Let me tell you why I can’t support any of them right now:

1. Rick Santorum – I can actually see myself canvassing for him in the general election. I would support him except that he’s been up and down Iowa and is still not polling there. This leaves me to believe that no one wants yet another US Senator as President.
2. Newt Gingrich – Gingrich has completely disappointed me since switching to his side. This whole hauling judges in front of congress has upset even me. He has been slightly incompetent since gaining front-runner status and has thus turned me off of him. Still much better than some below.
3. Rick Perry – I was going to jump ship from Herman Cain’s camp to Rick Perry when he first joined the race, except he forever lost me with the “You’re Heartless If You Don’t Agree With Me” comment.
4. Michele Bachmann – Again, another career congressperson seeking the highest office in the land. She was elected to the US House when the first of two purges of Republicans and survive the second one, but she lacks executive office experience. Still, I think she should stay in the House and shoot for Speakership. She also hasn’t gain back the following that she lost to Rick Perry. Do the voters know something I don’t?
5. Mitt Romney – Massachusetts Moderate. You know I used to be a Moderate, however that has gone out the window since Obama has been elected. The fact he won’t disavow RomneyCare, scares the HELL out of me. I fear he’ll want to fix ObamaCare rather than repeal it and replace it. I also fear he won’t wait until he’s elected to make this known (like, after he’s nominated while shooting the finger to Tea Party Conservatives). He’ll have to pick someone, like for example, Paul Ryan before I will vote for him in the general.
6. Jon Huntsman – No. Trust him even less than Romney.
7. Ron Paul – This is the clinically insane one. If you thought Obama’s Apology Tour ’09 was offensive, just you elect Ron Paul. I believe in short order he would make friends with the likes of Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Five months after taking office Israel will be attacked. The world would fall into chaos because he will refuse to take action to help our allies like South Korea. I fear a Ron Paul Administration more so than Obama’s second term. At least Obama can be controled domestically to a degree if he has a Republican Congress. So I absolutely refuse to vote for Ron Paul. I will also not vote for Obama. I will instead focus on the US Senate race in Florida.

So there you have it. I don’t care for any of the candidates at this moment in time. I can’t even seeing myself getting the energy to vote in the primary on Januray 30th. Maybe things will change and I might get behind a candidate, but right now that seems like a long shot.

Ban me for outright refusing to vote for Ron Paul in the general if that makes you feel better. I really don’t care at this point. I just can’t and won’t vote for the man. I’m just making a stand and statement against him. I want to see Obama defeated in this election, but there has got to be a better way than Ron Paul.

Requiring people to have health insurance is “conservative,” GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney told MSNBC on Wednesday, but only if states do it.

…

“Personal responsibility,” Romney said, “is more conservative in my view than something being given out for free by government.”

“There were two options in my state,” he said. “One was to continue to allow people without insurance to go to the hospital and get free care, paid for by the government, paid for by taxpayers.”

“The best idea is to let each state craft their own solution because that’s, after all, the heart of conservatism: to follow the Constitution,” he said.

There is said that Romney has supporters here, somewhere, in the US. To thoes people: WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE AND WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU??

I wish I can sometimes jump through a TV, throttle Romney, and tell him he’s wrong. When pushed on what exatly is he wrong on, I will simply say “Everthing.” Alright, let’s break this stuff down:

Requiring people to have health insurance is “conservative,” GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney told MSNBC on Wednesday, but only if states do it.

First off, why in gods name are you talking to MSNBC for? They don’t care for your arguement. They see a (R) by your name and they already hate your guts.

Forcing people to buy health insurance, not to mention anything at all, IS NOT CONSERVATIVE! I never got the memo on when the Individual Mandate was a conservative idea. Whose brilliant idea was it to have the Individual Mandate as part of the Republican Platform?

Someone messed up. You know I am all for paying Caesar, which is owed to Caesar, but forcing someone to buy something or they get penalize for it, is beyond wrong.

This isn’t even buying something from the government, it is either buy a private product or pay the government a fine. I believe in a free market, but this is not free market and more like forced market.

Should you buy health insurance? Hell yeah! But if you can force people to buy health insurance or face a fine, then you can force people to buy anything!

“Personal responsibility,” Romney said, “is more conservative in my view than something being given out for free by government.”

Yeah, but you are taking away people’s personal responsibility this way. Think about it, Mit (and in turn, you who support him). We are already forcing ERs to take you regruadless, they should be able to get the money from the services you use.

“There were two options in my state,” he said. “One was to continue to allow people without insurance to go to the hospital and get free care, paid for by the government, paid for by taxpayers.”

“The best idea is to let each state craft their own solution because that’s, after all, the heart of conservatism: to follow the Constitution,” he said.

The Tenth Amendment does not give the States the right to use and abuse their citizens with a free reign of terror. In fact, a lot of politicians on both sides often stop reading the amendment before they get to:

“…or to the people.”

If it is a matter of real personal responsibility, then it should be up to the people and not to the government on any level.

This is why I don’t trust Mitt Romney. I think once he gets the nomination he’ll drop his dislike of ObamaCare. In 2010, he even sounded like he supported the individual mandate:

When Obamacare passed in 2010, Mitt Romney didn’t exactly have the same reaction as, say, Tea Party protesters. He was less immediately concerned with what the law represented – that is, a massive overreach by the federal government, a total takeover of health care – than he was with the specifics of the law, with the question of whether they would work. And, on several occasions, he went on record in support of the individual mandate.

And he seems to backup that support now.

So no, I don’t trust him at all. I honestly don’t understand how he is running as a Republican. Why can’t he pull a Charlie Crist and run as an Independant? Oh. Ohhhh…

At this point in time, I am about ready to vote for no one or support no one. Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, and even Newt Gingrich is starting to get on my nerves. Maybe we deserve another four years of Obama, if all we get are Obama-Lights and an Iran Lover*. We deserve better than this group of people.

This is why I will be focusing on the Florida US Senate race from now on. I can give a flying monkey’s uncle about who are next President is, because they are all bunk.

*Ron Paul is the only person who I will refuse to vote for, at all.

For the first time on record, the Chinese Communist party has lost all control, with the population of 20,000 in this southern fishing village now in open revolt.

The last of Wukan’s dozen party officials fled on Monday after thousands of people blocked armed police from retaking the village, standing firm against tear gas and water cannons.

Since then, the police have retreated to a roadblock, some three miles away, in order to prevent food and water from entering, and villagers from leaving. Wukan’s fishing fleet, its main source of income, has also been stopped from leaving harbour.

The plan appears to be to lay siege to Wukan and choke a rebellion which began three months ago when an angry mob, incensed at having the village’s land sold off, rampaged through the streets and overturned cars.

This started with the death of Xue Jinbo, who was arrested after protesting some illegal land grab. They even rejected a ransome:

“He came this morning and said that if we tear down our barricades, remove our banners and return to normal life, the government would not make any more arrests, would release its prisoners and release Xue Jinbo’s body,” said Yang Semao, one of the village’s representatives.

However, Mr Yang said the village had turned down the offer, and vowed to fight on, despite only having enough food left for ten more days of the siege.

Major props to the Telegraph’s Malcolm Moore, who is covering this at the risk of his own life. I, for one, will be praying for the people in Wukan and Malcolm.

