Friday, October 31, 2008

I am an American!

The Coach says it all!

What is Obama's Tax Plan Levels

What is Obama's definition of the rich?




I guess it depends on who you talk with. Obama says its $250,000, Biden has said its $200, 000 and then later it was $150,000. Now Governor Bill Richardson says its $120,000.

Please gentlemen, which is it!

Calculate your 401k Fund





Thursday, October 30, 2008

Check the numbers

I have stated on this blog that the measures that Barrack Obama wants to implement during his presidency do not measure up financially with all his proposed tax cuts.

His "spreading the wealth around" comment WILL increase every one's taxes. It will start with the expiration of the Bush Tax cuts from 2001 and 2003. From that point on everyone will have to share the burden.

Why do I bring this up again, it seems that CBS News is beginning to look at Obama's plans.

In case it goes down the memory hole, here it is in its entirety.

(CBS) This story was written by CBS News correspondent Wyatt Andrews.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Without question, the Barack Obama infomercial served as a very slick and powerful recitation of the biggest promises he's made as a presidential candidate. But the very bigness of his ideas is the problem: he seems blind to the concept his numbers don't add up.

Let's start with his highly suspect, and widely discredited, claim that he can find federal "spending cuts beyond the costs" of his promises. Very few independent economists believe he has identified the savings needed to offset his remarkable list of tax credits, tax cuts and spending pledges.

Fact: Even if you believe Obama intends to fix health care, most independent analysts say the cost is massive - $1.2 trillion over ten years, according to the highly respected Lewin Group. When the new Congress wakes up next year to a $1 trillion deficit, and answers the overwhelming new demands for another stimulus package, will the leadership really bite on a health care reform package that digs the deficit hole so much deeper?

And that's just the beginning of what Obama would spend.

Fact: The tax cuts he promises, which are mostly refundable tax credits (code for cash back), will cost $60 billion just in year one, according the National Taxpayers Union, though the Obama campaign's own estimates in July put that figure at $130 billion.

Fact: His new promise to give businesses a $3,000 tax credit for each new job created will cost $40 billion. But economists say this credit is far more likely to benefit companies already planning to expand and will likely not be enough to help companies create new jobs or forestall layoffs.

Fact: Obama's claim he will lower health care premiums by $2,500 is: 1.) guesswork, which is 2.) based on health care savings that might, in a perfect world, happen over 10 years - a fact Obama neatly glosses over.

Fact: Obama, when referring to savings he can make by leaving Iraq ($90 billion, according to Congressional Budget Office estimates), has spent these savings several times over, across several different promises depending on the crowd he's addressing.

Most of the time he spends the Iraq savings in the context of the roads he wants to build; sometimes it's for the teachers he wants to hire. Tonight, he riffed rhetorically on the savings, asking how many scholarships could be funded, or how many schools could be built. In the end though, presuming he really saves $90 billion, he can only spend it once.

Remember he also mentioned rebuilding the military ($7 billion/yr); his education initiative ($18 billion/yr); and his energy initiative ($15 billion/yr). He did not mention the $188 billion that he would spend on the brand new stimulus package he has proposed.

If he closes every loophole as promised, saves every dime from Iraq, raises taxes on the rich and trims the federal budget as he's promised to do "line by line," he still doesn't pay for his list. If he's elected, the first fact hitting his desk will be the figure projecting how much less of a budget he has to work with - thanks to the recession. He gave us a very compelling vision with his ad buy tonight. What he did not give us was any hint of the cold reality he's facing or a sense of how he might prioritize his promises if voters trust him with the White House.



Maybe its time America wakes up and realizes that Obama is not the answer.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Heritage Foundation's Quick Review of the Tax Plans

Which tax plan provides more after tax money to a family of four?




Here is a chart showing affecting employment growth.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Josh Mandel Attack

It has been said quite a lot this campaign season how the Republicans are conducting a nasty negative campaign. I have written several times how I have thought the Democrats on the national stage were just as guilty in the negative campaigning, well I think I have seen or heard the most negative thoughts by a Democrat here in Cuyahoga county.

I learned of this from Joel Mowbray at Townhall.com.

