Tax time blues

Well once again it's time to roll up the old sleeves and recommence the onerous American tradition of preparing our tax forms so Uncle Sam can plunder our wealth,as well as, show us who is really in control here!

I hate it! No matter how you slice it filing a tax return is a complete pain in the a--! I know I know. All theses great new software programs and online services "make it fast and easy" to file your taxes.

I agree they are a help,but,and this is a big but. It still galls me to have to spend the amount of time that I do,online,filing taxes. Especially when it could all be so much simpler and easier.

Foe instance if the FairTax were a reality there would be no need to file a return at all,and,this great national nightmare could be brought to an end. Or even if the flat tax were implemented life would be so much simpler. The form for the flat tax takes up no more space than the cover of a paper back book for goodness sake,and,buy God it's fair,everyone across the board pays the same flat percentage rate!

But have our leaders in Washington had enough sense to consider scrapping the current code which,by all accounts, would fill entire volumes? To date no!

What makes it all even worse is that when Paul Bremer was calling the shots in Iraq he imposed a flat tax in that country. Hell the Iraqis have it better than we do. Even the Russians instituted a flat tax and their economy thrived as a result!

I personally support the Fair Tax plan which according to their web site would...

• Enables workers to keep their entire paychecks
• Enables retirees to keep their entire pensions
• Refunds in advance the tax on purchases of basic necessities
• Allows American products to compete fairly
• Brings transparency and accountability to tax policy
• Ensures Social Security and Medicare funding
• Closes all loopholes and brings fairness to taxation
• Abolishes the IRS (source)

There is however hope. for the first time in years politicians,pundits,and the people are all calling for talks on fundamental tax reform. The President even made mention of it in his State of the Union address

I certainly hope that before 2012 we will see the current tax code scrapped and replaced either with the FairTax,or a flat tax, but I'm not holding my breath!

Well well civility didn't last long

Well Well the much talked about "new era of civility" didn't last long and who was it that violated the new atmosphere of kum by yah and holding of hands? Darn sure wasn't a Republican.

No it was a Democrat! In fact one Representative Steve Cohen Democrat from Tennessee fired of a salvo on the floor of the House likening Republicans and critics of Obama care to Nazi's and Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels.

This is soo typical of these folks. They always talk the talk but they never walk the walk. We have heard so much about how flaming rhetoric from the right are fanning the flames of violence,and, how we have all got to take a deep breath and not call each other names blah blah blah!

Well how about the other side? Do they never have to dial it back? Do the rules of civility and decorum not apply to the nuts on the left?

Here is my wager about this outrage. You will never hear one peep from the leftist media! However if a Republican had said something in the well of the house comparing Dems to Stalinists it would be Katy bar the door.

Seems the hypocrisy of the left never ends!

Hoorah for Gabriel Giffords

http://giffords.house.gov/

While watching the morning news the report came that in-addition to Congresswoman Giffords being able to give hand signs-as well as open her eyes-she has now been taken off ventilator! To this very welcome news indeed I say hoorah for Gabriel Giffords!

I'm a little late perhaps in speaking directly to the tragedy in Arizona. However waiting a space I believe can bring a little clarity to the discussion.

It has now emerged that the consensus on this heinous act-which the left tried to pin on the right-is that this was a lone act of a deranged nut! Words do not suffice to express how horrible this senseless act of violence was. The cost staggering. 

A vibrant young woman shot in the head and maimed in the prime of life. An innocent 9 year old girl -with a new and burning desire to learn of American politics-silenced before she could grow to make her contribution,involved citizens trying to contribute to the political discourse,and a Federal judge assassinated!

Nothing short of an assault on our system of government. A slap in the face to the will of the people who elected Ms. Giffords-and generally -a kick in the face to all of us.

The fervent prayer and earnest desire of this blogger is that Gabriel Giffords will make a rapid and complete recovery from this unimaginable act of mindlessness. It is also my hope that the bum who did this will feel the full force of American justice and be made to pay for this evil deed!

Miracles do happen. Others in similar straits have made amazing recoveries. Let us all pray that this is the case for the Honorable Representative from Arizona,and,that she will soon be able to execute her duties and responsibilities to the great people of Arizona who elected her to this high office!

Why no calls for the left to tone it down?

I hate to sound like a broken record,but,since the liberal media is keeping up the relentless mantra about how the "tone of political rhetoric" has got to change I feel compelled to call them out on the hypocrisy!

I can't help but ask the question: Why no calls for the left to tone it down? Every time some liberal pundit on the three old stream networks calls for a change in the tone of our political discourse,or for the debate to become more civil,etc,etc,etc what they are really saying is that the Right,and,the Tea Party,and by extension,the Republicans have got to quite down and quit opposing their socialistic agenda!

Well why is it that they seem to be so blind and deaf to the outrages on the left side of the aisle? Take for example the picture at the top of this page. When Bush was President they had no problem with nut cases on the left showing up at protests with signs like this. Could you imagine how tied into knots they would get should someone from the Right be seen carrying a sign like that referring to the "Anointed One"?

