A Nation of Fools by Peary Perry
“Come children….let me read you a story…”
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Since my kids are all adults, I seldom get involved in getting overly concerned about who is running for the school boards in our area. I realize this is probably not the most American thing to do, but when you get older some things just slip away. Sue me.
But, in spite of all that is happening at this time in the land of Nod (Washington, D.C.) I think it is important to focus in on how governmental intervention is trying to creep into our personal lives. Take for example a web site called…Organizing for America…here’s the link. http://www.barackobama.com/
Now if you were to delve deeply into this site you’d find that this program advocates (among other things) some very serious learning guides for our children. A high school teacher in Massillon, Ohio handed out job applications to his students. The program has an ‘internship’ for young students to assist the president in various ways and means. To read the entire report go to:
http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2010/01/atlas-exclusive-obama-organizing-for-communism-and-youth-corps-in-the-public-school-1.html
So what’s the big deal you might say? Well, if you read the report you’ll find a list of what I would call extreme left wing publications written by such notables as Saul Alinsky and others instructing hig school students how to become radicals and community organizers. All of this material paid for and approved by none other than Barack Obama. I’m sure he would deny any knowledge of it if he were pressed. He seems to forget most everything else. This is from the man who denied having any contact with Alinsky in last years presidential campaign. These writings are required reading for anyone signing onto the intern program. The packages start with information printed this way… “included on the forms was a suggested reading list that included Saul Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals" and Organizing for America's mission to build on the "movement that elected President Obama by empowering students across the country to help us bring about our agenda of change.”
Now, in defense of the local school board, they did not approve of the teacher handing out these application packages, but at the same time they did not take any sort of action against the teacher. Heaven knows what would have happened if this type of handout or program had been discussed during the Bush administration. All of the major news services would have been on top of the matter in hours and would have stayed for weeks while Democrats were voting for some sort of congressional investigation. You can bet on this.
The teacher in this matter defended himself by saying that he had not looked over the material and it was given to him by some other person. In my mind this is the very reason why he should have been fired. If he didn’t read it before handing it out, how are his charges being protected? Does this mean that this teacher is prone to giving out anything at any time without the least bit of an idea what he is passing out? Drugs, porn, and who knows what else? Not the kind of teacher I’d want for my kids.
Of course another bleeding heart stood up and makes the insane statement that … ‘none of these kids were forced into doing anything they don’t want to do…this is all voluntary.” Well, taking drugs in school is all voluntary as well, but if they are passed out because no one cares or is watching…isn’t this the wrong thing to do? I think the school has some element of responsibility, don’t you?
My point is that schools should not be the place to start political affiliations for any political agenda. The school boards and administrators should be help accountable for information that is being passed along and being fed into the minds of our youngsters. Schools are not the place for radical agendas (left wing or right wing) or instructions. We need to look closely at those being submitted for elections and make certain they can follow the rules. Rules that apply to all, not just liberals.
Comments go to www.pearyperry.com
Complaints go nowhere…..
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Friday, February 26, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
OPEN WIDE...HERE IT COMES.....
A Nation of Fools by Peary Perry
“Open wide, here it comes…”
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I’m beginning to see the three top leaders (?) of this country (Obama, Reid, and Pelosi) as the three blind mice. Perhaps I misspoke, that should be the three blind AND deaf mice.
With over 50% of the American public against the current healthcare reform bill as it stands at this time, the mice are scurrying around totally oblivious to the will of the majority.
The so called bi-partisan summit is to be held on Thursday of this week and today the House minority leader released this statement:
House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) issued the following statement in response to the partisan health care proposal posted online by the White House for discussion at the upcoming bipartisan health care summit:
“The President has crippled the credibility of this week’s summit by proposing the same massive government takeover of health care based on a partisan bill the American people have already rejected. This new Democrats-only backroom deal doubles down on the same failed approach that will drive up premiums, destroy jobs, raise taxes, and slash Medicare benefits.
“This week’s summit clearly has all the makings of a Democratic infomercial for continuing on a partisan course that relies on more backroom deals and parliamentary tricks to circumvent the will of the American people and jam through a massive government takeover of health care.
“The best way to protect families and small businesses in this time of economic uncertainty is to start over with a step-by-step approach to health care reform focused on lowering costs, and that’s exactly what Republicans are fighting for. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has confirmed that the Republican bill reduces premiums for families and small businesses by up to 10 percent. The Republican bill reduces premiums by implementing common-sense reforms such as allowing Americans to purchase insurance across state lines. Despite their rhetoric to the contrary, none of the Democrats’ proposals – including the President’s – provides this much-needed reform in a manner that can actually be effective.
“Republicans are also standing with the American people by calling for health care reform to protect human life and not use taxpayer money to fund abortion. The Republican bill would codify the Hyde Amendment and prohibit all authorized and appropriated federal funds from being used to pay for abortion, which the President’s proposal would allow. Pro-life Democrats in the House have already pledged to vote against this provision. Health care reform should be an opportunity to protect human life – not end it – and the American people agree.”
I believe Rep. Boehner called it right. So much for bi-partisanship. Same old sixes and sevens as far as I’m concerned. Why would anyone think the three blind mice were going to do anything other than grandstand and do whatever they wanted to do in spite of what us common old citizens thought? Obviously those who will vote for the current bill in its current status will do so under the provisions of reconciliation which requires only 51 votes to become law. If this happens I’ll have to watch the Olympics or something else other than the news as I don’t believe I can stand the shrillness of the liberal crowing over their … ‘success’.
Ain’t this a peach? All I can say is that some of those 51 votes had best have a decent retirement plan (I’m sure they do) since they can look forward to leaving government service in November. The three above mentioned leaders might be blind and deaf, but the voters aren’t and have memories that stretch to November without any problem.
So what to do now? Well, don’t quit, keep on going. Keeping sending e-mails to your friends and folks you know who are concerned. Call those congressmen and women. Forget faxing, they don’t answer those, forget petitions, they throw those away. Write a real letter, send it by the post office…..they have to see those and they have to answer them. Keep talking about the inequity of what is being shoved down our throats without our permission or our consideration. Do not give up; what they enact can be changed at a later date.
Comments go to www.pearyperry.com
(Sign up for new columns at www.pearyperry.com)
“Open wide, here it comes…”
(sign up for new columns at www.pearyperry.com)
I’m beginning to see the three top leaders (?) of this country (Obama, Reid, and Pelosi) as the three blind mice. Perhaps I misspoke, that should be the three blind AND deaf mice.
With over 50% of the American public against the current healthcare reform bill as it stands at this time, the mice are scurrying around totally oblivious to the will of the majority.
The so called bi-partisan summit is to be held on Thursday of this week and today the House minority leader released this statement:
House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) issued the following statement in response to the partisan health care proposal posted online by the White House for discussion at the upcoming bipartisan health care summit:
“The President has crippled the credibility of this week’s summit by proposing the same massive government takeover of health care based on a partisan bill the American people have already rejected. This new Democrats-only backroom deal doubles down on the same failed approach that will drive up premiums, destroy jobs, raise taxes, and slash Medicare benefits.