However I feel that the Wukan Revolution will die in it’s sleep, because people like Obama will fail utterly to speak up. He’ll punt until it is either too late or issue a statement where “both sides need to stop the violence” or something like that. Iran’s Green Revolution could have used our support in 2009, not 894 days later. The rebels in Syria could also use our support, but Obama used up all his goodwill on an illegal war against Libya*.

We can only sadly sit back and watch as Malcolm Moore writes about the destruction of village of Wukan, as they fight the oppressive rule of the Chi-Comms. There is nothing we can do. Our Tone-Deaf leader will also sit this one out.

*Whatever you think about the War Powers Act, we are a nation of LAWS! We are a Republic, not an Oligarchy where the elite chooses to write or follow laws on a whim!

Anyway, I was just listening to Glenn Beck and he is completely unapologetic. He is also blaming the GOP Establishment for this story, taking no personal responsibility whatsoever. I am far from the GOP Establishment as I can be. Beck has gone completely over the deep end and I will no longer listen to him on the radio. Whoever called it first, gets 15 Trillion Internets.

(Via TheRightScoop) Wow. And here we are told Gingrich’s big mouth might cost us the election. Who ever thought it would be Glenn Beck?

Talk about your all time dumb comments. I mean, it is one thing to say this and that about Gingrich. This whole Republican love of Theodore Roosevelt and Richard Nixon also escapes me, these were not conservative presidents. However I just normally roll my eyes when I see or hear conservatives name them as their “conservative” heroes. I just don’t get it. My favorite conservative hero is George Washington.

However I am currently supporting Newt Gingrich because I think he’s the best conservative to carry the banner for us in 2012 since Herman Cain dropped out. Does that make me less of a conservative? Or, in Beck’s newest opinion, a racist?

Steve Flesher at Conservatives4Palin.com breaks this down for us:

Glenn Beck decided to “challenge” the Tea Party. Calling the GOP frontrunner a “progressive,” Beck then asserted that if faced with a choice between two “progressives” (Obama and Gingrich), the only difference then becomes the race of the candidate.

So basically, if Tea Party members vote for Newt Gingrich instead of Obama in 2012, it’s because they must have a problem with Obama’s race.

The left has been dying for someone on the right to make such a remark. This is the type of thing that will show up ten months from now on the eve of the most important election of our lifetimes to prove that Tea Party members are racists — especially if Obama is down in the polls and our candidate just happens to be Newt Gingrich.

I can see the ad now:

Glenn Beck: -ask yourself this Tea Party. Is it about Obama’s race, because that’s what it appears to be to me. If you’re against him [Obama] but you’re for this guy [Newt], it must be about race.

I don’t care if it is out of context, they can still use it. Hell, I’d use it if I was making ads for Obama. I’m not dumb. It is bad enough that they have Newt Gingrich’s “Right-wing Social Engineering” comment, now this comment from Beck?

I’ve been a defender of Glenn Beck for some time now. However this is indefensible. Newt Gingrich and Barack Obama can’t be further apart. Steve Flesher also notes that they are nothing a like:

I realize … that Newt Gingrich has a checkered past. But to infer there being no difference between Obama and Gingrich is a bit of a stretch.

Despite noted concerns and policy statements which are concerning, Newt’s record shows that he passed welfare reform and got the Democrats on board to do it. Obama on the other hand rolled that reform back with the failed stimulus. Newt’s policies helped to give us 4.2% unemployment. Under Newt’s leadership, he gave us the first balanced budget since 1969 and did it for four years. Obama’s policies have skyrocketed unemployment with job-killers like Obamacare and continue to grow our budget.

Further, and most importantly, Gingrich was able to get bipartisan support from a liberal White House because he knew how to articulate the proposals in a way that works. I believe this a very authentic quality he has which is lacking among some of the others. … It’s a quality that only a very few possess. Reagan had it as well. As we see, Obama does not.

Ladd Ehlinger Jr. also takes excetion to Glenn Beck along the same line of thought as Andrew Breitbart:

Don’t ever call people racist unless you have cold hard facts. That’s what progressives, liberals, socialists, and marxists do.

David Duke? He’s a racist. I know, because as a kid I fought hard to help keep him out of the Louisiana Governor’s mansion (and got my car trashed as a result).

Ma and Pa in Iowa who supported Herman Cain, then went to Newt Gringrich? Not racist.

But those progressives, liberals, socialists, and marxists are already taking full advantage:

Glenn Beck: Newt Gingrich Supporters Who Oppose Obama Are Racist

And that was just the headline from the Puffington Host.

Glenn Beck has just made every Tea Party person’s life, and the 2012 election, that much more difficult. I hope he is happy with himself.

I still can’t believe he leveled such a personal attack. I will be tuning into Beck’s show tomorrow for a personal apology to that personal attack on my character. If I don’t get it, I will call the local station that carries him and ask if they could take him off the air.

I am shocked at HotAir.com for publishing this article. I’m sure Michelle Malkin’s head would spin if she was still in charged of Hot Air.

The author asks the question “Is ‘Tebowing’ an attack on Christianity?” then he answers with a resounding “No” and then personally attacks Tim Tebow and his fans (bolding mine):

Foster may be right that for some people, the problem isn’t Tebow’s religiosity but the fact that professional sports are “so filled with cliched Jesus praise that” fans doubt his sincerity. But I submit that for many who prefer to spend their Sundays watching the exquisite choreography of a perfectly executed screen pass, the problem is Tebow’s self-absorption.

Tebow is free to give “mad respect” to his lord, but I’d rather he do it on his own time. A number of players cross themselves on every play, but they do it discreetly — and expeditiously. Tebow’s prayer timeouts, by contrast, are as gratuitously in-your-face as the most flagrant end zone dance. And they last as long. Yet, according to his supporters, all of footballdom is supposed to give him a pass because his purpose is holy. Isn’t that what churches are for?

Another, subtler, ingredient in the widespread antipathy toward Tebow is that he is an anomaly. His success as an NFL quarterback (he is 4 and 1 since replacing Kyle Orton at the helm of the Broncos offense) doesn’t make sense to diehard football fans. His passing numbers — he has a 45% completion rate — are awful. His team is winning through a combination of razzle-dazzle and offensive schemes that haven’t been used by college, let alone NFL, coaches in two decades.

I am predicting that “this too shall pass” (to cite a proverb that Tebow should appreciate because of its religious roots). Sooner or later all 31 remaining teams in the league will develop defensive strategies to counter Denver’s pre-Knute Rockne offense, and Tebow — and Tebowing — will be gone.

Let me first come out and say that I don’t know if I am still an Atheist anymore. I’ve been going to a local nondenominational church recently. I don’t know if I have been hanging around Tea Party people too much and if their spirituality has been rubbing off on me, or if it is the call to run for local office that is also calling me back to church. I don’t know. All I know is that I’ve been going to church for the last six weeks now and I want to keep going. I know it is cliche, but I am looking for a sign.

Ok, let me respond to Howard’s post one part at a time:

Honestly, I don’t see Tim Tebow as being narcissistic. I just don’t get that vibe from him. Everytime I see him speak, he seems humble to me. He seems excited, but not self-absorbed. He loves football, life, and God, what is there not to be excited about? Sure Tebow will calm down, but he’s young and full of energy. Let him have his fun.

