Blog Removed.
If you log on to the Old Jarhead blog and get this notice, please check back. From time to time, Google’s Spam Filter pulls my blog. They restore it when I appeal, but they don’t seem to have the technical ability to fix the problem. I hate to move to another platform with page views running to 7k a week and over 1,100 followers here. Sigh.
Resources
For those who want further information about the topics covered in this blog, I recommend the following sites. I will add to this as I find additional good sources.
Hitler learns CBS is covering Fast and Furious.
Another funny use of the Downfall movie clip. ~Bob.
SOLYNDRAGATE: Huge Email Dump Implicates Obama And Rahm In Bankruptcy Scandal
Excerpt: The White House released a bunch of emails related to the Solyndra bankruptcy scandal to Congressional investigators today, in what has become a regular Friday evening email dump. The emails, obtained by several news organizations, implicate the most senior levels of the Obama administration in the scandal, which has tainted the White House since the solar company went bankrupt last month, leaving taxpayers on the hook for a $534 million federal loan.
This Isn’t ‘Lending’ — It’s More Like Looting
Excerpt: The first lesson should be that there are consequences if you do something extraordinarily dumb, and even more serious consequences if you commit criminal acts. I’d like to be wrong about this, but it looks like those responsible for this debacle will never be brought to account for offenses ranging from colossal incompetence to serious criminal malfeasance. (…) That Solyndra requires a top-to-bottom forensic audit could not be more clear, both to determine what its executives knew and when they knew it concerning the company’s dreadfully obvious lack of viability, and to determine how much money was drained from it by excessive and possibly fraud-driven spending. Is the necessary unfettered investigation occurring? The FBI has raided the place, but Solyndra management is stonewalling. With government acquiescence, Solyndra’s key investors moved themselves, possibly illegally, to the front of the line in priority during bankruptcy. One of those investors is a prominent Democratic Party campaign contributions bundler.
Jerry Brown - Illegal Immigrant Student Aid
Friends, consider how this may effect your children/grandchildren. --George H California Governor Jerry Brown on Saturday signed a bill giving illegal immigrant college students access to state-funded financial aid, the second half of two-part legislation known as the "Dream Act." The controversial measure, which passed the Democrat-controlled legislature on a party-line vote in September, represents a victory for immigrant-rights activists ahead of the 2012 presidential election. California Texas and New Mexico
Jerry Brown signs Dream Act for illegal immigrants
Excerpt: Thousands of California California California California
The Week That Was: 2011-10-08 (October 8, 2011)
Among the many interesting and useful articles in this week’s TWTW summary, I recommend #1, #3, and #4 as the most important. Ron P. Excerpt: 'Oil and gas will be important for the next few years. But we need to go on to green and alternative energy. [Energy] Secretary [Steven] Chu has assured me that within five years, we can have a battery developed that will make a car with the equivalent of 130 miles per gallon.'" President Obama in response to a comment by shale oil developer Harold Hamm. (…)The technology of extracting oil and natural gas from dense shale and oil sands is giving difficulty to those who desire control of these fuels. The false claim of peak oil or the high price of natural gas no longer can be used to justify programs of generating electricity from inefficient, unreliable, and expensive sources. Many in Washington , Brussels , and London
The 2011 Virginia
Excerpt: Earthquakes of equal magnitude can cause vastly different ground shaking behavior, both in terms of ground shaking frequency and ground acceleration magnitude. Although Richter magnitude corresponds to the total energy released in an earthquake, that energy can be released and propagate in a variety of ways. For example, many people on the U.S. West Coast, who are much more familiar with earthquakes than their East Coast compatriots, were surprised that a mere 5.8 earthquake centered in Virginia could be felt in Massachusetts. Had a 5.8 earthquake occurred in San Diego , people in Los Angeles
The American Revolution of 2011
One man's mob is another man's lynching waiting to happen. Ron P. Excerpt: The fact of the matter is that leftist goals, economic and governmental, are as inherently incompatible with the founding documents and institutions of our Republic as Maximilien Robespierre's goals for France
Defining “Anosognosia”
Excerpt: Although, as a rule, I prefer avoiding using words in my articles that will send most normal people scurrying for their dictionary, I only recently came across anosognosia and I felt I should share it because it so perfectly describes the mental condition of liberals. It is the total unawareness of one’s own disease, disability or defect. So when we find ourselves asking why leftists think and act as they do, apparently living in a fantasy world totally disconnected from reality, at least we now know there’s a word that defines it. I mean, what other reason would any American have for supporting the United Nations? By this time, rational people would understand that the U.N. is merely a larger, more corrupt, version of the League of Nations . Between 1919 and its dissolution in 1946, for all its self-laudatory hyperbole, the League stood idly by while Japan invaded Manchuria, Italy slaughtered Ethiopians and Hitler marched into Czechoslovakia and Poland. That should have been the end of it, but, instead, like one of those creatures from Night of the Living Dead, it rose from the grave and morphed into the U.N. And ever since, we Americans have provided the vile thing with shelter, 25% of its upkeep and 100% of any necessary renovations. And for what? So that the handful of decent nations that still exist in the world can consistently be out-voted by the Arab and Muslim members; and when more votes are required, there’s always Russia , China , Cuba , Laos , Cambodia , Uganda and the Congo Israel , but nary a one against the Palestinians or the folks murdering Christians in the Middle East or the vile nations that at this late date are still dealing in the African slave trade.
