Stop overTaxing Our People

Republicans are within two points of the rasmussen generic ballot.  Freed from the Bush label, the party is poised to comeback. Rep[ublicans need a visionary leader to get the party back on track. We endorse the man of steele. http://www.draftmichaelsteele.com/ Learn more about Lt. Gov. Steele then sign the petition supporting him. The party leaders will hear us.

Open government does not exist in the shadowy world of the Federal Reserve Bank. The Federal Reserve is a quasi private bank. It is independent and not under Freedom of Information and open government rules. Now that it has spent 2 trillion dollars and is potentially inflating the money supply, Congress has decided to ask some questions.

“During the bipartisan negotiations between Congress and the administration, members of both parties made clear that Congress must have meaningful oversight over the use of taxpayer dollars,” Boehner said. “Transparency is even more important now, given that the program appears to have been implemented in some ways that were given little to no discussion as Congress was being urged to pass the rescue plan.”

Senator John Cornyn of Texas, a member of the Republican leadership, said the lack of disclosure “should trouble taxpayers and policymakers alike.”

“There cannot be accountability in government and in our financial institutions without transparency,” he said. “Many of the financial problems we are facing today are the direct result of too much secrecy and too little accountability.”

Representative Scott Garrett, a New Jersey Republican who serves on both the Financial Services and Banking committees, said “it’s impossible to get to the bottom of where we are because we don’t have transparency.”

Too bad no one thought of that before.  I am more concerned with the fact that they just came up with the money out of no where.  Calculations are indicating that they have tripled our money supply by printing 2 trillion dollars.  Where it goes should be less on our leader’s minds then where did it come from.  I think I will just buy a small wheel barrel now.

The Republican Party begins debating its future Thursday in Virginia, where a group of leading conservatives will meet to discuss how to rebuild their movement. Party governors continue the conversation at a meeting next week in Miami.

Thus begins a battle for the soul of a party whose coalition has been fractured by war and economic turmoil after nearly three decades of electoral success.

Personally I would like us to start by choosing Michael Steele as National Chairman, then adopt the American solutions platform. After that we can argue over the endless details. Karl Rove did not want someone independent in the RNC for 2007 to 2009. That was his big mistake in an otherwise fine career. Now we need a titular head of the party like the Democrats had with Dean. No one available would fill that role better than Lt. Gov. Steele. He is a genius at party building. I hope our Delaware delegation to the RNC seriously promotes this choice.

Congratulations to President elect Obama. As an African American, I am gladen by the message sent in this election. After 250 years of slavery when only 3/5ths of our number were even worth counting, 100 years of segregation (only ending during my parents generation), we are undeniably full partners in the American experience. May God bless this wonderful country. We are not afraid to move beyond the past and into the future.

Let us do so with wisdom, not abandoning our best traditions of free markets, family values, and freedom. That is what we shall stand for here regardless of who is in office.

Audio radio ad of Anderson endorsement-by Ray Clatworthy
Mr. Clatworthy requested that I post this. I gladly comply.

David, below is the letter that I sent to both the DSN and to the Dover Post. You are going to win!
RC

Dear editor:
I enthusiastically endorse David Anderson to be the 3rd Levy Court district commissioner. I have known David Anderson for a many years and he has one of the sharpest public policy minds in our state . He has been featured as an analyst on local news. He was one of the advocates who helped keep the wind farm issue alive when it appeared dead in the Senate. He has been a leading voice for common sense values and taxpayer’s rights.
Just as importantly, David Anderson is a good person. He is a man of deep faith, patriotism, and love for his family. His qualifications are outstanding by any measurement.
David has been involved in our community in many different ways. He has been involved in education issues for years including serving on two school boards. He has been involved in church groups such as Kent County Coordinator for Meet at City Hall National Day of prayer. He was part of the save Lamb Jam committee. He has been a vital part of food distribution efforts for organizations serving the needy. David was a Read-a-Loud Delaware participant. He has been a supporter of the Pregnancy Help Center. He worked with Compassion Ministries in order reduce the recidivism rate for prisoners.
(more…)

Suppose that every day ten friends go out for beer and fodder and that the tab for all ten comes to $100.

If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes it would go something like this:

The first four (the poorest among them) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth (the wealthiest among them) would pay $59.

So, that’s what they decided to do. The ten friends drank in the bar every day trading fodder and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner of the establishment threw them a curve. ‘Since you are all such good customers,’ he said, ‘I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily tab by $20.’

Drinks for the ten would now cost just $80.The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six friends - the paying customers?

How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get their ‘fair share?’ They realized that $20 divided six ways is roughly $3.33 for each, however if they subtracted that from everybody’s share the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink their beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

The breakdown was a follows:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing.
The sixth man now paid $2 instead of $3.
The seventh man now paid $5 instead of $7.
The eighth man now paid $9 instead of $12.
The ninth man now paid $12 instead of $18.
The tenth man now paid $52 instead of $59.

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the friends began to compare their savings. ‘I only got a dollar out of the $20,’ declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,’ but he got $7! ”Yeah, that’s right,’ exclaimed the fifth man. ‘I only saved a dollar too, it’s unfair that he got seven times more than I did! ”That’s true!!’ shouted the seventh man. ‘Why should he get $7 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks! ”Wait a minute,’ yelled the first four men in unison. ‘We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up. The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers as they traded fodder without him. When it came time to pay the bill they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them to cover the bill. They were $52 dollars short.

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.

