That’s Right Nate

Long time readers of this blog will remember Tom the Bartender from our discussion on politics and his views on Limbaugh and Obama.  I saw him as I was driving home from work, not at the bar, but on a busy street corner.   Instead of pouring drinks, I found him performing a public service by using a squeegee to clean the windshields of passing drivers.

“Tom!  How are you doing? I didn’t expect to see you out here,” I called to him

“Hey Nate,” he smiled at me and immediately began cleaning off my windshield, “I got my hours cut way down at work.   I’m doing the squeegee guy thing to help out with my bills.”

“Things bad?” I asked.

“I’m getting by Nate.   I get welfare, but that cow of an ex-wife keeps taking everything she can get her hands on for those brats of mine.  It is giving me more time to work on my manifesto though,” he said.

“Well that’s good,” I smiled reassuringly, “I really think you want to use a typewriter.  Computers make them seem very impersonal.  It sounds like you have a lot of things to worry about.”

“Oh yeah,” he shook his head, “Obama keeps trying to raise  taxes and take away my guns.  I try and promote the tea parties, when I squeegee windows unless the driver looks Arab or something.  We keep paying all this money and what do we get?”

“Good point,” I said, “as the honks behind me started getting louder.   You’re still really anti-Obama aren’t you?”

“Oh yeah,” said Tom, “Why do you think he’s in Arabia now?   Its cause he’s a Muslim.   Now that he’s elected he doesn’t have to deny it anymore”

“You think he’s going to admit being Muslim?” I asked.

Tom laughed, “No of course not, but if you watch his speech in Egypt he keeps looking to the left,  that’s code to let Islamists know he’s facing Mecca.   I think I’m going to join one of those citizen Grand Juries to indict Obama for not being born in this country.”

“Well, how can you prove that,” I asked.

“Come on.  His name is Barrack.   You grow up with anybody named Barrack?  Kind of a foreign sounding name isn’t it?” he asked.

“You know I can’t deny it Tom.  I think the guy behind me is going to get out of his car if I make him miss another green light so I better go.   Here’s something for your troubles.  I hope to see you at the bar again,” I said as I flipped him a quarter.

“Thanks Nate,” he smiled, “You’re one of the good ones.”

A friend of mine sent me this email from a Republican who is sick of what’s going on in this country.  I think a lot of us, regardless of political party will agree.  This is the kind of voice the mainstream media should be carrying when they talk about the teabag movement.  I asked my friend to send me some contact information so we may have a potential interview coming up.

The government is afraid of the guns people have because they have to have control of the people at all times. Once you take away the guns, you can do anything to the people. You give them an inch and they take a mile. I believe we are slowly turning into a socialist government. The government is continually growing bigger and more powerful, and the people need to prepare to defend themselves against government control.

Taxes are a joke. Regardless of what a political candidate “promises,” they will increase. More taxes are always the answer to government mismanagement. They mess up. We suffer. Taxes are reaching cataclysmic levels, with no slowdown in sight. Go ahead, take everything I own; take my dignity. Feel good as you grow fat and rich at my expense; sucking my tax dollars and property, tax dollars which justify your existence and pay your federal salary. Do you get it? By doing your evil job, you put me out of work. All you tyrannical mother fuckers will swing in the wind one day for your treasonous actions against the Constitution of the United States. Remember the Nuremberg War Trials. “But…but…but…I only followed orders…” Die, you spineless cowardice bastards.

I reached the decision to go on the offensive – to put a check on government abuse of power, where others had failed in stopping the federal juggernaut running amok. I wish to use the words of Justice Brandeis dissenting in Olmstead to speak for me. He wrote, “Our government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example.”

Those who betray or subvert the Constitution are guilty of sedition and/or treason, are domestic enemies and should and will be punished accordingly. It also stands to reason that anyone who sympathizes with the enemy or gives aid or comfort to said enemy is likewise guilty. I have sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and I will. And I will because not only did I swear to, but I believe in what it stands for in every bit of my heart, soul and being. I know in my heart that I am right in my struggle. I have come to peace with myself, my God and my cause. Blood will flow in the streets…Good vs. Evil. Free Men vs. Socialist Wannabe Slaves. Pray it is not your blood, my friend. Is a Civil War imminent? Do we have to shed blood to reform the current system? I hope it doesn’t come to that. But it might.

