-
Neighborhood Watch, Anyone?
May 14, 2013 | 19 comments
-
We’re Still Going Backward
April 18, 2013 | 30 comments
-
Street Level Anti-Capitalism
April 8, 2013 | 71 comments
-
Snazzy Sequestered Screeners
March 8, 2013 | 13 comments
-
Welfare’s Failure Amid Red Ink
February 7, 2013 | 23 comments
The Obama Watch
A Recipe for Disaster
Adding spice to an anti-jobs, anti-growth “budget.”
The Washington crowd can’t be bothered with budgets anymore — at least not in the dictionary sense of the word, as in (a) something cheap, i.e., a budget coat, or (a) attempting to balance expenses with expected income, or even (c) producing a realistic estimate of revenue, spending, and red ink.
For three years, the Senate’s Democratic leadership has failed to even pass a budget resolution, and there’s nothing even remotely credible coming out of the White House regarding entitlement reform or bringing the debt to GDP ratio into line over time to a sustainable level.
In putting together his fiscal 2013 budget, more a political speech than a serious approach at fixing anything, President Obama didn’t have to do a lot of homework or original thinking.
The budget’s key proposals could have been directly copied from the protest signs in the streets of Chicago outside the Democratic Convention in 1968 — cut the military, expand the welfare state, and tax the rich.
Actually, the protest signs in the streets where I was at the time said “Eat the Rich.”
They’re still selling the cookbooks. One current version, keeping up with current events, includes a recipe for Ponzi Pecan Pie: 2 cups pecans, 200 shares of Citibank, 1 stick of melted butter, 2 ounces minced Bernie Madoff, 1 cup each of brown sugar and molasses.
There’s also a Hedge Fund Hummus: 3 cups cooked garbanzo beans, 2 tablespoons Oil of Oligarch, 2 pureed hedge fund managers.
The hippies and peaceniks at the Minneapolis chapter of Food Not Bombs are selling a less violent, more passive collection of class warfare recipes (unless you think carrots have feelings), a “lovely vegan cookbook entitled ‘Eat the Rich,’ $2 by mail or $1.50 (or whatever donation) in person.”
No one needs to be dragged from his Lamborghini to be included in the meatless recipes.
The Minneapolis chapter is also selling “Rise Up, Class Warfare in America from the Streets to the Airwaves” by Richard Edmondson, co-founder of San Francisco Liberation Radio, a fun reading while you’re whipping up a batch of Che Brulee.
In any case, the Obama budget calls overall for a doubling of taxation on dividends to 30 percent from today’s 15 percent, a doubling of taxation on capital gains to 30 percent from today’s 15 percent, an income tax hike on anyone earning more than $200,000, or $250,000 for couples, and a 29 percent increase in the federal inheritance tax to 45 percent from 35 percent.
Reports the Wall Street Journal regarding the proposed tax hike on incomes above $200,000 and $250,000, “These are the 3 percent of taxpayers that Mr. Obama says aren’t paying their fair share, though the 3 percent pay more in income tax than the rest of the other 97 percent.”
The latest IRS reports show the top 3 percent earning 30 percent of all income and paying 52 percent of all federal income taxes.
The proposed 30 percent tax on capital gains and dividends is on top of a federal corporate income tax of up to 35 percent, a rate that even President Obama acknowledges is “one of the highest in the world.”
In addition, since capital gains aren’t indexed for inflation, President Obama is calling for a doubling of the federal tax on illusionary gains.
About the Author
Ralph R. Reiland is the B. Kenneth Simon professor of free enterprise and an associate professor of economics at Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (29) | Leave a comment
More Articles by Ralph R. Reiland
More Articles From The Obama Watch
http://spectator.org/archives/2012/02/21/a-recipe-for-disaster
Follow us:
ADVERTISEMENT
SPONSORED LINKS
FLASHBACK TO: 1995
-
Pope Culture
A man of faith in a godless age is hitting Americans where it hurts.
