The Fiscal Cliff is Looming...

The fiscal cliff is looming, at least that is what the Media keeps touting these days, and why is it looming?  Because those dastardly Republicans won’t compromise with the president by throwing all of their pledges, promises and morals out the window by giving the President exactly what he wants with no argument or debate in the process.  Well, I hate to break it to the major news outlets, but that isn’t how the system is supposed to work.  Just because Obama won the election doesn’t make him the end all, be all, when it comes to how things are going to work in DC.  Obama still has to work with Congress if he actually wants to achieve anything and, as loth as he is to do it, he has to reach across the aisle and start working with Congressional Republicans.  If he refuses, as he has the last couple of years, then nothing will get done and we all will suffer for one man’s stubbornness and stupidity.  Don’t let the Media fool you into thinking that this is all because of the Republicans, they have been trying repeatedly to get things done and have been stonewalled by this administration and the Senate Democrats.

And as for the Congressional Republican…  I know that no matter how this whole fiscal cliff thing plays out you are going to look like the bad guys.  This is due to a complacent Media that refuses to do their job and report the truth; instead, they choose to worship at the feet of the idol of Obama.  Get over it and do your jobs anyway.  We put you in office to prevent Obama and his socialist agenda from destroying the foundation of this great nation, not to turn tail and cower because you are afraid of looking bad.  If you give in and help Obama destroy this nation, you will be replaced in the next election. 

If all the conservatives in this nation (and conservatives still are the majority) have to go Third Party in order to get people in DC who will stand up for conservative ideals and not cave to political pressure just because another party controls two of the three branches.  I know that this would take a while to accomplish but eventually, if the Republicans don’t wise up, they will find themselves completely out of power and a new party with have taken its place.  So please, Republicans, grow a backbone and stand strong.  If you don’t, we all lose.

The Song Was Sung By The Fat Lady

I hate to be the one to bear bad news but I feel it necessary now.  One of the things that I feared would happen has happened.  As such, I am now calling the Presidential election.  I know, I know, you are thinking that is too early to call, but trust me when I say, no it isn’t.  No matter who wins the election at this point, none of them will be any better than what we already have in office, Barack Obama.  The real losers this election year are the American people, plain and simple.  With Michelle Bachmann dropping out there are no more real fiscal conservatives left in the running with the exception of the one person who terrifies me the most due to his global and social policies, Ron Paul.  In case you are wondering what exactly I mean, I am talking about the few choices that we have left in the Republican field. 

First, there is Mitt Romney.  If Obama had a magic mirror that would show what he would be like if he were white instead of mixed, the reflection would show Mitt Romney.  “What do you mean by that?” you are probably asking yourself.  Am I making a statement about the fact that Obama is a “black” man?  No.  I am just saying that the only difference between the two is as superficial as skin color.  As much as Mitt tries to talk about how wrong Obama is and how bad his policies have been, he can never get away from the fact that everything he has stood for in the past mirrors Obama and his policies.  Since that is the case, if Mitt gets elected to run against Obama, we will have a choice of Barak Obama the second term vs. Mitt Romney, Obama 2.0. 

Second, there is Newt Gingrich.  This little man is so twisted in his political views that half the time he is staring up his own ass.  Newt doesn’t know which way he is coming or going from, nor does her care.  He is going to keep barreling ahead, even if it means that he ends up with his head in his ass.  He calls himself a fiscal conservative but his record sings a different tune.  The man is a fan of big government and is of the opinion that government is there to help the people through increasing regulation and restrictions of freedoms.

Third, there is Rick Santorum.  This man like a spinning coin, he spins round and round.  You never know which way he is going to land till he lands and then you are not sure that you like the side he lands on, but that’s ok, he’ll just spin a little more till he thinks that you are happy.  His policies are designed to fit whomever he is directing them toward in his lackluster fashion and he will never commit to one thing or the other out of fear of offending someone, somewhere.

Forth, there is John Huntsman.  Do you know who John Huntsman is?  No?  Don’t feel too bad, most people don’t know him either.  Moving on.

Fifth, there is Rick Perry.  Ahhh, Rick Perry, lovable huggable Texan, Rick Perry…  You know what?  I am not even going to get started on him.  He is not worth the waste of space it would be to talk about.  Moving on.

Last but not least, there is Ron Paul.  Where to start with Ron Paul…  Oh, I know let’s start with the good.  Ron Paul is the only true fiscal conservative in the running.  He believes in cutting taxes as well as cutting a lot of the unnecessary and wasteful spending that goes on in Washington.  He even has the record to back up his claims of being a fiscal conservative and nobody can really dispute that fact.  Unfortunately, that is where the good ends.  On social policies, Ron Paul is a flipping nut job.  He believes that ALL drugs should be legalized and in general promotes anarchy with the rest of his social policies since he believes that ALL government regulation and control is wrong and harmful to the people enslaved by said regulation and control.  On his global policies he believes that every country should stay out of every other countries business, therefor we should let all the other nations of the world do whatever they want no matter of the potential treat it could pose to us.  This wouldn’t be a problem if every nation in the world was content on leaving each other alone, but sadly that is not the way things work.  There are real threats to the US out there that have to be addressed or else they will become a major problem.  Look at Iran, China, North Korea and Russia.  Do you honestly think that they are content to sit by and not try to bully the other nations of the world around?  No, they want to be top dog and everyone with half a brain knows it.  Ron Paul is insane if he thinks the world would ever function the way he seems to think it should.

