Thursday, November 30, 2017

Susan Collins Has All the Cards----For Now



Corker, Collins, and Flake.  Remember those names.  It takes three Republican Senators to hold up one of the most important pieces of legislation in the Republican Party’s history, and these three know it.

Two, (Corker and Flake), are retiring and have nothing to lose in screwing up the bill.  Susan Collins (R-Maine), who caters to liberal thinking more often than not, also knows that as long as the three of them remain “no’s” together, they’ve got the entire Republican Senate by the balls----and, she’s squeezing them tighter than than a bull's asshole in fly season.

All Collins wants? Two years of ObamaCare subsidies and “a host of other issues”:

“Collins has been pushing for lawmakers to pass Alexander-Murray, which provides two years of ObamaCare cost-sharing reduction payments, as well as her legislation with Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) that would provide funding for "reinsurance" programs aimed at bringing down premiums.

Passing both bills, Collins argues, is necessary after a repeal of ObamaCare's individual insurance mandate was included in the tax bill. She noted that the Collins-Nelson measure is also part of the deal.

"I still would prefer that the individual mandate [repeal] were not in the bill. ... It complicates this whole issue and when you pull one piece of the Affordable Care Act out it has an impact on premiums and that's why Alexander-Murray and Collins-Nelson are so important," she said.”  (LINK)

As you can see, Mz. Collins is still hanging onto the dream of saving ObamaCare, even though the program is on its last legs.  She wants it all…………or nothing, or, it's a big fat no.

Then again, if either Flake or Corker decide to “play their hands” ahead of her, McConnell can tell Collins to go pound sand.

All the Republicans need is just ONE VOTE from one of them to hit the 50, and VP Pence gets all the glory, errr breaks the tie, sending this bill to conference.

McConnell should at least check with both Corker and Flake to see if their cost/price might be a little cheaper than Collins’ demands.  Again, it only takes one to break Collins’ stranglehold on the rest of the Republican Senate.


It’s “Let’s Make a Deal” Time.


(cross-posted at The Sparta Report)



Tuesday, November 28, 2017

MISSING IN ACTION


President Trump held a meeting today to start  negotiations for the Dec. 8 government funding deadline.  Only one problem; Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi decided to not show up for the meeting.

"They have been all talk and no action," Trump said. "Now it's even worse. It's not even talk."

The reason Chuck and Nancy gave for not showing up?  They were offended by Trump's tweet earlier in the day:

"Meeting with 'Chuck and Nancy' today about keeping government open and working. Problem is they want illegal immigrants flooding into our Country unchecked, are weak on Crime and want to substantially RAISE Taxes. I don't see a deal!"

Trump also said at the meeting he wasn't surprised by their no-show, since "we're lowering taxes and all the Democrats want to do is raise taxes and flood the country with illegal immigrants".

The next thing these cowardly Democrats will try to do, is shut down the government and point their fingers at Trump.  Not going to work this time kids.

Monday, November 27, 2017

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

THE LIBERAL LEFT'S LATEST MEME: "CREDIBLY ACCUSED"

David Gergen: “Trump shouldn’t get into the gutter with this ungrateful father, it’s beneath the respect of the office.” (paraphrased)

Also Gergen: Despite CNN putting up the Trump quote that “This is a special time for women“, (meaning women CAN COME FORWARD now with far less fear of retribution), Gergen regurgitates: “Trump’s now on the side of the men and not on the side of the women”---The Classic Liberal Progressive tactic Hillary Clinton and the Democrats employed in the 2016 Election in playing the Gender Card.  The Nation rejected it---in massive waves---as it played a part in Clinton’s loss.

Gergen has found his “little niche” with CNN, and, even though he served in the Nixon, Ford, and Reagan administrations, the old codger doesn’t make any bones about being an Establishment Trump-Hating crony in the vain of the Bushes, McConnells, McCains, and the long list “our friend” BizChuck prefers to pretend is non-existent.

As for Roy Moore, I’m still with “the jury’s out” portion of the party that believes due process is deserved before the man is put on a cross.  

“The allegations are extremely damming” doesn’t cut it in my book.

And neither does “credibly accused”.  What the hell does this mean anyway?

