Tuesday, February 24, 2009

February 24, 2009

It is very hard to predict what will happen in the future, whether that future is tomorrow or in ten years. Nevertheless, I will give prognostication a go regarding the Federal budget. Obama has been talking about “fiscal responsibility” and about balancing the Federal budget by the end of his first term in office. In view of the vast amounts of money in the “stimulus package” just signed into law, as well as the money spent or set to be spent in the bailouts of banks, the auto industry and default mortgagees how will the budget get balanced. One obvious way is to increase taxes, and this will be one of the corner stones of the Obama balanced budget effort. Income taxes will be raised on the top 5% of wage earners, taxes will also be raised on corporations after all it was those greedy bastards in big business that caused our economic difficulties. The Federal tax on gasoline will be raised from the current eighteen cents per gallon to probably a dollar. Other taxes will be invented say a value added tax on goods, or excise taxes on imports. Regardless, taxes on the American people will increase. Taxes alone, however, will not be enough to balance the Federal budget which is now so dreadfully out of balance. Some things in the Federal budget will need to be cut, but what? My prediction is defense. The U.S. military industrial complex will be gutted so that social programs like universal health care can be born. I don’t know if this is good or bad, only time will tell. For twenty-five years those on the left have been calling for exactly this scenario and now it will come to pass. Is should not come as a surprise to anyone for President Obama is a child of the left and he has not tried to hide this fact. As he has said “I won” and now he will do what he believes is in the best interests of the country. His path is completely different from the one we have been following for the past twenty-five years whether it will prove to be more or less successful will not be known for many years. I have no stake in right or left politics, so I hope he succeeds.

Monday, February 23, 2009

February 23, 2009

The U.S. Constitution, Article 1, Section 2, Paragraph 3, provides the number of Representatives in the House of Representatives shall not exceed 1 for every 30,000 people. Public Law 62-5, passed on August 8, 1911, fixed the number of Representatives at 433, with 1 additional for Arizona and 1 for New Mexico. Thus the number 435 exists today which means that there is approximately 1 Representative for every 689,000 people (assuming a population of 300 million). If, as expected the Congress passes a law giving the District of Columbia 1 voting representative the number of Representatives will be 436.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Tax Fraud

The latest disclosure of tax delinquency by a potential member of the Obama administration should be met head-on by the new President. He should issue an Executive Order requiring the IRS to conduct annual tax audits of all political appointees. The tax troubles of Daschel and Rangel should also make it clear to Congressional leaders that they need to follow suit and require annual audits of all members of both houses. Somewhere down the line the American taxpayers are going to be asked to pony up for all of the stimuli now being passed, it is only fair that the people who pass and implement these bills be above reproach when it comes to paying their share of the tax burdens.