“This week’s summit clearly has all the makings of a Democratic infomercial for continuing on a partisan course that relies on more backroom deals and parliamentary tricks to circumvent the will of the American people and jam through a massive government takeover of health care.
“The best way to protect families and small businesses in this time of economic uncertainty is to start over with a step-by-step approach to health care reform focused on lowering costs, and that’s exactly what Republicans are fighting for. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has confirmed that the Republican bill reduces premiums for families and small businesses by up to 10 percent. The Republican bill reduces premiums by implementing common-sense reforms such as allowing Americans to purchase insurance across state lines. Despite their rhetoric to the contrary, none of the Democrats’ proposals – including the President’s – provides this much-needed reform in a manner that can actually be effective.
“Republicans are also standing with the American people by calling for health care reform to protect human life and not use taxpayer money to fund abortion. The Republican bill would codify the Hyde Amendment and prohibit all authorized and appropriated federal funds from being used to pay for abortion, which the President’s proposal would allow. Pro-life Democrats in the House have already pledged to vote against this provision. Health care reform should be an opportunity to protect human life – not end it – and the American people agree.”
I believe Rep. Boehner called it right. So much for bi-partisanship. Same old sixes and sevens as far as I’m concerned. Why would anyone think the three blind mice were going to do anything other than grandstand and do whatever they wanted to do in spite of what us common old citizens thought? Obviously those who will vote for the current bill in its current status will do so under the provisions of reconciliation which requires only 51 votes to become law. If this happens I’ll have to watch the Olympics or something else other than the news as I don’t believe I can stand the shrillness of the liberal crowing over their … ‘success’.
Ain’t this a peach? All I can say is that some of those 51 votes had best have a decent retirement plan (I’m sure they do) since they can look forward to leaving government service in November. The three above mentioned leaders might be blind and deaf, but the voters aren’t and have memories that stretch to November without any problem.
So what to do now? Well, don’t quit, keep on going. Keeping sending e-mails to your friends and folks you know who are concerned. Call those congressmen and women. Forget faxing, they don’t answer those, forget petitions, they throw those away. Write a real letter, send it by the post office…..they have to see those and they have to answer them. Keep talking about the inequity of what is being shoved down our throats without our permission or our consideration. Do not give up; what they enact can be changed at a later date.
Comments go to www.pearyperry.com
(Sign up for new columns at www.pearyperry.com)
Sunday, February 21, 2010
A Call to Reason
A Nation of Fools by Peary Perry
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“A Call to Reason”
Last week one of the people reading my columns called me to task for writing about the problems in this country but not doing enough to solve them. I thanked him for his words and responded that trying to motivate people to keep up with the events of the day and to stay involved was response enough in my opinion.
This was before the events in Austin, Texas. As you are no doubt aware, a man crashed his plane into the side of the building where the IRS has their offices. I am familiar with that building and those offices. I have had dealings with the IRS for a number of years. The IRS employee who was killed in this event was the husband of the collection officer our case had been assigned to. Our prayers go out to her and her family.
So what’s my point? Well, are we called to act against our government in the same manner as the guy who flew his plane into the building? I don’t think so. Did he (the pilot) have a legitimate gripe with the IRS? He certainly thought he did, but then so do I and I would image so do a lot of other people in this country. Have I ever thought about actions such as this guy took? No, never, it’s totally unthinkable. The IRS manager (along with his wife) were doing their jobs, the same as we do ours. They didn’t make the rules, anymore than I made the laws when I was a cop. Argue all you want, but paying taxes was addressed by Jesus in Matthew 22, when He said… “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and give to God what is God’s.” We may not want to do this, but if you disagree… take it up with God, not me…..I didn’t write the bible.
In church today, I found out that this husband and wife IRS team had gone to our church several years ago. The people who remembered them did so with words of kindness. He didn’t deserve to die just because he worked for the government. They were Christians as is our family. We are not called to murder people, but to love them even though it may be hard. The widow has already issued a statement that her family forgives and is praying for the family of the dead pilot. There is an example of Christian love.
The reason for the title of this piece is simply this….does violence and retribution against the government work for or against our conservative philosophies? I think it works against us. Already the liberal media is jumping onto this dead pilot as being some sort of ‘right wing tea bag’ nut and that his actions are condoned by all conservatives. Well, they aren’t for me, and I suspect not for you as well.
In the past year we have seen and passed among us cartoons and jokes of the current president in disrespectful items. You know what I mean, you’ve seen them. Let me remind us all of one thing. President Harry Truman did not fire General Douglas McArthur because the general disagreed with Truman. He fired him because he was disrespectful of the office of the president of the United States. We, conservatives were outraged over the cartoons and jokes that went around about George W. Bush, I would suspect there are those on the left who are equally upset by what has been passed around this past year.
Disagreement with the current administration is one thing. Disrespect for the office of the President of our country is another. We are above this type of behavior; we do not need to stoop to these depths to get our points across. We need to voice our opposition with our words and our actions in a civil and respectful manner. We do not need to become violent and cause destruction of our institutions and to our citizens just because we do not agree with them.
We are Americans; we can do better than acting as savages or terrorists. Let’s stop the crude and rude e-mails and jokes and get serious about our mission. Keep writing those letters to your congress men and women. Keep talking to your neighbors, keep listening to the media, keep aware of what is going on and speak out with your opinions. We are making a difference; we do not need to be identified with mentally deranged individuals who want to operate outside of the law. There are better ways for us to enact change in this country.
Comments go to www.pearyperry.com
(sign up for new columns at www.pearyperry.com)
(sign up for new columns at www.pearyperry.com)
“A Call to Reason”
Last week one of the people reading my columns called me to task for writing about the problems in this country but not doing enough to solve them. I thanked him for his words and responded that trying to motivate people to keep up with the events of the day and to stay involved was response enough in my opinion.
This was before the events in Austin, Texas. As you are no doubt aware, a man crashed his plane into the side of the building where the IRS has their offices. I am familiar with that building and those offices. I have had dealings with the IRS for a number of years. The IRS employee who was killed in this event was the husband of the collection officer our case had been assigned to. Our prayers go out to her and her family.
So what’s my point? Well, are we called to act against our government in the same manner as the guy who flew his plane into the building? I don’t think so. Did he (the pilot) have a legitimate gripe with the IRS? He certainly thought he did, but then so do I and I would image so do a lot of other people in this country. Have I ever thought about actions such as this guy took? No, never, it’s totally unthinkable. The IRS manager (along with his wife) were doing their jobs, the same as we do ours. They didn’t make the rules, anymore than I made the laws when I was a cop. Argue all you want, but paying taxes was addressed by Jesus in Matthew 22, when He said… “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and give to God what is God’s.” We may not want to do this, but if you disagree… take it up with God, not me…..I didn’t write the bible.