There was far too much of a movement/campaign that was mounted against the man over a short time period , (including the $30 million the Senate Majority Leader threw at him, and now this very similar tactic that the Hillary Democrats employed in the final weeks of the Presidential election---women suddenly having extremely thin 40-year old recollections.)

(And, it should be noted that in those final weeks of the 2016 election the Mainstream Media paraded out these 8-10 women and wrote about their “supposed” accusations and flimsy allegations in every newspaper and online site---ON THE FRONT PAGES---24/7.  One simple question must be asked: Where are they now?)

Guy Benson said on Fox News this morning that “if Trump goes down there and campaigns for Moore, the Democrats will say “here’s the leader of the Republican party campaigning for some one who’s been “credibly accused” (by nine women now) of sexual misconduct.”  There's that pathetic meme again---credibly accused.  By who?

When the original story first broke out against Moore, Republicans, Democrats, and even most of the Media said: “We must look at the facts first before passing judgment and condemning the man”.

That sensible---and CREDIBLE---statement didn’t last 24 hours.

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO WITH ALL THESE PERVERTS?




NOVEMBER 21ST 2017
Filed under “Who’s the Turkey”: In the spirit of the Holiday Season, the left-stream Media still can’t help themselves with their prejudiced condemnation of our President, while protecting their liberal perverts, in and out of their industry:
Christine Romans at CNN did a thirty-second run-through spot on the White House’s annual “Pardoning of the Turkeys” in the most speedy and sarcastic way she could. Racing through the script, as if she needed a potty break…….:
“President Trump set to wield his pardoning powers without controversy today at a Rose Garden ceremony. The President will grant clemency to two hand-picked Turkeys named Drumstick and Wishbone. The point of all of this---I wonder what’s the point of all of this, but they do it anyway, [as her co-host laughs in the background]---it’s a tradition.” ~ END.
She wasn’t up against a “hard-break” as the CNN diva sprinted through the announcement as if there was something in her mouth she needed to “spit out” as quickly as possible.
Last year, November 23rd, 2016 CNN introduced the Turkey Pardoning with a 2:31 video as Barry granted clemency to “taters & tots”. Obama spent most of his monologue making metaphoric Turkey jokes, (and can’t stop laughing at his own jokes as if the script said “laugh now moron” throughout).
Needless to say, the lengthy fanfare was to be celebrated---”without controversy”.
Meanwhile, over on MSNBC, (with a ticker-caption “SO WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN TO AL FRANKEN” BY RUTH MARCUS) the Morning Joe bimbo-ette tries to point out that “Franken did, allegedly, (while Mika repeats the word allegedly in the background), and forcibly shove his tongue into her mouth---if that is proven to be the case, (Joe, interrupting: “how does she prove that?”), and then, Mika interjects: “We’re the judge, the jury, and the cops”. Marcus never did get her point out---Joe and Mika made sure of that, providing a solid defense for Franken.
With “the table set”---that Franken “might not be all that bad”---Willie Geist steps in to ask the question: “I’ve had conversations with women over the last week and asked them, “should Al Franken be painted in the same boat, or in the same TV graphic with Harvey Weinstein, should they both be run out of public life? And, the answer I got was NO.
Mika then goes after Charlie Rose: “I want to know where all these people are in the CBS and PBS community”. “I want to know where the Evette Vegas’s at ABC are.” “At least Evette, (sp), Vegas---a woman---admits she messed up”, by hiding these perverts.
Then came this shocking revelation from Psycho Joe: “What happened 20-30 years ago does not happen today” (really Joe?)
Back at CNN, Rep Debbie Dingle is sharing her #metoo moment with Camerota, and they show a clip of Gale King over at CBS, (over the Charlie Rose perversion), both saying this “troubling news” is making it hard for them “to wrap their heads around”---perhaps a poor choice of words. Dingle says, “how do we send a message to these men that YOU CAN’T DO THIS ANYMORE?” Sure sounds like a present-tense statement to me? What do you think Joe?
The reeking hypocrisy and the stench of these liberals defending their own perverts, was enough to chase the aroma of a Turkey basting in the oven out into the backyard---with the dogs. 

