Freedom of BLEEP

Yesterday, President Obama announced that he would like to exempt small businesses from capital gains taxes for the next year to help them through the tough economic times.

How does this help small businesses? It doesn’t really. This is clearly a strategic maneuver to deceive feeble-minded Americans into believing that our Government is providing tax relief. And the Democrats know that they’ll get away with it since many Americans couldn’t define capital gains tax to save their own life!

Why encourage small businesses to invest in stocks and bonds if we want them to start hiring more workers? It’s not just a logical fallacy; it’s duplicitous trickery intended to avert our eyes from the many ways that Democrats are actually raising taxes on small businesses. Even the New York Times admits that Obama hasn’t brought much to the table for the small businesses of America.

How exactly are the democrats raising taxes on small business?

1.) Under the proposed health care legislation, employers with payrolls exceeding $250,000 will have to provide health care to employees or pay up to an 8% penalty tax. It’s important to emphasize this is based on payroll exceeding $250,000, not based on net profits exceeding $250,000. This is going to have a huge impact on many, many small businesses in America.

2.) In addition to the cost of providing insurance, a surtax of 5.4% will also be levied on some small businesses to pay for the new government-run health care system. Democrats argue that this will only effect 1.9% of small businesses, but these figures are misleading. They include sole proprietors (that don’t have any employees) as small businesses. It’s the successful businesses in the top 1.9% which produce the most jobs.

3.) Democrats have proposed a new tax to help pay for the war in Afghanistan. Again, this will be aimed at those “earning more than $200,000 or $250,000.”

4.) Democrats also plan to repeal of a form of inventory accounting that tends to reduce business taxes. This is a particularly sneaky way to raise taxes on small businesses without the general public noticing.

5.) Democrats have been pushing for mandates that will require investment partnerships to pay the regular income tax rate instead of the lower capital gains rate. Small business owners have spoken out against such reforms, yet Democrats passed this as part of a “Tax Relief” bill.

6.) Oh, and by the way, capital gains taxes are actually increasing by at least 33% for everyone in America, and up to 69% for small businesses. Sure, small businesses will be off the hook for one year, but in 2011 Obama will be increasing the base capital gains tax rate to 20% — and the 5.4% health care surtax will also apply to capital gains on top of that. So that’s a 69% capital gains tax increase for America’s job-producing small businesses.

Why are small businesses so important?

Here are just a few statistics taken from the US-SBA:

• Small businesses represent 99.7 percent of all employer firms.
• Small businesses employ over half of all private sector employees.
• Small businesses pay 44 percent of total U.S. private payroll.
• Small businesses have generated 64 percent of net new jobs.

Increased Energy Prices

Cap and Trade will require utility companies to supply 20 percent of their power from renewable energy sources by 2020. The Senate was unable to pass a smaller mandate in 2007, mainly because favored sources of renewable energy just don’t work in certain regions of the country. This standard will force utilities to increasingly rely on expensive sources of energy like wind and solar – expensive because they must be located far away from urban areas, necessitating long transmission lines. The associated costs will find their way into your monthly utility bills.

Forthcoming Obama Tariffs

The Cap and Trade Bill will give the Obama administration broad new powers to enact tariffs on imports from countries that have not imposed similar offset limits. All of the inexpensive goods we enjoy from the East will become more of a luxury. Additionally, the Obama Tariffs will inevitably lead to other countries placing tariffs on our goods and our economy will suffer even more. According to the New York Times:

A House committee working on sweeping energy legislation seems determined to make sure that the United States will tax China and other carbon polluters, potentially disrupting an already-sensitive climate change debate in Congress. The Ways and Means Committee’s proposed bill language would virtually require that the president impose an import tariff on any country that fails to clamp down on greenhouse gas emissions.

Increased Fuel Prices

Relative to other companies in the energy sector, domestic oil refineries will receive a low number of permits. This will rapidly decrease the supply of gasoline. Even if refineries are able to meet offset limits through improved efficiency, the associated cost will still be passed down to consumers. Not only will you be paying more to fill your own tank, but you’ll be paying higher prices for everything you buy that has been transported.