To quote Mowbray's article:

The opponent in his tough re-election fight, trial attorney Bob Belovich, is attacking Mr. Mandel’s service, arguing that he abandoned voters. Mr. Belovich’s wife, Barbara, acknowledged in an interview for this column that she has told voters that Mr. Mandel “went AWOL” (a military term for desertion) by fighting in Iraq.

Even Mr. Mandel’s motives for serving in Iraq are being questioned. Mrs. Belovich claimed in an interview with this columnist that Mandel “put his personal ambitions ahead of his constituents.” Asked why anyone would enter a war zone out of “personal ambition,” Barbara Belovich replied curtly, “Certainly he wasn’t serving our needs.”


Here is one outlet with what was said.


Here is Josh Mandel talking about this slam

Unfortunately, this story is beginning to be picked up by some of the big bloggers, like POWERLINE and BLACKFIVE

Not a good political move by the Mr or Mrs Belovich.

Interesting Voter Registration Order

A Federal District Court judge has ruled that the homeless can use a park bench or other locations that aren't buildings as their address for being eligible for voting.

What does another World Leader think of Obama?

From Haaret.com

Here is a report regarding comments made by French President Nicholas Sarkozy:

Here is a money quote:
Following their July meeting, Sarkozy repeatedly expressed disappointment with Obama's positions on Iran, concluding that they were "not crystallized, and therefore many issues remain open," the Israeli source said. Advisors to the French president who held separate meetings with Obama's advisors came away with similar impressions and expressed similar disappointment.

Cleaning Up Washington

Barack Obama has made a hallmark of his campaign the idea that Middle America will be the driving force for his campaign and not let Corporate Lobbyists dictate to him what should be done.

He also has take to task the McCain campaign about the lobbyist running his campaign. But here is this report from CBS regarding following the money trail on the donations to the Obama campaign.

Pay attention to the end when it breaks down the Wall Street contributions:



Hypocritical?

The More things CHANGE the more they stay the same!

Monday, October 27, 2008

Judicial Elections

Once again this election cycle, here is a website to help you look at what the lawyers think of the judicial races.

www.Judge4Yourself.com.


To start with, for the the Ohio Supreme Court select Maureen O'Connor over Joseph Russo and
Evelyn Stratton over Peter Sikora.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

CORY THE DRILLER

A devastating post the "One" regarding what Cory has done and what the Democratic policies of this year and possibly the coming years could do.

Here is a snippet:
You see, Mr. Obama, I'm the guy you intend to raise taxes on. I'm the guy who has spent 25 years toiling and sweating, fretting and fighting, stressing and risking, to build a business and get ahead. I'm the guy who has been on the very edge of bankruptcy more than a dozen times over the last 25 years, and all the while creating more and more jobs for East Texans who didn't want to take a risk, and would not demand from themselves what I have demanded from myself. I'm the guy you characterize as "the Americans who can afford it the most" that you believe should be taxed more to provide income redistribution "to spread the wealth" to those who have never toiled, sweated, fretted, fought, stressed, or risked anything. You want to characterize me as someone who has enjoyed a life of privilege and who needs to pay a higher percentage of my income than those who have bought into your entitlement culture. I resent you, Mr. Obama, as I resent all who want to use class warfare as a tool to advance their political career. What's worse, each year more Americans buy into your liberal entitlement culture, and turn to the government for their hope of a better life instead of themselves. Liberals are succeeding through more than 40 years of collaborative effort between the predominant liberal media, and liberal indoctrination programs in the public school systems across our land.

What is so terribly sad about this is this. America was made great by people who embraced the one-time American culture of self reliance, self motivation, self determination, self discipline, personal betterment, hard work, risk taking. A culture built around the concept that success was in reach of every able bodied American who would strive for it. Each year that less Americans embrace that culture, we all descend together. We descend down the socialist path that has brought country after country ultimately to bitter and unremarkable states. If you and your liberal comrades in the media and school systems would spend half as much effort cultivating a culture of can-do across America as you do cultivating your entitlement culture, we could see Americans at large embracing the conviction that they can elevate themselves through personal betterment, personal achievement, and self reliance. You see, when people embrace such ideals, they act on them. When people act on such ideals, they succeed. All of America could find herself elevating instead of deteriorating. But that would eliminate the need for liberal politicians, wouldn't it, Mr. Obama? The country would not need you if the country was convinced that problem solving was best left with individuals instead of the government. You and all your liberal comrades have got a vested interested in creating a dependent class in our country. It is the very business of liberals to create an ever expanding dependence on government. What's remarkable is that you, who have never produced a job in your life, are going to tax me to take more of my money and give it to people who wouldn't need my money if they would get off their entitlement mentality asses and apply themselves at work, demand more from themselves, and quit looking to liberal politicians to raise their station in life.