In church today, I found out that this husband and wife IRS team had gone to our church several years ago. The people who remembered them did so with words of kindness. He didn’t deserve to die just because he worked for the government. They were Christians as is our family. We are not called to murder people, but to love them even though it may be hard. The widow has already issued a statement that her family forgives and is praying for the family of the dead pilot. There is an example of Christian love.
The reason for the title of this piece is simply this….does violence and retribution against the government work for or against our conservative philosophies? I think it works against us. Already the liberal media is jumping onto this dead pilot as being some sort of ‘right wing tea bag’ nut and that his actions are condoned by all conservatives. Well, they aren’t for me, and I suspect not for you as well.
In the past year we have seen and passed among us cartoons and jokes of the current president in disrespectful items. You know what I mean, you’ve seen them. Let me remind us all of one thing. President Harry Truman did not fire General Douglas McArthur because the general disagreed with Truman. He fired him because he was disrespectful of the office of the president of the United States. We, conservatives were outraged over the cartoons and jokes that went around about George W. Bush, I would suspect there are those on the left who are equally upset by what has been passed around this past year.
Disagreement with the current administration is one thing. Disrespect for the office of the President of our country is another. We are above this type of behavior; we do not need to stoop to these depths to get our points across. We need to voice our opposition with our words and our actions in a civil and respectful manner. We do not need to become violent and cause destruction of our institutions and to our citizens just because we do not agree with them.
We are Americans; we can do better than acting as savages or terrorists. Let’s stop the crude and rude e-mails and jokes and get serious about our mission. Keep writing those letters to your congress men and women. Keep talking to your neighbors, keep listening to the media, keep aware of what is going on and speak out with your opinions. We are making a difference; we do not need to be identified with mentally deranged individuals who want to operate outside of the law. There are better ways for us to enact change in this country.
Comments go to www.pearyperry.com
(sign up for new columns at www.pearyperry.com)
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
The more the merrier...NOT!!!!
A Nation of Fools by Peary Perry (www.pearyperry.com)
“The more the merrier…NOT !”
During my forty some odd years in business there have been at least three situations where I have been in a meeting or in some form of litigation and suddenly realized that it was me paying for everyone in the room. Not one person other than me was creating any revenue to pay for the reason we were gathered together at that point in time. I was not happy with the feeling. I felt as if I was surrounded by vultures.
This morning driving to my office I noticed a couple of things that put me in the same frame of mind as I have just described. I’m passing a school zone, with teachers, bus drivers; school crossing guards all going about their business. I pass a couple of police cars looking for speeders in the school zone. A block or so down the street are some postal trucks loading up some mail boxes. There is a fire department along with a hazardous material team as well as some EMT workers. As I turn the corner, I see a couple of guys holding flags as I maneuver around some road repair. All of this is going on within a five or six block area where there are restaurants, shops and offices that have been closed and are out of business. I begin to wonder how many times this scenario repeats itself across our country at this very moment. How many city, state and federal employees are in each and every square mile of this place we call the United States of America.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that these workers aren’t needed, because they are in a civilized society. We need teachers, police officers, fire men and women and other such but I have just one question. Who will pay for these people if all of the businesses fail and stop producing? I was in Washington State last week, and the papers were bemoaning the fact that 60% of the state budget is used to pay salaries for state workers.
In the news today is an article about the state of Illinois borrowing money to fund their pensions: “In early January, while everyone was busy watching the nasty campaign commercials, the State of Illinois pulled an end-run on the budget process. On Jan. 7 the state sold $3.5 billion of "pension obligation notes." In simple English, the state borrowed money to finance the state's contribution to its five retirement systems. These five-year debt securities carry an interest rate of 3.84 percent, tax free to bondholders. It's a much higher yield than you could get in the bank because of the risk involved.”
The president made a statement on Friday that “the congress will have to pay for what it spends, just like everyone else.” He calls it the PAYGO or ‘pay as you go’ plan. Now sit back and think about this for a moment. “CONGRESS WILL HAVE TO PAY FOR WHAT IT SPENDS….” Perhaps I’m thick, but pay with what? Where in God’s name does the Congress get any money to pay for anything? How can we keep borrowing money in order for Peter to pay Paul? Unless businesses grow and produce more revenue which creates more taxes nothing is going to happen. Increasing the size of the government at any level will not improve the economy. Improving the efficiency of the government or of private enterprises makes more sense than just running the government printing presses twenty four hours a day. What is so hard to understand about this concept?
I may not have been an economics major in college but I do think there are only two ways to make money. Charge more or reduce your costs. Charging more is not the answer as the competition sets your ability to set your prices. Reducing your costs and becoming more efficient and productive is the answer to a profitable enterprise.
Oh, I did forget another way to make money. Become a government then you can charge (raise taxes) all you want with no competition and not worry about being efficient. However that plan of action will only sustain itself for a certain period of time and then those who produce cease their production and those living off the fat of the land will starve. The clock is ticking.
Comments go to pperry@austin.rr.com
“The more the merrier…NOT !”
During my forty some odd years in business there have been at least three situations where I have been in a meeting or in some form of litigation and suddenly realized that it was me paying for everyone in the room. Not one person other than me was creating any revenue to pay for the reason we were gathered together at that point in time. I was not happy with the feeling. I felt as if I was surrounded by vultures.
This morning driving to my office I noticed a couple of things that put me in the same frame of mind as I have just described. I’m passing a school zone, with teachers, bus drivers; school crossing guards all going about their business. I pass a couple of police cars looking for speeders in the school zone. A block or so down the street are some postal trucks loading up some mail boxes. There is a fire department along with a hazardous material team as well as some EMT workers. As I turn the corner, I see a couple of guys holding flags as I maneuver around some road repair. All of this is going on within a five or six block area where there are restaurants, shops and offices that have been closed and are out of business. I begin to wonder how many times this scenario repeats itself across our country at this very moment. How many city, state and federal employees are in each and every square mile of this place we call the United States of America.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that these workers aren’t needed, because they are in a civilized society. We need teachers, police officers, fire men and women and other such but I have just one question. Who will pay for these people if all of the businesses fail and stop producing? I was in Washington State last week, and the papers were bemoaning the fact that 60% of the state budget is used to pay salaries for state workers.
In the news today is an article about the state of Illinois borrowing money to fund their pensions: “In early January, while everyone was busy watching the nasty campaign commercials, the State of Illinois pulled an end-run on the budget process. On Jan. 7 the state sold $3.5 billion of "pension obligation notes." In simple English, the state borrowed money to finance the state's contribution to its five retirement systems. These five-year debt securities carry an interest rate of 3.84 percent, tax free to bondholders. It's a much higher yield than you could get in the bank because of the risk involved.”
