What We Believe, Part 1: Small Government and Free Enterprise.

Part 1 of a series of videos from Bill Whittle explaining conservatism and the idea of small government. As he states in the video, the concept is misrepresented in various ways by certain Liberal/Progressive individuals that either do not understand or intentionally mislead others into thinking of it as a call to abolish government entirely or regulations. Bill does an EXCELLENT job in getting the message across clearly:





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Dan Mitchell Breaks it Down: It's Simple to Balance The Budget Without Higher Taxes

Even at the current spending levels, tax hikes aren't needed.....





We can simply start cutting vast amounts of federal agencies in jurisdictions outside those granted the federal government by the Constitution.  But as Mitchell puts it, no one in Washington cares about the Constitution anyway.  If we just put a hard cap on spending, the budget would naturally balance itself in five years — with the Bush tax cuts still in place.  The only reason to raise taxes is to allow Congress to spend more … which is the real reason for our massive deficits.

DEMOCRATS AND GOP BATTLE OVER BUSH TAX CUTS

Neil Boortz on Fox News explaining the effects of tax cuts in an economy in his subtle way:



In case you're wondering: 70% of economist favor extending Bush Tax Cuts.  Link to Wall Street Journal article here as the source. Go figure.

Video: “I’m willing to take a chance on something different”

Change?

Zo's Illegal Immigration Rant

While I'm disappointed in the Judge's ruling, I can't say that she's wrong. Turns out it's only illegal to be here if you are caught in the act of crossing the border without proper documentation. Once you make it over, it drops to a civil issue and is no longer criminal. I can't believe the geniuses that wrote the law in the first place....My suggestion, first secure the border. Then enforce the law AFTER excluding the 14th amendment provision that allows the children of illegals to become citizens, and modernize the pathway to citizenship. Both Republicans and Democrats are at fault for letting it get to this point since the years of Nixon. 

Anyhow, Zo give's his piece:



I will be doing research in the coming days about our Immigration system.  Be on the lookout.

Another Healthcare Surprise...has nothing to do with your health

You're a business. If you make a payment to someone in the course of conducting your trade or business you are supposed to report that payment to the IRS on a 1099 form, with a copy to the person or business to whom you made the payment. The old law was that you didn't have to report payments to a corporation or payments for such things as merchandise, utilities, shipping or other similar transactions.

Now things are different thanks to a little addition from the Senate Finance Committe into the new Healthcare Bill. Starting in 2012 you'll have to file a 1099 with the IRS for any business, person or entity to whom you make payments in excess of $600 during any taxable year. This, of course, would include anyone you hire to do some minor labor during the year ... but would also include any corporation, no matter how big, to whom you make payments in excess of $600.

The average small business prepares less than 1099 forms a year under the current law. Estimates are that these same businesses will have to prepare more than 100 under the new Healthcare. What's more .. the demand for accuracy, and the punishment for incorrect filings will probably send many of these smaller businesses out there to hire accounting professionals. Just what we need; more tax compliance costs.

There is a move afoot to repeal this hideous 1099 mandate. Rep. Dan Lungren, a Republican from California, has introduced legislation that would repeal the new 1099 requirements.


For those of you who want more details on this. This is a good summary of the changes we are facing.

Paul Ryan: A Time for Choosing

Young Gun Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) is extremely bright and informed. He is also and an excellent communicator.Recently he appeared on CNBC to discuss his Roadmap For America’s Future.


Via GatewayPundit :
Are we going to reclaim the American idea?
An entrepreneurial economy where you make the most of your life, you can maximize your potential; reinvigorate the principles of liberty, freedom, free enterprise – and defend its morality – or – are we going to abandon the American idea, and become a stagnant European-style cradle-to-grave welfare state, where we drain people of their incentive and will to make the most of their lives, and become more dependent on the government? The President and the people that run Congress are dedicated progressives. They believe that we ought to have the government so much more involved in our lives, with the government – not ourselves – as the determining factor of our destiny. The country must answer the question: do we want an entrepreneurial society that gets the prosperity turned back on in the 21st century, where individual merit and entrepreneurial activity defines the American economy – or – are we going to have more and more people dependent on the government for their livelihoods? That is the fork in the road – and the urgency of the time for choosing is being precipitated by the current direction of our government and the looming debt crisis, driven by the explosion in entitlement spending. We must decide what kind of a country we are going to be in the 21st century.

Guess who pays in the new Financial Regulation Bill

Barack Obama celebrated the passage of the new financial regulation bill yesterday. So did Chris Dodd and Barney Frank. And why not? It’s not as though they’ll have to pay for the new bureaucracies and regulation imposed on the American financial system. For that matter, it won’t be the bankers, either. Who pays? Three guesses, and the first two don’t count:

Big banks facing big drops in revenue are looking to Main Street to make up the difference.
Checking accounts, bank statements, even popping into your local bank branch could carry a hefty cost as the nation’s mega-banks scramble to offset expected damage from the sweeping financial overhaul. The uncertain future has overshadowed otherwise strong second-quarter earnings at JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp.
All three companies beat expectations this week with profitable results. Yet their stocks tumbled, helping send the wider market sharply lower Friday.

This is so basic that people inside the Beltway never learn it. Costs imposed on businesses get passed to consumers. It doesn’t matter where those costs originate, whether they come from materials, labor, rent, taxes, or regulation. All of those figure into the price paid by consumers for the product or service provided.
 
How will consumers get hit with these new regulations? Expect more fees on more transactions, including paying premium prices for doing business face to face with bank tellers and other employees. Banks will start demanding higher minimum balances and start charging higher fees on accounts that don’t make the cut. Bank of America will lose between $7 and $10 billion just on charges for debit and credit cards alone, money that will get made up by its customers somewhere.
 
That's the big secret that most of the public fails to realize when Democrats continually issue the battle cry calling for raising taxes and fees on big business. Consumers may not pay the entire price, however, at least not directly. If you like your local branch, better get used to the idea that it may disappear. With billions of dollars in new costs landing with a thud on their balance sheets, we can expect to see branches close up entirely — and the jobs that exist disappear along with them.
 
In short, the bill will erode consumer buying power, harm retirement accounts that rely on the performance of financial institutions, and create more unemployment. What exactly did we get in return for all of this?
 
If you want a refresher course on business, I've done the legwork.  Pay attention!

Examining Black Loyalty to Democrats

I've got to hand it to Zo, he hits most of the points.  I would go even further and say that the socio-economic policies of the Democratic Party, in it's current form, results in economic slavery by creating a class of dependent citizens.  These citizens will support the hands that feed them, while never noticing that their other freedoms were given away in exchange for relief from the burden of personal responsibility and comfort.  Quite similar to the physical slavery by the Democrats of the past.  Only this time, blacks aren't the only ones enlaved.  It's the middle and lower classes of all races and genders.
Watch...