Mitch McConnell - Flip-Flopper of the Century

"McConnell, a member of the Appropriations Committee, is a longtime defender of earmarking. The Kentucky Republican has requested 158 solo earmarks amounting to a cost of $927,872,000 over the past two years, according to data provided by LegiStorm."

Here is a guy that just loves to lie out of both sides of his mouth. On every subject proposed for cuts, he has either abused, flip-flopped, or just got caught with his grubby little fingers in the cookie jar.

The Republicans are for tax cuts - wasn't it a combination of tax cuts and two wars waged on credit that got us into this deficit situation? Obviously, these guys know that their core base can't do the math, can only read at a eight grade level, and are at risk with comprehension skills much further degraded than a child in kindergarten.

They want to cut every entitlement and give 'small businesses' explored tax cuts, but what the Republicans aren't telling you is that a large number of those companies claiming to be 'Small Businesses' are so only because of their Corporate status with IRS - this, according to the Washington Monthly. Basically, what you don't know is capable of doing you more harm than anything else.

Prime examples of of a 'small business - Bechtel, and Microsoft, to name a couple. Check the provided URL for further details.


In a democracy, silence is not golden; it is condonance in the face of injustices; it is fear, where the thought of reprisal fosters control – Rodney A. Davis

The Lame Duck Congressional Session...

Here is an interesting comparison of what the Republican-led Congressional tax cuts will look like, if the 'lameduck' session of Congress capitulates to extending tax cuts for the rich in 2011.

The illustration shows just how much more money will be added to the deficit if those tax cuts are allowed to go into effect for one more year!  This is the mandate that the Republicans think was given to them by the voter - not!  More debt added onto what is already breaking the back of America!

Nancy Pelosi says... that it will never happen on her watch.  Your thoughts?



In a democracy, silence is not golden; it is condonance in the face of injustices; it is fear, where the thought of reprisal fosters control – Rodney A. Davis

Where is the Logic

I am always amazed at the Republican view of the same political situations that I view.  Republicans want to cut taxes, eliminate earmarks, reduce the size of government, create jobs, and reduce the size of the deficit while balancing the budget at the same time.  Republicans remind me of every politician that is running for office - promise them everything, but have a memory lapse once you get in office.  What Republicans don't understand is that you can't do all of the above at the 'same time'! 

There is reality and there is something south of reality.  Reality - George Bush and a Republican led Congress oversaw the increases to the deficit over an eight year period.  Bush introduced tax cuts that were not included in a balanced budget.  There were military expenditures for two wars that were never included in a balanced budget.  This is an issue that never gained the scrutiny of the present majority scheduled to regain control Congress as it did four years ago when Bush was your President.

Republicans are demanding that Boehner give them those same tax cuts that cost all of America a few trillion dollars over the length of it's existence.  They want to rollback most, if not all, of the advances made under Obama because he is spending too much money!  Did it every occur to Republicans that George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States, spent more of our money over eight years than any other President (http://mercatus.org/publication/spending-under-president-george-w-bush?id=26426).  If Republicans really want to know the facts, I suggest that they review the previous administration's conduct in earnest.

The recession didn't start with Obama.  Obama didn't start two wars with no thought of how to pay for them.  Obama didn't write tax loopholes that allowed big businesses to out-source American jobs and receive tax refunds for doing so.  When you call Verizon to get your phone fixed, someone in the Philippines takes your complaint - how is that helping preserve American jobs?  Most of the Fortune 500 businesses listed are out-sourcing the jobs that we saw leave America under Bush.  Where is the logic in condoning this?

What Obama did do was stop the job loss hemorrhaging that was costing America, at its height, seven hundred thousand jobs per month.  Obama stopped Wall Street from vandalizing the economy of America by instituting reform on Wall Street and cutting 1.3 trillion off of the deficit.  Of course, you Republicans don't want to consider that Obama brought a stop to the recession, to do so would admit that he was working for America.

The lot of you Republicans have not the sense to recall the Bush era and the cost to America that his spending policies created - they think that Obama did all of these terrible things that they are complaining of.  By voting to limit Obama’s ability to put America back on its feet economically, you do yourself and America an injustice.

In two years we will be right back where we were because Republicans have not the sense that God gave a four-legged animal, and they will deserve everything that they asked for!

In a democracy, silence is not golden; it is condonance in the face of injustices; it is fear, where the thought of reprisal fosters control – Rodney A. Davis

Give Big Business a Tax Break – Not

It seems that the only thing that will save the economy is a tax cut… so says the majority of conservatives. Conservatives want to give Big Businesses tax cuts; they want to give tax cuts to small businesses; and they want to give tax cuts to taxpayers.

Here is the real deal… Debt is bad for the economy and tax cuts are good. We know this because a lot of very serious people in ties keep saying it on the teevee machine. Never mind that these two positions are somewhat contradictory -- tax cuts make it difficult to reduce debt -- that's just the way things are. If we give tax cuts to the "job creators," we're told they'll go all crazy with the job creating and everything will be perfect forever.