The president made a statement on Friday that “the congress will have to pay for what it spends, just like everyone else.” He calls it the PAYGO or ‘pay as you go’ plan. Now sit back and think about this for a moment. “CONGRESS WILL HAVE TO PAY FOR WHAT IT SPENDS….” Perhaps I’m thick, but pay with what? Where in God’s name does the Congress get any money to pay for anything? How can we keep borrowing money in order for Peter to pay Paul? Unless businesses grow and produce more revenue which creates more taxes nothing is going to happen. Increasing the size of the government at any level will not improve the economy. Improving the efficiency of the government or of private enterprises makes more sense than just running the government printing presses twenty four hours a day. What is so hard to understand about this concept?
I may not have been an economics major in college but I do think there are only two ways to make money. Charge more or reduce your costs. Charging more is not the answer as the competition sets your ability to set your prices. Reducing your costs and becoming more efficient and productive is the answer to a profitable enterprise.
Oh, I did forget another way to make money. Become a government then you can charge (raise taxes) all you want with no competition and not worry about being efficient. However that plan of action will only sustain itself for a certain period of time and then those who produce cease their production and those living off the fat of the land will starve. The clock is ticking.
Comments go to pperry@austin.rr.com
Saturday, February 13, 2010
"You're in the UNION..now"
A Nation of Fools by Peary Perry
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“You’re in the UNION, now…..”
Sit back in your chair, take a sip of that coffee and now I want you to visualize the words…day care center. OK…have you done it?
Did the headquarters of Exxon or General Electric come to mind? I thought not. I’d bet you got the mental image of either a store front facility or someone’s home. Playground toys, perhaps a small bus or two, but nothing fancy. Now you have to ask yourself what kind of people actually make a living running these places. Are they corporate giants with the business acumen of a General Motors (oops, my bad …that wasn’t a good example) so lets say…Southwest Airlines or Google, they seem to be doing ok in these times or are day care centers smaller operations with people who like kids?
I suspect you opted for the latter choice. Yep, that’s what we see in the majority of day care operations scattered from Maine to California and all parts in between. Do you think these people make big money? I think they probably do OK but they aren’t going to be reporting earning in the millions or billions. If they are, please let me know, I like kids.
So, the ones I’ve seen during my lifetime are smaller operation with a few employees working in some leased facility or out of their homes. They aren’t exposed to toxic materials (diapers aren’t toxic, just nasty) or to safety hazards (I suppose getting bit could be a safety hazard) so why do they need a union? You’re probably asking yourself the same question, so let me explain.
In Michigan the 40,000 or so day care centers have now been unionized by the AFSCME. This group is a merger of the government workers union and the United Auto Workers. I guess the UAW couldn’t get enough dues revenue from auto workers so they need to dig in the purses of baby sitting nannies. They should be proud.
Check out this link for the story:
http://stossel.blogs.foxbusiness.com/2010/02/11/forced-unionization/
The union managed to get their hooks into this industry by mailing out votes to those in the business. Only 6,000 were mailed back but that was enough to carry the day and now the other 34,000 mom and pop enterprises find themselves obligated to deal with local presidents, local union rules and send in those dues each and every month. Will this cost them more money? You bet it will. Will the day care owners pass the costs onto their customer base? You bet they will.
Will the mother who has a low paying job and has her kid or kids in day care find herself having to put out more bucks? What do you think? Who gets hurt? Well, not the union. Probably not the day care, since they have fixed costs they have to deal with to keep their places open and running.
No, it’ll be that mother. She’ll have to make that decision to find someplace cheaper to leave her kids or do without something she needs at the time. And what do the day care operations get in return for the dues they pay? More governmental interference, more rules, more regulations and you can bet …more paperwork.
Of course the union rebuts the argument by explaining that their dues are paid from the state subsidies and not by the day care centers themselves. Of course the fact that the monies paid to the unions are monies that used to go to the day care operations.
This is the same state where a mother who was watching out for some kids waiting for a school bus and belonging to her neighbor was charged with running a day care center and required to have a license. This poor woman was looking after some kids whose parents had to go to work early and in most places would have been thought as a great neighborhood asset. Not in Michigan, they said since she was looking after some kids for more than two hours a week, she needed a day care license. Fortunately, common sense kicked in and the state agency dropped their claim.
The Obama administration is determined to stuff the unions down our throats, as if we weren’t already choking on his other policies and decisions. The unions threw their support to his election and now we’re starting to see who gets paid back first. It certainly isn’t the voters. I wonder how many of those 34,000 day care center owners voted for some change in the 2008 election? Looks like they’ll be getting their share.
Comments go to www.pearyperry.com
(sign up for new columns at www.pearyperry.com)
Complaints go nowhere…
(sign up for new columns at www.pearyperry.com)
“You’re in the UNION, now…..”
Sit back in your chair, take a sip of that coffee and now I want you to visualize the words…day care center. OK…have you done it?
Did the headquarters of Exxon or General Electric come to mind? I thought not. I’d bet you got the mental image of either a store front facility or someone’s home. Playground toys, perhaps a small bus or two, but nothing fancy. Now you have to ask yourself what kind of people actually make a living running these places. Are they corporate giants with the business acumen of a General Motors (oops, my bad …that wasn’t a good example) so lets say…Southwest Airlines or Google, they seem to be doing ok in these times or are day care centers smaller operations with people who like kids?
I suspect you opted for the latter choice. Yep, that’s what we see in the majority of day care operations scattered from Maine to California and all parts in between. Do you think these people make big money? I think they probably do OK but they aren’t going to be reporting earning in the millions or billions. If they are, please let me know, I like kids.
So, the ones I’ve seen during my lifetime are smaller operation with a few employees working in some leased facility or out of their homes. They aren’t exposed to toxic materials (diapers aren’t toxic, just nasty) or to safety hazards (I suppose getting bit could be a safety hazard) so why do they need a union? You’re probably asking yourself the same question, so let me explain.
In Michigan the 40,000 or so day care centers have now been unionized by the AFSCME. This group is a merger of the government workers union and the United Auto Workers. I guess the UAW couldn’t get enough dues revenue from auto workers so they need to dig in the purses of baby sitting nannies. They should be proud.
Check out this link for the story:
http://stossel.blogs.foxbusiness.com/2010/02/11/forced-unionization/
The union managed to get their hooks into this industry by mailing out votes to those in the business. Only 6,000 were mailed back but that was enough to carry the day and now the other 34,000 mom and pop enterprises find themselves obligated to deal with local presidents, local union rules and send in those dues each and every month. Will this cost them more money? You bet it will. Will the day care owners pass the costs onto their customer base? You bet they will.
Will the mother who has a low paying job and has her kid or kids in day care find herself having to put out more bucks? What do you think? Who gets hurt? Well, not the union. Probably not the day care, since they have fixed costs they have to deal with to keep their places open and running.