-
Why the GOP Does Not, Like, Totally Suck
Mr. and Mrs. American Spectator Reader, let P.J. O’Rourke talk sense to your kids.
-
Dames at Sea
-
In the Absence of Guns
In Britain, defending your property can get you life.
-
The Metaphysical Martini
-
Counting the Costs of Clintonism
The debacle of this president’s administration is both a cause and a symptom of the decline of American values. Unless Congress impeaches him, that decline will go on unchecked. An eminent jurist surveys the damage and assesses the chances for the recovery of our culture.
-
Chuck McHagel
It won’t take long for conservatives to scratch this presidential wannabe off their 2008 scorecard.
-
The Legacy of Old John and Mother Fresh-Roasted
-
It’s the Best Time of the Year
The American Christmas, like the songs that celebrate it, makes room for everybody under the rainbow. Is that why so many people seem to be hostile to it?
-
The Bush Crack-Up
Was the President done in by the economy, or by the politics of the economy?
Clip of the Day
ADVERTISEMENT
Mike Hawk| 2.21.12 @ 7:00AM
Gee, how original. Your plagerized garbage reads just like the Natioanal Socialist Workers Party Platform. (Nazis for the uninformed.) Is that where you got it??
Shamus| 2.21.12 @ 7:41AM
I'm not a conservative, but your questions can be easily answered.
Jobs are going away permanently due to globalization, automation, and insane government mandates. No one can do much about that. Religious beliefs motivate many people around the world, including Muslims, who periodically murder gay people. National debt would not be significantly impacted by wealth taxes, although my personal feelings is that it's fine to impose them. Corporations have more power than governments these days and are kowtowed to by politicians of the left and the right. It's delusional to think you can get money out of politics. Money has always motivated politics and it probably always will. No one is being disenfranchised. This is a rubbish put forward by racemongers to generate donations. Class warfare goes back to Marx, and it probably won't be dropped anytime soon. Free enterprise is endorsed even by the Communist Party in China. The 1% generally tip really well. Hope that answer your "questions". And remember, brevity is the soul of wit.
Timothy L. Pennell| 2.21.12 @ 8:38AM
Wow. That was something. Methinks that Ms. Balthazar got up on the wrong side of Alan Brooks, this morning. He's got Media Matters written all over him. Lets see. Where do ya start?
#1: I think that his 1st "point" is Stupid, being as His Marxist Masters are the ones Holding the bag, so to speak. THEY owned both Houses of Congress for the 1st 2 Years of President Vacation. They had VETO PROOF Majorities in both Houses of Congress. THEY continue to hold the Senate and the White House. THEY continue to thwart any meaningful Job Creation, unless those "Jobs" are at an Organization run by Big Obama Contributors, that are on the Brink of Bankruptcy, and in need of a Taxpayer Money INFUSION, so as to main their viability as a BIG DONOUR to President Golf. (It's called Money Laundering) ObamaCare. More Regulations. More Red Tape. EPA. NLRB. Even, the State Department. Yeah. Why are jobs going Overseas? I guess we'll never know.
#2: Please refer to #1.
#3: Nobody's stopping you from being a Girl. You wanna "Tuck" yourself, and go to the Prom? Go ahead. Who's stopping ya? It's just not normal. Do you understand? It's not normal. When you get all dolled up in your finest Hosiery, and apply your Makeup, and your best Madonna Wig, and then look in to the Mirror? What do ya see? A pretty Girl? No. You see a GUY, dressed like a GIRL. It's not NORMAL, and NOBODY is trying to stop you from making a Fool of yourself. So, what's your problem?
#4: What is it about you, and things that you don't have? How much of other people's things do you want, besides their Breasts and Vaginae? How much money that you didn't earn, do you want. If the MUSLIM took ALL of their Money, it would have NO EFFECT. He called George Bush "Unpatriotic" for running the Debt up to $6 Trillion. It's now over $15 TRILLION, and his new Laundry List "Budget" just keeps piling it up as far as the eye can see. But, that's all right. He's a Democrat, and he lets you Teach 8 year olds how to Masturbate, and the Joys of Anal Sex with guys like you, in Elementary Schools.
