Our Two Party System

The DNC promotes our two party system - Republican and "Not A Republican". That is even emptier than "Hope and Change". One wonders why a simple, tasteful "Who Killed Bin Laden? Yeah, Baby!" was overlooked.

So when does the RNC roll out their response?  Are they worried that "Not A Radical Redistributionist Job-Killing Enviro-Ideologue" is too long for a bumper sticker? C'mon, my SUV has a BIG bumper!

Comments

[Threadkiller]

The IRS helps keep it two parties:

"IRS Harassment of Tea Party Groups
... It seems that Tea Party groups are now being treated very differently than their counterparts on the political Left. For the last two years, many have been stone-walled by the IRS when they have sought to register as non-profits and most recently, they have been barraged with increasingly aggressive and threatening demands vastly outside the legal authority of the IRS. Indeed, the only conceivable purpose of some of these demands could be to intimidate and harass.

A Tea Party group in my district is typical of the reports we are hearing from all across the country. This group submitted articles of incorporation as a non-profit to the state of California, and received approval within a month. Then, they tried to register as a non-profit with the IRS. Despite repeated and numerous inquiries, the IRS stonewalled this group for a year and a half, at which time it demanded thousands of pages of documentation – and gave the group less than three weeks to produce it.

The IRS demanded the names of every participant at every meeting held over the last two years, transcripts of every speech given at those meetings, what positions they had taken on issues, the names of their volunteers and donors, and copies of communications they had with elected officials and on and on.

Perhaps most chilling of all, the organizer of this particular group soon found herself the object of a personal income tax audit by the IRS.

Mr. Speaker, these are groups of volunteers who pass the hat at meetings to pay for renting the hall. They give of their own time to research issues and pay out of their own pockets for printing fliers.

The donations made to them aren’t tax deductible, so there is no legitimate purpose for asking the names of their donors, let alone of their volunteers – unless – and this is the fine point of it – unless the intention is to harass and intimidate.

Ironically, the same tactics we now see used by the IRS against the tea parties were once used by the most abusive of the southern states in the 1950’s to intimidate civil rights groups like the NAACP.

No such tactics have been reported by any similar civic groups on the political left, so the conclusion is inescapable – that this administration is very clearly, very pointedly and very deliberately attempting to intimidate, harass and threaten civic minded groups with which they disagree using one of the most feared and powerful agencies of the United States Government to do so.

Mr. Speaker, these facts speak for themselves and need no embellishment or interpretation. They should alarm every American of good will regardless of political philosophy, for if this precedent is allowed to stand, no one’s freedom is safe. I bring these facts to the attention of the House today and ask that they be rigorously investigated; and if found accurate that those officials responsible be exposed, disgraced, dismissed and debarred from any further position of trust or power within our government."

Full text:
http://mcclintock.house.gov/2012/04/irs-harassment-of-tea-party-groups.shtml

Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Bwb29bM838&list=UUMh04KC4LfIzKoXh2Xws_pw&index=1&feature=plcp

[Threadkiller]

And then there is this:

"The Tax Cut Illusion House Chamber, Washington, D.C. April 19, 2012

Mr. Speaker:

The House just passed HR 9 that purports to give a temporary tax cut to small businesses.

I say “purports” because it doesn’t cut spending at the same time and thus it merely shifts current taxes into the future. Once a dollar has been spent, it’s already become a tax, taken either from today -- or from tomorrow to pay for today’s deficits.

Nor does HR 9 do much to promote economic growth because it does little to reward new productivity at the margin. At best it produces a one-year sugar high until the bills come due.

Tax cuts without spending reductions or real economic growth are an illusion.

Real tax reform would permanently reduce the marginal tax rate for all businesses and cut government spending concurrently. This would encourage and reward economic growth, shift investment decisions from politicians to entrepreneurs and not rob our economy of its future.

I hope, before the end of this session, that we will do so."

http://mcclintock.house.gov/2012/04/the-tax-cut-illusion.shtml

McClintock for VP!

