Sell Your Wallet, You Won’t Be Needing It Anymore

Okay, I know we are doomed with the bill for the Messiah’s socialization program, but some of this borders on ridiculous and I can resolve some of the issues fairly easily.

$1 billion for Amtrak, which hasn’t earned a profit in four decades.

How about simply raising the fares? I just can’t see why I have to pay someone else’s train fare.

$400 million for research into global warming.

I have a telescope that I can keep track of Sunspots for the government. I’ll even do it for a lot less money. Just make out a check for a million and save the other 399 million.

$2.4 billion for projects to demonstrate how carbon greenhouse gas can be safely removed from the atmosphere.

I can demonstrate that very easy. Plant trees. Another 2.4 billion saved.

$600 million to buy a new fleet of cars for federal employees and government departments.

Why are we buying cars for federal employees?

$21 million to re-sod the National Mall, which suffered heavy use during the Inauguration.

It was the Messiah’s party, why not just send him the bill?

$2.25 billion for national parks. This item has sparked calls for an investigation, because the chief lobbyist of the National Parks Association is the son of Rep. David R. Obey, D-Wisc. The $2,25 billion is about equal to the National Park Service’s entire annual budget. The Washington Times reports it is a threefold increase over what was originally proposed for parks in the stimulus bill. Obey is chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.

Okay, I understand that the parks need money to operate, but would not a special license plate issue or increasing the park access fees be more “user-oriented”?

$50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts. $4.19 billion to stave off foreclosures via the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. The bill allows nonprofits to compete with cities and states for $3.44 billion of the money, which means a substantial amount of it will be captured by ACORN, the controversial activist group currently under federal investigation for vote fraud. Another $750 million would be exclusively reserved for nonprofits such as ACORN – meaning cities and states are barred from receiving that money. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., charges the money could appear to be a “payoff” for the partisan political activities community groups in the last election cycle.

They are kidding about this, right?

$32 billion for a “smart electricity grid to minimize waste.

Okay, so this is the taxpayer’s problem because????? Either the energy saved by the improvements will pay for the renovations or it will not.

$2 billion to help subsidize child care.

$650 million for coupons to help consumers convert their TV sets from analog to digital, part of the digital TV conversion.

$75 million to fund programs to help people quit smoking.

$335 million for treatment and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases. 

$87 billion of Medicaid funds, to aid states.

$53.4 billion for science facilities, high speed Internet, and miscellaneous energy and environmental programs.

$13 billion to repair and weatherize public housing, help the homeless, repair foreclosed homes.

$20 billion for quicker depreciation and write-offs for equipment.

$10.3 billion for tax credits to help families defray the cost of college tuition.

$20 billion over five years for an expanded food stamp program.

Okay people, the bill for the total package is ~$3,000 per American. So a family of 4 will get a bill for ~$12,000 to pay for all this stuff. I can hear it now, they are not going to tax you, but those evil corporations and “rich people”. Maybe one of these days BCR readers (most of you do) will understand that the evil corporations and “rich people” do not pay taxes. Taxes they pay are simply calculated into their over-head and those who buy or consume their products and/or services pay them. In the end, they are paid by each and every one of us. This is not including the cost of lost industry to other countries and the exodus of capital from the United States to more lucrative havens.

Now, if the government does not raise taxes to cover this stuff, then it either has to borrow money from less-than-friendly Nations to cover the bill (passing the bill onto our kids and grandkids), or fire up the printing presses (resulting in a devalued dollar and inflation). So I have a better idea. The government can stop the meddling that caused the current crisis in the first place and simply cut out capital gains and corporate taxes altogether. Can you imagine the economic boom created by the influx of capital and industry from other Nations? Eliminate the employment tax (they call it a personal income tax) so that people are not penalized for working. At the very least, stop the withholding stuff and have taxpayers write a check on April 15th for the entire amount. The revolt would make the Boston Tea Party look like child’s play.

Some very bad things are in store for us folks if this junk passes…