#5: You're right. Why give these Companies Tax Breaks? Let's HAMMER them with MORE Taxes, and MORE Regulation, and MORE intervention by the Muslim's EPA and NLRB. I mean...It's not like they can pick up and GO TO CHINA, or anything.
#6: I don't see George Soros' name. I don't see the names of any of the Muslim's Donors, on your little List. The guys who owned SOLYNDRA. Where are their names? Where is the BILLIONAIRE Buddy of the Muslim, who owns GLOBAL CROSSING? "Courting Big Money"? That's all that HAMAS' Deliverer does, these days. That's all he's done for the last year. The Muslim has a Super Pac. The Muslim is Fund Raising every day. The Muslim wants $1 BILLION.
#7: "Why do you hate kids?" If you would stop touching yourself for a minute, you would know that the Schools have LOTS of Money. I'm told that New York spends $3,000 per kid. You, being what you are, would like to see it be $30,000, cause, after all, it's not YOUR Money. Perhaps if the Teachers Union taught more Math and Science, and less Condom, and Sex with Strangers, these kids might not be losing jobs to our Asian friends.
#8: Ah, yes. PROPER IDENTIFICATION. Why would anyone want that? I have an I.D. You have an I.D. and a Pretend IUD. You need one to Get on an Airplane. To Cash your Welfare Check. To get your Sex Change Medications. To Purchase a Firearm. To get a Driver's License. To do LOTS of things. Doesn't it make sense to your stupid head, that we would want to PROTECT the Sanctity of our Votes? Do you want someone who doesn't live in your State, voting in your State? Do you want Illegals and Felons, Voting in the Elections? Do you want people voting Lots of times, using Dead People's names, and moving from Voting Place to Voting Place?
Of course you do. You're a Democrat. Vote Early and Often.
"But it's too Expensive!" The Government can provide a Photo I.D. Free of Charge. They can pay for FREE ABORTIONS. They can Pay for Photo I.D.s.
#9: It's Class Warfare DUMB*SS. Take your Orwellian New Speak somewhere else.
#10: When are YOU gonna learn that the Soviet Union, Mao's China, Pol Pot's Cambodia, Mugabe's Zimbabwe, and Castro's Cuba, doesn't work?
We are as Strong as we are, NOT because of Karl Marx, but because of ADAM SMITH. Perhaps if you put down the Jack Mag, for a little while, and picked up de Tocqueville, you'd understand? Marxist Central Government Planners, are not the way to go. A Top Down Command Economy, only works in Paul Krugman's dreams, and in Robert Reich's wet dreams. Like Alan Brooks and your Wet Dreams.
Pathetic.
Stammon| 2.21.12 @ 6:52AM
Wow, yes I see. You wrote this yesterday and thought it would be cool to plaster this kool-aid drinking tripe all over AmSpec. Sorry son, this ain't gonna get your boy re-elected.
Lawrence Boccardi| 2.21.12 @ 6:53AM
This leftist placed this same crap at every story, this morning. As far as this story, we know all about the Dims and no budget. My problem is with the party of stupid. The Repubs must tell the Dims that they will not consider any more debt ceiling hikes, until there is a realistic budget approved by both house and signed by the marxist. Provide plenty of notice for that ultimatum, and have the balls to back it up, even at the cost of election defeat!
Gary B| 2.21.12 @ 9:38PM
Fat chance of anything useful from the party of stupid.
Dr. X| 2.21.12 @ 6:57AM
I don't think Prof. Reiland understands the meaning of the word "job" in the lexicon of the Left. Of course the president's budget WON'T create "jobs" in the evil capitalist sense -- "wage slavery" for some "corporate oligarch" enriching himself by producing actual goods or services that people want to buy.