Now wait just a cotton-picken minute here. Why can’t he publicly give “mad respect” to God? When did this stop being a Free Country? It is almost like you are offended. Why is that? I find it refreshing. If you don’t like it, you have a remote. Stop being lazy and move your thumb a little.

I don’t think Tebow’s purpose is holy. This is a FOOTBALL GAME dude. You seem to have your priorities mixed up my friend. I, and I think Tebow would agree, that in the end, if football ended tomorrow, the world would not come to an end. Sure economically we would hurt a little, but the world does not end and begin with football. I thought Jesus was the Alpha and the Omega and not football?

So Tebow is still playing college football. Why do you care so much? This fact is between him and the Denver Broncos. If he doesn’t grow, that is his problem. Granted I hope he grows as a player and becomes a NFL quarterback that he can become. However your rooting for one single football player’s failure comes across as shallow and petty. Sure I root for Tampa Bay Buccaneers to win, not nessitiarly someone’s failure. This is, after all, JUST A GAME.

Jimmy Johnson once said: “Treat a person as he is, and he will remain as he is. Treat him as he could be, and he will become what he should be.”

Think he’s an aweful football player? Fine, that is an honest critique. I personally hope he gets better as a player, because I am a Florida Gator fan and I would like to see a Gator quarterback succeed finally in the NFL. Sue me. Is Tebow narcissistic? I could be wrong, but judging from I see I just don’t see it. We will have to wait and see if the NFL corrupts him (and I sure hope not). And again, I think your priorities are mixed up. After all, football is just a game. Grow up.

If you want to contact Howard Portnoy and tell him that his attack on a private citizen (and his fans/supporters) for his public display of faith was unseemly, his Twitter, Facebook, and Email are all listed in the post. Please do not personally attack him or threaten him, I do not sanction such behavior.

To the people running Hot Air: You people should be ashamed that you promoted this article. It is nothing but hate and spite. If it is your policy to promote Green Room articles that attacks private citizens (and their fans/supporters) for their public display of faith, then you need to review said policy. You’re just lucky I don’t believe in boycotts.

[Bret] Bair asked Romney about his changing positions on climate change, abortion, immigration, and gay rights, and asked him how the American people could trust him on the important issues.

“Your list is just not accurate,” replied Romney to an visibly surprised Baier, “So, one, we’re going to have to be better informed about my views on issues.”

Baier pointed out video ads released by Romney’s opponents attacking Romney as a flip-flopper.

“I’m glad to see that the Democrat ads are breaking through,” Romney said cynically adding that most videos took “only snippets of his remarks, taking them out of context.”

The only problem with the Democrat’s video, is that it is painfully true*. I can’t find any fault with that video except that it was made by Democrats. Now it will be there though the general election. And Ace is right, at least Gingrich is not insulting us by offering delusional denials. I mean, Mitt Romney called Newt Gingrich a ‘lifelong politician’. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!

Look, even I am running for public office and sometimes I have to face facts. I went to a Tea Party meeting one day and made a campaign pledge that I will now have to take back. I will own up to my Mea Culpa and let the cards fall were they may. It’s not a flip-flop, it is something I just can’t do. I have also lost maybe a hundred signatures on my candidate petition, because I am honest with people that I am a Conservative Republican. I RATHER LOSE MY ELECTION, THAN BE SOMEONE THAT I AM NOT!

I hate to use the term RINO, but Mitt Romney is not a conservative. He’s a poll-tested politician. That right there makes him a Flip-Flopper. Look, I also used to be more moderate in the past myself. However I’ve become more conservative since Obama has ran for office. Talk to Moe Lane**, he used to be a card-carrying Union Democrat before he finally saw the truth.

It all comes down to trust. I just don’t trust Mitt Romney to stay a conservative once the primary is over any more than I can throw him. I also do not trust him to help in repealing ObamaCare once elected. I do not trust him on any issue.

However I do trust Herman Cain to be the conservative voice we need in the White House. Win or lose, my conscience will be clear and I will sleep good that night after that vote.

*I hate to link it, but you need to see what I, Bair, and Romney is talking about. Please don’t edit it out or ban me. Thank you.

**Sorry if I am crossing some kind of line Moe, but you’ve kept no secert your conversion.

I honestly don’t know if this is planed to be a tv ad, but it should be in any case. Any Cain campaign stuff reading this should think it over and send the suggestion to the top. It is simple and to the point.

So the URL of that video takes you here and to this video:

It used to be that the sole purpose of the tax code was to raise the necessary funds to run government. But in today’s world the tax mandate has many more facets. These include income redistribution, encouraging favored industries, and discouraging unfavorable behavior.

To make matters worse there are millions and millions of taxpayers who are highly motivated to reduce their tax liabilities. And, as those taxpayers finagle and connive to find ways around the tax code, government responds by propagating new rules, new interpretations of the code, and new taxes in a never-ending chase. In the process, we create ever-more arcane tax codes that do a poor job of achieving any of their mandates. …

(Crunching The Numbers) In the recent past, federal tax revenues from the personal and business income taxes, all payroll taxes, and the capital gains, gift and estate taxes have averaged $2.3 trillion, while gross domestic product has averaged about $14.5 trillion. The total revenue from these taxes as a share of gross domestic product averages around 16%. Sometimes it’s a good deal higher, as in the boom of the late 1990s, and sometimes its lower, as in today’s “Great Recession.” But a number in the 16%-19% range is as good as you’ll get under our current tax code.

By contrast, the three tax bases for Mr. Cain’s 9-9-9 plan add up to about $33 trillion. But the plan exempts from any tax people below the poverty line. Using poverty tables, this exemption reduces each tax base by roughly $2.5 trillion. Thus, Mr. Cain’s 9-9-9 tax base for his business tax is $9.5 trillion, for his income tax $7.7 trillion, and for his sales tax $8.3 trillion. And there you have it! Three federal taxes at 9% that would raise roughly $2.3 trillion and replace the current income tax, corporate tax, payroll tax (employer and employee), capital gains tax and estate tax.

The whole purpose of a flat tax, à la 9-9-9, is to lower marginal tax rates and simplify the tax code. With lower marginal tax rates (and boy will marginal tax rates be lower with the 9-9-9 plan), both the demand for and the supply of labor and capital will increase. Output will soar, as will jobs. Tax revenues will also increase enormously—not because tax rates have increased, but because marginal tax rates have decreased. …

This is the type of tax increase I wholeheartedly support. I support collecting more in taxes from people with high incomes who choose to actually pay taxes at lower tax rates than use lawyers and accountants to avoid taxes at higher tax rates. Some tax revenues at low tax rates is a heckuva lot better than no tax revenues at high tax rates.

While the 9-9-9 plan has captured people’s imaginations at this moment, it’s not all that different from California Gov. Jerry Brown’s 13% flat tax when he ran for president in 1992. As you may recall, he came in second behind Bill Clinton in the Democratic Party primary.

In 1986, President Reagan passed a major tax-reform bill that lowered to 28% from 50% the top marginal personal income tax rate. The Tax Reform Act of 1986 also raised the lowest marginal income tax rate to 15% from 11% and closed many loopholes, making for a flatter tax structure. Reagan’s bill passed the Senate in a landslide 97-to-3 vote. Who says a flat tax can’t be a bipartisan proposal?

