Tax Day Tea Parties

No wonder Americans are upset with BIG government and high taxes. This year they will pay more in taxes than for housing, clothing, and shelter put together. Support your local group no matter how much the media is trying to disparage them.

In 1913, Federal taxes were 1% of income and the average family paid $12.97 in taxes. Today, a fairly low estimate of Federal taxes is 18.56% and the average family pays $6,922.50 on April 15, or an increase of 53,414%.

Grrrrrrr!

No explanation necessary!

Taxpayers and Other Suckers

Every person who has just filed their tax return, is working or their tax return, or who plans to file an extension needs to read Mark Steyn's editorial comment in Investor's Business Daily today. He concludes with "A relatively tiny group of people is writing the check for the entire global order. What proportion of them would need to figure out the game's no longer worth it to bring the whole system crashing down?"

But read it all, then send a copy to each of your Congressional Clowns. It's time they all heard us say that we're angry as h__l and we're not going to take it anymore.

Beware!

Every day for the last two years, I have received emails and newsletters from numerous sources regarding the precarious financial position we citizens of the United States are in. The mildest warnings made my hair stand on end while the more trenchant made me wonder if there is any hope at all. Even John McCain, RINO, now says, "President Obama is leading an extreme left-wing crusade to bankrupt America." "Coruptocrats" have made selfish, stupid, and even criminal decisions that robbed all of us.

The mass media continues to babble about recovery, but serious sources keep saying "unsustainable." This chart from the Committee for Economic Development predicts that our debt will reach 60% of GDP by the end of this year.

Now is the time to get your own financial house in order, remembering that cash is king during recessions and depressions. Now is the time to demand that your Congressional Clowns STOP SPENDING immediately. Now is the time to pray for your country.

Tax His Land, Tax His Bed

Posted at 24h Gold:

Tax his land,
Tax his bed,
Tax the table
At which he's fed.

Tax his tractor,
Tax his mule,
Teach him taxes
Are the rule.

Tax his cow,
Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,
Tax his coat.

Tax his ties,
Tax his shirt,
Tax his work,
Tax his dirt.

Tax his tobacco,
Tax his drink,
Tax him if he
Tries to think.

Tax his cigars,
Tax his beers,
If he cries, then
Tax his tears.

Tax his car,
Tax his gas,
Find other ways
To tax his a**

Tax all he has
Then let him know
That you won't be done
Till he has no dough.

When he screams and hollers,
Then tax him some more,
Tax him till
He's good and sore.

Then tax his coffin,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in
Which he's laid.

Put these words
upon his tomb,
"Taxes drove me
to my doom..."

When he's gone,
Do not relax,
Its time to apply
The inheritance tax.

Thank Townhall.com for This Cartoon

Save this cartoon just in case any of your friends or neighbors were impressed by Obama's 'budget freeze.' First off, he is increasing the budget as much as he possibly can this year, but the freeze does not begin until next year. Secondly, he has artfully eliminated most budget items from the freeze. Third, he's already broken innumerable promises, so one can hardly believe he will live up to this one. And fourth, ALL politicans routinely and repeatedly break promises regarding spending our money. Remember "Read My Lips" H. W. Bush.

No Longer Called Congressional Clowns

After Saturday's historic vote by the Senate and Mary Landrieu's boast about being bought for $300,000,000, I think we should change their name to Congressional Prostitutes.

No wonder our national debt is so high. The leadership in both parties has been buying votes for decades instead of letting bills stand or fall on their own merits. After all, it's easy to spend other people's money.

What worse, is the their constituents mistakenly believe their very own Prostitutes are bringing bacon home. The reality is they're just adding to the people's tax burden for generations to come, often for projects that are questionable at best.

It's time for everyone, politicians and voters alike, to straighten up and become honest. It's time we all developed moral clarity in every aspect of our lives.

Another Way to Stop Corruption

Of course, it would put a lot of IRS employees out of work, but think how it would help everyday people to have a simple, fair tax code. On top of that, it would encourage recovery from the economic malaise that threatens to overwhelm us. Watch this video to see how countries all over the world are benefiting from a flat tax rate.

Our New Pledge*

"I pledge allegiance to Americaʼs debt, and to the Chinese government that lends us money. And to the interest, for which we pay, compoundable, with higher taxes and lower pay until the day we die." *from The Daily Bail.

American tax payers daily need to pay more than $500 million just to cover the interest on our debt, most of which is owed to foreign governments. Obamas first budget deficit is greater than ALL of the Bush deficits combined.