For the Left, a "job" is something that you do for self-fulfillment when you feel like it, and the government gives you someone else's money.
A "job" might be an "African storyteller" at a library, an "activist," a "poet," or an "advocate" for (pick your favorite oppressed group) the disabled, the poor, blacks, etc.
The paradigmatic example of this type of "job" is "community organizer."
God forbid (er, Gaia forbid) that Obama would want to create actual jobs that produced a marketable good -- i.e., creating an oil pipeline or drilling in ANWR.
Timothy L. Pennell| 2.21.12 @ 8:50AM
Okay. Let's look at what we've got.
If you take him at his word, and by what he DREAMS of, in his "Budget", and what he DREAMS of, as far as this Country's ability to Defend Freedom, and what he DREAMS of, as far as our Energy Needs are in this Country, you have to come to the Conclusion that he DREAMS of a United States of America in RUIN.
He is to the United States, what NERO was, to ROME. He am become Death, Destroyer of Worlds.
Does he have to spell it out for you?
Oh, wait. He just did.
Again.
William L. Gensert| 2.21.12 @ 9:07AM
The great man chooses not to help the poor earn more, but to make the non-poor more poor. His energy policy seeks not to make green energy cheaper, but to make all other energy more expensive. Jobs are not created; the workforce is shrunk. He talks peace, leads from behind, kills from afar, and makes war more likely.
Still, some people want to give this guy another 4 years.
Read more of my article: http://www.americanthinker.com.....z1n1ck2zdr
Shamus| 2.21.12 @ 9:34AM
Obama said he'd spread the wealth.
Instead he's spreading the poverty.
Anthony| 2.21.12 @ 9:23AM
My goodness, so the Twilight Zone actually exists, who knew?
Who is this moron and why hasen't he asked these questions of The One, the Muslim Marxist who was going to lower the seas and create millions of jobs?
Is this summer the 3rd Summer of Recovery that Bitme will take to the campaign stump in Road Island, I can't keep tract? (yes, moron Bitme thinks he's in Road Island)
To moron Balthazar, all you need to know to respond to your feverish rant is that :
1) the congress is not conservative. The senate has been under the control of the reprehensible reptile Harry Reid since before Obozo, furthermore, there has been no budget for over 2 years due to Reid and the Ds refusal to pass one or even introduce one for a vote in the senate.
2) The Muslim Marxist had a veto proof congress for two years and addressed none of the problems you have raised.
3) Lawrence O'Donnell is a leftist 1%er who uses useful idiots such as yourself to cover for his hypocrisy.
4) I'll be happy to purchase a free voter I.D. card for you, along with birth control, which the Muslim Marxist is most concerned about, as long as the I.D. card identifies you as an Idiot.
Maybe you can get the Muslim Marxist and Harry Reid to order religious institutions and insurance companies to hand out voter I.D.s along with condoms, which you should be required wear over your head when you go to vote, to show you're one of Obozo's minions.
5) It's the Muslim Marxist that is raising ONE BILLION DOLLARS for his re-election campaign, so if you want to get the money out of politics, you need to first get your head out of your ass.
Road Kill| 2.21.12 @ 9:30AM
Taxes, taxes, taxes. No budget however. What has become of the budgeting process? It has done flew out the window. So if Obama gets his new taxes, how do we know where it will be spent? No, he wants the money for the entitlement crowd, for his special projects, and to expand the power of government. Take the new rope that the new taxes buy and hang us with it. Buy the police more "black" equipment, more drones, more road blocks, and newer and better amunition and guns. More EPA regulations, higher energy prices, more special interest directives. More money for education, sex instruction in the class room, it's okay to be gay. How about the three Rs for a change? Does anyone feel the rope tightening? I do.
Von Mises Jr.| 2.21.12 @ 9:41AM
ObamaCare actually shifts government and corporate health insurance onto the backs of individuals. This is how DC saves Medicare. They make the individual pay for it. And your employers will chose the fine.
