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AMERICAN FLIM-FLAM

By: Wayne Brown
For those of you who have not been paying attention in class, it is surely a new day. Our once detached president has stepped to the podium and now wants to lead the nation out of the darkness of financial ruin. Of course, he has attempted that effort before and cost us taxpayers nearly a trillion dollars in stimulus spending…you know that story, why rehash it?
It seems the President has a new idea to lower our national debt. He wants to impose more tax on the American people, particularly the rich of America, as he would categorically describe them. Wow! What a new idea! Suddenly this detached being we have in the office of President has stepped to the podium with what his people describe as a new approach to our dilemma here in America. He wants to tax us more. Oh, and he delivers the message with a new and yet unfounded urgency that we have to do something quickly or we all will perish. Well, some things never change as that is the same ploy that was used to push through Obama-Care and the Stimulus Spending package.
What’s really going here? Has the President had an epiphany and come around to the conservative thought process on the matter of spending and financial well-being in America…well, to quote Bugs Bunny…”Not likely, Doc!” No this is not the case at all. Don’t forget that while attempting to remain totally detached from the problems of America while the ship takes on water, Obama is also running for a second term in office. We have to start fueling the fires of electioneering if we are to survive another term seems to be the thinking here.
What better way to kick things off than a good old class envy fight. Remember what Obama’s former chief of staff said, “Never let a good disaster go to waste!” Well, the current financial crisis in America’s federal government is as good a disaster as a damn ol’ politician can find. Why waste it? Why not use it as the springboard to create more hate and dissension among the ranks of Americans. Why not use it to paint the rich as that evil class of tax dodgers who don’t pay their fair share? Why not stir that pot so that we can unite vote of the bottom feeders and get them firmly in Obama’s court for 2012. That’s right America, this has nothing to do with solving our problems, it is all about getting Obama re-elected.
Tough situations require sane minds. The reason that aircraft pilots have emergency checklists is because we cannot trust each and every one of them to follow the same steps toward sanely and effective resolving the emergency. Conspiracy happens amid chaos…the perpetrators literally walk away right in front of your eyes and you, the witness, see nothing because you are far too caught up in the chaos to apply any logical thought or observation. The same holds true in this situation. Obama will use chaos to accomplish his needs with the urgency that will not allow sane and logical thought.
In the first place, any politician who wants to raise my taxes in this day and time needs to accomplish some first steps before he gets me on board. One of those first steps is to cap the debt ceiling. Secondly, I want to see a permanent reduction in spending that will survive each budget until the debt is brought to a manageable level. Thirdly, I want to see a balance budget amendment put in place on the federal government. I also want to see it decreed that all revenue raised by the reduction of spending and budget allocation will go directly toward the reduction of the national debt. Then, and only then, do I want to hear that anyone in Washington wants to raise my or anyone else’s taxes. If you settle for anything less, you are simply handing Washington more of your money to add to their spending insanity which pervades the thinking process there in the capitol.
Obama could care less either way. The current situation suits his needs in pushing America to the left and more and more into a socialist society. He will continue to pander to the unions in every way that he can. He will play to the illegal immigrants housed here in America in the hope that someone will figure a way to get them inside a polling booth outside the confines of Illinois. He will pander to the lower income levels by calling for the rich to pay more taxes and alleviate this burden on America. He will do all of that in his effort to solidify a voting base for himself. Then, he will execute the most lavish campaign across America that a billion dollars can buy while he celebrates his way back into the Office of the President for yet another four years of detached disaster.
That’s Obama and there is little we can do about this George Soros installed puppet of a president other than wait out his current term and send him packing back to his community organizer position in Illinois. We really don’t have the time or energy to spend on the likes of Obama as there are far more pressing issues at hand in terms of getting America back on track and headed toward financially solid ground.
Congress is our problem in America. It always has been and likely it always will be. Up to now, these folks have had pretty much a free ride in America. They have sat back and controlled the purse strings and the spending from day one and have never really been held accountable for that task. Well, it’s a new day in America, and it is time that we as voters and taxpayers say that Congress will be held accountable both for our current sad state of affairs and for anything that smells remotely like it in the future. It’s time to fire some folks and send them home. It’s time to start again and if we head down the same road, fire some folks and send them home, until we finally get the message across that you are elected to go Congress and execute the will of the people, first and foremost. And, if you do not, you are fully accountable and answerable to the voters of America for your actions. That is the message that we must drive home and now.
