Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Good News: Feds Look Seriously at Attacking the Deficit. Bad News: They're Targeting Retirement Accounts.

There are really no depths to which Democrats won't stoop in order to keep their unconstitutional Ponzi schemes running, are there?

Uncle Sam, in a desperate attempt to fix its $16 trillion-plus deficit, is leering over Americans’ retirement nest egg as its new bailout fund.


Capitol Hill politicians are assessing tax changes that could let the Internal Revenue Service lay claim to a portion of the $18 trillion sitting in 401(k) accounts and other tax breaks used by middle-class workers, including cutting the mortgage tax deduction... as one way to prevent government bankruptcy.

I love the term "tax breaks", don't you? As if it's the government's money, and not yours.

Besides 401(k)s, other possibilities include the mortgage-interest deduction on second homes, as well as benefits from employer-provided health insurance, which are untaxed now.

And once the mortgage-interest deduction is removed for second homes, it won't be much longer until all mortgage deductions are eliminated. Because when the Constitution no longer constrains government, the leviathan becomes insatiable.

And all of these Rube Golberg contraptions should do wonders for the housing market, don't you think?

Last week a group of retirement industry experts went to Capitol Hill to criticize these proposed changes in retirement-plan rules. “These changes could have unintended consequences,” warns Lynn Dudley of the American Benefits Council (ABC).

Testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee about the proposals, Randolf Hardock, of ABC’s board of directors, said, “[The idea] could seriously undermine the retirement savings system.”

Jack VanDerhei, research director of Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), believes either of the two proposed 401(k) changes under review would have a “catastrophic” effect on the current retirement saving system.

Unintended consequences indeed.

How about a really crazy idea? Like the federal government slashes expenses until it's spending only what it takes in? Oh, that's right -- we have a president addicted to trillion-dollar deficits. Forget I mentioned it.


Hat tip: Mark Levin.

Tastes Like Chicken, Kinda

The Obama-Dog Jerky meme just never gets old, does it?


Seamus who?


Graph o' the Day: The United States of France

Funny, you don't look like a European socialist welfare state:

What can Americans learn from the French presidential election? Certainly that France seems to be experiencing the politics of denial. A vote for François Hollande is a vote for fiscal denial... With debt near 90% of GDP, France needs to sharply reduce the size and scope of government. What’s more, a 2010 ECB study found that overall, the EU is about maxed out when it comes to taxes...


...Would a vote for Barack Obama also be a vote for fiscal denial? Well, consider the following:

• The president has offered no comprehensive tax reform plan.

• The president has offered no comprehensive, long-term debt reduction plan.

• The president’s budget will, at best, only stabilize debt at historically high levels. (Better pray we don’t have another recession or financial crisis in the next decade or so.)

Indeed, one might conclude — after listening to the president — that the key to a growing economy and a fiscally sustainable government were higher taxes on the superrich (the Buffett Rule) and blunt Medicare cuts to healthcare providers (IPAB). That’s the politics of denial.

As Europe enters a new and more ominous phase of its recession, one can't help but think of the Weimar Republic and the rise of totalitarianism.

And, it would seem, this is the kind of failing society that President Obama and the Democrat Party wants to emulate.


Larwyn's Linx: Obama admin to use $8.3B “slush fund” to fake out seniors?

Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

Nation

Obama admin to use $8.3B “slush fund” to fake out seniors?: Hot Air
Good News: Obama To Act More Like A Dictator: Cove
Former DOJ official: Obama worse than Bush on civil liberties: DC

5 facts from the 2011 Medicare trustees report: AEI
They Could Be Obama's Sons: HyScience
Twitter lynch mob: Twitchy

Economy

The Bloated Government of America: Foundry
Thomas Friedman: I Didn't Enjoy My Government-Run Train Ride : Ace
As EU Nears Collapse, Will U.S. Follow Suit?: IBD

The Next and More Serious Phase of the European Crisis: AEI
Feds eye retirement-fund tax to cut $16 trillion-plus deficit: Post
U.S. watchdog blasts Medicare quality insurance project: Reuters

Scandal Central

VA Investigating Voter Fraud In 2008 Elections: Ace
Washington Targets Your 401(k): IBD

2012 Elections

Is the Obama campaign getting desperate?: AT
Governor Asterisk Update: Republican Who Endorsed Romney Trashes GOP: RSM
Barack Obama: coming up short among female voters: RS

The Metrics in Favor of a Romney Win: RS
California's Open Primary Stifles Republican Free Speech: Bookworm