No, it’ll be that mother. She’ll have to make that decision to find someplace cheaper to leave her kids or do without something she needs at the time. And what do the day care operations get in return for the dues they pay? More governmental interference, more rules, more regulations and you can bet …more paperwork.
Of course the union rebuts the argument by explaining that their dues are paid from the state subsidies and not by the day care centers themselves. Of course the fact that the monies paid to the unions are monies that used to go to the day care operations.
This is the same state where a mother who was watching out for some kids waiting for a school bus and belonging to her neighbor was charged with running a day care center and required to have a license. This poor woman was looking after some kids whose parents had to go to work early and in most places would have been thought as a great neighborhood asset. Not in Michigan, they said since she was looking after some kids for more than two hours a week, she needed a day care license. Fortunately, common sense kicked in and the state agency dropped their claim.
The Obama administration is determined to stuff the unions down our throats, as if we weren’t already choking on his other policies and decisions. The unions threw their support to his election and now we’re starting to see who gets paid back first. It certainly isn’t the voters. I wonder how many of those 34,000 day care center owners voted for some change in the 2008 election? Looks like they’ll be getting their share.
Comments go to www.pearyperry.com
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Complaints go nowhere…
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Can You Hear Me Now?
A Nation of Fools by Peary Perry (www.pearyperry.com)
“Can you hear me…now?”
I suppose I should consider changing my name to something like Rip Van Perry since it appears I have been asleep for quite sometime. Before I dozed off, I recall the candidate for the president of the United States, Barack Obama had been criticizing the Bush administration for being too invasive of the rights of the American citizens.
Now we find that one group (Moveon.org) who had worked long and hard to put Mr. O into the White House had this to say (July, 2008) about Mr. O’s flip flop on telecom surveillance:
“We’re disappointed in Senator Obama’s support of the compromise on FISA—the bill doesn’t go far enough in protecting our constitutional liberties and allows a free pass for phone companies who helped the President illegally wiretap innocent Americans. We hope Sen. Obama will honor his word and do everything he can to strip this immunity from the bill. He’s also said that accountability is very important to him, so we’re hoping he will follow up with a plan for how to protect our liberty and our security, along with a plan to bring lawbreakers to justice. Americans want those who violate the constitution to see consequences; it’s a core American value and a winning position for the election. This along with his strong stands on healthcare, the energy crisis and ending the war can help the Senator win in November.”
Of course, MoveOn.org must have believed the Obama promise that he would take care of their request in exchange for their support in helping him to get elected. I wonder how they feel now? It now appears that the fears of MoveOn.Org are going to come true. The FBI is pushing for the right to obtain logs from all mobile phone companies in order to track the movements of Americans. Read More at:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10451518-38.html
What happened here? I was under the impression (obviously mistaken) that the Obama administration was going to put an end to the evil spying policies of the Bush/Cheney era. Now it seems that Mr. O is taking the position that none of us have any ‘reasonable expectation of privacy’ when it comes to making cell calls. Better keep this in mind when you call your significant other and speak those little words between now and Valentines Day. You never know who will be listening.
In another swipe at our civil rights is the administrations request for the internet service providers to maintain a log of all of the web sites each one of us might choose to visit. This little discussion is taking place at this time and is approved by none other than good old President Barack…..read about this at:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10448060-38.html?tag=rtcol;pop
Obviously the internet has become a major part of our lives and there isn’t anyone who would deny that it has been used to further the criminal activities of some. But, the Obama administration seems to focus on throwing the baby out with the bath water in their implementation of any of their policies. Look at healthcare, we estimate that some 13-20 million citizens don’t have health insurance, so why not address those and leave the rest of us alone? The same logic (perhaps that’s the wrong word to use in relationship to anything to do with the government) applies to using the internet. Why would the government need to track where I go when they should focus on looking at the people committing crimes? Certainly we have no issue with warrants being issued to facilitate the investigation of criminals, but to give wholesale approval to store data on all of us seems to be overkill to me. I’m certain requiring the internet service providers to maintain huge amounts of information such as this would result in the costs of services to escalate. Of course, then we would have to build a large government agency to handle and process all of the information being passed along to them. More jobs to fill, more tax to support, less freedom….there’s change for you.
Comments go to pperry@austin.rr.com
“Can you hear me…now?”
I suppose I should consider changing my name to something like Rip Van Perry since it appears I have been asleep for quite sometime. Before I dozed off, I recall the candidate for the president of the United States, Barack Obama had been criticizing the Bush administration for being too invasive of the rights of the American citizens.
Now we find that one group (Moveon.org) who had worked long and hard to put Mr. O into the White House had this to say (July, 2008) about Mr. O’s flip flop on telecom surveillance:
“We’re disappointed in Senator Obama’s support of the compromise on FISA—the bill doesn’t go far enough in protecting our constitutional liberties and allows a free pass for phone companies who helped the President illegally wiretap innocent Americans. We hope Sen. Obama will honor his word and do everything he can to strip this immunity from the bill. He’s also said that accountability is very important to him, so we’re hoping he will follow up with a plan for how to protect our liberty and our security, along with a plan to bring lawbreakers to justice. Americans want those who violate the constitution to see consequences; it’s a core American value and a winning position for the election. This along with his strong stands on healthcare, the energy crisis and ending the war can help the Senator win in November.”
Of course, MoveOn.org must have believed the Obama promise that he would take care of their request in exchange for their support in helping him to get elected. I wonder how they feel now? It now appears that the fears of MoveOn.Org are going to come true. The FBI is pushing for the right to obtain logs from all mobile phone companies in order to track the movements of Americans. Read More at:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10451518-38.html
What happened here? I was under the impression (obviously mistaken) that the Obama administration was going to put an end to the evil spying policies of the Bush/Cheney era. Now it seems that Mr. O is taking the position that none of us have any ‘reasonable expectation of privacy’ when it comes to making cell calls. Better keep this in mind when you call your significant other and speak those little words between now and Valentines Day. You never know who will be listening.
In another swipe at our civil rights is the administrations request for the internet service providers to maintain a log of all of the web sites each one of us might choose to visit. This little discussion is taking place at this time and is approved by none other than good old President Barack…..read about this at:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10448060-38.html?tag=rtcol;pop
Obviously the internet has become a major part of our lives and there isn’t anyone who would deny that it has been used to further the criminal activities of some. But, the Obama administration seems to focus on throwing the baby out with the bath water in their implementation of any of their policies. Look at healthcare, we estimate that some 13-20 million citizens don’t have health insurance, so why not address those and leave the rest of us alone? The same logic (perhaps that’s the wrong word to use in relationship to anything to do with the government) applies to using the internet. Why would the government need to track where I go when they should focus on looking at the people committing crimes? Certainly we have no issue with warrants being issued to facilitate the investigation of criminals, but to give wholesale approval to store data on all of us seems to be overkill to me. I’m certain requiring the internet service providers to maintain huge amounts of information such as this would result in the costs of services to escalate. Of course, then we would have to build a large government agency to handle and process all of the information being passed along to them. More jobs to fill, more tax to support, less freedom….there’s change for you.
