Democrats' New Direction: Same as the Old Direction By Herman Cain

The New Voice ^ | 21 June 2006 | Herman Cain

[K-oneTexas]

Democrats' New Direction: Same as the Old Direction By Herman Cain

House and Senate Democratic leaders held a press conference on June 16 to announce their bold, new policy initiatives in a plan called New Direction. Their accompanying press statement promises, "Democrats are ready with a New Direction, with policies to address the real challenges Americans face every day." Their idea of the "real challenges Americans face every day" does not include fighting and winning the global war on terrorism, restructuring the Social Security and Medicare programs, rewriting the income tax code or cutting federal spending, because none of those issues are included in New Direction. Instead, they proposed more obstruction, more pandering and more deception with new rhetoric.

One new initiative in the Democrats' New Direction is Ensure Dignified Retirement. Democrats plan to ensure dignified retirement by preventing (obstruction) the so-called privatization of Social Security and expanding savings incentives. Of course, there will be no Social Security program as we know it after 2041, because the program will be completely bankrupt. That date will come sooner if we start giving more benefits to illegal aliens and their families. And the Democrats blew the perfect opportunity to expand savings incentives by opposing full repeal of the estate tax. Memo to Democrats: More taxes equals less savings.

A second new initiative is called Help Working Families. Those ingenious Democrats promise to help working families – but not those doggone nonworking families – by raising the minimum wage (pandering). According to U.S. Department of Labor statistics, in 2004 about 74 million American workers were paid at hourly rates. Of this 74 million, 520,000 workers earned exactly the minimum wage. That is because workers who start at minimum wage do not stay at minimum wage if they are productive. About half of those working at or below the minimum wage are under the age of 25, and about one quarter are between the ages of 16 and 19. In other words, a minimum wage job is a starting job for thousands of workers. Minimum wage is not the lottery for millions of working families.

A third proposal in New Direction that looks surprisingly similar to a proposal in the old direction is Lower Gas Prices And Achieve Energy Independence. Those tough talking Democrats promise to "crack down" on price gouging gas station owners and "invest" in alternative energy sources. Democrats chose to ignore the May Federal Trade Commission (FTC) report presented to Congress that found no evidence that oil companies illegally raised gas prices or constricted their gas supplies. Another memo to Democrats: Congress does not produce gasoline – oil companies do. Imposing more wrong-headed restrictions on profits and domestic drilling will drive prices up. This has been the evidence of the past 30 years, but the Democrats want the public to believe it's the oil companies' fault (deception).

If our goal is to increase our energy independence from the Middle East, why not allow our oil and energy companies to achieve this independence for us? It turns out that the oil companies are pretty good at discovering and refining oil anywhere on the planet and distributing it to gas stations. Congress should encourage energy independence by allowing our energy companies to tap domestic sources of oil and natural gas. Congress should also drop the excessive regulations on nuclear energy production. Eliminating regulations would encourage more innovative entrepreneurs to enter the alternative energy market. Energy independence will be achieved through less government regulation and taxation, not more government "investments."

The rank-and-file House and Senate Democrats must not have received the New Direction plan. The same day it was announced, 42 House Democrats chose a new direction of their own, voting with 214 Republicans for a resolution declaring, "The United States will prevail in the global war on terror, [which is] the struggle to protect freedom from the terrorist adversary." One hundred fifty-three House Democrats actually went on record with their belief that the United States will not prevail in the global war on terror. A similar vote in the Senate a day earlier was even more revealing, as 93 senators voted against requiring the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and convening a hare-brained "Iraq summit."

The Democrats' vision of a New Direction is nothing more than new rhetoric for the same old plan of raise taxes, increase spending and heap the burden on taxpayers and businesses. We don't need another bumper sticker slogan from Congress. We need Congress to enact the solutions we already know will work to slow rising energy prices, fix the dysfunctional Social Security and Medicare programs and replace the out-of-date income tax code.

That doesn't require a new direction. It requires leadership.

© 2004 T.H.E. New Voice, Inc.

[K-oneTexas]

Another good one from Herman Cain.

[ncountylee]

Thanks for posting, Cain frequently states my opinions much more eloquently than I can.

[Onelifetogive]

raising the minimum wage (pandering).

How about if we index the minimum wage to inflation? Two or three percent a year would hardly make a real difference, but it would take the issue off the table. The minimum wage hasn't been raised for about 10 years. It has fallen behind any meaningful value, and a COLA would NEVER catch it up. (SS is not indexed to inflation, but to wage growth because inflation constantly falls behind wage growth. i.e. We are constantly getting wealthier in real terms.) A COLA on the minimum wage would amount to 10 or 15 cents a year. Burger flipping jobs around here (Alabama!) typically are $2 to $3 above minimum already.