If this video and Art Laffer’s endorsement doesn’t get you excited about the 999 Plan, I honestly don’t know what will. If the 999 Plan was passed, there will not be seas big enough for all the business coming our way. I even have a business idea myself.

I support Herman Cain. I have been since he announced that he would be running. I’m on the CainTrian until it reaches the White House. I will then be a tireless supporter of the 999 Plan. Herman Cain might not be a polished politician, but that is what I love about him. Cain is a man who makes mistakes, like me. Personally, he is the only person running right now that I would love to sit down with a beer. The 999 Plan shows he is also bold and thinks out of the mainsteam box.

Some of us is waiting for the second coming of Ronald Reagan. I am not one of those people, for he is not coming. Leave Reagan where he is, resting in peace. We should be instead looking forward to the future and for a new kind of leader. I believe Herman Cain is that leader. Climb aboard this train with me, and we will the conductors of our own future.

When I first saw this article, I was outraged. Then I actually read said article:

Police repeatedly fired teargas, “less-lethal” projectiles and flash-bang grenades into a sea of protesters, actions they later claimed were justified because their officers were being hit by objects thrown by a few individuals in the crowd.

But the guidelines clearly state that less-lethal munitions “may never be used indiscriminately against a crowd or group of persons, even if some members of the crowd or group are violent or disruptive.”

If all of this is true, then they deserved to be hit with this lawsuit. They were sued in 2003 for using this stuff and they settled by agreeing to these terms.

I mean, who agrees to stuff like that? People and groups are too quick to settle these days. That is why we need “Loser-Pay” Tort Reform.

I normally give police officers the benefit of the doubt. They have to deal with mean jerks all day long. I’ve dealt with cops before. While they were jerks (even to me), they were fair jerks. If you want someone who will punish you to also be sensative to your needs, run to your mommy. This is the real world people. Grow up.

But if true, I can’t defend the Oakland PD or the city over this nonsense. No wonder Oakland, California is a mess. If you live there and have nothing but complaints, then I honestly don’t have any sympathy for you. Your city government is leaderless and spineless. I have only one advice for you: MOVE.

Here in Lake County, Florida, our police have a spine and will stand up for itself. The ACLU is suing our sheriff over arresting an illegal immigrant and handing her over to ICE. Lake County Sheriff is fighting this and the rest of the county is behind him 100%. We also just gave a Georgia man 7years jail for coming to pick up what he thought was a 13-year-old girl.

Without law, there can be no freedom. In Oakland, California, law is weak and spineless. Police can’t even crack down on a roit with non-lethal means without being sued. It is a joke there. I thought in my last post about Oakland that it was time for Republicans to maybe move to cature leadership in that city, but I am not so sure now. Maybe it is too far gone. Time to cut your losses and call it a day.

Patricia Sullivan, on her own with the help of her campaign-for-congress-turn-grassroots-group The Patriot Army, has choosen to lunch a boots-on-the-ground precinct walking effort here in Central Florida.

Opportunity

If given the opportunity, would you put your time and energy in helping Herman Cain win Florida?

What would happen if Herman Cain won the Florida GOP Primary on January 31st?

Could he sweep the Nation with that kind of momentum?

We’ve seen what happened after he won Florida’s Presidency 5 straw poll. He surged. Enthusiasm is contagious.

What are you willing to do to get out the vote for Herman Cain? Is it worth three full days of walking door to door with friends and a day of sign waving? If you can commit your time and energy, then you need to be part of the Cain Project. Even if you can’t walk, we will need drivers, navigators, volunteers to serve meals and more.

The Cain Project is an intense volunteer event taking place January 26-31 in Central Florida. We’re inviting volunteers from across Florida and the Southeast to come and help us win Florida.

I know I would and I have. I was at the kick-off event a little over two weeks ago and boy do they have their stuff together! They even made a video:

How are they going to get out the vote? They explain here and you can sign-up as well:

The Cain Project is an intense volunteer event taking place January 26-31 in Central Florida.

Why a fee to volunteer?

The registration fee covers the cost of two t-shirts, six dinners and precinct walking materials.

The agenda is as follows:
Thursday … 4pm-8pm Registration, Education, Team Assignments and Dinner
Friday … 9am-8pm Precinct Walking, Rendezvous and Dinner
Saturday … 9am-8pm: Precinct Walking, Rendezvous and Dinner
Sunday: … Day of Rest. 10am Worship Opportunity 5pm Dinner
Monday: … 9am-8pm: Precinct Walking, Rendezvous and Dinner
Tuesday: … 7am-11pm: Sign Waving at Polls, Dinner and Watch Party! WhooHoo!

They are going to be hitting Orange, Seminole, and (South) Lake Counties in their precinct walking.

I precinct walked for Patricia Sullivan in the 2010 election and I have to say that they know their stuff. They were highly organized, had lots of precinct walking materials (maps and such), and focused. I say it is worth the $20 to get the t-shirts and meals, alone.

If you got some vacation time saved up, now’s the time to use it. You can join us for one day or all six days.

Now I am just a volunteer like everyone else. I am not an event organizer. However I’d like to get the word out to those who would like to make a difference. Herman Cain doesn’t need a large campaign staff when he has people like us willing to help in any way we can. I am answering the call, will you?

Left-leaning bloggers erupted in outrage Tuesday morning as they awoke to news that Mayor Bloomberg had cleared the Occupy Wall Street demonstration site in Zuccotti Park overnight.

Liberal activists decried the move online, and accused the mayor of silencing the press and violating the right to peaceful assembly.

“Bloomberg’s NY is no place for the 1st amendment. Bloomberg serves Wall Street, now and forever. And Wall Street cannot handle free speech,” tweeted liberal actor Alec Baldwin.

That sound you hear is New York City’s darling mayor to liberals nation-wide, career in politics crashing before him. Any thought of him running for US President is over.

*pulls out a bag of popcorn and puts on 3-D Goggles*

Anyone want any popcorn?

“People who were part of a dynamic civic process were beaten and pepper-sprayed, their personal property destroyed,” said a posting on OccupyWallSt.org, a website for the demonstrators.

Oh, the tears of unfathomable sadness! Mm-yummy. [licks the tears off the hippies's face]

“When New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg decided to stage a middle of the night raid on the Occupy Wall Street protesters in Zuccotti Park, there was one thing he didn’t want … media coverage. So Bloomberg said screw the First Amendment,” reads a posting on the Daily Kos.

“We’ll just hold off on all those pesky rights until it’s more convenient. Or not,” said the blog’s Barbara Morrill sarcastically.

Liberal blogs especially seized upon one incident, in which Village Voice writer Rosie Gray apparently told a police officer, “I’m press,” to which the officer responded, “not tonight.”

“This was real police state stuff,” wrote FireDogLake’s David Dayden after noting the incident involving Gray. “I know that the First Amendment comes with that addendum, “Operative 6am-11pm M-F,” but absolutely nothing about this raid seems justified.”

Whatever. The First Amendment does not give you the right to squat. Zuccotti Park is a privately owned park. I know, tell that to the socialists there the concept of Private Property. It is define as:

1) Title
2) Control
3) Use
4) Ability To Dispose

If Brookfield Properties loses control or the use of Zuccotti Park, then they have loss their property. Granted it is a public park, but it is own privately. So they tossed out some bloody squatters. But I digress.