Pass the Chivas Regal, and spare the ice.

(cross-posted at the Sparta Report)

Sunday, November 5, 2017

WHY DO WE NEED A FEDERAL INCOME TAX AGAIN?

Photo Credit: History Lovers Club@historylvrsclub
The Federal Income tax was created with the 16th Amendment in 1913.  This single act became the "cancer" of ceding power to a Federal Government, and a leverage against its people---through taxation---that is debated to this day.

"The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration."

To be accurate, the United States Congress did enact a federal income tax in 1861 to fund the Civil War, (a flat tax of 3% for incomes above $800), and revised it in 1862, (with a graduated tax of 3%-5% on incomes over $600). The act did have a specified termination date, 1866, but the Politicians had gotten a taste of the poisonous taxation tree---controllable cash in the Federal coffers. When a "similar" entity, The British Government, began taxing the Colonials to defray the cost of maintaining the military presence protecting the colonies, the people rebelled and a Revolution ensued.  The outcome was the creation of an independent Nation---A United States of America.  


(It should be noted that soon after the rebellion against British taxes, the next step by the Brits was to begin confiscating ALL WEAPONS, starting with the Massachusetts Militia.  The Brits were met with a determined corp of "soon to be Americans", and driven out of Boston.  Not long after, a Patriotic American sympathizer by the name of George Washington was appointed by Congress to command the Continental Army, and the rest is history.)

I guess the point here is that when any government authority decides to remove two items sacredly precious to its people---their money and their arms---that government should and must consider the ramifications or their actions.

Taxation, and tax reforms have taken place by our Federal Government over our history where funds were rarely ever returned to the people.  Not long after the glut of Federal taxation, additional local and state taxation added to this cancer---all in the name of "the public good".  In fact, there was a period where the local and state governments taxed its people at an alarming and undisciplined rate according to The Tax Foundation:

 “Until 1940, state and local government were responsible for most government spending and collected most government revenues, except during major wars.

The early years of the series hold a surprise, at least from the perspective of 2014. State and local government revenues and outlays were once significantly greater than those of the federal government. In 1930, state and local government receipts were 8.0 percent of GDP to compared 3.3 percent at the federal level, and state and local government outlays were 9.1 of GDP compared to 3.5 percent for the federal government.”

While much higher than before, federal government receipts and expenditures stayed within relatively narrow bands from the midpoint of the 20th century until just before the Great Recession. During the period 1950-2006, federal receipts averaged 17.9 percent of GDP, and federal expenditures averaged 20.9 percent of GDP.[13]"  (charts and footnotes can be found from this info above at this link)

Following an FY 2018 Budget Resolution, on Thursday, November 2, 2017, the United States House of Representatives, (thru the Ways and Means Committee), Chairman Kevin Brady introduced the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, one of the most serious tax cut and reform "legislative blueprint" submitted since the Reagan era.  I call it a blueprint for the obvious reasons, as, under regular order of the House, the bill is in its infant stage.  Changes can and will be made as it moves through the House Chamber, on to the Senate, back to the joint Committee, majority approval by both Chambers, and then on to the President's desk.

As for the Politicians and Policy-makers, (along with their lobbyist "friends" & special interest "investors"), the bill is being met with a wide range of opinions, from guarded optimism from Republicans, to the expected outright disdain from the "we always embrace tax increases" Democrats.

For what it's worth, the Business Insider lays out a fairly good summation of the blueprint with the expenditures and revisions.  (For the record this author does not confirm or deny that the information supplied by the BI is completely factual, only that it is basically informative).

Like almost all legislation, there are winners and losers, and no bill is ever considered without controversy, opinions, and, in the case of the Democrats, outright indignant repulsion---surprise, surprise.

As this author has stated above, we've come a long way from when our Government began to tax its people as it, [the Governments, local, states, and Federals], metastasized and legitimized itself in the redistribution of the People's money through taxation.  Reforms and/or reductions have rarely materialized since the 16th Amendment.

What may come out of this current legislation is anyone's guess.  Under the "proper principle" that what our government takes in---from its people---should be the limit of what it spends, (ok, laugh it up), any form of reduction, (less money taken in and more given back to the people), would be a welcomed outcome, especially when representative taxation has become a joke.