Then, there is a real estate tax of 3.8% on homes over $400K, I believe. But that will be on all homes after inflation takes off. It is going to be the same trick Mr. Reiland discusses relative to paying taxes on inflated capital gains where one did not earn a real gain, but only monetary paper increases.
But then again, the people that voted for Obama, Pelosi and their gang; are not too difficult to fool.
David W| 2.21.12 @ 10:13AM
Obama and the democrats subscribe to the "crab theory". Put a bunch of crabs into a bucket (sorry PETA). Watch what happens - as one crab realizes all it has to do is to pull itself up, the rest of the crabs pull it back into the bucket. The democrats (or socialists/marxists/facists) do not understand how to celebrate success and to encourage others to strive to be successful. Instead they only understand how to tear others down, to destroy success and motivation, to make all of us poor (whether that would be in wealth or in spirit).
I have been fortunate enough to have had parents who supported me (unlike Obama), to have received a good education that made me better/smarter/more knowledgeable than I was before (unlike Obama), that I was able to find a real job (unlike Obama), that I was able to earn money the old fashioned way (unlike Obama), that the money I have saved was made based upon my work and my understanding of economics/reality (unlike Obama), and that I now see an uncertain future, where I do not know if I will be able to keep what I have earned and be able to enjoy it (again, unlike Obama, who will be able to avoid any responsibility or negative consequences from his actions).
Bob Grant| 2.21.12 @ 4:20PM
"..unlike Obama, who will be able to avoid any responsibility or negative consequences from his actions)."
Yes, his Obama Global Initiative will keep him out of the country, far away from the damage as the travels the World over to duplicate his "success" in other countries.
Purp| 2.21.12 @ 1:54PM
This article is so full of mistakes, 1/2 truths and down right lies, I cannot comment further - it's a waste of time.
Dave Williams| 2.21.12 @ 2:51PM
Typical condescension from PurpTwerp...why don't you come down from your mountain of allegedly superior intellect and give it a try...?
.....thought not. Get lost and stay lost, troll.
O.F. A.N. A.S.S.| 2.21.12 @ 4:10PM
Even sheep can tell posts by intellectually 'elite' liberal democrat Markist scab snot bubble sodomizers employed by media mutters whether they post as Balthazar or Diogenes or Orr, Gasm and Associates or Purpleguy or jharp or fckewe because intellectually 'elite' liberal democrat Markist scab snot bubble sodomizers employed by media mutters reek of ram feces even through a computer.
Ovines For
A Nation
Absent Species Sodomization
Von Mises Jr.| 2.21.12 @ 4:41PM
Purp, your existance is a waste of time. You should sign up for the Hillsdale online Constitutional course that started yesterday. It is ten weeks and starts by talking about Aristotle, Cicero, Loke and Sidney. You could learn so much about virtue and the higher good.
Purplegay| 2.21.12 @ 7:10PM
HAHAHAHAHA! That course is so full of mistakes, .5/2 truthes, and down write lies, I cant comment ferthor -its a waste of time -their wont even be any mention of the Seperation of Church and State I bet. HAHAHAHAHA! Im not commenting firthur -its's a waist of time none of your make ZEROE sense! HAHA!
Von Mises Jr.| 2.22.12 @ 7:04AM
You write like a third grader. I guess they were on to something when they aired the show "Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?"
Bob Grant| 2.21.12 @ 3:54PM
Let me add to the menu:
Greek Austerity Salad - Coming to America in 2014 and beyond......
Michelle Obama's Triple Layer Chocolate 'let 'em eat' Cake - Ironically, it's available only to FLOTUS
Barry Sotero's Red Beans and Rice With African Spices - The new Traditional American dish. Why? It's the only thing most of us will be able to afford
....aaannnd wash it all down with Jug Ears Kenyan Dark Ale - Drink your sorrows away
albert constantine jr| 2.21.12 @ 6:30PM
Excuse me, sir. Why am I stopping you? USDA Food Police. I need to inspect your meal per Her Excellency’s directives.
