New York seeks to tax existence.

A desire to piss away more tax dollars rather than reign in spending (crazy talk), New York Governor David Paterson wants to tax everything, or damn near.

The governor is proposing creating taxes on the following: audio/video/photo downloads, taxi/limo/bus rides, entertainment of damn near any sort, beer (an outrage!), clothes and shoes, cable and satellite (as if that stuff doesn’t cost enough already), non-diet sodas (behavior enhancement) and much, much more.

Remember this famous quote from President Reagan?

Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.

Paterson seems to have only learned the sentiment mocked in the quote and not the meaning behind it.

The Auto Bailout hits a pothole in the Senate (Hopefully)

Despite the clear bias in this AP story and the desire of Democrats to pass the first round of the auto bailouts (make no mistake, there will be more or else the unions would actually have to make real concessions) while Bush is still President so they can hang this and all future monies on Republicans, the US Senate is moving closer to sanity and blocking this disgrace.  While $14 billion may not seem like a lot considering the $700 billion we dished out not that long ago to the financial sector (we opposed that, too), it sets a horrible precedent for the future and is anti-free market.

The 3 US auto makers (the name Big 3 hardly seems to qualify for companies seeking to suckle to government teet) claim they need this money to avoid disaster by the end of the year.  But what would that disaster be?  Bankruptcy.

That’s right, that’s all, just bankruptcy.  Not closing up shop forever, just reorganizing in the most profitable way, cutting jobs, both colors of collar, and reopening very generous union contracts that are aiding in ruining these once great companies.  Rather than face reality they’d prefer our tax dollars.  Well, hell, who wouldn’t?

Pay someone not to work and they won’t.  Pay someone to keep doing the same things that brought them to near financial ruin and guess what happens.

Sanity looks like it may be happening where is rarely does, in the US Senate, however, where more Senators are speaking out against the bailout.  Big props to them.

Ford, GM and Chrysler need to reorganize, cut the fat and find a way to support themselves or else they deserve to fail.

One of the most disgraceful parts of the House passed bill is the creation of a so-called “car czar” to make sure they’re making the right decisions.  Can you imagine that?  A government stooge to tell private companies how they should run things.

Pop quiz – name one thing the government actually runs efficiently without massive waste, fraud and abuse.  You can get back to us on that one.

While the fact that Democrats are willing to once again violate free market principles and spend our money like it was theirs, below is the list of Republicans how decided to sell-out and join them.

We suggest you call your Senators and tell them you oppose the bailout, that the auto companies need to act like the companies they are (or at least used to be) and use the bankruptcy laws to get their act together.  Just call (202) 224-3121 and ask for one of your Senators to let their office know what you think.

Here is the Squish List:

Barton (TX)         Manzullo
Buyer                   McCotter
Camp (MI)           McCrery
Capito                  McHugh
Castle                  Miller (MI)
Ehlers                  Murphy, Tim
Emerson              Porter
English (PA)        Ramstad
Frelinghuysen     Regula
Hoekstra             Rogers (MI)
Hunter                 Ryan (WI)
King (NY)            Smith (NJ)
Knollenberg        Souder
LaHood               Upton
LaTourette         Walsh (NY)
Lewis (KY)          Young (AK)

The Big 3 Bailout hearing – Scary look into the future?

If you’re watching the Senate hearing on the auto bailout, this is nuts. The big 3 were all just asked if they were willing to submit to an oversight board that would have the authority to impose restructuring on these private compainies. All basically said yes. So they’re willing to turn their companies over to the federal government for the small sum of 34 billion. What a deal!

You can watch part one here and part two here.

Another lesson in economics.

Since our liberal friends don’t seem to understand the concept economics, our friends at the Center for Freedom and Prosperity attempt to educate them.  A bit dry but worth your time.

The Free Market works and Barack Obama recognizes it, drops plan to tax oil companies.

