Clipmarks | Huge government expansion Clips

Hope + Change = 70% Tax Rate

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 08:09:27 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Still, Barack assures us that John McCain's and George Bush's policy stances are indistinguishable, so let's so stipulate. Is that worse than the alternative?

After all, what President in the modern era does Senator Obama's agenda most resemble?

Huge expansion of the federal government? Check. Letting entitlement spending run wild? Check. "Windfall profit" taxes on oil companies? Strong desire to meet with dictators and state terrorism sponsors? Big doofy grin? Check, check, and check.

The Tax Man Cometh

Obama’s Plan

Since the early 1980s — after Americans rejected Jimmy Carter and embraced Ronald Reagan and his tax cuts — the United States has benefited from relatively competitive tax rates. But if Sen. Barack Obama’s tax plan becomes law, the IRS will become one of the most punitive tax men in the world.

http://blog.heritage.org/2008/07/01/morning-bell-the-tax-man-cometh/

(Obama caricature by Cox & Forkum)

Clip Source: www.suitablyflip.com

Obama’s Plan

Obama’s tax plan has two major components. First, he promises to end the Bush tax cuts, allowing the top two tax rates to return to 36 percent and 39.6 percent. Second, he promises to end the Social Security payroll tax cap for incomes above $250,000. Individuals making more than $250,000, therefore, would face a 15.65 percent tax rate from payroll taxes in addition to a top income tax rate of 39.6 percent for a combined tax rate topping 56 percent. Individuals living in cities or states with high taxes such as New York City or California would have tax rates approaching 70 percent, levels not seen since Carter was president.

Tags: obama, tax plan, end tax cuts, end payroll tax cap, incomes $250, 000+, irs

Farming For Riches

Wed, 21 May 2008 09:14:17 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: [continued] for direct payments each year to farmers, regardless of whether they grow anything.

Can we honestly demand fair and free trade from other countries when this bill increases trade distorting payment rates and restores an illegal cotton program? Sen. Barack Obama has raised the rhetoric on fair trade and restoring fiscal discipline, but his support for the farm bill betrays the inconsistency of his position: Cry foul with our trade partners, but break the rules at home.

It is time to wean ourselves from the huge crop subsidies being paid by taxpayers and the flawed policies that distort the markets, artificially raise prices for consumers and pit producers against consumers.

Clip Source: www.chicagotribune.com

I'd veto the farm bill—a bloated expansion in federal spending that will do more harm than good.

When agricultural commodity prices and exports have reached record highs, we no longer need government-grown farms and mammoth government bureaucracies. As grocery bills soar, food banks go bare and food rationing occurs on a global scale, we must challenge the wisdom of this bill. We must question policies that divert more than 25 percent of corn out of the food supply and into subsidized ethanol production

The majority of subsidies in this proposal go to large commercial farms that average $200,000 in annual income and $2 million in net worth, and the bill allows a single farmer to earn more than $1 million before cutting subsidies. How can we credibly extend this largesse to this constituency? If I am elected president, I will seek an end to all farm subsidies and tariffs that are not based on clear need.

The farm bill will cost taxpayers nearly $300 billion, including $5 billion

Tags: mccain, end farm bill, farm subsidies

Battle Of the Proxy Incumbents

Sun, 11 May 2008 09:23:56 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Fiction can be fun! Ultimately though, this fanciful bit of twaddle is unlikely to stick, what with McCain's voting record so thoroughly refuting it. And in a lot of ways, that's too bad. If only we could look back at McCain's votes and comments on the wildly effective investment income tax cuts and find a man who embraced pro-growth fiscal policy as eagerly as Bush, we might be better assured of the continuity of certain beneficial policies that Obama so laments.

Clip Source: www.suitablyflip.com

In case your cable's been out for a couple weeks, the grand, unifying, post-partisan argument in favor of electing this New Kind of Politician is that John McCain, the "Maverick", the Gang of 14er, the pathologically centrist aisle-crosser and frequent thorn in his own party's side, represents George Bush's third term.

Still, Barack assures us that John McCain's and George Bush's policy stances are indistinguishable, so let's so stipulate. Is that worse than the alternative?

After all, what President in the modern era does Senator Obama's agenda most resemble?

Huge expansion of the federal government? Check. Letting entitlement spending run wild? Check. "Windfall profit" taxes on oil companies? Check. Big doofy grin? Check.

Do political fashions run in 30-year cycles? If so, then get ready for the fabulous comeback of energy crises, stagflation, high unemployment, and national malaise.

(Obama caricature by Cox & Forkum)

Tags: mccain, obama, huge government expansion, entitlement spending, oil company taxes, stagflation, high unemployment

Gotta keep up with the doom and gloom!

Thu, 08 May 2008 23:38:06 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: Aging systems releasing sewage into rivers, streams. “Local governments across the USA plan to spend billions modernizing failing wastewater systems — some of which are more than 100 years old — over the next 10 to 20 years, EPA, state and local sewer authority officials said. Those improvement efforts face a huge challenge mitigating problems in what the EPA estimates to be 1.2 million miles of sewers snaking underground across the USA.”

Bodies rot in cyclone-hit Burma. “Piles of rotting corpses are stacking up in remote villages of Myanmar's Irrawaddy delta, with residents saying they don't have enough fuel to cremate victims of deadly Cyclone Nargis.”

Deadly battles as Hezbollah says Lebabon 'declares war'. “Deadly gunbattles erupted in Beirut on Thursday after Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah charged that a Lebanese government crackdown on his group was tantamount to a 'declaration of war,' stoking fears of a full-blown sectarian conflict."

