Payroll Tax Cut Extension

I just couldn't leave this alone any longer. As I watch the news this evening I see a clock behind Barry counting down the time until the payroll tax cut expires and taxes go up for working class folks like me, and probably you, if Congress does nothing. WTF! Really, Mr. President? Have sunk so low that this is all you can think of?

First of all let's get some things straight. According to the items I have heard from our wonderful national media if the payroll tax cut does not get extended the average family will pay about $1,000 more in taxes. BS is my response to that. Isn't the average salary about $40k? Well, doing the math that comes out to about $38 a paycheck if a person gets paid every two weeks. Nothing to sneeze at for sure, but no one is getting "rich" because of this either. Now I was fortunate enough to make a little bit more than this last year. When the payroll tax cut went into effect my paycheck went up only $30. I do get paid every two weeks. So I think the first figure of $1,000 a year is inflated. Plus, plus, it did not reduce my overall tax burden at the end of the year. I broke about even after my deductions.

I know this sounds callous, but people making $40k or more won't miss $30 a payday if it doesn't reduce their overall tax burden. Just reduce the amount people need to pay the government by reducing spending and balancing the Federal Budget. I don't expect my government to make money, but I expect them to spend what I send them wisely and do not spend more than they take in.

Barry also wants to extend unemployment insurance. I hate to sound cold, but come on, how long is long enough? 99 weeks is the limit now, what does he want it to go to? I think two years in plenty. How many folks are just sitting on their collective behinds collecting tax payer dollars instead of taking what they can get. Just because you have a trade, skill or college degree you are not guaranteed a job in that field of endeavor. More than once I've taken jobs that I really didn't want while I continued to look for a job in the field I wanted. Sometimes working multiple jobs at the same time.

Now here comes the shocking part of this. The Republicans are trying to attach the Keystone Pipeline plan to this bill. Barry said he would veto any bill about the tax cut and unemployment extensions if it contained the pipeline plan. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said that this "has no place" in this bill. I can't believe I'm about to type- Mrs. Pelosi is right. I just shuddered after typing that. But I have to admit that Mrs. Pelosi could not be more correct. I also have to give the President a tip of the hat on this as well. I'm surprised my computer hasn't blown by now.

But really this is part of the problem of the political system. This idea isn't about liberal vs. conservative, it's about just concentrating on one thing in a bill. Not putting pet projects in with things that have no connection. If the Keystone Pipeline plan is to pass the Congress, then let it stand alone and have it's merits be judged.

So let the tax cuts expire, do not extend unemployment and look at the Keystone plan separately. 

When to Kill A Cop

This seems to be the theme of a flier at the Occupy Phoenix rally found this week. In the flier it suggests that if a person believes his/her rights are being violated that the only things a person can do is submit or resist. Now resistance means that the police are going to call more members of their "gang" and you will either be subdued or killed. So the only resistance is to kill the police officer.

Do these sound like the words of peaceful protesters to you? They don't to me. I've been a police officer for right on about 15 years now and have had more than one person seriously try to kill me. Neither time did I enjoy myself much, but as you can tell I survived the encounters. This is something I take very seriously. As should anyone else, not just the police, that runs afoul of these cretins.

I know from experience that there are officer that overstep their bounds and use too much force or believe that the rule of law does not apply to them. Fortunately, the department I work for has been successful in ridding itself of these types. I believe that departments across the country do their best to do the same thing.

The problem with most people who think they "know the law" is that they get their information from movies, TV and their ex-con friends. I can't count how many times I have heard, "I know my rights" from some brain dead idiot that could not have been more wrong. Most of the time I have been able to explain why I was doing what I was doing and the person would calm down and realize that I was right and would go along. There are always a few that no matter what can't seem to grasp the situation and will struggle against the police.

The point is, what if all the "I know my rights" folks had decided to violently resist me for what they perceived as a violation of their rights? Well, for starters alot of them and maybe even myself would be dead. That's a potential outcome of a violent encounter with the police.

One of the "almost" shootings I was involved in was with a person that thought the police had illegally entered his home and he thought that he had the ability to resist such an intrusion.  For starters, we were well within our authority to enter and arrest this person and by law a person does not have the right to resist an arrest even if it is illegal. At least that's what I got out of the court proceding. During the struggle to arrest this person, he attempted to disarm the other officer I was with. Had that officer communicated that fact to me the outcome would have been different than this person just going to jail.