We have watched this hypocritical, low-life, amateur, soap-opera drama play out in Washington over the past few weeks. Some have huddled in corners gnawing at their fingernails at the prospect of a government shutdown and all the implications thereof. The cameras have been poised to catch the drama and the media has been the normal willing participant in playing out the Washington ruse that our elected ones are struggling with the issues that are far larger than anything mankind in America has ever encountered. They are brave, courageous, and true and they stand for truth, justice, and the America Way! Hogwash! This high school play we have just witnessed is nothing more than a staged drama leading up to kicking the can a bit further down the road. Ultimately, someone steps to the microphone and says, “Well, America if you are really ready to take the medicine, let’s get started on raising the taxes so your government can take in more revenue and pay its bills.” The gauntlet has been thrown down so it seems. If America really wants things to be better, they need to pay more taxes. “Yes, Yes, we’ll do it, we’ll answer the call, we’ll save America!”
Please, don’t be a schmuck and fall for this insanity. Don’t stand there and let Congress hand you, the taxpayer, the screaming monkey and walk away totally unaccountable while you mail more of your money to them to spend. This is not a solution. This is a sham. This is a crying frigging shame. This is the kind of stuff that people should be lined up and shot for suggesting yet we put them on a pedestal and call them a genius. Please America…wake up from this insanely bad dream that you are enduring.
For far too many years now, America has lived beyond its means. We did so by kicking the can down the road. We listened to Senators give speeches about how credit card companies were ripping off the American consumer while they were kicking the can of debt down the road and living the high life. We watch them create social program after social program all designed to buy blocks of voters in their favor for the next election. We stand by as programs like “Planned Parenthood” are unmasked and exposed for what they really are only to watch those demanding cuts in spending allow such government assistance to continue.
We watch all of this with an apathetic eye and go to the polls and keep voting for the same old tired politicians who hold up their seniority and knowledge as the very essence of why we need to send them back to the halls of Congress to spend more and more of the money that we do not have to spend. And now, we are here on the banks of Bankruptcy Creek nearly at the juncture of where our assets in America equal our debt and someone has the audacity to propose that the first thing we need to do is raise taxes. I have only one reply to that suggestion… “Get a rope!”
American must stop letting politicians divide them across lines that do not really exist. The poor do not pay taxes because they don’t make any money, clear and simple. The middle class ends up making up that difference because there are more middle class than anything else in America. The rich will pay but there is not enough of them to offset the problem. Even taxing the rich at a 90% ratio would not eliminate the national debt, so ask yourself, what could be wrong. What is wrong is that we cannot stop spending long enough to save ourselves. Our politicians are using our tax dollars to buy votes and America is too damn apathetic and apparently too stupid to do anything productive about it.
It would be nice to sit here and discuss this issue stating that “when we overcome this mess” we will have learned a great lesson as Americans. The shame of it all is that I do not see us “overcoming this mess”. I don’t see America coming out on the other side of this debt under the present circumstances and surviving as even a marginal symbol of what it once was as a country. What a sad prospect that we do not have the courage as voters and taxpayers to do what is necessary to stop the ripping off of our own country. What a shame.
Apparently America has lost the magic dust that it once possessed as a country. No longer do we have a society that is engaged and cares deeply for its future. We have become a world of immediate gratification totally immersed in our own selfish needs with little caring about the future and what it holds for us or our children. We have become a people willing to sign away our freedoms of choice to some elected official in Washington to do with as he or she sees fit. We bathe in the warmth of thinking they will do what’s right because we believe in an America that no longer exists in terms of character, ethics, morality, and love of our fellow man. Until we wake up and find those things for ourselves again, we will stand and watch America disappear.
© Copyright WBrown2011. All Rights Reserved.
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Comments
Wayne, great answer. You really nailed all of it. Obama is representing everyone except US. I think he wants a revolution as a pretext to declare marshal law and suspend elections. I wouldn't put anything past him. He knows the ecomomy is costing him the center. Without them he can't win again. Plan B is Alinsky, and alot of his faithful are going to revolt against enemies he makes up, and good Americans protecting themselves and the democracy are going to be made the scapegoat if what I think his plans are come to fruition. As crazy as 2008 was, 2012 could possibly make it pale in comparison.
Stu
sam3m,
I checked Snopes, and they agree the claim about $200 million per day is false. Apparantly, this charge was printed in the Press Trust of India on 11/2/2010.
