The Foundation

“Excessive taxation … will carry reason and reflection to every man’s door, and particularly in the hour of election.” –Thomas Jefferson

Government & Politics

Tax Increase, Tax Cut … What’s the Difference?

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has introduced the Tax Hike Prevention Act of 2010, which would, true to its name, prevent taxes from increasing for everyone on Jan. 1. The semantics of the bill’s name are more important than just an election year ploy, though they are that too. These words go to the fundamental issue at stake – whose money is it?

In 2001 and 2003, despite controlling Congress and the White House, the only way Republicans could pass the Bush tax cuts and avoid a Democrat filibuster in the Senate was to agree to sunset them beginning this year. That unfortunate reality has created one of the biggest issues of this year’s campaign, as taxes will automatically increase unless Congress acts.

Democrats seem to believe tax rates prior to 2001 were the natural order of things. To them, the Bush tax cuts were a 10-year loan from the government and now it’s time for the American people to pay up. In other words, it’s the government’s money. By Democrat illogic, “extending the cuts” will “cost” government $3.7 trillion. Especially egregious to them is extending the current rates for the “rich” – those earning more than $250,000 per year ($200,000 for singles and $125,000 for couples filing separately). Extending the cut for that bracket accounts for $700 billion of the $3.7 trillion total. And, they ask, don’t you ungrateful voters care about deficits?

Furthermore, notes Investor’s Business Daily, “Democrats are in effect arguing that the country can ‘afford’ $3 trillion to keep the middle-class tax cuts in place over the decade, but not $3.7 trillion to keep them all.”

Aside from being wrong in principle, their numbers are wrong, too. They assume that increasing taxes would have no negative effect on economic activity. That’s demonstrably not so. Democrats also ignore the fact that the Bush tax cuts actually increased tax revenue.

So far, Senate Republicans are united behind McConnell’s effort, and a growing number of Senate Democrats are admitting that tax increases during a recession are not a great idea. Sens. Evan Bayh (IN), Kent Conrad (ND), Ben Nelson (NE), Jim Webb (VA) and Joe Lieberman (CT) all have offered support for stopping the tax hikes. Thirty-one House Democrats sent a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), pressing them to extend the current rates temporarily for everyone.

The weak link in the GOP’s armor appears to be House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH). The would-be speaker gave cover to Democrats, saying, “If the only option I have is to vote for those at 250 [$250,000] and below, of course I’m going to do that.” Barack Obama, who wants to raise taxes on the “rich,” will get mileage out of that one, regardless of the fact that Boehner is leading the charge in the House for a two-year extension of current rates.

At minimum, Congress should make the current rates permanent. A one- or two-year delay would only postpone the decision. (Ideally, of course, we favor a flat or fair tax to replace the current system entirely.) Second, federal spending must be cut. And not just cut in the way Democrats talk about “cutting” spending – i.e., smaller annual increases in each budget line item. This two-pronged, fiscally responsible approach is necessary to get the economy – and the nation – back on track. Republicans have a real opportunity here. Let’s hope they don’t waste it.

Quote of the Week

“If anybody believes they can increase taxes today, I think they’re out of their mind.” –Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, Democrat extraordinaire

News From the Swamp: Speaking of Taxes…

Two separate attempts to repeal one terrible provision in the gargantuan ObamaCare law failed in the Senate this week, lighting up a serious issue for small business owners to consider when they vote in November. Anyone who is an independent contractor or owns a small business has likely seen a 1099 form. Pre-ObamaCare, the IRS required 1099s only for services purchased from vendors. In order to make ObamaCare “deficit-neutral,” the legislation requires that small businesses report any business-to-business transaction over $600 with a 1099. The amount of paperwork and accounting needed to maintain compliance with this bureaucratic nightmare will add immensely to operating costs for small businesses. In some cases, it will bury them.