Mayor Quan of Oakland, CA isn’t getting any love because she, horrors of horrors, talked to other mayors accross the nation. Really people, let them kill themselves (metaphorically, of course) over this.

Here’s your chance New York and Oakland Republicans. Time to elect a few good conservative mayors in these cities. Do not waste it.

But I digress.

I was hoping for a Occupy Wall Street episode from South Park the other week. I was disappointed when they did not do so. I mean, there is a lot there they can make fun of here. I could create an entire season of episodes based off of Occupy Wall Street and the dirty hippies that are there. The Drum Circles, filty tent living, drug use, railing agaisnt corperations (but not doing much to stop them), and the commune living that would evolved into an actual society if given enough time.

Oh wait, they already did all of that in Die Hippie, Die.

We all love to hate Cartman. If you don’t hate him, then you haven’t been paying attention to his character. His only redeemable character trait is that he’s a capitalist. It normally overrides his other lazy, spoiled, and racist’s traits. However to the casual watcher of the show, Cartman is a completely unsympathetic even if he is one of the four lead characters.

In “Die Hippie, Die”, Cartman starts off as a kind of ‘Hippie Pest Control’ and realizes they are about to start a music festival in South Park. His attempts to warn the town go unheard and he is even arrested when 63 hippies are found locked in his basement. Of course Kyle, Stan, and Kenny are seduce and become hippies themselves. The mayor is behind this music festival.

The festival quickly spins out of control, drawing more hippies than ever before into one place. Soon the town people seek advice from Cartman on how to rid of the massive hippie group. Kyle, Stan, and Kenny finally realize that the hippies are full of themselves and just want to get high and listen to music.

South Park builds a giant drill (called “Hippie Digger”) and bores though the mass of hippies. They upload death metal into the stage and the hippies disperse, saving the other kids and South Park.

My friends, replace “music festival” with “Occupy Wall Street” and you pretty much have your South Park Occupy Wall Street episode. Everything from the drum circles to the town mayor embracing the hippies.

In fact, South Park has pretty much written the end game for us: Death Metal!

Police Departments need to pack their sound systems with death metal music and blast the public squares where the dirty hippies are squatting for a couple of days. That will clear them out.

Some people confuse the 9% Sales Tax as a VAT, it is not. The current sales tax is not a VAT and only charged at the retail point-of-sale and not when value is added.

Why is is such a great plan? You only have to turn to Art Laffer who can explain it better than me:

It used to be that the sole purpose of the tax code was to raise the necessary funds to run government. But in today’s world the tax mandate has many more facets. These include income redistribution, encouraging favored industries, and discouraging unfavorable behavior.

To make matters worse there are millions and millions of taxpayers who are highly motivated to reduce their tax liabilities. And, as those taxpayers finagle and connive to find ways around the tax code, government responds by propagating new rules, new interpretations of the code, and new taxes in a never-ending chase. In the process, we create ever-more arcane tax codes that do a poor job of achieving any of their mandates. …

(Crunching The Numbers) In the recent past, federal tax revenues from the personal and business income taxes, all payroll taxes, and the capital gains, gift and estate taxes have averaged $2.3 trillion, while gross domestic product has averaged about $14.5 trillion. The total revenue from these taxes as a share of gross domestic product averages around 16%. Sometimes it’s a good deal higher, as in the boom of the late 1990s, and sometimes its lower, as in today’s “Great Recession.” But a number in the 16%-19% range is as good as you’ll get under our current tax code.

By contrast, the three tax bases for Mr. Cain’s 9-9-9 plan add up to about $33 trillion. But the plan exempts from any tax people below the poverty line. Using poverty tables, this exemption reduces each tax base by roughly $2.5 trillion. Thus, Mr. Cain’s 9-9-9 tax base for his business tax is $9.5 trillion, for his income tax $7.7 trillion, and for his sales tax $8.3 trillion. And there you have it! Three federal taxes at 9% that would raise roughly $2.3 trillion and replace the current income tax, corporate tax, payroll tax (employer and employee), capital gains tax and estate tax.

The whole purpose of a flat tax, à la 9-9-9, is to lower marginal tax rates and simplify the tax code. With lower marginal tax rates (and boy will marginal tax rates be lower with the 9-9-9 plan), both the demand for and the supply of labor and capital will increase. Output will soar, as will jobs. Tax revenues will also increase enormously—not because tax rates have increased, but because marginal tax rates have decreased. …

This is the type of tax increase I wholeheartedly support. I support collecting more in taxes from people with high incomes who choose to actually pay taxes at lower tax rates than use lawyers and accountants to avoid taxes at higher tax rates. Some tax revenues at low tax rates is a heckuva lot better than no tax revenues at high tax rates.

While the 9-9-9 plan has captured people’s imaginations at this moment, it’s not all that different from California Gov. Jerry Brown’s 13% flat tax when he ran for president in 1992. As you may recall, he came in second behind Bill Clinton in the Democratic Party primary.

In 1986, President Reagan passed a major tax-reform bill that lowered to 28% from 50% the top marginal personal income tax rate. The Tax Reform Act of 1986 also raised the lowest marginal income tax rate to 15% from 11% and closed many loopholes, making for a flatter tax structure. Reagan’s bill passed the Senate in a landslide 97-to-3 vote. Who says a flat tax can’t be a bipartisan proposal?

I couldn’t have said it better myself. I hate to just throw a block of text up in blockquotes but I know I can’t easily explain the plan, because I am not an economist like Art Laffer. I won’t even pretend that I am one. I suggest you read the whole article if you have to the time as it is a great read.

PS: Title inspired by comment made on HotAir.com.

“I would just say that we are busy taking over the GOP,” said Brendan Steinhauser, director of federal and state campaigns for the national tea party network Freedomworks.

“It will take us years to do, but we are on track. We are starting with taking over as precinct captains and county GOP chairmen. We are also electing true fiscal conservatives to local, state and national office.”

Steinhauser, based in Washington, D.C., reiterated the takeover philosophy of FreedomWorks founder, former Rep. Dick Armey, R-Texas:

“This is just the beginning of a process that will take us a long time. But in the end we will prevail.” And, Steinhauser predicted, “They will follow us.”

Rescently, Patricia Sullivan (who ran for US House in 2010 and is current chair of Florida’s Tea Party Network) ran for and was elected State Committeewoman to the RPOF from Lake County REC. This article came up and she was blasted, I think very unfairly, for Mr. Steinhauser’s comments.

No one is absorbing anyone. And with all due respect to Mr. Steinhauser, his talk is not helping anyone. He’s making a classic “Us vs Them” populist argument that is often used in Class-Warfare tactics. I personally do not approve of such talk. This will only divide current REC members and incoming Tea Party people who are joining the Republican Party of their own accord.

I know for a fact that many Tea Party people scoff at the idea of joining the Republican Party aside from registering as one to vote. However they will also be the first to tell you that if you think you can make a difference by joining the Republican Party, that you should do so.

My opinion? I think it’s just conservatives coming home to our natural conservative party. I joined the REC not because I am Tea Party member and wanted to take over the REC, but because I am a conservative and I think I have something to add to the REC. I can only assume Patricia Sullivan joined the REC of Lake County and ran for State Committeewoman for the same reasons.