A man with nothing left to lose is a very dangerous man and his energy/anger can be focused toward a common/righteous goal. What I’m asking you to do, then, is sit back and be honest with yourself. Do you have kids/wife? Would you back out at the last minute to care for the family? Are you interested in keeping your firearms for their current/future monetary value, or would you drag that ‘06 through rock, swamp and cactus…to get off the needed shot? In short, I’m not looking for talkers, I’m looking for fighters…And if you are a fed, think twice. Think twice about the Constitution you are supposedly enforcing (isn’t “enforcing freedom” an oxymoron?) and think twice about catching us with our guard down – you will lose…and your family will lose.

Update 1/09/10:  Oops folks.  I didn’t reallize at the time, but I guess this “Republican” was actually Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.

Many years ago, when the Italian artist Michelangeo was feeling particularly uninspired, the Pope locked him in the Sistine Chapel.  Now, I am not one to look at the papists for examples, but you can’t deny he got a pretty nice ceiling when all was said and done.   Nowadays, things have changed and with the exception of a handful of edgey alternative rockers with huge crystal meth addictions, most artists want to be paid for their work.  What is stopping the truly brilliant American artists from creating equally impressive art?  Well,  according to Victoria Jackson its the Obama tax hike.

Victoria Jackson is an American treasure and the star of such films as UHF, Couch Trip, and Baby Boom.  Currently, she is recording songs for cats on her ukulele.   A star of Victoria Jackson’s magnitude can afford to rest on her laurels and that’s just what she’s doing.  Why?  Well, as Victoria or Ms. Jackson if you’re nasty put it herself, “My motivation is gone, because [Obama] will punish me if I’m successful. That’s how you start communism, is just take — Cuba. Obama wants to be Castro.”  Who knows what further artistic endeavors we are missing from Miss Jackson?  Still, that is just the tip of the ice berg.

Think of the other big stars like Bronson Pinchot, Steven Seagal, Brian Austin Green, Aaron Carter, Dana Carvey,and Andrew McCarthy.  Could it be that Obama’s high taxes are stopping them from creating their best work right in the prime of their careers?  I know what you’re thinking.  Stars in the 1970s and early 1980s used to produce great work before Ronald Reagan worked his magic on the top tax bracket.   How did that happen?  Its quite simple.  With higher taxes came big government programs.   One such program was used to give out of work actors and musicians a break.  In fact congressman Sonny Bono took advantage of it.

The Love Boat was the brainchild of television producer Aaron Spelling.  Mister Spelling was a big donor to Democratic causes.  He used the clout that this arrangement gave him to land a rather sizable $50 million grant from the United States government to create a project for unmotivated actors.  It was your typical big government WPA style project that gave actors what was supposed to be a one time paycheck in exchange for keeping quiet about the ridiculous tax rate.   Unfortunately, certain stars like Tom Bosley, Betty White, and Bob Denver began to abuse the program and like most big government programs it collapsed under the weight of its own waste.

What is left for stars of Victoria’s magnitude today?   Mostly reality television shows and guest appearances on talk shows.  I’m not advocating another big budget government program like The Love Boat, but there has to be a way to get our stars motivated again.  The current Obama tax rate will deprive America of cultural icons like Victoria Jackson just when we need them the most.   Some may judge America by the might of its industry or the power of its military, but isn’t it time we looked after the sound of its laughter?

John McCain has contacted Joe “The Plumber” Wurzelbacher about joining him on the campaign trail.  “I talked to him this morning for the first time ever,” said McCain. “And I want to tell you his sprits are good and he’s a tough guy. He is what small business people all over this country are all about. They are tough and they are good and they want to get ahead and they want to keep their money.”

It is like McCain is talking about me.  The only difference, of course, is that I have never had the courage of my conviction to refuse to pay my taxes like Joe has.  Joe the Plumber and John McCain are a natural fit.  Throughout the campaign John McCain has been talking out about the strict licensing procedures which keep Nobel Prize winners from teaching in our Elementary Schools and it turns out that McCain also wants our Nobel Prize winners to become plumbers without being licensed—Just like Joe.

