Simple Man Politics

It most certainly is the end of an era particularly on the Senate side of Congress. Earlier this morning in a hospital in Fairfax, VA, Senator Robert Byrd (D) WV passed away. You heard me right the pork king, former KKK member, and ultimate senatorial power player has finally passed away after becoming the longest serving and eldest member of the Senate body. However, I cannot just say negative things about Bob I have to say something good about the man too, because I am sure, he had to have done some good, or why else would he be undefeated in every election he ran in.

One good thing I can say about Mr. Byrd is the fact the he was a stalwart defender of the U.S. Constitution and recognized as the foremost authority on matters of constitution within the U.S. Senate. Another good thing I can say about Senator Byrd is the fact that he fiercely defended the right of both the Senate and the House of Representatives to keep any Presidential administration from usurping any Congressional powers. That is right it did not matter whether the President was a Republican or a Democrat he kept their hand out of the cookie jar.

Make no mistake though Robert Byrd is most certainly a Democrat although at one time he was considered the most conservative of that party. What does the loss of Byrd mean politically though? I do not think it means much since the Governor of West Virginia will appoint a person to replace Byrd until the 2012 election and the Governor is a Democrat. However, it does lose a critical vote for the ruling Democratic Party in the Senate for a bit, and it also puts on hold legislation that both the administration as well as the majority party in both houses of Congress consider necessary to advance their agenda.

My personal opinion is that now that Robert Byrd has passed away that the U.S. Senate will lose some of its prestige. However considering the current political climate after the mid-term elections this year I do not think that either Byrd’s Senate seat and vote would have mattered anyway. What does matter with regard to the passing of the Senates greatest orator is that both houses of Congress have lost their greatest and toughest defender. I think that not only will the administration now attempt to gain control even more, but also I think that the Democrats in the Senate will further slip into mediocrity.

That is all for now form Simple Man Politics, but I will be back again soon. Have a marvelous Monday my friends, CIAO4NOW!!!!!

P.S. Rest in Peace Mr. Byrd.

I know that I have not really blogged about politics at all this year and very little near the end of last year as well, but I thought this topic worth bringing up with the mid-term elections only eight months away. The topic in question relates to an article written by Charlie Reese who has been a journalist for forty-nine years titled “545 PEOPLE”. A very good friend of mine sent me the article, which I researched, and the facts stated in the article are accurate.

(ARTICLE):

545 PEOPLE
By Charlie Reese

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?

Have you ever wondered; if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does.

You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.

You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.

You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.

You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.

Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.
What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.

The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? Nancy Pelosi. She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million can not replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.

If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red.

If the Army & Marines are in IRAQ , It's because they want them in IRAQ

If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.

There are no insoluble government problems.

Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people and they alone, are responsible.

They and they alone, have the power.

They and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses.

Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.

We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!
_____________________________________________________________________________

Pretty amazing article isn’t it? When I read it I thought to myself that Mr. Reese has definitely hit the nail right on the head with regard to our nation’s problems both past and current. As a rule when I consider voting for a candidate the 2nd Amendment accounts for about 50% of my consideration. However I think this November I will take a lot of this article into consideration, because it is time to hold our elected officials to account and make them do right by us the American people.

Well that is about all I have for now, but I will be looking for more interesting stuff to bring to you all as we near this years elections. I am going to enclose in this post a list of taxes at the bottom that have only existed in the last 100 years so you can see what some of our venerable representatives have done to our nation. I hope you all have a great evening and I will see you again soon here at Simple Man Politics, CIAO4NOW!!!!!

Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL license Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Excise Taxes
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax (currently 44.75 cents per gallon)
Gross Receipts Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Personal Property Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service Charge T ax
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax
Sales Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Ser vice Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge=2 0 Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Taxes
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax

THINK THIS IS FUNNY?
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, and our nation was the most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.

I know I haven’t really tackled this issue on its own and I have only addressed it generally when discussing Obama’s other plans, but today I am going to address this issue as its own subject on Simple Man Politics. The reason being that it is about to go to the senate and ultimately get voted on very soon, and that's healthcare.

I will tell you that most of the people I know are very much against this idea. However there are a couple of people whose opinions I highly value who have so far said nothing to me about it and they are medical professionals as well. Since one of these individuals is also an Obama supporter I am very curious about that opinion in particular.