Banksters?

Most Americans have opposed the TARP program under Bush and the subsequent big spending bills that were passed under Obama. Somehow, without knowing the details, we've had this gut feeling that we were being hoodwinked. At first we only worried about the secrecy surrounding the problem, the bills, and about the distribution of the money.

Later we began to read investment newsletters and financial blogs that spoke of the perpetrators (primarily Paulson, Bernanke, and Geithner) as participants in a massive fraud program that paid off their buddies at the big banks, especially Goldman Sachs, while bleeding the taxpayers.

I didn't know any real details until I saw this article last week at Bloomberg.com, New York Fed’s Secret Choice to Pay for Swaps Hits Taxpayers. I suggest you read it to at least discover Stephen Friedman's conflicts of interest as board member of Goldman Sachs and former chairman of the board of the NY Federal Reserve and his personal profit of $5,400,000 on the Goldman Sachs stocks he bought in a, ahem, timely manner.

On a similar note, but easier to digest, is this video from MSNBC: "Banks Have Taken Over The Government And Made Taxpayers Slaves To Bank-Run Gambling Casinos"

The New United States of Goldman Sachs

If you're not angry about the role Goldman Sachs is playing in our country, then you just don't know all the facts yet. On Monday, we covered the "magical" 2009 third quarter earnings for GS of $3,400,000,000 after they had received $70,000,000,000 from the taxpayers just a year ago.

Amazingly, no one has demanded anything be done about this "windfall" profit. There have been no screaming headlines or news specials about making a record $3.4 billion in one quarter. Their executives are not hounded by protestors around their homes nor do they face sarcastic reporters yelling questions as they try to leave their offices.

Today, we discovered that the government and Goldman Sachs have been too close for comfort at least since the Bush administration. His Treasury Secretary, Hank Paulson, held a secret meeting with the board of Goldman Sachs in a Moscow hotel in 2008 between the demise of Bear Stearns and the fall of Lehman Brothers (former competitor with GS). It was supposed to be a purely social occasion for the former Goldman Sachs CEO. But he ended up telling his old friends all about his upcoming big speech and the gathering storm at Treasury -- quite a conflict of interest. For the whole story of the meeting, see the Business Insider article below.
This week Adam Storch, VP of Goldman Sachs Business Intelligence Group, was named the SEC as the Chief Operating Officer for enforcement. So we began researching other Obama administration executives with ties to Goldman Sachs. The list so far includes:

* Pete Coneway, Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein

* Diana Farrell, Deputy director of Obama's National Economic Council

* Michael Froman, Obama adviser and former assistant to Robert Rubin

* Jason Furman, Obama Campaign Economic Policy Director

* Tim Geithner, Current Treasury Secretary

* Gary Gensler, Chairman of Commodity Futures Trading Commission

* Bob Hormats, Under Secretary of State for Economic, Energy, and Agricultural Affairs

* James A Johnson, Fannie Mae

* Reuben Jeffery III, Undersecretary of State for Economic, Energy, and Agriculture

* Neel Kashkari, Treasury official in charge of TARP

* James C Langdon Jr., Treasury, US Mint, Department of Public Debt

* Philip D Murphy, Ambassador to Germany-Designate

* Mark Patterson, Chief of Staff to Tim Geithner

* Karthik Ramanathan, Acting Assistant Secretary for Financial Markets

* Robert E Rubin, Former Treasury Secretary, Transition Advisory Board

* Faryar Shirzad, Global Head of Government Affairs

* Robert K Steel, Under Secretary of Treasury

* Larry Summers, Director of the National Economic Council

* John Whitehead, Advisor

* Robert Zoellick, US Trade Representative and World Bank president

Why isn't someone calling for a thorough investigation of the penetration of Goldman Sachs into Obama's administration, especially at Treasury? What about the Federal Reserve? Is it not unfair for this privileged bank to be making record profits without repaying their creditors (the US taxpayers)? This does not sound like free market capitalism to me.

We All Knew The Bailout Was Wrong, Wrong, Wrong

Now we know a little more about what happened to OUR MONEY. Just one year ago, Goldman Sachs was bankrupt, but after being given $70,000,000,000 of taxpayer money, they made the biggest profit ever during the third quarter. In fact, their earnings were $3,400,000,000 for three months. Let's demand our money back with interest! Goldman Sachs deserves honest profits, but not on the backs of our children and grandchildren.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Please embed this video clip and send it to everyone on your email list. Nothing will happen until Washington hears more outrage from the voters.