Inefficient Government Expenditures

The projects receiving grants and financing under this legislation will not go to the cheapest bidder or even to the most competent contractor. Instead, companies will be required to implement Davis-Bacon union-wage rules, making it hard for non-union companies to compete. Most often, the grants will be paying inflated union wages.

Handouts for Other Nations

The Cap and Trade Bill will channel billions of dollars into subsidies for “international clean technology deployment for emerging markets.” For some reason, Democrats want to spend huge sums of money trying to impose our regulations on other countries. And remember, we’re talking about money taken from your pockets through cap and trade taxes. The value of the dollar is dropping, interest rates are shooting up, we are under a mountain of debt… But liberals want to give our money away to countries like China and India - countries that are already on track to surpass our GDP.

Increased Appliance Prices

The bill even extends to cover appliances. Washers and dryers, dishwashers, showerheads, televisions, and just about anything else you might want to buy will be subject to strict efficiency regulations. Like everything else, the price for these appliances will go up.

Another $25 Billion for Detroit

It’s part of the Auto Bailout Ad Infinitum Program.

Government Galore

Who do you think will be tracking offsets, micromanaging manufacturers, inspecting factories, inspecting power plants, inspecting farms, inspecting your house, inspecting imports, collecting tariffs, reviewing subsidy applicants, testing appliances, monitoring retailers, managing auctions, calculating costs, awarding grants, writing reports, and organizing data - all in between games of solitaire? Dozens of taxpayer-funded government agencies that run about as efficiently as your local DMV.

CAP AND TRADE IS A TAX ON THE MIDDLE CLASS

After 3 AM on the same day it was up for vote, Democrats added 300 pages to the Cap and Trade legislation. Let’s take a close look at yet another bill that was passed by Congresss without even being read.

Section 217 says that the Federal Government will be able to require a homeowner to retrofit their home to meet certain environmental standards before it can be sold. Some homeowners may actually be required to replace their windows, faucets, toilets, water heaters, insulation, and anything else that doesn’t meet government efficiency standards - all before the house can be put on the market. This could easily exceed $20,000 in out-of-pocket expenses. Not to mention the hassle associated with trying to get a government employee to show up at your house for the inspection. It will be worse than waiting for the cable guy.

Section 433 is pretty interesting too: “Protection of Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds.” This section suggests that jobs will probably be lost because of cap and trade. That’s right, Democrats actually realize that this bill will hurt our economy. In a nutshell, administrators of Medicare and Social Security will be able to tap into general revenues of the U.S. Government, if it is determined that the Cap and Trade bill has resulted in a reduction of revenues going into those two trust funds. As if the government doesn’t already tax us enough for Medicare and Social Security.

An equally disturbing matter is that the legislation seems to acknowledge cap and trade will be a tremendous cost to consumers. On page 1193, the bill describes an Energy Refund Program. Basically those making less than $50,000 a year will get checks from the government to compensate them for increased costs caused by cap and trade. If you make more than $50k? Well, you’re screwed. And where do you think money for refunds will come from? Tax payers of course! The same tax payers who will be paying higher prices for everything they buy, all thanks to cap and trade.

Wall Street Journal reported that cap and trade could cost families almost $2000 per year by 2020. That estimate was formulated before the last round of changes.

Nancy Pelosi announced today that she will bring a sweeping health care reform bill to the House floor by the end of July. And if Americans want to continue to enjoy the highest quality health care in the world, they need to speak up and tell the government to stay out of it! While a great number of Americans complain about the cost of health insurance today, they will soon be complaining about the lack of access and declining quality of health care if the Democrats are able to push their legislation through.

In the absence of checks and balances, Democrats will misbehave.

