Thursday, April 25, 2013

Barker's Newsbites: Thursday, April 26, 2013


In honor of today's Newsbite #1.

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7 comments:

William R. Barker said...

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/congress-prepares-100-million-bipartisan-flu-tax_719108.html

* FILE THIS ONE UNDER "IT NEVER STOPS..."

Congress is preparing to take action on a bipartisan proposal to raise taxes on flu vaccines.

* HUH...?!?!

In February, identical bills were introduced in the House and Senate to add seasonal flu vaccines to the IRS code as taxable. The legislation would exact a 75¢ per dose tax on any "vaccine against seasonal influenza."

* NOW ABOUT SANDRA FLUKE'S FREE BIRTH CONTROL...

* SERIOUSLY, FOLKS... DO YOU SEE THE DISCONNECT HERE...?

The House bill (H.R. 475) was submitted on February 4, by Republican Jim Gerlach with Democrat Richard Neal co-sponsoring, and the Senate version (S. 391) was submitted by Democrat Max Baucus and co-sponsor Republican Orrin Hatch.

(*PURSED LIPS*)

April 25, 2013 at 9:34 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_INTERNET_SALES_TAX?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-04-25-03-16-13

[T]he issue of taxing Internet sales is getting strong support from Republicans and Democrats alike.

* NO...

* THE IDEA OF TRAPPING PEOPLE WITHIN THEIR OWN LOCALITY'S TAX TRAP IS GETTING SUPPORT FROM REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS ALIKE. THIS IS FAR MORE INSIDIOUS THAN SIMPLY SUPPORTING "NORMAL" TAXATION. THIS NEW PROPOSAL GOES BEYOND PRESENT TAXING NORMS.

The Senate could vote as early as Thursday on a bill to empower states to require online retailers to collect state and local sales taxes for purchases made over the Internet. Under the bill, the sales taxes would be sent to the states where a shopper lives.

* AND THERE LIES THE INJUSTICE... THE GOVERNMENT OVERREACH.

* FOLKS... WHEN YOU TRAVEL... WHEN YOU COMMUTE OR VACATION OR WHATEVER AND YOU BUY A PRODUCT OR SERVICE WHERE YOU ARE YOU PAY WHATEVER TAX IS IN EFFECT THERE, RIGHT? I LIVE IN NY BUT WHEN I BUY NJ GAS OR PA GAS OR SC GAS OR A WIDGET IN NH I PAY THEIR TAXES BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE I'M BUYING IT FROM. WHAT THIS LATEST PROPOSAL WOULD DO IS CHARGE ME LOCAL (STATE, COUNTY/MUNICIPAL, LOCAL) TAX WHEN I'M BUYING SOMETHING IN ANOTHER STATE, COUNTY/MUNICIPALITY, LOCALITY.

On Wednesday, the bill passed a test vote in the Senate, 74 to 23, with 27 Republicans voting in favor.

(*PURSED LIPS*)

"This is a matter of equity and fairness," said South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard, a Republican. "The same people who are selling the same products should be paying the same taxes."

* NO... FAIRNESS WOULD BE PAYING THE SAME TAX TO ORDER SOMETHING OVER THE INTERNET AS I'D PAY IF I PHYSICALLY WENT TO BUY THE PRODUCT!

* LISTEN... FOLKS... HERE'S WHAT I PROPOSE: ANY TAXES OWED SHOULD BE OWED TO THE STATE AND TAXING SUBDIVISION OF THE STATE WHERE I'M BUYING THE PRODUCT FROM - JUST AS IF I WERE BUYING THE ITEM IN PERSON. PERHAPS THE STATE WHERE THE BUSINESS IS INCORPORATED IN SHOULD GET THE TAX. PERHAPS THE LOCALITY WHERE THE BUSINESS IS HEADQUARTERED SHOULD GET THE TAX. THESE ARE MATTERS UP FOR REASONABLE DISCUSSION. WHAT'S NOT FAIR IS TO BASICALLY REMOVE A CITIZEN'S CHOICE TO COMPARISON SHOP BETWEEN STATES AND LOCALITIES TAKING "LOCAL" TAX REGIMES INTO ACCOUNT.

Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, says the bill is about "money-hungry state legislators."

"This is a dangerous road to travel, and sets precedent for further expansions of state-level tax collection authority," Norquist says in a letter to supporters. "Take action now to urge your senators to oppose an Internet sales tax scheme that lets liberal states like California and Illinois tax across their borders!"

The Heritage Foundation says that "real conservatives" oppose the bill and that it would hurt online commerce, force small businesses to jump through new bureaucratic hoops and erode state sovereignty.

April 25, 2013 at 9:55 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/obamacare-exemption-lawmakers-aides-90610.html

Congressional leaders in both parties are engaged in high-level, confidential talks about exempting lawmakers and Capitol Hill aides from the insurance exchanges they are mandated to join as part of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul, sources in both parties said.