You see, I know because I've had them work for me before. Hundreds of them over these 25 years. People who simply will not show up to work on time. People who just will not work 5 days in a week, much less, 6 days. People always looking for a way to put less effort out. People who actually tell me that they would do more if I just would first pay them more. People who take off work to sit in government offices to apply to get free government handouts (gee, I wonder how things would have turned out for them if they had spent that time earning money and pleasing their employer?). You see, all of this comes from your entitlement mentality culture.

Oh, I know you will say I am uncompassionate. Sorry, Mr. Obama, wrong again. You see, I've seen what the average percentage of your income has been given to charities over the years of 2000 to 2004 (ignoring the years you started running for office - can you pronounce "politically motivated"), you averaged less than 1% annually. And your running mate, Joe Biden, averaged less than ¼% of his annual income in charitable contributions over the last 10 years. Like so many liberals, the two of you want to give to the needy, just as long as it is someone else's money you are giving to them. I won't say what I have given to charities over the last 25 years, but the percentage is several times more than you and Joe Biden. combined (don't you just hate google?). Tell me again how you feel my pain.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

So it begins

As I have said in other posts in order for Obama to pay for some his plans the military was going to have to take a hit.

Rep. Barney Frank is quoted as saying that the Defense Department will have to cut spending by 25%.

In a meeting with the editorial board of The Standard-Times, Rep. Frank, D-Mass., also called for a 25 percent cut in military spending, saying the Pentagon has to start choosing from its many weapons programs, and that upper-income taxpayers are going to see an increase in what they are asked to pay


My guess this only the start of the downsizing of the US Military.

I am sure there will be some gazing by the Generals and Admirals as to who will be left standing from those who might have supported Obama or McCain.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

If you are an Undecided Voter in this Presidential Election: PLEASE READ THIS:

This article is written by Neil Boortz, a guy I read on an infrequent basis and sometimes disagree with him more than I agree, but this article is a thorough piece on what an undecided voter should contemplate prior to casting their ballot on November 4th.

Here are some snippets:

If you are a white American there is no way in the world you can look at this election through the same eyes as a third or fourth generation black American citizen. Several months ago a caller to my show suggested that Barack Obama's ascendency in the presidential sweepstakes was Black America's biggest accomplishment. I disagreed. Though I can't remember the exact words, I said that, in a general sense, the shining moment for Black America may have been the show of patience and restraint shown by black men when they returned from putting their lives on the line in World War II and in Korea to a country with segregated schools, colored waiting rooms, whites only water fountains, beatings, lynchings, water hoses, police dogs and systematic discrimination pretty much every where they looked. The restraint showed by black Americans during the civil rights struggles of the 50's and 60's, though not universal, was something to behold.


*************
One thing for sure ... the Republicans deserve exactly what is happening to them in this election. It's just too bad the rest of the country has to suffer the lion's share of the punishment the Republicans so richly deserve. In 1994 the voters were fed up with Clinton and the Republicans swept to control of both houses of congress, largely on the strength of Newt's Contract with America. Do you remember some of the promises? One that sticks in my mind is their promise to dismantle the Department of Education. Republicans – in 1994 – recognized that the quality of American education had been going steadily downhill since this government behemoth was formed. Well, that was then ... this is now. The size of the Education Department, as well as the cost, has doubled. Republicans did this, not Democrats.


*************
One interesting point: If Barack Obama was applying for a security clearance as a government employee, these associations would disqualify him. We are, my friends, about to have a president who doesn't qualify for a security clearance. Pretty pathetic. If Barack Obama becomes president, he would not even qualify to be his own bodyguard.


