Heritage Foundation Lays Out 13 Obama Tax Hikes on Middle Class

How many times have we heard President Obama claim he was giving the middle class a tax cut. Numerous beyond mention, actually. Going back to the 2008 presidentail camaopign against Sen. John McCain Obama was touting his tax cut plan. Click the video for a brief reminder of that promise.

 We now know, of course, that was far from the truth. The The Heritage Foundation has published a list of Obama tax hikes that affect the Middle Class.

1. Payroll tax: increase in the Social Security portion of the payroll tax from 4.2 percent to 6.2 percent for workers. This hits all Americans earning a paycheck—not just the “wealthy.” For example, The Wall Street Journal calculated that the “typical U.S. family earning $50,000 a year” will lose “an annual income boost of $1,000.”
2. Top marginal tax rate: increase from 35 percent to 39.6 percent for taxable incomes over $450,000 ($400,000 for single filers).
3. Phase out of personal exemptions for adjusted gross income (AGI) over $300,000 ($250,000 for single filers).
4. Phase down of itemized deductions for AGI over $300,000 ($250,000 for single filers).
5. Tax rates on investment: increase in the rate on dividends and capital gains from 15 percent to 20 percent for taxable incomes over $450,000 ($400,000 for single filers).
6. Death tax: increase in the rate (on estates larger than $5 million) from 35 percent to 40 percent.
7. Taxes on business investment: expiration of full expensing—the immediate deduction of capital purchases by businesses.
8. Another investment tax increase (ObamaCare Tax): 3.8 percent surtax on investment income for taxpayers with taxable income exceeding $250,000 ($200,000 for singles).
9. Another payroll tax hike (ObamaCare Tax): 0.9 percent increase in the Hospital Insurance portion of the payroll tax for incomes over $250,000 ($200,000 for single filers).
10. Medical device tax (ObamaCare Tax): 2.3 percent excise tax paid by medical device manufacturers and importers on all their sales.
11. Reducing the income tax deduction (ObamaCare Tax) for individuals’ medical expenses.
12. Elimination of the corporate income tax deduction (ObamaCare Tax) for expenses related to theMedicare Part D subsidy.
13. Limitation of the corporate income tax deduction (ObamaCare Tax) for compensation that health insurance companies pay to their executives.

Of course in Obama's world it's hard to identify what is "rich" and what isn't. Since his plan was to tax the the rich, and on January 1st all Americans woke up to a tax hike, it would appear we are all RICH. YAY!




                                                              

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Obama On Air Force One While Sequester Festers

Sequester Update : Congresswoman tells Obama : 'Stop Scaring People.'

Sequester Update : Obama Screams Chicken Little -The Sky is Falling!

Air Force One...President Obama's Favorite Toy

The president of the United States is afforded many perks, benefits and luxuries, as he or she should be, given the prestige and power of the office. 

As president, he or she is required to make many trips during their tenure in office, not only to States within the Union, but to far away lands as well. Traveling in style, so to speak, is one of the many perks, benefits and luxuries. 

President's Office On Air Force One

The president and his entourage travel on Air Force One, (a Boeing 747)  so named as it is part of the fleet of aircraft under the auspices of the United States Air Force, flown by Air Force pilots. It’s a flying command center with the ability to handle everything from a nuclear war to a re-election campaign. 

Presidents used to fly commercially until 1945 when, according to Wikipedia, "A C-54 Skymaster was then converted for presidential use; this aircraft, dubbed the Sacred Cow, transported President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the Yalta Conference in February 1945, and was subsequently used for another two years by President Harry S. Truman."
And so the ferrying of presidents hither and yon on a specially designed aircraft, began.

Bye-Bye

So much for the history of Air Force One. How much does it fly? A lot! And this president seems to spend more time flying around on Air Force One than he does in his palatial palace known as the White House. Is it just me or does it seem like President Obama is somewhere other than Washington D.C. every day? It's difficult to get a real handle on just how many trips aboard "the people's airplane" he has taken. But one estimate is that in 2011, Mr. Obama flew on Air Force One 172 times. That's 10 days shy of half the year! 

This is the year of the sequester, automatic budget cuts, crafted and signed into law by Obama, that take affect March 1, unless congress acts to do otherwise...and as of this writing it looks like Congress 'ain't gonna do nuthin.' Neither is the president. Congress took last week off rather than stay put in D.C. to figure out this mess and the president took off on Air Force One to tell the country how bad HIS law is and Congress better act. He's flown someplace different every day. 
Members of Congress this week have urged him to stay on the ground, get back in the Oval Office and do something he seems adverse to doing....LEAD. 

