Tuesday night, I returned home from an engagement and turned on the television. Sean Hannity’s Great American Panel came on and I saw Bob Beckel begin to talk. He said,” President Obama is the greatest economic president since…” I have to admit, I didn’t hear who Beckel said after that (I think it was FDR) because the blood pounding in my head obscured my hearing. It really doesn’t matter who Beckel said Obama was the best since. I adamantly disagree! Obama is the worst president on economics since the founding of this great country. I hear Obama every so often, usually daily, talking about how we need to raise taxes on “millionaires and billionaires”, and currently he’s out touting his Buffet Rule. It’s about time everyone knew the truth.
Let’s start by talking unemployment numbers. Last week’s employment numbers came out and, although it rose some, they weren’t as good as had been expected. It was, however, good enough to lower the unemployment numbers from 8.3 to 8.2%. How could that happen, you ask? The Obama administration is redefining the number to make it appear better than it really is. What they are doing is removing those people who have given up on finding a job from the count. To illustrate, in 2008, the workforce stood at 145.5 million people. Today the workforce is 141.5 million people, a loss of 4 million jobs. Those people do not get counted in Obama’s numbers. If everyone who was unemployed or underemployed ( those who are working part time, but want to work full time) were counted, the unemployment numbers would be closer to 17%. Remember that unemployment in the ’30’s was 25%.
Something else to remember, when Obama took office, the unemployment rate was 7.6%. He told us his stimulus package would keep that number from reaching 8%. We, the People spent the $787 billion, which was more like $812 billion, and the unemployment number went over 9%. His answer is always to spend more money! We need to raise taxes! Well, the government has a spending problem, not a revenue problem! That being said, let’s take his Buffett Rule. His argument is that Warren Buffett pays less taxes than his secretary. That’s comparing apples to oranges. Since Buffett’s income is solely off investments, taxed at 15%, and his secretary, supposedly making $60,000 a year ( seems kind of low for a personal secretary having worked there so many years) pays 30%. First, she needs a better tax professional, if that’s true. Of course, we are only taking Obama’s word for that, since she’s not making the tax forms public. Then again, we are only talking about percentages. Fifteen percent of Buffett’s investment income is much greater than the secretary’s taxes, even if it were at 30%. But Obama wants to close that perceived gap by raising the taxes on investments. That’s going to affect a lot of people. Do you have stocks? Do you have mutual funds? Do you have a retirement package? You would be affected! But, since Obama said during his campaign and has affirmed many times after that he wouldn’t raise taxes except on millionaires and billionaires, you can afford it. When he says millionaires, of course, he means starting at $250,000 ( translates to anyone that works).
Since we are speaking of the Buffett Rule, an interesting fact was brought to my attention. If the tax rate on millionaires and above actually were implemented, it would only result in $5.3 billion. On the other hand, if there were a cut across the board in government spending of just 1%, the resulting savings would be over $33 billion. Which of these make more sense?
Right now, the national debt stands at $15.6 TRILLION! The entire European debt stands at $12.7 Trillion. The Obama administration states that what is happening in Europe won’t happen here. Well, it not because of any policy changes by this president. Every year since his took office, he has had a deficit over $1 trillion. His own Treasury Secretary has said that by 2027, the US economy would cease to exist. Still there is no move to stop the spending. What the national debt means is that every person in the United States owes $49,925. Stated differently, every taxpayer owes $137,974 (remember those 4 million people no longer counted in the work force?).
So, how do we get out of this quagmire? We need jobs! Look around and Obama isn’t anywhere to be seen. However, he can definitely be felt! Since he came to office, his administration has put in place over 100 major regulations that have choked trillions of dollars out of the economy. The EPA’s new rule on power plants would cost nearly $800 million per year, according to the Brattle Group. They say that by 2015, it will cost us $120 billion! Everything is being regulated or controlled by the government at a massive expense to the American taxpayer!
Now, I must admit that I am not a graduate of Harvard. I do believe I received a good education at the University of Southern California. I’m not an economist. My degree was in history. Still, over the years, I have learned quite a bit through experience. I know how to budget, basically, what goes out can’t exceed what comes in. This is something the Obama administration and both houses of Congress are completely unaware of. Obama puts forth a budget so ridiculous that two years in a row, it didn’t even receive a single DEMOCRAT vote. The Senate leader doesn’t think the government needs a budget! That’s ludicrous, not to mention in direct violation of the Constitution. The answer is to cut, cap and balance. To do this, we need to get to the polls and vote accordingly. We need to put the most conservative people into the White House, the House of Representative and the Senate. We need to do the same at the state and local levels. To see our alternative, look to the violence in the streets of Greece.
marjarhead1 