Holder's Fast and Furious explanations unraveling
Excerpt: On this week's Fox News Sunday, Congressman Darryl Issa announced that "another round of subpoenas" will be sent out for additional documents regarding an anti-gunrunning operation that ended in tragedy with the death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. While Attorney General Eric Holder continues to maintain he was kept in the dark by his subordinates, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-NE) and Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA) yesterday in a joint statement said that Attorney General Eric Holder received at least five weekly memos beginning in July 2010, including four weeks in a row, describing the ill-advised strategy known as Operation Fast and Furious.
Fast and Furious weapons were found in Mexico
Excerpt: High-powered assault weapons illegally purchased under the ATF's Fast and Furious program in Phoenix ended up in a home belonging to the purported top Sinaloa cartel enforcer in Ciudad Juarez , Mexico Phoenix to El Paso , making that West Texas city a central hub for gun traffickers. Forty of the weapons made it across the border and into the arsenal of Jose Antonio Torres Marrufo, a feared cartel leader in Ciudad Juarez Arizona El Paso were recovered in Columbus , N.M.
USDA threatens $60,000 fine, federal raid against woman in legal possession of indoor lemon tree
Excerpt: The US Wisconsin
Soak the Rich
"You're either one of the 99 percent of one of the 1 percent," reads a sticker on a lamppost near my house. The implication being that if you're not one of the 1 percent, you should be packing your class warfare kit of cardboard signs, camping gear and iPods loaded with a copy of Paranoid Android and head on over to Wall Street. Soak the rich isn't an original slogan, but in this age of NGO's and a massive white elephant civil service, who are the rich exactly? Elizabeth Warren explained that the rich are people who build factories but aren't grateful enough to pay their fair share. Whatever that fair share might be. Warren
The More the
Hippies Protest Wall Street
, the Lower Obama ’s Numbers Get
Excerpt: So the hippies are still hunkered down by Wall Street. Like their hero Bill Ayers (aka, President Obama’s terrorist buddy), they are admitted anti-capitalists who want more government-sponsored wealth redistribution, education recognized as a human right, and cradle-to-grave healthcare at no cost to the one receiving the healthcare.
Know when to fold ’em
Excerpt: We already knew that government is a crappy mom, rule-giver, soothsayer and job-creator. So it was refreshing to hear that one of the Obama administration’s former top lieutenants, Larry Summers, admitted in a blunt e-mail that “Gov is a crappy vc,” or venture capitalist. What is disturbing about the bankruptcy of Solyndra, the California solar-panel manufacturer to which the government gave a $535 million loan guarantee, is not that Solyndra was a disaster, or that it blew so much money building itself, on one of the most expensive swatches of land in the universe -- an area where no factory has been built in at least a decade -- a tech temple whose conference-room walls magically changed colors, whose spa-like showers featured LED temperature readouts and whose robots hummed Disney tunes. The real mistake was funding Solyndra, and companies like it, in the first place. (Business people make decisions on the basis of economics. Government makes decisions on the basis of politics. Simple, but hard for some folks to understand. ~Bob.)
No justice from Justice
Excerpt: Two things to know about Attorney General Eric Holder: He lied to the American people -- under oath, before Congress -- and thus is unfit to investigate allegations of criminal negligence in the Justice Department. This is why House Republicans have called for a special prosecutor to investigate Holder for apparent perjury regarding his testimony on the administration’s “Fast and Furious” gun sting -- during which the US
Excerpt: At least he didn't behead him. He must be a moderate.