Healthcare was a topic that was touched upon by both John McCain and Barack Obama during their campaigns to get into the White House. John McCain had the idea of taxing people’s health benefits as part of his healthcare plan. Barack Obama said that healthcare was an important issue for him, but gave no indications to how he would deal with it.

Of course now President Obama has presented his version of a healthcare plan to both houses of congress for approval and passage. Just like all of his other programs, it requires enlarging government and trillions of American tax payer dollars. It also appears to have been built on a model similar to that of our Canadian brother’s healthcare plan.

Considering the fact that the Canadian healthcare system has proven to be an abject failure I find it hard to believe that our government will go in that direction. The horror stories that have come out of Canada about long waits, lack of treatment, lack of healthcare professionals, and bureaucratic red tape I cringe at the prospect.

As usual the White House and congress are looking at how they are going to pay for this cumbersome and unwieldy monstrosity they call their healthcare plan, and have decided to once again tax the wealthy to pay for it. The reason being is that the wealthy can afford it and should pay for everyone who doesn’t have insurance rather they can afford it or not.

There are also congress persons who believe that you should be forced to either pay for your own healthcare plan or take the nationalized plan and if you don’t then be fined and they want a provision that forces all hospitals to perform abortions. Obama himself wants total control over how much Medicare will reimburse hospitals and healthcare providers.

Organizations including the CBO (Congressional Budget Office) and the GAO (Governmental Accounting Office) have said that there will be no financial relief for the American tax payer in this plan just more of an already unrecoverable tax burden. They also state that this will drive many healthcare providers into bankruptcy.

Scott Rasmussen of Rasmussen Reports a pollster is the latest in his profession to come out with the latest polling data and a new poll that shows that the vast majority of Americans are against the Obama plan. Data has also been introduced that shows Obama and Democratic Party approval ratings continue to slide with this issue.

Here are a couple more interesting tidbits of information for you all. Apparently when it is all said and done only about 10% of uninsured Americans will wind up with healthcare. Oh yeah and 12 million illegal immigrants will get healthcare too and we will have to pay for them also.

I don’t know what you all have done about this yourselves, but I have emailed both of my Senators and all of Arizona’s congresspersons telling them to vote no for this bill or I will vote no for them in their next elections. I do agree that healthcare is an important issue, but I do not agree that this particular plan will address and solve the problem.

That is all we have for you today here at Simple Man Politics, but we will be back again soon with more of what is important in the world of politics. Have a marvelous day my friends and CIAO4NOW!!!!!

Expensive trips and private jets, outrageously expensive employee resort retreats, obscene financial waste and excess in the workplace, You would think that I was talking about AIG, the Big Three automakers, or Wall Street CEO’s right? Well you would be wrong I am talking about our own government and sadly I am not the least bit surprised.

How can I be surprised by anything this government does considering all of the spending and waste that has occurred since the last national election where the Dem’s took total control of the White House and both houses of congress as well? My god VP Joe Biden actually believes we need to spend even more money to stay out of bankruptcy.

Well true to Joe “The Gaffe’” Biden’s prophesy there are two more governmental agencies that seem to believe in the democratic dogma of spend, spend, and spend. Now granted in the grand scheme of monstrous government and out of control spending this will seem rather innocuous, but it still prescribes to the disease rather than the cure.

Recently the Social Security Administration spent approximately $700,000 dollars for their agents at a posh Phoenix Arizona resort under the guise of taking care of Social Security business. That price does not even include travel costs incurred by the agency to fly these reps to Arizona.

It is my understanding that all of this business could have been conducted by internet video conferencing, which would have been a lot less expensive. I also understand that this particular resort gave the Social Security Administration the lowest bid for the business but it is still more government waste.

Then there are my favorite financial wizards over at the Fed who have just hired a whole slew of cartoonists to help raise moral and lessen stress in their workplace. I wonder who the genius was that thought up this ridiculously wasteful and useless idea. I know a lot of people in stressful jobs and they all say this won’t work.

You almost have to wonder what’s next don’t you? Maybe it will be a court jester czar for the Barry and the White House staff. Or maybe it will be a stand up comedian for the senate because Al “The Weenie” Franken hasn’t been funny since they invented fire and the wheel. Whatever it is I am sure that it will provide comic relief for the tax payer.

That’s it for now from Simple Man Politics my friends. I think I’m going to call it a day and go watch the Wiggles with my son because I am sure it will relieve my stress and provide me with some comic relief. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend CIAO4NOW!!!!!