Sequestration Frustration!
Before you freak out you should see what's really going on here. First we have to go over Baseline Budgeting. In a nutshell the government forecasts an increase in the budget of (7)% each year.
The Deficit Control Act of 1985 provided the first legal definition of baseline. For the most part, the act defined the baseline in conformity with previous usage. If appropriations had not been enacted for the upcoming fiscal year, the baseline was to assume the previous year's level without any adjustment for inflation. In 1987, however, the Congress amended the definition of the baseline so that discretionary appropriations would be adjusted to keep pace with inflation. Other technical changes, annual increase of now approximately 3% plus inflation, to the definition of the baseline were enacted in 1990, 1993, and 1997. Presently, the [automatic annual] Baseline Budgeting increase is about 7%.
The Sequester is around a 2% reduction in the budget for fiscal year 2013. So what we really have here is an increase of roughly 5% instead of 7%. Obama and the Democrats have made as if half of the government will shut down because of a 2% difference in the forecast government budget.
Now let's look at Stimulus Spending and its aggregate impact thus far. The stimulus bill, passed in 2009, allotted more than 800 billion dollars to various areas of government. The budget in 2009 was roughly 2.7 trillion. That means that the Obama Stimulus Plan, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, was a budget increase of roughly 29%. Did the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 create never-ending jobs? Where did the money go? Did it go into programs that were projected to have Stimulus spending forever?
Knowing that the Stimulus Bill, an increase of almost 29%, didn't create tons of jobs; how are we supposed to believe that a budget decrease of 2% is going to cause mass layoffs?
Mass layoffs don't make any sense when looked at logically. Are we to believe that labor is the last 2% of the federal budget?
If I made $500,000 a year and have a decrease of 2% I now would be left with $490,000. Does that mean that my family will starve now because of a $10,000 reduction in pay? That is what Obama and the Democrats want you to believe. Don't buy it. Now that Obama's bluff has been called; I'm wondering how the media is going to hide this.
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Obama Smokes but Doesn't Want You To Smoke
Obama's still smoking, but that's a big No-No for you. Why does any of this matter? Well lets take a look at what has been found in the new health care law. Obamacare penalizes smokers with decidedly higher health insurance premiums.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of smokers could be priced out of health insurance because of tobacco penalties in President Barack Obama's health care law, according to experts who are just now teasing out the potential impact of a little-noted provision in the massive legislation.
The Affordable Care Act — "Obamacare" to its detractors — allows health insurers to charge smokers buying individual policies up to 50 percent higher premiums starting next Jan. 1.
For a 55-year-old smoker, the penalty could reach nearly $4,250 a year. A 60-year-old could wind up paying nearly $5,100 on top of premiums.
Nearly one of every five U.S. adults smokes. That share is higher among lower-income people, who also are more likely to work in jobs that don't come with health insurance and would therefore depend on the new federal health care law. Smoking increases the risk of developing heart disease, lung problems and cancer, contributing to nearly 450,000 deaths a year.
Insurers won't be allowed to charge more under the overhaul for people who are overweight, or have a health condition like a bad back or a heart that skips beats — but they can charge more if a person smokes.
Several provisions in the federal health care law work together to leave older smokers with a bleak set of financial options, said Pollitz, formerly deputy director of the Office of Consumer Support in the federal Health and Human Services Department.
First, the law allows insurers to charge older adults up to three times as much as their youngest customers.
Second, the law allows insurers to levy the full 50 percent penalty on older smokers while charging less to younger ones.
And finally, government tax credits that will be available to help pay premiums cannot be used to offset the cost of penalties for smokers.
Don't think that you can just lie to your doctor either. Insurers will test you to determine whether or not you are a smoker, then they will hit you with the penalties.
Keep in mind this is while there is still private insurers. What do you think will happen when the government finalizes the takeover of the health care industry?
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Gun Bans and Crazy People
For all of those in favor of gun bans, read this article.
MIDDLETOWN, N.J. (CBSNewYork) ? Police are investigating after a woman was attacked and stabbed multiple times inside a New Jersey store Thursday afternoon.
The victim, identified by her family as 29-year-old Kerri Dalton of Keansburg, also had a baby with her inside the Middletown Bed Bath & Beyond store, when the attack occurred.
The alleged assailant, 19-year-old Tyrik Haynes, is accused of repeatedly plunging a knife into Dalton around 4 p.m., puncturing both her lungs in an apparent random attack.
A published report indicated that Haynes is being held on $1 million bail on an attempted murder charge.
Dalton was stabbed more than a dozen times and Medevaced to Jersey Shore Medical Center, where she remained in stable condition late Thursday night.
CBS 2′s Young reported that Haynes is known locally as a suspected animal abuser. Workers at the nearby Petco told Young the suspect used to come in to stare at the cats and that he is accused of adopting cats and setting them on fire.