Clip Source: community.livejournal.com

Melting glaciers release toxic chemical cocktail. “Decades after most countries stopped spraying DDT, frozen stores of the insecticide are now trickling out of melting Antarctic glaciers.”

Palm oil wiping out key orangutan habitat: activists. “One of the biggest populations of wild orangutans on Borneo will be extinct in three years without drastic measures to stop the expansion of palm oil plantations...”

Survey shows US honey bee deaths increased over last year. “A survey of bee health released Tuesday revealed a grim picture, with 36.1 percent of the nation's commercially managed hives lost since last year… As beekeepers travel with their hives this spring to pollinate crops around the country, it's clear the insects are buckling under the weight of new diseases, pesticide drift and old enemies like the parasitic varroa mite…”

Flood risk fear over key UK sites. “Hundreds of UK power substations and water treatment plants are potentially at risk from flooding,

Kids’ Insurance Divides Republicans

Fri, 21 Sep 2007 17:11:52 GMT

clipped by: BobbyDelray
clipper's remarks: You bet your sweet bippy.

Clip Source: www.google.com

The inside-the-Beltway-gang is engaging in some serious brinkmanship over the State Children’s Health Insurance Program this week, and it’s dividing Republicans, in particular.

The current program, which helps provide health insurance to some 6.6 million kids, is set to expire on Sept. 30, and Congress is about to send a bill to President Bush to renew and extend it. But Bush held a press conference yesterday (transcript is here) and said he wouldn’t sign the bill — no huge surprise, given that he’s promised all along to veto Congress’ expansion plan, arguing that it would unwisely expand the government’s role in health care.

And when the Post asked Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), if he’d vote to override a presidential veto of the bill, he quipped, “You bet your <A href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rowan_&_Martin's_Laugh-In#Memorable_moments_and_catchphrases" target=_blank closure_hashCode_="531">sweet bippy</A> I will.”

Tags: hatch, orin, bush, kids insurance, healthcare, wellness, congress

Solar Power and technology advances

Mon, 27 Aug 2007 04:50:52 GMT

clipped by: praefex
clipper's remarks: So I work for the Emcore Corporation, earlier this month, we achieved the highest efficiency of a PV (photovoltaic) solar cell to date. This is a pretty huge development and boost to the industry. Emcore doesn't get noted very much for its technological developments, but I'm working to build up the marketing program for 2008 to show the world what Emcore can do!

Clip Source: www.forbes.com

Solar power is also poised to grow quickly. Today about 0.1% of the world's energy comes from solar power, most of it using photovoltaic cells. Guinness thinks that could grow to 10% over 20 to 35 years as manufacturing processes are improved. The expansion of solar thermal technology will also grow the sector (see: The Sunshine Economy). Government subsidies, favorable regulatory programs and the popularity of solar with consumers are also likely to boost usage.

Tags: solar, energy, alternative energy, emcore

Can biofuels rescue American prairies?

Sat, 18 Aug 2007 17:33:06 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie
clipper's remarks: Guess who is making all the money on this? Global agribusiness companies. Of course, if policy changes, they would lose a lot of money, too. How can people and birds fight such huge vested interests in perpetuating catastrophic policies? Where is Ralph Nader ... or someone?
See also - http://clipmarks.com/clipmark/CA81DCB3-F08B-4725-BECE-63F1B3043460/

Clip Source: environment.newscientist.com

Spurred on by rising oil prices and the 2005 Energy Policy Act, which demanded that at least 28 billion litres of ethanol be produced annually by 2012,

expansion of corn ethanol is damaging soils and threatening wildlife, while doing little to cut US greenhouse gas emissions.

the corn boom will suck resources away from the development of cellulosic ethanol, extracted from fast-growing wild grasses. They claim that this technology could deliver cleaner energy while simultaneously helping to restore one of the country's disappearing ecosystems: the mixed grasslands of the American prairie.

As the cornfields expand, government grants aimed at encouraging farmers to set aside marginal land to protect soils and biodiversity are going unused.

This trend is especially damaging for birds that nest in the grass that grows on set-aside land. Sample estimates that 16 per cent of land protected under the set-aside scheme will be lost this year.

Tags: environment, energy, biofuels, grasslands, i-policy, i-opportunities, i-risks

Saudis arrest 4 militants

Tue, 05 Sep 2006 02:10:30 GMT

clipped by: willhelm
clipper's remarks: It seems most do not recognize the threat here. Successful attack in Saudi Arabia on the oil infrastructure will be the precursor of an increased expansion of conflict in the Middle East. It seems this will be a matter of time. The same is true in Egypt where islamists are putting pressure on the government there.

Clip Source: www.khaleejtimes.ae

RIYADH - Saudi authorities have arrested four militant suspects in the mountainous south of the huge desert kingdom, a newspaper reported on Monday.

”Special security forces assisted by security agencies in Al Baha arrested four people suspected of belonging to the deviant group yesterday at dawn,” Al Riyadh daily said.

Al Qaeda supporters began a campaign to bring down the US-allied royal family with suicide bombings in May 2003 against Western housing compounds in Riyadh.

Officials say more than 136 militants and 150 foreigners and Saudis, including security forces, have died since then, but the violence has ebbed in the face of toughened security measures against what official rhetoric calls “the deviant group”.

The authorities in the world’s biggest oil exporter say they have seized nearly 80 members or sympathisers with Al Qaeda from around the country over the last three months.

Tags: war on terror, saudi arabia, al qaeda, terrorism