. By taxing and inflating our wealth away, Obama will simply be creating more of the crushing debt that brought about the current crisis.”
Posted in Politics | No Comments »
Monday, March 30th, 2009
Some good news from USA Today, utilities are starting the process to build twentysix new Nuclear Power plants here in the United States.
A recent Gallup Poll shows a record 59% of Americans favor nuclear energy.
Dr. Pournelle nailed the truth of Nuclear Engergy:
I have to say it again: cheap energy will cause a boom. The only cheap energy I know of is nuclear. Three Hundred Billion bucks in nuclear power will do wonders for the economy. We build 100 1000 MegaWatt nuclear power plants — they will cost no more than 2 billion each and my guess is that the average cost will be closer to 1 billion each (that is the first one costs about 20 billion and the 100th costs about 800 million). The rest of the money goes to prizes and X projects to convert electricity into mobility.
Expanded Nuclear Power is the only practical way to supply the level of electrical power needed to support wide spread use of electric and plug in hybrid electric cars.
If you are really serious about reducing carbon emissions, you should a be a supporter of Nuclear Power.
Originally published at Urbin Technology.
Posted in energy, Nuclear Power, Technology | 2 Comments »
Monday, March 30th, 2009
The New Thought Police: Inside the Left’s Assault on Free Speech and Free Minds by Tammy Bruce and Laura C. Schlessinger
Tammy Bruce is a classic Liberal, not a leftist. A very important distinction these days. Unlike the far left extremists that have hijacked the democrat party, Classic Liberals are defenders of Free Speech.
The Monday Book Pick Archive
Posted in Free Speech, Monday Book Pick, Political Books | 1 Comment »