AT LEAST HE’S NOT LAYING DOWN ON THIS ONE
As I pointed out yesterday, George Bush was grammatically wrong with his, "not over my dead body" line, but I have to admit the man is fighting this one. Tom Daschle gave his opening round speech on the economy Friday, and Bush came out swinging on Saturday...to the point where even Democrats like Diane Feinstein were distancing themselves from Daschle on the Sunday talking heads shows. Bush was again on the offensive yesterday with his very publicized meeting on the economy which included Alan Greenspan. He all but ridiculed the Daschle take on the economy and came off looking very strong. Even the media seems to be shying away from the majority leader. It’s good to see that the Republicans were not caught napping on this one. Let’s hope they don’t trip.
BANNING MINORITIES IN BOSTON
You might remember that a year or so ago the San Diego City Counsel passed a resolution banning the use of the word “minority” in city documents and counsel deliberations. Interestingly enough, shortly after this resolution was passed we learned that whites had become the minority of the city population. The lesson was clear. As long as blacks were in the minority it was OK to use the word. As soon as whites became the minority the word was banned. It would have been amusing if it wasn’t so transparently pathetic.
Well … now we have Boston, Mass. The Boston City Council has actually approved – by a 12-0 vote – a measure banning the use of the word “minority” in city documents. The counsel says that the word has become pejorative.
Charles Yancey is the president of the counsel. He says that the word “minority” is, or soon will be politically incorrect. In a few years he predicts linguistic extinction.
Looks like we’re going to need another word for “minority” soon. Maybe Jesse Jackson can come up with one for us.
THE PAYROLL TAX HOLIDAY FRAUD
Democrats are back at it – suggesting a one-month break from payroll taxes. This means one month in which Social Security and Medicare taxes would not be deducted from your paycheck. This is touted as some sort of economic stimulus plan. The latest proponent is Missouri’s accidental Senator, Jean Carnahan.
First – there is no economic stimulus in this plan. To stimulate the economy you stimulate the people who drive our economy. You try to change their behavior to cause them to engage in more investment and business activity. There is nothing in a one-month payroll tax holiday that is going to cause anyone to change his or her behavior.
Now --- to the wee bit of class warfare that is imbedded in this “payroll tax holiday” plan.
The proponents of this plan – mostly Democrats – would have you believe that all wage earners will have their Social Security taxes reduced by one month’s worth of deductions. Not true. The only people who will get a break on Social Security taxes are those who earn less than the Social Security earnings limit.
I’m not sure of the exact limit right now, but I think it’s around $88,000. Once your earnings exceed this amount you stop paying Social Security taxes. So – if you make less than $88,000 a year you will, indeed, save money. If you make more than $88,000 a year you will have your taxes delayed, not reduced. If you would normally stop paying taxes in, say, October – you would now pay them through November.
I just wanted you to realize that this Democratic plan is yet another tax cut, so to speak, that is aimed at the lower income levels that tend to vote Democratic. The higher achievers get nothing.
"I LOVE IT WHEN A PLAN COMES TOGETHER!"
The A-Team...Mr. T not withstanding...is the nickname given to a group of Green Berets that went into Afghanistan and were given credit for killing over 1,300 Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters. They were instrumental in directing bombers where to drop. The handful of special forces were not particularly liked by the Northern Alliance at first. They seemed to think of them as intruders until they proved themselves. That opportunity presented itself on October 28. The Green Berets directed a B-52 bomber in on the target and it dropped its full load of 2000 lb. bombs. One of the Americans said that the bombs, "lifted the whole top of the hill two feet in the air." That impressed the alliance.
"They were slapping us on the back. It seemed like the more accurate the bombing, the better they fed us."
It also sounds like the Taliban/al-Qaeda fighters needed several changes of underwear that day. One of the Green Berets described the US strategy as, "You bomb one side of a hill and push them in one direction, then bomb the next hill over and push guys the other way. Then, when they're all bunched up, you bring in more planes and drop right on them. Eventually they learn, but then you start doing something else." I really hope they got some home movies of that.
"Our mission is not necessarily to outfight the enemy," he added. "We would rather out-think them."
As impressive as our military has been, it sounds like that wasn’t a particularly difficult task. You know, our efforts in the Gulf War were nothing short of amazing, but our fighting men and women just keep getting better and better. The more I hear about the campaign in Afghanistan, the more impressed I am. It’s nothing short of amazing.
Here’s a link to an excellent story detailing the exploits of the A Team.
portal.telegraph.co.uk
SHIP??? WHAT SHIP???
Things are not looking good for Yassir Arafat. After a series of suicide bombings in Israel over the holidays, he came off looking like he was either totally incompetent or lying through his teeth. Add that to being ugly. The Israelis took the opportunity to label him "irrelevant," effectively making him so on the world stage. Yassir arrested some people and called for a cease-fire but shortly after the Israeli Seals captured a ship carrying 50 tons of weapons, which they claimed was a Palestinian vessel. Arafat denied any knowledge of it, but yesterday the captain of the ship admitted to the news media that he was recruited by an Arafat right-hand man to take the ship, pick up the cargo, and deliver it to the Palestinians. Once again Arafat comes off looking like either a buffoon or a liar. It appears his days as head of the Palestinians are numbered, unless he somehow has the politically savvy that he’s been sorely lacking the past several years. I guess it’s possible, but I seriously doubt it.
AND THIS INTERESTING ANNOUNCEMENT
Investment alert: Pfizer Corp. (NYSE PFE) is making the announcement today that VIAGRA will soon be available in liquid form and will be marketed by Pepsi Cola. (Pepsi Bottling Group NYSE PBG) as a power beverage suitable for use as-is, or as a mixer, under the name "Mount And Do". Pepsi's proposed ad campaign suggests: "It will now be possible for a man to literally pour himself a stiff one."
boortz.com |
