Monthly Archives: November 2011

More Offensive Taxation


Posted by josh

So, the Obama administration is going to charge a tax on Christmas trees. The purpose? To improve the marketing image of… Christmas trees.

I don’t think I need to say anything else about it. It’s the height of stupidity and government abuse of power.

http://blog.heritage.org/2011/11/08/obama-couldnt-wait-his-new-christmas-tree-tax/

President Obama’s Agriculture Department today announced that it will impose a new 15-cent charge on all fresh Christmas trees—the Christmas Tree Tax—to support a new Federal program to improve the image and marketing of Christmas trees.

In the Federal Register of November 8, 2011, Acting Administrator of Agricultural Marketing David R. Shipman announced that the Secretary of Agriculture will appoint a Christmas Tree Promotion Board.  The purpose of the Board is to run a “program of promotion, research, evaluation, and information designed to strengthen the Christmas tree industry’s position in the marketplace; maintain and expend existing markets for Christmas trees; and to carry out programs, plans, and projects designed to provide maximum benefits to the Christmas tree industry” (7 CFR 1214.46(n)).  And the program of “information” is to include efforts to “enhance the image of Christmas trees and the Christmas tree industry in the United States” (7 CFR 1214.10).


Down Under is Going Under


Posted by josh

but America will not. We will not punish business. We will not drive off business. We will not ruin America’s economy in the name of science fiction.

We will not succumb to the sinister desire to manufacture a crisis to gain authority to rob our job creators.

In short, we are not liberals.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.449e772b550671c3049e0f8e701d2179.81&show_article=1

“Today is an historic day for economic reform,” he said ahead of the vote.

“No longer will the big polluters be able to pump carbon pollution into the atmosphere for free.”

The law’s approval caps a tumultuous period in Australian politics, largely centred on what the vast nation — one of the world’s worst per capita polluters — should do about carbon emissions linked to global warming.

 


It’s About Time!


Posted by josh

The voters of Colorado stood up for themselves this week! They rejected a ridiculous measure promising temporary tax increases to fund schools. First, there’s no such thing as a temporary tax increase. Sometime between now and the expiration, there will be another pressing need and they’ll extend it or simply make it permanent.

Further, who are they trying to kid? More money to fix schools? That hasn’t worked for 50 years, why in the world should we believe it will work now? It won’t. It’ll fatten the wallets of Big Union executives and further the income gap between teachers and their private sector counterparts, but it won’t help any students.

Good for you, Colorado. I hope you’re just the first.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2011/11/colorado-voters-reject-higher-taxes-education.html

In what could be a harbinger of the 2012 election, Colorado voters Tuesday overwhelmingly rejected a measure that would have raised nearly $3 billion for education by temporarily increasing state income, sales and use taxes.

With 59% of the projected vote counted, Proposition 103 was trailing 65% to 35%, the Associated Press reported.

 


“See Something Say Something” and Other Ridiculous Government Ideas


Posted by josh

I’m about sick and tired of the government trying to turn citizens against their friends and neighbors. I’m sick and tired of government sponsored paranoia. How about instead of turning every innocent person getting out of their cab into a suspect of a crime, we develop a more sophisticated national security system tasked with doing the smart things to protect us.

Ron Paul maybe a kook, but he’s right to raise the alarm about government’s proclivity for turning good intentions into violations of privacy and freedom.

http://travel.usatoday.com/hotels/story/2011-11-02/Hotel-guests-recruited-with-Homeland-Security-TV-spots/51032602/1?loc=interstitialskip

Starting today, the welcome screens on 1.2 million hotel television sets in Marriott, Hilton, Sheraton, Holiday Inn and other hotels in the USA will show a short public service announcement from DHS. The 15-second spot encourages viewers to be vigilant and call law enforcement if they witness something suspicious during their travels.


Sanctions Don’t Work Against Terrorists


Posted by josh

Can we get beyond this silly, absurd notion that UN sanctions will deter terrorist states from seeking terrorist weapons to achieve terrorist goals? The UN is useless at best and, at worst, corruptly colluding with America’s enemies – and asking us to foot the tab. Israel’s military, on the other hand, has a track record of quickly and decisively achieving their stated objectives.

It’s a no brainer which side to back if you actually want to achieve results in Iran. As president, I would not declare war against Iran, but I would make it clear that they have declared war against us and I would set about bringing down the current regime much like we brought about the demise of the Soviet Union. I believe we can do it without sacrificing any American lives.

In the meantime, if Israel knows where they’re building nuclear weapons and wants to shut down the operation, I might even chip in for gas.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4141689,00.html

US concern over an Israeli move is so great, the official said, that Washington is working on several levels to pressure the Security Council.


Support Israel


Posted by josh

My administration will be staunchly pro-Israel. We will not, as many adminsitrations have done, seek to tie their hands behind their back while the nations around them do harm to their people and their way of life.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_ISRAEL_PALESTINIANS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-11-01-12-24-54

JERUSALEM (AP) – Israel has authorized its military to take all necessary steps to stop rocket fire from Gaza, including a ground operation, an Israeli military official said Tuesday


Better Late Than Never


Posted by josh

So, it seems there are still scientists who refuse to acknowledge that they were duped by socialist special interest groups into believing the biggest scientific hoax since evolution.

Oh, well, better late than never.

http://www.express.co.uk/features/view/280948/Is-global-warming-over-

Indeed she says this global warming standstill since the end of the Nineties – which has been completely unexpected – has wide-reaching consequences for the causes of climate change and has already led many climate scientists to start looking at alternative factors that may have contributed to global warming,other than carbon gas emissions. In particular she has mentioned the influence of clouds, natural temperature cycles and solar radiation.

 


Read MY Lips…


Posted by josh

My administration, unlike the current one, will strive to make America more excellent. To that end, we will oppose silly, petulent legislation like that being proposed to tax financial transactions. Class warfare is a losing strategy for national growth.

In the coming days, we will put our no new tax pledge into writing. Additionally, we will unveil a package of massive tax cuts that we are sure will immediately excite the American economy and markets.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-01/lawmakers-to-propose-transaction-tax-for-financial-firms-modeled-on-europe.html

“It’s a significant way to raise some needed revenue,” Harkin said in an interview today in Washington. “Quite frankly, I bet nobody would even feel it.”