I don't have to worry about the "occupiers" in the city I work, but I have a few words of advice for the people that are protesting around the country. If the police tell you it's time to move on, just go. The police will not back down. They will gather in larger numbers until they have a superior force and will remove you by the means necessary. The police will not purposely violate your civil liberties and certainly have no interest in doing so. If you raise your hand against a police officer chances are that officer will defend him/herself ferociously.

And then the others will come to assist.

Comments

Each one of my conservative views that gets posted here seems to be read by a few people. Do you want to know how I know that? Okay, I'll tell. Since Blogger went to a new interface I have the ability to see from what country people are seeing my blog. That's it, just the country. I have no idea from where in the country, it only tells from what nation.

I seem to have a fairly regular reader or two in Russia. That surprises the hell out of me. But I have to tell you my Russian friends that I am grateful you take the time. The same goes for the reader in India. I never would have thought that I would have someone outside the US read this blog. But again, I thank you.

I used to have a regular reader in Finland and in South Korea. They haven't been back in a while. That's too bad. They must not have liked what they read or got tired of the same ol' theme. I hope they pop back in and give it another try.

There have been readers is Romania and Germany and Thailand and even Malaysia. Wow! I thank all of you. And I would be rude if I didn't include those from Canada and the UK. Of course the majority of the readers have been from right here in the USofA. This blog is about American politics after all. I try not to meddle in the affairs of foreign countries. That is unless there is a direct correlation between our countries.

What I'm getting at here is that I would like to hear what you think about all this. I'm not so arrogant to think that my opinion is the only one worth listening to. If you agree with me, great. If you don't, that's fine too. Tell me, let's have a conversation about this. I'm willing to listen to other opinions and we can have a great, open, honest discussion about the direction of this or any other country.

Thank you again for honoring me by reading my blog. I look forward to hearing from you.

Frank

Drone On

That's exactly what I would tell the President after hearing that Anwar al-Awlaki had a hellfire missile shoved up his tailpipe. It's no secret that I don't have much nice to say about Barry, but here I will change tack and give him credit since it is due.

Most thought that Obama would be soft on the war on terror, but to my surprise, pleasant as it may be, he has actually been a bit of a hardass. Good for you Mr. President. Keeping sending those drones when we get could intel about where the bad guys are. The world is a better place with these guys rotting in the earth. That is if the vultures don't get them first.

The one thing that really didn't surprise me much was the reaction of those on the lunatic fringe left. The A(merican) C(riminal) L(overs) U(nion) appears to be a bit peeved that Anwar has been sent to the after life. After all he was an American citizen. So what? He turned traitor and was actively trying to recruit folks to kill innocent Americans for no reason other than they are American. Since we are at war, the sentence for treason is a bad case of dead.

Bad guy Anwar gave up his ability to be tried in the American criminal justice system the first time he tried to get someone else to do his evil work. Remember that this POS influenced the Underwear bomber and Nadil Hasan to commit their deeds. So why would the ACLU care that some Airmen second class sitting in a room half a world away let loose the missile that finished Anwar?

Because that's what they do. These clowns think that everyone should have their day, week, month, year in court before being set free because they are misunderstood. Well, I guess they missed out on another high profile case.

The President, Leon Panetta and Gen. Patraeus should be lauded for their decision to wipe this scum off the face of the earth. Let the crybabies at the ACLU scream about how Barry played judge, jury and executioner and killed an American citizen. They don't care that he was a member of a terrorist organization. They only cared about getting their name mentioned on TV today.

Drone on Mr. President, drone on.

The Straw Poll

A few days ago Herman Cain won a straw poll in Florida. For those of you who aren't familiar with Mr. Cain, you will be now. He is the former CEO of Godfather's Pizza and a conservative. He is certainly someone worth taking a look at as the Republican candidate for the presidency.  He is the winner of the second straw poll of the season with Michele Bachmann winning the first in Iowa.

Why were these two so far down in the Gallup type polls, but winning in these two states? I can't figure that one out, but there is something I will say about these two. They are certainly not apologetic about being hardcore conservatives. I love that about both of these folks.

Let's get back to Herman, shall we? I've listened to Mr. Cain on the radio when he has filled in for Rush Limbaugh, I've read some of his writings on his website and I have to tell you that I like what I see and hear from the man. When I heard that he was running, I got a bit excited.