* I STILL REMEMBER NEWT GINGRICH FIGHTING - AS SPEAKER - TO PUT CONGRESS UNDER THE SAME RULE OF LAW AS PRIVATE CITIZENS AND BUSINESS/UNION ENTITIES (ARTIFICIAL CITIZENS FOR LEGAL PURPOSES).

* AGAIN, FOLKS... HERE'S THE REAL HISTORY OF THE FALL OF GINGRICH: RINOs AND DEMOCRATS TOPPLED HIM BECAUSE HE ACTUALLY WAS A TRUE CONSERVATIVE WHO TRIED TO LIVE UP TO HIS PROMISES. (SEE: "CONTRACT FOR AMERICA")

The talks — which involve Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), the Obama administration and other top lawmakers — are extraordinarily sensitive, with both sides acutely aware of the potential for political fallout from giving carve-outs from the hugely controversial law to 535 lawmakers and thousands of their aides. Discussions have stretched out for months, sources said.

* DISCUSSIONS HAVE STRETCHED OUT FOR MONTHS... AND YET... HOW MUCH HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT THESE "DISCUSSIONS?"

A source close to the talks says: “Everyone has to hold hands on this and jump, or nothing is going to get done.”

* OF THE OLIGARCHS... BY THE OLIGARCHS... FOR THE OLIGARCHS...

* GUNS... AMMO... GUNS... AMMO... TARGET PRACTICE... TARGET PRACTICE... TARGET PRACTICE...

When asked about the high-level bipartisan talks, Michael Steel, a Boehner spokesman, said: “The speaker’s objective is to spare the entire country from the ravages of the president’s health care law. He is approached daily by American citizens, including members of Congress and staff, who want to be freed from its mandates. If the speaker has the opportunity to save anyone from ObamaCare, he will.”

* IN PLAIN ENGLISH: "IT'S A SMALL LIFEBOAT; THERE WILL PROBABLY ONLY BE ROOM ENOUGH FOR US POLITICIANS."

* I TRULY DO WISH BOEHNER WOULD DROP DEAD. I HATE BOEHNER WITH A PASSION. HE'S DONE NEARLY AS MUCH DAMAGE TO THE REPUBLIC AS HAS OBAMA.

Reid’s office declined to comment about the bipartisan talks.

* OBVIOUSLY I'D SHED NO TEARS FOR REID IF GOD - IN HIS INFINITE WISDOM - CHOSE TO "TAKE HIM" THIS VERY DAY.

April 25, 2013 at 10:10 AM
William R. Barker said...

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2013/04/patrick_administration_refuses_to_release_tsarnaev_brothers

The Deval Patrick administration [of Massachusetts] clamped down the lid yesterday on Boston Herald requests for details of Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s government benefits, citing the dead terror mastermind’s right to privacy.

* BULLSHIT! WELFARE RECORDS SHOULD BE PUBLIC DOCUMENTS BECAUSE WELFARE SPENDING IS PUBLIC MONEY!

Across the board, state agencies flatly refused to provide information about the taxpayer-funded lifestyle for the 26-year-old man and his brother and accused accomplice Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, aged 19.

* DEVAL PATRICK IS A SCUMBAG.

On EBT card status or spending, state welfare spokesman Alec Loftus would only say Tamerlan Tsarnaev, his wife and 3-year-old daughter received benefits that ended in 2012.

On housing, Cambridge officials and the family’s landlord ducked questions on whether the brothers were ever on Section 8 assistance.

On cellphones, the Federal Communications Commission would not say whether either brother had a government-paid cellphone, also citing privacy laws.

* AGAIN... WHERE PUBLIC MONIES ARE BEING DISBURSED THE PUBLIC HAS A RIGHT TO KNOW HOW SO!

The Herald reported yesterday that Tamerlan Tsarnaev, his wife and 3-year-old daughter collected welfare until 2012 and that both Tamerlan and Dzhokhar received benefits through their parents “for a limited portion” of the time after they came to the U.S., which was around 2002.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev lies hospitalized and facing capital charges that include using a weapon of mass destruction that killed three people and injured 260 near the Boston Marathon finish line. Taxpayers — already on the hook for Tsarnaev’s court-appointed attorneys in the terror plot — continue to pay his mounting medical bills at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

The public also paid for Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s attorney when the Russian national successfully fought criminal charges in 2009 that he battered a former girlfriend.

* PERHAPS THE TERRORISTS ARE RIGHT ABOUT ONE THING... AMERICA IS A SICK COUNTRY.

April 25, 2013 at 10:40 AM
William R. Barker said...

* TWO-PARTER... (Part 1 of 2)

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/the-faa-fiasco-90603.html

From time immemorial, a government that doesn’t want to tighten its fiscal belt finds high-profile ways to inconvenience the public in the hopes of turning it against spending cuts.

In keeping with this tried-and-true so-called Washington Monument strategy...