Sen. Mike Johanns (R-NE) sponsored an amendment to repeal the provision, but even with the help of a handful of Democrats, the amendment failed 46-52. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) crafted a weaker version that would have placed a $5,000 reporting threshold for 1099s and eliminated the requirement altogether for businesses with fewer than 25 employees. That failed to reach cloture, 56-42. This plan was little more than smoke, though, because it still would require businesses to monitor all their transactions for possible filing in case they reach the $5,000 threshold. It would also cause businesses to avoid hiring that 26th employee – it simply wouldn’t pay to grow.

The repeal of the 1099 provision failed this time, but ObamaCare is clearly under attack. The very Congress that passed it is now deliberating changes and repeals to the president’s signature agenda item, just in time for the midterms. On the legal front, U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson in Florida said that on Dec. 16 he would hear arguments on a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of ObamaCare. Twenty state attorneys general claim the health care bill violates states’ rights and will force massive new spending. Unfortunately, they have to wait to state their case until Oct. 14, when Vinson will rule on the federal government’s dismissal motion. Legal analysts say that it’s likely the dismissal will be rejected since Vinson has already set a court date. There is little agreement among these same analysts on the outcome of the case.

With all of the consternation over something Obama lectured we “should be saying ‘thank you’” for, it’s no wonder Democrats “are spending three times more advertising against the health reform law than they are in support of it.”

Constitution Day 2010

Today, Sept. 17, 2010, marks the 223rd anniversary of the signing of our Constitution at the Philadelphia (Constitution) Convention in 1787. Of course, these days, Memorial Day may be a more apt description.

We invite you to share your thoughts here.

Tea Party Notches Another Victory

Just two weeks after incumbent Republican Lisa Murkowski lost her primary in Alaska to a Tea Party-backed challenger, Christine O'Donnell accomplished a similar feat in Delaware. Longtime Republican Rep. Mike Castle appeared to be cruising to victory in the race, and looked like a pretty safe bet to take what once was Joe Biden’s seat. But after Joe Miller, a relatively unknown West Point grad, decorated Gulf War vet and federal magistrate, took out Murkowski, the Tea Party rallied behind O'Donnell in an effort to upset Castle, who may as well be a Democrat. Mike Castle was one of eight House Republicans who helped pass cap and trade last year and his lifetime American Conservative Union rating is a pathetic 52.

In the general election race, Castle was well ahead of Democrat Chris Coons, while O'Donnell trails him, meaning the Tea Party upset may cost Republicans that seat – and possibly control of the Senate. Even among bone fide conservatives, she has her detractors due to various financial missteps and her gender-discrimination lawsuit against her former employer, the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, which is a conservative non-profit in Delaware. In fact, she doesn’t appear to be the strongest candidate, but that certainly says a lot about voter outrage at incumbents. Even if O'Donnell loses, the message for the GOP is clear: Stick to constitutional principles, or else.

First Impeachment Since Clinton Under Way

The impeachment trial of U.S. District Judge G. Thomas Porteous of Louisiana began in the Senate this week. It marks the 15th impeachment proceeding in the nation’s history, and the first since Bill Clinton in 1999. Porteous, a Clinton appointee (hold the laughter), faces four articles of impeachment including taking gifts and cash payments from a law firm, making a false statement on a bankruptcy filing to hide gambling debts, and lying under oath to the Senate and the FBI. Porteous plans to move forward with his defense rather than resign, but the case against him is pretty solid. Of course, so was the one against Clinton.

Investigation of Justice Department to Begin

Glenn Fine, the Justice Department Inspector General, made known in a letter to Reps. Lamar Smith (R-TX) and Frank Wolf (R-VA) this week that investigations examining the Obama Justice Department’s selective enforcement of voting rights law are under way. Smith and Wolf have campaigned for over a year to find out why the Justice Department dumped a clear-cut case against the New Black Panther Party for voter intimidation during the 2008 election. Eric Holder’s team stonewalled the congressmen at every turn, but now progress is being made. The Office of Professional Responsibility is about to finish a report into this specific issue, and the IG is going to open a wider investigation into the Voting Rights Section of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. At long last, maybe Holder and his thugs will be held accountable.

