Thursday, November 22, 2012

Sandy-Ravaged New Jersey Families Face $6,933 Tax Hike in Fiscal Cliff Stalemate

 

Families in Hurricane Sandy-ravaged New Jersey will face the highest tax increase as a percentage of their income – 6.82%  or about $6,933 more in taxes -- if Congress does not reach an agreement on the fiscal cliff tax issues during the lame-duck session, according to an analysis by the Tax Foundation.

In its study of how the fiscal cliff would affect typical families in each state, the Tax Foundation reports that if the numerous tax provisions that are due to expire on Dec. 31 are not changed, a four-person family in New Jersey with a median income of $101,682 will see its taxes go up at a rate 6.82 percent of its income, which translates into about $6,933.

The tax issues in question are the expiration of the Bush tax rates, which also include the elimination of the 10 percent tax bracket and the reduced deduction for married filers; ending the 2 percent cut to employee-side Social Security taxes; and the Alternative Minimum Tax.

Maryland was ranked second by the Tax Foundation because a four-person family there, with a median income of $106,707, would see its taxes go up 6.74 percent as a percentage of income, or about $7,194.

Connecticut, ranked third, would see taxes for a family of four go up by 6.62 percent, or $6,653.
All five states with the top tax increases are “blue states,” which President Obama won in the 2012 presidential election.

More @ CNS News

14 States Now Opposing Concealed Carry Permit Restrictions

cc-for-the-petite-woman-cover 

Kansas has become the fourteenth state to join in support of the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment, agreeing that a person does not need to show why they want a permit to carry their firearm concealed.

In a case before the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia Kansas has been added to the list of states which oppose requiring those who apply for concealed carry permits to provide a reason for carrying concealed. Attorney General Derek Schmidt confirmed the addition on November 15.

The court is reviewing a decision by a Maryland district court which struck down a Maryland requirement that a person had to provide a reason for needing to carry their firearm concealed before a permit would be issued.

“Citizens who qualify to have a concealed carry permit should not be required to clear the further hurdle of showing the government why they need to have a firearm,” Schmidt said. “The Second Amendment protects the individual’s right to keep and bear arms and does not allow the government to demand to know the reason why.”

The Wichita Eagle reports,

Gold equivalency of US dollar now equals value of Confederate Currency on eve of General Lee’s Surrender

Via Daily Timewaster


As of April 2, 1865, one ounce of gold could be bought with about $1,450, Confederate.

As of April 21, 2012, one ounce of gold could be bought with about $1,650, USA.

More @ SPMC

A Thanksgiving Lesson on Communism

 

VERBATIM

The Separatist Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth Rock in November 1620 began their new settlement utilizing overtly communist economic principles.  In addition to common ownership of the land, the Pilgrims farmed corn on a communal plot and divided their harvest evenly amongst themselves.
This is the theoretical Marxist utopia — minus indoor plumbing, NPR, MSNBC and portable electronic devices powered by Solyndra solar panels, naturally.  But did this early communist experiment work?  Did it succeed at putting food on the table?

Not according to William Bradford, an early Pilgrim governor of the colony best known today as the “Father of Thanksgiving.”

The communal arrangement initially employed by the Pilgrims was “found to breed much confusion and discontent and retard much employment that would have been to their benefit and comfort,” Bradford wrote in his journal, which was later compiled into Of Plymouth Plantation.

Why did this arrangement fail?  Because as has been the case from time immemorial, the equitable division of inequitably produced assets did not sit well with those whose labors yielded the harvest.
“For the young men, that were most able and fit for labor and service, did repine that they should spend their time and strength to work for other men’s wives and children without any recompense,” Bradford wrote.

But enmity amongst settlers wasn’t the real problem encountered at Plymouth — it was a shortage of food.  In his book Mayflower: A Story of Courage Community and War historian Nathaniel Philbrick discusses how communal farming and common ownership produced a “disastrous harvest.”
Faced with the prospect of starvation, Bradford “decided that each household should be assigned its own plot to cultivate, with the understanding that each family kept whatever it grew,” according to Philbrick.

Not surprisingly this approach replaced infighting and starvation with harmony and industry — not to mention an abundance of food.

“This had very good success, for it made all hands very industrious, so as much more corn was planted than otherwise would have been by any means the Governor or any other could use, and saved him a great deal of trouble, and gave far better content,” Bradford wrote.