My mathematics teacher long ago told me that any problem can be solved using basic mathematics and this ‘tax cut’ thing is a prime example. President George W. Bush 43's tax cut is a prime example of what tax cuts can do to an economy. Remember that the Bush tax cut was across the board and designed to eventually be a permanent fixture; meaning that everyone got the same percentage tax cut and would get it forever. A person making two hundred thousand dollars naturally would receive a larger tax cut than a person making fifty thousand dollars.

The Middle-Class of the United States has traditional paid the majority of the taxes received by the IRS (Internal Revenue Service). The average person that received Bush’s tax cuts got six hundred dollars. Consider that the average person during the Bush Administration was making fifty thousand dollars and now you know why tax cuts are of no value to the majority of taxpayers – the Upper-Class and Big Business were greatly rewarded by the Bush Administration. What really happened is that we lost the main group that pays taxes, the Middle-Class, and now the only people receiving tax cuts are the rich and Big Business. That the Middle-Class is almost non-existent is evident.

The Oil Industry under that Bush administration got tax breakers that led to astronomical profits for the giants within the Oil Industry. The records show that the Oil Industry benefited greatly from Republican influence. Big Business was predicted to ‘flame-on’ and the United States’ economy is going to chug along at an easy clip… not.

Tax cuts are never the end-all answer to the problems within the American economy – they never have and never will. The IRS sees any tax cut as a cut in pay. The IRS sees a tax cut as a less money to pay the country’s bills. Keeping that in mind, there is never an instance where a prolonged tax cut will benefit the country as a whole. Tax cuts increase the national debt, put money in the coffers of those who may or may not invest that tax cut and in general are of no lasting value. On the other hand, targeted tax cuts of a short duration do make a difference.

The Bush Administration has stood in favor of tax cuts through thick and thin. In the midst of a booming economy and large projected budget surpluses, President Bush’s top economic policy initiative — both as a candidate in 2000 and upon taking office — was to cut taxes. When the economy slowed, the Bush Administration’s response also was dominated by tax cuts. Now, in the face of yawning deficits and its own pledge to reduce them, the Administration has again put forward large, permanent tax cuts as part of its most recent budget.

In summary, balanced tax cuts that target a particular element of the economy for a short duration appears to be the best route to take when attempting to stimulate the economy without creating a nightmare for the entities that have to pay the bills on the Federal, State, and Municipal levels.

In a democracy, silence is not golden; it is condonance in the face of injustices; it is fear, where the thought of reprisal fosters control – Rodney A. Davis

I Failed Economics 101

The first time that I enrolled in Economics I failed because first of all, I wasn’t interested in economics, and secondly; I didn’t think that it applied to me. I actually didn’t know then what I know now – it does apply to me. Trying to make ends meet in your household requires that you get involved with economics, or you will not be living in your own house much longer. Knowing just the basics is enough to tell me that Congress is the last place that I would go to looking for help if I were in trouble financially.

In my house I pay the mortgage, the light bill, the telephone bill… you know the drill. I also have incidentals that I must pay – stuff that comes up suddenly. In a given month, after paying what I must pay, I try to save a few dollars for that emergency that comes up. Emergencies are – the water heater failing, the muffler fell off the car, or I had to have an operation. You have to have a few bucks saved to carry you through until you are better. When you are living from paycheck to paycheck you can’t respond favorably to a crisis, in fact, situations just as I have described are what take most of us out of our comfort zone.

The government is in the same situation and you have but to look under that rug to see that I am not wrong. All of the telltale signs are there. They can’t balance the budget because they are spending a gross amount of money fighting two wars. The tax base is shrinking every month as more and more workers are losing their jobs, so they don’t have any money. China and the Arabs own us because we have borrowed so much money to finance the war and all the other things that emerge as a result of those wars. If you don’t believe me, ask your Congressman to give you a list of all the programs that are being shorted support in the National Budget. Check with the GAO… they are the people that keep track of where we are spending the money.

Borrowing seventy billion dollars is not bad if you have a plan to get yourself out of debt with the money. Ideally, you want to pay off your debts and have a little left over so that you don’t go back in the hole. Is that the case with the bailout… oops buyout? No! It is not the case. I tell you that the real problem with our economy is that we don’t have cash flow. Others are telling you that we have a problem because we don’t have liquidity. What is the difference between liquidity and cash flow?

Liquidity, in economic terms, is: capable of covering current liabilities quickly with current assets. That would be the savings thingy… okay. If you don’t have cash, you can’t do anything without having to put everything else in a strain. The recovery strategy must take into consideration how to maintain cash flow. In the bailout/buyout scheme we are led to believe that if we give the cash to the people that flubbed the cash flow thing to begin with everything will be alright. In other words, the bank will have more money to loan to the people who will in turn default on the loan because they and their neighbors are losing their jobs and there is no cash flow.

