Big Dogs House

Time To Get Rid Of The IRS

May 23, 2013 Commentary

As I write this it occurs to me that I could be putting a big target on my back for retaliation by an out of control government agency but this needs to be said and I am certainly not the only person saying it.

We need to get rid of the IRS. It is an agency that has become bloated and costs us a ton of money to operate. While I would like to abolish the income tax as well I understand that is not likely to happen so the next best thing would be to abolish the IRS and simplify the tax code so that every wage earner pays a flat tax.

The code can be simplified so that ALL income is treated the same and taxed at one flat rate. I believe that John Lott has calculated an 11% tax rate would fund the government and provide the funds necessary for Social Security and Medicare thus eliminating these as separate deductions. Since that money goes to the general fun anyway there is really no need for separate deductions.

Whatever tax rate is decided upon all wage earners would have that amount deducted from every paycheck. There are two ways to handle other income. Either the people paying the income (dividend, interest, etc) could deduct the percentage and send it to the Treasury or those who earn it can send a check for the amount owed when taxes are filed.

There would be no need for all of the deductions that wage earners use and there would be no need for tax credits. We level the playing field (as liberals like to push) and all wage earners pay the same amount. Wealthy people would pay more in gross amount but the percentage would be the same for everyone. The amount of Social Security people receive can be calculated on formulas based on income.

I would recommend that income up to $3000 be excluded from taxes and all amounts over that be taxed. This would allow children to earn dividend and interest on accounts and allow students to take summer jobs without worrying about a tax burden. All income over that regardless of age or source would be taxed at the national rate.

Treasury can use a small contingent of workers to check computer databases to ensure those who received income paid taxes (and that would be mostly self correcting because we would all be paying the same amount). They could check that those who received income from other sources paid taxes on the additional income.

We would have no need for all these audits and no need for all the federal agents. We could abolish the IRS (the ideal solution) or drastically reduce it in size to only those needed to check returns.

Ideally we would get rid of the agency and Treasury would establish a small section to check. Perhaps we could even have some computer program that just checks if a Social Security number received wages and then see if taxes are paid for them. They can sort this out but whatever happens it will be better than what we have.

The most ideal situation would be to have a national consumption tax and abolish income taxes all together. If you buy something (consume) you pay federal taxes on it. This would tax consumption rather than production and would be ideal, at least in my mind.

I doubt this will happen. The most likely outcome would be Congress taxing income AND charging a consumption tax. Their appetite for our money never ends.

No matter what is done there should be a provision in the law that the tax rate (flat or consumption) cannot be raised unless 75% of both chambers of Congress vote to do so.

If we allow them to just increase the tax rate pretty soon we will all be paying most of our income to the government.

We need to pay the bills and get our debt cleared out and we need a tax system that accomplishes this and does not require countless hours to comply with.

A flat tax allows everyone to be patriotic and have skin in the game (what Joe Biden says paying taxes is all about) and it would allow us to get rid of the IRS, an agency that has become a political weapon. It allows us to comply without worrying about mistakes that could bring the wrath of the IRS down on us.

Remember, we can’t plead the 5^th with the IRS and we can’t claim mistakes were made and expect forgiveness they way they are now doing…

This does not account for corporate earnings and tax. A national coprorate rate of about half the current rate on all income would be sufficient if we remove all the corporate deductions. That is an issue for the Treasury and Congress to work out. Perhaps Treasury would need a corporate tax division that had simple rules to follow so every corporation pays taxes and friends of one politician or another do not get special treatment. It would also be wise to have a system that encouraged investment here and discouraged overseas tax shelters.

Cave canem!
Never surrender, never submit.

Tags: abolish, consumption tax, flat tax, irs, target

Governing By Executive Order

Jan 15, 2013 Commentary, Political

Imperial President Barack Obama is set to use Executive Orders to violate the Constitution in order to push gun control. While Obama is not the first leader to abuse Executive Orders he is the only one in recent memory to use them to so blatantly abuse the power of his office and to violate the rights of US citizens. Obama will have children present when he makes his big announcement.

He is walking on the graves of those kids murdered in Connecticut and he is using the children at his announcement as props to garner sympathy. He has no shame and will do anything to push his Socialist agenda.

Executive Orders have their place and that place is to issue orders to agencies of the Executive Branch in order to manage their operations. Executive Orders can also be used by Presidents in order to pursue Acts of Congress which have delegated some power to him.

Executive Orders CANNOT be used to enact a new law, change an old law or govern the American people.

The reason Barack Obama is using EOs is because he will not be able to get what he wants through Congress and that does not suit him. He will, instead, do an end run around Congress. This is a violation of his authority and the Constitution and it is the duty of Congress to ensure he does not get away with this.

There is one Republican lawmaker who has vowed to file articles of impeachment against Obama if he tires this power grab. Unfortunately, many Democrats are urging Obama to usurp their authority because they do not believe any bills violating the Second Amendment will pass through Congress.