So I say to long-time Republican Party members: Rejoyice in the new and eager blood who wish to join. Some of us may be Tea Party members, however we are not here to push you out, but to complement you. Embrace us and we will embrace your wisdom and experience.

To my fellow Tea Party members: If you are there to take over the REC or state Republican parties, then you are in it for the wrong reasons. If you joined the party because you are a conservative who is in it to recruit and elect conservatives into office, then you joined for the right reasons. The Republican Party is in the business of electing Republicans into office, and not much more. It is nothing personal for them, so don’t take it personally.

Again, this is not a “Us vs Them” zero-sum game here. We each have our roles to play. The Tea Party is a citizen grass-roots effort to get government to listen to the people again and the Republcain Party is there to recruit/elect conservatives into office. There is little light between both movements, so there should be no surprised that there will be spill over. In the end, can’t we all just get along?

I respect Brendan Steinhauser for his work at Freedomworks. This is also not personal. I just highly disagree with his statements.

However after seeing the raise of the Occupy Wall Street movement all over the place, I am now regreting the fact that I don’t have one and I can’t afford a gun right now.

First let’s look at the Second Amendment (this is more for you gun-control socialists of Occupy Wall Street than for you vast right-wing conspiracy people):

“A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”

Well Regulated Militia

The problem with language (one that will only get worse with time, I’m afraid) is that words lose their meaning and then get placed some where else. Take the word “Gay” for example. At first it meant someone was happy or odd. It had nothing to do with homosexuality.

While the meaning may have change, intent has not. Federalist No. 29 makes it clear that “Militia” is anyone who can pick up a gun and can defend.

I’m also happy to announce that the U.S. Supreme Court in District of Columbia v. Heller defined “regulated” as not government regulation as we know it today, but meaning “disciplined” or “trained”. I honestly think everyone should be disciplined/trained to used firearms, whether or not they want to own a gun/rifle. When I went through basic trainning in the Army, I found using the M-16 very easy dispite my initial apprehensions of not ever using a rifle before. However I was not just given the gun and told to fire it, I was given instrution to respect its deadly nature and trained throughly on how to use it.

So the meaning and intent of “A Well Regulated Militia” has been vetted, even by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Right Of The People

Again, Justice Antonin Scalia put to rest the meaning and intent of this clause of the secound amendment:

Nowhere else in the Constitution does a “right” attributed to “the people” refer to anything other than an individual right. What is more, in all six other provisions of the Constitution that mention “the people,” the term unambiguously refers to all members of the political community, not an unspecified subset. This contrasts markedly with the phrase “the militia” in the prefatory clause. As we will describe below, the “militia” in colonial America consisted of a subset of “the people” – those who were male, able bodied, and within a certain age range. Reading the Second Amendment as protecting only the right to “keep and bear Arms” in an organized militia therefore fits poorly with the operative clause’s description of the holder of that right as “the people”.

I could not have put it better myself.

Of course the progressive left loves to give rights only to subsets of people. This is why we have affirmative action* and hate crimes*. If they can define “the people” only for certain people, then only certain people can have rights. Limiting people rights is one way of controling people and they know this for a fact. Communism and socialism are not about the rights of the people, they are about control through goverment.

I am not a slave to no man or government, not even to my own.

Keep And Bear Arms

Justice Antonin Scalia, once again in District of Columbia v. Heller, puts it better than me the part of the secound amendment:

Before addressing the verbs “keep” and “bear,” we interpret their object: “Arms.” The term was applied, then as now, to weapons that were not specifically designed for military use and were not employed in a military capacity. Thus, the most natural reading of “keep Arms” in the Second Amendment is to “have weapons.” At the time of the founding, as now, to “bear” meant to “carry.” In numerous instances, “bear arms” was unambiguously used to refer to the carrying of weapons outside of an organized militia. Nine state constitutional provisions written in the 18th century or the first two decades of the 19th, which enshrined a right of citizens “bear arms in defense of themselves and the state” again, in the most analogous linguistic context-that “bear arms” was not limited to the carrying of arms in a militia. … Rather, they (the petitioners, District of Columbia) manufacture a hybrid definition, whereby “bear arms” connotes the actual carrying of arms (and therefore is not really an idiom) but only in the service of an organized militia. No dictionary has ever adopted that definition, and we have been apprised of no source that indicates that it carried that meaning at the time of the founding.

For once, the true function of the U.S. Supreme Court comes through** and it came through on the side of right. They clearly stated that the individual right of the veried people in the United States allows us to carry arms to protect themselves and our country. Admiral Yamamoto was understandably fearful of invading the United States for this one reasona lone: There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass.

Occupy Wall Street

Should I be fearful of Occupy Wall Street? Maybe, maybe not.

Still, the anti-Semitic and socialist fever of the Occupy Wall Street movement fills me with sense of dread. I hate to invoke Godwin’s Law already, but isn’t this how Nazi Germany started?

Think about it. First you have an economic crisis (Great Depression/Great Recession), then you find and demonize a scapegoat (Jews/Rich People), and finally then you bring down the current system with violent means (Reichstagsbrand/Occupy Wall Street?***). The American Nazi Party declared its full support for Occupy Wall Street. They must see something we don’t. So while we could easily dismissed Occupy Wall Street as a movement, we really shouldn’t. Nor should we be sympathetic with them at any level.

I hope I am wrong. I hope Occupy Wall Street fizzles out this winter. Still, I personally regret that I cannot afford a gun right now. They are not that far away from me and thus I am not beyond being effected. I do not wish to go out and kill anyone, but only to protect myself and those around me.

*I can spend all day and night on this subject, but I’ll leave that fot another post.

**Again, I can on and on with this subject.

***Raw Video And Transcript: OccupyLA Speaker: Violence Will Be Necessary

You have the right to remain silent… Forever. Anything you say or do can and will be held against you in a court of public opinion. You have the right to speak to an attorney, in Hell. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you by the eternal Dark Lord Shaitan. Do you understand? Well, you don’t have to because you are dead.

Gabriel of Ace Of Spades HQ says that this is a good start to the weekend. I disagree. It’s a good way start to the month of October.

I would also like to go up to any ACLU memeber and shake their hands right about now. I mean, I won’t even tell them why I am shaking their hands. I’ll do it wearing my Lake County Republicans shirt, just to confuse them further. If ask why I am shaking their hand, I will congrat them on Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize.

Stacy McCain remembers Anwar al-Awlaki as the Facebook Friend From Hell. However I choose now to remember him as the Facebook Friend From Hell, Who Is Now On His Way Back To Hell. (Welcome, Robert Stacy McCain readers!)

The world is now a better place without Anwar al-Awlaki. The leader of al-Qaeda 2.0 is dead. It’s a shame that we didn’t catch him before the Fort Hood shooting. Let us just be thankful his tour of terror is at an end.

And, while it’s cheap and easy to take swipes at the President over U.S. foreign policy, precisely what anyone would do differently or better (about Egypt) is not abundantly clear.

My response was simple. It was in the form of a video:

Key Quote (2:00): Nobody panics if everything goes “according” to plan… Even if the plan is horrifying!

The Joker in this moive is right about one thing: As long as everything goes according to plan, even if it’s causing dismay or great shock, then no one panics.

