The Fiscal Cliff for Dummies

Simple Math on the Fiscal Cliff. Forgive my condescending title and tone, but I have to educate a failed Community Organizer/President into the finer points of this math, as he doesn't seem to get it. I am making it my mission to educate and inform him in the popular vernacular of the Dummies book series. Now, are you paying attention Mr. President? Here are some pretty graphs, links and other informative stuff to help you visualize and understand the problem. You see Mr. President, it's not that Americans are taxed too little, it's that we are spending too much. It's spending. It's spending. And oh yeah, it's also spending. We do too much of it as a Nation. You do too much of it as a President. You have been spending like a drunken sailor trying to stimulate the economy, expand government and it's necessity to our lives promising it as a panacea and cure for the economic ills we are suffering, but it just isn't working. Not surprising, spending your way to prosperity hasn't worked anywhere, ever. Mr. President do you see those really long red icicles that go way, way, down to the bottom? Yes sir, I'm sorry those would be your years.

 We spent  $3,600,000,000,000 (that is 3.6 Trillion) According to the CBO figures for fiscal year ended Oct. 2012,  of that about 50 cents of every dollar we spent was borrowed. So that means 1.8 Trillion of deficit spending is added on to the national debt that is now nearly $16,300,000,000,000 (That is 16.3 Trillion)  Lets break such a large number down to size, shall we?  October 2012 monthly spending was the largest single month of spending in our Nation's history. It came in at over $122,000,000,000 (that is $122 Billion)  President Obama do you see how it's only 3  commas for a Billion instead of 4 commas for a Trillion? Ok, and a trillion is a thousand billion dollars or a million million dollars, Capiche? O.K. good.  That breaks down to $3.95 Billion per day. Still with me Mr. President?


( First a little history on the opening negotiating position for Obama)


According to the N.Y. Times.

Nov. 13 The White House confirmed that President Obama’s starting point in budget talks with Congressional leaders would be the 80-page package that Mr. Obama sent Congress in September 2011. The 10-year, $4 trillion plan calls for $1.6 trillion in new revenues. 

 My Emphasis and added comment. (Folks, this is the budget that was presented by Obama and brought up for a vote by the GOP Controlled House, you know those wascally Republican's that oppose and block his efforts?..... So for two consecutive years they put it up and it got ZERO votes, not even one single Democrat, or Republican voted for it in the House. It received Unanimous Bi-Partisan rejection. The same budget went to the Senate controlled by the Democrats, two years running, and again offered up for a vote.  Oooopsie.... again unanimous and ZERO, not one Republican, nor Democrat Senator voted for it.  So this was his serious effort to avert the fiscal cliff? This was his OPENING FRAMEWORK and SALVO?) 

Nov. 29 Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner gave the House speaker, John A. Boehner, a detailed proposal with $1.6 trillion (my emphasis added, Whoa...What happened to the "only" $800 billion over 10 yrs. you campaigned on? Oh yeah, I forgot  you came out of that meeting with AARP, SEIU, and moveON.org, the day after the election and they said you were going to double the whack-job you planned for the Rich in tax increases over 10 years)  $50 billion in immediate stimulus spending, home mortgage refinancing and an end to Congressional control over the debt limit; (my terrified emphasis added)  it also set a goal (my emphasis added, not cuts or reductions, just... goals..uhuh...) for $600 billion in reductions from Medicare and other social programs.