One of the boogymen of the ’08 election has redeemed itself in the eyes of President-elect Obama, at least for now.  The oil companies are no longer in the crosshairs of the Obama Administration because the price of a barrel of oil has dropped to an arbitrary point in his head, $80, that he no longer feels the need to punish them.  That is change we can believe in!

The free market brought down the price of oil, not government intervention or the threat of it.  While the end result is a good one, the interventionist instincts of the President-elect are disturbing.  We hope he learns the right lessons from this, but somehow think he won’t.

Democrat’s “stimulus” plan – take money from right pocket and put it in left.

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The Democrats are at it again, looking to interfere with the economy to “save us” from the inevitable and necessary hardship of the current economic mess.  After having spent roughly a trillion dollars on this so far through bailouts and “stimulus” packages, we’re now told that that’s not enough, more must be done.

President-elect Obama and other Democrats are considering up to another $700 billion in a “stimulus” package to get the economy rolling again.  There’s only one problem with that proposal – it simply won’t work.

While talking about massive infrastructure programs, building roads and bridges, etc., may sound like a good idea, it’s not.  One thing you have to realize is that the government can not create wealth, it can only seize it.  So for the feds to spend any additional money on anything they must first take it from someplace else.  The place where they take it from is generally where new jobs and economic growth originate – the entrepreneurial segment of society.  This leaves them with less to invest in their companies and less with which to be able to hire new employees.  This is presumably the opposite of what one looking to “stimulate” the economy would want.

The government can’t create growth by taking money from their right pocket and putting in their left.  In fact, the government can’t create growth at all.  At best the government can get out of the way of those who actively seek to create something from nothing, or expand what they’ve already created and allow them to do what humans have been doing since the dawn of time.  Since there is no way the Democrats will allow that to happen, we will be in a world of hurt until common sense returns to Washington.

Listen to Christopher Dodd squirm on his corrupt mortgage deal.

Christopher Dodd proves it's ok to be corrupt, as long as you're connected.

This would be a lot funnier if it were not true, and not our money his corruption cost us.  Why Senator Dodd has been dragged into the public square and flogged remains a mystery.

Give it a listen.

The Semantics of “climate change.”

Remember global warming? The environmentalist wackos hope you don’t, because if you do their whole case falls apart.

Pope Goreus the IV, Al Gore, has led the fight in the new semantic argument, changing the term “global warming” to the new catch-all “climate change.”

Why the change? Well, the earth is cooling, which really throws a monkey wrench into the gears of the global warming. If the opposite of what you claim is happening people might start to question your motives. God forbid the people discover this is nothing more than a government power grab.

The truth is they changed the name to “climate change” because it doesn’t matter what happens now, it can all be blamed on humans. If the threat of an ice age returns, like it was “pressing” in the 1970′s, they’ve got it covered. Doesn’t matter what happens, storms, drought, floods, tsunami, earthquake, doesn’t matter, they’ve got it covered and government needs to do something – i.e. tax the hell out of you and steal your liberty.

Keep one eye on them and the other on your wallet.

Congressman Jim Moran: we have a “simplistic notion” about being able to keep what we earn.

YOU GREEDY BASTARDS!!!   This is why 2010 will be 1994 all over again.

H/T to Jeff Poor.

The path to victory for John McCain and the results of an Obama win.

If you only watched the mainstream media you’d think the election has already taken place, but the facts have yet to be determined.  Remember President Dewey?

Here is a story on how McCain can pull it out.  While it seems like a long-shot, it’s really not.  Nothing is impossible.

In the meantime, if Obama does win, Ron Hart is already preparing himself for some much needed down time.

I really do not want to be that “greedy” guy whom Obama so hates. “Greedy,” loosely defined in Obamanomics, is 49 percent of voters. For the record, if you make $249,000 per year or less you are fine; somewhere around $250,000 and above, you are officially evil and he is coming after you.