Climate & Energy

Key Warming Guru James Lovelock: I Was a Climate Change "Alarmist" And So Is Al Gore: Ace
Madrid 1995: Was this the Tipping Point in the Corruption of Climate Science?: Watts

Media

CBS News’ ‘Hatchet Job’ on Israel: Beacon
Obama Dog-Eater Joke o' the Day: Power Line
A Broken Keith Olbermann Crawls Along Rock Bottom... Somehow I can't summon a single tear: MB

Mainstream media ignores Mia B. Love’s historic first: LI
“Enough With the Dogs Already! (Unless We’re Talking About Mittens’ Dog, Of Course)”: AIR
Was Michelle Obama behind Hilary Rosen's attack on Ann Romney?: AT

Hey, Remember when liberals were anti-lynching?: RSM
Jimmy Wales to Hollywood: You’re Doomed (And Not Because of Piracy): Wired
Treacher Trolls Village Voice Over Obama Dog Jokes, Hilarity Ensues: IMAO

Chutzpah: Killing your parents, then complaining you’re an orphan: Fine Report
ALEC-bashing NPR reporter fails to disclose ties to lead anti-ALEC group: Malkin
NBC News President Admits Network Should Have Corrected Falsely Edited Zimmerman 911 Call On Air: MRC

World

The Savage Lands of Islam: Sultan Knish
Islamist Fellow Traveler: Rep Bill Pascrell: IPT
Obama Selects Woman Who Wanted to Invade Israel As Chair of Genocide Panel: Lid

NKorean military issues sharp threat to South: AP
Book Review: Did Muhammad Exist?, by Robert Spencer: Zombie
About That Bizarro Nork Threat…: Soylent (NSFW)

Sci-Tech

Entry-level ‘iPhone nano’ again rumored to launch this year: BGR
Microsoft sells AOL patents on to Facebook: AP
Research In Motion is dead: BGR

Cornucopia

Nuke the News: When Will Obama Address His Dog-Eating?: IMAO
Smoke 'em If You Got 'em: MOTUS
Mitt and Marco: the WASP and the WHISP: Cube

Image: The Ab-Hancer
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Senate Conservatives Fund

QOTD: "Jimmy Wales has a message for Hollywood: You’re doomed, it won’t be piracy that kills you, and nobody will care... The Wikipedia founder, delivering a keynote address at the Internet Society’s INET convention in Geneva, predicted that Hollywood will likely share the same fate as Encyclopedia Britannica, which shut down its print operation this year after selling just 3,000 copies last year.

“Hollywood will be destroyed and no one will notice,” Wales said. But it won’t be Wikipedia (or Encarta) that kills the moviemaking industry: ”Collaborative storytelling and filmmaking will do to Hollywood what Wikipedia did to Encyclopedia Britannica,” he said[, looking] at a generation of kids growing up in a world of video and mastering editing software at a young age. His own 12-year-old daughter, Wales said, is already adept at iMovie and won a local award for a short film she made." --Ryan Singel

Monday, April 23, 2012

Ben Bernanke and the Pyramid of Doom

Tyler Durden reintroduces The Denninger Exter Pyramid, which offers a compelling hierarchy of asset survivability:

This morning, a vastly expansive essay by Lew Spellman of the University of Texas in Austin titled "Warren Buffett and the New Calculus of Gold" is making the rounds, and while the narrative is largely defensive of gold, and its role as the only true safe collateral in a world rapidly depleted of the latter (as we have been arguing for the past two years) as proven over and over by the fact that the entire modern system now relies more on re-re-re-rehypothection of existing collateral than on spending money for CapEx purposes and to replace an aging asset base, we wonder: is this realization really just now being grasped by the world?

Are the forward thinkers of the world only now understanding that in a world with hundreds of trillions of imaginary collateral whose ultimate owner will never be tracked down, and a daisy-chained bankrupt domino collapse will come before anyone finds out who owns what?


...Because one can spend 30 minutes reading the Spellman essay, or... cast a quick glance at the picture [above] to understand the true value of everything in a world in which the monetary fabulation of the past 99 years is finally unwinding.

One picture in this case is absolutely worth well over a thousand words.

I'm no Paul Krugland, mind you, but I've read enough history to predict what happens to a society that engages in massive, unchecked money-printing operations.

Think Weimar and Zimbabwe.

Bumper Sticker o' the Day


Gas Price Headline Hilarity

May I present a panoply of headline hypocridity? That's a new word I invented just for liberal media, a cross between hypocrisy and stupidity. It just fits.