What the Despot Meant to Say

Part-time Cuban leader and full-time despot Fidel Castro gave a long overdue tip of the hat to Econ 101 when asked recently whether Cuba’s economic model was “worth exporting” to other countries. His reply: “The Cuban model doesn’t even work for us anymore.” What a shocker – not that communist/socialist/progressive models don’t work, but rather that a dyed-in-the-wool communist would actually acknowledge the truth of that statement.

Not to worry, however: No sooner had Castro uttered these words than the damage control party hopped into its East German Trabant and mobilized (read: got out and pushed). Typical statements begin, “What Comandante Castro meant to say was…” In this case, apparently the meant-to-say piece included a name change, as well: “U.S.” for “Cuban.” “The reality is that my response means exactly the opposite,” explained the ancient communista. Well of course it does! By the way, can we have our copy of Orwell’s “1984” back?

Further elaborating, World Hero of Solidarity (the title conferred upon him by the UN in 2009) stated, “My idea, as the whole world knows, is that the capitalist system now doesn’t work either for the United States or the world.” Yes, we know. The American media have done a fine job of telling us just that.

Meanwhile, el Presidente is laying off 500,000 state employees. By next March, these workers will be on the street – um, “released to the private sector” – and looking for nonexistent jobs in Cuba. With 85 percent of its workforce – or roughly five million people – working for the Cuban state, such a layoff is no small matter either. That number will eventually increase to one million due to “efforts to increase efficiency in the state sector,” making fewer new state positions available to the unemployed masses. Needless to say, massive layoffs are always symptomatic of sound economic planning in Castro’s world.

In one sense, however, Castro has hit on an important point: Our own “Comandante,” Barack Obama, continues to blur the lines between the economic models of the two nations. If the Chosen One is able to maintain his assault on the U.S. economy unabated, Castro’s statement will ultimately apply to both nations without caveat.

Introducing the Tea Party Pace Car

The Tea Party Pace Car leads the field in the race to restore Essential Liberty as enshrined in our nation’s founding documents, the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution.

The Tea Party Pace Car is privately owned, but the owner has dedicated it to our Patriot mission for the purpose of promoting three of the Internet’s most outstanding resources for advocates of Liberty: The Patriot Post, The Patriot Shop and the Tea Party Primer.

Find out more at TeaPartyPaceCar.com.

National Security

START Treaty Passes Senate Committee

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 14-4 Thursday to send the new U.S.-Russia nuclear arms treaty to the full Senate for ratification. Just three Republicans – Johnny Isakson (GA), Richard Lugar (IN) and Bob Corker (TN) – voted for the agreement. In the whole Senate, 67 votes are needed, meaning more Republicans will have to go along with it. The treaty limits both nations to 1,550 deployed warheads, which is a 30 percent cut from the 2002 limit.

The treaty, known as new START, is a bad idea, as we warned in July. In addition to reducing the U.S. nuclear arsenal for no reason except to appease Russia, the treaty is also a backdoor means of re-instituting the limits of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty that the U.S. withdrew from under President George W. Bush. Russia cannot afford to maintain a larger arsenal anyway and has always hated U.S. missile defense efforts, including the modest system that Obama scrapped last year – the one that would have been deployed in Poland to defend against Iranian missiles.

In other defense news, the Obama administration announced the largest arms deal in U.S. history. Saudi Arabia will purchase $60 billion worth of advanced aircraft, and the administration is seeking to add naval and missile defense upgrades worth billions more. The deal includes 84 F-15 fighters and upgrades for 70 more, as well as 70 Apaches, 72 Black Hawks and 36 Little Birds. The administration views this sale, as well as that of the F-35 to Israel, as part of an effort to build regional defenses against an increasingly belligerent Iran.

U.S. Air Force Birthday

Relentlessly committed to the defense of liberty, the United States Air Force celebrates its 63rd birthday tomorrow, Sept. 18. The Air Force began life as the Army Air Corps but became a separate Armed Services Branch when the Department of the Air Force was created by the National Security Act of 1947. As the U.S. Air Force continues its critical mission “to fly, fight and win … in air, space and cyberspace,” we ask that you pray for these brave Patriots prosecuting “The Long War” against Jihadistan, and for their families awaiting their safe return.