Herman Cain is no career politician. That scores big points with me. Herman Cain knows how to run a business. Something our current president knows nothing about. Herman Cain will speak his mind and pull no punches. I like that too. He also seems to be a darling of the TEA party. Even though I don't consider myself a TEA party person, I like a lot of what they stand for.

One thing I would like to hear from Mr. Cain is that he would repeal Obamacare. If he would do that, then I believe that would really get things going for Herman. He is already taking it straight to Obama and not the other candidates, just tell me that you will repeal that awful law.

I think that Herman Cain has a better chance than the two current front runners, Rick Perry and Mitt Romney. I believe that the folks will start to see that they are politicians, nothing more. Both of them have good qualities, but they are tearing each other apart and that will eventually turn people off. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm not. Only time will tell. In the interim, watch out for Herman Cain. He could win this. I wouldn't mind. He would be so much better than what we have now.

Oh yeah, Morgan Freeman, go back to making movies and shut the hell up. When you have evidence to back up your claims, come talk to me. Until then.....................

An Execution in Georgia

Last night the state of Georgia executed convicted cop killer Troy Davis. He was convicted for the 1989 murder of an off duty police officer. It matters not to me that the Officer MacPhail was off duty, he was still a police officer trying to help a person that was being assaulted. Finally, justice for the victim.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that I support the death penalty. If you kill another human being without just cause, then you too should forfeit your life. It's as simple as that for me.

Now I realize that there are those who would like nothing more than to abolish the death penalty. That's fine. They are entitled to their opinion. The fact that there were hundreds gathered outside the prison protesting the execution was expected. I have no problem with these folks voicing their displeasure. From what I saw on the news it seemed that the crowd was orderly and wanted the Georgia authorities to know that they did not approve.

This execution seemed to be more controversial than most. Lawyers for Davis were claiming that witnesses had now recanted their testimony and that there was sufficient doubt on the guilt of Davis. My question is, when did these folks recant? Should we now convict them of perjury and throw them in prison while allowing Davis to go free? I think not.

At the time of trial witnesses came forward, said their piece and Davis was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. A case like this is automatically appealed to make sure that no errors were made. Apparently none were found. It was appealed again. Same result. Davis' execution date was stayed on several occasions before yesterday in an effort by his lawyers to try to win either a new trial or his freedom. In other words, Davis had his chances.

What this says to me is that the court that convicted and sentenced Davis got it right. So if you are a religious person you believe that last night Davis stood before his maker and was judged. This was going to happen at some point anyway. Everybody dies eventually.

The state of Georgia just made it happen sooner rather than later.

Eat the Rich

Was anyone surprised? I wasn't. Barry takes to the Rose Garden and announces that he has a plan to pay for his Jobs Bill by taxing the wealthiest of Americans. I should say increasing their taxes. Barry said that he would veto any bill that came to his desk that put the burden on the middle class. My question to the Prez, how much more is enough for you and the radical left?

Barry claims that he has already given a tax break to the middle class, excuse me, the working class. Yes, my payroll taxes decreased by about $30 a paycheck, but at the end of the year I still owed money to the Feds. How does that happen? Oh yeah, I had to help pay for the folks that don't pay any taxes at all.

As it is, only about half of Americans pay any tax at all. Now why don't we require something from everyone instead of all from some? I've said it before, I'll say it again, I don't mind helping those that are unable to help themselves, I refuse to pay for those who refuse to do for themselves.

If the Prez really wants to bring more money into the federal coffers then he needs to consider a flat tax. It just might be that simple. %10 of my paycheck can be divided by the Feds and the State (that means the State I live in) and they have to make it work. That would reduce my burden by about $25,000. Just think how I could set myself up for retirement with that amount of extra money every year. Or maybe I could be reckless and just spend that money. That would mean more money into the economy, more taxes flowing to Washington. Doesn't he get it? Obviously not. Now if everyone that had a job had to pony up something, can you imagine the amount of money the government would collect? Or should I say, everyone that was willing to work?

No more deductions, for anyone or any entity. That means that if you make a dollar that 10 cents was your tax liability. Period. Simple. The IRS could actually shrink in size. Tax forms could be so simple that anyone with a calculator could file their own taxes.

Just look to Europe if you want to see our future with Barry in charge. Greece on the verge of economic collapse. Italy and Spain not too far behind. As I type I hear that S&P has just downgraded Italy's credit rating. What does it say that it happened to us first?

Eat the rich, eat the rich
Out of the gutter and into the ditch