Obama said “Our health care system is broken. We are not going to rest until we’ve delivered the kind of health care reform that’s going to bring down costs for families, improve quality, affordability, accessibility for all Americans.” He is clearly out of his mind if he honestly believes that a universal, government-controlled health care system is the solution. The heavy hand of the government may artificially bring costs down, but it will destroy the quality, limit accessibility, and control the treatment options of all Americans. And Obama will rob us blind to cover the cost, asking Americans to sacrifice their paychecks for a “greater good.” Considering the United States is one of the unhealthiest countries in the world, it’s going to take a lot of sacrifices to get those who’ve made chronically unhealthy lifestyles choices nursed back to health. When someone else is picking up their doctor’s bill, where’s the incentive to make the right choices?

One can look to any country with socialized medicine and find a host of serious problems, but let’s examine our majority parties’ favorites: Canada and England! In Canada, terminally ill patients are waitlisted for weeks to get into a specialist, and even longer afterward to get treatment. Contributing to this massive problem is the mass exodus of doctors from the country. To deal with this flight, Canada is replacing doctors with nurses, who obviously haven’t been through the rigors of medical school. Talk about some quality health care!

In England, the picture is even bleaker. Even former Prime Minister Tony Blair voiced his concern that the government just cannot provide adequate health care to all citizens, especially with the poor lifestyle choices of many citizens. He put it correctly when saying “individual actions impose collective costs.” This is precisely the problem of socialized medicine, and socialism in general. Even more problematic is the rationing of treatments, where patients with less favorable prognoses are kept on waiting lists until they die from their ailments.

Simple economic principles show that when prices of goods are artificially pushed down, the demand skyrockets, and shortages result. Remember what happened when Oprah gave away coupons for free chicken last week?? Now imagine every person in America had free coupons for medical care.

Moreover, medical innovation declines because companies can’t recoup their research and development costs. This is when the government steps in, further increases taxes, and creates their own research agency to develop limited “cost effective” treatments that may not benefit all patients. With never-ending lines and poor/limited options, these liberal policies beg the question: what good is free health insurance when there’s no health care? Government intervention is a slippery slope, and our country is sliding into a gigantic disaster.

Obama’s agenda is clearly to thrust the government further into every facet of our lives, so that we become more and more dependent upon it. It’s amazing that Democrats don’t feel insulted, since the party they advocate is convinced that Americans are mentally-challenged lemmings who can’t take care of themselves. After this last election, I’m beginning to believe that a majority of them are.

The Obama Power Grab, Part V

Multiple banks have tried to pay back their bailout money (with interest) but the Obama administration is refusing to accept it. Even banks that have reported profits since the bailout and have successfully restored investor confidence are being forced to sit on piles of borrowed cash. CNN also reports, “It’s likely the Treasury will not permit bankers to return taxpayer money for many more months.”

The reason for this is clear: the government wants to control these banks, just like they control GM and Chrysler. Why? Well for one thing, the Pay for Performance Act was just passed by the house. This legislation allows the government to dictate pay for anyone working for any company that accepted TARP money (in other words, it has nothing to do with performance).

If the government can fire the CEO of GM and mandate what comes off their production lines certainly they will take unprecedented authority over the banks as well. They will be able to regulate who can receive loans, ultimately determining which businesses in the US can stay open. Chairmen have already been threatened with “adverse” consequences if they persist in trying to pay the loans back.

While it’s disturbing that the government could have this much control, it’s even more disturbing who will now be running these banks… A man who couldn’t even figure out how to pay his taxes!

Obama’s Power Grab, Part I

Thanks to the liberals in office, our government will now be deciding where your donations to charity go. They will be taking money out of your taxes to give to charities of their choice. Charities like tattoo removal. Obviously they are selecting charities backed by their campaign donors, possibly making this one of the most corrupt pieces of legislation in American history. So much for Obama’s promise to clean up Washington…

You don’t think tattoo removal is a worthy cause? Adding insult to injury, the Obama tax plan will also reduce the deductions for voluntary charitable contributions (in addition to increasing the taxes of those making over $250,000 - otherwise known as the top 2% of Americans who already pay more than 40% of all federal income taxes!!). Many are rightfully angered by the proposition, arguing that not-for-profits can barely survive amidst the downturn in the economy. They rely on each and every dollar coming in from donors, and reducing the charitable donation tax deductions will most definitely decrease donations.