The stakes are high.  The power of the government to tax its citizens should be limited and restricted within the boundaries of the will of the People.  

Speak up and out, or you will leave most of these decisions into the hands of the Politicians and the Policy-makers in Washington who appear to feel little fear or reservation from their constituents.

Personally, I'd prefer this nation returned to a time when the Federal Government possessed far less of the people's money to run their bureaucratic  juggernaut.  Our Businessman-turned-President seems to grasp this concept, (or we hope so), as this bill moves forward.  What finally reaches his desk remains to be seen.  

Thursday, November 2, 2017

DONNA BRAZILE THROWS ENTIRE PARTY UNDER THE BUS, WITH ZERO SELF-REFLECTION


Donna Brazile Throws Wasserman-Schultz, Obama, Hillary Clinton, Robby Mook, and Bernie Sanders Under the Bus---Fails to Mention ONE WORD About Giving Hillary Questions Before Debate:

Politico: Inside Hillary Clinton’s Secret Takeover of the DNC  "When I was asked to run the Democratic Party after the Russians hacked our emails, I stumbled onto a shocking truth about the Clinton campaign."  By DONNA BRAZILE November 02, 2017

Rov: I had to get to the bottom of this Politico story to discover Brazile has a book coming out on November 7th---“Hacks: The Inside Story of the Break-ins and Breakdowns that Put Donald Trump in the White House”

This Politico Story is a prelude with excerpts from Brazile’s book.

(Note: I’m not intending to promote Brazile’s book, I’m only pointing out the facts that, [according to Brazile’s accounts], she claims she inherited “a mess” when taking over the DNC, and then proceeds to throw the entire party under the bus.  Read the article if you care to, or not. )

The entire Politico story appears to be a conglomeration of a feeble and disingenuous attempt to “apologize to Bernie”, (since she did stab the man in the back in a debate), and then---in the typical fashion of Liberal Democrats---blames EVERYONE she came in contact with when the DNC handed her a party in complete shambles.

"Before I called Bernie Sanders, I lit a candle in my living room and put on some gospel music. I wanted to center myself for what I knew would be an emotional phone call.

I had promised Bernie when I took the helm of the Democratic National Committee after the convention that I would get to the bottom of whether Hillary Clinton’s team had rigged the nomination process, as a cache of emails stolen by Russian hackers and posted online had suggested. I’d had my suspicions from the moment I walked in the door of the DNC a month or so earlier, based on the leaked emails. But who knew if some of them might have been forged? I needed to have solid proof, and so did Bernie."

The rest of this extensive article reads like a "who dunnit", where terms like "money laundering", an "insider agreement" where Hillary's Campaign literally takes over the finances and control of the DNC, as Brazile searched for "evidence of internal corruption".

Then, she made that call to Bernie to inform him she had found CANCER:

“Hello, senator. I’ve completed my review of the DNC and I did find the cancer,” I said. “But I will not kill the patient.”

I discussed the fundraising agreement that each of the candidates had signed. Bernie was familiar with it, but he and his staff ignored it. They had their own way of raising money through small donations. I described how Hillary’s campaign had taken it another step.

I told Bernie I had found Hillary’s Joint Fundraising Agreement. I explained that the cancer was that she had exerted this control of the party long before she became its nominee. Had I known this, I never would have accepted the interim chair position, but here we were with only weeks before the election."

As I had mentioned above, nowhere in this Political story is one word about her admitting to supplying Hillary with debate questions.  After months of denying the betrayal and transgressions against her own Party, Brazile did indeed admit it, somewhere around the middle of March, 2017, that she was complicit in contributing to the CANCER:

"Former interim Democratic National Committee Chair Donna Brazile admitted Friday that she forwarded Democratic primary town hall questions to members of Hillary Clinton's campaign – something she had previously denied."  (LINK)

One can only wonder, (since this writer won't be reading her book), if Brazile throws a small paragraph in her book about how she participated in the rigging of an American Election, while throwing the rest of her party under a HUGE bus.  Hey, it's all about the money, right Donna?