*************

Let's talk heartbeats. Sounds weird, but I'm going somewhere here. A bit of Internet research led me to the fact that the average number of heartbeats in a life time for a human being is about one billion. To make this more understandable, the average human heart beats around 70 times a minute. In one eight-hour work day your heart beats around 33,600 times. This is your heart beating .. every beat subtracted from the one billion .. every beat a part of your life gone, never to be recovered. If you are a moderately successful human being Barack Obama is going to take about 13,000 (39%) of those heartbeats away from you every working day. Put your finger on your wrist and feel your pulse. Feel every heartbeat. Just count up to 100. How much of your life went by as you counted? You can't get those beats back. They're gone, for good. Remember, you only have a finite number of those beats of your heart left ... and Obama wants 13,000 of them every working day of your life. Those heartbeats – your life – being expended creating wealth. Your heartbeats, your wealth. Obama wants them. You don't need them. Someone else does. The police power of the state.


*************

The only other point that I thought that should have been made is about health care.

A lot of Americans believe that an Obama will bring a terrific health care system to everyone via their workplace. But, if you really read the plan the Business Owners may have an option in which to drop the health care and let the government supply it.

It will probably go something like this, a company that is barely making it and must decide to cut expenses or go out of business. They don't want to cut employees since they feel that they are bare minimum now. So they look at the cost of health care and make a decision; which will cheaper to pay a fine that the Obama administration might levy for not having the health care plan or cut an employee or go out of business.

My guess more companies may end up paying the fine.

All of the sudden the company can now step back perhaps from bankruptcy or either from having to layoff people.

I realize its a long post but certainly worthwhile.

Kucinich gets the Sun Newspaper Endorsement

Its amazing in which the editorial board twists its way to the endorsement, they initially indicate that his seniority in Congress will be an asset to the district based on the possible veto proof majority.

But, the really astonishing point is at the end of the article when they claim that the voters should re-elect Kucinich because he has a great staff!

Incredible!

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

In Two Weeks

In just two weeks America will go to the polls to elect the 44th President of the United States.

The question remains, who will be the victor, will it be Barack Obama or John McCain.

I don't know!

The polls continue to ebb and flow mainly in Obama's direction from a very small margin to a somewhat larger margin of low double digits.
Recent history has shown the polls to be wrong, in 2004 Kerry was leading, Al Gore was winning in 2000 and in 1980 Jimmy Carter was beating Ronald Reagan. The record reflects that none of those leading in the polls in the waning days of the cycle would end up being given the oath of office on January 20th.

Earlier this summer I had dinner with some friends, one who sat fairly high in the local GOP party. This gentleman asked me who I thought would win and I stated that the election was Barack Obama's to lose, I still think my comments are relevant even at this late date.

Obama certainly has the money, since his campaign has just announced that they have raised in the month of September 150 million dollars, which brings his total cash intake to over 650 million dollars or as some pundit put it, nearly the same amount Congress appropriated for the Wall Street Rescue.

Now you put that one month total against John McCain's 87 million that he gets from the public financing and you can already see the advantage for Obama.

But, for some reason Obama can't seemed to shake McCain off his tail and have the clear and concise victory that is expected. Perhaps there may be some remorse or perhaps the polls are really showing that the final numbers will be a lot closer than everybody thinks.

As for John McCain, well the selection for Sarah Palin saved his campaign, it re-energized his bid for the White House with those just outside the hardcore Republican base. Now, Gov. Palin has certainly also energized the Democrat's to the point that in the beginning they were being truly brutal and vicious in their remarks.

If McCain is not elected, Gov. Palin certainly will be a force within the Party for fundraising. Something that will be needed badly after this election.

As for the Obama/Biden ticket, well Joltin Joe Biden certainly has provided adequate fodder for the newspapers and bloggers, especially with his latest gaffe regarding Obama being tested internationally within the first six months of office.

However, I think Joe Biden is right, I do believe some world leader or some terrorist organization will try and take a pot shot at America to see how Obama will react, if he handles in strongly, then the answer will be don't mess with him. But, if he screws it up then all the leaders will know that they can not or will not depend on America to offer any assistance on any major crisis. In this scenario, I believe that is were Israel will act on its own accord if threatened.