• 22 April 2012 - On Meet the Press, "unemployed douchebag Keith Olbermann declares gas prices [are] set deliberately high to screw Obama." Probably by investors evil speculators. Or the Koch Brothers!

• 9 May 2006 - On CBS News, "Bush, Big Oil, Slammed On Pump Prices" blamed a conspiracy of President George W. Bush and his oil buddies for driving prices higher.

• 11 April 2004 - In Time Magazine, the neuron-challenged Andrew Sullivan asserted that gas prices were far too low: "even when they peak this summer [of 2004]..., they will be too low...." Sullivan blamed, in part, Bush's drive to addict Americans to cheap oil.

Respectively, the driver of gas prices -- at least according to the Democrat "intelligentsia" -- are: (a) speculators targeting Obama; (b) Bush conspiring with big oil to keep prices high; (c) Bush conspiring with big oil to keep prices too low.

Not supply and demand. Not the free market.

But malevolent actors imagined by Democrat hacks.

Folks, these people are so stupid I'm surprised they can breathe without mechanical assistance.


Gee, I wonder what this Democrat official was going to do with the personal information of 228,000 Medicaid recipients?

Kids, can you say "vote fraud"?

Columbia, SC (WLTX) - State Law Enforcement Division agents have arrested a man they say transferred thousands of confidential state Medicaid records to his personal email account.

Christopher Lykes, 36, of Swansea is charged with five counts of medically indigent act confidentiality violation and one count of disclosure of confidential information... The agency revealed Thursday that 228,435 Medicaid records were taken since January... The documents included names, phone numbers, addresses, birth dates, Medicaid ID numbers and in some cases Social Security numbers.

According to SLED, at least one other party received this data from Lykes. It has not been made public yet who this third party was.

Oh. Did I mention this?

...News 19 discovered a connection between Lykes and two Richland County [Democrat] lawmakers, Sen. Joel Lourie and Sen. Darrell Jackson.

...Lykes has also served as an executive committeeman of the Lexington County Democratic Party.

Well, knock me over with a feather. A Democrat. Involved with vote fraud? Say it ain't so!

It gets better. There was also an attempted -- and, predictably, bungled -- coverup by Democrat Party officials:

...According to the Republican Party, Dick Harpootlian and his liberal minions “scrubbed” the official S.C. Democratic Party website of Lykes’ name. An April 18 screencapture shows Lykes as a Lexington Democratic Party Executive Committee contact, but his name is missing from an April 19 screencapture. Lykes was arrested on April 18.

...Lexington County Democratic Party chair Kathryn Hensley notes that Lykes had been an active member of the Lexington County Dems. Lykes previously served as a precinct officer, but Hensley says he no longer holds that position.

Every time I think Democrats have hit bottom with their vote fraud efforts -- from ACORN to Eric Holder's despicable attacks on voter ID -- I find out that bottom is a relative term.


Larwyn's Linx: President Obama's Enemies List

Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

Nation

President Obama's Enemies List: Foundry
On April 22, Celebrate Exploit-the-Earth Day: ObjStd
Clearing a path for a dictator: Sentinel

Another “novelty” swipe at a conservative Tea Party woman: Malkin
If I Wanted America To Fail: FreeMarketAmerica
Grope and Change: Steyn

Economy

Liberal Nostalgics Are Economic Illiterates: Barone
Even more welfare fraud: Mini-mart owner skimmed $30k per month: DC
Book: GOP Freshman Class Turned Into a Monster for Boehner: WaPo

Bernanke Sends $100 Billion In Foregone NIM To The Primary Dealers: ZH
Marion Barry quadruples down on anti-Asian business attack: Twitchy
Change! 1 in 2 new graduates are jobless or underemployed: ABC

Northeastern University Attacks Holocaust Survivors: AT
Wall Street Isn’t Enough: City Journal
From muggle to media mogul by age 25: ChiBiz

Scandal Central

Reuters: Obama needs vote fraud: Surber
It Was the Power, Stupid: Hanson
Contempt Charges For Holder Imminent – “Weeks Away” According to Issa: Nice Deb

2012 Elections

Revealed: Michelle Obama masterminded Ann Romney Mom smear: NatlEnq
Mitch Daniels unintentionally makes the case against Dick Lugar: LI
Jon "Who?" Huntsman Rips Republican Party: PolWire

Climate & Energy

Astronomers: World may be entering period of global cooling: Watts
Environmentally Sound Energy Independence: Palin
We have more oil than the president says: Chron

