The Backwards Administration

Today, watching President Obama's speech, I felt insulted. He called for Americans to sacrifice more, as to better our great nation. Quite frankly, I don't know if we can sacrifice any more, Mr. President. The only people doing well are your corporate buddies on Wall Street and on the board of General Electric (who paid $0 in taxes last year). And when has the idea of people subjected to the State been a part of our country's history? He referenced Thomas Jefferson in his address. As someone who admires Jefferson more than most, and has studied Jefferson, I found myself asking whether or not he actually knows what Jefferson stood for, and whether or not he actually cares. Standing at his bully pulpit, King Obama reprimanded the Republicans (and Bush, of course) for politicizing this issue and holding hostages. He discussed how that, even though Americans voted in divided government, that they wanted compromise. He's dead wrong. The landslide election of 2010 was not a rejection of the House and some of the Senate. The election was a rejection of liberalism as a whole. The doctrine that Obama, Reid, Pelosi, etc. ascribe to is naturally flawed, and the people (who they adore when they vote Democratic) let them know last November.

It is quite clear that Obama is only concerned with re-election; not actually the direction of the country. His cohort in the Senate, Harry Reid, introduced a plan that didn't include revenue gains (more taxes), which surprised me at first. Then it came out that his plan carries us through the 2012 elections. It makes sense that Reid, a member of a far left royalty, would only care about the election...not actually the direction of the country. Boehner's plan isn't ideal either, but it's the best thing we've got right now after the Senate Democrats whined over Cut, Cap, and Balance (and tabled it). Leave it to the Democrats to eliminate debate on the only legislation addressing the issue. Not just an outline or a speech, but an actual bill that represented the will of the people (not that they'd know anything about that, anyways).

And yet again, Obama got it wrong on taxes. In his usual tone of condemnation, he scolded the "rich" corporate jet owners (I wonder if he realizes he has a private jet) and demanded they pay more of that money because they got tax breaks they "didn't need and didn't ask for." That may have been the most moronic statement in the entire speech, but there was tight competition elsewhere. I would like here to include an excerpt from an earlier piece I wrote about the taxation issue.

We are told constantly that these people are “wealthy,” “rich,” or have too much money. In most, if not all scenarios, these people didn’t become wealthy overnight. About 80% of millionaires earned it (first generation), and didn’t inherit their wealth. Our society has always been the type to reward success. However, when marginal rates increase, and capital gains do as well, success is discouraged and frowned upon (in my mind). Some fun facts are to follow…

A disproportionately large amount of the tax base comes from the top 1%-5% of earners. While the top 1% of earners account for 20% of all income earned, but pay almost 40% of the nation’s income taxes (thank you, Tax Foundation). The top 5% of earners take home 35% of all income, but pay up to 59% of the nation’s taxes. In fact, the top 5% of tax returns accounts for more revenue than the entire bottom 95% of earners.

These statistics show that we are in dire need of a flat tax, which would probably make Obama cringe. In saying that we have a revenue problem, that is partially true. But the problem is not that we have too low of a tax rate (it's been the same since 2001). The problem is that our confiscatory taxation on income, capital gains, dividends, etc. at every level of government has literally destroyed the American economy. We have sickly unemployment, 50% of Americans pay no taxes, and our GDP growth is in decline. If we introduce a 17% flat tax with no loopholes, slash (or abolish) the capital gains taxes, you'll see such a spike in revenue (novel idea, I know). More people will be employed, and more people will be paying taxes. I don't care if you're mailing Hamburger Helper to the IRS. Everyone needs to pay something.

This administration is truly mixed up in its priorities. They allow a massive amount of guns to slide into the hands of Mexican drug lords, but are steadfast in their opposition to Americans owning firearms. They seem to wear their 80,000,000 government checks per month as a badge of honor, but resent you if you have become successful. In a recent grant for marriage education, abstinence teaching was one of the "unallowable activities," but the administration is more than willing to fund abortions with federal dollars. I suppose such a stance attracts the drunk co-ed demographic, but that's about it. Blame Bush for the deficit, but Obama's quadrupled it. Blame Bush for the two wars, but we're in about five right now. It's clear that the blame game is over. Obama has yet to prove himself competent.