I want to appease the new administration and not be too productive. So, upon Obama’s passing his new redistribution plan, I will slow my work schedule, lay off a few people (Obama’s got their back) and let someone else bust his tail since I will now be able to get “redistributed wealth” from those poor fools who are ambitious, energetic, work hard and have made good decisions.

I cannot wait, as I need a break. And it will be nice to not be vilified by politicians. It will feel good to be liked again.

Wish me luck for the next few years. I am looking forward to a respite from hard work, taxes and creating jobs. It is a lot of responsibility that I will be able to “shrug.”

Read the whole thing.

Barack Obama wants to kill coal…and the jobs that go with it.

Off script the guy speaks his mind and sticks his foot in his mouth non-stop.  If you or someone you know works in the coal industry, or if you simply enjoy the lights coming on when you flip the switch, watch the video all the way to the end.  What a nut!

Joe Biden may have made you rich yesterday…

Don’t know what you make, and don’t care, but if it’s over $150,000, you’re rich!  It seems that $150,000 a year is the new black, or the new rich.  Remember when it used to be $250,000?  That bar has been lowered because there isn’t enough money liberals can seize from those people to cover what they want to spend.

Here’s Biden making his latest gaffe – telling the truth.

The 11th Commandment: Thou shall not ask tough questions of Joe Biden.

And the hits just keep on coming…

More tough questions for Joe Biden, and more lies from Joe Biden, about the Obama plan, and more banning of media outlets that dare not tow the line. Don’t these local media outlets realize that it is heresy to ask tough questions of Joe Biden? We would say of Obama and Biden, but Obama is running from the media these days. Unless you count “Extra” as media, but considering Obama is a celebrity first, it’s not surprising he’d go there.

The real Barack Obama is finally coming out.

It’s a sad testament to the state of the media today that this has to come out through YouTube and not the nightly news or newspapers.

An honest Democrat blasts media, Obama and fellow Democrats on the economic crisis.

This is a must-read for anyone interested in honesty in government and the media.

If you at our local daily newspaper continue to let Americans believe – and vote as if – President Bush and the Republicans caused the crisis, then you are joining in that lie.

If you do not tell the truth about the Democrats – including Barack Obama – and do so with the same energy you would use if the miscreants were Republicans – then you are not journalists by any standard.

You’re just the public relations machine of the Democratic Party, and it’s time you were all fired and real journalists brought in, so that we can actually have a news paper in our city.

Read the whole thing, then send it around to your friends.

Interesting: Socialist world supports Obama, our military supports McCain.

It seems the world has spoken, and they have said they want Barack Obama (they can have him) as our next President.  We don’t recall them consulting us on who their leaders should be, mostly because we tend to mind our own business on electoral matters of other countries.  But socialists are not a group content to leave people alone, they really enjoy control, and they support their own.

To be fair, they were asked, they didn’t actively call the United States to voice their opinions.  Why they were called and who exactly cares what the rest of the world thinks is an open question.

One thing that is not an open question is who our military supports.  Seems the endorsement of Colin Powell doesn’t matter as much as the leadership and character of the candidates does.  By a margin of 3 to 1, active military personnel prefer McCain over Obama, quite probably because they’ve actually been listening to Obama and are bothered by the associations the media doesn’t seem to give a damn about.  After all, Bill Ayers did try to bomb the Pentagon…soldiers tend to frown upon those who seek to kill them, and those who either hang out with or even serve on boards with those who try to kill them.  They’re old fashioned that way.

The Congressman from Fannie Mae, Barney Frank, calls for tax increases.

Barney Frank, the Congressman from Fannie and Freddie, wants to raise taxes to have more money to give to people.  Follow that logic.  It’s straight up socialism.  Considering the fact that his super-rich handlers have their money in off-shore accounts and tax free trusts, therefore won’t be impacted by policies of this sort, Frank is free to do what he will on the issue.  Why this man isn’t under investigation and/or indictment remains a mystery.