Media

Charlie 'Turd' Crist Denounces GOP, Praises Obama: MB
Martin Bashir demonstrates the First Media Truth for Conservative/Republican Legislators.: RS
Man Bites Dog... Likes the Taste: RWN

Science: GOP voters better informed, open-minded: DC
The Obama Administration's 15+ Scandalous "Achievements": Lid
Medical Freedom, Lyme Disease, and Obamacare: Zilla

Questioning ‘The Voice of Authority’: Driscoll
Trayvon Martin and the murder of America’s Fourth Estate: JPA
Obama Media? What Obama Media?: Cube

World

Things That Make You Go Hmmm - Such As A Power Struggle (To The Death) Within China's Power Elite: ZH
Egypt cancels natural gas deal with Israel: Haaretz
London: Don’t ban alcohol — we'll get blame, say Muslim students: IIE

Hollande Tops Sarkozy in France’s Presidential Race – Will Face Off in May: GWP
The Scandalous Lies of ‘Hope Not Hate’: FPM
China & Russia Launch First Ever Joint Naval Exercises in Yellow Sea: GWP

Germany Shows True Colors on Iran: Commentary
Another 60 Minutes Hatchet Job on Israel: AmSpec
Why Do They Hate Us?: ForPol

Sci-Tech

DARPA's Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2011 Test Hit Speeds of Mach 20: DARPA
Infosys Controversy: Homeland Security Investigates Indian Software Giant: HuffPo
No Bull: Lamborghini Is Building a 600HP SUV: Wired

Cornucopia

A bumper sticker is worth a thousand words: LI
Viral Video: Birth to 12 Years in 2 Minutes in 45 Seconds: HapBlog
Death Race 2012: NJ State Police escort 100 mph caravan of luxury sports cars to Atlantic City: WyBlog

Image: Occupy Unmasked
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Occupy Unmasked

QOTD: "Time and again last year, House Republican leaders faced a nearly in­trac­table opponent: the very freshman class that propelled them into the majority with the historic 2010 midterm elections...

The freshman resistance caused feuds among Boehner and his lieutenants that led some to fear a mutiny, heightened several showdowns with President Obama and eventually led to fissures among the rookies, pitting those who seldom trusted the leaders against those who reflexively did, according to “Do Not Ask What Good We Do,” an account of the freshman class’s impact by Robert Draper..." --Paul Kane

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Change! 1 in 2 new graduates are jobless or underemployed

I'm no Charles Rove, but methinks the Obama Get Out The Vote effort will have a tad more difficulty this year than in 2008.

The college class of 2012 is in for a rude welcome to the world of work.

Young adults with bachelor's degrees are increasingly scraping by in lower-wage jobs -- waiter or waitress, bartender, retail clerk or receptionist, for example -- and that's confounding their hopes a degree would pay off despite higher tuition and mounting student loans.

An analysis of government data conducted for The Associated Press lays bare the highly uneven prospects for holders of bachelor's degrees...


...Taking underemployment into consideration, the job prospects for bachelor's degree holders fell last year to the lowest level in more than a decade.

...About 1.5 million, or 53.6 percent, of bachelor's degree-holders under the age of 25 last year were jobless or underemployed, the highest share in at least 11 years. In 2000, the share was at a low of 41 percent, before the dot-com bust erased job gains for college graduates in the telecommunications and IT fields.

Obama 2012
Hey, Kids! We're pretty sure more class warfare will work if you just give us another four years!



Cartoon: TobyToons.com.

Egypt Takes First Step to Shred Peace Treaty With Israel

Dan from New York:

The Muslim Brotherhood has just tipped its hand. And it’s looking more and more like the $1.3 billion Americans fork over yearly to bolster Egypt’s military will someday be used against Israel. It’s time to turn off the spigot, but there’s little chance of that while an Islamophile occupies the White House.

Arutz Sheva, 4/22/2012

Egypt Unilaterally Breaks Off Gas Deal


Cairo breaks agreement that is part of the peace treaty between the countries, damaging Israeli firms.

By Gil Ronen

Egypt informed Israel Sunday afternoon that it is unilaterally cancelling the agreement of supply of gas to Israel. The announcement was made to EMG, the firm that receives the gas from Egypt, and reported on Channel 2 news.

The peace treaty with Egypt includes a financial appendix, in which Egypt agrees to supply Israel with oil. Several years ago the appendix was changed so that the oil was replaced by gas. The treaty commits Egypt to supply Israel with the amount of gas it requires for a specified period, in exchange for payment.

Egypt's unilateral abrogation of the treaty causes "tremendous financial damage" to Israel, and to the Amgas and Ampal companies, according to Channel 2. However, the primary damage is diplomatic, reporter Amnon Abramovich said.