In any event, nothing he tries to impose via EO will apply to the public and accordingly, I refuse to comply.

I will not comply with any order or law that violates my rights. Other citizens are free to do as they wish, comply or not, but I will not. I see how things work. They will impose some rule and rush to remove guns from society and then the issue will make it to the courts and by the time the issue is ruled in favor of the Constitution all the surrendered firearms will have been melted into plows. People will never get their property back and will have no recourse. Additionally, once you allow one right to be taken the rest will fall if they interfere with government’s desires. The Second Amendment is the one that protects all others.

The oath I took to protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic does not have an expiration date and I intend to uphold my oath under all circumstances.

Obama and many in this government are working to violate our Constitution and that means they are domestic enemies.

Additionally, I will not follow any law enacted at the state level if that law violates the US Constitution. The Equal Protection Clause of the 14^th Amendment requires the states to provide equal protection to all people of the state. Basically, states can’t do things in violation of the US Constitution and enacting laws that violate the Second Amendment violates the law.

What harm could a little EO do?

Keep in mind that it was an Executive Order that led to the unlawful confinement of Japanese Americans in internment camps during World War II.

The Second Amendment is not about hunting and it is not about sport shooting. It is there to protect the means citizens have to keep their government in check. It allows us to shoot at tyrants in our own government.

But, Piers Morgan and other liberals say this is nonsense and that the US government will not abuse it people.

Really? What about the previously mentioned Japanese Americans? What about the blacks who were brought here and sold as slaves? These folks were denied their liberty and it was sanctioned by the government. It was eventually changed but how long did our government allow people to be held in bondage before it changed? If one thinks the government would not do bad things to a disarmed population should ask the Native Americans how things worked out. Government massacred them.

Then, after it changed, southern states tried to deny blacks the right to keep and bear arms. It is easier to round up people and lynch them when they are not armed.

Governments will eventually become corrupt. Look at how massive and corrupt our government is now. Imagine how bad things would get if those in charge knew they could do what they wanted because people lacked the means to resist.

Executive orders and unconstitutional laws are detrimental to society and I refuse to follow them.

I and many others will honor our oath, period.

One last point. I keep hearing the question; “why do you need a magazine that holds more than ten rounds?” I need it because I want it and I am free. I need it because that is what the military has and I am to be armed as well as the individual soldier.

My question is why does Obama need so many people with guns protecting him? Won’t one guy or maybe two do the trick? Why does Governor O’Malley of Maryland need an armed detail of at least six police officers to protect him? Won’t one guy with a gun suffice? Hell, why are we paying for their protection when they are working so hard to deny us ours?

MOLON LABE…

Cave canem!
Never surrender, never submit.

[jpsub]

Tags: enemies, executive order, law, lies, oath keepers, Obama, Second Amendment

Will The GOP Cave Yet Again?

Jan 6, 2013 Commentary, Political

Let’s clear up a few things. Obama did not lower taxes, he raised them. He did extend the tax cuts that George Bush enacted but he did not lower taxes for anyone. In fact, the taxes he extended were the ones he opposed before he was president. The only thing he did was to raise taxes.

Also, the holiday from 2% of Social Security taxes was allowed to expire so about 77% of income earners will see a decrease in take home pay. To be fair, the cut was temporary and had to end eventually. The funny thing is that many Obama supporters do not understand this and are all upset that their taxes went up. They did not truly go up since they only went back to what they were before the TEMPORARY decrease.

Having written this, Obama is fresh off his claimed victory in the fiscal cliff negotiations. The table was set for this and the outcome was predetermined. The whole thing was theater for the uninformed and allowed each party to sling accusations at each other while getting to the desired outcome.

Republicans were worried about being blamed if everyone’s taxes went up and Democrats were only interested in raising taxes on the alleged wealthy in order to play class warfare. The reality is though, that the only people who lost in the deal are the taxpayers.

Obama left DC and returned to Hawaii to continue his vacation, one that cost taxpayers about 7 MILLION dollars. While he was busy playing golf he threw down the gauntlet and indicated that he would be pushing an extreme liberal agenda including more tax increases, more spending and unconstitutional gun control.

Obama told the GOP that he would not negotiate the debt ceiling and that he wanted it raised. He also said that any cuts would have to be offset with tax increases.

John Boehner gave in and took a lot of heat. He survived a coup attempt and retained the role of Speaker but he must be aware that he has a fractured caucus and that conservatives are not happy.

Mitch McConnell has indicated that there will be no further tax increases and Boehner has stated that he will address the real problem, spending. All of this sounds good but we have seen this movie before. They talk tough but as soon as they run into opposition from the left they cave.