Let me just say Mr. President, if you had to sell cars you would starve. You were asking America to pay MSRP during the campaign before the election. Now you are counter-offering we Americans the car for MSRP plus a doubling of the MSRP?  Wow, thats some second sticker Mr. President. Usually the second offer is lower not double the original asking price! I sure hope you weren't offended by the laughter Geithner's offer was received with by those Senators. Well since then you have "countered" your original offer that was double your campaign offer, down to your now desired New Years tax increase on the "wealthy"  of  "only"  $1.4 Trillion from the 1.6 Trillion you sent Secretary Geithner to offer on Nov. 9.   Now Mr. President, can we tell Americans this is your final answer? For now it is? Ok, well I guess we will have to go with that. (Man I sure hope you didn't let Geithner use Quicken Turbo-Tax to figure all this out) So lets not add your increased spending request, or figure there will ever be a reduction with your use of the word "goals' in your proposed entitlement spending savings. By the way great job keeping your media buddies in the mainstream media mum on the hefty Death Tax increases and your proposal to reduce the taxable estate value more than two-fold. Those are slipping right under the radar thanks to your cozy media relationship I don't think anyone will notice or cry foul until the family farms and businesses are liquidated to pay those taxes when their loved ones pass on and by then it will be too late.

O.K. but I digress... lets stick with October, 2012 Budget/Spending figures and do the math.

 So we have $3.95 Billion per day of spending. If Congress agreed to the latest Obama offer and increased taxes $1.4 Trillion over 10 years that would break down to $140 billion per year in additional tax revenue, and that breaks down to a daily amount of $383 million per day or if you will,  less than 10% of our daily spending amount of $3.95 Billion per day. Remember half our spending is borrowed money. So assuming we now have 10% of daily spending handled that still leaves a 40% gap to close just to get to non-deficit spending.  We will not even have begun to pay down the over 16 Trillion in National Debt, Six Trillion of which, you alone Mr. President have packed on since you came into office.



Your insistence on raising taxes on the top earners and producers in America, flies in the face of all economic logic and reality ignoring the economic impacts and recent precedents of disincentivizing success. You make no provision for those about to be crucified to invest differently or divest accordingly in self-preservation of their hard earned wealth and income. You ignore the possibility that raising rates on the top earners would not follow the recent experience and precedent of increasing taxes on the wealthy in the U.K. which resulted in a reduction of revenue by 60% from the prior year after they taxes on top earners up to 50% (10% increase) on the "Rich".   Well you are special so you certainly will be immune to such precedent don't you think?  Just in case though, start your "campaign" speech and talking points now if you have to hit the road and explain to Americans how you will have to raise taxes on everyone to fund the shortfalls from your ill-conceived action.

So Mr. President, what is your plan to close the gap after you nail the Rich guys? How do we get there? Tell us, please. You haven't provided one single concrete proposal for a budget cut, reduction, or elimination of any Federal spending outlays, programs, entitlements, military cuts, or discretionary budget spending cuts. You offer instead "goals" instead of cuts and then have the audacity to propose new stimulus spending and programs!  Well your "goals" are not legal tender in these United States anymore Mr. President. We have drawers full of  IOU's with your portrait on them that say "In Obama we Trust"  that promised all the Green Jobs, all the Shovel-Ready jobs. You promised us Stimulation of the economy from your Stimulus Program, and that worked like Ex-Lax ten years past the pull date. Thanks but no thanks, keep your goals. We want action, we want serious efforts and purpose to cut the bleeding that is killing America, our economy, and our future. Our National debt is in excess of 100% of our annual GDP, it was in the 70% range when you took office. This is unacceptable, you were elected to fix it. Raising taxes and pounding your chest gets us 10% of the way there, we need 40% more. Now, I have armed you with an education on Fiscal Cliff 101, so quit being such a fiscal Dummy. Oh forget it! Just follow the lead of Congress, like Bill Clinton did and do the deal with loophole eliminations, accept the GOP recommended cuts, then take the credit for their solution like the fondler-in-chief did and lets get this economy moving again.


Michael R. Bednarz





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Democrat Eco-Commies in Olympia and D.C. Must be stopped!

A bill that is making it's way through the Legislature in Washington State was brought to my attention by a Republican friend today, it is Senate Bill 6900. This bill is best described as the "Engine Displacement/Carbon Emissions Fee" Bill.