USGCRP draft strategic plan
The excerpt is from about three quarters of the way down the post and discusses Dr. Judith Curry’s impromptu statement at a meeting of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research in Boulder , Colorado
A Second Open Letter to the So-Called ’99%’
Excerpt: Non-conformists can be an entertaining lot. Like the gentleman above, in order to demonstrate their non-conformity to the society that they believe owes them so much, they rebel against it. They denounce it. They show their non-conformity by conforming to something else, something edgier, but no less predictable. They’re not really non-conformists, then, but just conformists of a different stripe. And having chosen their brand of conformity, they bristle when the society they rejected rejects them right back. In this case, it’s not at all clear why the young man piled up student debt. What sort of job did he expect to get, with his arms covered in tattoos? Who would hire a CPA or lawyer who went around choosing to look like that? Who wants that look in their elementary schoolkid’s classroom? The young man’s appearance works for some businesses, but not most, and that’s just reality. What was the goal of piling up all that debt? What was the end game? What sort of career did he hope to land? (In approximately 1962, Woody Guthrie wrote a song called “Little Boxes” parodying the many cookie-cutter housing developments. I doubt it was more than a month or two before a version by Malvina Reynolds appeared parodying the Beats in the village and their fake non-conformity (http://www.mp3lyrics.org/w/woody-guthrie/little-boxes-beatnik-version/). It rings even truer today, nearly 50 years later. --Ron P. Which Ron used to sing in pubs back in his folk singer days. ~Bob.)
Gunwalker: Dems Abandoning Ship?
Excerpt: U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has come under fire this week: evidence revealed he either ignored weekly reports in the summer of 2010 that discussed Operation Fast and Furious, or he committed perjury when he claimed he first found out about the program in early 2011. The former suggests incompetence, the later criminality — either would be legitimate reasons to see him removed from office. (…) The President also touted the DOJ inspector general’s investigation of the scandal. He did not note that Cynthia A. Schnedar is an acting inspector general who has already been accused of using her office to obstruct the House Oversight Committee’s investigation, and who works for an administration that tends to fire inspector generals that do not report what the administration would like to hear. However, it seems that the Obama administration’s allies are falling silent in regards to Holder, Obama, Fast and Furious, and allegations of other gunwalking programs.
Telling the Truth Slowly
Excerpt: In a week that was supposed to focus on jobs and the economy, President Obama’s team spent an awful lot of time of augmenting and editing their official stories for two burgeoning controversies under investigation by Republicans in Congress. And in doing so, they spent some of the precious capital of credibility and trust that every president must earn from the American people, while handing their nemeses a new political attack line. The defining moment of the week came late Friday when the White House borrowed a page from the well-worn playbook of professional spin masters and by finally giving reporters a batch of long-sought documents about a controversial loan to the now-bankrupt solar firm Solyndra on the eve of a three-day holiday. (Being left-of-center, Daily Beast can’t just come out and call the President or Attorney General crooks and or poor BS artists, but that’s the feel they convey in this update on both the Solyndra and Fast and Furious scandals. I suspect if Hillary suddenly decides to run for the nomination, the left press will immediately drop O for HRC; I think they are tired of the bovine dung. Ron P.)
Obama homeowner program fraud-infested, claims legal group
Excerpt: According to a report, at least $5 billion in stimulus funds were allocated to “weatherization” programs nationwide with virtually no oversight and plenty of corruption. While the news media focus on the Obama-led assault on Wall Street and finance, and the continued controversy over health care, a legal watchdog group has exposed another example of government mismanagement -- even out-and-out fraud.
In the latest of many scandals involving President Barack Obama's, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's monstrous economic stimulus, a fraud-infested welfare program to make low-income houses energy efficient is cheating taxpayers out of billions with a recent example documented in Wisconsin, according to public-interest group Judicial Watch. According to a report by JW, at least $5 billion in stimulus funds were allocated to “weatherization” programs nationwide with virtually no oversight and plenty of corruption. The U.S. Department of Energy distributes the cash to local “community groups” that usually subcontract companies to do the actual work. Low-income homeowners get free insulation, sealing and even new central heating and cooling systems compliments of Uncle Sam. Some people even get new refrigerators, water heaters and furnaces.