Even today the left -and leftist media- advocates violence against republicans consider these examples from Andrew Breitbart's Big Government blog...

"Martin concluded the article with a plea for Obama to emulate the violent tactics of the Prohibition-era Chicago mob boss Al Capone.

Obama’s critics keep blasting him for Chicago-style politics. So, fine. Channel your inner Al Capone and go gangsta against your foes. Let ‘em know that if they aren’t with you, they are against you, and will pay the price.

The Huffington Post followed-up with their own call for gangland violence against Republicans with the publication on February 14 of a column by David Bourgeois with the title, Obama Better Start Breaking Kneecaps.

So much for toning down the rhetoric. The left is more than capable of saying things that-by their standards-could well incite violence. Here is a quote from 2008 in Right Wing News...

"Are you angry? [Yeah!] Are you angry? [Yeah!] Are you angry? [Yeah!] Well, we've been watching intifada in Palestine, we've been watching an uprising in Iraq, and the question is that what are we doing? How come we don't have an intifada in this country? Because it seem[s] to me, that we are comfortable in where we are, watching CNN, ABC, NBC, Fox, and all these mainstream... giving us a window to the world while the world is being managed from Washington, from New York, from every other place in here in San Francisco: Chevron, Bechtel, [Carlyle?] Group, Halliburton; every one of those lying, cheating, stealing, deceiving individuals are in our country and we're sitting here and watching the world pass by, people being bombed, and it's about time that we have an intifada in this country that change[s] fundamentally the political dynamics in here. And we know every-- They're gonna say some Palestinian being too radical -- well, you haven't seen radicalism yet." -- U.C. Berkeley Lecturer Hatem Bazian fires up the crowd at an anti-war rally by calling for an American intifada"

This is nothing short of a call for violent revolution against the government. The left has been foaming at tje mouth over the Tea Party just suggesting we might have to have a second "American Revolution" which said revolution is a type of revolution that is a far cry from an "Intifada"!

Here is another glaring example of the hypocrisy of the left on this subject....

 "A spoiled child (Bush) is telling us our Social Security isn't safe anymore, so he is going to fix it for us. Well, here's your answer, you ungrateful whelp: [audio sound of 4 gunshots being fired.] Just try it, you little b*stard. [audio of gun being cocked]." -- A "humor bit" from the Randi Rhodes show

It's a wonder some lunatic from the left wasn't inspired by that nonsense to pick up a gun and go after Bush!
These quotes just begin to scratch the surface check out these horribly violent leftist quotes being reported by  Townhall.com...

"F*** God D*mned Joe the God D*mned Motherf*cking plumber! I want Motherf*cking Joe the plumber dead." -- Liberal talk show host Charles Karel Bouley on the air.

 "..And then there's Rumsfeld who said of Iraq 'We have our good days and our bad days.' We should put this S.O.B. up against a wall and say 'This is one of our bad days' and pull the trigger." -- From a fundraising ad put out by the St. Petersburg Democratic Club

 "...In an ideal world, American consumers could be convinced to do the right thing through an appeal to logic with public service messages like the 'What Would Jesus Drive?' TV campaign, but the kind of people who would buy a car that increases the risk to other motorists in an accident can't be reasoned with. They're selfish and stupid. It's unfortunate that drivers must worry that their SUVs are being targeted by insulting stickers and Molotov cocktails, but one thing's for sure: It couldn't be happening to a more deserving group of people." -- Ted Rall winks at ecoterrorism

Yeah the hatred,vitriol,and just down right meanness of the left is actually -in my opinion- unmatched.
So once again,considering these quotes- where in the world are the calls from the left wing media for liberals to tone down their rhetoric?!

            

Democrats have used maps with targets too!

Since the tragic shooting of Arizona Representative Gabriel Giffords there has been much talk about the heated rhetoric,and,vitriol of recent campaigns being responsible for the shooting of Ms. Giffords and the killing and injury of several others.

One person in particular-Sarah Palin-has been singled out as the "poster girl" if you will of what is wrong with the highly charged atmosphere of current American politics because of her use of such terms as "targeting,don't retreat reload, and other firearms related references!

Well guess what seems the Democrats are as guilty as anyone else of using this kind of "firearms related speech" in political campaigns. In fact according to some sources they have used maps depicting targets against their political opposition since at least as far back as 2004.

As I was preparing for this post I recalled Bush years when it was common to see liberal activists hanging George Bush in effigy,displaying posters calling for Bush to be killed ,and,others calling him a terrorist and calling for his death!
 etc,etc

Where was all the concern and outrage on the left over hate filled rhetoric then? I remember Bush being asked by reporters how he felt about such incendiary language at the time and his reply was usually that they had a right to their opinions under the principle of free speech.