In other words where top-down planning based on communist ideology failed — the enforcement of private property rights based on free market ideology succeeded.

“The change in attitude was stunning,” Philbrick writes. “Families were now willing to work much harder than they had ever worked before.”

“The Pilgrims had stumbled on the power of capitalism,” Philbrick added, noting that “although the fortunes of the colony still teetered precariously in the years ahead, the inhabitants never again starved.”
As the United States moves further away from its free market foundation this Thanksgiving, the example of Plymouth is worth considering.  It is a cautionary tale — a grim reminder of where the federal government’s present trajectory is going to take our nation.

Already the “fair share” policies of Barack Obama — who is making good on his stated desire to “spread the wealth” around — have failed to produce the promised economic recovery.  In fact America’s central bank is now printing money indefinitely as government’s debt and unfunded liabilities race past the threshold of sustainability.

The result of this “stimulus?”  Income levels are shrinking, joblessness remains chronically high and economic growth is anemic.  And lurking around the corner are massive tax hikes and the full implementation of Obama’s socialized medicine law — both of which will result in additional large-scale shifts from the “makers” to the “takers” in our society.

Incentivizing dependency has clearly failed to stimulate our economy.  From 2000-10, government’s cash assistance to the poor increased by 68 percent — after adjusting for inflation.  Health care assistance increased by 87 percent, housing assistance by 108 percent and food assistance by 139 percent — again, all after adjusting for inflation.  Still, poverty in America climbed from 11.3 to 15.1 percent during that time period.

Government efforts to combat poverty have produced more poverty, in other words — and based on the ongoing entitlement expansion, the worst is likely yet to come.
As we gather together to celebrate Thanksgiving this year, let’s not only
 remember the lessons of Plymouth — let’s commit to proclaiming the virtues of self-reliance, property rights and free markets more boldly than ever.  Otherwise we’ll have even less to be thankful about next year.

***
Howard Rich is chairman of Americans for Limited Government. He is also a syndicated columnist for Liberty Features.

Illinois To Give Driver’s Licenses To Illegal Aliens

 

VERBATIM

What would you say if I told you that a state was gearing up to provide driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants? You would probably shake your head in a cartoon-like way, then say, “Yeah, right.”

Well, get ready to say “yeah, right,” because Illinois state officials are set to announce a proposal that would provide all of-age illegal immigrants with driver’s licenses.

And lest you think I’m crazy, this is what Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel had to say:

“I strongly support state legislation that will allow every Chicagoan, regardless of legal status, to enjoy the rights and responsibilities that come with a driver’s license.”

Interestingly enough, Illinois is not the first state to propose this kind of arrangement. Illinois is the third state to allow illegal immigrants to obtain licenses. It follows in the footsteps of Washington and New Mexico. But really, what’s all the hubbub? Why is it such a big deal for illegal immigrants to have driver’s licenses? Let’s break it down.

1. Most states–the 30 that require it–have some sort of voter identification law on the books. If illegal immigrants are granted licenses, those ID laws would be rendered moot.  That means that non-citizens would have a say in our elections.

2. Allowing illegal immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses is an open invitation to those from other countries who would like to come here illegally.

3. This is rewarding law-breakers. Plain and simple. Entering a country without going through the proper channels is a crime. And it is being talked about as if it isn’t.

So, what is to be gained by doing this? In a sensible sense: nothing. But in a strategic sense: everything. A large percentage of illegal immigrants are on the government dole. The Left knows this, and they also know that those who are receiving free stuff will tend to vote for a politician who will continue to give them free stuff. If more states allow illegal immigrants to obtain licenses, our electorate could shift permanently, and our decline will be precipitous.

Pictured: How Cambodia's first lady mocked President Obama with a handshake greeting typically reserved for servants

Coded slight? First Lady Rany greeted the President with a pressed-hands greeting typically used only with servants 

The president's 'historic' first tour of Southeast Asia ended with an unusual diplomatic snub at the hands of Cambodia's first lady Bun Rany. 

Obama became the first ever U.S. president to visit Cambodia earlier this week, when he ended his four-day visit to the region by attending the annual East Asia Summit it was hosting.

Unlike the president's constructive visit to Myanmar, where he met with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and praised the country's progress, Obama had made it clear he was only in Cambodia to attend the summit.