The thing abundantly clear to me, is that President Obama had no plan for any of the Arab Spring or its consequences. Oh, in his Cairo Speech he talked a good game for democracy in the Middle East and then immediately made no follow-up plans in case it happened. Then when the Arab Spring hit like a ton of bricks, Obama and the State Department looked like a bunch of chickens with their heads cut off. They still do.

Ok, you might make the arguement that they could not have pridicted this would happen. I’d only buy that arguement before and during Tunisia. As soon as IT hit the fan in Tunisia, Obama should have gotten with his Foreign Policy people and hammered out a plan for that country and others to follow.

This is not a cheap and easy swipe at President Obama and the current State Department. It is an accurate criticism to be sure. In some arab nations like Egypt, Bahrain, and Yemen (noted allies in the War Against Terror), he took quick action and called for the outster of their leaders. While some like Syria and Iran* (noted non-allies in the War Against Terror), he took his sweet time calling them out on killing their people. In one such internal conflict, Libya, we even went to war kinetic military action agaist the ruling regime!

What we have learn? NOTHING!! There is no plan here! You can’t define the Obama Doctrine, because there isn’t one! I dare say there still isn’t one! The looming humanitarian catastrophe in Egypt just proves my case!

Smitty, I can tell you what someone with half a brain could have done differently: Come up with a half decent plan to deal with the onslaught and the consequences. Or, at the very least, make all of this look like just part of the plan. Instead, we have a guy who fumbled around and looking every bit the idiot in the White House. He didn’t see this coming and played it by ear with each new nation that burned, and he even had a hand in burning one of them. Take no pitty on that man in the White House, he deserves none!

This is not a leader we see who shapes world events, this is a follower who is only swept away in world events and reacts only when these events sound a deafening cry.

Last night, Standard & Poor’s lowered the US Government’s credit rating from AAA to AA+. Honestly I think they were too kind and we got off light. I wouldn’t buy US Bonds if they were the last investment in town, and that has been my stance for years now.

Ok, first let’s look at Standard & Poor’s rating system and see what this means.

‘AAA’ – Extremely strong capacity to meet financial commitments. Highest Rating.
‘AA’ – Very strong capacity to meet financial commitments.

Note: Ratings from ‘AA’ to ‘CCC’ may be modified by the addition of a plus (+) or minus (-) sign to show relative standing within the major rating categories.

So, we just went from Extremely Strong to the positive end of Very Strong…

My fellow Americans, we were lucky to get even that. If I was to rate our credit worthiness, I would give a F-! Our bonds, in my honest opinion, is below junk! Our debt and deficit is wildly out of control, and we have idiots like Ezra Klein advocating we further monetize the debt. I am thankful Rick Santelli was there to check him. Just because Ezra Klein’s engaged to an economics reporter at Slate, does not make him an economist. Even I know inflation is wrong, wrong, wrong!

But I digress.

The Debt Debate is over. There will be no redo. Conservative Republicans now have to look to the future. I call this future the 2012 Budget. If we are to do anything about the debt long-term and deficit short-term, it’s in that budget. If we can get our deficit under control, we can lower our debt over time.

Is there no way we can bring up the Ryan Plan again and couple it with a Balance Budget Amendment?

Hell, even French President Nicolas Sarkozy is going to run for re-election on a campaign to push adding a Balance Budget Amendment into their constitution. But what choice do they have? France (while they still have their “AAA” rating, by the way) have seen their borrowing costs jumped to 27% above German borrowing costs resently and their debt is currently at 81.7% of their GDP.

President Nicolas Sarkozy sees the writing on the wall, why doesn’t our own President? I’ll tell you why: Obama is, at the very least, quasi-socialist and opposes a Balance Budget like the French Socialist Party. He talks a good game about reducing the debt, but doesn’t want to do anything about it. Barack Obama talks about investing in the future, but there will be no future if the United States goes bankrupt.

One can say we already are bankrupt, we just don’t know it yet. I say to hell with that, the ending has not yet been written. We, THE PEOPLE, control the future. So today is the first day of the rest of our lives. What will you with it?

Pundit Round-Up:
One (Term) And Done: U.S. Debt Downgraded – BigGovernment.com
Life After D-Day – HotAir.com
VIDEO: Bachmann Demands Resignation Of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner – The Other McCain
The Downgrade Delirium – Michelle Malkin
Unprecedented: S&P Downgrades US Debt to AA+ – Ace Of Spades HQ

[N]o one has yet been able to answer WHY we should choose Rick Scott over Bill McCollum. Just because Rick Scott has never been in elected office, does not make him more of a good guy over McCollum. I mean, just look at Jesse Ventura’s tenure as Governor of Minnesota. The people hated him when he left office and he couldn’t run for a second term, even if he wanted to. Do not get me started on Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Again, I’m going with the proven leader over the unknown.

I still have no computer, but I’m currenting fighting against the clock right now to say I told you so.

Look, there is a time and place for unknowns. It’s called the US Congress. Or one of the state’s legislature. Even local office. Well, I told you so:

Doug Guetzloe, a conservative activist who has long fought SunRail, bashed Scott for “a fatal political error.” He noted that very conservative voters are responsible for what remains of Scott’s approval rating, which hovers around 30 percent in several polls.

“I think he just lost half of that, and I think he will now become the most unpopular sitting governor in the history of the state of Florida,” Guetzloe said.

Sen. Paula Dockery, a moderate Republican from Lakeland who was sympathetic to Scott in the primary, was also sharply critical of the move. Dockery has helped lead the charge against SunRail, saying the ridership projections don’t justify the state’s investment in the project.

“This morning, Governor Scott had his Secretary of Transportation announce that he will betray the trust of the conservative electorate who put him in office by moving forward with the least cost-efficient commuter rail project in the nation,” Dockery said in a blistering statement issued by her office. “This decision has completed the governor’s transformation from businessman to political insider.”

Scott also drew charges of hypocrisy from supporters of a high-speed rail line from Tampa to Orlando, a project backed largely with federal money that he canceled earlier this year.

“Governor Scott used all the right arguments to green light the wrong rail project,” said Sen. Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa.

I warned you. I warned you all that this might happen. We could have had a proven conservative governor, but no, we had to go with the “outside business man who has held no public executive office before.” Take out “business” and you have Barack Hussein Obama in a nutshell.

Rick Scott will now become our Jesse Ventura and, if we are unlucky enough, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Let’s just hope there is no sex scandale waiting in the wings.

Come, I will hide nothing from you. I did not vote for Rick Scott. I voted for Jennifer Carroll and I’ll stick to that story, and it’s the truth.

So, there you have it. Love me, hate me, take it, or leave it. Like Rush Limbaugh, I do not jump on the bandwagon. I am not a trend setter. And I call it like I see it. I will continue to do so in the future. If I agree with you, then we have an accord. If I don’t agree with you, then I will have a darn good reason for it and will explain my stance.

Can we all agree on this definition? If so, let’s look at progressive Richard Eskow’s counter “austerity” plan:

Say what you will about Rep. Ryan’s budget proposal, it’s a vision. (…) It may not be a good vision, but it’s a vision.

Where’s the progressive vision for 2021? Where’s the dream people can seize upon and make their own? Where’s the ideal that can energize activists? Where’s the extreme position from which the Democrats can be “bargained down” so that they, too, can only get 20% more than they asked for when the negotiations began? If they’re not going to do it, we have to do it for them.