The Democrats proposing this bill would add two fee's for your vehicle license renewal costs. First would be the "Engine Displacement Fee" that would add a new fee annually for the average car of $225 to a high of $600 for a full-size light truck or SUV. Vehicles under 1.9L or that are rubber-band powered are exempt. Woooohooo I guess I will be keeping my VW Jetta Diesel's 1.9Liter a lot longer! Funds would go toward transportation funding only... gee whiz how nice of them to keep it specific huh? This bill will go into effect and fees will start to be collected on January 1, 2009... HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

But wait... the best is yet to come, you see they think that you may still want to drive a car or truck and they haven't even addressed the damage you are doing to the environment. So they have the solution to save the planet... at your expense also in this bill. Starting just three years later on January 20, 2012 -the bill adds the "Carbon Emissions Grams (Co2) per Mile Fee" that would also be added annually to your vehicle license renewal fee's in addition to the "Engine Displacement Fee's" enacted in 2009. How much is that you may ask? Oh I am so glad you did. They want to add for the average car's C02 emission and "carbon footprint per mile" a fee of $225 to a high of $600 for your Light Truck or SUV. Now these funds would not even be devoted to those that generate the fee's benefit to say mitigate congestion or improve Highway safety. No, no nothing like that- the dough goes to the "Multimodal transportation" account. I guess thats Eco-Commie speak for mass transit or bicycle lanes; Multimodal isn't a word, but hey these are cutting-edge concepts and solutions they are dealing with here and they have to create some new lingo and words to go with it. Besides it's obvious that these liberal elitists couldn't expect us to challenge their Scrabble words or dazzling urbanite intellect.

Bottom Line: $225 to 600 additional license fee each year based on your "Engine Displacement Fee" and the $225 to 600 per year for your "Carbon Emission Grams per mile Fee" mean an average of between $550 to $1200 per year PER VEHICLE when both fee's are in effect three years from now.

Another troubling aspect with this crazy new bill/tax/fee/rip-off is that we have told them countless times that we aren't paying exorbitant license fee's any more. We have voted and set them at $30, they keep pushing the envelope by challenging our will in the State Supreme Court, or by making you buy "new" plates for $20 bucks every couple of years that cost an inmate $2 bucks to pound out in prison; forcing you to replace perfectly good plates on your car. I am just waiting for the $10 plate disposal fee to go into effect any time now. They just won't take no for an answer. They don't listen, the WON'T listen. Fire them all.

We have to flush them all down the toilet next November, we must clean house, the Governor, the State House, and the State Senate. Get rid of the tax and spend and tax some more eco-commies. We also have to keep Obama or Hillary, and the rest of the National Dem's from getting a grip on the reigns of our nation. Surely, these types of policies and priorities are going to be implemented as promised by Hillary or Obama. With the National Legislative and Executive branch unified under the Democrat party, our national course would be exactly like the one we have endured in Washington State since 2004 with the Super-Majority in the House and Senate and a Governor that signs any tax, fee, or new program and spending bill put under her pen.

I can't stress enough how critical it is to elect Dino Rossi Governor along with Republican candidates for the Washington State House and Senate seats. This super-majority of Democrats with Queen Christine are out of control, they spend like drunken sailors (no offense to our Navy members). They are taxing anything and everything they can to satiate their idiotic agenda.

In the mean-time, send this email to everyone you know. We must call, write, and email our Representatives and stop this COLD in committee. This link will help you find your legislative district and help you to contact your Rep. or Senator. Forward this email to everyone you know and stop this bill. We must then punish them for this arrogant elitist insanity and save ourselves from their abuse and confiscation of our hard-earned treasure and toil. I am fed up! These idiots must be removed.

I am copying and pasting the full text for the proposed bill and it's sections below verbatim.

