Tag: Painful Truths

Glenn links to this:

Marco Rubio files amendment to punish IRS agents who leak taxpayer docs

– but that is just papering over the problem. The problem is the tax system itself– ridiculously complex and riddled with perks for those with the money or the power to game the system. Ordinary folks need not apply. We need a tax system that is evenly allocated and forces everyone to comply, no exceptions. A national sales tax would do that – a tax on consumption, not income – which would apply equally to a Michael Bloomberg or to me. No exemptions, no deductions, no VAT. No forms to file.

The infrastructure is already in place; it would be relatively painless to implement.

States should also be forbidden an income tax; they, too, would have to rely on a sales tax, and would be forced to be careful how high it was, risking driving business and citizens into lower-taxed states.

The price increases would look painful at first until you realized that nothing was being deducted from your paycheck. The cost savings from reduced overhead would be enormous.

And to me the greatest benefit of all would be the masses of government employees who would have to find jobs in the private sector they so despise. The actions of our government in my lifetime- Democrat, Republican, whatever- have convinced me that a wholesale housecleaning is long overdue. IRS, EPA, DOE, HUD, etc., etc., – I’m talking about you.

It will be wrenching. But if we don’t take back our country we are going to lose it- in our lifetimes. The signs are all there if you have the guts to see.

Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty.

This is known as “bad luck.”

      — Robert Heinlein

 

Matt Drudge is a bad, bad man

Article here

The Dems are going to have to decide quickly what side they are on. As Wretchard says

It is in the long-term interest of the Democratic Party for their foreign policy in the Middle East to succeed, because even with the press on their side they cannot wholly escape the effects of failure.  By contrast candidates have shorter cost/benefit horizons. They only need to survive long enough to get theirs.  Once that is done their loyal serfs are left to make shift as best they can. Defending the leadership at the cost of courting a foreign policy disaster must mean that the Party will eventually hold the bag.

But anyone who thinks Hillary and Barack will reward them for their sacrifice should ask themselves how Chris Stevens fared when he pleaded for help. Can they expect better?

So the basic problem with defending Benghazi at all costs is that a political party has effectively painted itself into the corner of failure; maneuvered as it were by Darrel Issa into taking the wrong side, into reinforcing failure just to prove they can do it. They have to keep eating the broken glass if only to demonstrate that it is delicious.

Maybe they can do it. But a moment’s reflection will show it is a dumb thing to do. For there are two hearings on Benghazi; the first is taking place in Congress, which may or may not be successfully spun. But even if it could be, there’s a second hearing concurrently running in the halls of history which they have no prospect of winning. The demons that ate up Benghazi have joined  into a mighty river of chaos that is washing away national boundaries in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and in the Kurdish regions. The Son of Benghazi is spreading chaos and destruction everywhere.

Cornered rats, the lot of them. Of course, I have my own opinion…

A musical comment.

[uber_audio id=”9″ accent_color=”#ed283b” second_color=”#cccccc” playlist=”5″ ui=”dark” width=”225px”]

(click to embiggen)

pic courtesy Lileks

Dan Jackson is somewhat pessimistic about our future as a nation:

• We elected not once, but twice, as President a man who openly practices class warfare and who believes government is not a protector of liberty but a glorified nanny that needs to take care of us because we are too stupid to take care of ourselves.  While it is disputable as to whether he “hates” our country, he certainly does not believe in American greatness or exceptionalism.   I truly never thought I would see the day when an American president would actually apologize for our country to such stewards of human fairness and equity as the Egyptian parliament.

• The voting public rejected Mitt Romney, who in addition to being eminently qualified for the job of President, was perhaps the most fundamentally decent man to ever run for that office.  Instead solid majorities chose to believe obvious and vitriolic lies about him being an indifferent and none-too-bright plutocrat who relished firing people and watching their wives die of cancer.  For a majority of American people to accept without question such a ridiculous caricature of Governor Romney speaks poorly of our collective ability to exercise our democratic rights.

• Our federal government is pursuing ruinous financial policies such as spending a trillion dollars per year more than it collects.  No business, household or government can spend 40% more than their revenues over a prolonged period of time without going bankrupt.  Yet any attempt to make the rational point that we must reign in our out-of-control spending is met with a combination of disdain and venomous character attacks.  There is an utter lack of seriousness among the public and the ruling class to correct or even address the serious financial mismanagement that could in short order ruin both our currency and our economy.

• We are rapidly adopting the European model of speech control, with certain subjects simply considered to be “off limits” for discussion.  People who believe in centuries-old customs like traditional marriage or second amendment rights are now openly branded as “haters” unworthy of either serious consideration or protection under the law. It is the same kind of strong-armed intimidation that is practiced by authoritarian dictatorships to effectively quell freedom of speech or thought.

• Our culture ever more aggressively mocks and dismisses mainstream American values like patriotism, family and monogamy.  Our “heroes” are not those who fight and die for liberty overseas but instead are narcissistic singers, actors and sports figures who display open contempt for those who pay their ridiculous salaries.  What does it say about a culture when Dennis Rodman is a household name but Medal of Honor winner Dakota Meyer is
• (All links added by me- ed.)

I find little to argue with.

…except to note that Merrie Englande easily has as many assholes as we do.

pic via Sweasel

As macko said over at IMAO, “Us native Floridians have been trying to tell y’all for years that it just ain’t worth y’all comin’ down here. You are way better off in north carolina”

(shamelessly stolen from FrankJ’s place)

Warning: NSFW

(via Gerard)

Lasers, UAVs, and America’s blue-water navy…

When America inherited the role of British empire it did so largely by inheriting the mantle of sea power. Perhaps never has control of the sea been so important as these early years of the 21st century. Whoever controls the sea has direct power over the undersea fiber optic cables that carry information across the planet; who rules the waves controls the vast flows of oil and merchandise which make a global economy possible. Now we find that last but not least, huge power sources at the sea have the power to burn up anything in orbit.

America still rules the waves. That is perhaps its greatest single trump card. Two hundred years ago another maritime power struggled against an invincible conqueror on land. Napoleon Bonaparte’s armies were unbeatable.  But powerful as he was on land, his influence ended at the water’s edge. His ports were blockaded. He could not even cross the channel and turn his might on a small island only two dozen miles away from France itself. Mahan described Britain’s advantage memorably:

Those far distant storm- beaten ships upon which the Grand Army never looked stood between it and the dominion of the world.

The most telling indicator of a serious challenge to American global dominance would be a Chinese blue water navy.

Just file it away, nothing to worry about, nothing to see here…

My, my, my, feelings running high–

State Rep. Joe Mitchell, D-Mobile, had an outlandish exchange via email with a Jefferson County man who asked him and other lawmakers not to pass any laws that would restrict gun ownership.

Eddie Maxwell sent a mass email to state legislators at 10:54 p.m. on Jan. 27, warning them that even attempting to introduce a gun control bill was, in his opinion, a violation of state law.

Mitchell responded from his public, ALHouse.gov email account at 11:59 p.m., telling Maxwell: “Your folk never used all this sheit (sic) to protect my folk from your slave-holding, murdering, adulterous, baby-raping, incestuous, snaggle-toothed, backward-a**ed, inbreed (sic), imported criminal-minded kin folk.”

“That’s not the type of reply I expect to receive from a state legislator,” Maxwell replied on Feb. 11. “I’m not a racist and I find your reply to be especially offensive considering the position you hold.”

This road we’re on is not going to come to a pleasant end. I’ll say it if no one else will- Mr. Mitchell, you are a

RACIST