Blog Archives
Congress to Open with Reading of the Constitution
The Washington Times reports that the 112th Congress will commence with a reading of the U.S. Constitution. This is great news, as it reminds Congress of the principles of limited government.
Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) proposed the reading:
“It stems from the debate that we’ve had for the last two years about things like the exercise of authority in a whole host of different areas by the EPA, we’ve had this debate in relation to the health care bill, the cap-and-trade legislation,” said Rep. Robert W. Goodlatte, Virginia Republican, who proposed the reading. “This Congress has been very aggressive in expanding the power of the federal government, and there’s been a big backlash to that.”
This is a good move on behalf of the new majority in Congress. Hopefully, they will not stray from these principles.
Gin and Juice at the local Giant???
If Governor Bob McDonnell and the legislature can privatize Virginia’s ABC stores, this might become reality sooner than you think. H/T to Reason.tv.
The Theoretical Perspective against Big Government
Cato Institute‘s Dan Mitchell explains from a theoretical perspective why big government is not good for the economy, and how government spending is not just affecting the United States, but other nations.
Video from CPAC 2009: Dr. Ron Paul
Yesterday, I did a live blog of Dr. Paul’s speech to CPAC. Doug at Below The Beltway has video from the speech on his site, and I thank him for alerting me to the video.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Live Blog of Dr. Ron Paul's Speech at CPAC
Dr. Ron Paul is currently speaking to a packed house at CPAC. For those of you who are curious, I am a Ron Paul fan and yes, I came a little late in my support of his philosophies, etc. Here’s some quotes from the live blog of Dr. Paul’s speech:
“I thought we were supposed to get rid of the Department of Education. A Conservative has to willing to stand by and defend the Constitution. A good conservative will start talking about how we should get rid of the Federal Reserve system (AMEN!!) and the rule of law is very important.”
“I would like to remove the 16th Amendment of the Constitution. We need to get back to smaller, limited government and more individual liberty.”
“That financial system has come unglued. Conservatives, as believers in limited government, we need to be aware of the encroachments on liberty. We should be focused on preserving liberty. We have forgotten what our founding fathers have envisioned.”
“We have a foreign policy that was built on fallacies. The Conservatives had a different understanding about foreign policy, and we should not listen to the U.N., W.T.O., and the World Bank. They threaten our sovereignty. You can’t police the world. We received more donations from the military.”
“We need to eliminate the welfare state. The job that we have is to present this case that we are humanitarians, not the liberals. Everything is not for free, and if you care about your fellow man and prosperity, you need to educate those that freedom is an individual liberty, not a right.”
“You cannot have a fiat system. We need to have honest money and that gold and silver should be legal tender. We are closer to a fascist system, where the government has control of our lives and our property.”
“The Freedom of Speech allows you to write controversial things. We need freedom of choice with economic rights. You can’t go to the government begging, pleading and demanding.”
“We, the People Act has been introduced in Congress to protect the sanctity of life. We need to legalize competition and we need to audit the Federal Reserve to see what they’re doing.”
Ron Paul truly represented HOPE for America, and it is a shame that the Republican party did not realize this in 2008.
Big Government is Back!
Of course, this shouldn’t surprise you, but Big Government is back. President Barack Obama will be releasing his budget proposals today at 11 a.m., and the budget is filled with a $634 billion dollar health care plan, more tax hikes to the wealthy (which will not take place until 2010, and more money will be sent to domestic projects, rather than national defense projects.
According to The Politico, this budget would directly tax the wealthy at rates of 33 percent. While this may not seem alarming to many, it could not come at a worst time with the current state of the economy.
Hard on the heels of Obama’s speech to Congress, administration officials began briefing lawmakers Wednesday on their proposals including the healthcare reserve fund: half of which would come from health-related expenses and half by scaling back the value of itemized deductions for wealthier taxpayers.
By itself, the $634 billion won’t be enough to finance the president’s ambitious health plans. But it represents a major commitment upfront, with the administration promised to work with lawmakers to find additional savings as legislation is developed this year.
Obama’s focus on high-end households is consistent with his larger philosophy — both in taxes and spending.
Within the $2 trillion in savings, for example, the budget is expected to limit agriculture subsidies to farms earning more than $500,000, resulting in an estimated saving near $16 billion. Large charitable deductions—used to shelter income—would face new limits, and Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy would expire after 2010.
The new healthcare reserve fund is a separate enterprise but with much the same philosophy.
Wealthy individuals, taxed at rates of 35 percent or 33 percent, could still shelter part of their income with large itemized deductions, but these would be treated more as if the taxpayer were in the lower 28 percent tax bracket.
Thus, each $10,000 in deductions — worth about $3,500 for a 35 percent taxpayer today — would be worth closer to $2,800 or 20 percent less.
Why should the government tax and spend its way to prosperity? I think you should not tax in troubled times to fund for a nationalized health care plan, which does not work. For example, in Canada (where nationalized health care is mandated), there are many who travel to the U.S. for health care due to the massive delays in common life saving procedures. Our country is renowned for its quality health care system, and universal health coverage would drive many of doctors out of business or being entirely overworked.
However, with the expansion of big government programs and initiatives, many Republicans have embraced the core principles, which they strayed from in the past. Many of them have chided President Obama for his love of expanding the size of federal government. Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) recently published an editorial in The Hill that criticized the looming expansion of super-sized government. Boehner inquired how both Obama and the Democrats were planning to pay for each of these proposed programs, while he took a hard line stance on saying that a national health care is just “preposterous.”
It is time to fight back and stick to our guns on the expansion of big government. Hopefully, the GOP in Congress has awaken to their bad behavior and get back on track advocating for our core party principles of limited government and fiscal responsibility. Remember, Ronald Reagan once said, “The most terrifying words are “I’m here from the government and I’m here to help.”
