Monthly Archives: July 2008

Judgment

That’s one of Barack Obama’s taglines. He’s been showing lately that his Judgment isn’t “all that”.

Luke Boggs at the Atlanta Journal Constitution has compiled a list of Barack Obama’s “regrets”: Buying a 10 foot strip of property alongside his own from Tony Rezko; telling some well-heeled San Fransicans that people in middle America were bitter and cling to their guns and religion; and that he did the interview with Access Hollywood, putting his beautiful little girls in the spotlight.

Barack Obama has said “(insert name) is not the person I knew” about quite a few people. Off the top of my head we have Reverend Jeremiah Wright and Father Michael Pfleger. We have his former VP candidate vetter Jim Johnson who, while he was CEO of Fannie Mae, received a sweetheart loan from Countrywide. Obama is blaming Countrywide in particular for many of this country’s mortgage woes. He’s friends with William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn of the Weather Underground.

Today Time Magazine tells us that Barack Obama is seeking information on Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd (D).

Back to the Jim Johnson brouhaha. Does Barack Obama think we’ve forgotten that Senator Dodd was tied to a sweetheart deal with Countrywide? That Dodd was listed as a “friend of Mozilo”?

Judgment. Yeah. Poor.

We Are Addicted to Oil

Drilling won’t produce anything for years, we need to increase mileage standards, develop alternative fuels (wind! solar!) reduce our dependence on oil! The oil companies already have eleventy million acres of land to drill on! We can’t give them any more! And no, they can’t trade this lease for that lease… They leased what they leased! We are addicted to oil!

Given that drilling won’t produce any oil for some years, the alternatives suggested won’t produce any differences in that period of time either. This isn’t an either/or situation. It’s a both situation. Drill offshore and develop alternative fuels. We know fairly accurately when new, proven fields will produce. We have no idea when the alternatives will be viable or affordable.

Changing Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards is all well and good but only affects future new cars, it doesn’t affect the ~250 million cars that are already on the road in America. There is no magic wand that will suddenly make all the vehicles on the road comply with the new standards. Some of the ideas for developing alternative fuels are years away and are cost prohibitive as well. A hydrogen fuel cell car that costs more than a house is not going to go very far with your Average Joe.

Distances in America guarantee that the personal/family vehicle will be the main mode of transportation for years and years to come. I live in the exurbs of Chicago. The train downtown takes an hour and a half. For working downtown, that is the best option. But that’s downtown. Pretty much everywhere else, automobiles are best. There are some busses, but they don’t necessarily go from where you are to where you need to be. A trip that would take 20 minutes in a car going from point A to point B (45 minutes in “rush” hour) might take the hour and a half it takes to get to Chicago on the train or even longer. Especially since to get from point A to point B you may have to travel through points C, D, E, F, and G first. Kind of like having to travel through Davenport, IA to get from Chicago to Milwaukee…

We are addicted to oil and even if we can find another way to power our vehicles, we’ll still be addicted to oil. Oil is so much more than just gas and oil for vehicles, power, and home heating…

Petroleum is used in items as diverse as crayons, tires, golf bags, Vaseline, deodorant, Scotch tape, pantyhose, putty, life jackets, TV cabinets, ice cube trays, yarn, toilet seats, candles, hand lotions, shampoo, speakers, eyeglasses, tooth brushes, CDs, aspirin, detergents, shaving cream, toothpaste and thousands of others…

Happy 50th Honey

It’s Hubby’s 50th birthday today.

Little Guy gave him a card that says on the front: A long, long time ago….

and inside: You were born.

And it plays the Star Wars theme…

We also had two tons of sand delivered this morning so we can finish the pad for our pool and finally get it set up.

Below are a few of the items we got at partypro.com for the party:

Monday Morning Musings

I’ve noticed that they’ve changed the Move Free Advanced commercial. The woman used to say something like, “I feel so good, I think I’ll adopt a puppy!” To Hubby and me, that felt like, “I feel so good, I think I’ll get an ice cream!” Adopting a puppy really isn’t a spur of the moment thing to do. Now she says, “I feel so good, now I can finally get that puppy I’ve always planned for.” They must have gotten complaints about the way it was worded at first. I’m glad they’ve changed it.

I’ve been thinking about the ice cream trucks recently. They make their rounds and sell their ice cream, but they really can’t be making that much with the price of gas the way it is currently. I haven’t seen the prices go up… On the other hand, there was a new one the other day playing La Cucuracha. I’m sorry. I won’t buy ice cream from a truck that plays the cockroach song…

Happy Birthday U.S.A!

I love living in this country. I love the freedom that I have here. I love the opportunities that are here. I was born here, but I do not take this country, her freedoms, or her opportunities for granted.

I also did my part to help defend her. Hubby spent 20 years defending her to include Operation Desert Storm and the liberation of Kuwait.

God Bless the USA!

Chris at A Large Regular tells us 5 memorable things that happened on a July 4th.

La Shawn Barber says Happy Birthday, My Beloved Country.

Sigmund, Carl, and Alfred recall Sherman Sherwin Wine’s words The American Vision.

Sign your name to the Declaration of Independence and print a copy out. (h/t Flopping Aces)

Gateway Pundit show us the largest re-enlistment ceremony in history… in Baghdad.

Ed Morrissey gives us a ‘behind the scenes’ look at the Declaration: Timeless and of its Time

Ann Althouse is looking for your best flag photos. Here’s mine.

Flag proudly flying on Flag Day

Happy Fourth of July!

There’s an open post over at Stop the ACLU for the Fourth of July as well.

