The Perplexing General Petraeus Resignation

I can't remember the last time when such a well-known public figure outed himself as a two-timer on his wife but, General Petraeus, the head of the CIA, did just that.  And, it was done in the midst of an increasing controversy over the Benghazi consulate attack and the killing of four Americans.  Certainly, Petraeus' CIA was highly involved in this incident since the CIA dominated our presence in Benghazi.  The "annex" that is always being talked about -- just a mile away from the consulate --  was a  CIA installation.  Two of the four dead, Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty, were former Navy Seals under contract by the CIA and stationed at the annex.

Normally, an affair becomes public and the offender -- after the fact -- has to respond with some public affirmation, humility, and an apology.  But, because Petraeus came forward before any public knowledge of his affair, it almost seems like he was being blackmailed in some way; and, he decided to thwart the blackmailing by going public on his own.

This, then, leads to other speculation.  Was the threat of a public exposure of his infidelity being used to force him into "modifying" his upcoming Benghazi testimony before Congress?  Perhaps, take the fall for the Obama Administration? Certainly, the timing of Petraeus' disclosure and resignation would suggest something like that.  If so, was this an extension of the currently suspected coverup over Benghazi?  And, at what levels within the Obama Administration was this "blackmailing" effort being conducted?  Was President Obama involved?

California Dreaming Turns To California Fleeing

On Tuesday night, 54% of California's voters approved Proposition 30 which would raise both sales and income taxes in a supposed attempt to "fix" the not-so-Golden State's debt problems.   The state sales tax will be raised by 1/2 percent and, of course, that cost will be borne by everyone in the state who buys anything.

Then there's an increase in income taxes; retroactive to include all of 2012.  Apparently, having taken a lead from Obama, the Democratic-supported Prop 30 will "only" raise taxes on "millionaires and billionaires".   You know, that same old song:  Individuals making more than $200,000 and families making $250,000 and above.  The surtax will be progressive; starting at 1 percent on the low end and  incremented upwards to 3 percent for true millionaires.

Now, if Obama is also able to raise the federal tax on those same $200,000/$250,000 wage earners to 39.6% from 35%, it means that that those "rich" in California will see an "additional" increase of 4.6%. Then, add to that the 2013 0.9% tax increase for ObamaCare and the plus $200,000 crowd will see a rate increases of  ranging from 5.5% to 8.5%.  But, here's the thing.  California already has one of the highest income tax rates on high end wage earners at 9.3%; and, 10.3% for those making more than a million dollars.  So, overall, rich Californian's -- at the very minimum -- will ultimately have to pay a combined minimum tax rate of 50.8%.  53.8% for those truly making a million dollars or more.   Of course, both these rates assume that Obama will get his tax increases on the rich. So, if you do make $200,000, you will only get to keep  a little more than $98,000 of it.  For someone making a million dollars, their minimum tax bill will be $538,000.  Of course, this doesn't even include the sales taxes and real estate tax burdens and all the other taxes imposed on these very same people.  This, then, means that these income earners are no longer "unfairly" working for themselves.  Instead, they are primarily working in support of the state and federal governments and all their waste, corruption, and multitude of giveaways.

The problem with these high taxes is that it "will" force many talented and wealthy Californians to flee the state in seeking lower taxes.  Some amount of businesses will also leave. Those who are independently wealthy and not tied down to California by job, may actually move to places like Bermuda or Canada or some other country.  Besides being a brain-drain, ultimately, this will shrink the tax base by lowering the mean income; and, that means a lowering of tax revenues. In fact, all these new tax increases may actually result in less tax revenues than California is currently taking in.  Already, because of high taxes and over regulation, an estimated 3.4 million residents have fled the state since 1990.  I know this well; being a Nevada resident with no state income tax.  Many of the people in our particular neighborhood have moved here from California.