If Obama is elected will he be a Jimmy Carter or a Franklin Roosevelt.

If John McCain is elected, will he be a Teddy Roosevelt or as the Democrats' would like everyone to think another George W. Bush.

At this point as we whittle down the days to hours, we can only wait to see. If you have followed this campaign closely, you know that we have had some strange twists at times and now everybody is waiting to see if there anymore that may affect the outcome on this race.

As I finish typing this, the polls in Ohio will close in 336 hours, still much more work to be done by both campaigns.

Who will it be?

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

The Obama Health Care Plan Not As Good As He Portrays

The Power Line guys point to a piece from The Weekly Standard regarding a comparison of the health care plans of the two candidates.

Here is one of the main points:

In effect, the Obama plan creates an incentive to drop employees from existing plans, and then takes private insurers out of the race to cover them by using price controls to make the public option cheaper. The plan's goal is to drive Americans into a public Medicare-like insurance system by default.



This article seems to be the clearest breakdown of the health care plans that I have read and I realized that just five years ago, I was working under the McCain plan through work. Since I was not taking the my firm's program I received a rebate on my pay stub to the tune of nearly of $1,000, so perhaps McCain's plan is not the as evil as Obama claims.

Make sure you read the whole article!

Monday, October 13, 2008

THE 95% TAX CUT ILLUSION

As I mentioned in an earlier post about Obama's Tax ideas, I have had a difficult time understanding how Obama can make his claim about 95% of the taxpayers getting a break while making all these other claims about incentives.

The Wall Street Journal this morning looks at that claim as well and finds the following:

One of Barack Obama's most potent campaign claims is that he'll cut taxes for no less than 95% of "working families." He's even promising to cut taxes enough that the government's tax share of GDP will be no more than 18.2% -- which is lower than it is today.
It's a clever pitch, because it lets him pose as a middle-class tax cutter while disguising that he's also proposing one of the largest tax increases ever on the other 5%. But how does he conjure this miracle, especially since more than a third of all Americans already pay no income taxes at all? There are several sleights of hand, but the most creative is to redefine the meaning of "tax cut."
- A $500 tax credit ($1,000 a couple) to "make work pay" that phases out at income of $75,000 for individuals and $150,000 per couple.

- A $4,000 tax credit for college tuition.

- A 10% mortgage interest tax credit (on top of the existing mortgage interest deduction and other housing subsidies).

- A "savings" tax credit of 50% up to $1,000.

- An expansion of the earned-income tax credit that would allow single workers to receive as much as $555 a year, up from $175 now, and give these workers up to $1,110 if they are paying child support.

- A child care credit of 50% up to $6,000 of expenses a year.

- A "clean car" tax credit of up to $7,000 on the purchase of certain vehicles.

Here's the political catch. All but the clean car credit would be "refundable," which is Washington-speak for the fact that you can receive these checks even if you have no income-tax liability. In other words, they are an income transfer -- a federal check -- from taxpayers to non taxpayers. Once upon a time we called this "welfare," or in George McGovern's 1972 campaign a "Demogrant." Mr. Obama's genius is to call it a tax cut.



But here is the catch:
Some families with an income of $40,000 could lose up to 40 cents in vanishing credits for every additional dollar earned from working overtime or taking a new job. As public policy, this is contradictory. The tax credits are sold in the name of "making work pay," but in practice they can be a disincentive to working harder, especially if you're a lower-income couple getting raises of $1,000 or $2,000 a year. One mystery -- among many -- of the McCain campaign is why it has allowed Mr. Obama's 95% illusion to go unanswered.



So as you can see, Obama's tax plan is an illusion in some forms and if you make over 40K, those incentives will soon disappear and they begin to pay more and get less back in return.

Maybe this is a job for Mythbusters to show you that this is really not a tax break at all.

Remember, as I said in the other post on the Tax Chart comparisons, Obama's plan will increase the deficit by $3.3 TRILLION.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Jim Cramer on the Financial Crisis

A somewhat humorous take on the markets decline. Its interesting to hear him say who is to blame.

IF YOU HAVEN'T VOTED YET

Take the time and watch this video.



You might want to rethink the checks and balances of the Government.

