Posted on 05/05/2011 4:34:39 PM PDT by Revel
All very well and good, but you’ve seen what’s happened with Obamacare: Waivers for the special interests and the fat cats.
For the rest of us; a pair of wire cutters should suffice.
Screw them, too. I'm not okay with any of this crap, not the nanny state (which costs waaay too much money), not being hovered over by the stinking government (which costs money), and for damned sure not with being taxed to pay for it, regardless of who proposes it.
Any power not specifically granted to the Government by the US Constitution belongs to States, IF specifically granted to them by their several Constitutions, otherwise, it is OURS.
If you want to pay tribute to those who have usurped your birthright, that's your business. The government doesn't need more money, it needs to spend one Hell of a lot less of OUR money doing things it was NEVER meant to do.
If the government spent less money on commissions to study how to relieve us of our hard earned dollars, there would be more money to get the jobs that need to be done done--either in their hands, the coffers of the individual States, or in our pockets.
Your President thinks national healthcare is no different than state mandated auto insurance. The electorate has a very dangerous and ignorant buffoon in office.
For all I have seen he is a placeholder (a zero mathematically) being manipulated by those who bought him residence at 1600 PA Ave for a few years. The sooner he is out, the better. He is merely the well themed figurehead on a ship of twits who suffer similar cognitive dissonances or who pretend to do so with the aim of enslaving us all.
But dangerous doesn't describe the ones behind the curtain, the people who are pulling the strings that have shut down drilling on Federal Leases (where the Government could be collecting royalty interests on every drop of oil produced) and then want to further damage the consumers while blaming the people who extract and refine the fuels we need to keep America rolling.
As for the idiots who believe them, let 'em walk.
I liked Santorum’s response tonight about understanding our independence and the declaration thereof. It is based on Life and Liberty and I believe he was taking direct aim at Obama. He (Obama) does not have either as the driving force behind his unconstitutional crap that is flowing out of Washington everyday.
Or was Jeremiah Wright his handler during his programming? Perhaps those naps in front of the pulpit were merely drug-induced trances while keywords were plopped into his molten psyche to make him truly the Manchurian Candidate, some Sunday morning version of the Montauk Project. (We'll likely be seeing some version of that floating around the web soon).
Whoever mentored him and molded him took great pains to instill contempt for all that has made this country great and the Nation itself, either that or he is merely the delivery boy with the voice that gives Chrissy Matthew's a 'tingle', sort of the ultimate 'talking head' (Pay no attention to the men behind the curtain!!).
If there are any 'smarts' there, they are diabolical at best, in antithetic revellry attacking all those of us who believe in life and liberty hold dear.
It is ever evident that the concept he has of being POTUS is that of a 'ruler', not the chief executive of a Constitutional Republic, that to him laws are merely obstacles to be surmounted or weapons of policy, and that he thinks he can 'rule by decree'. It won't last, either he will overdo it and bite off far more than he can chew, or he will be removed from office by whatever means are available, lawfully, of course. I believe this is the aim of both him and his handlers, to cause the destruction of our Republic, such as it is, from within by exerting such onerous behaviours and usurpations that he can cause open rebellion.
It would be folly to fall for that, short of no possible recourse, and for now if those in Congress will value the Republic over personal lucre, they will prosper enough in the end to more than compensate for any short term losses. If not, may their rewards be appropriate, and may their replacements not forget the reason they were sent in their places.
I hear ya.
Like I say, don’t worry, your side will win.
No different than when I argue for making Social Security into a welfare program, so the country has some chance of staying solvent. Good, God fearing conservatives, that happen to be elderly (from what I can tell, about half of the elderly FReepers) tell me it’s THEIR money that was put in and they WANT IT BACK, even if it destroys this country. Sure, they’d rather not see the country destroyed...so they rattle off a list of programs (starting with SSI) that they want to see eliminated first.
Of course that won’t happen, so the country is simply finished (no matter how we price driving), but that doesn’t really matter - NO CHANGE TO SOCIAL SECURITY!!!!