S-4908.1 _____________________________________________
SENATE BILL 6900
_____________________________________________
State of Washington 60th Legislature 2008 Regular Session
By Senators Tom, Kohl-Welles, Pridemore, Keiser, and Kline
Read first time 02/01/08. Referred to Committee on Water, Energy &
Telecommunications.
1 AN ACT Relating to establishing vehicle engine displacement and
2 emissions fees; adding new sections to chapter 46.17 RCW; providing
3 effective dates; and providing an expiration date.
4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
5 NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 46.17 RCW
6 to read as follows:
7 (1) A vehicle engine displacement fee must be paid and collected
8 annually for motor vehicles subject to the fee under RCW 46.16.0621,
9 except motor homes. The amount of the fee must be based upon the
10 vehicle engine size in liters, which is correlated with vehicle size
11 and vehicle emissions. The fee imposed under this section must be used
12 for transportation purposes, and may not be used for the general
13 support of state government. The vehicle engine displacement fee is
14 that portion of the fee, as reflected on the engine size in liters set
15 forth in the schedule provided in this section, that is in excess of
16 the fees imposed under RCW 46.16.0621 and 46.17.010. For vehicles
17 registered on or after January 1, 2009, the vehicle engine displacement
18 fee under this section is due at the time of initial vehicle
19 registration and any subsequent renewal of vehicle registration.
p. 1 SB 6900
1 Engine Size (liters) Rate Schedule
2 Up to 1.9 $0
3 2.0 - 2.9 $70
4 3.0 - 3.9 $225
5 4.0 - 4.9 $275
6 5.0 - 5.9 $325
7 6.0 - 7.9 $400
8 8.0 or over $600
9 (2) For the purpose of administering this section, the department
10 shall rely on the vehicle engine size in liters as provided by vehicle
11 manufacturers, or other sources defined by the department, to determine
12 the engine size in liters of each vehicle. The department shall adopt
13 rules for determining engine size in liters for vehicles that do not
14 have a manufacturer-provided engine size in liters.
15 (3) The vehicle engine displacement fee under this section is
16 imposed to provide funds to mitigate the impact of vehicle loads on the
17 state roads and highways, as well as encourage the reduction of vehicle
18 emissions and is separate and distinct from other vehicle license fees.
19 (4) The vehicle engine displacement fee collected under this
20 section must be deposited into the multimodal transportation account.
21 NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 46.17 RCW
22 to read as follows:
23 (1) A vehicle emissions fee must be paid and collected annually for
24 motor vehicles subject to the fee under RCW 46.16.0621, except motor
25 homes. The amount of the fee must be based upon the grams of carbon
26 dioxide (CO2) emission per mile. Fees imposed under this section must
27 be used for transportation purposes, and may not be used for the
28 general support of state government. The vehicle emissions fee is that
29 portion of the fee, as reflected on the grams of carbon dioxide (CO2)
30 emission per mile set forth in the schedule provided in this section,
31 that is in excess of the fees imposed under RCW 46.16.0621 and
SB 6900 p. 2
1 46.17.010. On or after January 1, 2012, the vehicle emissions fee
2 under this section is due at the time of initial vehicle registration
3 and any subsequent renewal of vehicle registration.
4 CO2 Emissions (grams/mile) Rate Schedule
5 Up to 161 $0
6 162 - 193 $70
7 194 - 241 $225
8 242 - 266 $275
9 267 - 298 $325
10 299 - 362 $400
11 Over 362 $600
12 (2) For the purpose of administering this section, the department
13 shall rely on the grams of carbon dioxide (CO2) emission per mile as
14 provided by vehicle manufacturers, or other sources defined by the
15 department, to determine the grams of carbon dioxide (CO2) emission per
16 mile of each vehicle. The department shall adopt rules for determining
17 grams of carbon dioxide (CO2) emission per mile for vehicles without
18 manufacturer-provided information on grams of carbon dioxide (CO2)
19 emission per mile.
20 (3) The vehicle emissions fee under this section is imposed to
21 provide funds to mitigate the impact of vehicle loads on the state
22 roads and highways, as well as encourage the reduction of vehicle
23 emissions and is separate and distinct from other vehicle license fees.
24 (4) The vehicle emissions fee collected under this section must be
25 deposited into the multimodal transportation account.
26 NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. Section 1 of this act takes effect January
27 1, 2009.
28 NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. Section 2 of this act takes effect January
29 1, 2012.
30 NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. Section 1 of this act expires January 1,
p. 3 SB 6900
1 2012.
--- END ---
SB 6900 p. 4

He's In!