Everybody Is Cheering

After all the Dow topped $10,000 yesterday. But what does it mean? With Treasury printing presses running at top speed, it doesn’t carry the same financial euphoria it used to.

For example, ten years ago the Dow was $11,497 and it would have taken 40.6 ounces of gold to equal that value. But yesterday’s Dow would only require 9.44 ounces of gold to “buy” that amount.

Inflation has plagued the US all through the 20th Century and threatens to become worse in the 21st because our Federal government insists on spending more money than we can reasonably pay back. Like the Banana Republics we recently disdained, we keep printing more fiat money to avoid raising taxes and to hide the growing reluctance of other countries to buy our treasuries.

"By a continuous process of inflation, governments can confiscate, secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their citizens. By this method, they not only confiscate, but they confiscate arbitrarily; and while the process impoverishes many, it actually enriches some. The process engages all of the hidden forces of economic law on the side of destruction, and does it in a manner that not one man in a million can diagnose."
- John Maynard Keynes, 1920

More ACORN Irony

ACORN is registered with the IRS as a 501-3c charity, therefore, they are supposed to lose that status if they engage in or encourage others to engage in any illegal activity. Read more about it at Sweetness and Light.

Hmmmmmm. How many times and in how many states have they been prosecuted for voter fraud or fraudulent registration before the recent string of videos revealing criminal offenses by officers?

On the other hand, at least some Republicans are demanding that the IRS sever ties with ACORN and quit allowing them to assist clients with their taxes. After watching the videos that have been released thus far, citizens can't help but wonder whether they helped them fill out the forms correctly or helped them evade taxes.

Ca$h for Clunkers

According to the Council of Economic Advisors, the Cash for Clunkers program cost the American taxpayer $8,700 for each additional automobile sale. By analyzing car sales, they concluded that only an additional 330,000 cars were sold than would have been expected without the program, hardly a bonanza for either the economy or the auto dealers who filled out reams of paperwork for the priviledge of waiting for the government to make good on its promises. For a more detailed analysis, read Donald Marron.

"When you break the big laws, you do not get freedom; you do not even get anarchy. You get the small laws."

And in today's America there are so many small laws that we all engage in criminal activity without even knowing it. As big government grows ever bigger, citizens are burdened with new little laws each time the President signs a bill. The Congressional Clowns may pass a 1,000+ page bill, but when the bureaucrats finish writing up the regulations, it grows much longer, becomes much more complex, and gains innumerable unintended consequences.

Little laws make everyone think first of our tax law that is so Byzantine even the IRS does not understand it, or in Geithner's case, follow it. If you were to call the nearest IRS office to ask a specific question about a specific tax situation, then follow the IRS advice on that same tax situation, you still could be considered guilty if audited by IRS personnel who disagreed with the IRS person who gave you the advice. Not only is the tax code tens of thousands of pages long already, but more pages of regulations are added each year.

Sales tax regulations sound easy, but twenty states follow recommendations of the Steamlined Sales Tax Project or SSTP. The SSTP is currently considering taxing Wheaties, Cheerios, Lucky Charms, and Rice Crispies as candy, although Cookie Crunch will remain a cereal. Their definition of candy is a substance with sugar in it, but no flour. Wheaties, for example, contains wheat flakes, not flour. According to a comment on American's for Tax Reform article about SSTP, Kellogg's Raisin Bran is considered candy, but Post Raisin Bran is a cereal. Candies, in case you were wondering, can be taxed at higher rates than foods in many states with sales taxes.

Since the regulations of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act were approved this spring, federal agents now have the authority to raid Saturday morning garage sales and jail the offending homeowner in a campaign called Resale Roundup. In addition to the draconian rules about plastic and lead products, the new law makes it a crime to resell any item that has been recalled by its manufacturer. Since hundreds of products might be recalled each year, for various reasons, it's impossible for homeowners to keep up with all of them. As a result, many resale shops have been forced out of business, numerous books taken off library shelves, and the hosts at garage sales face the possibility of jail. However, the really bad news is that Obama has asked for a 11.4% increase in CPSI funding, so more inspectors can be hired next year. Then they can do more raids on yard sales, Craig's List, and Ebay.

And, this round up of stupidity only hints at the growing government intrusion into our private lives.

Obviously, God is not a bureaucrat. He only has ten laws for a peaceful society. And they are so simple a ten year-old can easily memorize them.

*The title is a quote from G. K. Chesterton in The Daily News on 7/29/1905.

President Obama Was Absolutely Correct!