Court Rules Against Hazleton, PA, Immigration Law

Hazleton, Pennsylvania, a community of 30,000 souls in the northeastern part of the Keystone State, shares the mounting frustration of most American citizens over the issue of illegal immigration. In 2006, the city council made it illegal to hire or rent to illegals. It worked at first; many illegals began leaving. Hazelton’s action emboldened more than 90 other communities across the fruited plain to consider or approve similar measures. But the leftist lawyer locusts descended upon Hazelton, 24 in all, representing the ACLU, the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Community Justice Project and the BBB. They filed suit to kill the law.

The town stayed enforcement until the case was heard. In July 2007, U.S. District Court Judge James Munley, a Clinton appointee, struck it down. In his 206-page opinion he declared, “[our] political system … prohibits the city from enacting ordinances that disrupt a carefully drawn federal statutory scheme.” The ordinance also, according to Munley, violates the constitutional rights guaranteed everyone in the country, legally or not.

Hazelton appealed and lost again on Sept. 9 when 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Theodore McKee, a Clinton appointee, ruled against the town. In his lofty wisdom, the law usurped the federal government’s exclusive power to regulate immigration.

But the loss only steeled the city’s resolution. “Hazleton was the first, and became the symbol of hope for many around the country,” said Mayor Lou Barletta. “[The national frustration] will not go away until the federal government finally secures our borders and cracks down on illegal immigration.” Barletta pledged to take the case to the Supreme Court.

Profiles of Valor: U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta

United States Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta will become the first living service member to be awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The White House described Giunta’s actions:

Then-Specialist Salvatore A. Giunta distinguished himself by acts of gallantry at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a rifle team leader with Company B, 2d Battalion (Airborne), 503d Infantry Regiment during combat operations against an armed enemy in the Korengal Valley, Afghanistan on October 25, 2007.

When an insurgent force ambush split Specialist Giunta’s squad into two groups, he exposed himself to enemy fire to pull a comrade back to cover. Later, while engaging the enemy and attempting to link up with the rest of his squad, Specialist Giunta noticed two insurgents carrying away a fellow soldier. He immediately engaged the enemy, killing one and wounding the other, and provided medical aid to his wounded comrade while the rest of his squad caught up and provided security. His courage and leadership while under extreme enemy fire were integral to his platoon’s ability to defeat an enemy ambush and recover a fellow American paratrooper from enemy hands.

Giunta himself was shot in the chest, though his ballistic vest prevented injury, and another bullet disabled the weapon on his back. Unfortunately, Sgt. John Brennan, the first soldier Giunta saved, did not survive surgery. They were best friends. No date has been set for the award ceremony, but we offer our sincerest thanks for Giunta’s service.

Business & Economy

Hope ‘n’ Change: Jobs, Jobs, Jobs

Given that jobs are hard to come by these days, Vice President Joe Biden was questioned regarding the “Recovery Summer” the White House has been celebrating for the last few months. It turns out that Biden wasn’t talking about jobs; he was talking about construction projects. As White House economic adviser Austan Goolsbee explained, “The vice president was talking about the summer of recovery in reference to the Recovery Act, that you would see the creation of a series of infrastructure and other projects ramping up over the summer. And you did see that.” Yep, that’s their story and they’re stickin’ to it.

The Senate has come to the “rescue,” however, with their $42 billion bill that they claim will help small businesses create 500,000 jobs. “The Small Business Jobs Act authorizes the creation of a $30 billion fund run by the Treasury Department that would deliver ultra-cheap capital to banks with less than $10 billion in assets,” according to CNN. “The bill would also provide a slew of tax breaks to encourage investment that will cost $12 billion over a decade, according to a preliminary estimate from the Joint Committee on Taxation.”

