President Obama's 'porkulus' bill is failing.

Flailing and desperate, he has resorted to the very “politics of fear” he ran against during the campaign. In a WaPo op-ed this morning, he argued that each day without his stimulus package, Americans lose more jobs, savings and homes -- subheading: The End is Near!

Certainly there is cause for concern regarding today's economy. Yet there is also positive news that seems to be getting buried in the news pile. For example, major retailers Wal-Mart, Macy’s and Limited Brands Inc. reported January sales that exceeded estimates.

I guess it's hard to use the "doom and gloom" headline for that story. More importantly for the Democrats, it won't win any votes for the stimulus bill. Shouting "Financial Armageddon" from the hilltop seems much more effective.

From Pelosi warning that we'll loose 500 MILLION jobs a month (never mind that the US population is only 3o3 Million) to Obama telling us that if we don't pass the 'porkulus' bill now we may never recover - the hyperbole has all become a bit much.

Especially in light of the news that you aren't hearing.

Wednesday the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said that President Obama's economic recovery package will actually hurt the economy more in the long run than if he were to do nothing. CBO, the official scorekeepers for legislation, said the House and Senate bills will help in the short term but result in so much government debt that within a few years they would crowd out private investment, actually leading to a lower Gross Domestic Product over the next 10 years than if the government had done nothing.

Senator Lindsay Graham is right, scarring people is not leadership - and it's definately not the "Hope and Change" we were promised.

According to the latest numbers from Rasmussen, support for the economic recovery plan working its way through Congress has fallen again this week. For the first time, a plurality of voters nationwide oppose the $800-billion-plus plan.

The latest polling data shows that 43% are opposed to the legislation while 20% remain unsure. Two weeks ago, support for the legislation stood at 45-34%. There is now greater support for a plan that includes tax cuts only than for the Democratic package. And fully 50% of those polled say the plan that emerges from Congress may end up doing more harm than good.

Two items in particular will continue to drive those numbers down:

1. People are still learning what the "stimulus" plan will cost them.

2. News outlets are beginning to report on comments made by Rep Jim Cooper (D-TN) who said that Democratic leadership doesn't "care what’s in the bill, they just want it pass and they want it to be unanimous."

With a pork barrelled "stimulus" bill making for an easy target, Republicans on Capitol Hill have scored a lot of hits. Slowly but surely you can feel the Republicans' growing sense of confidence. Byron York lays out a the case for growing momentum here.

Back in the 80's the group Naked Eyes had a mega hit called Promises Promises. The lyrics in part read:

There is nothing more antithetical to a Republic than to have one rule for politicians and a harsher one for the people.  As such a new bill introduced on the hill makes perfect sense.  

Texas Republican Congressman John Carter has introduced a new bill that allows the average US citizen the same privileges congressmen and Senators take when they do not pay their taxes.

Called “The Rangel Rule”, in honor of tax cheat Charlie Rangel, any U.S. citizen who owes back taxes can pay them and automatically waive all interest and penalties by writing ‘Rangel Rule’ on their return,” says Congressman Carter.

As long as you pay your back taxes, all fees and penalties will be waived.

The Patriot Room has the story here.

According to a new Gallup poll, there seems to be widespread support for most decisions made by President Obama thus far. However, the President's Obama's first two executive orders -- allowing federal funding for overseas abortions and closing Guantanamo -- have been met with widespread opposition.

Dear Lord, it really is a Depression: At this rate, we’ll lose 6 billion jobs this year. It's bad enough to lose your job, but to lose it twice every month is really something!

During a press conference on an undetermined date, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Cali.) -- you know, the second in line for presidential succession right behind the vice president -- said, "Every month that we do not have an economic recovery package 500 million Americans lose their jobs." And lest you forget, the United States has a population of only 303 million.

However as our friends at Hotair.com note, don’t be too hard on Nancy for this little goof. When you’re burning through cash by the trillions, it’s easy to overlook the difference between penny-ante concepts like “thousand” and “million.”



Exit question #1: If former President George W. Bush said 500 million Americans are losing their jobs each month, how would that have gone over?

Exit question #2: Is it really a "slip" if it's the second time you've made the same comment in a month?

Exit question #3: Which of the 57 states will be hit hardest by the downturn?

From our "boom goes the dynamite files" FT.com is reporting that it's game over for humanity.

Google and Nasa are throwing their weight behind a new school for futurists in Silicon Valley to prepare scientists for an era when machines become cleverer than people.

Uh-0h!

The new institution, known as “Singularity University”, is to be headed by Ray Kurzweil, whose predictions about the exponential pace of technological change have made him a controversial figure in technology circles.

Google and Nasa’s backing demonstrates the growing mainstream acceptance of Mr Kurzweil’s views, which include a claim that before the middle of this century artificial intelligence will outstrip human beings, ushering in a new era of civilisation.

Two points which I think are highly relevant.
(1) Will the new robotic civilisation pay taxes?
(2) Perhaps Flight of the Conchords were right... it's only a matter of time before a malicious artificial intelligence annihilates the human race. Think Will Smith will be around to save us? Better start to learn the "robo-boogie!"

Last week, White House Press Secretary Secretary Robert Gibbs pointed out that Treasury Secretary Geithner made "honest mistakes" on his taxes, that “should have been avoided”. Those mistakes amounted to over $34,000.

Shortly after Geithner's nomination we noted that there were more "tax/nanny problems" on the horizon for the Obama Administration. The media knew it as well, but like the Black Pearl itself, the news sailed through the night unnoticed.

Flash forward to this week. Yesterday, the White House called Tom Daschle’s failure to pay more than $100,000 in back taxes a “serious mistake”, but reiterated their support for their nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services.