If Bachmann and Huckabee repeated this claim, they would have to be in error, regardless of what the Indian newspaper said. The ten day trip would come to an unimaginable $2 billion, or $6,500 for every man, woman, and child in America. This just can't be possible.
Stu
sam3m,
Your point on taxes does not comport with the Constitution. The existing FIT, being graduated, is not uniform, and already is unconstitutional. Making the FIT more progressive will only increase its illegality.
The GOP does push alot of lies, but the TPM doesn't. The TPM stands on three simple planks: legal constructionism, debt reduction, and free markets. These are not "lies," but simply the right things to strive for in a well managed constitutional democracy.
Obama's friends and appointees are all ultra left wing liberals, socialists, and communists. Find me even one counter-example. I bet you can't.
Stu
going to cost $200 million a day?
That's the number making the rounds among the president's conservative critics, including potential 2012 Obama challenger Mike Huckabee and U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), as the president takes off Friday for a 10-day trip to Asia.
Huckabee made the claim to Fox News on Tuesday night (citing "reports") and in the social media sphere. "Reports say that Obama's trip to Mumbai, India tomorrow will cost taxpayers $200 million dollars a day - come to think of it, that's much less than Obama's been spending here," Huckabee wrote in a Facebook message Tuesday night (misstating the day of Obama's departure). "So maybe it's not a bad thing he's leaving."
Stu, sorry about the above quote. i copied and pasted this but i can see that there's no citation to prove where it came from. google obama $200 million/day india trip and you'll get a lot of sources.
wayne, where in the world do you get your information? obama's college transcripts, for instance. i began reading your piece assuming that i would question or react to inaccurate or questionable statements. i gave up because there are so many that i am sure any effort to persuade you to think for yourself would be fruitless. you still believe you're going to be subjected to increased taxes (and you will if you make over 1/4 million dollars a year). and if you make over $250,000/yr. you should be happy as hell because historically, regardless of the tax, you'll continue to do extremely well.
in any case, i continue to be amazed at how many people are buying into the "big lie" pushed by the gop and tea party. in the long run, if they are successful, our country will be further hurt because most politicians will follow that tact because of its success.
his friends are all marxists? really? you're concerned that the medical profession will be taken out of the free market system. where do you live? i just had a pacemaker implanted-1/2 hour surgery, out-patient status-$73,000. how's that grab you for free market?
i'm sure, reading this piece, that if everything you questioned were absolutely proved to be incorrect, you opinion would not change. and that's a shame.
Hi sam3m,
While it is probably obvious that I am a TPM conservative, neither I nor my compatriots believe that social programs should be eliminated. They simply need to be restructured so as to be legal and affordable. The simple fact is that although the federal government operates numerous redistribution programs, it has no constitutionally enumerated power to do so. Only the states can do this legally. And if the states did it, we would never have gotten into owing $60 trillion of off balance sheet debt associated with future liabilites of SS, Medicare, Medicaid, etc., because the states would never make the programs so rich they couldn't pay for them (for the simple reason that states, over time, must balance their budgets; they don't have unlimited borrowing capacity, or the power to print money).
The lie I am referring to is Obama's clear and absolute failure to admit that he is a Marxist when he was campaigning for POTUS. He pretended to be a mainstream liberal so he would get enough votes to be elected, but it was a blatant bait-and-switch. Michele Bachmann warned the country about his Marxist views and activities from his Chicago days in an MSNBC interview prior to 11/2/2008, but sadly the MSM failed to make the interview viral, so the message wasn't heard by most of America.
Rep. Bachmann is no "pinwheel." She speaks in metaphors, and thus is hard to understand until you learn her lexicon. I had to listen to over half a dozen YouTube videos of her speeches before I could decipher her "verbal code." In reality, Bachmann has incredible professional, educational, governmental, and social credentials. You may not like her ideology as I do, but she is an extremely bright lady. You just can't see it until you learn how to decipher her speech.