[Jim Ryan]

I'm still surprised that Team Obama reads the comments here and has stolen my idea:

Obama '12
You In?

A couple of months after I posted that I saw the ads with Michelle and "Are You In?" The meaning of this phrase is "Are you prepared to do this stupid and dangerous thing?" They know their drones will shlep along over the precipice like good little sheople, if goaded a little.

[NK]

TomM says: "...my SUV has a BIG bumper!"
was that your SUV that ran me and my Cannondale bike off the road last weekend?

PS: you local Congressman Jim "Goldman Sachs phony, subsidy scammin' weasel" Hines said that 'two-party chicanery' in DC must end. That's right-- Jim Hines wants a Democrat monopoly on chicanery! I'd vote for Obama before Hines-- and THAT's saying something!

[narciso]

Who was running against this guy, a lizard?

http://theothermccain.com/2012/04/20/drip-drip-drip-mormon-mitt-meme-keeps-popping-up-in-mainstream-media/

[GMAX]

Instapundit this morning nails it re the dog mocking:

Ridicule is the most potent political weapon. Obama is rapidly looking less and less like a President and more and more like an inept pol who’s also something of a doofus.

So is doubledumbdave...

[Threadkiller]

GMAX, I am all in on using ridicule. After watching this series of videos it is increasingly clear that the administration prefers incompetence as a defense over accountability.

"HOUSE COMMITTEE TAKE DOE OFFICIALS TO TASK OVER WASTEFUL ENERGY DEPARTMENT SPENDING

HOUSE COMMITTEE TAKE DOE OFFICIALS TO TASK OVER WASTEFUL ENERGY DEPARTMENT SPENDING

Today, the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the House Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing on budget and spending concerns at the DOE. Director of the Office of the Budget of the U.S. Department of Energy Christopher Johns, DOE Inspector General Gregory Friedman and Director of Natural Resources and Environment Frank Rusco were grilled on wasteful spending practices rampant within the Department of Energy.

Highlights of the Hearing: Congressman Joe Barton (D-TX) grilled Budget Director Johns on his lack of knowledge of how many cars the Department of Energy owns. IG Friedman called the estimated 60 million the department spends on travel a year “paltry” in comparison to that of DOE contractors. Director Rusco remarks that the DOE Loan Guarantee Program is “less willing” to accept the GAO’s recommendations to curb wasteful spending practices.

Inspector General Friedman Estimates a “Paltry” $60 Million A Year Is Spent On Travel By DOE Employees.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqI2f7rhL2M

The Budget Director Johns Doesn’t Have A Clue How Many Vehicles The DOE Owns.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ORE41TtVoQ

IG Friedman would not comment on the over 300 active investigations within the DOE.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcjzh74VuoA&feature=youtu.be

IG Friedman Says the states and federal government were not fully prepared to address the stimulus.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoDTrdwkksc&feature=youtu.be

Director Rusco says DOE loan guarantee program is one of many programs within the DOE that are less willing to accept the GAO’s recommendations

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0S1yo946U8&feature=youtu.be

It's Half-ass Time in America

[Ranger]

Well, it was the Clintons who turned the "we're not criminals, we're just incompetnt" defense into an art form. So much so in fact, that after 8 years in office, they were still able to claim it with the pardon fiascos.

[Captain Hate]

They used it to get Sandy Burger's charges minimized with Clenis yukking it up about what a sloppy desk Sandy keeps; as if that excuses pilfering documents and obviously concealing them when removing them.

[peter]

Tom drives an SUV? How is going to park in the economical car parking spaces at Whole Foods of Darien?

[NK]

What is Whole Foods?

[NK]

Does the SUV tow a Chevy Volt?

[Ranger]

OT, but not totally... It looks like things are going to get ugly in the Higher Ed world very soon (via Instapundit):

NY Times Debate: Do Wealthy Colleges Deserve Their Tax Breaks?