Here's the irony. The president is railing against the sequester saying the cuts will be damaging and cause all kinds of economic problems. In his mind we can't afford the sequestere's $84 billion in cuts, while at the same time he's racking up $180,000 and hour in Air Force One operating costs to tell us this. By the way, that $180K does not include all the other stuff that goes with it...security, food, lodging for the throng that travels with him, rented vehicles and the list goes on. 

The 172 trips in 2011? Not knowing how many hours Air Force One was in operation for each trip it's hard to put a number on the total...but you can bet it would have gone a long way toward solving (put your favorite government program here) over-spending problem.

Mr. Obama needs to grow up and act presidential, and not spend so much time playing on big toys for big boys!




                                        


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Sequester : Obama's Baby

The sequester (code for automatic cuts in Federal Spending) and President Barack Obama is running for cover, blaming the Republicans for initiating it. This guy is absolutely amazing. He has personally, in four short years, added $6 trillion to the national debt, put millions upon millions of people on the unemployment line, added millions more to the food stamp rolls, wasted billions of taxpayer dollars on failed stimulus  programs and refuses to accept responsibility for his failures.....rather he finds others to blame. The sequester is no different. This is his baby, he penned it. Back in 2011, after it was signed into law, he dared anyone in Congress to try and railroad it. Read More: President Threatens to Veto Any Bill That Kills Sequester


                          Don't believe what you just read? See for yourself.

                   

           And now here is Mr. Obama just last week railing against his own plan

So why the big flip-flop?? Back in 2011, when Obama hatched this plan, it was so absurd that he and others thought that there would be no way Democrats or Republicans alike would let this take place. This was designed to get the White House and Congress off their duffs and do what was necessary so this would not happen. SURPRISE!!! It's happening! And now the president is blaming guess who. No surprise there. But he's stuck with this one. It's his baby. And frankly, when he snuggles up to Michelle at night, he whispers to her that he really wants sequester to take place. Why....easy one. The Republicans wants spending cuts, but primarily on entitlement programs. Sequester takes a chunk out of the Defense Department and not welfare give-aways. It's no secret Obama doesn't really care for the military, so if he has to swallow cuts he'd just as soon it would be in Defense...

Stay Tuned........



         

                                           


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Cometh The King...All Hail

From the  reagancoalition.com/


It seems like  Rep.Jose Serrano is trying to reintroduce a bill that would amend the Constitution and allow any president to serve for an unlimited period of time. That includes Barack Obama.
If he were to serve forever, then he'd be King.

From theDC:

New York Democratic Rep. Jose Serrano reintroduced a bill in Congress on Friday to repeal the 22nd Amendment, which places term limits on the U.S. presidency.
The bill, which has been referred to committee, would allow Barack President Obama to become the first president since Franklin Roosevelt to seek a third term in office.
H.J. Res. 15 proposes “an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to repeal the twenty-second article of amendment, thereby removing the limitation on the number of terms an individual may serve as President.”
The bill is a reintroduction of H.J. Res. 17, which Serrano introduced in Congress in January 2011. It was referred to the House judiciary committee, but did not make it to a floor vote.

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Shoe Shine Man Gives $200K to Kids

By Associated Press Published: February 20 | Updated: Friday, February 22

Albert Lexie

PITTSBURGH — A shoeshine man has given a Pittsburgh children’s hospital a total of more than $200,000 in tips he’s collected over the last 30 years.
Albert Lexie says he’s been shining shoes for $5 at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh since the early 1980s. He says most customers tip him $1 and some give him an extra $2. He says a doctor gave him a $50 bill for Christmas.


WTAE-TV says Lexie gives all his tip money to the hospital’s sick children.

Dr. Joseph Carcillo says Lexie has donated more than a third of his lifetime salary to the Children’s Hospital Free Care Fund, which helps parents who can’t afford to pay their sick children’s medical costs.

Lexie has been shining shoes since the 1950s. He says, “It’s good to be a hero.”



A hero indeed!




                                          



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Obama Playing The Blame Game Again...No Surprise here!

Sequester (automatic spending cuts) is just around the corner, and  the president, no surprise, is blaming the Republicans for not doing something to avoid  the cuts. But guess who proposed sequester in the first place and signed the bill into law....yep....lovable Barack himself.

