Married? Could You Use an Extra $29,000 in 2011?

Do you pay federal income taxes? Do you think the federal government should be able to get by on $2.1 TRILLION in annual spending? If the answer to both of these questions is YES, and you think the fiscal situation in the United States is tolerable, boy do we have a deal for you. If the United States government would simply pledge to spend "ONLY" $2.1 trillion during the July 2010 - June 2011 fiscal year, it could send a check to every taxpaying citizen in the nation for $14,500 without raising the budget deficit beyond current projections. This amounts to a check for $29,000 to every taxpaying married couple in America. 
How could this be? The math is simple. The government is on pace to spend $3.48 trillion during the current fiscal year. This includes $2.1 trillion, which is every cent of the actual tax revenues coming into the treasury. Additionally, the government will also borrow $1.38 trillion. If the government merely rebated to taxpayers the entire amount it is on pace to borrow, the result would be that it could write a check for $14,500 to every taxpaying citizen in the nation. Of course, this is a critical change in decision-making assignments. It would place an extra $14,500 in taxpayer's annual budgets ($29,000 if you are married). Progressives would argue that it is much more preferable that the government keep the decision-making power in Washington. And unfortunately for an honest dialogue, progressives enlist the logic-challenged arguments of economic illiterates. These types try to argue that only if government makes financial decisions will the process constitute "stimulation" of the economy. Absurdly, they would have us believe if mere citizens make the decisions, it would not be "stimulative."
It should come as no surprise that this stimulation myth tends to get perpetuated by our government-managed education system. Due to a lack of emphasis on basic economics most citizens are not even aware that $29,000 per married couple, per year, now represents the sheer magnitude our collective deference to government decision-making on borrowed funds. And sadly for America, those who are completely ignorant about the basics of economics have formed voting blocks with well-organized government worshippers to increase the concentration of decision-making power in the hands of government. In virtually every inner city in the nation the level of economic ignorance is now a multi-generational epidemic. And along with many other social ills this ignorance is acting like a plague on the nation.
Of course for the so-called "progressive movement," more resources in the hands of government, in combination with less resources for taxpayers, is the one-size fits all solution to every problem. Progressives prefer a selective approach to learning from history. Clinging to denial of the historical fact that government cannot tax, borrow, or spend its way to prosperity represents the center of the progressive comfort zone. In the meantime, as 2011 begins basic common sense suggests that every taxpaying married couple in America could easily do a better job of managing an extra $29,000 per year than any government entity. Wake up folks and take note of the absence of common sense. We are drowning in progressive denial and economic foolishness. Oh and of course, Happy New Year!


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Negligent Homicide: Union Tool for Negotiating and Protests

NewsNM note- It would seem that some elements in Big Labor have crossed all ethical and moral lines in its insatiable thirst for power. Having killed industries and jobs all across the northeastern portions of the United States (see 2010 census) due to unsustainable demands on employers, more and more union bosses are setting their sights on the deeper pockets of taxpayers through public employee union actions. This week the tactics of organized labor appear to have resulted in deaths in New York. Kyle Olson comments...
Kyle Olson
Townhall - Well, it turns out that the slow snow removal process in New York City was the act of childish adults protesting budget cuts. According to the New York Post: "[Unionized city workers] sent a message to the rest of the city that these particular labor issues are more important," said City Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Queens), who was visited yesterday by a group of guilt-ridden sanitation workers who confessed the shameless plot. On Wednesday, MYFOXNY.com reported that two people died, including a new born baby, because emergency crews couldn’t navigate the unplowed streets. Plain and simple: the union leaders who called for the job action should be charged with negligent homicide. Read full column here:
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Obama Pledges to Work with GOP

President Obama and Speaker Boehner
Bloomberg - President Barack Obama pledged to work with Republican lawmakers to strengthen the economy in 2011 and build on economic gains that show the recovery is “gaining traction.” “In a few days, a new Congress will form -- with one house controlled by Democrats and one house controlled by Republicans, who now have a shared responsibility to move this country forward,” the president said in his weekly address on the radio and the Internet. Obama wished Americans a happy new year and said his “commitment” for 2011 is “to do everything I can to make sure our economy is growing, creating jobs, and strengthening our middle class.”
Claims for jobless benefits dropped last week to the lowest level in two years, an indication that the U.S. labor market is taking a turn for the better. Other data showed that businesses expanded last month at the fastest pace in two decades and pending home sales climbed in November for the fourth time in five months. Still, Obama must confront a stubborn 9.8 percent unemployment rate. Read full story here:

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In With a Bang Out With a Whimper

President's Bush and Clinton Raising Money for Haiti
Washington Times - The year 2010 began with the earthquake heard round the world and ended with a political shake-up in Washington. Millions responded to a shattering Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti that killed more than 230,000 people, devastating an already beleaguered nation but touching hearts around the globe. Celebrities rose to the occasion leading a Hurricane Katrina-inspired telethon with some, such as actor-activist Sean Penn, parachuting directly into the Caribbean nation to shine a light on the dire medical and fractious political circumstances, which remained there at year's end. At home, the U.S. economy continued in lingering recession as states such as California and Ohio, among many others, struggled with massive deficits and economic crises, with flat housing markets a perpetual weight around the nation's fiscal neck. Still, with a post-bailout General Motors successfully putting up its stock for sale and some vigorous holiday spending, economic experts saw a small glimmer of hope as the tough year drew to a close. Read full story here:
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