Hillary's enemies list now includes Gunwalker reporters
Excerpt: Nixon was not the only one with an 'enemies list.' It is well-documented that Bill Clinton had such a list. So did George W. Bush. And, by extension, due to her marriage to the former President, Hillary Clinton has such a list. And apparently the reporters who have exposed her involvement in the Gunwalker scandal are on it. One reporter in particular was informed today by sources inside the State Department that he is now on that list. So far no one in the mainstream media has reported the bombshell information revealed over the past 2 days by Mike Vanderboegh that indicates Hillary was in the loop on the illegal scheme from Day One. Thus, the mainstream media has thus far avoided Hillary's ire. This is no surprise. It took the media several months to begin to report the story of 'Operation Fast and Furious,' also known Project Gunwalker, in spite of the fact that this writer, Kurt Hofmann, David Codrea, and Mike Vanderboegh had been writing stories about it since December of 2010--Vanderboegh and Codrea being the first. (So, how do I get on the list? ~Bob.)
W.H. aide on Solyndra: '*#~@ show'
Excerpt: When Solyndra hit the fan in August, White House energy adviser Heather Zichal may have summed it up best: "*#~@ show," Zichal wrote in an email Aug. 25. Zichal’s email is one of dozens showing Obama administration officials were planning how to handle a Solyndra bankruptcy days before the solar company went under. On Aug. 17, Dan Utech, an energy special assistant in the White House, wrote in an email that DOE had learned Solyndra was beginning to shut down operations. “It’s unclear what that means in terms of how many people are involved at Solyndra, but we’re now in a place where this could break at any time. DOE communications will be reaching out to WH comms shortly to coordinate.” The emails also show officials were staking out positions and assigning blame.
The great Palestinian lie: It’s not about Israel
The Only Choice Is Where It Gets Burned
Excerpt: We have an amazing chance right now to secure a long-term oil supply from a friendly next-door neighbor instead of a bunch of aggro folks in the Middle East . If James Hansen and his allies prevent us from doing that, I will call down curses on their heads in the name of his precious grandchildren that he’s always talking about. Here’s the pathetic size of the emissions they’re up in arms about—the total emissions from the Canadian oil sands are 0.1% (a tenth of a percent) of global GHG emissions … and the emissions will happen whether the Keystone XL pipeline is built or not. If Hansen sentences his grandkids to get their oil from the Middle East and watch China
Amish Men's Beards Cut Off; Police Suspect Amish-On-Amish Violence
Excerpt: At least three attacks in rural eastern Ohio Carroll County Holmes County
Computer Virus Infects Predator Ground Stations
Excerpt: Air Force officials have not grounded any Predators or Reapers as a result of the virus, and operations continue unabated. The attack is just the latest sign that modern warfare has gone online. "This should not come as a surprise to anybody. As long as remotely piloted aircraft rely on command controlled configurations, interference with the control mechanisms will be an issue. One way to negate these kind of instances is to move toward more autonomous control mechanisms," retired three-star general David Deptula, former chief of the Air Force's intelligence and reconnaissance efforts, said in an email to AOL Defense. Deptula is a member of the AOL Defense Board of Contributors. "Welcome to the world of cyberwar. It's not just the stuff of Powerpoint and speeches. It's real."
Brown Still Leads in Mass.
Excerpt: Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., continues to enjoy remarkably high personal and job-related poll numbers, but Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren remains stubbornly close in a 2012 election matchup, according to a new survey of Bay State Warren , according to the Western New England University Warren has benefited from the announcement of her candidacy last month; in March, Brown sported a 17-point lead over Warren Massachusetts Bay State Massachusetts
Shocking Costs Of Environmentalism
Excerpt: Those who fancy themselves to be green progressives are about to get some unwelcome "progress." Thanks in part to environmental rules, electricity bills are headed for double-digit increases. 'Americans," the Daily Beast/Newsweek reports, "are about to get another kick in the wallet." A review of regulatory filings by the news source found that "utilities are seeking permission to pass on hundreds of millions of dollars in new charges to customers to help upgrade aging infrastructure and build new or retrofitted power plants that comply with tougher environmental regulations." The filings indicate "at least 16 utilities covering 6.1 million customers are seeking rate hikes of 5% or more," while "almost half of those want increases of 10% or more." Yes, the environmentalists' bill is now coming due.