Jesse Helms, RIP

Former Senator Jesse Helms (R) died today in North Carolina. He was 86 years old.

Our condolences and prayers go out to his family and friends.

Jesse Helms

Payroll Taxes

There’s been talk from the Obama camp that the cap on Social Security taxes ($102,000) should be raised. Or rather that particular cap should stay, and another level should be instituted at $250,000. This would mean that the employee and the employer would each pay 6.2% on all payroll income up to $102,000 (as is the situation now) and, if the employee makes more than $250,000 the employee and the employer would each pay 6.2% on the payroll income over $250,000 as well. Self employed individuals pay both portions of the tax for a total of 12.4%. This does not include the Medicare portion of the “payroll” taxes (there is no cap on the Medicare tax) and these taxes are not “income” taxes. These payroll taxes are also, as indicated by the name, on payroll income only. These taxes are not assessed on capital gains, interest income, dividends, or other forms of income.

Social Security and Medicare taxes are withheld from every paycheck but are not the same as income taxes withheld. Social Security and Medicare taxes do not count towards income tax due as does “withholding”. Also remember that while the “withholding” from your paycheck is a direct transfer from your wages to the IRS (on account against your income taxes), the Social Security and Medicare taxes are “matched” by your employer and are added to the employer’s cost to employee you.

For low wage earners, the Earned Income Credit is available. This can rebate some of the payroll taxes for those wage earners who may not pay income taxes otherwise (due a refund of all or most of the income tax withheld), but the employer is still on the hook for the employer’s portion of the tax.

“Doughnut Hole” chart:

Social Security Tax Difference from Current
Employee Salary Employee Portion Employer portion Self Employed Employee Employer Self Employed
A $20,000 $1,240 $1,240 $2,480 $0 $0 $0
B $35,000 $2,170 $2,170 $4,340 $0 $0 $0
C $50,000 $3,100 $3,100 $6,200 $0 $0 $0
D $75,000 $4,650 $4,650 $9,300 $0 $0 $0
E $102,000 $6,324 $6,324 $12,648 $0 $0 $0
F $249,000 $6,324 $6,324 $12,648 $0 $0 $0
G $255,000 $6,634 $6,634 $13,268 $310 $310 $620
H $550,000 $24,924 $24,924 $49,848 $18,600 $18,600 $37,200

The “doughnut hole” posited by the Obama camp will not increase payroll taxes on those in Congress.

The “doughnut hole” posited by the Obama camp may keep employers from raising salaries above $249,999.99 since the employer will have to pay an additional 6.2% of every dollar over that amount in payroll taxes.

The “doughnut hole” will also act as a brake on small business. For a self employed small business owner, under the “doughnut hole” plan, income from $102,000 to $249,999.99 is the same as it would have been with the current cap in place, but any income $250,000 and up will accrue additional tax liability. Why should a business owner aspire to earn any more than $249,999.99?

To help the “working family” as the Obama camp is purporting to do, how about this for an idea?

Start by dropping the Earned Income Credit. Then drop the Social Security tax on the first $50,000 of payroll and cap it at $249,999.99. Do this for the employee, the employer and the self employed. And credit each earner for whatever portion of the first $50K they have earned.

Social Security Tax Difference from Current
Employee Salary Employee Portion Employer portion Self Employed Employee Employer Self Employed
A $20,000 $0 $0 $0 ($1,240) ($1,240) ($2,480)
B $35,000 $0 $0 $0 ($2,170) ($2,170) ($4,340)
C $50,000 $0 $0 $0 ($3,100) ($3,100) ($6,200)
D $75,000 $1,550 $1,550 $3,100 ($3,100) ($3,100) ($6,200)
E $102,000 $3,224 $3,224 $6,448 ($3,100) ($3,100) ($3,100)
F $249,000 $12,338 $12,338 $24,676 $6,014 $6,014 $12,028
G

$255,000

$12,400 $12,400 $24,800 $6,076 $6,076 $12,152
H $550,000 $12,400 $12,400 $24,800 $6,076 $6,076 $12,152

This will nearly double the pool of taxable payroll than is currently in place ($199,999.99 instead of $101,999.99) and the percentages start at a higher dollar amount ($50,000.01 instead of $0.01).

Reducing the tax liability for lower wage workers is a win-win. The worker gets to keep more money in his/her pocket with each paycheck and the business has money that can be used for raises or hiring more employees or for increasing benefits.

The self employed small business owner saves two ways. There is a smaller tax liability on payroll and a smaller tax liability for the owner personally. Under my plan the small business owner will have a larger liability for income between $50,000 and $249,999.99 – but there is a cap on that liability. The small business owner will pay no more than $24,800 in any one year.

Where Obama’s “capless” after $250K would cost that small business owner $49,848 on income of $550K – an increase of $37,200 over what that small business owner would pay currently, my plan would cap the increase over what is paid currently at $12,152.

Of course this is all only if Obama gets elected and insists on changing the payroll taxes. He would do better to keep Bush’s tax cuts and if he must mess with payroll taxes, he should do something that would actually help the low and middle income earners that the Democrats all say they want to help.

Cool New Site

Fox News Channel has launched a new site called Real American Stories at realamericanstories.com.

Real American Stories

The screen cap says:

Americans have become increasingly cynical. With a bitter political contest and important issues that are personally affecting us all, it’s important to remember that we are all Americans standing together with a love of freedom and the courage to face the future, striving to form a more perfect union.

We all have unique stories and perspectives on what it means to be American. Join us as we celebrate the American spirit.

Celebrities and neighbors tell their stories and you can tell yours too.

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