In a recent op-ed column, Richard Vedder of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity ... pondered the fairness of tax breaks for a wealthy university like Princeton, while a state institution like the College of New Jersey begs for funding. His comments raise a good question: Should government change its tax exemption policies for universities as a way of equalizing educational resources in America?

I hope the Danas of the world are ready for the state to turn on them and start treating them like the "for profits" that they despise so much. It's all about fairness and spreading the wealth around.

[Captain Hate]

the fairness of tax breaks for a wealthy university like Princeton, while a state institution like the College of New Jersey begs for funding. His comments raise a good question: Should government change its tax exemption policies for universities as a way of equalizing educational resources in America?

How would that "equalize" educational resources? The College of New Jersey would still need funding and Princeton would have less money; all that is doing is diminishing educational resources.

[Jane (where is Jon Corzine?)]

Karl Rove doesn't deny that his organization has raised $100 million.

[Ranger]

How would that "equalize" educational resources? The College of New Jersey would still need funding and Princeton would have less money; all that is doing is diminishing educational resources.

It wouldn't at all. it would simply take the money from private institutions and give it to public institutions. I think the private "non-profit" education biz is about to find out that the Dem model of "fairness" isn't as fair as they think it is. Dem fairness simply takes from the politically less influential, and gives to the politically well connected. Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of folks.

[NK]

Ranger-- being a Connecticut Blue Stater we've seen that up in this part of the country already. Cambridge and Boston Ma. charge colleges and hospitals a 'fee' in lieu of taxes for the city services which the institutions are exempt from paying as 'non-profits.' Providence is hitting up Brown U for the same thing. As the tax base shrinks in the Blue states, and the pension costs explode, the Dem politicians in those Blue states will start pushing the non profit institutions for dough; so Yale, and Trinity College, and the hospitals in Ct are going to be forced to pony up as more businesses leave or don't expand in the State. New Jersey, same thing, as property taxes are capped by, well, reality, the Town of Princetown and State will look for dough from the 'tax -exempt' University. Bank on it.

[Ranger]

NK, it will be fun to watch the State Higher Ed system fight with the private "non-profit" system for the scraps of diminishing money.

[Frau Dinkelbrot]

"It's Half-ass Time in America"

Hochachtung! Best line of the week, TK. The only thing to add is "Heckova job, Barry."

[Annoying Old Guy]

How would that "equalize" educational resources? The College of New Jersey would still need funding and Princeton would have less money; all that is doing is diminishing educational resources.

I wonder how many will understand this point with regard to Universities but not corporations that provide jobs. Quite a lot.

Of course, NK has it right - it's all about the Benjamins, baby.

[Neo]

Vice President Joe Biden turned to a counter-productive metaphor yesterday, as he likened President Obama’s policies to “legalizing rattlesnakes” in a hotel during an attempt to praise the president.

[NK]

Ranger-- I don't know about 'fun' but it will definitely be Blue on Blue. My guess is that alot of university ADMINISTRATORS and SUPPORT STAFF get pink slips.

[Neo]

Let's take the first step into achieving something so incredibly historic that so many African countries have been unable to accomplish ... an Black ex-President.

First, Obama .. then, Mugabe.

[daddy]

Speaking of Bumper Stickers,

In this link, the commenter at 10:12 (Harrison) wants to turn Captain Hates comment at 09:00 into a Bumper Sticker.

I'm with Harrison!

[cathyf]

My guess is that alot of university ADMINISTRATORS and SUPPORT STAFF get pink slips.

Nah... The faculty will be cut first. Ok, yeah, if by "support staff" you mean janitors and plumbers and electricians then they will go too. But not the "student life" offices, or the endless sports with their endless need for coaches and equipment and transportation and buildings.

After all those classes and homework and papers and studying just interfere with the students' "co-curricular" (NOT extra-curricular) activities.

[BR]

Neo, you make me so happy, I could dance...

and levitate!

[memomachine]

My fave so far?

"I'm a Republican and I crap bigger than you".

lol.