Joe Biden attacks Joe the Plumber…with lies.

Joe Biden, known for “stepping in it,” can’t limit himself to the truth when running for office.  And while that seems to play well in Delaware, it doesn’t in the rest of the country, which is why he’s been rejected for President 3 times by Democrats.  Now he’s out there attacking “Joe the Plumber” and every other small business owner in the country.  In this clip he basically fires a warning shot at small businesses, “Become too successful and we’ll tax the hell out of you!”

His lies are many.  First of all, most small businesses file taxes as income for the individual owners, so a company that takes in $300,000 will see a tax increase even though that is clearly not all profit, mostly not, in fact.  But they will still be hit with the Obama/Biden tax hike.  If you don’t think that will cost jobs, you’re either crazy or willfully ignorant.  Second, small businesses don’t pay capital gains taxes, so the fact that they won’t see an increase in that is like telling a man you won’t give him ovarian cancer.

They are starting to worry.

Joe the Plumber gets it, do you?

Joe Wurzelbacher, “Joe the Plumber,” the guy who called out Obama for being a socialist, was at it again this morning on Good Morning America and Nightline last night.

“To be honest with you, that infuriates me,” plumber Joe Wurzelbacher told Nightline’s Terry Moran. “It’s not right for someone to decide you made too much—that you’ve done too good and now we’re going to take some of it back.”

“That’s just completely wrong,” he added.

Also adding:

“You know, me or — you know, Bill Gates, I don’t care who you are. If you worked for it, if it was your idea, and you implemented it, it’s not right for someone to decide you made too much.”

What is really telling is the way Diane Sawyer asks the question about rich people getting soaked by higher tax rates under Obama (You can watch the video here).  Obama has always called it a matter of fairness, Joe doesn’t think it’s fair that people have to pay a higher percentage simply because they’ve busted their asses and made a lot of money, especially since they already pay most of the taxes in this country.  Sawyer claims Obama simply wants to raise taxes 3 percent on the “rich,” from 36 percent to 39 percent.  But basic math and common sense should make you notice that that is not a 3 percent increase, that’s a 3 percentage points increase.  In reality it is a 8.35 percent increase, but Sawyer has swallowed the hook from the Obama camp.

Here is the video that started it all.

Bill O’Reilly slams Barney Frank on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Bill O’Reilly is a blowhard, no doubt, but he’s right on this. Barney Frank is as corrupt on this issue as a $3 bill.

UPDATE: Former First Friday guest Bill Sammon is the first in the mainstream media to take a look into why Frank may have been doing favors for Fannie (no pun intended).

Douchebag of the Week – Any Member of Congress who votes for the bailout.

The funny think about markets is that they work only when allowed to.  The crappy thing about politics is politicians rarely let markets work.  President Reagan put it best when he said:

Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.

The government is like a fat guy at a morning meeting sitting at the end of the conference table near the box of donuts and the free-market is the box of donuts.  He can’t control himself, he has to keep reaching into the box.  Politicians can’t help but meddle in the market in an idiotic attempt to spare us from its cyclical nature.  But their efforts end up making things much worse in the future.

We didn’t get to this point from too much deregulation, as many in the media and on the left (as if there’s a difference) would have you believe, we got here because of regulation, threats of more regulation if bad loans weren’t made and threats of more government intervention through civil action.

Also to blame are the people who were specifically exempted from guilt in last night’s VP debate, the people that took the loans.  “Predatory lenders” gives the impression of some sort of land-shark roaming the countryside looking for dupes to give money to, but these people have offices.  Just because someone got a flier in the mail promising them loans doesn’t mean the idiot who thumbed through the Val-Pac had to take one.  Joe Biden said last night that he and Barack OBama want to lower the principle for people who bought more house than they could afford.  Don’t you feel like an idiot for having lived within your means these last few years, especially since you’re going to have to pay someone else’s mortgage now.

