This and That...

[Warph]

Sniper Kill Shot!! Barret M107

   

[Warph]

Budget Bunny Business

By Chris Stirewalt
Published March 19, 2013/Power Play/FoxNews.com
Video at: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/19/budget-bunny-business/#ixzz2O8y8qpel


If he ... spends more time playing the game of golf, I'm sure he can get to where he's got pretty good stick"

-- Tiger Woods talking to reporters last month about President Obama's golfing abilities.

Conservatives have long complained about the lavish lifestyle of the first family – the parties, the vacations, the servants, etc.

But the Obamas have mostly ducked the charges, in part through PR plays (the first lady visits a Virginia Target store or raves about bargain outfits) and in part because Americans understand that the presidency comes with some pretty awesome perks.

Moreover, most Americans would not like to see their chief executive living like a pauper. Jimmy Carter carried his own luggage to the White House and slipped on a sweater so he could turn down the thermostat. Voters were not impressed.

But there are limits.

The Obamas are rich, as the president points out when he talks about his calls for higher taxes. But with a net worth estimated around the $10 million mark, they are not private-jet rich. That status is afforded to them by virtue of President Obama's office.

In order to be secure and connected, the president needs special travel accommodations, but those travel requirements give the president and his family entrée into perhaps the greatest luxury of the super rich: luxury travel anywhere in the world on a private jet.

Obama and his January golf partner, Tiger Woods, both travel by private jet. The difference is that Obama's fortune wouldn't last even a year if he had to pay for it himself.

But again, Americans, who understand just how awful a job the presidency is, mostly understand that the chief executive ought to have some upgrades. Plus, when our president flies on a foreign trip or to a summit, it's nice to have the American in the nicest ride on the tarmac (unless the Sultan of Brunei shows up).

There are many other perks, too, including the other exclusive domain of the super rich: lots of well-paid staffers. The Obamas could never afford to have liveried servants, chefs and personal aides like those who attend to them at the White House, but the argument in modern times has long been that the presidency carried so many burdens – personal and public – that first families needed lots of help to do the job right.

No matter how much Republicans complained about the ritzy lifestyle of the first family, it was hard to make the Obamas out to be Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. It's harder to do that with a young family and both parents from middle-class backgrounds – especially as African Americans – than it was with other first families.

Democrats turned Ronald and Nancy Reagan into villains, movie stars (and her being from a wealthy family), for dancing the night away with Frank Sinatra while the homeless slept on grates. Plus, they were Republicans so reporters gobbled up the story line of executive excess like they do hors d'oeuvres at a White House Christmas party.

The Obamas, being Democrats, get lots of extra legroom when it comes to charges of imperial excess. They may be sipping champagne with movie stars, but they want to give poor people stuff too.

Then came the sequester.

In terms of tactical miscalculations, the decision to close the White House to public tours is looking more dire with each day. The goal, presumably, was to begin illustrating the hardships to taxpayers because of the automatic decreases to automatic increases in federal spending.

The Obamas, being Democrats, get lots of extra legroom when it comes to charges of imperial excess.

But the most vaunted political operation in generations somehow did not see that closing the president's taxpayer-supported mansion to public groups would fall at the feet of the president rather than members of Congress through whose offices White House tours arranged.

The president is attempting a slow, conditional climb-down from ending the tours. Not only will Team Obama resist to the end any admission of error, but doing so on the sequestered tours would call into question every other claim of hardship made on the subject.

But as long as the tours are kept out, everything the Obamas do that is beyond the reach of other citizens and that costs the other citizens money will be scrutinized.

For example, the first family will host a big party for St. Patrick's Day tonight at the White House. That won't be cheap. The school kids can't tour the building, but the president can entertain his guests on the finest Celtic food and drink.

The tour trap is also illustrated with the annual White House Easter egg roll.

The longstanding White House tradition has taken on special significance in the Obama era as the first lady has used the event to promote her agenda, particularly gay rights, aid for military families and healthful food.

