Posted on 02/08/2009 4:48:12 AM PST by Kaslin
President Obama has turned the will of the American people against him. In one rookie mistake after another, his decisions have shaken even the majority of his supporters. His insisting to not listen to his employer--We The People--is now adding arrogance to his unsteady hand. His policies involving political payback instead of finding genuine solutions are now demonstrating to all of us that the vagueness of his campaign speechmaking was merely the work of a hollow wordsmith after all.
t's been a tough three weeks on the job Mr. President.
In breaking news on Friday afternoon, CBS News reported the startling conclusion. Mr. Obama's 97% federal spending stimulus was exactly the opposite of how most Americans think the economic crisis should be handled. In their findings they reported that 55% of the nation believed the relief package should focus primarily, if not entirely, on tax reductions. We all do remember that he campaigned on this right? Under the Obama economic plan, he would begin the economic recovery by cutting the taxes of 95% of Americans? (Never mind the funny public school math he was using to get to the 95% number--just give him the benefit of the doubt). In the same findings, CBS News poll found that only 22% believed that more government spending would solve the crisis.
Despite economic advisors telling him so, despite the Reagan biographies he "read" following his election, despite the fact that the brightest economic minds in the nation advocate differently, and now despite the fact that the American people have so advised, Mr. Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid believe it is more important to spend nearly 1.3 trillion in stimulus allocation than to do the only thing that would allow the economy to recover.
This is likely their prescribed goal.
An economy that heals by allowing the workers and producers in this nation to keep what they have earned, invest it in new growth, the adding of jobs, and the expansion of production in America, would be the greatest thing liberal party leaders fear.
For the record, I've opposed all of our bailout and stimulus efforts from the very first ones in mid-2008. I've repeatedly written and advocated on Fox News, radio, and elsewhere that bailouts (artificial props under poorly performing companies) never succeed, and the price of not allowing failure merely extends the long term losses.
But let's give Obama and company benefit of the doubt for the moment, just for the sake of argument. Let's argue that the Government taking from us 1.3 trillion dollars in taxes will turn things around. How then should it be spent? What has emerged from the House and Senate proceedings is a slab of pork spending so large in scope the average tax-payer will gasp with offense when the final list is revealed. (Among the items, millions for condoms, hundreds of millions of STD awareness, even rumored water parks for Florida.)
But since this is imaginary land and we're pretending that taxing us 1.3 trillion dollars will solve the problems let's consider another way of using the money.
Most people do not realize that 1.3 trillion dollars is more money than if you spent one million dollars a day since the birth of Christ right up to present day. If you break it down across the raw population of America (not voters, not taxpayers, not even just adults - but EVERYONE) it would average out to be roughly $4290 per person. A married couple would garner a touch more than $8500. A family of four comes in at just over $17,000.
At a dinner party in Chicago this past friday evening I asked the four couples gathered around the table what they would do with that amount of money coming back to them from the government. Each of them mentioned housing projects, fix-me-up stuff, goods they were in need of, and some mentioned paying off debt. There were also mentions of new home electronic big ticket items, and the ladies around the table all day-dreamed momentarily of being able to do a spa day. Long story short, every item they talked about would have employed someone like a contractor, plumber, or electrician. They would have added to the welfare of commerce--big ticket items, new transportation, etc. And some would have even helped solidify the crumbling credit market by paying off credit card balances and putting cash back into the system.
If this was the case with merely five couples of very modest means, imagine the heat that would warm the economic engine from an entire nation responding this way.
America would've never seen this kind of stimulus put in place before. The largest tax cuts that President Bush instituted were roughly $1500 per family. The amount of fluidity this plan would free up would be more than ten times that amount.
President Obama knows this to be true. He also could predictably determine the outcome.
Put another way, do you know any struggling families of four that could use $17,000? Think it would mean anything to them?
President Obama's bad missteps this past week were confounded not by just horrendously partisan policy-making, but the arrogance with which he penned an op-ed in the Washington Post and gave a retreat address to House Democrats, some of whom are pleading with him not to pursue the federal spending and replace it with tax relief, or credits, or whatever Obama's term for it would be this go around.
President Obama is not a King, he is a servant. He's the foot washer. He's the errand boy that we hired to administrate the nation for the next four years. His power exists only at the discretion of "We The People." And when he spurns the majority of the nation on the single greatest domestic issue facing our lives for the next twelve months or longer. He'd be wise to stop wagging his finger at us, and begin some of that "listening to us" that he promised us in nearly twenty four months of campaigning.
It might be good to keep in mind the comparative value of $17,000 per family vs. condoms, STDs, and water parks as we move forward in the days to come.