CBO: Obama Jobs Act Would Increase 2012 Deficit by $288 Billion
Excerpt: The Congressional Budget Office reports that the "American Jobs Act" would make the federal deficit jump $288 billion in 2012. In other words, the 2012 deficit would rise by about twenty-five percent--from $1.2 trillion to $1.5 trillion. The most recent budget fight between Republicans and Democrats resulted in just a $22 billion cut to the 2012 deficit. The CBO predicts that over 10 years the American Jobs Act would raise enough taxes to pay for the short-term stimulus:
Elizabeth Warren: 'I'll Survive' Scott Brown's 'Jabs'
Excerpt: Warren Boston radio station WZLX, where the disc jockey asked him for a response to Warren Warren Warren
Plunge in Performing Arts Jobs
Might explain Occupy Wall Street. ~Bob.
Congressional Research Service Finds US Exposure To Europe At $640 Billion And "Could Be Considerably Higher"
Excerpt: If there is one thing that matches John Paulson's dramatic conversion to the anti-Midas of our times, it is Tim Geithner's uncanny ability to say something only to be proven to be a pathological liar within months if not weeks (who can possibly forget: "Is there a risk that the United States could lose its AAA credit rating? Yes or no?” "No risk of that."). Now we can add hours. Because it was only yesterday that in testimony to Congress, he said in an attempt to be the latest to defend Morgan Stanley, that "The direct exposure of the U.S. financial system to the countries under the most pressure in Europe is very modest." (To be fair, this administration considers $640B to be modest. They can print and spend that over the weekend. ~Bob.)
Joke
Obama invites Bill Ayers to the White House, shows him around, pictures of his Chicago mansion, $2M bus, and vacations to places like Martha’s Vineyard and Spain. Ayers says, “I’m happy for you Barry. But what will you do if the socialists get in control?”
Hillary's smoking gun--the next segment in State Department's role in Gunwalker http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-national/hillary-s-smoking-gun-the-next-segment-state-department-s-role-gunwalker
Excerpt: "We have to recognize and accept that the demand for drugs from the United States drives them north, and the guns that are used by the drug cartels against the police and the military, 90 percent of them come from America." The person who spoke the words quoted above was Hillary Clinton. The year was 2009 in an interview with Lara Logan of CBS News, just prior to a trip to Mexico City to meet with Mexican officials concerning gun and drug smuggling. The statement shows that not only was the State Department heavily involved in the Gunwalker scandal, as reported earlier today, but Secretary of State Hillary Clinton herself was at the forefront of pushing the false assertion that '90% of the guns used by Mexican drug cartels come from the United States.' It has only now been discovered the extent to which Clinton was involved. (When guns are outlawed, only the ATF will sell guns to outlaws. ~Bob)
Poverty in America Tweet
David Limbaugh At lunch, restaurant owner told me she was disgusted that some of her able-bodied young employees wouldnt work 2 many hrs bc lose foodstamps Stunning Revelation by NYC Police Commissioner:
Protesters Had a ‘Countdown’ & ‘Charged’ Cops
OWS has had more violence so far than the Tea Party in two years. From a Tweet. ~Bob. Excerpt: New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly made some stunning revelations on Thursday regarding videos that surfaced on YouTube Wednesday night showing police beating back Wall St. protesters. According to him, the protesters actually planned to antagonize police, even instituting a “countdown” before they “charged” officers. “What they did is they counted. They actually had a countdown — 10, 9, 8, 7, 6 — they grouped together, they joined arms and they charged the police. They attacked the police. They wanted to get into Wall Street, they wanted to occupy Wall Street,” Kelly told reporters. “These people wanted to have confrontation with the police for whatever reason. Somehow, I guess it works to their purposes,” he added. He also promised such protesters would be “met with force when they do that,“ which he called “just common sense.”
Occupy Wall Street Now Occupies Obama
President Barack Obama’s amazing news conference yesterday made one thing abundantly clear: America’s #1 community organizer—in a switcheroo—has himself now been organized by a community, in particular those demonstrators up in New York and several other cities across America. To the extent that the ideological circus of Occupy Wall Street (OWS) agrees on much, it’s that inequality is what really ails America—and more government is the solution. And Obama apparently couldn’t agree more. During the Q&A with reporters at the White House, Obama endorsed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s plan to pay for Obama’s jobs bill with a massive surtax on the rich, saying he was “comfortable” and “fine” with it. Obama then embarked upon a lengthy impression of consumer-teer Elizabeth Warren as he railed against banks trying to make big profits by tricking consumers (while failing to note that few people other than Dodd and Frank think banks are no longer “too big to fail”). Great. A replay of Al Gore’s grating “people versus the powerful” campaign of 2000. And who knows, maybe it will get Obama’s 2008 electoral coalition wee-weed up enough to carry him to a narrow victory in November 2012. But is the president really going to run a reelection campaign on such phony and distracting issues? Apparently so. (Obama would run on eating kittens if it polled at 51%. ~Bob.)