ObamaCare does in fact provide for death panels. I am not against rationing of care in respect of ultra high cost procedures on a cost/benefit basis, which ObamaCare does in fact do. My problem is that it treats such rationing as a "first line of defense." Such rationing should be minimized by FIRST cutting in other areas (tort reform, drug importation, smart hospital automation to reduce mistakes and duplication, letting Medicare bulk negotiate pharma prices under Part D, reducing Medicare fee caps for major procidures to private PPO equivalents, etc.), so the extent of denial of care for the most sick can be limited to the greatest extent possible. ObamaCare focuses almost exclusively on intermediation (insurance), and largely ignores cost containment. This is the biggest flaw in ObamaCare; since most Americans with insurance are covered by big PPO networks that pay out about 90% of premiums in benefits, it is obvious that the cost problem is at the provider level, not the insurer level.
I'm not aware of any alleged $200 million trip by Obama to India; can you provide a link?
Stu
stu,
my point about the biggest threat is the lack of regard for the least fortunate of our citizens. i realize that sounds corny, but i believe we have to be concerned about the elderly, disabled, etc. the gop seems content with trashing these people because they're expensive and have little influence politically.
i wish we had time and space here to have you enumerate the lies you speak of. i'm not aware of the things you're writing about.
you lose a great deal of credibility, by the way, quoting michelle bachmann. aside from being a card-carrying pinwheel, she is one whose lies to her fans continue to be repeated even after she is shown to be wrong; death panels, $200 million trip by obama to india...
sam3m,
Our debt IS our biggest threat. Even one of the members of the armed forces Joint Chiefs said this in public, and these guys are not focused on the budget.
The lying out there is mostly Obama's. He pretended to be a mainstream liberal during his campaign, but turned out to be a socialist, and I mean by the correct definition of the term. His disregard for the Constitution, in terms of proposing unconstitutional bills, issuing unconstitutional EO's, letting his regulators usurp Congressional power, and breach of affirmative duty, are all signs of fiat dictatorship from the top, the core of socialism.
I agree we need to stop giving breaks to the wealthy and special interests, but at the same time we need to dismantle the nanny-state. It's not the federal government's role "equalize outcomes." It doesn't even have an enumerated power to do so. If specific states wish to redistribute income to an excessive degree, I wouldn't like it, but at least it's not a constitutional violation.
Stu
Wayne,
In re your question about why Obama was elected, the answer is simple: he masqueraded as a mainstream libral during his campaign, even though in reality he's a socialist. Michele Bachmann warned the country about his marxist views and activities from his Chicago days in an MSNBC interview prior to 11/2/2008, but sadly the MSM failed to make the interview viral, so the message wasn't heard by most of America. Centrists and liberals were tricked, McCain put on a bad campaign (he appeared too frightened about losing to "appear presidential"), and the inevitable happened. Now, we have to focus on getting HRH out of office.
Stu
i think i'm losing it. does no one else think that giving millionaires and billionaires hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax breaks while taking more money from the elderly, an ok path to follow?
what has become of us that we don't even look into proposals that protect the wealthiest, believing that our taxes are going up?
i used to think that much of the objection to obama was based in racism, but now i really believe that people have become so self-centered, so greedy that they'll believe anything that's anti-government because they have to blame someone for their plight.
to agree with a policy which gives more to the wealthy while taking from the elderly is ludicrous.
i hear the word socialism used by people who should first use a dictionary before speaking. i see a political party supporting idiots as candidates, people who use fear and prejudice in their speeches. who lie, get caught in the lie and continue to use the same rhetoric because they know that eventually the big lie will be believed.
our debt is certainly a problem, but i think we have a much bigger one to deal with.
Government must be cut back to a size that the average voter has a fighting chance of understanding what is going on.That is a tough order but let us hope for that change.
Its a turd, its a pain... no no... its SOCIALIST MAN!
lol too funny
- Harlan
Wayne, great post. And you're totally right about taxes. While taxes will have to go up (hopefully by broadening the base, and not raising rates), it would be crazy to let the feds raise more revenues until controls are in place to cap federal spending. Otherwise, the extra taxes would just result in more spending, instead of debt reduction. Of course they would promise the opposite, but they can't be trusted any more. Stu
Fabulous insights as always. I wonder when the people who still believe in Obama's "change" will realize the motives behind the madness. "The government can give to no one that which it does not take away from someone else." Unfortunately we are surrounded with a society of freeloaders who don't care and have no integrity. I seriously don't know why this is so hard for congress. Cut the pay of politicians and high ranking officials.....bam...problem solved.
Wayne - That's quite a laundry list you compiled there in your reply but dead on the money my friend.
The Frog Prince
Excellent analysis Wayne. In my Hub today I pointed out the obvious. Obama isn't about being The Great Uniter. His past speaks to that issue. What he is really all about is class warfare.