One last comment.  Despite the state's high deficits and debt, the Democrats who are in control of the State legislature have found it  impossible to lower any of the State's spending. This fact alone must infuriate those making high incomes and give them another incentive leave.  States that raise taxes and don't cut spending are just whistling past the graveyard; as was noted in my previous blog post, Obama Should Learn A Lesson From His Home State, where Illinois implemented a 67% across-the-board tax increase and their debt just continued to increase.

References:

--- Wall Street Journal: California Voters Approve Higher Taxes: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324439804578104854095658918.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

--- Federation Of Tax Administrators: State Tax Comparisons: http://www.taxadmin.org/fta/rate/tax_stru.html

--- Fox and Hounds: The Great California Exodus: A Closer Look: http://www.foxandhoundsdaily.com/2012/09/the-great-california-exodus-a-closer-look/

--- CNBC: Two Days After The Election:  Boeing Announces Big Layoffs in Defense Division: "Boeing announced a major restructuring of its defense division on Wednesday that will cut 30 percent of management jobs from 2010 levels, close facilities in California and consolidate several business units to cut costs.": http://www.cnbc.com/id/49729998

A Major Election Issue Not Being Talked About: ObamaCare

As a result of reelecting Barack Obama and maintaining the status quo in Congress, ObamaCare was assured of "not" being repealed or even modified.  It will go ahead, as is, and all the negatives of that law will be fully implemented before we ever see another presidential election.  This was the big loss for Americans since most oppose the law.  The average of the Real Clear Politics polling on this shows that Americans reject the law 48.6% to 41.4%.  Even the left-leaning, CBS/New York Times polling has opposition at 50%; and, support at only 42%.   And, that poll was heavily weighted towards Democrats. Rasmussen's last poll, in late October, had opposition at 54%; and, that's a whopping 15 percentage points higher than those who favored the law.  Even the exit polling after Tuesday's reelection showed that the voters opposed ObamaCare, 49% to 44%.

Without the stopping of ObamaCare with a Romney win, it will now continue on its path to destroying our current system and setting the stage for an eventual single-payer, government health care system.  Eventually, just as in Britain, we will wind up with a similar problem-ridden and health-care-delayed system that will just continue to push America into debt and jeopardize people's lives.

---  Real Clear Politics polling: Obama and Democrats' Health Care Plan: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/obama_and_democrats_health_care_plan-1130.html

--- Politico.com:  Exit polls 2012: Split on ObamaCare: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/83427.html

Democrats Claim A Mandate To Raise Taxes On The Rich

Just two days, now, following the election, Obama and the Democrats have looked at the exit polling and have concluded that they have a mandate from the people to raise taxes on the rich.  If that logic is true, then, they have also received a mandate to repeal or replace ObamaCare.  That's because the same exit polling showed a majority of voters favoring a whole or partial repeal; 49% to 44%. 

Personally, I wouldn't mind raising taxes on the rich if ObamaCare could be repealed.

---  Politico.com: Exit Polling On ObamaCare: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/83427.html

---  Politico.com: President Obama sees voter mandate on taxes: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/83502_Page2.html

Will Federal Spending Put Us At a Tipping Point By 2015

In 2011, the Democrats of the Senate Budget Committee put together a power-point presentation with regard to this nation's accumulated debt and spending.  The very first slide of that presentation showed a U.S. dollar with 40% of it being covered up by the word "borrowed"; meaning that for every dollar of spending, 40 cents is with borrowed money.  At the time of that presentation, our debt was still under $14 trillion but quickly approaching $15 trillion.  Today, our debt is 10% higher with it above $16 trillion.  This means that the 40 cents in that presentation is now 10% higher; probably around 44 cents.

Now, here's an important thing to understand.  Obama's own Treasury Department is now projecting that the federal deficit will hit $20 trillion by 2015.  Or, in other words, our debt will be 33% higher than it was in 2011 when 40 cents of every dollar was being borrowed.  If that becomes fact, it means that we will have already hit a disastrous tipping point where our government's operation will be majority run by borrowed money; 51 cents or greater for every dollar of spending. What that, then, means is that we will literately have to borrow money to pay off what we've already borrowed.  This is a death spiral.  It is how Greece became the economic mess it is today.