The pipeline carrying gas from Egypt to Israel was blown up 14 times since the Mubarak regime was toppled in February 2011.

Say, how's that "New Beginning in the Middle East" that President Obama promised in 2009 working out?

For you drones: that's a rhetorical question. Hashtag: #epicfail.


The Dirty Little Secret of #BlogConCLT

It's the hazing of third-tier bloggers.

Caution: graphic photos after the break.

Breaking: New Letterhead Unveiled for the Department of Justice

In light of reports that the Department of Justice now refers reporters to Media Matters -- the George Soros-funded propaganda arm of the hard Left -- I felt it imperative to introduce brand new letterhead for the DOJ.

The Department of Justice is using the liberal “watchdog” group Media Matters for America to deflect questions about the Fast and Furious scandal, including those regarding a gun that might have been used in the murder of a U.S. Border Patrol agent.


A new book raises questions as to whether the FBI hid the existence of a weapon recovered at the scene of murdered U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry. Conservative commentator and author Katie Pavlich lays out evidence she says points to a FBI cover-up to protect a confidential informant in her recently released book, Fast and Furious: Barack Obama’s Bloodiest Scandal and Its Shameless Cover-up...
Here's the full back-story:

Katie Dixon, a 'confidential assistant' in the Office of Public Affairs at the Department of Justice, reportedly sent an email to Washington Free Beacon writer C.J. Ciaramella saying that she had been directed to send him a link to Media Matters for America, which holds weekly "strategy calls" with the White House, in response to an inquiry  regarding the Operation Fast and Furious scandal...

...In a tweet Friday evening, @CJCiaramella said:

Requested comment from DOJ re: @KatiePavlich's #fastandfurious book. DOJ sent me a link to a Media Matters article...

The message then linked to a story titled Fast And Fallacious: Pavlich's Book On ATF Operation Filled With Falsehoods. At the time of this writing, Dixon has not responded to Breitbart News to confirm that she sent the email shown in the tweet.

Pavlich's book, which is currently a top seller on Amazon.com, is described as telling readers "in chilling detail, just what this operation conducted by the ATF, under the supervision of the Justice Department, entailed" and saying that "equally appalling is the blatant cover-up of wrongdoing by the Obama administration."

In other words, the Holder Department of Justice is openly collaborating with an ultra-left wing propaganda outlet to continue its long-running cover-up of Operation Fast and Furious.

I spoke with author Katie Pavlich on Saturday and she confirmed that additional disclosures related to her bestselling book -- little gems, as I like to call them -- are on the way.

I can't wait.


Larwyn's Linx: John McCain, the 2008 Election, and Civil Unrest

Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

Nation

John McCain, the 2008 Election, and Civil Unrest: Adams
Executive Order 13547: “The Sleeping Power Grab”: Hot Air
Pelosi: Amend the First Amendment: CNS

All the Morals of a Bulldozer: Sultan Knish
Welcome to Über Liberal World!: RWN
FBI: Four Houston banks robbed within hours: ABC Houston

Economy

W.H. Blows Millions to Train Foreign Students for Outsourcing: WZ
Obama's Smoke-and-Mirrors Student Debt Campaign: AT
Obamacare’s devastating small business tax hikes: DC

Union-Backer On Scott Walker “We Cut Your Head Off”: Cove
Food Stamp Rolls to Grow Through 2014, CBO Says: WSJ
Illinois governor unveils "bold" plan to save pensions: Trib

Scandal Central

DOJ Refers Reporter to Media Matters, Source Claims: Breitbart
Good News: DOJ referring reporters to Media Matters: Twitchy
Stratfor and Business Insider?: Ameristroika

2012 Elections

Tea Party roars: Six-term incumbent Sen. Orrin Hatch forced into primary: Malkin
Dick Lugar at risk of losing Senate seat and reputation: LI
Mia B. Love wins Republican nomination in UT04: LI

Gallup: President Obama on the Brink, Polls Worse Than Carter: Ace
WaPo’s Steven Pearlstein wants to get Democrats, political terrorists together to solve problems!: RS
6 takeaways from the Orrin Hatch race: Politico

Jon Corzine Still Bundling for Obama?!?!?!: WS
The Obama Campaign Should Be Hitting the Panic Button: USN&WR
The Romney Campaign’s Tin Ear: Erickson

Climate & Energy

Earth Day Special: The Media's Top 25 Worst Environmental Quotes: MRC
The Illogic of Climate Hysteria: Watts
In '72, EPA battled pollution; now it's politics: WSJ