Comments go to pperry@austin.rr.com
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Why am I not surprised?
A Nation of Fools by Peary Perry (www.pearyperry.com)
“Why am I not surprised?”
Here we are in a cash strapped economy with the good old US government cranking out more funny money each and every day that goes by. Actually due to the current snow falls in Washington D.C. they might not be able to report to work for a few days. Not a bad thing. But anyway, with super bowl advertisements costing 2.5 million for ½ a minute …here are ads running on Sunday for the Census. The government actually paid to have commercials made and televised about the upcoming 2010 census. Why they needed to do this is anyone’s guess. One point of interest was that in 1790 each census taker worked about 6,000 citizens…..today that number is about 500 per worker. You’d think with computers we would get more efficient, but wait I mentioned efficiency and the government and those two words don’t go together …do they?
The inmates are now running the asylum as far as I can tell. Last week there was a news report about a so called ‘green-building’ which was to be covered with vines and some sort of moss to reduce energy costs. The government was buying this building for somewhere north of 123 million dollars. The energy savings on this little gem is estimated to be over $200,000 a year. Gosh I’m so impressed, that means this one owner will pay for itself in only 615 years. Using the same thought you can see that if the Tower of London which was built in the 1300’s had incorporated the same concepts they would be a money making machine by now. Someone had their hand in the till on this one.
Speaking of hands in the till….heard anything about an Obama appointee by the name of Cathy Zoi? I thought not. Well, she happens to be one of those snow bound folks responsible for the dissemination of over 17 billion in so-called stimulus money. Her husband is associated with a company called something like Serious Materials, who just so happened to have received some serious monies or tax credits from the stimulus funds that old Cathy oversees. Of course she has issued the standard line that she had nothing to do with the decision to give any preferential treatment to her husbands company. If you believe that I’d like to show you some waterfront lots in Arizona.
The new poster boy for governmental healthcare should be the late John Murtha. In addition to being a strong voter on Frankenancy’s house team, he could always be counted on to add some levity to any debate with which he agreed or disagreed. Our dear Nancy seems to be losing house votes faster than water runs off a ducks back. Poor old John goes in for a routine gall bladder operation in a government hospital and ends up dying due to a surgery foul-up. There’s a big incentive to nationalize healthcare if I ever saw one. Perhaps not.
With Washington buried under record snow falls, I wonder if anyone has given any thought to the concept of global cooling? I heard that the Obama administration was trying to rename the tectonic plates under the Caribbean and calling the area around Haiti as the “Bush Fault”. I suppose if the scientists discover that we are truly entering into a new ice age…..it will have to be either George W’s or Dick Cheney’s decisions that caused it. Who else could have done it?
Last but not least is the upcoming so called bi-partisan conference on healthcare being touted by the Obama team. Let’s see, until Scott Brown managed to get elected last month, the administration was hell bent on passing his version without any input for the minority. Now all of that has changed with the majority of the senate being taken away by Scott Brown. Of course, the Democrats want input on the existing bill rather than starting over as is the desire of the majority of the American citizens. We’ll just have to wait and see what will transpire, but the word bipartisan still doesn’t seem to be very much in vogue inside of the beltway as of yet.
Comments go to pperry@austin.rr.com
(sign up for new articles at www.pearyperry.com)
Complaints go nowhere….
“Why am I not surprised?”
Here we are in a cash strapped economy with the good old US government cranking out more funny money each and every day that goes by. Actually due to the current snow falls in Washington D.C. they might not be able to report to work for a few days. Not a bad thing. But anyway, with super bowl advertisements costing 2.5 million for ½ a minute …here are ads running on Sunday for the Census. The government actually paid to have commercials made and televised about the upcoming 2010 census. Why they needed to do this is anyone’s guess. One point of interest was that in 1790 each census taker worked about 6,000 citizens…..today that number is about 500 per worker. You’d think with computers we would get more efficient, but wait I mentioned efficiency and the government and those two words don’t go together …do they?
The inmates are now running the asylum as far as I can tell. Last week there was a news report about a so called ‘green-building’ which was to be covered with vines and some sort of moss to reduce energy costs. The government was buying this building for somewhere north of 123 million dollars. The energy savings on this little gem is estimated to be over $200,000 a year. Gosh I’m so impressed, that means this one owner will pay for itself in only 615 years. Using the same thought you can see that if the Tower of London which was built in the 1300’s had incorporated the same concepts they would be a money making machine by now. Someone had their hand in the till on this one.
Speaking of hands in the till….heard anything about an Obama appointee by the name of Cathy Zoi? I thought not. Well, she happens to be one of those snow bound folks responsible for the dissemination of over 17 billion in so-called stimulus money. Her husband is associated with a company called something like Serious Materials, who just so happened to have received some serious monies or tax credits from the stimulus funds that old Cathy oversees. Of course she has issued the standard line that she had nothing to do with the decision to give any preferential treatment to her husbands company. If you believe that I’d like to show you some waterfront lots in Arizona.
The new poster boy for governmental healthcare should be the late John Murtha. In addition to being a strong voter on Frankenancy’s house team, he could always be counted on to add some levity to any debate with which he agreed or disagreed. Our dear Nancy seems to be losing house votes faster than water runs off a ducks back. Poor old John goes in for a routine gall bladder operation in a government hospital and ends up dying due to a surgery foul-up. There’s a big incentive to nationalize healthcare if I ever saw one. Perhaps not.
With Washington buried under record snow falls, I wonder if anyone has given any thought to the concept of global cooling? I heard that the Obama administration was trying to rename the tectonic plates under the Caribbean and calling the area around Haiti as the “Bush Fault”. I suppose if the scientists discover that we are truly entering into a new ice age…..it will have to be either George W’s or Dick Cheney’s decisions that caused it. Who else could have done it?
Last but not least is the upcoming so called bi-partisan conference on healthcare being touted by the Obama team. Let’s see, until Scott Brown managed to get elected last month, the administration was hell bent on passing his version without any input for the minority. Now all of that has changed with the majority of the senate being taken away by Scott Brown. Of course, the Democrats want input on the existing bill rather than starting over as is the desire of the majority of the American citizens. We’ll just have to wait and see what will transpire, but the word bipartisan still doesn’t seem to be very much in vogue inside of the beltway as of yet.
Comments go to pperry@austin.rr.com
(sign up for new articles at www.pearyperry.com)
Complaints go nowhere….
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
"Please sir..can I have some more?"
A Nation of Fools by Peary Perry (www.pearyperry.com)
(sign up for new articles at www.pearyperry.com)
“Please sir, can I have some more?”
