Adding to the previous blog, Congress is also considering cutting medical costs by reducing sodium levels in packaged foods and at restaurants.  Just imagine the possibilities.  The Federal Government could micromanage every milligram we ingest.  But wait, what about the number of breaths each of us takes each day?  Another possibility being considered is putting a cap on the deduction for charitable giving.  Talk about de-incentivizing generosity.

Congress and its panel of economic “experts” continue to outdo themselves.  Tax everything that moves, micromanage our sodium intake, and punish charitable giving.  Yep, these sound like real worldbeaters.

Democratic leadership is considering a myriad of tax increases to fund a potentially monolithic health care package.  Ideas being thrown around include higher taxes on alcohol, cigarettes, and sodas.  Other proposals include taxing company health benefits and health savings accounts.

Here’s an idea.  Why not just get it over with and tax everything to pay for all this spending?  Tax the people.  Tax the animals.  Tax the trees.  Heck, why not even tax the microscopic organisms that live in the soil?

Now, before a torrent of Democrat and Obama bashing ensues, let’s remember that the Bush administration and a largely Republican Congress cut a whole slew of taxes.  Yet, the budget was never balanced, and the national debt doubled.  That’s because federal spending exploded.

It’s a stark reminder that cutting or raising taxes by themselves won’t cure our ills.  It’s all about the spending.  We print too much, borrow too much, and spend too much. Until we cut spending, and cut it significantly, no amount of tax cuts or tax hikes will forestall the day of reckoning for our nation.

Read the article here.

Despite April being tax month, the Federal Government ran a budget deficit for the first time in 26 years.  Many blame a massive surge in government spending, more corporate bailouts, and rising unemployment for the lackluster tax receipts.  Last year, despite a $450 billion budget deficit, even the Bush administration and a Democratic Congress were able to generate a sizeable surplus in April.

To be fair, however, while the Obama administration and current Democratic Congress have accelerated the pace of deficit spending to dizzying levels, the Bush administration, in conjunction with a Democratic led Congress, passed over $700 billion in government bailouts.  The Bush administration supported these gargantuan bailouts, McCain and Obama voted for them, and a whole lot of other Democrats and Republicans voted for them as well.  There’s plenty of blame to go around.

Read here.

As the next round of Tea Parties fast approaches, we need to ask ourselves some tough questions in order to provide substantive answers to our detractors.  For example, critics claim that the Tea Party movement is driven almost exclusively by partisan politics.  They claim that the rallies are motivated by anti-Obama & anti-Democrat sentiment.  However, we claim that the protests are non-partisan in nature.

What specific evidence can we point to that would substantiate our claim?  Have any Democrats attended or planned to attend a Tea Party rally?  Have any other political groups, besides those affiliated in some way with the Republican Party, participated thus far?  Have any Republican individuals who were openly critical of the Bush administration been able to contribute?

These are some of the tough questions critics continue to ask.  Let’s hear your answers.

Some say the Republican and Democratic parties are a lot different.  Others say they’re pretty much the same these days.  How’s this for irony?  One of George W. Bush’s 2004 campaign slogans was “Yes, America Can!”  One of Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign slogans was “Yes We Can!”

Read here.

Despite $170 billion of taxpayer money, AIG still managed to post a 1st quarter loss.  And despite $13 billion of taxpayer money, GM still managed to post a 1st quarter loss.  Talk about pouring our money down a black hole.

Mortgage finance giant, Fannie Mae, already received $15 billion of our money earlier this year.  Now it wants billions more.  If you recall, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were pronounced to be fundamentally sound by Senator Chris Dodd and Rep. Barney Frank before collapsing and being seized by the Bush administration.  The pillaging of the US taxpayer continues.

Read the article here.

National unemployment spiked from 8.5% to 8.9% in April. With at least another 539,000 layoffs last month, employers have cut 2.6 million jobs this year so far. Ironically, there was one sector that saw 72,000 new jobs: government. As we all know, there won’t be a whole lot of production here.

How high do you think unemployment will go under President Obama’s administration?

For comparative purposes, here are the unemployment rates under the previous five presidents. Each of these presidents inherited and/or presided over some type of recession.

Jimmy Carter: High- 8.6% Low- 5.6%

Ronald Reagan: High- 10.8% Low- 5.0%

George Bush Sr: High- 7.8% Low- 5.0%

Bill Clinton: High- 7.1% Low- 3.8%

George Bush Jr: High- 7.6% Low- 4.2%

This year’s budget is about $3.45 trillion.  The latest Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimate puts the budget deficit at approximately $1.85 trillion this year and at least $1.1 trillion next year.  Based on this year’s federal budget, cutting $17 billion would amount to a whopping 0.5% of the budget.

How much would you propose cutting?

Read the article here.