Media

Steyn: Diving gleefully into darkness: NatlPost
PolitiFact Goes to the Dogs: Patterico
Cokie Roberts: 'Not As Bad As It Could Have Been' Is Not Really a Good Campaign Slogan: HapBlog

This Is What Democrazy Looks Like: Lady Liberty
From the ‘Too Good to Check’ File: RSM
More Civility from the Psychos on the Left: LoneCon

World

Bolton: Obama taking credit for killing bin-Laden is like Nixon taking credit for landing on the moon: Scoop
Legal Jizya: Taxpayers Billed $180 million for representing Muslim terrorist suspects: Atlas
Communist tyrants and their affinity for Rolex Watches: Babalu

Israel Counterterrorism Bureau calls on Israelis to leave Sinai, citing immediate threat: Haaretz
Dying Chavez Drops Out of Sight: JWF
Turnout solid in French presidential election: CNS

Royal Marine Lance Corporal Matt Croucher: Mellow Jihadi
Muslim mob torches Catholic church in Khartoum: Fox
From a Mexican kingpin to an FBI informant: LAT

Sci-Tech

Android Is Suddenly In A Lot Of Trouble: Insider
Hollywood Studios Lose World’s First Major Ruling on Downloading of Copyrighted Material: AllGov
Video gamers trying to emulate Humber's perfect performance: USA Today

Cornucopia

VRWC converges on Charlotte; awesomeness ensues: Landmark Report
Great Britain Reclaims America: Diogenes
Green Energy Failures Continue to Hound our Campaign: WTF?: MOTUS

Image: Orrin Hatch
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Sean Bielat for Congress

QOTD: "The conventional wisdom is that the election is President Obama's to lose, but after the week he's had, if I were his Chicago campaign office I'd be hitting the panic button.

...The problem is that the president is in big trouble on the fundamentals. No matter which poll you look at, or how much you like the president personally, you'll see that a majority of Americans continue to believe that our nation is on the wrong track—and those numbers are stuck like a freight train facing the wrong way. Similarly, there are large and growing majorities of Americans who disapprove of the president's signature accomplishment, healthcare reform. Across all demographic groups, the number one issue is the economy—yet the number of Americans who approve of the way the president is handling the economy is abysmal. Chicago, we have a problem." --Mary Kate Cary

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Forget Taxmaggedon: here's the tax hike exemption card you were promised by Barack Obama!

The Washington Post calls the panoply of 2013 Obama tax hikes "Taxmageddon":

If you thought paying your taxes was painful this year, get ready for more heartache next year, when taxpayers could be on the hook for almost $500 billion in higher taxes... That's the size of "Taxmageddon."

Taxmageddon is the tax hike set to slam the economy and taxpayers on Jan. 1, 2013. It's made up of seven different categories of tax cuts set to expire, and six tax hikes from the health-care law set to kick in, as soon as the ball drops on New Year's Eve.

Fortunately, you and I are exempt from the Obama tax hikes thanks to his 2008 campaign promise!

A couple of years ago, Americans for Tax Reform offered to ship taxpayers their own, valuable tax hike exemption card for a nominal contribution. Here's the way it worked:

If you make under $250,000 a year and find yourself confronted with any of the taxes highlighted on the Heritage Foundation website or the ATR site ("Tax on Indoor Tanning Services," "Medicine Cabinet Tax," "Special Needs Kids Tax," etc.) simply follow these instructions:

How to use the card:

Step 1: Present the card to merchants, employers, and tax authorities like the IRS.

Step 2: If challenged, pleasantly ask: "How dare you, sir? Are you calling President Obama a liar?"

“I can make a firm pledge. Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes.”

--Candidate Barack Obama, Sept. 12, 2008

“If your family earns less than $250,000 a year, you will not see your taxes increased a single dime. I repeat: not one single dime.”

--President Barack Obama, Feb. 24, 2009

“The statement didn’t come with caveats.”

--Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs, April 15, 2009, when asked if the pledge applies to healthcare

Which should be extremely helpful when the Bush tax cuts expire*.


Hat tip: Amalaur.

* Thanks in part to the ludicrous John McCain -- of McCain-Feingold, Amnesty for Illegals, the Gang of 14, and numerous other affronts to the Constitution.

The 7 Reasons You Will Never Be As Cool As John Hawkins #BlogConCLT

The proprietor of Right Wing News and Linkiest is a man named John Hawkins. Hawkins is famous for his catchy headlines, which often come in the form of lists. Like "The 25 Best Quotes From Thomas Sowell". Or "15 Questions The Mainstream Media Would Ask Barack Obama If He Were A Republican."