Back to the bailout.  The need to do something is common in politics.  Just watch any politician at a townhall meeting.  Someone will stand up and tell their sad tale of woe, lost their job, no education, can’t afford this, that or the other thing and they want to know what the government is going to do for them.  Never will you see an elected official say, “Nothing, you’ll have to help yourself.”  That’s what the Constitution demands, but it’s looked upon simply as a piece of animal skin with quaint scribbles from old dead, white guys on it now.  Its bastardization led us not only to this crisis but to every “crisis” in the last 100 years.  It was written to limit the power of the government, on that there is no debate, but has been reinterpreted to allow whatever the whimsy of the moment is, especially meddling in the market.

So we find ourselves picking up the $700 billion check on meal we were force-fed, and while we’re getting screwed, it’s not the type you might actively seek.  Wall Street wants our money, but they want our money because the sun rose, everyone wants money.  But this bailout is not needed, mostly because no one knows what will happen next.  As an anchor on CNBC put it the other day:

“if we’re not careful this mini rally in the dow is going to talk us out of any bailout, is that a good thing?“

Let’s not be careful, let’s ride this out, not kick the can down the road for someone else to deal with.  Let’s not make it worse.  Right now a small portion of taxpayers are caught up in this, don’t involve everyone.

Anyone who votes for this bailout is a douchebag of epic proportion.  All this will do is cloud any investigation into how we got here, if one is even launched.  Right now there are millions of documents sitting in Fannie and Freddie’s offices that could be destroyed legally because they are not under subpoena.  The longer it takes to launch an investigation into the largest scam in the history of the Earth the fewer of those documents will survive.

For voting for a bailout rather than to launch an investigation, every single Member of Congress who votes in favor of the Frank-Dodd-Bush-Bernake plan is our Douchebag of the Week.

PS – A funny thing happened on the way to the bailout…a carbon tax provision found its way into the bill.

PPS – Now California wants a piece of the action.  We need another Gerald Ford to tell him to drop dead.

Burning Down the House video is back up, this time with an explanation as to why Time Warner may have wanted it down in the first place – Obama cash…

Every American should watch this.  Democrats are partaking in the biggest corruption cover-up in world history.  That’s not change, that’s reality you have to deal with.

Great Campaign ad in Washington’s race for Governor.

Christine Gregorie, governor of Washington, won in 2004 only after losing on election night, and in several recounts, someone mysteriously found a box of uncounted ballots in a warehouse and a liberal judge ordered they be counted (the box turned out to have just enough votes to give Gregorie the “win”).

How has she governed?  She’s not popular, that’s for sure.  But not getting a majority vote hasn’t stopped her from “winning” in the past…

Here is the latest ad on Gregorie’s record on taxes by Dino Rossi, her opponent this year and the true winner in 2004.  It’s a good one.

Democrats on Fannie and Freddie in 2004 – There is no problem.

Who was saying the status quo at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was just fine with them?  Democrats just a few years ago, that’s who.  Why would they be saying that?  Because Republicans were attempting to put more oversight on them.  Democrats don’t like it when you try to reign in their cash cow.

Or maybe it’s because they don’t want to attack their family and conscience.  Who knows?

We will never know while Democrats are in charge.  They’d rather investigate the legal firing of political appointees who serve at the pleasure of the President than anything as trivial as potentially scamming hundreds of billions of dollars from taxpayers.  Priorities are an interesting thing on the left.

Obama/Reid/Pelosi/Biden’s failed leadership.

She's a handsome woman, isn't she?

Democrats are running around blaming Republicans for the failure of bailout bill (though we look at is as the success of the failure to pass it) by calling them unpatriotic before the deal was even struck.