Obama's speech in Ghana recently was spot on. Too bad, Obama does not follow his own advice. He chided the African nation for corruption and excessive taxes. "No business wants to invest in a place where the government skims 20 percent off the top," he told the Parliament of Ghana.

I wonder if his listeners realize that this pronouncement came from the leader of a country where the federal government skims off 39.4% in corporate taxes, the second highest of any industrialized country. Or that he has many plans for new taxes and regulations to further squeeze the business community? Maybe he should pay more attention to the words his teleprompter gives him.

Does he not comprehend that corporate taxes become part of the overhead and every single customer ends up paying the tax, not the so-called evil corporation? Does he not notice how many companies have already moved their headquarters from the US and how many more are planning to in the near future?

Texas VS California

Way back in September, Nelson Guirado of Assymetric provided an excellent analysis of the current status of California and Texas. This is important now because California has been following the liberal program on taxes, the environment, and social services for years, while Texas has implemented more conservative laws and programs.

Here are Guirado’s highlights (remember these are figures from the middle of September):
1. Education results (with similar ethnic groups): Texas ranks 25th while California lags behind at 47th.
2. Unemployment in Texas is 4.3%, but in California, it’s 7.3%.
3. Taxes: Texas has the third lowest rate among the states while California is ranked eighth highest.
4. Deficits: California has a deficit of $15, 000,000,000 while Texas has a surplus.

From what I’ve observed since January 20, Obama and the Democrat Congress are rushing headlong to emulate or overtake California’s programs. Why? We have a proven life lesson right before our eyes.

When The Cat’s Away, The Mice Will Play

While the US media spent 12 days keening for Michael Jackson, our Congressional Clowns continued their headlong rush to pass additional damaging legislation.

The financially destructive Cap and Trade bill passed the House with provisions that prove the “green” movement is more about control of citizens than about the environment. Some of the items seldom mentioned are regulations that force bureaucrats to inspect your home in person before allowing you to obtain a building permit to remodel anything. Then they get to come again before you can put it on the market; if they decide anything is amiss, you have to correct it before it’s advertised.

Those freedom restrictions are in addition to increasing utility costs for every household and increasing costs on everything that’s manufactured in America and thus eliminating jobs in the process.

Not only was it passed without being read, the staffers had not even finished writing the bill before the final vote was taken.

The media didn’t mention those items because what little time they had left after covering Michael Jackson’s family, friends, influence, music, wealth, will, lawsuits, and needle marks was used to advertise the “need” for Democrat versions of health care reform. As frequently happens nowadays, competing bills by Republicans like Dr. Tom Coburn that promote natural market forces to effect savings in health care were deemed unworthy to be brought to public attention.

But, the coup de grâce was delivered by our dear friend, Barney Frank. He used the distractions in the news to introduce TARP for Main Street Act of 2009. As has become routine, the name of the bill does nothing to reveal its outcome. It’s anything but a bill for Main Street.

When Congress passed the TARP bill last fall, the law was written to force banks to pay dividends and loan payments to the general fund of the Treasury to reduce the public debt. Its supporters repeatedly reassured us that TARP was really an investment and we would eventually enjoy a profit.

But Barney’s fingers got itchy when a little bit of money began to dribble into the coffers the second week of June. So he introduced a bill to change the original intention of the TARP bill and instead use the money to fund some of his favorite causes. To wit:
1. Use a billion or so to fund a low-rental housing project that was previously mandated, but not funded. (Hasn’t fifty years of low rent housing proven to be ineffective in every city in the US?)
2. Give $1,500,000,000 to ACORN and other groups for the purpose of “neighborhood stabilization.” (That means that many neighborhoods inside the city are “stabilized” rather than allowed to "gentrify.”)
3. Allocate $2,000,000,000 to subsidize people who are delinquent on their mortgages. (In addition to the money that has already been allocated to allow dead beats to stay in their homes a few months longer.)
4. Hand over another $2,000,000,000 to "stabilize multifamily properties that are in default or foreclosure." (Assisting deadbeats with bigger bills.)

It’s going to be a long, hot summer.

And They Complained about Bush Spending

According to the Wall Street Journal, federal spending in 2009 will account for 28% of the economy while deficits mount. (No one dares to predict how high the percentage will be after more Obama changes take effect.) WSJ claims that fact is behind the highly unpopular edict that employees pay taxes on 25% of their business phones because of personal use. What’s next? Taxes on personal time in the wash room?

The bright spot, according to the editorial, is the possibility that this will incite rebellion against all the hope and change they’re giving Americans.