When the tickets were printed up for the event, the White House was apparently still in full sequestration scare mode, with ominous language warning that the event might be cancelled because of budget cuts. And if it was, there would be no rescheduling. Little Timmy and Sally and their same-sex military parents would just have to live without their whole-grain, low-sugar springtime treats. So there.

But that would have only made the tour trap tighter. Money for campaign events and private chefs, but not Timmy and Sally's carob muffins? Not exactly egalitarian.

So the White House is rolling back the egg roll warnings. The bunny will be there aerobicizing! Fear not!

What a PR disaster it would have been to have kicked out the kids but kept the donors, political allies and friends. The guy in the bunny suit suddenly became essential personnel once Obama's approval ratings dropped.

Until the president finds a way to get those tour groups flowing through the White House gates again, the first family will be under the microscope for all that they do. That has to make the Obamas unhappy, particularly the hostess of the house. And if anyone can lobby the president to reverse course on the tours, it's got to be her.

And Now, A Word From Charles

"Look, I think there's a difference here between ideology and technique.  I'm not sure you want the RNC deciding ideology.  We had a good debate at CPAC.  You can see the outlines of the debate.  I think it will be healthy.  We have tendencies, and it's the new leadership who will decide the ideological direction of the party."

-- Charles Krauthammer on "Special Report with Bret Baier."

Chris Stirewalt is digital politics editor for Fox News, and his POWER PLAY column appears Monday-Friday on FoxNews.com. Catch Chris Live online daily at 11:30amET  at  http:live.foxnews.com.

[Warph]

Egypt: Hundreds Of Muslims Attack Christian Stores, Churches

It never seems to end, does it.

ASSIUT, Egypt (AP) — Hundreds of Muslim villagers in Egypt's south have attacked Christian-owned stores in search of a girl whose family claims was abducted.

The villagers assaulted the stores Tuesday and surrounded two churches in the city of al-Wasta in Bani Suef province in Egypt's south. Security forces guarded the churches. No casualties were reported.

The college-aged girl disappeared around one month ago. The crowd accused local Christian of kidnapping her.

Bani Suef's prosecutor, Hamdi Farouk, said there was no reason to believe Christians were involved in her disappearance.

Security chief Ibrahim Hudeib said the girl left her house with her gold and passport in hand and may have fled with a local Muslim boy.

[Warph]

Michael Moore Rushes To Assure Iran Obama Won't
Attack Them After Meeting With Netanyahu

Along with being a disgusting fat slob, Moore thinks he is also an amateur ambassador.  [color]

Moore's tweet:

  Michael Moore        ✔ @MMFlint 
Hey Bibi- B Obama couldn't tell u this, so I will (he usually leaves the tough love stuff up 2 me): We are NOT going 2 war with Iran. Sorry.
10:56 PM - 20 Mar 13
181 Retweets 90 favorites

Porker Michael Moore has had a tough enough time dealing with "weenie" Harry Reid and his Democrat colleagues in getting liberal legislation through the Senate; now he has to do the tough talking that President Barack Obama just won't do overseas.  Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted his thanks to Obama for "unequivocally affirming Israel's sovereign right to defend itself by itself against any threat," but Michael Moore wanted to step in an clarify that Israel is on its own should Iran attack.

(Warph's Tip-of-the-Day to Michael Moore: If you address your tweet to @netanyahu rather than "Hey Bibi," he might actually see it, you Clown.)

[Warph]

House Rejects Senate Dems Budget,
35 Democrats Vote Against It

         

Gee... sorry Patti.  Was it the $1.5 TRILLION in new tax hikes?

http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/289325-house-rejects-dem-budget-plans-gop-slams-obamas-missing-budget

The House on Wednesday rejected the Senate Democratic budget in a 154-261 vote, with 35 Democrats voting against the blueprint from their upper chamber colleagues.

The Senate Democratic budget was one of three budgets cast aside in a series of votes Wednesday after a debate in which Republicans excoriated President Obama for failing to offer his own budget plan in time for the votes.