The debt ceiling is rapidly approaching. By Mid February or early March they will, once again, have a credit problem. They will all meet to discuss raising the credit limit once again while ignoring the real problem, spending. There will be tough talk but in the end they will scream that the US can’t default and they will raise the limit. Spending will not be addressed and we will run against the ceiling in the future.

This is a never ending game they play and America is tired of it. We need to get spending under control and the Republicans have only one weapon with which to do that, the debt ceiling. Republicans need to specifically lay out what is to be cut and by how much and that needs to be agreed to before any increase in the debt limit can be allowed.

As far as I am concerned, the debt ceiling should not be raised. They should cut spending to get to where we need to be and they should continue to cut until they balance the budget and begin paying down the debt, period.

That is unlikely to happen with the spineless crowd in DC so spending cuts, immediate ones not the ten year ones, need to be enacted BEFORE the debt limit is increased.

The GOP has this one chance to get it right. If they capitulate and allow the Democrats to abuse them once again then it will be time to replace them with others or to start a new party.

It is time for the GOP to show it has testicular fortitude and stand fast on spending cuts with NO tax increases.

Maybe they can get a new backbone under Obamacare…

Cave canem!
Never surrender, never submit.

[jpsub]

Tags: boehner, debt ceiling, mcconnell, Obama, spending, taxes

GOP Should Not Cave In On Taxes

Dec 12, 2012 Commentary

Barack Obama is certain that the GOP will cave and raise tax rates on the wealthy, defined as those who make more than 250k a year. He might be right because the GOP has a history of caving in. For some reason the party has not figured out it will get blamed no matter what and it continues to try to appease and give up in hope that people will like them and not blame them.

Who gives a rip how people perceive you? If you don’t cave and things get better Obama will get credit and the GOP will be seen as obstructionists. If they cave and Obama gets what he wants and things do not improve the GOP will be blamed. We know this is how it has been throughout history and we also know that Obama is not capable of taking responsibility. He blames everyone but himself for any problem (but he takes all credit for anything good).

Let’s make it clear right now. Barack Obama does not care one iota about doing what is best for the country. His focus is on destroying the GOP. He wants to make political moves that will paint the GOP into a corner so he can score points and he cares not how it affects the nation.

If the GOP caves and raises tax rates on the wealthy then Obama will portray it as an admission from the right that the lower tax rates enacted under George Bush (but only the ones on the rich) were the reason for the fiscal problems. He will say that the Republicans are admitting to it and that is why they had to raise the tax rates. This is already the narrative as Obama claims things were wonderful under Bill Clinton when tax rates were higher. He does not realize that the Clinton years were sleight of hand. He also fails to see that everyone had higher tax rates and that spending was much lower. We still spent too much and we still had deficits but they were nowhere near as bad as they are now.

The Obama plan will net maybe about 100 billion a year over ten years. We are over budget by more than a TRILLION dollars a year (and have been each year of Obama’s occupation). The math does not add up. Obama wants a ten year tax increase equal to the amount he is over budget in a single year.

The problem is not the amount of money coming in; it is the amount going out that is the problem.

We could raise revenue by lowering tax rates on corporations and making a more favorable environment for them to hire employees. If we get millions of people working again then there will be millions more people paying taxes. If we revised the tax code to institute a flat tax then everyone would pay a fair share for the country and everyone would have, to quote Barack Obama, skin in the game.

Half of wage earners pay no federal taxes and the top half pay for the nation. Yes, those in the bottom pay state taxes (in some states) and they pay Social Security and Medicare. Those are called taxes but the reason these programs were started was as a way for people to save for their own retirement. They have morphed into social programs that are nothing more than Ponzi schemes. In any event, these taxes are levied on people for their own retirement. An 11% tax on all earnings from all wage earners could pay the bills and eliminate the need to collect a separate SS and Medicare tax.

The GOP should not cave on this issue. Who cares about the fiscal cliff? The people in Congress along with Barack Obama decided two years ago that they would strike a deal that would force the sides to come together and work something out or draconian cuts would take place and taxes would increase on everyone. Well, they played games, worried about the election and ignored the issue for two years. Now the table is set and the conditions they ALL agreed to are about to come to fruition.

Let them. No deal is better than a bad deal, period.

Let the taxes on everyone go up. Let the SS tax go back to where it was. Cut Defense and let budget cuts across the government take place. Everyone will be affected and those who voted for Obama can feel the pain along with everyone else.

While we are at it we can turn off all the Obamaphones to save some money.

The GOP is worried about how it will be perceived by people not in its base if it does not cave in and let Obama raise the tax rates of the wealthy.

It better worry about how the base will react if the tax rates go up. Tick off the base and you will never win again no matter how many Democrats you make happy.

Ask John McCain how pleasing Democrats works out…

The low information entitlement Obama voters will never support Republicans. That would require work, thought and the ability to learn.