~~

*Many false claims exist but no attribution has ever been credited for the above analogy, too bad …

~~~~~
Matthew A. Opaliski

I believe that local government is a vital but often overlooked factor in our daily lives. It will be even more important in the troubled times we now face. I don’t believe our county government is serving our needs today. It has failed us in managing our money, emergency/disaster management, providing a positive business environment, and even failed in following its own procedures.

Unemployment has soared even faster than the national average, up by a third. We have lost 40% of our manufacturing jobs over the last decade. The banks are suffering, yet we have slashed the economic development outlays from $1.6 million to $73,000 in the last two years since Mr. Angel and company have taken over Levy Court.

I propose an entire agenda laid out on my websites, which include tax credits to new and expanding businesses. I want to use the unique position of the county to allow local businesses to access federal grants to help them with exports and other activities (businesses cannot apply directly—a local government has to participate). I want us to coordinate with existing business development programs better so people will have a one stop information resource. I would like to follow also some of the recommendations of the study we paid to get.

Now is not the time for tax reassessment. It would slam our seniors when they can least afford it. Everything else is going up. Can’t Kent County look out for us? I also oppose a property tax increase. My opponent has a record of raising taxes 43% while on the Capitol school board and stated at a Levy Court budget hearing that we may need to raise taxes.

I believe we need to manage our money better. We need to partner with the municipalities throughout the county to expand libraries accessible to all citizens of the county. We don’t need to go it alone. It makes no sense to duplicate the expenditures when we can be partners. The same is true of parks. I was glad to be part of helping save taxpayers 10 million dollars by opposing the original 13 million dollar Schutte Park facility. I was a vocal advocate of a metal building which fit in the budget. As part of the parks and recreation committee, I participated in the change. I see the same spendthrift instincts with the county. It is seen in the spending of 12,500 on trips by Mr. Angel to Hawaii and elsewhere when everyone else did it for a fraction of the cost. We need to reform our thinking.

Disaster response is a disaster. We remember the Rico spill debacle, and the poor flood responses. The untold story is that Mr. Angel approved County Emergency Management Agency goals which said that It would strife to notify us 90% of the time and respond 80% of the time. I think 100% is the only goal when it comes to my family’s safety.

Please allow me to make Levy Court work for you.

Biden Voted Against The Tax Cuts That Have Saved Delawareans $2.7 Billion Between 2001 And 2005. 1

Biden Is Sponsoring A Bill That Would Subject The U.S To A United Nations Tax, Estimated At 0.7% Of Our Gross National Product, Or Over $100 billion A Year. 2

Biden Has Voted Against Recent Attempts To Provide Alternative Minimum Tax(AMT) Relief. 3

Biden Has Opposed Providing Estate Tax Relief. 4

1.”Tax Relief Kit,” U.S. Department of Treasury Office of Tax Policy, http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/tax-policy/library/tax_relief_kit.pdf , Accessed February 15, 2007.
2. http://www.heritage.org/research/foreignaid/wm1878.cfm
3.”Alternative Minimum Taxpayers By State,” Report RS22083, Congressional Research Service, http://digital.library.unt.edu/govdocs/crs//data/2005/upl-meta-crs-6775/RS22083_2005Mar17.pdf , March 17, 2005
4. HR 5970, CQ Vote #229, Aug. 3, 2006

Here is a deal, we can borrow some money to protect us from losing trillions in wealth, doubling unemployment, and causing millions in the third world to die from lack of medicine, infrastructure, and food. We obtain assets worth several times what we pay for them, and be able to resale them at our convenience to make the most off of them. Who wouldn’t favor that type of deal?

People who oppose the financial rescue plan can’t get stuck in opposition. They risk being penny wise and pound (dollar) foolish. Something needs to happen and happen soon. I am not unhappy that it failed, but we will all be unhappy if we don’t get a new bill passed soon. It did not address deeply enough the problems I wrote about in February. We need to address the underlying issue by allowing people to lock in their arms at fixed rate no questions asked. We need to allow the value of the mortgage-derivative securities to be determined by the income they generate, just like we would the underlying mortgages. The Mark to Market (change the value to whatever thy sell for today) rule passed in the get the Enron frenzy is killing us. The former FDIC chairman and Donald Trump have now said the same thing.

The best way to understand the current market problem is with an illustration.

Imagine if you borrowed money to buy your car and someone came to you every week and said you had to see what you could sell it for and adjusted your down payment based on it. One week you had some transmission problems. It would cost you 1500 dollars to fix it. The bank came and demanded that you see what it would sell for today. The answer is nobody would buy it today, wait for a week. The car is still fine. The engine is perfect, the body is great, and it is still worth $6000 blue book. You owe $5000. The bank values the car at $500 and demands repayment. You can no longer afford to fix it so you let them repossess it.

Your friend helps you out by buying the car for $500 and spends $1500 to fix it. He borrowed the money. He then resales the car to you for $3000.

Was your friend the smart one or the foolish one? He borrowed $2000 after all for a broken car. No, he understood the real value. The foolish ones were the one’s who didn’t understand the value and forced the untimely sale.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) tell us this rescue bill will not cost us much (25B) in the long run. What will cost us is a deep recession or worse.

Don’t let revenge be an economic policy. Don’t trip over pennies and lose dollars. Let our leaders lead.

The likely electorate has become more Republican. The
Western states of MT, SD, ND, and AK are no longer competitive. CO and NM have moved toward McCain giving him the lead in those states for the first time in months. WA state is a two point race. Back east even PA is tied. The lead in the electoral college is no longer Senator Obama’s. The race is too close to call. Palin may be the smartest VP choice since Johnson. (All conclusions based primarily upon Rasmussen reports backed up by Real Clear Politics.)

Noontime, September 11th 7 years ago, found almost all of us praying. There is a movement to pray in all 50 State Capitols and D. C. called Cry Out America. The gathering for Delaware is on the Green. Those so inclined are hereby invited.