Politics, Government & Public Policy: April 2010 Archives
Arizona has found an interesting lever for pushing President Obama to release his birth records: Arizona may require proof of citizenship for presidential candidates.
The Arizona House on Monday voted for a provision that would require President Barack Obama to show his birth certificate if he hopes to be on the state's ballot when he runs for reelection.The House voted 31-22 to add the provision to a separate bill. The measure still faces a formal vote.
It would require U.S. presidential candidates who want to appear on the ballot in Arizona to submit documents proving they meet the constitutional requirements to be president.
(HT: JW.)
Here are some pictures I took from today's Tax Day Tea Party in Saint Louis. There is a short video of the crowd near the bottom.
A huge "thank you" and "congratulations" should go out to Jim Hoft and the other organizers of this event for a job well done. The crowd was enthusiastic, and everyone had a great time.
There were flags everywhere, especially the Gadsden Flag as you can see below.
Even dogs hate socialism!
Here's Jim Hoft, warming up the crowd for Missouri Lt. Governor Peter Kinder.
More:
Pictures from the 2009 Tax Day Tea Party in Saint Louis.
Pictures and video from the Tea Party Express visit to Saint Charles, Missouri.
Dear Mr. President, please stop "improving" our democracy.
President Obama said Sunday that the United States is still "working on" democracy and a top aide said he has taken "historic steps" to improve democracy in the United States during his time in office.The remarks came as Obama met with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev -- one of the U.S. president's many meetings with world leaders ahead of this week's nuclear summit. ...
The Wall Street Journal's Jonathan Weisman asked McFaul to clarify.
"You seemed to be suggesting there was some equivalence between their issues of democracy and the United States' issues, when you said that President Obama assured him that we, too, are working on our democracy," Weisman said. "Is there equivalence between the problems that President Nazarbayev is confronting and the state of democracy in the United States?"
"Absolutely not ... There was no equivalence meant whatsoever," McFaul said. "[Obama's] taken, I think, rather historic steps to improve our own democracy since coming to office here in the United States."
Instead of trying to "improve" our country by bypassing the Constitution, why don't we actually try to follow the constitution for a century or so. I bet it would work out pretty well.
(HT: Gateway Pundit.)
Yes, it's completely ridiculous that nearly half of American households pay no federal income tax. This is a large part of the reason why our government is going to hell: a growing proportion of voters have no vested interest in our tax money is spent.
About 47 percent will pay no federal income taxes at all for 2009. Either their incomes were too low, or they qualified for enough credits, deductions and exemptions to eliminate their liability. That's according to projections by the Tax Policy Center, a Washington research organization. ...In recent years, credits for low- and middle-income families have grown so much that a family of four making as much as $50,000 will owe no federal income tax for 2009, as long as there are two children younger than 17, according to a separate analysis by the consulting firm Deloitte Tax. ...
The result is a tax system that exempts almost half the country from paying for programs that benefit everyone, including national defense, public safety, infrastructure and education. It is a system in which the top 10 percent of earners -- households making an average of $366,400 in 2006 -- paid about 73 percent of the income taxes collected by the federal government.
The bottom 40 percent, on average, make a profit from the federal income tax, meaning they get more money in tax credits than they would otherwise owe in taxes. For those people, the government sends them a payment.
This inequality is the core cancer that is eating away at our Republic. Any of these simple proposals would remedy the problem:
- No taxes, no voting. If you are a net recipient of tax dollars rather than a contributor, then you don't get to vote.
- Replace the income tax with a national sales tax.
- Replace the progressive income tax with a flat income tax with few deductions. (This could be implemented via a reduction in the floor for the Alternative Minimum Tax.)
Democracy is great, but remember that it is only a means to an end -- the desired end is liberty. When democracy endangers liberty rather than enhancing it, democracy should give way. That's why we have a republic rather than a pure democracy.
When a majority of the population can vote to themselves the wealth of the minority, the entire system will quickly collapse. We are approaching that tipping point.
The wife, daughter, and I attended the Saint Charles Tea Party Express rally this afternoon for a couple of hours. We didn't feel that it wasn't as well-organized or attended as the Tax Day Tea Party we attended last year downtown. It was good to see a bunch of small-government types willing to come out, but most of the attendees were older folks, with a few children scattered about.
Below are some pictures, and at the bottom of this post is a short video of the crowd I took from the stage.
Here's the back of the crowd as we approached.
Don't tread on the baby!
A few crowd shots.
Uh oh, now you've really pissed her off!
A few pro-Obama protesters appeared, and brought Teh Funny.
And finally, a short video of the crowd from the stage.
(HT: Gateway Pundit.)
I don't know how Admiral Willard restrained himself. It's incredibly discouraging to see our Congress in action.
(HT: RB.)