Keep in mind that Romney lost because he said that his plan would put people to work. 51% of the voters said the hell with that and voted to ride the gravy train of welfare.

Cave canem!
Never surrender, never submit.

Tags: budget, Bush, lies, Obama, sequester, taxes

Why Worry About The Fiscal Cliff?

Nov 12, 2012 Commentary

It is billed as Taxmageddon, the first day of the New Year when all the Bush tax cuts expire and certain budget measures kick in. These were designed to force lawmakers to get off their butts and actually do something constructive but that never came to pass. They were too busy running for reelection or working to get their messiah reelected. Now that has happened and there is some movement toward fixing the problem that lies ahead.

But why should they worry about fixing it? When Democrats took control of the Congress in the last two years of the Bush Administration they ran on a platform of eliminating the Bush tax cuts. Remember, Democrats have LONG declared that the Bush tax cuts were ONLY for the rich. They never referred to them as just tax cuts as they always added “for the rich.” Democrats claimed that Bush only cut taxes for wealthy people and that the middle class got screwed despite the fact that the middle class made out better than anyone with regard to the cuts.

Be that as it may, the reality is that Democrats said these tax cuts were only for the wealthy and they said they would eliminate the Bush tax cuts in total, not in some piecemeal fashion.

So let them expire.

Once Democrats won they had to back off their claims that these tax cuts were solely for the rich because they knew otherwise and eliminating them in their entirety would hurt the middle class but that is NOT how they portrayed it when they wanted the lesser minds in society to vote for them.

We should give them no quarter. They ran on eliminating them so let them expire and let everyone suffer the consequences (elections do have consequences). Obama and his minions all think that raising taxes is a good thing and will help the economy. If that is what they believe then they should let the Bush tax cuts expire completely and reap the benefit of increased tax revenue. It is unlikely the Treasury will actually receive increased revenue as tax increases tend to keep that from happening but that is not what Democrats believe.

So why not let them expire completely and see what happens? If Democrats are right then the increase in revenue will catapult the economy into prosperity and we will be on the track to salvation. Hell, if raising the taxes on the rich is wonderful then raising taxes on everyone should be even better.

Besides, the expiration of the tax cuts will only affect the wealthy because that is what the Democrats have told us.

So there should be no worries about the first day of next year. There should be no fiscal or political worries because we are only going to do what Democrats promised all along, end the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy.

Hell, let us take it a little further. Let’s actually raise the taxes on millionaires (real ones who make a million dollars or more) to 90%. Everything above a million dollars will be taxed at 90%. They don’t need that money. Barack Obama already told them that at a certain point he thinks they have made enough so let’s just take it from them. Many of the millionaires who live in this country voted for Obama so they should be perfectly willing to have some skin in the game. Imagine if Brad Pitt was paid 5 million dollars for a movie. He would get 400 thousand dollars of the amount over a million and the government would get 3.6 million dollars. What a deal and Pitt will be more than happy because he supported Obama and Obama’s plans.

Think of how rich liberals would be overjoyed at this. Warren Buffett, Michael Moore, Cher, and all the other rich liberals who supported Obama and his plans could pay their fair share to help the poor folks.

Now it is an absolute fact that if the government confiscated ALL the money rich people make it would only run the government for about 90 days but that should not matter. It is all about fair play and these rich folks, many of whom live in California and New York, have put their trust in Obama.

Let the Bush tax cuts expire in their entirety so Democrats can fulfill their promise to do so and then raise taxes on people who make more than a million dollars so they can pay their fair share.

The reality is that none of this will help but the Democrats promised it so they should go through with it. It will crash the economy, force the wealthy liberals to find ways to keep from paying taxes (you KNOW they don’t really want to pay more) and show America how deadly liberal tax policies are.

Who cares if it leads to the demise of this once great nation? If people actually cared about that they would not be standing around with their hands out for Obamaphones, food stamps and other forms of welfare. They would be working instead of mooching.

Let’s give the liberals what they want by letting the Bush tax cuts expire and raising taxes on the wealthy. No exceptions so all the rich guys in Congress have to pay. Hell, Obama will have to pay 90% on all his income above a million so he will have skin in the game. And while we are at it we need to tax him on his employer provided transportation. His employer gives him a car, a plane and a helicopter. He needs to pay taxes on these as well just like a guy in the private sector.

Obama needs to have skin in the game as well.

Once the policies have taken effect it won’t be long before our economy completely crashes. Some will survive and some will not but once we come through the other side those who caused this will be long gone and we can rebuild the Republic.

The ball is in your court Congress. You liberals wanted to end those tax cuts so do it and quit crying about how they will hurt everyone.

You were not worried about that when you were running to cut them so don’t worry now.

Man up and do what you said you were going to do and live with the consequences.

Cave canem!
Never surrender, never submit.

Tags: bush tax cuts, economy, fiscal cliff, lies, millionaires, Obama