Thursday, October 09, 2008

Victory In Ohio - Part 2

Here are some photos taken by a colleague of mine.



















VICTORY IN OHIO

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to spend some time with about 5,000+ other people to see Sen McCain and Governor Palin. What a difference 6 months makes, last February I saw John McCain at the Recreation Center in Rocky River with maybe 1,000 people and very little security. Yesterday the Secret Service were very evident as it should be, but the excitement was deafening when the ticket walked into the room.

Here are some shots from the Rally.


Inside the gym of the Center.


The GOP Mascot near the entrance of the Strongsville Recreation Center


A sign for 10th District candidate Jim Trakas, who really stirred up the crowd.


Cindy McCain introducing Gov. Palin. Sen. McCain and his daughter Meghan


Gov. Palin giving her stump speech.


Browns QB Brady Quinn introducing the next President of the United States.


Sen. McCain working the line near my position.



Cindy and Sen McCain working the rope line. Cindy is talking with a young man with Downs Syndrome.





Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Have you Voted yet?

Absentee ballots arrived in the mail yesterday, filled it out and mailed it back this morning.

If you live in Lakewood, make sure you view the change in the Charter regarding City Primaries. The Amendment is to change the Primary date for a municipal election from the First Tuesday in October to the First Tuesday in September.

As a former candidate, this is a must, essentially if you make it through the Primary, you have no real time to conduct any additional fundraising or other substantive campaigning for the General Election. Also, this change will give the General Election a lot more importance to the electorate.

Saturday, October 04, 2008

Comparison of the Tax Policies



June 11, 2008:

BREAKING DOWN THE NUMBERS

Here's how the average tax bill could change in 2009 if either John McCain's or Barack Obama's tax proposals were fully in place.

Income Avg. tax bill Avg. tax bill

Note: McCain is the first number, Obama's the second.

Over $2.9M ($269,364) $701,885

$603K and up ($45,361) $115,974

$227K-$603K ($7,871) $12

$161K-$227K ($4,380) ($2,789)

$112K-$161K ($2,614) ($2,204)

$66K-$112K ($1,009) ($1,290)

$38K-$66K ($319) ($1,042)

$19K-$38K ($113) ($892)

Under $19K ($19) ($567)

Source:The Tax Policy Center

As you can see, Obama's claim that anyone making over $250, 000 will pay a higher tax, however, the real taxes don't really come into play until someone makes over $603,000. Unlike our tax code, Obama oversimplifies his contention on the tax increase.



Now, as both candidates have indicated that they want to reduce the deficit, well after doing some research and looking at these numbers, neither of them will be reducing the deficits based on this plan for income redistribution.
The deficit will rise under both plans, Obama's will increase the deficit by $3.3 Trillion, whereas McCain's plan will be $1.2 Trillion above that.


I consistently felt that Obama can't reduce the deficit and still allow for these tax benefits along with the other social programs he proposes for his administration. He will need to pretty much shred the budget to make that happen. Included in that number, is that premise that we are no longer in Iraq and Afghanistan

Friday, October 03, 2008

SHE IS BACK!

Well, to say the least I was very concerned about the debate for Gov. Palin and as to Sen. Biden, he just needed to keep his mouth in line.

Essentially, they both did what they needed to do.

Biden was not too wonkish on his answers, but needs to work on his understanding of the Constitution and the role of the Vice President.

There are a lot of round ups over the net, so I won't go into everything that transpired.

Suffice it to say, Sarah Palin re-energized the base and hopefully it will be enough to draw McCain/Palin ticket closer in the polls to the Obama/Biden ticket.

As we approach the 30 day mark, it should be interesting again.

Thursday, October 02, 2008

Well Tonight is IT




Without much understatement, the McCain Campaign can see if they can keep it close in the polls or will the spread becomes much greater.

Gov. Palin essentially needs to rock the house and Senator Biden needs to do a couple of major gaffes to help.

Anything less that could open up the margins and send the Democrats to victory.

But,I still have hope! Wait, that's Obama's line - I'm still feeling a bit like a maverick!

What does Biden need to do, reinforce his Foreign Policy experience and his grasp on domestic policy, but not come off as too wonkish.
Biden needs to keep his answers short and to point, if anything more, he will come off as just another political windbag.