There is enough blame to go around, but far be it for Mr. O, on any issue as we have learned, to take any responsibility. Read More: Blaming the GOP

As we are also aware, the Democrats will go to great lengths to use scare tactics when it comes to pushing absurd issues they want passed. and again the GOP is whipping boy. Read More: The President's Scare Tactics

The problem for the President is that he fears the Republicans will just let the $84 billion in across the board cuts just take place rather than come up with another plan to cut spending. Any plan they put forth Obama will veto because, despite his rhetoric to the contrary, the president doesn't want cuts at all, just tax hikes. So if letting sequester happen is the only way to force spending cuts, so be it. 

Obama is now saying sequester will also cause job losses. True, but so will any cuts to the budget. The president will obviously blame the GOP for those job losses, despite the sequester being his idea in the first place. He just didn't think Congress would let it happen. Surprise, Mr. President. This one is on you!















                                                                    





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Taxes Today Are Out of Control - Looking back 100 Years

                

                               This is self-explanatory

                                                 



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President and Mrs. Obama are taken to task by a 93 year old Pearl Harbor Survivor

This letter was posted on August 27, 2012 on the Voting American.Wordpress.com website. The letter was written by Harold B. Estes,  a 95 Year Old Pearl Harbor Survivor 

Dear President Obama,

My name is Harold Estes, approaching 95 on December 13 of this year. People meeting me for the first time don’t believe my age because I remain wrinkle free and pretty much mentally alert.

I enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1934 and served proudly before, during and after WW II retiring as a Master Chief Bos’n Mate. Now I live in a “rest home” located on the western end of Pearl Harbor , allowing me to keep alive the memories of 23 years of service to my country.
One of the benefits of my age, perhaps the only one, is to speak my mind, blunt and direct even to the head man.

So here goes.
I am amazed, angry and determined not to see my country die before I do, but you seem hell bent not to grant me that wish.
I can’t figure out what country you are the president of.
You fly around the world telling our friends and enemies despicable lies like:
” We’re no longer a Christian nation”
” America is arrogant”
– (Your wife even
announced to the world,” America is mean-
spirited. ” Please tell her to try preaching
that nonsense to 23 generations of our
war dead buried all over the globe who
died for no other reason than to free a
whole lot of strangers from tyranny and
hopelessness.)

I’d say shame on the both of you, but I don’t think you like America, nor do I see an ounce of gratefulness in anything you do, for the obvious gifts this country has given you. To be without shame or gratefulness is a dangerous thing for a man sitting in the White House.

After 9/11 you said,” America hasn’t lived up to her ideals.”

Which ones did you mean? Was it the notion of personal liberty that 11,000 farmers and shopkeepers died for to win independence from the British? Or maybe the ideal that no man should be a slave to another man, that 500,000 men died for in the Civil War? I hope you didn’t mean the ideal 470,000 fathers, brothers, husbands, and a lot of fellas I knew personally died for in WWII, because we felt real strongly about not letting any nation push us around, because we stand for freedom.

I don’t think you mean the ideal that says equality is better than discrimination. You know the one that a whole lot of white people understood when they helped to get you elected.

Take a little advice from a very old geezer, young man.

Shape up and start acting like an American. If you don’t, I’ll do what I can to see you get shipped out of that fancy rental on Pennsylvania Avenue . You were elected to lead not to bow, apologize and kiss the hands of murderers and corrupt leaders who still treat their people like slaves.

And just who do you think you are telling the American people not to jump to conclusions and condemn that Muslim major who killed 13 of his fellow soldiers and wounded dozens more. You mean you don’t want us to do what you did when that white cop used force to subdue that black college professor in Massachusetts , who was putting up a fight? You don’t mind offending the police calling them stupid but you don’t want us to offend Muslim fanatics by calling them what they are, terrorists.

One more thing. I realize you never served in the military and never had to defend your country with your life, but you’re the Commander-in-Chief now, son. Do your job. When your battle-hardened field General asks you for 40,000 more troops to complete the mission, give them to him. But if you’re not in this fight to win, then get out. The life of one American soldier is not worth the best political strategy you’re thinking of.