Therefor, all my investments have nothing to do with the dollar, since its days are numbered...probably in months.
So, with road pricing, we WILL get it, because we WILL have a source to finance highways, and the effective tax will be 10 times what the gas tax is now. And it will be due to a stupid gas tax that simply isn’t indexed for inflation...that’s it - on to TRANSPONDERS FOR ALL!!!
I'm not sure what the hell you think "my side" is.
Highway funds have been looted just the same as Social Security.
If you want the government to make more money off of oil, there is a simple way which will stimulate the economy, imporve national security, and reduce energy prices as well.
Re-open the enormous acreage which has been closed to drilling.
It is Federal Land (onshore and off) and the Federal Government will get not only the lease revenue (although in many instances they leased the mineral rights, oil companies invested millions in exploration and even drilling only to be kicked out by the same government who leased them the mineral rights), but will get production royalties as well. When you consider that is anywhere from 12.5% to 20% of the value of production, that can add up fast.
The second way to stimulate the domestic economy, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and improve our national security is to tax imported oil, at the docks.
This isn't rocket science, but instead everyone wants to tax at the gas pump, a tax which does nothing but beat the crap out of consumers without improving anything here in the US.
But beneath it all, the problem isn't the lack of revenue, it is the insane and uncontrolled spending going on at the Federal level, often on programs of questionable value which are far beyond the Founders' intent and which cost a fortune.
Did we really need to spend countless millions remodeling the 'food pyramid' or boiling the BMI chart down to a formula? Do we need to pay government agencies to tell us to eat our veggies (when Mom did that for free)?
Americans need to grow up, put on their big girl panties and git 'er done--without either waiting for the Government to do it or tell them to.
Until the insane levels of spending are brought under control, and that includes the juggling of funds to rob highway funding to pad some other pet pork project which should often not even exist, it won't matter HOW the money is raised, nor how much is raised, it won't be enough.
The difference between Social Security and welfare programs is this. The money people paid in to Social Security was robbed to fund Welfare for those who didn't pay in (to buy votes). Given their (and employers' matching) contributions back, most of those who have paid in would have been able get by just fine, especially if they had had the time to make good investments. For a few decades, they were (the US Government, especially bonds were once considered a good investment) it is Government spending which has called that into question.
You get the added bonus that 'Seniors' are not actively producing more progeny to carry on the mantle of spending the wealth of the nation for no return except a culture of dependency and crime.
Means test it, fine, but it isn't right to single out the program which people paid for before going after the programs where the beneficiaries didn't shell out a dime.
It isn't 'Welfare' if you paid for it, any more than taking your money out of a savings account is 'welfare', but the Madoff Ponzi scheme is a chump change pittance compared to what the Federal Government has pulled off with Social Security.
The problem wasn't solely one of income there, either, but unbridled spending, inflating the currency (devaluation) in an attempt to get out of debt, followed by more unbridled spending. It is a fundamentally unsustainable fiscal policy, but one which has been maintained by the overblown Federal Government for decades. Now that those chickens are coming home to roost, it seems everyone attacks the people who have been productive, and no one has the guts to shut down spending on those who haven't worked, nor to trim the folds of fat off the Federal Government.
I reiterate, until and unless that is done, no tax will be enough to sustain the levels of spending which have become so commonplace that a reduction in annual increases is viewed as a "cut".
The last 'budget cut' proposals are a flipping joke. When the Federal GOvernment should be relaxing regulations (many of which should not even exist, right along with the agencies which promulgated them) and closing down offices (theirs, not private ones), they are ramping up regulation, even to the point of fabricating reasons to do so--which 'justifies' MORE spending.
When the Federal Government 'creates' jobs, those will be government jobs, another parasitic agency, often redundant, with its fangs tapping the economic vein.
Where is the employment picture rosiest right now in the US? Outside of D.C. where our money is financing a government boom, and in North Dakota, where oil companies are drilling for oil. The only reason the latter is happening is that the mineral rights are privately held and the Federal Government can't yank the leases like offshore and in other parts of the country.