There's no single way that a country can get itself out of trouble when it reaches this kind of debt situation; especially when dealing with debt that is in the double-digit trillions of dollars.  One way is to print more money.  But, that will just cause massive inflation; forcing the economy and tax revenues to stall out.  Another way is to raise taxes.  But, raising taxes can, too, weaken the economy and result in lower tax revenues.  The best way is to cut spending.  But, nobody is going to want their pet spending cut. That's why we are seeing the riots in Greece as the government tries to implement austerity programs. 

The bottom line is that we are heading for serious trouble and its not far away.  Obama has literately steered this country into disaster.

--- Democrats Power Point Presentation on Debt and Spending:  http://budget.senate.gov/democratic/index.cfm/files/serve?File_id=68c4deb6-ac22-4b0d-bd31-df69512f8607

--- Real Clear Politics: Debt to hit $20 Trillion by 2015: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/10/18/us_borrowing_amp_spending_is_at_a_crisis_point_293445.html

Obama Won But Gridlock Prevails

Last night, the nation voted and Obama won.  It was an emotional win; not based on any logic.  I say this because this man has been a complete failure in his first term.  He pushed a stimulus package that has only caused our rebounding economy of 2009 to get weaker by the year.  Job creation has primarily been for low-paying and part time jobs.  As a result, the middle class is falling apart.  Average incomes have fallen by more than 7% as laid off workers are being forced into finding and taking lower paying jobs.  The number of low income workers and those in poverty has doubled to over 60 million people.  Those on food stamps and collecting disability pay have reached never-before-thought-of highs.  We are a country in decline. We are moving towards being a country that looks more like Europe  --- a Europe that is in complete turmoil with weak and depressed economies and where the normals are high unemployment and a dependency on government.

The only saving grace from Tuesday's election was that gridlock prevailed.  If this country truly wanted what Obama was selling, it would have broken that gridlock and given the Democrats a dominate position in the House of Representatives.  But, the voters said no to this President's liberal agenda by leaving the GOP in charge of the people's house.  While some Republicans lost, an equal number won. This, to me, only proves that the votes for Obama were ones based on the emotion of maintaining an historical first of having a black man as president; no matter how badly that man has performed in office.

But, don't underestimate Obama in terms of forcing through his liberal agenda.  He will do it by by-passing Congress through the stroke of his pen on executive orders. He will do it through the powers already vested in the EPA, the Department of Interior, and through the new powers given to the Health and Human Services department as a result of ObamaCare.  He will also do it through the still-unwritten, unlimited regulatory actions that were provisioned under the Dodd-Frank financial reform law.  He will do it anyway he can because, no longer, does he have the burden of winning a reelection.  And, as a result, America and America's values were the big losers in Tuesday's elections.

Barack Obama: The Fortune Cookie of Politics

Way back in February of 2008, I wrote a blog post that compared Obama's promises of hope and change being akin to the false promises you might get from fortune cookies.  On this election day of 2012, what I said then is as true today. So, I think it's worth repeating.

Barack Obama: The Fortune Cookie of Politics

In many ways, Barack Obama's speeches are a lot like the messages inside a Chinese fortune cookie. Typically, the "fortune" inside that cookie, if written well, will apply to the wants of most everyone who reads it. It is this type of "universality" that gives Obama a broad appeal.

Whether or not the message of Obama, like the fortune in the Chinese cookie, is actually true or has any chance of being true is immaterial. People take from it what they "want" to hear. That is what his message of "hope" is all about. Hope is more of a feeling and, often, less of an actual reality. When I buy a lotto ticket, I "hope" that I will win. However, the chance of being hit by lightning is more likely.

The people that believe that Obama represents "hope" through "change" may actually be hearing the hollow message of a fortune cookie. If they truly looked at Obama's past actions, his beliefs, and his proposals, they would know that what he is selling is "high hopes" with little reality.  And, don't ever forget that the purpose of putting the "fortune" in the cookie is a "gimmick" to sell more cookies.  Nothing more than that!