As with any heated debate, oftentimes truth becomes the first casualty in the conflict. To be fair, it happens on both sides of the political spectrum. However, it just seems more accidental on our side and more purposeful on their side.
The quote that headlines this posting is what Barack Obama said about the “Bush Tax Cuts” during his campaign. Once again, the administration conveniently ignores or buries the truth. Jeffery Lord in an American Spectator article and Paul Sperry of the Hoover Institution in an IBD Editorial referenced by Jeffery Lord have provide us the facts of this simple truth: tax cuts increase tax revenues.
Please read the two articles and get the facts.
The most recent evidence proving this simple truth is the 2012 Economic Report of the President prepared by Timothy Geithner and signed by Barack Obama himself. To quote from Jeffery Lord’s article: “you can find it right here, buried in a long, eye-glazing page of statistics on page 413 at very end of a deeply unpublicized but legally-required official White House report.”
The articles cite the statistical record from the Kennedy, Reagan-Bush 1, Clinton, and Bush 2 years showing tax revenue growth, economic growth, and falling unemployment – not most of the time but every time taxes are cut. Even Clinton who, in 1997 after significant GOP pressure, reluctantly signed into law the capital gains rate decrease from 28% to 20% benefited from this simple truth. The effect of the rate reduction tripled capital investment and boosted overall tax receipts to $1 trillion for the first time ever. A full 20% of the increase in tax receipts from 1996-2000 was due to the collection of additional capital gains taxes.
Go here http://spectator.org/archives/2012/12/11/obama-scam-admitted-bush-tax-c to see the American Spectator article discussing this issue.
Go here http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials-perspective/101712-629790-data-debunk-deficit-exploding-tax-cuts-myth.htm?p=full to read the original article by Paul Sperry with all of the detail.
Finally, and because the truth matters, let us set the record straight. The president who signed today’s tax rates into law on which your April 15, 2013, tax bill will be based and which reflect rate reductions from Clinton-era tax rates is…Barack Obama. Bush had his rates but Barack Obama has given us today’s rates. So, to be clear, you should call these the “Obama Tax Cuts” – Bush 2 was long gone when Obama made these rates the law of the land.
With Tata gone and we Republicans licking our wounds, the Gang of Five now begins its “high calling”. Their mission – parental choice be dammed – will be to re-mold public education in Wake County in an old way. Soon, we all will be “rescued” from balanced budgets, rising graduation rates, flexible suspension policies, and more.
Remember when a school board was all about student achievement? Now the goal will be some statistical balance of each school based upon (among other things) family income and test scores.
“We’re sorry, Mr. Jones. We just learn you got that big raise and promotion. Unfortunately, your daughter can no longer stay at her school because … you make too much money. It just isn’t fair to her classmates. You understand, don’t you?”
“Congratulations, Mrs. Smith! Little Johnnie aced the exam. Unfortunately, this unexpected result skewed the grade point average of his class and … we are going to have to reassign Johnnie to another school next year to restore the “proper” balance.” It just isn’t fair to his classmates. You understand, don’t you?”
Does this sound as ridiculous to you as it does us?
Tell us:
On Saturday, the board received the revision to the student assignment plan demanded by the new Gang of Five. Somehow they were surprised by the September 21st release of the internet address lookup function which revealed the first of thousands of re-assignments coming.
Wake County, we always get the government we deserve – not the one we want. We all want a quality education for our children – not some “6 Sigma” statistical crucible through which we will squeeze some 150, 000 students.
Parent: “My kid can’t read.”
Principal: “We understand your concern; however, you child is performing at the same level as the rest of his class.”
Parent: “But he can’t read.”
Principal: “Well, our in-depth analysis of the factors we measure for all students shows that he is right in line with all of his classmates.”
Parent: “Yeah, BUT HE CAN”T READ!”
Principal: “I am sorry – that is not one of the factors.”
Here is a recent quote by Vice Chair Keith Sutton in the N & O: “I’m not under any delusion how easy or hard it’s going to be. The devil is in the details and we’ve got a lot of details to do.”
No, Mr. Sutton, you and the Gang of Five are the delusional ones. To invoke James Carville, it’s the children, stupid! We are just sorry the voters could not see this coming. We will try harder next time. We hope the voters will not forget again.
Pogo: “We have met the enemy…and he is us.”
Every now and then someone will stand up and say what must be said.
I can think of no finer commentary on our present predicament with representative government, the erosion of American Exceptionalism, and the voting public than that which was expressed by Dennis Prager in 2010 prior to the last election. Please take the 8-9 minutes of time to watch this video and be prepared to recognize the greatest threat to the future of our country – no it is NOT President Obama.
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=XNUc8nuo7HI
Here are a few of Dennis Prager’s quotes from the video:
“We have not passed on what it means to be American to this generation”.
“A society does not survive if it does not have a reason to survive”.
“The average American who deeply loves this country with conservative values cannot articulate what those values are”.
“The bigger the government – the worse the citizen.”
“We believe in equality of birth not in equality of result.”
“There is a moral dimension to smaller government.”
Be Informed! Be Involved! Be Connected! One way to do that would be to watch this video and pass it on.
You might also checkout the Prager University website at http://www.prageruniversity.com/
President Obama campaigned four years ago on “hope and change”. The people elected him because of the promises he made – not the evidence of what he could deliver.
Look around you. Has he delivered hope and change? To be honest, he delivered the change and left most of us hoping.
Recently, WRAL News http://www.wral.com/news/local/politics/story/11296870/ interviewed President Obama who said he will fight for every vote and win North Carolina in November. If you don’t think he is serious, I would ask you to consider the hundreds of thousands of dollars of out-of-state money spent last October and November to defeat our Republican Wake County School Board candidates.
Someone once said: “Even when opportunity knocks, a man still has to get up off his seat and open the door”. This is a time of opportunity for all of us – a time to step up. We must step out of our “comfort zones”. We must inspire ourselves and those around us. We must lead some and follow others.
We must assume he really expects to win. Are you ready for four more years of this? If not, act NOW!
Charles Swindoll said, “A family is a place where principles are hammered and honed on the anvil of everyday living.”
The same could be said for a neighborhood, a community, and a political party. However, it is especially true of our Western Wake Republican Club.
The club is the incubator for newly engaged and seasoned party members. Beyond the simple opportunity of learning new facts from our speakers, the club is the proving ground for developing issues, a place to meet new candidates, to recruit future ones, and a unique opportunity to converse with the elected officials that frequent our meetings.
If you seek the facts that go with the passions of being conservative,
If you seek thoughtful considerations shared among friends,
If you seek honest debate among peers,
Join our club and discover new and old friends, engage in social networking, meet the leaders of your local communities, and witness the synergy that is generated when like-minded and maybe some not-so-like-minded conservatives come together in the spirit of honest discussion.
Members and visitors speak boldly about freedom, less government, and better government. Others want to listen quietly absorbing the main points being discussed and debated. And still others gather in the corner to explore the nuances of the issue under discussion.
No matter how you participate, this is America at its best.
Tired of sitting on the sidelines?