Fred Thompson has announced his candidacy for President of the United States of America. (Click this link for his Video announcement)

Fred Thompson is the common-sense Conservative that will have the best opportunity to move America forward in the tradition of Ronald Reagan. Fred has responded to his supporters grass-roots campaign to draft him into service for this great nation. He has answered the call by concerned and hopeful Americans for a candidate that is consistent on the principled issues so important to this country. Fred seeks this position as a result of this demand; not as one who has set out on this path for selfish personal ambition.

He will be the leader to break through the current quagmire of divisiveness and partisanship that has hobbled America of late on every challenge and issue facing it; be it the War on Terror, Homeland Security, Economic prosperity and Border Security/Illegal Immigration reform. Fred will strive to end the accompanying political animus and discord that has led to a cynical and divided American public.

From our unified stand against Terrorism following the worst attack ever launched against America in it's history only 6 years ago we have now hit a new low in the public perception and approval of our leaders. Even before the sea of American flags and our mourning for the victims of 9/11 waned, America's left and the Democrat party started with the incessant and banal vitriol that has been launched against George Bush, America, and his policies. The result is that our President has an approval rating of 32.6%. Curiously, it seems the left-wing liberals attacks on Bush, Cheney, Gonzalez, Rove, Rumsfeld, Gen. Pace, Gen. Petraeus, and even our troops in the field have succeeded in giving their new Congress an approval rating of over 10% points less than Bush at only 22.2% approval.

For what purpose has this strategy of personal attack, political character assassination and subversion of our national unity served the Democrats? It has filled their coffers with MoveOn.org funds of course, but in the end it is exactly as I have said about these Democrat tactics for years: If you take a giant vat of excrement and throw it around, you are bound to get some on you. It seems that now with a 10-point lower approval rating for Congress than President Bush the Dems have been more than a little soiled by their fervent activity; it seems they have fallen right into that very vat-- joining one former Sen. Tom Daschle.

Suppose that their rhetoric does work and we find them with Hillary or Obama in power in 2009? What success do they think they will have with a weary and cynical public thirsting for leadership, vision, new ideas, victory in the War on Terror, and clarity of purpose/conviction? They will set out with all the organs of power to re-make America in the image of George Soros, the DailyKos and MoveOn.org. They will destroy the greatest health care system in the world, raise taxes in the face of the economic prosperity gained by the Presidents tax cuts, bankrupt Social Security, eviscerate the Military and thereby our safety at home, bomb our allies and have us sit down for tea to negotiate with our enemies only to create more and greater challenges abroad as a result. They would maintain that our borders should remain super-highways with exit ramps to their Sanctuary Cities where anyone wanting access can follow the bilingual signs to the free public services that are theirs for the asking. This very real scenario should frighten us all into action.

If the current dysfunction of their leadership in Congress is any indication, America can't afford to hand them the keys to the White House for more of the same; especially with someone in the White House to rubber-stamp everything they want.

Fred Thompson is the anti-venom. Fred will work to bring us back together with common sense policies and the unity we need on so many issues to get beyond the political rancor designed to further partisan advantage; at the expense of our national security and greater common good.

Check out his website and his inspiring announcement video message right here, right now! If you agree as I do that he is the person to lead America, please donate at this link, he's got a big mountain to climb, and he's a little fashionably late to the party so he needs your help now financially and also by spreading the word!

Michael R. Bednarz