You could be our greatest president because you face the greatest challenge ever presented to any president.
You’re not going to restore American greatness by bringing back our bloated economy. That’s not our greatest threat. Losing the heart and soul of who we are as Americans is our big fight now.
And I sure as hell don’t want to think my president is the enemy in this final battle…

Sincerely,
Harold B. Estes

Harold B. Estes passed away at the age of 96 in May, 2011. He was interred at the National Memorial Cemetary of the Pacific

Is it any wonder we call them

“The Greatest Generation”

The author, Harold Bates, pictured with navy personnel

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Budget ? What Budget?

“On or after the first Monday in January but not later than the first Monday in February of each year, the President shall submit a budget of the United States Government for the following fiscal year.”
-- Chapter 11 of Title 31 of the United States Code, enacted as the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.

The first Monday in February has come and gone and the budget is not in hand. This is the norm for this president as he has missed the deadline for the previous two years. Instead, he has informed the Senate he would be "late." Don't be surprised if it's not forthcoming at all. The last budget president Obama presented didn't garner a single vote - Democrat or Republican because it was overrun with so much spending neither party could stomach it. 

CARTOON BY CHIP BOK'S BOKBLUSTER

As for the Senate not passing a budget as required by law, Majority Leader Harry Reid has not done so in four years. He doesn't want us to see what's in it, knowing taxpayers would revolt.

It appears both the president and the Democratic leader of the Senate have a similar disdain for the law and Constitution....both be damned. They are above it....so they think.









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Obama's State of the Union Address a Spin Job

President Obama's State of the Union (SOTU) speech Tuesday night was a spin job

Apparently the president took liberties with such items as: 

• touting an increase in manufacturing jobs when there was a net loss depending on the way it's calculated
• Claiming both parties got together to reduce the deficit by more than $2.5 trillion
• Saying automobiles travel double the distance on a gallon of gas
• Claiming Obamcare is slowing the growth of medical costs

 The business of Fact Check.org is to check the facts that are spewed out of the mouths of politicians. Click the link for an in-depth summary and analysis of SOTU 2013 provided by Fact Check. Org




                                                    


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The President, Like His Spending, is Out of Control !!

In the State of the Union (SOTU) address last Tuesday night, President Barack Obama basically, without saying so, told the GOP to go to hell. He told them to forget about forcing spending cuts by shutting down the government, don't think about defaulting on the debt and get to work on closing tax loopholes. (more on that in a moment.) 

The president is in a "we're going to do this my way" frame of mind with no plan to compromise. He said the American people "don't expect those of us in this chamber to agree on every issue. But they do expect us to put the nation's interests before party. They do expect us to forge reasonable compromise where we can." This man has always put his interests and his party's interests before anything else. And for him to use the word "compromise" is an insult to the intelligence of the American people. Hypocrisy on parade as his whole speech was about not compromising.

 Obama lied last year when he said that if he got tax increases on the rich he would later agree to spending cuts. We've seen this before out of the liberals. Can't imagine why anyone thought it would be different this time. Republicans are suckers for that kind of thing. The "fool me once, shame on you - fool me twice shame on me" theory has yet to sink in.

 Mr. Obama has a spending addiction. He as much admitted it when he proposed 29 new programs during the SOTU speech Tuesday in which to spend taxpayer's money. The sad part  he doesn't get it, or maybe doesn't care, that the taxpayers don't have anymore money. He spent his first four years bilking them of it. He claimed his fiscal spending policies won't add "a single dime" to the deficit. Really? We've heard that before. In fact, since Obama took office our deficit has increased by 58.6 trillion dimes.

Note that deficits from Nixon to Bush are in the billions of dollars. Only
one is in the trillions - and in just four years.

In just four years he increased the debt by more than $6 trillion dollars, more than President Bush in his eight years and more than all the presidents put together. There's no reason to believe this won't continue. It's projected that through his policies the national debt will top $25 trillion by 2022. That's unsustainable. The country will be bankrupt.

So, where is the president going to get the money to feed his spending habit? Taxes, taxes and more taxes. He talked in his speech about closing tax loopholes as a means to get more revenue. He was against that last December during the fiscal cliff negotiations when the Republicans suggested it as a way to increase the government's coffers as opposed to soaking the rich. But the president, who hates the rich with a passion, was adamant about raising their taxes.....now he wants loopholes closed!! Hypocrisy?

House Speaker John Boehner and the rest of the Republicans can no longer sit on the sidelines and let this man run amok. One gets the impression that the right side of the aisle is afraid to get down in the gutter with him, which is what it's going to take. They need to shed their nice guy attitudes and, if necessary, play dirty...that's what Obama is doing...and the sad part of it, voters like it despite what he is doing to this country. By the time they wake up and get their heads out of the sand it will be too late.....