* IRONICALLY ENOUGH IT SEEMS "TIME IMMEMORIAL" POINTS TO THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION!

...the White House canceled tours in the immediate aftermath of sequestration.

In an escalation, the Federal Aviation Administration furloughed air traffic controllers this week, causing widespread flight delays.

* AN IRRESPONSIBLE ESCALATION.

Somehow, the Obama administration managed to find the federal employees perhaps most essential to the nation’s transportation and commerce, and send them home. It found one of the few categories of federal workers that operate something, and cut it. It found a way to make one of the most aggravating aspects of modern American life, air travel, even more aggravating.

* APPARENTLY WASHINGTON D.C. AIRPORTS WON'T BE EFFECTED.

On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid rushed to the Senate floor to say that, “In airports across the country, millions of Americans will get their first taste of the pain of sequestration.” He then plugged for a budgetary gimmick to cancel most of sequestration, so spending can resume as usual. Reid knows the script of the Washington Monument strategy very well.

* AGAIN... REID'S DEATH... SOMETHING TO BE HOPED FOR. SOONER RATHER THAN LATER!

The head of the FAA, Michael Huerta, says he has no choice but to disrupt the nation’s aviation in implementing the sequestration.

* HE'S A LIAR. HE SHOULD BE FIRED. (OH... WAIT... HE'S DOING WHAT POLITICIAN... er... I MEAN PRESIDENT OBAMA WANTS DONE.)

He has to find $600 million in cuts in an agency with a $15 billion budget within a Transportation Department with a $70 billion budget.

Only 15,000 of the FAA’s 47,000 employees are air traffic controllers. Yet he is furloughing controllers such that on Monday more than 1,000 flights were delayed.

The furloughs hit all airports equally, no matter how busy they are, or how central they are to the system. As far as the FAA is concerned, the Chicago Air Route Traffic Control Center, with more than 8,000 takeoffs and landings a day, is the just the same as Waterloo Regional Airport in Iowa, with fewer than 80.

* AGAIN... IT'S BEEN REPORTED THAT WASHINGTON AIRPORTS D.C. ARE BEING "SPARED."

* SEE: http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/inside-politics/2013/apr/24/washington-airports-spared-sequester-impacts/

* TO BE CONTINUED...

April 25, 2013 at 5:27 PM
William R. Barker said...

* CONCLUDING... (Part 2 of 2)

The FAA should be able to manage with a little less. Its operations budget has doubled since 1996. The agency got along just fine in 2007, even though it had fewer controllers than today and less money, while handling more air traffic.

Even with sequestration, the FAA overall has slightly more funding than under President Barack Obama’s 2013 budget request.

* YOU FOLKS ARE READING THIS... RIGHT?

In 1986, the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings automatic deficit-reduction law, the model for today’s sequestration, went into effect, mandating a cut of more than 4% at the FAA. Yet no controllers were furloughed. In past budget showdowns, air traffic controllers have been considered essential employees.

As Sen. Tom Coburn has pointed out in letters to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, “The FAA employs a variety of lawyers, public affairs specialists, speechwriters, administrative staff, congressional affairs staff, community players, management and program assistants, and other employees that aren’t immediately critical to FAA’s mission.” Why can’t they disproportionately contribute to the savings of sequestration? The operations account where the sequestration cuts largely fall also has $2.7 billion in non-personnel costs.

The airline industry has been screaming bloody murder about the effect of willy-nilly air traffic controller furloughs and sued to try to get a better plan out of the FAA. The head of the Air Line Pilots Association, Lee Moak, believes that “they’re using the air system as a political football.”

If there were justice in the world, Michael Huerta would be fired and Ray LaHood impeached. Short of that, Congress should act without delay to free air travelers from the grip of [Obama's] Washington Monument strategy.

April 25, 2013 at 5:27 PM
William R. Barker said...

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/296333-dem-leaders-wont-seek-exemption

* AND NOW... NOT EVEN A FULL DAY HAVING GONE BY...

Democratic leaders said Thursday they’re not seeking an exemption from a central requirement of ObamaCare — that members of Congress and their staff purchase healthcare coverage through insurance exchanges.

Democratic leaders said they have not sought an exemption — and would not support one if it were proposed. “Nobody is exempting anybody from anything,” one Democratic aide said.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) both said Thursday they do not believe the mandate should be lifted. Reid spokesman Adam Jentleson flatly denied a report that the majority leader had sought an exemption for lawmakers and their staffers. “There are not now, have never been, nor will there ever be any discussions about exempting members of Congress or Congressional staff from Affordable Care Act provisions that apply to any employees of any other public or private employer offering health care,” Jentleson said.

* TELL IT TO POLITICO. SOMEONE'S LYING. (*SHRUG*)

* FOLKS... SERIOUSLY... COMPARE THIS "THE HILL" STORY TO THE EARLIER "POLITICO" STORY.

* STAY TUNED...

April 25, 2013 at 8:38 PM

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