In that vein, I present the 7 reasons that you (and I) will never be as cool as John Hawkins:

• John Hawkins will walk up to any woman or group of women -- including the stunning Dana Loesch and Katie Pavlich -- and begin chatting them up for photos. I have a vision of Hawkins' foyer that is lined with hundreds of photos of him hugging every woman on the center-right scene.

• John Hawkins knows everyone. He is an uber-networker and can connect you with the full spectrum of conservative thought, from National Review to Breitbart.com.

• John Hawkins is a prolific reader and he takes copious notes. His collections -- like "The 50 Best Ann Coulter Quotes Of All-Time" -- are outstanding.

• John Hawkins is an entrepreneur. He's leveraged his websites as launching points for a writing career, with his columns appearing at Townhall and PJ Media. I wouldn't be shocked to discover that he has a book and syndicated column in the works.

• John Hawkins is funny. At #BlogConCLT, he had me literally crying and gasping for breath as he outlined various possible "list columns" like "The Top 12 Places You Should Never Wear a Speedo With an Afro-Wig Under It."

• John Hawkins publishes some of the best columns in the business at RightWingNews, with content from Michelle Malkin, Jonah Goldberg, Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams, John Stossel, and many, many more.

• John Hawkins has one of the best collections of entertaining links -- not just politics -- at Linkiest.com. As an aside, Hawkins observed which headlines got the most clicks at Linkiest and tuned his own headline-writing skills there.

So don't bother trying to be John Hawkins. You can't possibly succeed. It's his world -- and we're just living in it.


The One Graphic You Need to See for 2012

Spotted at Reaganite Republican, via BadBlue, is the ultimate 2012 graphic:


This president has set the country on a course for fiscal apocalypse -- and that is no joke.


Curiously, Obama campaign struggles to raise cash as gas prices, inflation, and bankruptcies increase

Even the The New York Times is no longer able to ignore the obvious: Barack Obama is having a very, very difficult time raising money for his 2012 campaign.

Obama Sees Steep Dropoff in Cash From Major Donors

From Wall Street to Hollywood, from doctors and lawyers, the traditional big sources of campaign cash are not delivering for the Obama campaign as they did four years ago. The falloff has left his fund-raising totals running behind where they were at the same point in 2008 — though well ahead of Mr. Romney’s — and has induced growing concern among aides and supporters...

...With big checks no longer flowing as quickly into his campaign, Mr. Obama is leaning harder on his grass-roots supporters, whose small contributions make up well over half of the money he raised through the end of March...

...“They clearly are feeling the pressure,” said one major Obama fund-raiser, who asked for anonymity to characterize his conversations with campaign officials. “They’re behind where they expected to be. You have to factor in $500 million-plus in Republican super PAC money.”

...Mr. Obama has held more than a hundred joint fund-raisers since last spring, far more than President George W. Bush during his 2004 re-election, and has tucked fund-raising stops into many of his official presidential trips.

...All told, about 58 percent of Mr. Obama’s total fund-raising during the election has come in checks of less than $200, compared with about 38 percent in 2008. In March alone, Mr. Obama took in $14.2 million worth of checks under $200 — more than all the money his campaign raised in February.

Even Obama's SuperPACs are suffering. The Hill reported today that Priorities USA is begging Bill "Did somebody say 'Columbian Hookers'?" Clinton for fundraising help.

And if you're on Obama's various mailing lists -- as I am -- you're sure to have noticed that his appeals for cash are now structured as contests. The entry fee is always the same: $3. And you're enticed with the offer to eat dinner with he and Michelle (caution: just keep clear of her hands and mouth while food is served), a chance to win a date with Bill Maher, or an opportunity to vacation in Spain.

Not only is Obama struggling in his fundraising, but he's also turning out to be political poison within the Democrat political establishment. Key Congressional representatives are openly badmouthing his policies. Democrat candidates, who flocked to him in 2008, are advised to stay as far away from him as possible.

There's much work to be done to defeat Obama in 2012. But these are encouraging signs.