Get my drift? You can’t absorb all of the delinquent loans by giving the banks more money and taking away the bad debt. That is not how you solve the liquidity problem.
Cash Flow – 1: a measure of an organization's liquidity that usually consists of net income after taxes plus noncash charges against income. 2: a flow of cash; especially: one that provides solvency

In this economy, it now works from the bottom up. ‘Joe Six Pack’ gets paid on Friday. He buys a case of beer from the liquor store, dip and potato chips from the 711, fills up his gas tank and heads home. His buddies got paid and they stop by the Meat Market for hamburger, the cleaners for their dry cleaning and what have you before continuing on over to have a cookout with their friends.

That ladies and gentlemen was a small example of cash flow. It is miniscule, but represents my point. Cash flow originates with ‘Joe Six Pack’ getting paid on Friday. He pays his mortgage – the bank gets cash! He pays his car note – the bank gets cash! He buys a case of beer – the retailer gets cash! The name of the game is ‘trickle up’ economics because the money is no longer flowing down as it did before big business out-sourced all of the jobs. Take a good look at the ISM Index and you will know without a doubt that we are in deep, er!!! you know what I mean!

The ISM Index is, for those of us that have never heard of it, the government’s pulse indicator for gauging the output of our manufacturers – the goods they are producing/manufacturing. It is also a good indicator as to whether the manufacturing community will be hiring. It does not lie! I am sorry, but I have to tell you that it is about to flat line. Yeah! We are not producing a darn thing that will make a difference when it comes to generating enough jobs to support the economy. You see, all of those fifty to sixty thousand dollar jobs went overseas to people willing to work for a fraction of that amount. You know - the sweat factories in places like in Myanmar.

I wish that I was wrong about this one, but I don’t think so! I jumped through hoops trying to tell everybody to say no to the 'big tax cut’. Everybody laughed at me as they went to the bank. Some of those same people have moved on to smaller, less pretentious dwellings because they don’t have that fat income tax refund anymore, nor do they have a job.

It's the Economy, stupid!

You can’t charge, spend, and give away your savings and expect to prosper. When the Bush tax cuts were first introduced I was using the Washington Post’s Forum to get my point across that Bush’s tax cut would be the death of the United States as a world economic power! I was right then, and I will be right this time when I tell you that a win by the McCain ticket will be the death stroke for the United States and here is why...
Taxes collected are like you and I getting paid after a hard weeks work. How are we paying the bills with these tax cuts in place… by cutting State entitlements, reducing the benefits to our brave soldiers coming back for medical treatment, and a host of other social programs that benefit the majority of our citizens.
a. Bush Tax Cuts actually rewarded the rich and penalized the poor. McCain wants to make the tax cuts permanent. Please read the handwriting on the wall before it’s too late!
b. The first year the tax cuts went into effect Sachs Fifth Avenue got a fourth quarter raise in profits while Wal-Mart lost 1.6% in sales over the same period. What does that tell you? It tells you that the rich got a huge refund and everybody else pennies on every dollar the rich got. Personally, my return was 27,000.00! That’s right! Previously to that year, my returns had been averaging 2700 to 3000.00.
In the past middle class jobs, I am speaking of jobs in the fifty to sixty thousand dollar range, have supported the nation. Picture in your mind a vase – narrow at the top and bottom and wide in the middle and you get the idea that I am trying to put forward. The middle class is the middle of the vase. The middle class is where the bulk of the taxes are collected. You can’t out-source the middle class jobs and expect the tax base to support two wars and as well as support the government’s other responsibilities. As we have been able to see in hindsight, it can’t be done.
The Secretary of the Treasury would have you believe that the main reason we are hemorrhaging in the real estate industry is because of bad loans and the only way to stop the hemorrhaging is to buy out the banks that are failing and take over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Not so, if you reason as to why they are losing money – people aren’t paying their mortgages’.
a. The president favors propping up the financial institutions at cost to both you and I. The house owners lose twice. They lose their houses and their credit ratings go in the mud. The end result is a loss of future consumers with the domino effect continuing as before. Why not refinance the loan by extending the life of the mortgage to reduce the amount of the mortgage payments – after all, if the banks are receiving something, it’s better than nothing.
b. The methods that we use to recover from this situation are not going to be nice to anyone that is caught up in the mix, but innovative ideas are wanted, no needed to reduce the strain on the economy. McCain does not have the wherewithal to produce those kinds of ideas. I say that because he does not surround himself with people that would want to introduce ideas conducive to recovery without first bouncing off the bottom. Let’s not forget that McCain has supported the President ninety-five percent of the time.
Introducing the out-of-work populous to re-tooling so that they can get back into the job-market is a top priority. McCain has yet to mention that he will formulate a system of answering this need. Obama has said that he will do two things that will determine whether the middle class will return to its rightful place as the backbone of the nation’s source of tax collection.
a. All of those individuals that have applied for and received unemployment would be eligible for re-tooling. People on welfare would be considered for re-tooling. The new GI bill guarantees that returning servicemen will form the backbone of the new degreed individuals that we need to support the needs of industries nationwide in the quest to keep America on the leading edge in technical industries.
b. Support of our children in grade schools has never been as neglected as this President has done in his tenure in office. He promised ‘no child left behind’, but that has been the complete opposite when you check his record. He has voiced support for this program, as well as others, but the President has actually cut funding to the programs that he, himself, signed into law.

To be continued…