It might even be better to let your Reps and Senators know how badly you could use that financial reimbursement for the taxes that kill you month after month.
I would also find great intrigue as to what YOUR family would do with that money, so e-mail me here to let me know personally.
President Obama works for us--it's a message he needs to be reminded of repeatedly. He is our servant.
And if we do not remind him, we have only ourselves to blame for the consequences that will result.
Imagine the sales as retailers would attempt to have you spend some of that money with them!
I would pay off debt first though.
The absolute right thing to do though is trash this bill and just lower our taxes.
The ‘rats know this porkulus bill will do nothing to help the economy, that’s why they so desperately wanted bi-partisan cover.
I get the feeling that the “shepherd” leftists (those that “know better” and not the followers) know that tax cuts work every time,
but doing the opposite of gathering power unto themselves is antithetical to their ideology, and they’ll never do it.
Helping the economy has nothing to do with this bill. This is simply a payoff to Dem supporters and special interest groups. The strategy is that you do this first, because resistance will grow with each big new spending bill. Future bailouts will focus more on “essential” industries, like banking and the UAW because “we can’t allow them to fail.” This is just the downpayment for two or three more to follow...
hh
Theory vs. reality: Obama works for the unions, ACORN, the Chicago Machine, George Soros, whatever passes for the Marxist Internationale. He doesn’t work for us; certainly not in his own mind.
Even if it's only the FICA and medicare taxes that are put on holiday, that would be an immediate take home pay "increase" of nearly 8%, and it will reduce the cost of employment for every employee by 8% as well. For an employer, this could be the difference between having to let someone go versus being able to keep them on.
Mark
In the first step of the tax revolt that is to come,
I would suggest to everyone that they examine their tax returns for this year and see what they’re “getting back”.
Adjust your W4s so that you’re getting “nothing” “back”.
(For each deduction you claim, it’s about $23 per pay period. If you’re getting back $2000, and you get paid 24 times per year, you can take 3-4 (4 you’ll owe, save for it) more deductions)
Here’s the math:
Number of additional deductions = Refund / (23 X pay periods per year)
You can round up one if you save some $$ back to pay it.
Something that never seems to get mentioned (if I were in charge, it would be shouted from the rooftops), is that when BoR interviewed candidate Obama, OBAMA ADMITTED THAT LOWERING TAX RATES INCREASED GOVERNMENT REVENUES, but he didn't feel it was "fair."
Mark
“Helping the economy has nothing to do with this bill. This is simply a payoff to Dem supporters and special interest groups.”
Obama said last week that spending and stimulus are the same thing. Therefore, if it doesn’t matter what you spend the stimulus on, you might as well spend it on your friends.
View and post your best guess when the election-deciding voters of Nov 2008 will change their mind.
WHEN WILL obama LOSE THE NOV 08 ELECTION?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2180901/posts
Astounding, and disgustingly perverted at the same time.
Our Founding Fathers are SPINNING VIOLENTLY in their graves.
Control and imposed fairness (their definition thereof) are far more important to them than a working, prosperous system.
That's it right there. I am sick to death of this mentality. Congress holds the purse strings. They are ultimately responsible for spending. If Congress doesn't want to spend the money, they can just say no. This cult of the presidency is just a convenient way for Congress to push off their responsibility.
Personally, I do what you suggest and in fact keep it close enough that my payment is minimal. They will not get more than they are entitled to and it is on my terms....
6 months from now, more people will be sorry they voted for BH0 than will the McPain... McPain was by far the lesser of two evils...
Its Called REPARATIONS
Wrong, Obama is the King. We are the servants, get used to it.
Like I said, it’s the first shot fired in a tax revolt.
It’s a soft revolt. It’s legal, they can’t do anything about it, and it has a noticeable effect.
obama will never lose the 2008 election. Becaues the fools, idiots, and parasites who voted for him in droves do not have the intelligence to form independent thoughts and make judgments. The Republicans and President Bush will be the cause of their troubles. Because they contro; the education system, the Communists have finally got the United States given into their hand and they are about to pick it like a ripe plum.
In 2012 obama will win by an even bigger majority than he did in 2008.
Why? Three reasons.
1. More idiots will have been run through the indoctrination system a/k/a the education system to vote for him.
2 The Republicans will nominate another token candidate.
3.Death will have claimed a lot of Conservatives that are living today. This reason probably be a big a factor as reasons 1 and 2 because most of the older individuals I have talked with voted for obama”So I can be able to retire and get free health care”.
Over the next few months obama will be consoladiting his power and going after his political enemies and those he believes will oppose him.
For those who don't understand intellectual thievery speech....it's called payoffs and hording.
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