Salad, okay, there’s a vegetable; that’s approved.
Cake. WHAT! Oh, I see, it is just a picture of the cake. No problem, there.
Red Beans and Rice, oh, very good, a protein in a legume, and a grain, wait, it is brown rice, isn’t it.
Where’s the fruit? I’m sorry, this meal is not balanced without a fruit (Insert Alan Brooks joke here).
What’s this? An ale. I’m sorry, but under the powers vested in me by the food czar, this meal must be seized. Here is a voucher for a properly balanced food tray at the nearest FEMA camp. I need you to sign the citation about the bottom. It’s not an admission of guilt, it is just a promise to appear for your balanced meal and pay for it.
Have a nice day, Mr. Grant.
Bob Grant| 2.22.12 @ 1:53PM
Mr. Food Police, you're acting stupidly. How about we discuss this like gentlemen. I'll call a beer summit.
Jug Ears on me!
cicero| 2.21.12 @ 4:02PM
Once you figure out that the real growth industry in America is government, it all becomes clear. As Harry Truman once said, "Show me a politition who comes out of government with more money than he went in with, and I'll show you a thief". Our so-called public servants are nothing of the sort. It is we, the citizen type, who are the servants of the beaurocracy. We have arrived at the aristocracy of the beaurocracy. Only instead of having to be a Romanov, or a Bolshevic to be on the payroll, you only need to be a Republican or Democrat officeholder, or a government worker. When was the last time you heard of any of them getting laid off? Fat chance. The fact that they do little that anyone woould voluntarily pay them to do is obvious. At what point do the taxpayers say "Enough!"?
hunter| 2.21.12 @ 5:37PM
what do you get when you have a foreigner in the white house? DUH....
Joe Nuts| 2.21.12 @ 8:25PM
That looks like Bobby Flay, an American Iron Chef! Wow.. Now isn't the food budget for just one show more than I earn in a year, maybe two? That show makes me want to puke my guts out and eat Top Raman noodles at 30 cents a bowl, for life. How to eat for less than a dollar a day, NOT by Bobby Flay. I'll put it this way, even if I won the state lotto for 10 million, I would not be so hedonistic to piss away $1000 a plate on some specially raised rat fish from the Swahili Idlands, cooked live on TV in $500 a bottle Merlot from Napa. I'll never watch Bobby again, ever.
POST American| 2.21.12 @ 11:03PM
"It's already OVER folks.
TREASON is complete. The Republic
is GONE. You are living under a dictatorial
world authority upheld and administered
by USURY and the unaccountbale
capstone banks. 'Agenda 21' --and the long,
long, long engineered program for de-industralization
and orderly extermination --IS-- underway.
------------------Better face it--------------------."
Time to lose that Tavistock implanted
love affair with FEAR and demoralization.
Cancer's up thousands of percentage
points --diabetes even more so ---Autism
up some 10.000% over half a century ago.
Weaponized injections, adulterated food,
GMO, CHEM-trialing, flouride poisoning
on and on.
NO one's saying ANYTHING. And NOW its
disclosed third generation Rockefeller EUGENIST
Bill Gates is buying out the media
on BOTH sides of the pond.
And then, of course, the yet to be
dealt with CFR RED China handover.
Better FACE IT folks.
"TRAITORS are the plague."
-CICERO
There is NO higher crime on this earth.
NONE
------------------BETTER FACE IT---------------------
Pastor emeritus Nathan Bickel | 2.22.12 @ 12:45AM
When will most sensible people draw the likely conclusion that Obama is out to destroy traditional and patriotic America?
Frankly, I grow weary of all the complaining of Conservatives about Obama. Yet, in the same breath they criticize Obama like Romney, "that Obama is in, over his head." To be sure, Obama knows what he is doing. He doesn't care. He wants to bring America to its knees.