Cap and Trade Tax

Another great political season ended in November of 2008 and like all political seasons in recent history we were lied to again. Does anyone remember “a tax cut for 95% of Americans”? Well in all fairness, that did happen in the form of about $13 a week on our paychecks. I do not believe that money will help much when the cap and trade tax is passed. Estimates represent anywhere from $1300 to $3000 a year increases in energy costs. They do not call it a tax but what else is it? That is not accounting for inflation which will be here in a couple of years. Politicians love the cap and trade because they can claim to tax industries that pollute and fail to realize that any business who is taxed has to make up those taxes in order to be solvent, therefore you will be charged for the tax. It truly will be trickle down taxation. Jason Chaffettz, Utah Republican, House of Representatives wrote in the Washington Times the he would like to make sure utility bills would be itemized so the consumer could see how much of their bill is taxes. This would promote transparency in who exactly pays for this cap and trade. Cap and trade is pushed by global warming and Al Gore. Al Gore’s home is uses more energy than any other single family home in the state of TN and his private jet is an old jet and leaves a much larger carbon footprint than newer jets. Al Gore’s motivation is money. His net worth after his terms as Vice President was about 2 million. Today he is worth over 100 million. The evidence that we cause global warming is opinion at best and the sun is dead. Well not actually dead but the lack of sunspots indicate a possible cooling trend for our planet. So if we use cap and trade and all the science offered is correct, can we afford to drop the temperature of our planet that one half of one degree Celsius? The one half of one degree Celsius is the total benefit of a world cap and trade system. In my opinion, it’s all about the money.

Lies are tossed at us every day. Go find the truth because it’s not offered.

Dear Government Protect Us From Tyrannies

"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."

-C.S. Lewis

To bring new life and new hope to this country our government is fulfilling this quote by C.S. Lewis. I am a firm believer that government should be small and govern, not take control of and manage corporations. I fear the actions of late will hinder the recovery of our great nation's economy if by no other means than to stifle capitalism. Imagine the post office actually showing a profit. That's hard because it has not happened. I am in the market for a new full size pick up for work. I refuse to even look at GM or Chevy because it is ran by the government. I won't by a foreign car truck because I'd rather send my money to Ford who has a great pick up in the F-150. I have spoken to several people who feel the same way. My chief complaint is that we are being force fed what ever the main stream media deems necessary and just in their eyes. Journalism died in 2008. The media should not try to lead or mislead the country and the news should not be politicized. It should be direct and honest with some integrity. Ahh there's the word which is lost in this country and has been for a few generations. Integrity no longer is taught to our children, our college students, our politicians. The word is spoken but the meaning has been lost. The current meaning is bent and twisted so people can lie with a straight face, Mrs. Pelosi on enhanced interrogation techniques , and continue to further their adgenda. Our country has no checks and balances system this term because in part the media pushed their agenda and because the GOP lost it's fiscal conservationism and were in control for what the American people decided was too long. I feel most things coming from Washington will hurt the country in ways we have not even began to imagine, but I also can admit that I do not know if these actions will actually hurt the US. History says it will depending on which history book you read. Universal health care has not worked in any country that has it. Costs are cut by cutting services. People wait and wait for surgery or just die because they were turned down. Will the good Congressmen and women use this system? No they will not. They have their own system. Which brings me to the question, what is the legacy cost of our Congress? We hear about the legacy cost of automakers who have been strangled by the UAW. What of our Congress who receive full benefits after only one term? How much money do they take for themselves? More than you and I that is for certain. My days here near Washington are coming to a close but I'd like to thank our good congress for the tax breaks I get because I work here and live 320 miles away and commute on the weekends. I get to claim my mileage, rent, phone, food, and every other thing while I work here. I asked my accountant why I get such a great tax break and he told me that Congress also gets to claim all those benefits of working here but living there. Ahh and again it makes sense. I get the scraps that fall from the table of our omnipotent government. If you feel no outrage at our government then wait and you will. Maybe. Again I have a strong belief that this administration will not benefit the country but I could be wrong. Time will tell.

Reconciliation and Health Care Reform

As a user of our health care system and someone who understands the legislative process I am concerned about the "victory" our congress plans to give our president before his 100 day anniversary. This completely undermines any bipartisan debate on the health care system through another hard line partisan power grab. This congress has set aside something like 800 billion dollars for the health care initiative. The problem is that they want this passed by Wednesday, President Obama's 100 day anniversary, without debate. Just like the 1100 page stimulus package which was not read by one member who voted for it. I site the AIG bonuses which Barney Frank and Chirs Dodd were appalled about. They quickly passed a tax on those bonuses to take them back. The problem with and why those bounuses stopped being talked about. Congress, when they passed the stimulus bill also passed the AIG bonuses. They would have known that if they had read it. They are going to push this bill through too under reconciliation which will hold the senate vote to majority and not the normal 60/40 vote. I am concerned and wanted to voice my opinion. Do you have an opinion? Have you sent email or called your congressman or senators? I have and plan to follow this closely.

Thanks for reading my little blog. God Bless America.

Gaming Geek

If you are a gaming geek and love on line gaming with friends then this one might be for you. I am the fore mentioned gaming geek and I have been for a while. I started gaming back in 1986 with the good ole Commodore 64 and a book of code, a 1541 floppy disc drive and of course the store bought games that indoctrinated me into geekdom. Graphics were poor but the play managed to capture hours upon hours of my time and taught me a little about programming. I didn't get to play very much in my young adult life because of commitments to my country and the lack of the technology at that time. Later a friend introduced me to a text based game by Simutronics called Gemstone! I played that one on and off for over ten years and then I deceided it was way too expensive to play and the loot was very poor. Muliple accounts could be opened from one system and allows those fortunate people who do not have to work to run many characters at one time taking most of the loot. The accounts and characters could be bought and sold and it turned into a huge hassel. I left a couple of years ago and the same friend sent me a link to Dungeons and Dragons Online. We played the paper and dice version way back in 1985 in the basement of whomever hosted the games and the imaginations of us all were set loose. After playing DDO (Dungeons and Dragons Online) through the trial subscription I was very intrigued. Now a year and a couple of months later I am hooked. If you enjoyed the books, paper and dice of D&D then you will love this online treat. The graphics are great and the quests are challanging. I tried Diablo, only to be PKed every time I got a couple of levels and hated it. DDO is a very friendly enviornment with the option for PvP in some of the bars. I am, however, most impressed with the DDO staff and customer service. Game balance is good and guilds are a plenty. I reccommend DDO to anyone who wants to game online.

The Deficit! How Much?

I keep hearing that the deficit is between 500 billion dollars and 3 trillion dollars. Which is it and how do they come up with that number? Is the interest on our debt included in our deficit? Are we so deep in deficit that we must print money which some say will cause hyperinflation? As you can see I have many questions and no matter where I go I cannot get a clear concise answer to these questions. I get answers but never the same one twice. That is what my post is about today. I hope someone can help me understand why those answers are hard to find. I understand that they are questions not easily answered but answers are very easily produced to boost one view or criticize another. Can anyone help me understand?