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
Not to put too fine a point on it, but the solution to windmill
freezing is laughably simple: We build nuclear reactors and use
the electricity they generate to warm our northerly windmills. We
could even use the reactors to run the windmills on calm days.
Now this might seem convoluted, but the real point is that, in
the end, when Eskimoes and Minnesotans switch on their lights and
TV sets, the electricity involved will have come from the
windmills, not the nuclear stations, and that should make us feel
pretty good. Even better, if it all works out, we could be
looking at windfarms at the North Pole, maybe even Antarctica.
There might be grid problems, but we give that job to the
Chinese, or the Indians, and it will be solved and implemented in
no time.
— D. Reich
Auburn, New York
SPARED OF THE LUNATICS
Re: The Prowler’s Nameless
Abettors:
This is a very disturbing article. Let no one doubt we have
vipers within our government both under Democrats and
Republicans. It does certainly seem we have more under Democrats.
George Bush was and is a good Christian who had good intentions
in attempting to rescue Iraq from tyranny, however our country
would probably have been better off if he had not done so.
Americans have become incapable of sustaining support for long
wars even “good wars”. Rather than try to make people who don’t
like us love us we should just protect ourselves from those who
hate and envy us while continuing to welcome those who will
accept our British-American style democracy. We would not only
have been far better off, but probably would have been spared the
lunacies of the Obamas, the Pelosi’s, and the Reids and their
ilk.
— Jack Wheatley
Royal Oak, Michigan
NOT RECONCILED
Re: Editor’s Desk’s Real
Reconciliation:
“Title II: Provides federal incentives for
states to establish medical courts and cap damage awards.”
Why should the state establish damage award caps? Shouldn’t
insurance companies and individuals be able to negotiate
these?
— Dan Martin
Pittsburgh
CITIZEN LEGISLATORS
Re: Walter E. Williams’s Who’s to
Blame?
How about a Constitutional amendment that allows one to serve
only one term in any Federal office (one office and one is out
forever). There are plenty of smart capable honest people in this
country and there is no need for the career political class that
we have now. The political class career politician is the new
tyrant.
— Walter
SOB STORIES
Re: William Tucker’s
What Didn’t Get Said at the Summit:
This information is only partly right. My employer-paid health
benefits only include a partial payment of the premiums. The part
I have to pay is fully taxed .. as is the part I have to pay for
the copay amount. And Obama’s sob story about the woman who had
to wear her sister’s dentures was not much of an example. My
health benefits don’t include dental care at all. I pay full
price for my dental care with fully taxed dollars.
And, incidentally, the congressmen and senators have exactly the
same health insurance as federal employees and retirees. The only
difference is that there is a doctor designated to attend them
during the time they are in session.
— A Federal Retiree
THANKS
Re: Andrew Cline’s
Scott Brown’s Shrewd Vote:
Mr. Cline made a number of excellent points in Scott Brown’s
favor in analyzing his vote for the “Jobs Bill.” One he missed,
however, was how this vote fits within the larger legislative
picture. $15 billion is a drop in a bucket compared to the
monetary and moral costs of other progressive monstrosities,
especially health care “reform.” In a state which will demand
independence from an elected Republican, Brown wisely decided to
show his independence on a relatively painless measure, saving
political capital for the more devastating bills coming down the
pipeline. Kudos to Senator Brown.
This comment is in no way representative of the views of The
Heritage Foundation.
— Stephen Roberts
Thank You for that great article, I was confused and a little
angry at first but helped clear a lot of questions.
— Sue Shehan
Topeka, Kansas
BAD TIMING
Re: W. James Antle, III.’s Lou
Dobbs’ America:
Lou Dobbs is and always has been an intellectually dishonest
reporter and commentator. His only desires are to gather as much
attention as possible and to boost his own popularity and
influence. His current toe-dip into the prospect of high public
office would be hilarious if it weren’t so emblematic of our
society’s frightening tendency to attribute gravitas to the most
unaccomplished and treacherous among us, the current occupant of
our White House being the most alarming example.
Thankfully, it appears that Lou has chosen precisely the wrong
moment to shed his super-conservative costume and launch himself
as an immigration centrist. His timing always has been pretty
weak. This time it’s probably fatal.
— Gary Deeb
Matthews, North Carolina
DESTRUCTIVE OF THESE ENDS
Re: Peter Ferrara’s
Obamacare: Still a Threat to Your Life:
Yes, our lives are at stake. So is the very Republic that is
America.
Given what Obama said last Thursday at the White House, with his
white-clad robo-props surrounding and applauding him, inarguably
he and the Democrats have formally declared war on our country.
So is it then time for Americans’ dissent to go beyond words?
Is it time, as the Declaration of Independence says: “That
whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends
[Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness], it is the Right of
the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new
Government”?
I don’t think Obama and his thugs care. They appear to count on
the public sitting idly, watching the Marxist takeover and
destruction of America.
They must be stopped.
— C. Kenna Amos Jr.
“But what is adopted by reconciliation can and will be repealed
by reconciliation, setting a precedent for future entitlement
reforms using the same process.”
This is a fine article and its last sentence is the scoop of the
year — all of us readers chewing our nails out here in the
hinterlands have been looking for a ‘save’. Please follow up with
more explanation. If it is true, then the Cavalry ‘s coming… It
is the very best platform any candidate could run on for 2010.
Thank you for your fine work. American Spectator has some of the
very best work published in this world.
— Robin Almgren
Tyringham, Massachusetts
NO HELMET, NO COVERAGE
Re: Eric Peters’s
Thinking Outside the Helmet:
You are quite right in defending the choice of the driver whether
to wear a helmet or not. But the insurance companies should also
put out a proviso, “no helmet, no insurance coverage for
accidents.” That way the person is free, and the insurance
company is not required to be open to tort lawyers, or the
foolishness of the driver.
— P.J. Sandstrom
