Your Taxes are Going UP Again
Our leaders on Capitol Hill demonstrated just why their approval ratings are so low by pinching more of your hard earned money today. They voted to spend even more of your (and my) money and continue their drunken-sailor-in-a-whorehouse impression. Sadly, it wasn’t even close, at 71-29. As our economy shows every sign of slowing, our politicians are once again demonstrating their complete lack of understanding of anything remotely economic, by raising both taxes and spending. Too many pols seem convinced that we can tax ourselves into prosperity, when history has shown just the opposite. They will continue to pull more money out of the private sector (You know, the part of the economy that creates productive jobs), so they can divert it to the government, who will spend it less efficiently and create nothing in the way of economic growth in the process. Create new businesses that employ people, develop new products, processes and technologies, and put America back into economic health? Why no, that might require us to CUT Taxes.
If you’ve ever heard politicians bellyache about how much tax cuts cost, you’ll understand why they just don’t get it. They’re looking at your money as their money. From where I’m sitting, tax cuts don’t cost, they save (taxpayer’s money). At least the Senate endorsed continuing $340 billion of the tax cuts. Our fine congressional members in the House, on the other hand, want to expand domestic programs and hike our taxes by letting every one of the tax cuts expire. They just don’t get it…….
Americans are unbelievably fortunate. That point was driven home while in the car, listening to Mike and Mike in the Morning on ESPN Radio this morning. They were interviewing basketball coach Ron Hunter of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). Coach Hunter is working with a charity called Samaritan's Feet, which is dedicated to providing shoes for children around the world who have never owned a pair of shoes. Stop and think about for just a second, please. We are so fortunate, and take so many things for granted, while there are kids who have never known the comfort of walking in a pair of shoes, something Americans (and citizens of just about every other developed country) take for granted.
$9.07 Billion. That's a positively huge amount of money. What's it for? Well, you could buy 2 Nimitz class nuclear aircraft carriers and have enough left over for 4,250 new Cessna 172 Skyhawks, complete with Garmin GPS, to fly off of them. I don't think you could fit 2,100 Cessnas on each one, but you get the point. In any case, that's about 10% of all such aircraft produced since production began in 1955.
Apple, in an apparent bid to deny product shortages and hacking for the holidays, said yesterday that they'd not allow more than 2 iPhone sales per customer. More interesting is that they will not be allowing customers to use greenbacks to make their iPhone purchases, only credit cards. One assumes that a debit card with a credit card logo may be used as well. It brings up an interesting point. Are we on our way to the all cash society that so many have suspected?
Here we have yet another example of legislators legislating without regard to the unintended (possibly?) consequences of their actions. In a move that will be sure to cost thousands of Americans their jobs, and set back our already foundering auto industry even further, our Senate went all out in an attempt to reduce their historically low approval numbers even lower. By passing a new energy bill containing revised CAFE standards, our enlightened body ensured future members will have to answer the question sure to be asked by their constituents; “Why the hell am I unemployed?” According to the 2002 AEO report from the U.S. DOE, the net effect of the proposed standards will be a loss of 214,000 non-agricultural jobs in the short term. Eventually the economy is predicted to fully recover. If you're one of those 214K, that may not make much difference, however. 
Once again, the hypocrisy rolls on. It's another case of “Do as I say, not as I do.” from those that would seek to control our behavior while they do little to control theirs. In this case, one of the leaders of said movement, Al Gore, has been caught red handed in a bit of Inconvenient Truth. For Al the Inconvenient Truth is that he's an energy hog of the first order, all the while stressing to those of us in the consumptive public that we should consume less of everything lest our carbon emissions destroy the earth.
Income redistribution, the darling of those on the left, isn't what America needs. America's not about that. As our population crosses the three hundred million mark, we need opportunity redistribution, not income redistribution. We need opportunity for every American, not for everyone who happens to reside within our borders, however they arrived here. This country has been built upon the kind of opportunity available nowhere else in the world. “The streets are paved with gold” used to be the cry from those throughout the world. Consequently, there's been a stream of fresh talent coming to our country since it was founded. That tremendous talent, coupled with an enlightened societal framework, rampant industriousness, and a desire to be Americans, built the great nation we find ourselves in today.