Meanwhile, another crop of employees is poised to join the unemployed thanks to Democrat policies – Democrat staffers. If Republicans win the House and Senate this November because of Democrat malfeasance, some 1,500 staffers may wind up with nothing more than Hope ‘n’ Change to put on the dinner table.

But not to worry. As Joe Biden says, “No doubt we’re moving in the right direction.”

Regulatory Commissars: Drilling Ban Hurts

Well, well, well, it looks as if Barack Obama’s ban on deepwater drilling is actually inflicting pain in shallow waters, too. Thanks to new regulations from the land of czars, shallow-water drilling – which constitutes the bulk of offshore drilling in the Gulf – has come to a near-screeching halt. “The pace at which regulators grant drilling permits in water less than 500 feet deep has slowed sharply this summer,” according to the Associated Press. “Just four out of 10 shallow-water drilling applications have been approved from June through August; 15 applications were sought and approved in the same period last year.”

Oil executives say the new rules are not only costing companies millions but are also leading to layoffs. Despite this, the administration released a report this week claiming that there is “no evidence of declining employment after the moratorium was announced.” According to the Obama mind-trickers, these are not the unemploids you’re looking for.

Jobs notwithstanding, the feds aren’t budging, and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement head Michael Bromwich stated, “We will not approve applications until and unless they fully comply with the new requirements.” On the other hand, Bromwich said that “it is highly unlikely the moratorium will be extended” after it expires in November.

Finally, Obama’s ban doesn’t apply to the Mexican state oil company PEMEX, to which the U.S. Export-Import Bank is guaranteeing $1 billion in loans to support drilling operations. Bank spokeswoman Maura Policelli claims past loans to PEMEX have “helped create or sustain” American jobs. That’s little consolation to Gulf workers facing job losses as Obama hand-ties private U.S. oil companies while funding Mexico’s government-run counterpart.

The First Nanny Weighs in on Restaurants

Iron Chef has nothing on ironhanded Michelle Obama, the administration’s restaurant-czar-in-residence. Admonishing – er, addressing – the National Restaurant Association, the First Lady issued a plea that restaurants help fight childhood obesity (her current crusade) by limiting butter and cream and replacing side dishes on kids’ menus with options like apples or carrots. “Even if we give parents all the information they need and improve school meals and build brand new supermarkets on every corner,” she said, “none of that matters if when families step into a restaurant, they can’t make a healthy choice.” Right, families “can’t make” healthy choices without Big Brother’s help.

As Investor’s Business Daily notes, “What’s galling about all this is that Mrs. Obama’s anti-obesity campaign – like the policies pushed by her husband – presumes government has all the answers. In reality, it doesn’t.” Furthermore, as blogger Doug Powers observes, “The laughable contradiction about those who claim to be losing sleep over childhood obesity … is that this is usually the same bunch [whose] election-year sales pitch to the minions is essentially ‘elect us and you’ll never have to get off the couch again!’”

We wonder if Mrs. Obama plans to hawk-eye restaurants with the same “zero tolerance” zeal that Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius threatened last week against insurance companies. Given shakedown tactics like these, the restaurant industry should be very afraid.

Culture & Policy

Second Amendment: Gun Sales Up, Crime Down

In what may seem a paradox to leftists, violent crime continued to fall in 2009 as gun sales reached an all-time high. The FBI released its annual violent crime statistics Tuesday, revealing that such crimes had decreased by 5.3 percent in 2009, while murders and manslaughters – the types of crime most likely to be committed using a firearm – fell 7.3 percent. According to the FBI’s National Instant Background Check System, 14 million guns were purchased in 2009.

“What the data tell us is exactly the opposite of what the gun-ban lobby has predicted for several years,” said Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Citizen’s Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. “Their dire predictions that America’s streets would run red have been shown up as a fraudulent sales pitch for public disarmament.” Facts may be stubborn things, but the Left is perhaps even more stubborn.

Around the Nation: The ‘Green Police’ Are Coming to Town

We may have laughed at the Audi Super Bowl “Green Police” commercial back in February, but a $100 fine for not recycling isn’t very funny. Several cities are adopting the practice of embedding computer chips into recycling bins in order to track compliance, with most claiming these checks are to target recycling education efforts to specific areas and neighborhoods more effectively. However, the city of Cleveland, Ohio, is taking it a step further.