While a Joe Sixpack like Wurzelbacher is trying to get by on $250,000 a year, he knows that come January Obama will most likely raise his taxes.  This amounts to socialism.  Why should the wealthy pay more taxes just because they have more money and the middle class is actually making less money than they did in 1980 when adjusted for inflation?  The government has no right to ask us to bail out poor people.

It isn’t like the wealthy don’t pay taxes either.  The top 5% of this country pay 60% of the income tax burden despite owning only about 95% of the country’s assets.  Working men like Joe and I don’t want socialism in this country except when it involves propping up our financial institutions or large banks.

Barack Obama is proud of the fact that for people making under $200,000 there will be a tax cut under his tax plan.  He even has Business Week buying into this garbage.  “It’s just flat wrong” to say people would do worse under Obama, says Len Burman a Senior Fellow at the Urban Institute  “Most lower- and middle-class people would pay less taxes under Obama than they would under the proposals being put forth by McCain.”

The problem is that it doesn’t take into account middle income people like me who make over $250,000 a year.  McCain will save me a lot of money that I am more than willing to trickle on those less fortunate than myself by tipping well, buying more luxuries, driving a bigger car, and generally spreading it around the economy.  Those who benefit from the Obama tax cuts will spend it on things like food, rent, and medical care–things that they had to buy anyway.

If Obama gets elected I will probably have to give up my Cherokee and get some small car that gets at least 15 miles to the gallon.  I am not the only one in this boat too.  We cannot allow somebody like Obama to take our hard earned money to spread it around to working stiffs and seniors making less than $50,000.

I waited a very long time, but CNN finally got Barack Obama’s tax “cut” right.  Americans will pay considerably more under Obama’s tax policy than McCain’s if they make as little as $161,000 to see any kind of savings under Obama and that includes McCain’s tax on medical benefits.  If you ignore that tax, Americans making as little as $112,000 will pay more under Obama.  Now Obama supporters will say that the huge savings for people making $66,000 or less make this worthwhile, but people who make that little probably get food stamps already anyway.  I grant it we should worry about those less fortunate than ourselves.  I am always free with a buck when I see those Salvation Army Santas and Christmas time.  However, when it comes to tax policy, we need to protect the gains of us making over $112,000.  A country is only as strong as its middle class.

You have to admire John McCain for his ability to be one of the common people.  Sure, he’s married to a wealthy heiress and he wears $5000 shoes, but the man doesn’t go in for pretense.  He’s so unconcerned with the trappings of wealth that the man literally doesn’t know or even care how many homes he owns.

When asked to define rich, John McCain makes a great point.  I define rich in other ways besides income,” he said. “Some people are wealthy and rich in their lives and their children and their ability to educate them. Others are poor if they’re billionares.”

I am reminded of Charles Dickens’ A Chirstmas Carol. In this story we meet Scrooge a man who is one of the wealthiest men in London, but finds his money gives him no happiness.  We also meet Bob Cratchet who is poor (and raising a handicapped child without government assistance I might add), but Cratchet has a loving family and could indeed be called rich.

Does it really make sense to make Scrooge, who is already miserable pay more for the same government services as the Cratchets?  Of course not.  Scrooge should be taxed less because despite having more money he is poorer than the Cratchets.

I hope that John McCain will continue this train of thought to its logical conclusion.  Let’s adopt a flatter tax that is less punitive on those who happen to have a lot of money and make up the budget shortfall by taxing those things which we know statistically bring joy.  Families, churches, and people in careers with a high degree of satisfaction should be taxed at a higher rate to make up for their increased happiness.  Only then can we truely have a less regressive tax structure.

In the 1990s, the wealthy frequently had to wait in long lines for a measly bowl of truffles like this one.

I am struck by the stark difference between the two Presidential candidates and the affect their tax plans would have on the average middle class working family.  I think this is one of the funamental issues of the campaign.