More @ Mail Online

Atheists cry foul over ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’

 

Charlie Brown’s Christmas is on the outs at an elementary school in Little Rock, Ark. — at least among atheists who are calling foul over a planned student trip to see a stage production of the beloved Peanuts story.

The trouble began when students at Terry Elementary School brought home letters detailing the trip to see “A Charlie Brown Christmas” at a local church, according to a report from Arkansas’ KARK. A parent who had a problem with the play’s content notified the local atheist group of the field trip.
“We’re not saying anything bad about Charlie Brown,” Anne Orsi, vice president of the Arkansas Society of Freethinkers, told KARK. “The problem is that it’s got religious content and it’s being performed in a religious venue and that doesn’t just blur the line between church and state, it oversteps it entirely.”

A Charlie Brown Christmas” is about the title character’s struggle to overcome the holiday’s commercialism and embrace the true meaning of Christmas. The holiday classic culminates with the character Linus quoting from the second chapter of Luke.

More @ The DC

Intel Committee Member on Petraeus: ‘Essentially, He’s Using a Technicality to Say: Well, I Didn’t Lie to You Guys’



 Rep. Devin Nunes (R.-Calif.), a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, says former CIA Director David Petraeus is “using a technicality” to say to the commitee “I didn’t lie to you guys” about what happened in Benghazi.

Nunes also says the only people he has seen who talked about the Benghazi attack as a “spontaneous event” were political appointees of President Obama.

“This whole thing with the YouTube video was a lie from the beginning,” Nunes told CNSNews.com.
"All of the people, all of the intelligence that I’ve seen, does not indicate at all that this had anything to do with the YouTube video," said Nunes.

 More @ CNS

Texas prepares to nullify TSA, NDAA in showdown of state liberty versus federal tyranny

Texas 

Dissatisfaction is spreading rapidly throughout a very divided nation in the wake of the Nov. 6 elections, as citizens in nearly every state have begun petitioning the federal government to leave the union.

The secession effort is being led by the independence-minded citizens of Texas, with more than 111,000 residents having signed an online petition requesting secession as of this writing.

Lawmakers in Texas are set to respond to a growing wave of discontent with federal authority, as they look set to consider a pair of bills that will set the state on a collision course with Washington.

Let the nullification begin

According to the Tenth Amendment Center, "a national think tank that works to preserve and protect the principles of strictly limited government through information, education, and activism," the state legislature will consider a pair of bills aimed at protecting some basic civil liberties for citizens.

Earlier this week, Rep. David Simpson, R-Longwood, pre-filed a measure called "The Texas Travel Freedom Act," or H.B. 80, which would make it a criminal act to intentionally touch "the anus, breast, buttocks, or sexual organ of the other person, including touching through clothing," without probable cause, in the process of allowing someone access to public transportation.

In other words, the bill is aimed at ending pointless, embarrassing and invasive pat downs of travelers by the federal Transportation Security Administration, among others.

The measure also forbids removing a child under the age of 18 from the physical custody or control of a parent or guardian.

"If you walk up to somebody and grab their crotch out on the street, it will land you in jail. Blue uniforms and federal badges don't grant some goon the power to sexually assault you, or at least they shouldn't. A person doesn't forfeit her or his personal dignity or Fourth Amendment protections with the purchase of an airline ticket," said Tenth Amendment Center communications director Mike Maharrey.

Smoke and mirrors economy – 47 percent of the members in Congress are millionaires. 67 percent of Senators. Fed and Treasury money close to $7 trillion.

The Federal Reserve is really deep into uncharted territory.  In no other time in history has the Fed been so intricately involved in the overall economy.  The Fed balance sheet has expanded to an incredible level under very little scrutiny by the public or elected officials, many who have a vested interest in keeping the status quo.  The banking system has been bailed out but the working and middle class still struggle

 There is an interesting narrative going on in the press.  Since Wall Street is on the mend and hefty banking bonuses are once again making the rounds, every corner of the country is now somehow celebrating in this same process, at least in theory.  That is simply not the case in actuality.  The system has been decoupled internally.  Profits are made globally with local banking subsidies.  The public is left holding the bag on massive speculation and is shifted out of any prosperity.  It is odd what passes for good news.  The fact that Congress acknowledges that they will deal with the fiscal challenges facing our nation is applauded even though this is their job and most are already millionaires.  The Fed is still deeply intertwined in the current economy.


