The American Spectator

SACRED TAX
Re: Jeri Thompson’s Jim Bunning’s Finest Hour:

Good for you, Jeri! You are exactly right about Bunning, and that is why the real conservatives (most tea baggers) are going to ensure the Republicans’ defeat unless they reclaim their gumption. Your article is clear, correct, and gutzy.
— Kathryn Huddleston, Ph.D. (life-long conservative activist and Fred supporter — worked as volunteer in his senatorial and presidential campaigns)

I was agreeing with this article until I got to the second to last paragraph. Then it revealed why both parties are severely broken and a new party HAS to spring up to save this nation. Sen. Scott Brown’s $80 Billion proposal is wrong. To say you are being fiscally responsible by giving payroll tax breaks and paying for it out of a program (the stimulus) that was NEVER paid for is not responsible. When will we ever pay down this enormous national debt?

People and politicians need to start holding the payroll tax as “sacred and untouchable.” The payroll tax is in theory suppose to cover our Medicare and Social Security programs and as itself is too low for to cover the benefits that were promised (that’s why they say it is going broke). If we want to keep these programs and keep them solvent then we need legislation that 1) puts the money in a trust fund which can’t be used for anything else (no budget tricks) and 2) the tax is tied to an actuarial computation. So if some silly politician wants to increase the benefits in these programs, the rate collected has to automatically go up for all wage earners to pay for the added coverage. That is the only way to keep these entitlements in check. If we want these benefits we have to decide if it is worth another percentage of our pay.
— Marilynne Martin

Gimme a break. The guy is quitting. The next influential politician you find willing to reduce spending (not the “rate” of spending) in an entitlement program linked to the drastic deficits and overspending we have experienced for 2 generations, will be your first. Read Andy McCarthy’s article today on NRO. Hate to say it  — and I am an optimist, as I believe Andy to be — but we are not going to see any true fiscal responsibility until it is too late or darn close. Political self-interest rules.

We’ve known for years that NY, Calif, etc. were/are bankrupt. And yet people sit around trying to find short-term fixes and budget gimmicks to push the problems down the road so some other sucker who wins election can deal with it.

Bunning is no different, and no hero. And the scary part is that he is right. It’s not even close. And yet 99 Senators show zero guts to address it. Being right doesn’t matter. Cutting entitlement spending is untouchable, like an open family secret. Sshh, don’t mention that all the old family money is gone. Let her keep wearing the old dusty dress she wore to the ball 50 years ago and acting like she’s a debutante.

The REALLY scary part is the very-Left knows this. The progressive lefties are like suicide bombers. Many (far too many) are willing to die (lose elections) for their cause (Obamacare), with full knowledge that they will be hailed as “martyrs” for their cause and will have glowing articles and books written about them for a generation.

I am optimistic that the short-term is bringing people into politics, interested and willing to shout. Long-term, I believe there may not be a single living politician willing to touch the actual fiscal problems we face. That stinks, because the people are ready.

Bunning gets his 15 minutes, but where has he been all these years? Oh, yeah! Running for re-election.
— Timothy

FRAUDS
Re: George Neumayr’s For Love of Government:

What was missing with regard to Jim Bunning’s refusal to adopt a unanimous vote on more funding was a strong and truthful response from the Republican leadership to the shameless cries from one Democrat after another that the Republicans don’t care about those who will be unemployed as a result of this non-vote. What we conservatives are waiting for is the Republicans to stand up and say that the Democrats will whine and cry that they care but it’s a lie. They only want to enslave people in poverty and extract their votes in return for welfare payments. They really don’t care about people, especially those who work for a living. It is about time that they be shown for the frauds they are.

We’re waiting.
— Steve G

WHERE’S THE DATA?
Re: Nicole Russell’s Tilting at Windmills:

I would like to see more of the underlying figures supporting the claim that wind farms can have a two-year payout. One of the principal architects of what he termed as one of the most productive installations in the country admitted to me that the payout for his project was twenty years and that only possible with Federal assistance.
— Richard