House Democrats were instructed to vote for the Senate Democratic budget, but 35 of them defected.

Blue Dog Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.) said he voted against the Senate budget because it did not go far enough on entitlements.

"It is not enough entitlement reform in there going forward. It needs to be a more complete and balanced picture and it wasn't bipartisan in the end of the day," Schrader told The Hill.

Tax hikes in the bill:
http://dailycaller.com/2013/03/14/democrats-budget-plan-seeks-1-5-trillion-tax-hike-plus-10-year-spending-boost/

[Warph]

Vile, despicable, contemptible, disgusting cur a**hole.  That would be Harry Reid, in case you were wondering.

The scare tactics that Democrats from President Obama on down have employed to wring political benefit out of the sequester have apparently hit a despicable new low.  In comments made about the deaths overnight of seven U.S. Marines in a training incident in Nevada, Senate Majority POS Harry Reid, Demorat from Nevada, reportedly suggested that we may see more such incidents because the sequester cuts put Marines at risk.

The Marines... who, unlike Reid, are truly men instead of slimy, sewer-slurping worms and thus have a sense of honor and decency... ain't having any.

NBC military correspondent Jim Miklaszewski, appearing on Andrea Mitchell's MSNBC show this afternoon, reported that the Marines have strongly rejected Reid's claim, and that one Marine official accused Reid of "pure political posturing on the backs of these dead Marines." 
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/mark-finkelstein/2013/03/19/miklaszewski-marine-official-accuses-harry-reid-sequester-politics


Well, hey, after Sandy Hook we all know no coffin is off-limits for Democrat Socialist scum to climb up onto and use as a soapbox to pimp for more and more-intrusive government.  Kudos to the Marines for slapping the vermin Reid down, and hard.  Count on them to know who their friends really are... and that Reid is not now nor ever has been among them.

Reid really is a cut above (or below) the average Democrat Socialist swine, though; he raises (or lowers) the bar for the rest of the vomitous Democrat Socialist crawly things every time he gets a chance.  He besmirches, disgraces, and degrades Americans just by waking up and stealing more oxygen every morning.  In a better, more civilized age he'd have been shot dead in a duel long ago by a far better man than he'll ever be... which would be damned near anybody.  And the world would be a better place for it.

How about this as a headline:

7 Marines carrying Harry Reid's casket, dropped the casket momentarily on there way into Potters Field in Hawthorne, NV. .... No one objected because they were so pissed that no banana cream pie was served at chow today.
...Warph

[Warph]

Ah, the income tax preparation season is upon us.

You're probably wondering why you have to spend a couple of weekends barricaded in a room, sorting through receipts in the faint hope of complying with our confusing income tax laws.

The income tax first came to America in 1861.  Americans paid it to help finance the Civil War, but come 1871.... six years after the war... the tax was repealed.

Some politicians, however, took a liking to it.  They tried for the next 20 years to reinstate it.  But the Supreme Court shot down the income tax as unconstitutional.

By 1913, however, the income tax weenies finally won.  The 16th Amendment was passed and the income tax was signed into law.

Here's how it worked: Only those who earned more than $3,000... a lot of money in those days.. had to pay.  And they only had to pay about 1 percent.  The highest rate, for those who earned $500,000 or more, was only 7 percent.  As you well know, these low tax rates didn't last.

By 1918, the top rate... the highest rate imposed on the highest earners.... rose to a whopping 77 percent.  Why?  So America could finance World War I.  And did the rates drop back to pre-war levels when the war ended?

Nope. 

The top rate did fall from 77 percent to 25 percent, but that still was 18 points higher than the top rate before the war.

Then Franklin Delano Big Government came to town.  The top rate shot back up to 78 percent by 1936.  In the 1940s, another war came along and the top rate skyrocketed to 94 percent. 

And did taxes go down following World War II?