But, despite the sour and pessimistic note I started this post on there is actually hope.  Something to strive for since the Presidency is lost.  We all need to work hard to get fiscal conservatives that have some backbone (unlike John Boehner) who are not afraid to stand up to not only the Dems, but the establishment Republicans who are content with the status quoi.  We need to fill the House and Senate with people who truly want to see this great nation rise up once again and become the light of freedom for all the world that we once were.  We need to elect people who will stand on principle and not back down because this poll or that poll says that they should.  On top of that we need to elect enough of them to get a veto proof majority so that no matter which one of these 7 losers (count Obama) gets elected into the office of President, they can’t screw up this nation any worse.  I know that electing enough to have a veto proof majority is tough.  It’s a lot harder than focusing on the Presidency alone but we are left with no choice. 

We no longer have Herman Cain or Michelle Bachmann to look too as the next Presidental hopefull.  As I said before, all the options that we have left are no better than what we have now.  We are at a crossroads with this election and I’m afraid that we may have already committed to a path that we can no longer divert from.  We have already lost the Presidency, let’s not lose anything else and maybe we will have the chance to turn this boat around and get back on the right course.

Social Security Relief... Tax Cut or Investment Cut?

I know that this is a little late but, this has been bugging me all of the Christmas holiday so I am going to address it now.  For those of you who do not know, Speaker Boehner caved in to the Senates demands that the House pass their 2 month extension of the Obama “tax cut”.   Speaker Boehner had been standing strong (or so it appeared) against the 2 month extension in order to get a 1 year extension instead.  This would be good for businesses because a tax that only lasts for 2 months guaranteed is hell on them when it comes to doing payroll, where as a 1 year guarantee will insure that the businesses will not have any surprises during the fiscal year to throw them off in accounting.  But I get ahead of myself; let me start with telling you about this “tax cut”.

The “tax cut” that Obama and Reed (as well as the majority of the Dems) have been bitching about is not really a tax cut at all… that is unless they are now admitting that Social Security is a tax.  Up until recently the Dems have always sold SS as an investment into your future for when you retire.  You pay into the system then when you reach a certain age; you get the return on the money you put in.  This would work fine if it were executed the way that it was originally intended to be executed, but instead of the money sitting there waiting for you to claim it, the Federal Government spends it in ways that it was not meant to be spent.  The fact of the matter is; the money that we as tax paying citizens put into the system is already claimed by someone or something (other programs that are deemed important) else instead of staying put for the rightful owners (the people who are paying in.. aka us) to claim at a later date. 

I, myself have said for years that this makes SS a tax as opposed to an investment and the fact that money gets given to other people rather than the ones that put it there.  By this I mean the people who are currently putting the money there, I know the people who invested in the years long gone are now getting paid for what they put in, but the simple fact is, the money they are getting is our money not theirs… theirs got wasted years ago.  I know it sounds cruel to talk about it like that but the simple fact is once we get to the point to where we are supposed to get our return on out SS investment, we will be the ones leeching off of the current generation that is paying in.  That is if SS can last long enough for us to even see a return on our “investment”.  This is one reason I supported George W. Bush’s push to allow people to invest the money that would have gone to SS in stocks instead, there would be a better chance for us to see an actual return on our money.  But once again, I am getting off topic.  Fact of the matter is, the only way that Obama and the Dems can claim what that the “tax cut” that they were pushing for is just that… a tax cut, is to say that SS is a tax which is something that they have vehemently denied for decades.

Now on to what this “tax cut”.  What the Dems want to do is provide an extension for the current “Social Security Tax Holiday” which reduces the amount of SS that is cut from your check when taxes (and your “investment”) are taken out.  The Dems did this to make it look like they could be tax cutters like the Republicans were under George W. Bush.  But the reality of the situation is this… the money that they have cut from being withdrawn goes into the SS system which is already being strained because of wasteful spending and a lack of planning ahead.  Because we are now putting less money in the system that means that when it comes time for us to get out return (once again to remind you… if SS is still around at that point, which would be a miracle) there will be even less money there for our twilight years because we put less in then we should have.  On top of that, the people who are currently receiving our money (because their money has been wasted) have less money to pull from because of the decreased revenue, therefor the Federal Government has to borrow the remaining amount that SS is supposed to cover from other countries or the Fed (but that is a whole other topic all together).

So in light of all this information you are probably wondering why the Republicans are even wanting to push for an extension on this “tax cut” period.  The answer is simple really; they don’t want to look like the party that caused people to have less take home money on their paychecks going into an election year.  It would make them look like they have compromised their principles by “raising taxes” on hard working Americans.  Of course this isn’t true, but we are talking about politics here, are you really surprised?  So it that is the reason that they are for the extension then why are they pushing to make it last a year?  Because as I mentioned before, only extending it for two months puts an unnecessary burden on employers, making them have to spend more time and money when calculating the numbers to pay their employees.  At least with a one year extension, while not good for everyone as a whole, it would help the people who create jobs which would hopefully encourage them to create more jobs since they would have more money because the taxes would be simpler. 

So why did Speaker Boehner cave then and give the Dems the two month extension instead of holding out for the one year extension like he said he would?  I don’t know.  I know that part of that deal was an agreement that they would come back in January and begin talks about a one year extension again, but if he is going to let the Dems push him around like that, then when they go to talk about them again things won’t go as he hopes.  He has placed himself in the weaker position because now the Dems know that all they have to do is lean on him a little and he will fold…  This isn’t this first time Boehner has demonstrated this lack of spine either which only encourages the Dems further.  I am sick of the lackluster leadership that the Republican Party has had in the last few years.  It is time for someone who had the guts to stand up for the good of our nation, not the good of their political career.  Yes that means looking like the bad guy (or girl) from time to time, but something has got to change, otherwise we will become a reflection of Europe and I don’t know if you have paid any attention to what is going on over there at the moment, but it is not pretty.  We need to remove Speaker Boehner and replace him with someone who has a spine and will stand for conservative principles.  If we don’t do that, nothing will change any time soon.