Read the full text of the speech here: State of the Union Address





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State of the Union - Poor

President Obama went before the country and Congress Tuesday night to give the annual State of the Union address. What we got was what was expected...
more of the same as the last  four years..bigger government and more spending. The president used a code word for spending...he called it investing. Even before the address House Speaker John Boehner said, "If government spending were the tonic for all our ills, this would have been solved a long time ago.”

The president said the country is on the mend. A quick look at some stats might make one think differently:

• National Debt is $16.5 trillion and counting
• Projected Federal debt in 2022 due to Obama's spending spree is projected to be $25.4 trillion
• Number of Americans on food stamps - 47.5 million
• Number of Americans unemployed, underemployed or have given up looking for work - 22.7 million
• National unemployment rate is 7.9%
• Number of Americans unemployed - 12.3 million
• number of unemployed veterans - 844,000
• Your share of the National Debt - $53,380
• Decline in median income per household since Obama took office - $3,924
• Average price of a gallon of gas has increased 92% since Obama took office in 2009.

This doesn't look much like a country on the mend.

The president used an old line in the State of the Union address when talking of his new spending plan. He said, “Nothing I’m proposing tonight should increase our deficit by a single dime. It’s not a bigger government we need, but a smarter government that sets priorities and invests in broad-based growth.” Did he not say in 2009 that Obamacare would not increase our premiums by a "single dime" or was I dreaming? The only way he can do that is, again, raise taxes.

On gun control the president got the liberal crowd riled up when he went down the list of victims from former Arizona Representative Gabby Gifford to the Newtown, Conn. shooting victims saying, "they deserve a vote." He probably won't get it, at least not all he wants.

President Obama said he wants the minimum wage raised to $9 an hour. Not going to happen...would be devastating to small businesses.

Automatic spending cuts, known as sequestration are poised to hit March 1 unless a deal is reached to replace them. The cuts were put in place last year during the negotiations to keep the government functioning. The president wanted sequestration, and signed the bill into law. The thought was the cuts were so drastic, especially to the Defense Dept., that congress would reach a better deal before the March deadline. During the fiscal cliff talks the president agreed to future cuts if he got the tax increase on the wealthy. he got the tax hikes, but is balking on the spending cuts he promised. 

So, Some Republicans are talking about letting the cuts simply take effect, though the Pentagon will bear the brunt of the hit. Other Republicans want to replace the scheduled cuts with a separate package of cuts.

Obama wants to include tax increases in any package. He has also urged Congress to draft a short-term bill if no deal can be reached by March 1. Republican leaders are fighting this demand.

The sequestration cuts amount to about $84 billion dollars, about 4-5% of the total government expenditure. One would think  there is that much in wasteful spending and cost overruns...letting the sequestration take affect might not be a bad thing.

If you want to check Mr. Obama on the facts of his speech, click: Fact Check.Org

                                   



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"No Guts, Mr. President"

Speaker John Boehner

In advance of the President's annual State of the Union speech, House Speaker John Boehner says the president is gutless when it comes to tackling out of control spending. Read More: Obama Doesn't Have the Guts

It's believed the president will discuss jobs and the economy in his speech. If so, expect it to be 'more of the same.' If we hear the word "investing" it is code for spending more money...more of the failed policies called "stimulus" we endured in the first four years of the Obama presidency. Despite his promise to cut spending as part of the "Fiscal Cliff" deal of last December, this president has no intention of keeping that promise. 







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SSGT.R Clinton Romesha - An American Hero

   

   

President Barack Obama today bestowed the Medal of Honor on Staff Sgt. Clinton Romesha (Ret) for action in afghanistan in Octobere, 2009. The award citation read in part, "With complete disregard for his own safety, [he] continually exposed himself to heavy enemy fire as he moved confidently about the battlefield engaging and destroying multiple enemy targets, including three Taliban fighters who had breached the combat outpost's perimeter,"

Romesha and his unit found themselves outnumbered  by some 300 Taliban fighters surging through his camp. Romesha repeatedly put himself in the line and lead the charge that eventually forced the enemy back. He was wounded by shrapnel during the a 12 hour battle. Sgt. Romesha was credited with saving the lives of fellow soldiers pinned down by heavy fire. Read More: Medal of Honor Winner





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Former Navy SEAL Says His Government Abandoned Him - But Did It?

