May, 2016, Political Class Insanity, Part 2: Another Whopping Obama Lie, Taxing The Bagel Eaters, and Giving The Rich Taxpayer Wealth

It is the beginning of another month which means it is time again to review the latest political class insanity from the American political class. Each month it takes us multiple posts to cover the wasteful spending, incompetent government organizations and employees, government programs that usually make a problem worse than resolving it, inane and idiotic politician comments, etc. In fact, last month we set a record, needing ten full posts to cover it all.To review past posts on this insanity and idiocy, just click on the first few posts in each month listed to the right of this page. After reviewing just a handful of these insanity posts we think you will agree that we are currently being served by the worst set of American politicians ever to hold office in our entire history.It looks like our politicians have been especially insane over the past month or so let’s get started with the latest insanity from today’s American politicians1) Obama has spewed forth any number of memorable deceptions and lies during his time in office. A small sample of the bigger ones include:
- He falsely claimed that if you liked your current doctors, insurance plan, or hospital, then you would be able to keep it under Obama Care.

- He falsely promised to go through the Federal budget “line by line” to get rid of wasteful government spending but he never did.

- He falsely promised to never take a vacation if elected, devoting every waking moment to the American people but ended up taking more extravagant vacations than any other former President.

- He falsely promised to run the “most transparent” administration ever but ended up operating the least transparent administration ever.

- He falsely promised to cut the annual deficit in half by the end of his first term but ended up running up multiple TRILLION dollar annual government deficits.

We could list many more but you get the idea. And now we have another lie/deception to add to the list. Many, many times Obama vowed that he would not send American troops into Syria, that there would be “no boots on the ground” that belonged to U.S. service men and women. Well, that promise, like many of his others, has proven to be false.Obama recently announced that he would deploy 250 special operations military personnel to Syria to assist local allies to beat back the ISIS terrorist group. Now, the administration is trying to spin it that this is not a lie in that these newly deployed troops will be just advisors, not to be actively involved in combat operations. However, Obama never said that, never drew that distinction. He always said “no boots on the ground,” he never said “no boots on the ground except for military advisors.” It seems that this President thinks that by just saying something he can change reality or change history. We are not that stupid, boots on the ground are boots on the ground. You can be sure that those 250 U.S. troops will be defending themselves in combat at some point in time, ISIS would love to get their hands on a live U.S. troop or two. These are military boots on the ground and Obama is still a liar.2) Political class insanity and stupidity is not restricted to those politicians in Washington DC. The politicians at the state government level have done a pretty good job of providing their own versions of political class insanity. Consider the following oddball taxes that are currently in place in some of the nation’s states. Then try to figure out why these laws ever became reality and how much time at the state government level was wasted passing these pieces of tax nonsense:Alabama - In Alabama you have to pay 10 cents to the government every time you buy a deck of standard playing cards. Comments: how much tax revenue could this tax possibly be worth to the state government and is it more expensive for retailers and state employees to collect it than what the tax actually generates?Florida - In Florida there is something called a “greenbelt law” that taxes farmers and ranchers at a lower rate. Comments: sounds like a good idea until you realize that property developers now actually rent cows to graze on their properties to avoid paying higher taxes while preparing their land for building. Even Disney World got a $1.5 million tax break with this cow tax loophole.Kansas - In the state of Kansas, a hot air balloon experience will only be taxed if it is tethered to the ground. If you go somewhere, the ride will be tax free because it is considered “transportation.” Comments: when did anyone anywhere use a hot air balloon to “transport” themselves to a particular place?New Jersey - No matter how close to Halloween it is, pumpkins are categorized as a food and thus tax-exempt it New Jersey. However, if the pumpkin is “painted, varnished or cut and sold as decorations,” sales tax applies. Comments: As with the Alabama card deck tax, is the effort worth it from both a retailer and state government tax employee to collect what has to be a very small tax revenue stream?New York - In New York, bagel buyers get a little something extra with their lox and cream cheese – “an 8-cent bagel cutting tax” on any bagel that comes sliced or is served to be eaten on the spot. Comments: Again, how much time and effort is expended tracking down if the $.08 is collected dependent on whether the bagel is sliced or not? Not clear if you can avoid the tax if the bagel is not sliced and the lox and cream cheese is put on top of the uncut bagel.Tennessee - In Tennessee, you are expected to pay taxes even while breaking the law. In 2004, Tennessee passed the Unauthorized Substances Tax, also known as the “crack tax” that requires anyone possessing illegal drugs to purchase and attach a stamp to the product. Comments: so the Tennessee politicians expect a criminal who is in possession of an illegal drug to actually self identify themselves to authorities in order to purchase a state-required stamp? I don’t think so.Just once it would be nice to talk to some of these politicians who actually conceive, write, and vote on these pieces of nonsense. Just once I would like them explain to me what is the rationale for this insanity. For a state-by-state summary of more stupid taxes, go to:http://freedompartners.org/latest-news/honor-tax-day-ludicrous-taxes-state/3) Government welfare abuse happens at all levels of income and and in all walks of life. Consider this travesty of wasting taxpayer dollars from the Ecowatch website:

• According to Robert Coleman, writing for the website on April 19, 2016, 50 billionaires across the country received $6.3 million Federal government farm subsidies even though most, if not all, of them could not rationally be classified as “farmers.”
• The money was paid out from 1995 to 2014 as part of a Federal crop insurance program, according to analysis by the Environmental Watchdog Group (EWG).
• Fifty members from the Forbes list of the 400 wealthiest Americans received taxpayer money under the program.
• The recipients included banker David Rockefeller, Sr., Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, well known stockbroker Charles Schwab and other billionaires.
• Other, lesser known but still wealthy recipients included Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, owners of three professional sports teams, and the founder of the Bass Pro sporting goods business.
• The total net worth, according to the EWG, of the billionaires who got the Federal money was $331.4 billion. 
• Examples of some of the subsidies include the following:

I am sorry, but someone who is worth almost $18 BILLION (Paul Allen) should not be getting thousands of dollars in taxpayer money for his farming operation. If you want to subsidize farmers, than subsidize those that truly need a little financial help. Paul Allen et al do not need financial help.Either return that $6.3 million to the taxpayers or use it for a real human suffering purpose to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, or treat the addicted in this country, do not give over a $1 million to someone who is worth $2 billion (Lee Bass). Enough insanity for today. Making the rich richer with taxpayer money, taxing the less rich more when they buy a bagel or pack of cards, and another whopping Obama lie. Political class insanity comes in all forms and ways, more of it tomorrow.