Here’s a start: First increase Social Security retirement benefits by 15%, across the board, by lifting the payroll tax cap and imposing a financial transactions tax. Second, increase income taxes on a sliding scale that goes up to 60% for the highest earners in the country. (It’s been as high as 90% during periods of our greatest prosperity.) Third, add $500 billion to our stimulus spending over the next two years, and keep adding it until unemployment is down to 4%. Fourth, immediately add a public option, “Medicare For All” plan that’s voluntarily available to Americans of all age brackets.

Before I go into this nonsense, let me state that you should honestly read that whole article. He is one progressive who admits the true power of the Tea Party; its independance from the Republican Party and bottom-up, grassroot nature. Sure some members of the Tea Party should get involved in the Republican Party (at least at the local level), but the Tea Party and Republican Party should remaine seperate for all times. Eskow thinks progressives are too married to the Democratic Party to really be effective. However I am not too worried about them learning this lesson or getting their act together. Just look at what happen to the Coffee Party.

Now let’s get into Richard Eskow “austerity” plan:

• First increase Social Security retirement benefits by 15%, across the board, by lifting the payroll tax cap and imposing a financial transactions tax.

15%? My goodness! And he wants to pay for it by raising and imposing taxes!!

Look, right now we are taking out of Social Security more than we are putting into it. That wouldn’t be much of an issue, but all that is sitting in the Social Security office is boxes of IOUs from the federal government. So we are adding to the debt to pay back what should have been a locked box. I honestly think that any real reform of Social Security means that in the future, the US Treasury can no longer borrow money from Social Security. It just can’t happen any more.

And if lifting the payroll tax cap wasn’t bad enough, he wants to impose a financial transactions tax for which (I hope) would go to help pay for this increase in Social Security benefits. Now I am no economist, but even I can see this would stifle financial transactions in an economy where banks are not loaning anything to anyone already. Banks and financial firms would also just transfer the burden of this tax to their customers.

• Second, increase income taxes on a sliding scale that goes up to 60% for the highest earners in the country. (It’s been as high as 90% during periods of our greatest prosperity.)

Ah yes. Tax the rich. Bill Whittle shows us that you can’t eat the rich:

If you are going to raise taxes for the rich, you should raise it for everyone. If we are honestly that bad off that we must increase taxes, everyone must put skin in the game.

• Third, add $500 billion to our stimulus spending over the next two years, and keep adding it until unemployment is down to 4%.

Yeah, like the first $700+ Stimulus really worked the last time round. ‘Nuff said.

• Fourth, immediately add a public option, “Medicare For All” plan that’s voluntarily available to Americans of all age brackets.

I like it how he leaves off how we are going to pay for a public option or that a public option would drive every insurance company out of business. Hell, a public option couldn’t even pass a Democrat control congress and with a Democrat in the White House. What makes Eskow think he will get one now?

More Of The Same

So this is his answer to Paul Ryan‘s plan? Richard Eskow’s ideas are not reform based or even comes close to the definition of austerity. They are more of the same ideas that have failed. I can understand if they would like to cut spending and raise taxes*, but more spending and more taxes would not cut our deficit or debt.

People, we don’t have a tax or revenue problem. We have a spending problem. It’s not just over-spending, but the millions of pork barrel projects that is not always needed or useful. We need to get it into their heads that it is our money, not theirs. Unless we as a nation can get our spending under control, taxes and revenue will be the last of our worries. And I’m all for reforming the tax system here in the United States, but let’s also work on our spending problem.

[Cross-Posted On Practical State.com]

*Not to say that I agree with that idea. Raising taxes would only encourage more spending.

Angry? Yes. Am I motivative for 2012? Hell Yes!!

The Deal

((Sources: Right Turn – Hot Air – Ace Of Spades))

$38.5 Billion. We are now spending $50 Billion a week- A WEEK!! Cutting spending by only $38.5 Billion for the rest of the year, seems rather silly. It is a (weak) start to say the least and clearly it is not enough. However this is the largest spending cut in federal history and that should count for something. For some perspective, CNN is reporting that this “proposal would cut more than $500 billion from the federal budget over the next 10 years*.” I would also like to note that for all the talk of Democrats wanting to raise taxes for the rich, there were no tax increases**!!

There is no defunding of Planned Parenthood, ObamaCare, and NPR. I’m really sad about the Planned Parenthood part. However we will get an honest up or down vote on three of them in the Senate and get Democrats on the record. Sure they won’t pass, but at least we forced a vote and we can now run on these issues in 2012.

One thing they did get, was real oversight/audits on the mandates for ObamaCare and Frank-Dodd. That will go a long way to making the case for the repeal for both. And on top of that, there is no new funding for the IRS for ObamaCare. Biggest thing we did get, is the DC School Voucher makes an epic return! So we can be happy about all those things.

I would talk about the ban on funding for abortions in Washington DC, but Democrats have in the past supported this, so it’s not really something to gloat about. I only note it because others have.

You think you are unhappy? We are not the only ones. Ezra Klein is completely unhappy with the deal:

Boehner’s the political winner here. Managed his caucus. Got dems to agree to more than expected. Averted a shutdown. He was very effective.

Listening to this speech, you’d think Obama was the one arguing for larger cuts.

Shorter dems: these cuts we’ve been resisting and denouncing for months are historic and we’re proud to be passing so many of them.

If Ezra Klein doesn’t like it, then it can’t be all bad.

Personal Thoughts

Am I happy? No. Did I want more? Yes. Was I looking forward to a shutdown? Yes.

Am I going to abandon or trash talk those who made/voted for this deal to avoid a shutdown? No.

I can pick this deal apart all day long and find things I don’t like about it. I could also demagogue Boehner and the conservative freshmen for giving up, but that would get us nowhere. Do not get me wrong, I am not saying you should like this deal. I don’t like this deal. But we honestly have bigger fish to fry.

The Debt Limit and 2012 Budget are the more important fights. While we didn’t get all we wanted in this year’s federal budget, we did get cuts. Now that we have firmly won the debate we need to cut spending and we don’t have a tax problem. I’m looking to get a lot more in the next two rounds.

The Debt Limit debate will now start and I’m assuming there will be another late-night deal at the eleventh hour. Make no mistake, they will raise the debt limit. However if Boehner can get something -ANYTHING- while raising the limit, then I will be happy. A Balance Budget Act/Amendment that will limit spending to a percentage of the GDP, will go a long way with me.

Then after that, we have the 2012 Budget to go through. I honestly think this cut in spending will set-up the debate in our favor. We have Democrats, including Obama, on the record saying that we need entitlement reform. Let’s hit Obama over the head, starting now and often, with his Debt Commission. We must have real entitlement reform or it will not work.

All of this, however, underlines the point that we must win the Senate and White House in 2012 and get even more conservatives in DC. We must be just as motivated, if not more so, in this upcoming election like we were motivated for the 2010 election. If we stick to the issues, then our cause is great and just. My personal focus will be here in Florida, where I will be working to unseat US Senator Bill Nelson. My personal favorite to replace him is Col. Mike McCalister (website).

[Cross-Posted On Practical State.com]

*From a top Republican aide. I’m not going to impune him on this, because I do not know all the factors. While we need real cuts now, it’s something to consider before slamming this deal.

**As far as I am aware of. Correct me if I am wrong. I will also update if I get different information.