The city pays $30 per ton to haul away trash but gets only $26 per ton to recycle it. So in order to help their bottom line, Cleveland’s City Council recently enacted a $100 fine to frequent recycling scofflaws who don’t put their bins out to the curb. It’s easy to verify, because city workers can use special radio-frequency equipment to check whether bins have been placed.

The city anticipates $170,000 in annual fine revenue, but they would prefer compliance in order to raise collections at the recycling point. (Of course, the Cleveland City Council may not have figured out that the more recyclables they bring in, the less they’ll likely get per ton. Yet the fines will be there in perpetuity.) So now Big Brother doesn’t have to watch – all he needs is the right equipment and a computer chip to become part of the growing cadre of green police.

Income Redistribution: A ‘Post-Stimulus’ Program

We hear a little now and then about some of the strange places our “stimulus” money went, but this one may take the cake. Call it the “post-stimulus” program. Researchers at UCLA secured an $800,000 grant for teaching African men about post-coital genital washing as a possible method to reduce the spread of AIDS on the continent. We suppose if this replaces the post-act cigarette, it may not be the worst thing in the world, but on our dime? And $800,000?

In typical government fashion, the research from this study, if successful (and we’re sure it will be regardless of result), will likely be used as the basis for a future study. So far, the overall study has racked up a $12 million bill, although the $800,000 grant is the only portion paid yet by stimulus funds. (Insert your own witticism here … err, on second thought, don’t. This is a good place for abstinence.) Still, we wonder: Where will the ubiquitous sign glamorizing this stimulus-funded project go – in the bedroom or the bathroom?

At Least We Know What He Looks Like

An excellent teachable moment in cable news occurred recently on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” We’re used to conservative voices being shouted down on talk shows, but we thought the purpose of a talk show is to promote discussion, not diatribe.

Florida Pastor Terry Jones, who planned and later abandoned a Sept. 11 ceremony to burn the Koran, was invited on the show, but was used simply as a prop to receive a “message” from co-host Mika Brzezinski and erstwhile Newsweek editor and MSNBC correspondent Jon Meacham. In his statement, Meacham lectured the pastor, “the central message of the New Testament is forgiveness, and to put oneself in the place of another.” After Meacham finished preaching, Brzezinski concluded, “All right, well said, Jon Meacham, and Pastor Terry Jones, we appeal to you to listen to that. And we don’t really need to hear anything else, so thanks.” They promptly cut Jones’ feed without letting him say a word.

We’re happy that the final result prevented Jones’ making a spectacle of himself and his church (and therefore Christianity itself), but the rudeness exhibited by supposedly professional members of the “mainstream media” shows once again that they’re not as much interested in the truth as promoting their leftist point of view.

Unlocking a Timeless Mystery

In collaboration with the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, two agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) spent three months deciphering the facial features of a 2,500-year-old Egyptian mummy known as Ka-i-nefer. They used facial recognition computer software and other techniques normally used for identifying crime victims to determine the probable height, facial features and age of death for the mummy.

While the “gee whiz” aspect of making this technique better known is good for the ATF and emulates the success of crime dramas like the various CSI series, one has to wonder whether their time would have been better spent, say, solving crimes? Perhaps the ATF needs a little bit more to do. Then again, given the frequently picayune and capricious enforcement agenda of federal agents, perhaps it’s better that we allow them to pursue these side projects.

And Last…

The White House denies it, but Politico reports on a sad state of affairs for the First Lady. “In an authorized biography written by French journalists Michael Darmon and Yves Derai, [French First Lady Carla] Bruni recalls that during her March visit to the White House with French President Nicholas Sarkozy, she asked the first lady about her post. ‘Don’t ask,’ Obama said, according to Bruni. ‘It’s hell. I can’t stand it.’”

The poor dear. Maybe she just needs another vacation.