Barrack Obama wants to raise the tax rate on the very rich.  This all sounds well and good, but people forget that the wealthiest 10% of this country pay 2/3 of the taxes despite owning barely 90% of the assets in this country.  Estates above $3.5 million dollars would be taxed at 45% under the Obama plan while estates valued above $5,000,000 would only be taxed at a reasonable 15% under the McCain plan.  Our next generation of old money depends on not raising the estate tax.

When it comes to the corporations that drive this country like Walmart, Exxon, and Countrywide Obama would leave the corporate tax rate at 35% while McCain would drop it to 25%.  This means higher dividends for Americans who are shareholders.

Both Obama and McCain would keep Bush’s tax cuts for the middle class, but McCain would also keep the ones for the wealthy.  Obama would include a $500 per worker credit for people making less than $150,000 a year and a $4,000 credit for each child in college.  Seniors making less than $50,000 would be exempt from income tax under Obama.

McCain meanwhile will tax employee contributions to healthcare which are now untaxed.  However, every family would get a $5,000 credit for health care.  That seems an exorbinant ammount for one family’s health care today, but if we have the money I saw go for it.

Obama has a huge tax hike planned for those hard working Americans making $250,000 per year.  Their tax rate would increase from 35% back to the pre-Bush level of 39%.  I don’t think anybody in this economy wants to go back to the upper class poverty of the Clinton administration where Bentleys were often seen abandonned on blocks and the truffle market had severely dried up.

A middle class doctor making $300,000 will find himself severely overtaxed by the Obama system and may be forced to take a second job.  I suppose it may be better for people with smaller incomes, but what about those of us who are middle class?

The current Barack Obama plan to roll back the Bush tax cuts and increase taxes on people making over $250,000 per year could be devestating in this current economy.  With recent reports that both Ed McMann and former NBA star Vin Baker are in danger of getting their homes foreclosed on, do we really need to be raising taxes on ther wealthy at this time?

With the rising price of oil disproportionately hitting private jet and luxury car owners, a new round of tax cuts may send many of the wealthy into merely being upper class and could reduce many members of the upper class to merely upper-middle class status.  The food crisis has also disproportionately effected the wealthy with the price of kobe beef more than doubling in the last 18 months.

In a capitalistic society, the wealthy not only give us something to aspire to, but drive many of our industries.  Miniature poodles, high end jewelry, yachts, mansions, and over sized dining room tables will all see large sales drops in the event of a tax increase on the wealthy.

Furthermore, according to the Brookings Institute, nearly 2% of small businesses would also be affected by this plan  (http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/numbers/displayatab.cfm?Docid=1534&DocTypeID=7) . Fortunately, there are people willing to fight Obama on this.    Steve Forbes has joined McCain in opposing Obama’s tax on the wealthy, but we need more rich people to come forward before its too late.

I really hate when this happens and the only clip you can find of an important speech like John Mccain’s Town Hall Meeting on the Economy today in Denver.  I’ve posted one edited by a lefty group, but I do believe it shows McCain’s low key yet riveting speaking style.

Today John McCain announced his plans to balance the budget within his first term of office.  This would be an amazing trick and its one that McCain can pull off.    There are three points to his strategy:

Now anybody who has spent time with a grandparent who takes butter, cream, or dinner rolls from a restaurant table for later consumption knows how the first two works.   In a building as large as the White House you must imagine that just having McCain to turn off the lights in rooms nobody is using at the time will save a lot of money.

The third point is a bit more technical.  Obviously McCain is sure that it won’t take more than a year or so to win those two wars.  Then its just a question of reinvesting the money.  Now what makes things tricky is the war has been funded by deficit spending.

An easier way to look at it would be if you had a credit card and for 10 months you paid all your bills except you charged a $900 plasma television.  At the end of those 10 months you would have a credit card balance of $9000 + interest.  Now, let’s say that you stopped buying those televisions (The war).  Since the televisions cost $900 each, it would take you a little over 10 months to pay off your balance if you spent the money you had been spending on televisions and used it to pay off the balance.  Its that simple.

Now Obama is going to say you need to raise taxes or some other economic mismanagement, but McCain’s way is much simpler and still allows him to cut taxes on the wealthy who will continue to make more jobs for the rest of America.