Yesterday we read the story of Staff. Sgt. Clinton Romesha who won the Medal of Honor for heroism and gallantry on the battlefields of Afghanistan.

Usama Bin Laden

Today we hear the story of another hero. But it takes a different turn. Fox News reports the Navy SEAL who says he put three bullets in the head of Usama bin Laden is out of work, separated from his wife and believes he's been abandoned by his government. Read More: Disgruntled SEAL

SEAL Team

As the news article stated, he has no medical benefits or pension. To qualify for medical benefits and retirement pay, military personnel must serve at least 20 years. He was short of the mark by 3 years. Surely he was aware of this having spent as much time in the military has he did. The question is, why did he leave the service? As we know, all members of the armed forces, and their families, are under an unduly amount of stress, especially during these times. Members of elite commands, like the Navy Seals, are under enormous amount of stress, just by the nature of their jobs. Perhaps this young man was physically and emotionally spent.It's too bad he couldn't have made it to the required have made it to the required 20 years to receive the benefits he deserves. 

Perhaps there should be a change in rules here, allowing certain  military job categories such as Special Operations people like the SEALS and Delta Force to retire after 15 years with full benefits.

Navy SEALS

There are benefits available to him, however. President Bush signed into law a bill allowing ex-service personnel to receive insurance benefits through the VA, but the Defense Dept. does a poor job in relaying this information to departing troops.

Army Delta Force

 As a side note, this unnamed SEAL is also out of work. He is not alone. The total number of veterans unsuccessfully looking for work (yours truly among them) rose to 844,000, almost 150,000 more than it was four months ago.

Air Force Special Operations

 Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the overall unemployment rate for veterans 7.6 percent.  
                      


















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Am I Upset? I Think So!

 FOX NEWS POLL: A majority of voters would prefer to see the government cut spending rather than increase it — and 60 percent say the 2009 stimulus package largely did not work. Voters: Cut Spending

So, 60 percent of those surveyed think that President Obama's $800 million stimulus program was a waste of money. No kidding! Are these people just waking up to that, or has this been their opinion for some time? The same people think government spending is out of control. Are they just waking up to that too or have they known this for sometime? If the answer is "yes, they've known this for sometime," then why in the hell did they give this man a second term?! Stupidly foolish, i think is the answer to that one. 

Obama, in his first four years pushed the government credit card to just short of bankruptcy. And now that you stupidly foolish people have re-elected him he will take us to bankruptcy in the next four years. The only way this won't happen is if America wakes up and puts a stop to it in the 2014 mid-term elections by keeping the GOP in charge of the House and throwing the democratic majority out of the Senate. 

Here is the stark reality. As of today, the national debt is $16,512,754, 500,000 and counting. (the "16" number is TRILLION) Each citizen in this country, man, woman and child, owes as their share $52,373. (I'm sorry, I don't have that kind of money to pay as an IOU.) Not all citizens are taxpayers. If you are a taxpayer, your share is $146,118. (You are paying yourself and those who pay no taxes...which, by the way is close to 50% of all Americans.) See for yourself: U.S. Debt Clock

By contrast, in 2008, the year before Obama took office, the national debt was $9,389,763,000,000 (again, the "9" is in trillions) Each citizen owed $30,943 of the debt and taxpayers owed $87,195. So, in his first four years Good President Obama added over $6 trillion to the national debt all by himself. That $6 trillion is more than all the presidents, from George Washington to George W. Bush, spent put together!  At the end of Obama's sure to be disastrous second term, it's estimated the new president will take office in January of 2017 facing a debt of $22,627,442,000,000. (that number is as of today....and counting.)

No wonder 60 percent of voters think we have a spending problem. The only problem is they woke up too that fact too late! President Obama, on the other hand is of the opinion that we don't have a spending problem. He wants more money to spend and is pushing for yet another tax increase just months after getting his so-called tax the rich increase on January 1st.  He also wants a blank check to raise the debt ceiling to whatever he wishes. 

Mr. Obama has his head in the sand....as do the stupidly foolish voters who gave him a second term!

Am I upset??  I think so!






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The Right To Kill

President Obama, under the guise of national security, has given himself the power to be judge, jury and executioner. If you are an American, traveling overseas, let's say to the Middle East on business, and for some strange reason, the president judges you to be a terrorist and finds you, to be a national security threat, he can KILL YOU! 