The simple fact of the matter is that Democrats DO NOT NEED Republican support to pass this bill, they are the majority right now. If Speaker Pelosi truly wants to blame someone it should be her failed leadership, and that of the Senate leader Harry Reid, their nominees Barack Obama and Joe Biden. All they had to do was pick up the phone. The vote was 12 short and 95 Democrats voted against it. If they can’t convince 12 Democrats out of 95 that something they support is what’s best for the country, well, draw your own conclusions about their ability to lead on anything.

What caused the economic meltdown?

This is a big simplistic but gives the general overview of how the mess we’re in now came about, government mandates and regulation, political contributions and Democrat cronyism.  The video moves quickly (seemingly to fit in under YouTube’s 10 minute max time limit), so use the pause button and rewind to read when you have to.  It’s well worth it.

The blame game on Fannie and Freddie

How did we get here?  How could there be so many people going into default on home loans?  The obvious answer is money was lent to people who couldn’t pay it back.  But why?  Here is a pretty fair look at how that came about, though Fox News deserves credit for not putting a laugh track over Chris Dodd’s clip.

The reason none of us own houses is because we couldn’t afford them.  Seems stupid in hindsight now that Obama is calling for all those people to get government negotiated new mortgages they can afford.  Who says stupidity isn’t rewarded?  Unfortunately that will artificially inflate the housing market (again), kicking the ball down the road for someone else to deal with.  But it sounds good, will get votes and will make people feel good, which seems to be what some people want in a President.  Man, we hope we’re dead when all these bills come due.

The audacity of cowardice – Obama and Wall Street.

In regards to the financial crisis facing the nation, Barack Obama has come out firmly for, well, nothing.  Showing the same level of leadership he has demonstrated throughout his career, Obama, who has a “plan” for damn near every aspect of our lives, has decided to wait and see what President Bush does on the economy.  Now that’s bravery!

It’s pretty much the “voting present” method he’s known for.

You’d think he’d have something to say since leaders in his party and top advisers on his campaign are responsible for the mess we’re in, but nope.  He prefers to keep mum on what to do and hope no one notices.

The McCain Campaign has, and so will the American people.

And here:

Democrats in Congress show their true colors, plan to leave town in midst of “Crisis.”

Democrats, led by Barack Obama, are beating a path to any microphone they can find to blame Republicans for the financial “crisis” happening on Wall Street, but when it comes to solutions they, well, have none.  How could they have none?  Simple, the government can do little to make things better and is only really good at making things worse.  For an example of this see The Forgotten Manby Amity Shales.  Not that common sense or history has ever dissuaded a liberal from a bad idea, they do still seek to impose socialism, after all.

But the fact that Congress is ready to hit the road as soon as they can is an acknowledgement of the fact that they have no clue and/or no ability to make a difference.  Bloated companies made bad loans and tried to cover it up, it’s that simple.  Bills come due and people who should not have been given loans because they couldn’t pay them back couldn’t pay them back.  The important question is why were those loans made in the first place.  The answer is simple – liberals.

When the Bush Administration attempted to add oversight to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2003, Congressman Barney Frank said this:

”These two entities — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — are not facing any kind of financial crisis. The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.”

Frank is the Chairman of the Financial Service Committee!  People like him pressured banks to loan money to low income people who have been “redlined” for living in certain areas, making it difficult for them to get a mortgage.  What happened?  Loans that never should have been made were made and people couldn’t pay them back.  Bam, we have what we have now.

It’s never just this simple, but it’s important to remember that Democrats have blocked every attempt to privatize Fannie and Freddie, to oversee them to make sure something like this didn’t happen and basically hold them to account.  Why would they block something like that?  Could it be the campaign cash they’ve dished out?  That would be a cynical accusation, especially since Barack Obama, after only 3 years in the Senate, has collected more money that 532 other Members of Congresshave from Fannie and Freddie has in the last 10 years.  Chris Dodd, Mr. Sweetheart Mortgage himself and author of this year’s bill that got us to this point, got the most.

Business taxes and reality.

It’s not going to win a Grammy, nor is it quite the Free Credit Report guy, but still, it gets the point across well.