Girl, eight, sold to Afghan police officer as his bride
Child marriage—it’s not just a good idea, it’s the Shari’a Law! ~Bob. Excerpt: Ten years after British forces entered the war-ravaged country, the Standard has uncovered shocking evidence of an eight-year-old girl who was married off to a policeman for cash. She was sold to the officer, in his twenties, in clear breach of laws introduced two years ago to protect women. She was then the subject of a remarkable battle that symbolises the plight of girls in Afghanistan. Her story vividly highlights the failure to bring about social reforms in the stricken nation, despite the long presence of British forces.
Solyndra: Obama and Rahm Emanuel pushed to spotlight energy company
Excerpt: White House staff discussed in emails that either President Obama or his former chief of staff Rahm Emanuel were eager to help spotlight a solar company in early 2009, despite numerous internal warnings that the company could be financially unstable, according to new e-mails. The administration was working to arrange a way for Obama to headline a press conference in early September to announce that Solyndra of Fremont, Ca. had won a $535 million government loan to spur clean energy firms — the first his administration had provided. (Half a billion of your grandkids’ dollars for a photo-op. ~Bob.)
No adults among the Occupy Wall Street protesters
Excerpt: I wouldn't think it would be worthwhile to draw attention to the Occupy Wall Street "movement," or its list of demands that wouldn't pass muster in an average kindergarten class. But if America's president and vice president choose to talk about it, and give it credibility, then it's news. According to Vice President Biden, demands such as free college, pay independent of work, a $20 minimum wage (why not $100 or $1,000?), and a nation with open borders have legitimacy and "a lot in common with the Tea Party movement." President Obama sees these demonstrations against corporate America as reasonable protests toward "the same folks who acted irresponsibly trying to crack down on abusive practices that got us into this situation to begin with." This should provide perspective to what our most fundamental problem is today. We have an endangered species in America whose loss threatens our future. That species is called the American adult.
Frustrated lawmakers have few options to deal with Europe's debt crisis
Excerpt: Europe’s continued debt struggles are weighing down the U.S. economy and financial markets, leaving lawmakers frustrated that there is little, if anything, they can do to alleviate the problem. The worries were evident at several hearings this week as multiple lawmakers probed financial regulators about the nation’s susceptibility to Europe’s debt struggles, including ways Congress could help guard against them. Along with those questions came gripes about what little lawmakers can do to address the situation. “One of the frustrations is that we don’t have any control over Europe’s decisions,” said Rep. John Campbell (R-Calif.), voicing a typical complaint. “Is our financial system sufficiently protected?” (In WWII Budapest, it is reported that the Nazis (doubtless to the approbation of their Islamic admirers) would line up Jews who were chained together on a bridge over the Danube. They would shoot the fortunate one on the end, who would fall into the river, dragging the others to their drowning deaths one by one. The US economy is chained to other economies, eventually to Greece, Spain, Ireland, and the rest of the EU disaster states. It’s hard to see how their collapse doesn’t drag the rest of us into the abyss with them. ~Bob.)
Democrats aim to tax the rich — but who are they? First they said it was couples making more than $250,000. Now they've proposed a 'millionaires tax.' Consensus is proving to be elusive.
Excerpt: President Obama and Democrats in Congress have aligned on a populist, "tax the rich" strategy for the 2012 campaign. Now they have to figure out exactly who that is. It was clear they had not resolved the thorny question last week, as Senate Democrats unveiled a new "millionaires tax" to pay for the president's jobs bill. The proposal neatly replaced Obama's preferred funding plan and probably bolstered the bill's chances in the Senate. But it also appeared to depart from the party's previous characterization of "the haves we're asking to have less." Obama and his fellow Democrats for years have described the wealthy as couples making more than $250,000 and individuals making more than $200,000 — 3% of U.S. households. By shifting away from that number in hopes of benefiting from the sound-bite punch of a millionaires tax, the administration may find it difficult to return to casting the broader net.
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