You're right Harlan. Our Constitution tried hard to avoid paper money, but they lost. The money is now issued by the very central bank (the Federal Reserve) that Jefferson said would steal from the people.
If we default or print up the money to pay the debt, the savings of everyone will be wiped out, because our money is based on the good credit of the United States. If we simply declare our debt to be wiped out, the US will have no credit at all and the dollar will become a worthless piece of paper.
WillStarr, there is a third way to tackle the debt. With a stroke of a pen congress and the president could declare it gone. It is not real money or debt anyway. People who know the story behind the Federal Reserve will know what I mean. How is it we print our own money, pass it off to a private bank then borrow it back with massive interest?
As far as the Flim Flam artist goes, I think most our presidents are puppets to someone behind the stage who really calls all the shots. A secret organization perhaps? There is no way these people can do the things they do and look themselves in the mirror in the morning without being controlled by some puppet master.
Great hub
- Harlan
There are two ways to tackle the massive debt:
1) Stop spending all that money by cutting way back on entitlements.
2)Raise taxes.
The first answer is correct, so that means Obama will go for option #2.
Absolutely fantastic hub and I agree with every word. America is a long from the great country it once was and we do need to get rid of a lot of dead wood from congress, plus we sure need to defeat Obama in the next election. Powerful hub, rated up!
By the way, I forgot to mention earlier, that picture is pretty priceless. Encompasses all that Obama is...a clown in the WH, I think if I look hard enough I can even see a little bottle of the snake oil Frog speaks of.
Excellent, excellent, excellent! I think I would love to see a Wayne Brown/Breakfastpop or Frog Prince presidential ticket! Thanks for a great one Wayne. I just told the man with no pants that we need to be less selfish. Rated up and pushed all the other buttons too!
‘Important men seldom have contemporaries great enough to evaluate them.’ Louis Nizer
We have lost all respect in this country. I base that on the insulting picture you have chosen to depict the President of the United States. With that introduction nothing positive is likely to follow.
Somewhere in your text there is a typo, leaving the ing, off the word Washington. ‘Washing’, which lead me to thing of washing as in money. Washington DC has become a great money laundering center. The revenues of war flow through the appointed hands into the pockets of the Super rich.
I do not view the battle against the poor and middle class or even moderately well off. The wealth of this nation is being (has been?) siphoned off. In the same breath we can cower at the Chinese holding 830 billion in U.S. Treasury bonds, and hand Paulson 750
billion to refill the coffers of the banking class. There is something very wrong with the attention span that can be mustered by the American people.
You can walk out of the barn leading a beautiful White steed, but look around, you have no rider.
Wayne
I just received a top secret exclusive; the actual text of Obama’s speech to be delivered tomorrow! Here's his plan to reduce the deficit when asked Mr. President how do you propose to cut the Federal Deficit:
Tax his land, Tax his bed,
Tax the table At which he's fed.
Tax his work,Tax his pay,
He works for peanuts
Anyway!
Tax his cow,Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,Tax his coat.
Tax his tobacco,Tax his drink,
Tax him if he Tries to think.
Tax his car,Tax his gas,
Find other ways To tax his ass.
Tax all he has Then let him know That you won't be done Till he has no dough.
When he screams and hollers; Then tax him some more,Tax him till
He's good and sore.
Then tax his coffin,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in
Which he's laid.
When he's gone,
Do not relax,
It's time to apply
The inheritance tax.
I am speechless. Your hub is extraordinary and it should be required reading in Washington, if these fools remember how to read. I agree with every single word written and I thank you for expressing common sense ideas so brilliantly. Voted up useful and definitely awesome.
Wayne, you should stop holding back so much, man. Stand up and tell us how you REALLY feel! ;) I may have said that to you before, but it's because you're so brutally honest in these hubs that it makes me truly want to change. At one point in my life, I was politically engaged and active and I truly, truly CARED. Then, I got so wrapped up in just trying to survive that a lot of that went away. Now, I feel lost in a system that just doesn't allow my one voice to accomplish much. What do I do? I agree with you completely and wholeheartedly, but what's frustrating is that I can't figure out how to change it - how to make a difference.
Great hub, as always. Up and awesome.
Wayne, you hit the nail on the head. It's not just America; every person living in a democratic nation should read this and wake up! Rated UP
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