Well, I don’t think this will come as any big surprise but Speaker of the House Frankenancy Pelosi has decided that the healthcare plan is not dead as of yet. Perhaps the title of this column should be something along the lines of … “It lives, it lives.” But I’ll save that for something in the future. Meanwhile Mrs. Pelosi, who could be mistaken for the crazy lady in ‘Play Misty for Me’ has decided that we Americans just need another dose of her wishes and all will be right in the beltway. “If we just keep feeding it to them…they’ll eventually eat it” seems to be her new motto.
Even though she is losing support with members of her own party, she seems hell bent for leather to ram something down the throats of the American taxpayers regardless if we want it or not. Even though over 60% of Americans are opposed to healthcare reform the folks in the Pelosi bunkers are determined to keep on shoving it in, day after day after day. Speaker Nancy seems to feel that she can draft a version which will somehow escape the attention of the general public.
Now, I realize that the current leaders of the republic (Obama, Reid and Pelosi) honestly think that those of us who vote are too dumb to make up our own minds and cannot tell what is good for us. That’s where they come in. They feel uniquely qualified to make those decisions for us. We should just roll over and play dead while her office explores a myriad of options to see which one can be foisted off upon us without our being aware.
The people of this country want jobs. I am beginning to think those in control believe that the word job is only a book in the old testament and not connected to the 10% of the citizens not gainfully employed. Estimates run all the way up to 17% if you factor in the number of people who have stopped looking for employment. Whatever the number is, it’s way too high and generating new taxes while increasing the number of government workers isn’t a text book example of how to succeed in business.
Of course, Frankenancy has some serious shuffling to do if she wants to get anything passed in the dead of the night. There are some major roadblocks to getting anything out of this congress. Many of the incumbents are now scurrying for the dark and trying to get out of the light of ever increasing scrutiny by the citizens. It will be interesting to see how many Democrats ask for support from Obama in the coming months. So far their team is batting zero on having any positive effect. Of course that doesn’t mean they will give up trying. They seem to be any and everywhere a camera or microphone is placed. In my mind one of the most dangerous places to be in America at this time would be in between any of these people and a news crew.
At least Senator Reid offered an opinion that showed he wasn’t certain all of the rules could be avoided. He made this comment…. “We can’t go first,” Reid said. “I don’t know how procedurally we can start reconciliation.”
So, now it seems as if the House of Pelosi wants to sneak a healthcare program to us under the guise of anti-monopoly reform. In other words, let’s wrap this stale and rancid sandwich in a new wrapper and those old dumb voters won’t pay any attention. In fact they’ll be coming back for more.
Sorry, Nancy but even some things are just too hard to swallow.
Comments go to pperry@austin.rr.com
Complaints go nowhere.
(sign up for new articles at www.pearyperry.com)
(sign up for new articles at www.pearyperry.com)
“Please sir, can I have some more?”
Well, I don’t think this will come as any big surprise but Speaker of the House Frankenancy Pelosi has decided that the healthcare plan is not dead as of yet. Perhaps the title of this column should be something along the lines of … “It lives, it lives.” But I’ll save that for something in the future. Meanwhile Mrs. Pelosi, who could be mistaken for the crazy lady in ‘Play Misty for Me’ has decided that we Americans just need another dose of her wishes and all will be right in the beltway. “If we just keep feeding it to them…they’ll eventually eat it” seems to be her new motto.
Even though she is losing support with members of her own party, she seems hell bent for leather to ram something down the throats of the American taxpayers regardless if we want it or not. Even though over 60% of Americans are opposed to healthcare reform the folks in the Pelosi bunkers are determined to keep on shoving it in, day after day after day. Speaker Nancy seems to feel that she can draft a version which will somehow escape the attention of the general public.
Now, I realize that the current leaders of the republic (Obama, Reid and Pelosi) honestly think that those of us who vote are too dumb to make up our own minds and cannot tell what is good for us. That’s where they come in. They feel uniquely qualified to make those decisions for us. We should just roll over and play dead while her office explores a myriad of options to see which one can be foisted off upon us without our being aware.
The people of this country want jobs. I am beginning to think those in control believe that the word job is only a book in the old testament and not connected to the 10% of the citizens not gainfully employed. Estimates run all the way up to 17% if you factor in the number of people who have stopped looking for employment. Whatever the number is, it’s way too high and generating new taxes while increasing the number of government workers isn’t a text book example of how to succeed in business.
Of course, Frankenancy has some serious shuffling to do if she wants to get anything passed in the dead of the night. There are some major roadblocks to getting anything out of this congress. Many of the incumbents are now scurrying for the dark and trying to get out of the light of ever increasing scrutiny by the citizens. It will be interesting to see how many Democrats ask for support from Obama in the coming months. So far their team is batting zero on having any positive effect. Of course that doesn’t mean they will give up trying. They seem to be any and everywhere a camera or microphone is placed. In my mind one of the most dangerous places to be in America at this time would be in between any of these people and a news crew.
At least Senator Reid offered an opinion that showed he wasn’t certain all of the rules could be avoided. He made this comment…. “We can’t go first,” Reid said. “I don’t know how procedurally we can start reconciliation.”
So, now it seems as if the House of Pelosi wants to sneak a healthcare program to us under the guise of anti-monopoly reform. In other words, let’s wrap this stale and rancid sandwich in a new wrapper and those old dumb voters won’t pay any attention. In fact they’ll be coming back for more.
Sorry, Nancy but even some things are just too hard to swallow.
Comments go to pperry@austin.rr.com
Complaints go nowhere.
(sign up for new articles at www.pearyperry.com)
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
"Step right up ladies and gents....this is an offer you can't afford to miss."
A Nation of Fools by Peary Perry (www.pearyperry.com)
(sign up for new columns at www.pearyperry.com)
“Step right up, ladies and gents….this is an offer you can’t afford to miss.”
The current occupant of the United States White House missed his calling. In former times he would have been extremely successful as a snake oil salesman. Peddling his wares from town to town and then slipping out quietly before anyone had discovered they had been hoodwinked. Another option for him would have been the old shell game, in fact that might have been his profession in a former life since it seems he is so proficient at this today.
Cutting about 17% of the federal budget (next year) while increasing the federal deficit by over 1 ½ trillion dollars and making statements that he (Obama) considered himself to be a good steward of the nations money is ludicrous. This is the consummate shell game.
When confronted with the tax implications which were presented on Monday, the President responded (as if we didn’t know) that “it wasn’t his fault; this was the result of decisions made by the previous (Bush) administration. I wonder how long the American public is going to put up with this classic case of the blame game. Sure there were mistakes made, as well as deficits created by the last administration but wasn’t this guy elected on the platform of Hope and Change? It appears to me that we’re still hoping for something to change. Carrying forward with the same polices as before certainly isn’t anything to write home about. Neither is blaming your current actions on someone else the quality of a responsible leader…this is equal to children placing blame for a broken window. “It’s Georges fault” must echo throughout the halls of the Oval Office on an constant basis.