Which one is contributing to the economy and which is sucking the wealth out of it? Which is paying taxes--often multiples of its own profits--and which has run in the red for decades?
Anyone who has successfully run so much as their own checking account knows that you can't spend more than you make as a matter of policy. The first place to bring that into balance is to examine the budget and cut spending. The Federal Government has yet to make any serious effort along those lines.
So, with road pricing, we WILL get it, because we WILL have a source to finance highways, and the effective tax will be 10 times what the gas tax is now. And it will be due to a stupid gas tax that simply isn’t indexed for inflation...that’s it - on to TRANSPONDERS FOR ALL!!!
Are you nuts?
If the Federal Government hadn't looted the fuel tax, there would have been enough money to git 'er done.
The problem is the criminal level of spending on non-critical garbage (see just a couple of examples above) by Federal Agencies which should not even exist, and a Congress which keeps padding the budget for those agencies.
If you want the dollar to rebound, pull off a 20% Federal budget cut across the board. That won't happen because the paradigm the Government has followed for decades is to inflate our way out of debt, the worst tax of all.
Therefor, all my investments have nothing to do with the dollar, since its days are numbered...probably in months.
Okay, so you aren't a player. You have bailed out already.
“I’m not sure what the hell you think “my side” is.”
Easy. The side that gets us the mileage tax at the equivalent of $4.00, due to obstanite opposition to raising the gas tax by a dime or so. The NO NEW TAXES crowd will win the 10 cent fight, than get their heads handed to them when we get our road tax.
Mark my words, it’s coming - and remember, I tried to stop it.
And, frankly, it is none of the Government's damned business where I go or how often, as long as I am not breaking any laws.
If you bothered to read my post, there are other ways the government can raise money without taxing anything any more than they do now, simply by making sure there is more income to be had.
Furthermore, like a spouse gone crazy with credit cards, obtaining another card isn't going to get anyone out of debt.
In the absence of fiscal responsibility, which includes not robbing infrastructure funds for porkbarrel projects, (not to mention not pi$$ing away funds on studies which are only designed to increase the level of Federal meddling in our day to day lives--which will only entail another legacy of agencies and regulations and regulators adding to the burden on the taxpayer), NO income stream will suffice.
There needs to be a change in mindset, not just in Government circles, but in private ones as well. We need for the Federal Government to do less, which costs less. We need to prioritize what the Federal Government does do, and we have a fine guide for that: The Constitution.
Were the actions of the Federal Government within the bounds of that framework, there would be no 'budget crisis'.
The States, not expecting nor burdened by the controlling effects of Federal money, would have to do their own prioritizing, would have to decide what, within the bounds of their own Constitutions should be done at that level, and so forth. The individual, in the meantime would have far more with which to fend for themselves or work with their neighbors to get things done.
Instead, we are faced with a topheavy, wasteful, and inefficient bureaucracy which determines what the caloric intake should be for your child whether you live in North Dakota or Key West, regardless of the individual's metabolism, and will yet charge you for the priveledge of having done so.
They impose such burdens as the low water toilet, decree that owls can't nest anywhere but in the middle of tens of acres of trees, that the planet is warming when it isn't, and seek to control minutiae, right down to the labels on your food.
In the meantime, businesses are presented with moving-target regulations nearly impossible to comply with, safety regulations which require other regulations to mitigate their harmful effects, and the disruptive presence of swarms of officers, armed and empowered to enforce those regulations.
Enough.
It is past time to stop the power drunken orgy of spending and regulation and stuff the government back in its cage.
As for "Mark my words, it’s coming - and remember, I tried to stop it.", all you have done is find a less onerous way to capitulate.
I guess you haven't been Taxed Enough Already. Cheap wine or Crown Royal, it doesn't matter, the drunks will stay that way, and be back for more. We have to stop it some where, some time, or it won't ever stop.
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