Liberals love to vilify the rich by painting them as selfish misers, only out for the tax benefit of donating. Of course those who are already predisposed to donate will continue, but when you take away the additional tax benefits, it is only reasonable to assume that people will reduce their contributions during tough times.

But charities be comforted! Peter Orszag, Obama’s director of the Office and Management Budget, assures that in the recovery act “there’s $100 million to support nonprofits and charities as we get through this period of economic difficulty.” That is, if you are one of the liberals’ pet charities. As NYT-labeled “fundraising expert” Robert Sharpe Jr. says “The administration’s proposal is doing just that, reordering charitable priorities by taking money wealthy people would have given to other charities and making it go into the health care system.”  Unfortunately, health care is only one of the many “charitable contributions” that the government is making with taxpayer dollars.

I’m curious where it says in the Constitution that the government is equipped to “reorder” American citizens’ priorities. This is just another way that the democrats are taking personal decisions out of the hands of Americans and making the decisions for them. Should the government really decide which charities are worthy and which aren’t?

Instead of developing a plan to save their company, the brainiacs at GM spent their last resources on a huge ad campaign to increase support for their initial bailout. And they are already asking for more money!

If you checked your Gmail or AOL account prior to the first bailout, you might have see ads that looks like this:

In the end, their efforts only served as another reminder that this company is a sinking ship, and the first 17 billion they received only delayed the inevitable. Now they want a second bailout for twice that amount - another $39 billion!

How is GM losing so much money? Well for one thing, their workers currently make about 44 percent more than Toyota workers in the United States. The average worker wages at GM amount to $69 per hour, while American-based Toyota facilities average only $48 per hour. Toyota doesn’t allow unionized labor.

While bailout bargaining, the United Auto Workers have repeatedly said they would be willing to renegotiate their current contracts. But truth be told, all concessions the unions have made are trivial. They’ve only agreed to reduce medical benefits for retired workers by less than 10 percent, and temporarily suspend pay to laid off workers (who previously got 95% of their pay indefinitely). This policy was muscled in by the union and basically made it impossible for GM to cut their payroll. Now the company finally won’t have to pay for workers that aren’t working… Yeah, those union leaders are really bending over backwards.

Fearing that they will lose their power, the unions have also propagated a myth that filing for bankruptcy won’t help GM. In reality, chapter 11 allows companies to restructure their contracts and internal organization. GM would no longer be obligated to provide extravagant benefits to their overpaid employees, and they would not have to fulfill supplier contracts they can’t afford to meet. Just look at United Airlines - they emerged to be an even stronger company after filing for bankruptcy.

Bankruptcy would probably help GM even more than the measly $17 billion band-aid, especially since they lost $39 billion in a single quarter last year.

Still, many are worried about what could happen if GM goes completely out of business. People seem to love bad news, and so the media has been reporting that a total of 2.5 million jobs will be lost if GM disappears. These projections are greatly exaggerated, however. First of all, the derivations assume that all of The Big Three go out of business (not just GM), which is unlikely since Ford has enough cash to last a year and a half.

Additionally, several innovative American car companies have been able to rise in the wake of The Big Three Failures. Carbon Motors, for instance, will have their E7 on production lines this year. This vehicle is essentially a ready-made police car that’s loaded with features and offered at a price that beats the competition. For years, state governments have been purchasing Big Three models only to transform them into police cars and emergency vehicles. So why didn’t GM, Ford, or Chrysler come up with this idea?

Amid the doom and gloom of the tanking stock market (thank you, Mr. Geithner), Americans have another thing to worry about…their health. More specifically, our health care system is getting a government overhall, and it’s enough to make me sick.