With the expiration of the tax rates instituted by the Bush administration, all tax brackets will revert back their former levels. The capital gains tax will increase for some American from 15% to 20%. Taxing dividends on stocks is also included in this package of grief from the Obama machine. Raising taxes on investments and individuals who own businesses does not generate jobs and encourage capital expenditures. Issuing more so called ‘stimulus’ money to increase the number of police officers, firefighters and teachers is certainly an admirable program, but hardly helps a capitalistic society. The police, fire and public schools of this nation are not revenue generators, they exist solely as a result of the taxes paid from businesses and individuals. All we are seeing thus far is another attempt to strangle the growth of the business sector while increasing the growth of the governmental sector. This smacks of socialism to me, not a concept of a capitalistic society.
What the struggling housing market needed was another road block such as limiting the amount of interest that could be deducted from an individuals income taxes. Obama and crew apparently are under the impression that anyone, anyone who earns over $200,000 per year is in their eyes...one of the rich and super wealthy. Makes you want to try harder, doesn’t it? Check out the news on taxes today and you’ll see hundreds of suggestions as to how to change your corporate structure as well as suggestions for moving offshore to avoid these higher paying brackets. Are people going to just roll over and pay more because they want to? I don’t think so.
Reduction of the tax deductions for charities is another ‘who came up with this one’ idea included in the current budget. Charities are not funded entirely by super wealthy individuals, but by Americans in all levels of the economic strata. Reducing those deductions will lead to more governmental interference and larger governmental attempts to help the needy in this country. Thus those receiving these handouts will certainly be inclined to become more and more dependent upon the government for their support. Of course for a socialistic driven administration, that would be the purpose, wouldn’t it? Raising taxes on individuals while lowering their deductions in a stagnant economy is fundamentally insane. This country is supported by the growth and prosperity of business. Look at the states that are basically anti-business, one large one, out West starts with a “C” and is currently on the verge of bankruptcy. These states are losing business right and left as firms are moving to more hospitable locations. What do you think it going to happen if the entire nation becomes anti-business?
Does France seem so outrageous? At some point it becomes very attractive.
No, the sad thing about today is that we are currently living in a nation where those in power have for the most part never been in power except in the government. Owning a successful business of any size takes skill as well as being a competent juggler. To manage cash flow against payables and receivables while remaining competitive as well as maintaining a loyal, happy, competent and efficient workforce is not for the faint of heart. Washington is full of incompetents who are telling us how to run our lives while they do not possess the business acumen to operate a snow cone stand in Arizona in August.
The only bright spot in the budget was the elimination of the death tax in 2010; however it is estimated to be reinstated next year. So if you’re planning on leaving anything to your kids, die now…otherwise Obama and company will be knocking on your surviors door.
Comments go to pperry@austin.rr.com
(sign up for new columns at www.pearyperry.com)
Complaints go nowhere.
(sign up for new columns at www.pearyperry.com)
“Step right up, ladies and gents….this is an offer you can’t afford to miss.”
The current occupant of the United States White House missed his calling. In former times he would have been extremely successful as a snake oil salesman. Peddling his wares from town to town and then slipping out quietly before anyone had discovered they had been hoodwinked. Another option for him would have been the old shell game, in fact that might have been his profession in a former life since it seems he is so proficient at this today.
Cutting about 17% of the federal budget (next year) while increasing the federal deficit by over 1 ½ trillion dollars and making statements that he (Obama) considered himself to be a good steward of the nations money is ludicrous. This is the consummate shell game.
When confronted with the tax implications which were presented on Monday, the President responded (as if we didn’t know) that “it wasn’t his fault; this was the result of decisions made by the previous (Bush) administration. I wonder how long the American public is going to put up with this classic case of the blame game. Sure there were mistakes made, as well as deficits created by the last administration but wasn’t this guy elected on the platform of Hope and Change? It appears to me that we’re still hoping for something to change. Carrying forward with the same polices as before certainly isn’t anything to write home about. Neither is blaming your current actions on someone else the quality of a responsible leader…this is equal to children placing blame for a broken window. “It’s Georges fault” must echo throughout the halls of the Oval Office on an constant basis.
With the expiration of the tax rates instituted by the Bush administration, all tax brackets will revert back their former levels. The capital gains tax will increase for some American from 15% to 20%. Taxing dividends on stocks is also included in this package of grief from the Obama machine. Raising taxes on investments and individuals who own businesses does not generate jobs and encourage capital expenditures. Issuing more so called ‘stimulus’ money to increase the number of police officers, firefighters and teachers is certainly an admirable program, but hardly helps a capitalistic society. The police, fire and public schools of this nation are not revenue generators, they exist solely as a result of the taxes paid from businesses and individuals. All we are seeing thus far is another attempt to strangle the growth of the business sector while increasing the growth of the governmental sector. This smacks of socialism to me, not a concept of a capitalistic society.
What the struggling housing market needed was another road block such as limiting the amount of interest that could be deducted from an individuals income taxes. Obama and crew apparently are under the impression that anyone, anyone who earns over $200,000 per year is in their eyes...one of the rich and super wealthy. Makes you want to try harder, doesn’t it? Check out the news on taxes today and you’ll see hundreds of suggestions as to how to change your corporate structure as well as suggestions for moving offshore to avoid these higher paying brackets. Are people going to just roll over and pay more because they want to? I don’t think so.
Reduction of the tax deductions for charities is another ‘who came up with this one’ idea included in the current budget. Charities are not funded entirely by super wealthy individuals, but by Americans in all levels of the economic strata. Reducing those deductions will lead to more governmental interference and larger governmental attempts to help the needy in this country. Thus those receiving these handouts will certainly be inclined to become more and more dependent upon the government for their support. Of course for a socialistic driven administration, that would be the purpose, wouldn’t it? Raising taxes on individuals while lowering their deductions in a stagnant economy is fundamentally insane. This country is supported by the growth and prosperity of business. Look at the states that are basically anti-business, one large one, out West starts with a “C” and is currently on the verge of bankruptcy. These states are losing business right and left as firms are moving to more hospitable locations. What do you think it going to happen if the entire nation becomes anti-business?
Does France seem so outrageous? At some point it becomes very attractive.
No, the sad thing about today is that we are currently living in a nation where those in power have for the most part never been in power except in the government. Owning a successful business of any size takes skill as well as being a competent juggler. To manage cash flow against payables and receivables while remaining competitive as well as maintaining a loyal, happy, competent and efficient workforce is not for the faint of heart. Washington is full of incompetents who are telling us how to run our lives while they do not possess the business acumen to operate a snow cone stand in Arizona in August.
The only bright spot in the budget was the elimination of the death tax in 2010; however it is estimated to be reinstated next year. So if you’re planning on leaving anything to your kids, die now…otherwise Obama and company will be knocking on your surviors door.
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