Here's another case of some crazy person committing a violent crime. And once again, multiple people knew that this person had a propensity for violent acts.
Can anyone explain to me how a law (gun ban) could have stopped this guy from hurting people --initially? It's pretty obvious that this guy is going to jail for a while.
Let's go over a few things. Gun restrictions limit gun access only for law abiding citizens. Criminals and crazy people are not concerned with the law. Restrictive laws only effect those who obey them.
The end result of a gun ban is fewer law abiding citizens with guns.
Do we have gun related problems with law abiding citizens, or do we have gun related problems with criminals and crazy people?
Why then is the Obama administration worried about guns in the hands of law abiding citizens?
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Obama Admits He Wants Higher Taxes for EVERYONE
All the talk about 1% or 2% is just sophistry. Obama and the Democrats want everybody's taxes to go up in the end. You have to get to the end of Obama speeches before you actually hear the truth come out. Obama knows that people pay more attention to the headline than the actual body of the speech. Take a look at this excerpt from his speech on 12/06/12.
So I’m encouraged to see that there’s been some discussion on the part of Republicans acknowledging the need for additional revenue. As I’ve indicated, the only way to get the kind of revenue for a balanced deficit reduction plan is to make sure that we’re also modestly increasing rates for people who can afford it -- folks like me. For folks who are in the top 2 percent, we can afford to have a modest rate increase. That allows us to not only reduce our deficit in a balanced, responsible way, it also allows us to make investments in education, in making college affordable, in putting folks back to work, and investing in basic research that’s important for our economy.
And I think we all recognize that there are some smart cuts we’ve got to make in government. We’re going to have to strengthen our entitlement programs so that they’re there for future generations. Everybody is going to have to share in some sacrifice, but it starts with folks who are in the best position to sacrifice, who are in the best position to do a little bit more to step up. And that’s what my plan does.
So just to be clear, I’m not going to sign any package that somehow prevents the top rate from going up for folks at the top 2 percent. But I do remain optimistic that we can get something done that is good for families like this one’s and that is good for the American economy. All right. Thank you very much, everybody.
So, "Everybody is going to have to share in some sacrifice, but it 'starts' with the top 2%." I wonder where it goes from there?
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Republicans Have Lost Credibility With The American People
The Republican Party is in the worst shape its been in since I've been alive. The Republicans lost a presidential election to a devout and open socialist. While there are many reasons for that, I think I have pinpointed the real causes.
Blaming Romney is just like blaming a quarterback when his receivers can't catch good passes. Romney is a small part of the equation. Republicans have made promises and then backed out of them. People don't vote to send someone to Washington simply to say things and not act. They send someone up there to do what's right, what's necessary. So far, the Republicans have shown that they do not have the courage of their convictions.
Contrast that with the Democrats. Democrats have shown that they do not lack the courage of their convictions, of course I don't agree with them, but they have a spine when it comes to what they believe in. Republicans have been trying to get along to get along; all the while backing down on the Conservative beliefs that got them their in the first place. As I said before, "You attract moderates directly at the cost of the base."
Yesterday Speaker of The House John Boehner said, "If you look at the plans that the White House has talked about thus far, they couldn’t pass either house of the Congress." So, John Boehner proposes "revenue" which means tax increases which verifies the Democrat narrative of tax the rich. Now the Republicans have no argument. There is no longer any contrast between Republicans and Democrats. But the Democrats are the ones who stand to win here. There is only one way the Republicans can win on this issue only if the Democrats cave. The Democrats have no reason to cave. Democrats want higher taxes on everyone in the end, so they win on two fronts. The Democrats can their victory delivered to them on a platter by the media who will blame the economic impact on the Republicans. Thanks to John Boehner conceding that tax increases will fix everything; the media has an easy job making the Republicans at fault.
The Republicans have become the moderate party. They have marginalized themselves by not really standing up for anything. The Republican Party is a dead platform until it can purge itself of moderates and replace them with Conservatives. The American people don't want wimpy career politicians they want people with conviction.
Tell your congressman that John Boehner does not need to be Speaker of The House any longer. It's time to send Tammy Faye Boehner packing. We need someone who will stand up to Obama in the public arena not meet in private and make deals that are unknown to the American people or the rest of the party. Not someone who will remove Conservatives from budget related committees! Someone who can articulate the differences in Conservative ideas and big government ideas.
I'm not sure who they can vote in as a replacement. I would suggest anyone that was removed from their committee position as "punishment" for not towing the line. What about Tim Huelskamp, R-Kansas., and Justin Amash, R-Michigan or David Schweikert, R-Arizona? We know that if they were removed they are Conservatives. We sent them to congress to do exactly what they did, they represented their districts!
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