Nancy Killefer, who failed for a year and a half to pay employment taxes on household help, has now withdrawn her candidacy to be the first chief performance officer for the federal government. When her selection was announced by Obama on Jan. 7, The Associated Press disclosed that in 2005 the District of Columbia government had filed a $946.69 tax lien on her home for failure to pay unemployment compensation tax on household help.

Out of little over a dozen cabinet nominations, President Obama has been able to find three people who found IRS compliance optional. This is on the heels of the admission in 2008 that House Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel, head of the nation’s tax writing committee, had failed to pay taxes on $75,000 of income from his beach side luxury condo.

Americans annually spend over 7 billion hours figuring out their federal taxes. Over 60% of them hire outside help. While not all are as fortunate as Rangel, Geithner and Daschle to have expensive Washington lawyers and accountants to help them, they do find comfort in having an honest service provider calculate their honest debt.

At what point are “honest mistakes” not acceptable to the President for jobs at this level, and if they are, what message does that send to America? While hard working Americans fear the impact of a faulty tax return, fear an audit, fill shoeboxes with receipts of clothing donations and house repairs; Cabinet nominees have a White House transition team and a team of lawyers to hide them from the wrath of the IRS.

During that same White House press briefing on January 26, Robert Gibbs said that Timothy Geithner had “unique experience”. Monday, they said similar words on behalf of Tom Daschle. The most unique thing about these two is that they live by different tax rules than the ones they want to force on the American people by raising taxes, and making the tax code more complicated year in and year out.

They will in turn use those higher taxes to pass radical federal spending programs, including socialized health care and doubling the size of federal agencies like Education and Energy. While we must pay attention to their legal problems, we must also not lose sight of what they plan to do with the taxes the rest of us are paying.

Requiring all Americans to pay less taxes is the true way to stimulate the economy. The poorly designed U.S. tax code places an enormous constraint on America’s international competitiveness, productivity growth, wage growth, and jobs. An alternative to the Trillion Dollar Spending Plan being debated on the Hill, the American Option Act, would benefit all Americans by:

Reducing business taxes from 35 percent to 25 percent
Make tax policy changes of 2001 and 2003 permanent
Dramatically reduce the Estate Tax by 15 percent
Keep tax rates on dividends and capital gains at 15 percent

And that is Smart Stimulus that will put put money in the pockets of taxpayers in every state, and create jobs in every state. Instead of fixing our tax system one Cabinet member at a time, let’s give all Americans the ability to create wealth, jobs and family security. President Obama spoke on the campaign trail of uniting two Americas. We would hope he would start by showing Americans there is only one standard for low taxes, and not create a separate one for the wealthy, elite or politically connected.

UPDATE: Breitbart.com is reporting that Tom Daschle has withdrawn his nomination to be Health and Human Services secretary, dealing potential blows to both speedy health care reform and Obama's hopes for a smoother start as president. Daschle's announcement came less than three hours after Nancy Killefer also withdrew from consideration, and also over tax problems.

UPDATE: All U.S. taxpayers would enjoy the same immunity from IRS penalties and interest as House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel (D-NY) and Obama Administration Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, if a bill introduced today by Congressman John Carter (R-TX) becomes law.  Patriot Room has the details.

Hat Tip Rory Cooper at The Foundary.

From the mid-1930s to about the mid-'70s, U.S. unions prospered because of several favorable forces. During the Depression, workers were incensed by abysmal working conditions and poor pay. After World War II, they were agitated by a sense of postwar entitlement in the context of the great wealth they were creating. Workers were restless and militant -- their struggles were seen as universally beneficial, and they enjoyed broad public support.

Yet today there are new realities - and the unions are failing to meet them without jeopardizing the prominent status they once deserved. In effect modern day unions are becoming ever more outdated, weak and self-serving.

National and state economies are slumping more every day. At a time when businesses and individuals alike are forced to make sacrifices, unions seem to think they are above the fray. Take for example Steve Crouch, business manager for Sacramento's largest union. With hundreds of city jobs at stake he said this to Sacramento Bee reporter Ryan Lillis: "We're not convinced the problem is as severe as the city is portraying it to be."

In a another example of absurdity, in conference call with reporters Friday, one labor leader threatened to mount recall campaigns against legislators who vote to ease overtime and meal-break laws, which the governor and Republican leaders are insisting be part of any budget that includes higher taxes.

Ummm what?!

Listen, in a perfect world, where money grows on trees instead of having to be harvested from the wallets of hard-pressed taxpayers, we would pay teachers, prison guards and service employees their weight in gold.

They could loll around on chaise-lounges, eating truffles and sipping expensive non-alcoholic beverages and we would fan them with palm leaves.

Sadly, though, this world is imperfect -- and it became more so when the economy tanked. Hundreds of thousands of workers in the manufacturing sector have lost their jobs. Now other sectors are laying off staff as the malaise spreads.

Marcos Brenton points out in this great piece from Sunday's Sacramento Bee that while unions help working families and deserve respect, that respect is easily squandered when you live on an island of self-interest. The harder unions push, the more they are viewed as part of the problem, and not part of the solution.

In California attempts to fashion a compromise to close a $40 billion shortfall are severely constrained by labor groups refusal to bend on contract negotiations or shelve various programs. Meanwhile across the state families are taking pay cuts to simply remain employed. The refusal of unions to renegotiate contracts threatens to choke the remaining life out of city and state treasuries.

In today's turbulent times, unions have a choice - help the workforce regain our competitiveness in terms of quality and cost, or continue contributing to the transformation into a welfare state where the only people working are those on the government dole.