Yesterday, I wrote about Obama’s 180 degree turn from proposing the sequestration cuts and vowing to veto to keep them, to blaming Congress during the Presidential debates, to currently blaming Republicans for sequestration. (more…)
Is anyone else getting a little bit tired of the President of the United States continuing to blame Republicans for sequestration?
Time for some flashback — (more…)
During the State of the Union last week, Obama issued a call to raise the minimum wage once again. He cried forth, “Tonight, let’s declare that in the wealthiest nation on Earth, no one who works full-time should have to live in poverty, and raise the federal minimum wage to $9.00 an hour”. What he fails to comprehend or deliberately ignores is that the impact of such a policy on small businesses — the backbone of our economy — would be devastating. Higher wages inhibits a business’s ability to grow and invest. (more…)
Here’s a rundown of the top Obama lines from the State of the Union, along with the appropriate responses:
“After years of grueling recession, our businesses have created over six million new jobs” — Mainly for the government and IRS (more…)
The idea that government spending is necessary in order to keep an economy going is a Keynesian theory that hasn’t proven worthwhile in the last four years. At the same time, business growth has been sluggish to non-existence because of – not in spite of – current government policy. (more…)
Perhaps the Republicans need to revive the bipartisan Simpson-Bowles package as their Republican bargaining strategy over the next few months since it contains the very things Obama is now calling for. Just before the Superbowl, Obama conducted a CBS interview. During that discussion, Obama claimed that “There is no doubt we need additional revenue, coupled with smart spending reductions in order to bring down our deficit,” he said. “I don’t think the issue right now is raising rates.”
Consider this: during earlier debates regarding Simpson-Bowles, the main stumbling block for Republicans was the tax increase for highest income earners. This sticking point, however, was settled during the Fiscal Cliff deal when the tax margin was raised for the $400K/$450K threshold.
Meanwhile, while the Democrats claim to despise the spending cuts in Simpson-Bowles, it could be/should be argued (as it was previously debated in 2010 and 2011) that such cuts are the necessary counterpart to the tax increases which the Republicans have now yielded to –a true “balanced approach” (the Democrat’s favorite buzz word).
The virtues of Simpson-Bowles are that it includes entitlement reform, actually reins in spending, simplifies the tax code, and most importantly, is a bipartisan commission that originated from President Obama. And because Simpson-Bowles originally had more Democrat support than Republican support, it would put the Democrats in a tough spot if they rejected it once again — especially since Obama made the remarks he did earlier this evening.
Coming off the miserable Fiscal Cliff deal and treading water in the debt ceiling and sequestration debates to come, offering the Simpson-Bowles package may be just what the Republicans need as a rallying point for true reform. The economy is contracting. The Simpson-Bowles package is already written. We all know what is in it. Republicans — just do it!
We heard the unexpected news that the economy contracted for the first time in three years. For all the pundits who claimed that spending our way out of recession was the answer to our economic recovery, it hasn’t proved worthwhile. However, instead of acknowledging failed policy, the Left resorted to more blame and outright ignorance. (more…)
There is a persistent idea circulating that the current tax margins are really not all that high when compared to past rates. This line of thought is typically used as justifications that 1) the government deserves more revenue and 2) the wealthy taxpayers can afford higher taxes. The truth, however, is that obtusely higher rates in the past were rarely ever paid at that amount because they were easily offset by abundant tax deductions universally used by the wealthy. (more…)
Obama continuously tells us he has made jobs a priority. ”I will not rest until everyone has a job, a good wage, and benefits.” -Barack Obama, July 8, 2010.” So how does this assertion square with the revelation that Obama’s Jobs Council has not met in a year? (more…)
Obama wanted to let the Bush tax cuts expire for all. During his push all through election season, he tried to sweeten the deal with targeted tax breaks for small businesses. But this plan and strategy only clarified Obama’s lack of any real world business experience as well as his continuous capacity to undermine the economy. (more…)