Nope.  This time, the top rate stayed above 90 percent into the early 1960s.

In 1960, John F. Kennedy got elected by promising to get America moving again.  He pushed for... but didn't live to see.. the top rate reduced from 90 percent to 70 percent under the Revenue Act of 1964, and his reductions did spur economic growth.

So, when politicians realized that lower taxes resulted in more growth and productivity, they eagerly reduced income taxes further, right?

Ha, ha!  Nope.

The income tax wasn't reduced again until Ronald Reagan took over.  In 1981, the top rate was reduced to 50 percent.  In 1986, in return for elimination of loop holes, the top rate was reduced to 28 percent.  Reagan's tax reductions helped spur the longest peacetime period of growth in American history.

Which brings us to the present. 

Today, the top federal income tax rate stands at 39.6 percent.  But that's still lower than the top rates of the past, right?

Not exactly.

First, loopholes that allowed taxpayers to avoid paying taxes were eliminated in 1986. Even though rates were higher in the past, actual taxes paid were lower.  I stumbled across my father's 1959 tax return; after his many deductions, he paid only 2 percent of his income in federal taxes.

Second, Social Security and Medicare taxes have increased rapidly over the years.  Taxpayers pay an additional 15.3 percent of their income to support these programs.  The Social Security tax was only 1 percent when the program began.

Third, Americans are paying taxes in several ways that many are not even aware of.  We pay taxes on gas, utilities and phone usage.  We pay property, sales and transfer taxes.  And our states, counties and municipalities also tax our incomes.

Add it all up and you'll discover that for every dollar you earn, you are lucky to keep even .40 cents.

That's something to muse about as you are barricaded in a room all weekend, getting your income-tax return in order. 

Good luck!

[jarhead]

Where is the outrage over this from the left ? Where is Je$$ie Jack$on and $harpton ? Where is Obama saying if he had a son he might look like poor little De'Marquis ? You can bet your sweet bippy if the baby had been black and the murderer white ,the Liberals would be calling for blood and Biden calling for all "Caspers" to give up their guns.


The mother of a 13-month-old boy who was fatally shot in his stroller during a botched robbery Thursday said one the of suspects threatened to kill her baby moments before the boy was fatally shot.
"He asked me for money and I said I didn't have it," Sherry West, the boy's mom, told The Associated Press Friday from her apartment, which was scattered with her son's toys and movies. "When you have a baby, you spend all your money on babies. They're expensive. And he kept asking and I just said `I don't have it.' And he said, `Do you want me to kill your baby?' And I said, `No, don't kill my baby!"'

One of the teens allegedly fired four shots, grazing West's ear and striking her in the leg, before he walked around to the stroller and shot the baby in the face.

A pair of teenagers was arrested Friday in the most recent shooting. West had just been to the post office a few blocks from her apartment Thursday morning and was pushing her son, Antonio, in his stroller while they walked past gnarled oak trees and blooming azaleas in the coastal city of Brunswick.

Seventeen-year-old De'Marquis Elkins is charged as an adult with first-degree murder, along with a 14-year-old who was not identified because he is a juvenile, Police Chief Tobe Green said. It wasn't immediately clear whether the boys had attorneys.



Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/03/23/georgia-mom-says-teen-told-her-do-want-me-to-kill-your-baby-before-son-fatally/?intcmp=trending#ixzz2OOGdBtFE

[jarhead]

Don't you just love how your tax dollars are spent?

The National Science Foundation has been criticized for spending $384,949 on a Yale University study that examined, among other things, the particulars of male duck penises. Do you believe the study was a proper use of taxpayer funding?

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/03/25/was-duck-penis-study-appropriate-use-taxpayer-money/#ixzz2Oee9cDu3

[Diane Amberg]

Possibly. I thought the whole article was rather interesting. Gives the female some control over who fathers her babies in a way that most birds can't. A lot of good science can eventually come from findings that weren't obviously useful at first. By the way, that grant was given in 2009...has nothing to do with the sequester.