Political language in American politics has historically been quite heated and charged with vitriol. We are told by the talking heads on television that the political climate has never been as overheated and highly charged as it is today. Nonsense!

What of the era running up to the Civil War when the rhetoric became so violent and hateful the it wasn't deranged lunatics killing people for unknown reasons but sane people taking up arms against their own neighbors!!

You see I live in Missouri and it is an historical fact that because of the political climate prior to the Civil War their was a very bloody "Border War" going on between Kansas and Missouri. There was also an incident on the steps of this Nation's Capitol where one Senator nearly caned another to death!

No the current political climate,and, the speech of the Tea Party or anyone else is not to blame for Sunday's tragedy. The blame lies solely with a deranged lunatic who decided to grab a semi-automatic pistol and open fire on a group of unarmed and innocent people!

New content to be added at Vote for Democracy.org

In a previous post I reported about a new site that sought to bring a new face to public opinion polling.

Vote for Democracy describes it self as a ...

"a brand new website promoting political partication throught online voting. We hope to allow users to shape the political debate by showing support for politicians and policies that they believe in. It is our feeling that online partication will also will translate to higher turnouts in the final elections and that that is good for the country."

I originally described this new project as a "new kind of public opinion poll. Now it  seems they want  to be true to their stated goal of fostering public debate about the issues by allowing their users to "create their own ballot issues.

When I first visited this site I had to register as a voter at Vote for Democracy so I am already a registered user. However when the first ballot appeared registration had been waived in order to "enhance participation". Can't say as I blame the creator of the site seeing as how this new experiment in social media has only ben around for four weeks now.

I am excited about the potential for this project and really want to be a part of helping it succeed.

So if you haven't already visited Vote for Democracy click here and hop on over and check it out!
I have participated in four different polls so far and -though participation is light-have enjoyed the experience.

P.S. to my Conservative friends democrats currently out number Republicans by a narrow margin. Don't miss out on a chance to be in on the ground floor of a place on the web that has the potential to be the next big thing!

A reply to Ezra Klein: The Constitution is quite clear!

Well it seems Mr. Klein has trouble understanding the Constitution of the United States. I'm not the smartest guy in the world-but-I have never had trouble understanding the Constitution. It's not like trying to read the original version of the King James Bible which-with its arcane English-can be a bit daunting for modern English readers.

Actually the Constitution is pretty clear and straight forward. I know a lot of folks have already written miles of commentary about this video,but,I want to draw your attention not to what Klein says in the above video but rather to  what he had to say in a related article in the Washington Post!

It seems Mr. Klein has-as most liberals do-a problem understanding the "right to have and bear arms"

Here is what he had to say in the Washington Post concerning that right...

"My friends on the right don't like to hear this, but the Constitution is not a clear document. Written more than 200 years ago, when America had 13 states and very different problems, it rarely speaks directly to the questions we ask it. The Second Amendment, for instance, says nothing about keeping a gun in the home if you've not signed up with a "well-regulated militia," but interpreting the Second Amendment broadly has been important to those who want to bear arms. And so they've done it."

Lets examine this statement. Mr. Klein says that the Constitution "rarely speaks to the questions we ask it".

What? It speaks quite clearly about freedom of the press,freedom of religion,freedom of assembly to name but a few of the questions we could ask of it,and,it speaks very clearly about the right of the people to have and bear arms.

In fact why don't we let the Constitution speak for itself...

 "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

Yep looks pretty clear to me. The constitution says "the right of the people to have and bear arms SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED. The part about a well regulated militia is in their to give justification for the people to be able to possess guns.

It doesn't say a thing about being "enrolled in a militia". The founders had just gone through a revolution where ordinary citizens had formed themselves into voluntary militias in order to fight the British. They were not supplied by the government. However they did place themselves at the disposal of the Continental Congress.

The founders vision was that free citizens would voluntarily continue to form militias to protect their freedom.
How could free men come together to protect themselves if deprived of the right to arms!! Lets listen to the Founding Fathers in their own words...

"Americans have the right and advantage of being armed - unlike the citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust the people with arms."

-- James Madison, The Federalist Papers

"The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed."

-- Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist Papers at 184-188

Very clear words indeed from the very men who had a part in drafting the Constitution but none more clear than Patrick Henry...

" Are we at last brought to such a humiliating and debasing degradation, that we cannot be trusted with arms for our own defence? Where is the difference between having our arms in our own possession and under our own direction, and having them under the management of Congress? If our defence be the *real* object of having those arms, in whose hands can they be trusted with more propriety, or equal safety to us, as in our own hands?"

-- Patrick Henry, speech of June 9 1788

This last quote- more than all the others- makes it clear that the people themselves WERE the militia. Who better to be trusted with arms than law abiding patriotic citizens!!

No the Constitution is not confusing. Actually the Constitution is quite clear. The real problem is the confused and fuzzy thinking of folks like Ezra Klein and his fellows on the left!!