Larwyn's Linx: Barack Obama Schools Debbie Wasserman Schultz 'Don’t Forget, You Work For Me'

Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

Nation

Obama tells Wasserman Schultz “Don’t Forget, You Work For Me”: Shark
Fired Secret Service Agent Eligible for $2.1MM in Pension: Beacon
Boston hates Barack: President Obama booed at Red Sox game: Twitchy

Barack Obama's Polygamist Roots: AmPower
Smear-Troll @Dan_Verg_ Commits Libel With Bogus Tweet: RSM
Coroner: Breitbart died of heart failure, hardened arteries: LAT

Economy

‘He kept us out of depression’ vs. ‘He kept us from prosperity’: Peth
Food Stamp Fraud: Open Trading of Food Stamps on Social Nets: Twitchy
Despite Recession, Gun Sales Still Booming: Bruce

Awesome: Breitbart’s ‘Occupy Unmasked’ trailer released: Scoop
‘The 2012 National Debt Road Trip’: AmRight
Even more anti-semitism at Occupy Wall Street: Power Line

2012 Elections

‘Mormon Mitt’ Meme Keeps Popping Up in Mainstream Media: RSM
Manchin: I may not vote for Obama in November: Hot Air
Dems Fret About Their Virulently Anti-Israel Congressional Candidate: Beacon

Scandal Central

Third Smoking Gun in Fast and Furious?: Beacon
‘Gunwalker’ suspect gave ATF and border authorities plenty of clues amidst lies: Codrea
Mission Accomplished: Frawley joins Blago and Rezko in the Silence Chamber: IP2P

Climate & Energy

Maybe Don Surber is Right: DTG
Steve Zwick Says Burn The Deniers (Metaphorically)!: Briggs
Uh Oh Global Warming Devotees – Some Glaciers Are Growing: Sentinel

Media

MSNBC: We Reserve the Right to Lie About You: Power Line
Coulter: Obama’s silver spoon was ‘an affirmative action silver spoon’: DC
Olbermann unleashed: Wanders, pouts in Central Park: Twitchy

Oops! Dem Governor Bashes Romney for Polygamist Roots – Forgets About Obama’s Polygamist Dad: GWP
After Weeks of Misreporting – Media Releases Bloody George Zimmerman Photo: GWP
MSNBC Genius of the Day: NASCAR Racers Go 500 Miles Per Hour: Powers

Obama's War on Dogs: Lady Liberty
Breitbart Portrait Presented to Team Breitbart at #BlogConCLT: AllAm
“If I wanted America to fail”: NoisyRm

World

The Elephant of Jew Hatred: Glick
Holder Refuses to Enforce the Law Against WikiLeaks and Russia Today: Kincaid
Shocking nation, Norway killer describes island massacre: Reuters

Sci-Tech

The Isaacson biography of Steve Jobs: Hayek
Google-Sun court docs reveal long Java licensing dance: CNet
Microsoft Looks To Stall iPad With New Windows 8 VDI License: CRN

Cornucopia

Fast Food Bracket Round 3: OTN
Geekgasm alert: five Star Trek captains appearing together on stage: Troglo
Rare Penny Auctioned in Illinois: ABC

Image: Power Line
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Senate Conservatives Fund

QOTD: "...maybe it’s stretching the definition of “mainstream” to include the Daily Beast and MSNBC, but the predicted eruptions of the “Mormon Mitt” meme keep occurring with increasing frequency...

...They’re now doing the same to Romney with the “Mormon Mitt” meme: Establishing the map-grid coordinates, as it were, so that when the signal flare goes up, everybody is aiming at the same target and Romney is helplessly trapped in the media kill-zone...

...You can see it coming a mile away, folks. Don’t say you weren’t warned." --Robert Stacy McCain

Friday, April 20, 2012

Breaking: A.G. Eric Holder aggressively pursuing rampant food stamp fraud on Twitter. Just kidding. He's not.

A follow-up to this morning's "Chart illustrating the uncanny resemblance of the federal government to an organized criminal operation":

It's not enough that tens of billions of dollars are wasted each year on food stamp fraud. One would assume that it's done surreptitiously and cautiously, away from the public eye. And one would be wrong.

Because it turns out, as Twitchy discovered, that criminals are openly buying and selling food stamps on the social networks.

Food stamps aren’t just a hot topic on Capitol Hill and among presidential candidates. They are also a much-discussed topic on Twitter... According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, food stamp trafficking is illegal ... Yet many Twitter users openly discuss the purchase or sale of food stamps:


Gee, government is such an outstanding steward of our hard-earned money, ain't it?


And I'll bet they'll put those extra funds confiscated by "The Buffet Rule" [sic, intentionally] to good use. Those damn rich people. They don't deserve their money!

Because if there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's that a massive, bloated, authoritarian, extra-constitutional and centralized government knows how to spend our money better than you and I do.


Image Credit: JanetAirlines.com.