[maine-iac7]

The dumRAts have gone beyond flip-flop to zig-zag...so they always claim "a different direction"

[The G Man]

Nothing like New Direction:

[ancient_geezer]

A Taxreform ping for you all.

If anyone would like to be added to this ping list let me know.

John Linder in the House(HR25) & Saxby Chambliss Senate(S25) offer a comprehensive bill to kill all federal income, SS/Medicare payroll, and gift/estate taxes outright replacing them with with a national retail sales tax administered by the states.

H.R.25,S.25
A bill to promote freedom, fairness, and economic opportunity by repealing the income tax and other taxes, abolishing the Internal Revenue Service, and enacting a national retail sales tax to be administered primarily by the States.

Refer for additional information:

• AllTheWeb search: "national sales tax" OR "national retail sales tax" OR "fairtax"

[ancient_geezer]

 

The Democrats' vision of a New Direction is nothing more than new rhetoric for the same old plan of raise taxes, increase spending and heap the burden on taxpayers and businesses. We don't need another bumper sticker slogan from Congress. We need Congress to enact the solutions we already know will work to slow rising energy prices, fix the dysfunctional Social Security and Medicare programs and replace the out-of-date income tax code.

Indeed!!!

 

T. Coleman Andrews, former IRS Commissioner(1953-55)

• "Congress went beyond merely enacting an income tax law and repealed Article IV of the Bill of Rights, by empowering the tax collector to do the very things from which that article says we were to be secure. It opened up our homes, our papers and our effects to the prying eyes of government agents and set the stage for searches of our books and vaults and for inquiries into our private affairs whenever the tax men might decide, even though there might not be any justification beyond mere cynical suspicion."

• "The income tax is bad because it was conceived in class hatred, is an instrument of vengeance and plays right into the hands of the communists. It employs the vicious communist principle of taking from each according to his accumulation of the fruits of his labor and giving to others according to their needs, regardless of whether those needs are the result of indolence or lack of pride, self-respect, personal dignity or other attributes of men."

• "The income tax is fulfilling the Marxist prophecy that the surest way to destroy a capitalist society is by steeply graduated taxes on income and heavy levies upon the estates of people when they die."

• "As matters now stand, if our children make the most of their capabilities and training, they will have to give most of it to the tax collector and so become slaves of the government. People cannot pull themselves up by the bootstraps anymore because the tax collector gets the boots and the straps as well."

• "I believe that a better way to raise revenue not only can be found but must be found because I am convinced that the present system is leading us right back to the very tyranny from which those, who established this land of freedom, risked their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to forever free themselves..."

[groanup]

Bump

[Mind-numbed Robot]

How about if we index the minimum wage to inflation?

I know your proposal makes sense under present circumstances but the better solution is to change the present circumstances. Eliminate the minimum wage rather than raising it. Let the market decide the value of labor. Gradually eliminate SS by changing to savings and investment in the private sector. Eliminate the IRS and the income tax, replacing it with the FairTax.

We should remember that the left (Democrats) does not want what is good for America and Americans. They seek the destruction of America and Americans as we now know them. All that they do is planned just as Cain hints but does not say.

[tkathy]

New Direction: do nothing while they're in office, then whine, blame others, play the victim when out of office. Old direction: do nothing while they're in office, then whine, blame others, play the victim when out of office.

[pigdog]

Nice graphic!! (WELL, AT LEAST VERY FUNNY!!)

[sd-joe]

ROTFLMAO

[FOXFANVOX]

I think Kerry was probably against the new directions before he was for them. [Or was it the other way around?] 8)

[FBD]

>"Eliminate the minimum wage rather than raising it. Let the market decide the value of labor. Gradually eliminate SS by changing to savings and investment in the private sector. Eliminate the IRS and the income tax, replacing it with the FairTax."<
-----------------------
-dittos. Good concise post.

[PhilCollins]

One presidential candidate, John Cox, an Illinois Republican, supports the fair tax. He's an expert in tax laws, since he's a CPA, lawyer, real estate broker, and investment advisor. He's campaigned in every county in Iowa and about 2/3 of the counties in New Hampshire and South Carolina. He's pro-life, and he supports penalties for illegal immigrants. If you want to read more about him, please check his website, www.cox2008.com.

[FBD]

thanks for the info

[pigdog]

He's certainly got it right on the two top election issues - the FairTax and illegal immigration!!

GO, JOHN!!!