Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Political Class Insanity, July, 2012 - Part 1: Tax Evaders Win, Expensive Solar Jobs, Bad Senate Priorities and More

Its that time of month again where we review the latest insanity from the American political class that has arisen in the past month or so. This insanity can include wasteful spending of taxpayer money, useless government programs, quotes from politicians that reaffirm how out of touch they are with reality, etc.

Unfortunately, as has been the case over the past few months or so, there has been so much insanity and idiocy coming from the American political class that we cannot contain it all in one post.

Today is the first of two posts where the insanity just keeps on flowing:

- According to a June 18, 2012 Associated Press (AP) report, earlier this month in Las Vegas, Manny Pacquiao seemed to have won a boxing match but two of the judges at the match decided otherwise, giving his opponent, Timothy Bradley, the split decision victory.

On the surface, especially if you are not a boxing fan, your reaction might be "Who cares?" However, Senate majority Leader Harry Reid was so outraged by this turn of events that he has introduced legislation in the Senate that would create a Federal oversight function for the sport of boxing, as reported by the AP. Not that he was outraged, not that he was only thinking about regulation, he actually proposed legislation to do so.

Let's review:
  • Under Harry Reid's so-called leadership, the U.S. Senate has not passed a formal budget for over three years.
  • Unemployment is still over 8% with almost millions of  Americans without jobs.
  • The national debt fiscal time bomb is fast approaching $16 TRILLION.
  • We are still losing the war on drugs, our public schools still stink, our borders still leak. our health care costs are still escalating and we still have not national energy strategy or policy.
  • The government easily wastes hundreds of billions of dollars every year due to waste, criminal fraud, and inefficiencies.
Given all of the problems and challenges facing the country, Reid is focusing on some boxing match and how to regulate that very small industry. Pathetic priorities.

- According to an article in the Roanoke (Virginia) News from June 18, 2012, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack was quoted as stating that the U.S. economy has "obviously turned the corner."

Combine this quote with the President's quote from several weeks ago that the private sector of the economy is dong fine, it makes you realize that some of our politicians are not of this reality. 8.2% unemployment, 15% or so combined unemployment and underemployment, millions of Americans still looking for jobs, gas prices up more than 70% since Obama took office, millions of Americans who have become too discouraged to look for a job, tens of thousands of small businesses shutting down every year, almost half of this year's college graduating class unable to find a job that they want, 85% of this year's college graduating class moving home rather than striking out on their own because of the economy.

Makes you wonder what corner the economy has turned, in Mr. Vilsack's opinion. It certainly isn't easy street. How stupid do these people think we are?

- According to a recent Federal Housing Authority report:
  • Over the past few years, the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) backed $20 billion in home mortgages for approximately 87,000 homeowners in the U.S.
  • No big deal but if you get under these gross numbers you find that 6,327 of those were mortgages held by delinquent taxpayers.
  • Thus, the FHA insured about $1.4 billion in home mortgages for 6,327 Americans who owed $77.6 million to the IRS, around $12,000 apiece, in unpaid taxes.
  • To add insult to injury to the American taxpayer, the FHA also provided some of those same tax evaders with a first home purchase tax credit worth up to $8,000 per mortgage, totaling $27 million paid out to individuals with unpaid taxes, the IRS and Federal government essentially paying the individual tax evader for buying a new home, while they still owed the IRS back taxes.
Insanity, pay the law breakers with money from taxpayers who do not evade paying their fair share.

- In 2008, Candidate Obama promised he would close the prisoner of war camp at Guantanamo Bay if elected President. He was elected President but has made little effort and had less success in fulfilling that campaign promise. In fact, according to a recent NBC News report, the American taxpayer is paying out $140 million a year to house 169 prisoners. That comes out to about $800,000 per prisoner, year in and year out.

Think about it. Congress got all outraged, which they should have done, when the GSA wasted $832,000 of taxpayer funds on a lavish Las Vegas party but remains silent when we waste almost the same amount of money EACH YEAR to run a prison for each of 169 people in a foreign land. Bring them stateside, put them in existing detention facilities where the per prisoner cost has to be significantly less than $800,000 and shut down Gitmo.

-  A recent report was published by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, part of the U.S. Department of Energy, regarding the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (“economic stimulus”) of 2009, summarized the findings from Section 1603, a grant program run through the Treasury Department.

Apparently, under the stimulus program, the Obama
 administration handed out $9 billion in taxpayer funds to solar and wind projects from 2009 until 2011. This $9 billion created 910 “direct” jobs, i.e. ongoing operation and maintenance positions. This math works out to about $9.8 million to create just one of those long-term, direct jobs. Obscene, inefficient waste of taxpayer funds.

According to his Federal government report, even if you include those green energy projects' 4,600 “indirect” jobs, i.e. positions indirectly supported by the annual operation and maintenance jobs, the cost per job is still a ridiculously high $1.63 million each ($9 billion divided by 4,600 plus the 910).

Stupid, wasteful spending, tax evaders winning while tax payers lose, bad Senate priorities, and out of touch politicians when it comes to the economy. Can't wait for tomorrow's insanity, can you?

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http://www.unitedstatesofpurple.com/

The United States of Purple is a new grass roots approach to filling the office of President of The United States by focusing on the restoration of freedom in the United States, focusing on problem solving skills and results vs. personal political enrichment, and imposing term limits on all future Federal politicians. No more red states, no more blue states, just one United States Of America under the banner of Purple.


The United States Of Purple's website also provides you the formal opportunity to sign a petition to begin the process of implementing a Constitutional amendment to impose fixed term limits on all Federally elected politicians. Only by turning out the existing political class can we have a chance of addressing and finally resolving the major issues of our times.


Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at http://www.loathemygovernment.com/.
It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.

Please visit the following sites for freedom:

http://www.cato.org/
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://realpolichick.blogspot.com/
http://www.flipcongress2010.com/
http://www.reason.com/
http://www.repealamendment/

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