Excuse me? you say. Yes, the president apparently has seen fit to, at will, order a drone strike on any American overseas the deems a threat. Can the president, any president, do that? Not according to Judge Andrew Napolitano who offers this opinion: Read More: Obama Grants Himself a License to Kill

Some would argue that an American born citizen who has turned his allegiance to terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda and is collaborating with the enemy deserves to be killed. Maybe so, but, as Judge Napolitano pointed out the president  'can only order killing using the military when the U.S. has been attacked or when an attack is so imminent that delay would cost innocent lives. He can also order killing using the military in pursuit of a declaration of war enacted by Congress.' 

President Obama has earned the label of hypocrite. In 2009 he ordered the intelligence gathering technique of "waterboarding" stopped by federal interrogators, saying it was cruel and that Americans do not resort to torture. Over the past couple of years, Obama has fallen in love with the drone, having ordered the unmanned, armed predator to seek out and kill suspected terrorist group leaders. The president has thus  adopted the attitude that you can kill a terrorist, but you can't torture one. 

And how long would it be before the government is using drones to spy on and lethally use them against us here at home?







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Bye Bye Saturday Postal Service!

"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds"............except on Saturday!

Yes...your friendly postman will now get weekends off. In an effort to slash costs, the USPS (United States Postal Service) will end Saturday mail delivery hoping to save $2 billion annually. Read More: Saturday Service Slashed We, the customer, will get a break as well from our mailboxes being stuffed with bills, junk mail and throw away retail ads.

For years the post office has been complaining about going broke. Not a surprise, given what's come its way over the last 30 or so years. Companies like Fed Ex ans UPS has taken away a lot of post office business. The Internet and the advent of e-mail and text messaging  has virtually done away with the a dinosaur once known as a letter. Who writes letters to friends and family anymore? Unless it's a threat from debt collectors, attorneys promising to sue or the aforementioned junk mail, personal letters are extinct.

Just an observation, but it seems to me that the USPS could save a hell of a lot of money if it got out of the retail business. Been to your local post office lately? You can buy greeting cards, gifts for a specific holiday from the postal store!! You can buy artwork and posters, mugs and dinnerware, watches and bracelets, books, music and videos, not to mention collectibles for the avid stamp collector. 

Then there's those specialty or commemorative stamps. Quit dedicating and printing stamps to every Tom, Dick and Harry that did something notable in their lives and to every group or cause that trying to right the world. How much does that cost? This year you be able to adorn your envelopes with dozens of commemorative stamps from embracing the State of Florida to celebrating the 1966 Pontiac GTO! 

The postal service took a major hit when it couldn't move stamps dedicated to America's favorite lovable cartoon family, "The Simpsons." A billion Simpson stamps were produced to be sold over the two year period of 2009-2010. a mere 318 million were sold leaving the USPS with a $1.2 million dollar loss.

Erik Ortiz / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS,  wrote in 2012,  'dozens of stamps were overproduced in 2009 and 2010, including ones featuring Bob Hope, the Supreme Court justices and pioneers of the civil rights movement.That overproduction of special and commemorative stamps cost the Postal Service more than $4 million over the two years, the inspector general found.'   

According to Wikipedia the United States Post Office (USPO) was created in Philadelphia under Benjamin Franklin on Wednesday, July 26, 1775, by decree of the Second Continental Congress.^[1] Based on the Postal Clause in Article One of the United States Constitution, empowering Congress "To establish post offices and post roads", it became the Post Office Department (USPOD) in 1792. Until 1971, it was part of the Presidential cabinet and the Postmaster General was the last person in the United States presidential line of succession.

The First U.S. Postage Stamps Issued 1847 The first stamp issues were authorized by an act of Congress and approved on March 3, 1847.The earliest known use of the Franklin 5c is July 7, 1847, while the earliest known use of the Washington 10c is July 2, 1847. Remaining in postal circulation for only a few years, these issues were declared invalid for postage on July 1, 1851

The USPS is the largest fleet vehicle operator in the world with over 260,000 vehicles and employing some 574,000 people. Other than $5.5 billion per year to be paid into an account to pre-fund retiree health-care, 75 years into the future, the postal service is not funded by taxpayer dollars and must subsist on its own collected revenue. 

While the demise of Saturday delivery come August of this year, might help salvage the postal service from financial obliteration, they need to consider ditching the fluff and puff archive the commemorative stamp program to history as well.

Just leave us with a simple stamp we can be proud of.

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