Fed and Treasury Total Money

There is an interesting chart examining all Fed and Treasury Money out in the economy.  The Fed has introduced a historic amount of measures to bailout the current market.  In 2008, this mixed bag of funding was at $1.5 trillion.  Today that figure is near $7 trillion:

fed balance sheet



Jackson Resigns From House Citing Probe of His Conduct

The culprit responsible for bringing PC to our WBTS battlefields.

 

Illinois Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. resigned from Congress after serving almost 17 years, citing his “deteriorated” health and a federal investigation into his conduct. 

In a letter today to House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, Jackson said he’d made “my share of mistakes” without specifying what he’d done wrong. The resignation is effective today “in order to focus on restoring my health,” the letter said. Jackson, 47, has been treated for depression since taking a medical leave from Congress in June.

“I am aware of the ongoing federal investigation into my activities and I am doing my best to address the situation responsibly, cooperate with investigators, and accept responsibility for my mistakes,” Jackson, a Democrat, wrote in the letter. “They are my mistakes and mine alone.”

The Chicago Sun-Times reported Nov. 8 that Jackson is in plea negotiations with federal prosecutors to settle charges that he misused campaign funds. The newspaper had previously reported that Jackson was under investigation for allegedly using the funds to decorate his Washington home and giving a $40,000 Rolex watch to a female friend.

More @ Newsmax

Israeli Channel 2 TV Poll on cease fire: 70% against 24% in favor 6% undecided

 

8:59 PM With one minute to go till the ceasefire...see on facebook in Hebrew: Only in Israel will you find a Prime Minister that Talks like Churchill but acts like Chamberlain.

8:59 PM Air Raid Sirens in Beer Sheva....


8:53 PM Eshkol Region Mayor says he will not open schools tomorrow despite "cease fire".

8:47 PM Channel 2 TV Poll about cease fire:

70% against
24% in favor
6% undecided

8:45 PM Air Raid Sirens in Lachish, Ashdod, Ashkelon and Gan Yavneh, Kiryat Melachi.

8:33 PM Ynet reports that a rocket was shot at Israel from Sinai and landed near a community near the border of Israel/Sinai.

8:31 PM Air Raid Sirens in Eshkol region.

8:27 PM Lachish and Ashkelon - Air Raid Sirens.

8:26 PM Drive-by shooting attack at Bus in Gush Etzion near Migdal Oz - no injuries

8:19 PM Air Raid Sirens in Ashdod, Netivot, Beer Sheva.

8:12 PM President Barack Obama spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and commended him for agreeing to the Egyptian ceasefire proposal, the White House said.


8:08 PM No injuries in mortar attack on Metullah.

8:06 PM IDF Homefront command orders everyone in Eshkol region into bomb shelters immediately till further notice.

8:06 PM Mortar shell fired at Israel from Lebanon lands in Metullah.

8:03 PM In the previous rocket attack on Beer Sheva minutes ago, a rocket scored a direct hit on a house in Beer Sheva. No Injuries.

8:01 PM Air Raid Sirens in Ashkelon

7:53 PM Air Raid Siren in Tifrach area.

7:52 PM Air Raid Siren in Beer Sheva!

7:43 PM There will be a joint press conference at 8:30 PM by PM Netanyahu, DM Barak and FM Leiberman.

7:28 PM US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton -- Cease Fire announcement starting now in Cairo.

7:00 PM I'm going grocery shopping people...and will not be updating the blog for at least 2.5 hours. Should resume by 10 PM at the latest...unless something big happens. Remember -- if there IS going to be a cease fire, the coming hour is the most dangerous.

6:59 PM Five Israeli vehicles damaged by Palestinian rock throwers on Highway 55 near Azzun. No injuries.

6:57 PM Channel 1's Amnon Abramovitz: Tonight at 8 PM, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will announce the cease fire.

6:12 PM Reports from moments ago that a terrorist was captured in the Modiin area.

6:09 PM Ongoing hunt for terrorists in the Modiin area. Traffic jams throughout Central Israel as police roadblocks are set up everywhere.

5:44 PM From the Elder of Ziyon Blog - How did baby Omar Mishrawi die?


More @ DoubleTapper