Buried within the birth control and TV coupons are provisions that will give the U.S. government broad control over the way the system is run. Tom Daschle, an ardent supporter of socialized medicine, has provided the framework for the new healthcare system. If you have any knowledge of his stance on this issue, I’m sure that your insides just turned (assuming you also have a brain).

The procedures we are able to receive and drugs that we can buy will be determined by a government “board,” giving unaccountable beauracrats the right to play God with American lives. The bill specifically says that the government will “guide” doctors’ decisions. The idea is to make health care more affordable by restricting access to only those procedures and treatments that are “cost-effective.” What the plan fails to take into consideration is that each of us respond differently to treatments: “one-size-fits-all” medicine doesn’t work. If an cancer drug is in the experimental stages, it may turn out to be “effective” and save many lives; but the government may step in and determine that it won’t save enough lives to justify the cost.

Another major problem is the control that the board will have over Medicare. Currently, if a doctor believes that a procedure is necessary, Medicare usually covers it. However, now the government will determine whether the procedure is “cost effective.” Meaning, if you are 70 and in need of a life-saving and/or prolonging procedure, you’re probably set to check out soon anyway. What’s another 10 years of life when the government can save millions and provide digital television to many “non-working” Americans! Plus, senior citizens are living too long and collecting too much Social Security already - they need to save some for the rest of us!

The end result will look something like Britain’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE, what a joke!) and National Health Service (NHS), a health care system that many liberal congressmen drool over. It’s telling that this same system has been accused of causing 17,000 preventable deaths every year and destroying the hopes of the many dying cancer patients. Once a health care system that foreigners would flock to, ours may soon be much worse that anyone could imagine.

Facebook staff has displayed an appalling lack of ethics this week.

An Ad from Facebook

It should be pretty obvious that the “Get Your Obama Check” ad campaign is a total scam. Basically you give them five bucks and they send you a pamphlet so that you can get a “$12,000 bailout.” Then after stealing your money they probably sell your email address to a spam advertising company.

Why is Facebook hosting a scam campaign? All ads are hand-picked by Facebook (I know because I’m applying to advertise another project), so why would they pick a company that wants to steal your money? Since Facebook has a vested interest in the success of the scam campaign to maintain their client base, Facebook is essentially trying to scam you. They’re trying to take advantage of people who believe in our President.

Mark deserves a swift kick in the nuts for this. Send the creator of Facebook a message to express your displeasure (he’s the one with no “add as friend” link). He already knows about this campaign because I’ve sent him multiple messages about it.

By the way, you won’t be getting a $12,000 bailout. Obama has consistently fought against putting tax cuts in the stimulus package. Likewise, he has fought against grants for small business to stimulate the economy. As a matter of fact, the only funding he has pushed will give the government (and himself) more power.

More Scam Ads from Facebook

Over 70% of U.S. businesses have announced freezes on hiring and/or pay increases. My employer is included in this figure, which is frequently hailed as one of the most recession-resistant companies in the world.

And it looks like the freezes will be around for a while. In the words of ADP’s CEO, this will “likely continue [...] into 2010.” Why do businesses in the United States expect this economic crisis to last so long? Isn’t the government about to pass out an $800 billion stimulus package?

Well, the Congressional Budget Office says only 25% of the money will go out this year. Most of it won’t be spent until 2011 or 2012. How is this supposed to help the economy?

It won’t. An analysis by the Wall Street Journal indicates that only 12% of the stimulus package legislation could plausibly be considered an economic stimulus. No wonder CEO’s have said they won’t be hiring for awhile.

It sure is convenient for the politicians though, as their porkbarrel money will be spent right before elections. And if you still think your government cares about you, think about what will happen to the economy when we print $800 billion dollars and just put it into circulation as if it were mana from heaven. Over the next four years, we’ll see inflation skyrocket while we are stuck with stagnant wages. But we’ll save the economics lecture for another post.

As a side note, the stimulus package could fund all of the soup kitchens in America for about 15 years if we eliminated the wasteful spending. And considering the direction that our government is taking us, this would probably be a good investment.