Taxes Now Higher Than Food, Clothing, Shelter Costs

This year Americans will pay more in total taxes than they spend for food, clothing, and shelter combined, illustrating what the Tax Foundation calls the “growing cost of government.”

Total outlays for taxes in 2012 will be about $4.04 trillion, which is $152 billion more than Americans will spend on housing, food, and clothing.

“Relative to the basic cost of living, taxes have increased considerably in recent decades,” the foundation states in a new report.

In 1929, Americans paid $10.1 billion in taxes while outlays for food, clothing, and shelter totaled $41.6 billion.

The cost of those essentials surpassed tax collections every year after that until 1981, when the $858.3 billion paid in taxes narrowly surpassed the $854.4 spent on food, clothing, and shelter.

Seven years later, in 1988, taxes again surpassed outlays on essentials, and they remained larger than food, clothing, and shelter costs every year until 2009, when the economic slowdown reduced tax collections.

But after a two-year gap, taxes are once again trumping spending for food, clothing, and housing.

The Tax Foundation also points out that transfer payments — government outlays that Americans can use to purchase food, clothing, and housing, among other things — have increased considerably in recent decades.

In 1929, transfer payments accounted for just 0.5 percent of private outlays on food, clothing, and shelter. By 1965, when Medicare began, the percentage had grown to about 11 percent. Today it is close to 35 percent.

“Consumption data, which comes from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, includes private consumption that is paid for with government transfer payments from assistance programs such as Medicare,” Kevin Duncan of the Tax Foundation observes.

“This leads to double counting, as the taxes that finance these programs and the increased consumption that those taxes fund are included in both tax and consumption figures, respectively.

“Despite these limitations, the comparison of tax costs to the basic cost of living provides a useful illustration of the growing cost of government.”

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

Thinking for yourself, really engaging brain, is a wonderful thing.  Sure wish more folks would try it.  I am still inclined to believe that Zimmerman is/was a “wannabe” cop who could not cut it.  Armed with almost a toy pistol, he fancied himself a modern day Charles Bronson.  Trayvon was every Mom’s nightmare; a getting bigger teenager on the way to becoming a full blown NWA.  Hope I did not offend anyone here.  One must be so very careful these days.  Tongue-in-cheek?  You decide.

Not to be outdone by the Smokin’ Hot Chevrolet Volt – the Federally-Subsidized Fisker Karma is also making a name for itself…

With local Fire Departments

You may be wondering:

Are local ‘men (and women) in red suspenders’ purchasing the vehicles for their personal rides?

Are local hose companies using Fisker Karmas for their Fire Department race team vehicles?

Are local paid, and volunteer fire organizations selling ‘chances’ on the Karma to raise funds for needed fire-fighting equipment?

Um, no. 

No self-respecting fire fighter would take a ‘chance’ on a spiffy new Fisker Karma ‘EV’ (Electric Vehicle) in any of the three scenarios above.

Why not?

Oh, I dunno…

But, Automotive News does. 

AutomotiveNews.com, May 14, 2012:

A Texas whodunit: The case of the fried Fisker

More bad news for battery-powered vehicles, or just a false alarm?

Well, the fire alarm was real enough. A house blaze in suburban Houston destroyed a new Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid car last week. But did the Fisker start the fire?
 

“Yes, the Karma was the origin of the fire, but what exactly caused that we don’t know at this time,” said Robert Baker, the local county’s chief fire inspector, told Autoweek, an affiliate of Automotive News.
 

Fisker, which dispatched engineers to the site, thinks the finger-pointing may be premature.

“Based on initial observations and inspections, the Karma’s lithium ion battery pack was not being charged at the time and is still intact and does not appear to have been a contributing factor in this incident,” according to a company statement.

Fisker said fireworks were found in the garage, and an electrical panel was next to the vehicle.

But, says Baker, “This looks just like golf cart fires we have down here.” The suburban Houston area has about 50 golf cart fires a year, he said.

Baker said that the Karma was purchased in April, and that there were two other vehicles in the garage, a Mercedes-Benz SUV and an Acura NSX.

Insurance and fire investigators swung into action.

“I’ve worked homicide scenes with less secrecy,” he said. “There have to be about 15 engineers down here working on this one.”

 
Pay particular attention to that last line… 

“I’ve worked homicide scenes with less secrecy…”

Huh, I wonder why THAT is?

Perhaps because tax payer money was moved to a ‘foreign country’ as start-up capital for the Fisker project?

Perhaps because ‘EVs’ burning up in your driveway, garage, or beneath your home while you sleep is NOT what President Obama meant when he said that the “Electric vehicle technology is HOT”?  (Okay, he didn’t actually say this, but whenever he talks about ‘alternative energy vehicles’ his eyes mist up…)

Perhaps it’s because the US Government has given $529 Million of your taxes to Fisker and taxpayers might be asking ‘Why’?

At last count, Fisker has ‘delivered’ fewer than 200 Karma vehicles to US owners.  With a ‘burn rate’ of 1 car per 200, if airlines provided this type of certainty that you’d arrive alive, we’d all be driving across country.  

Yes, I’m sure that there were a couple of Model A’s that lit the night sky when Henry Ford was first building his fledgling company, but I’m pretty sure he did it without a hand out from a few million of his closest friends paying part of his R&D.  

For more on the ’federally-partnered’ Karma, please revisit the post from January 2012:  Meet the Fisker Karma!  

For more on the ‘Smokin Hot Chevy Volt’, well, here’s my favorite:  Two Birds – One Stone

It looks like it could be a Hot Summer for YOUR Federally-Subsidized electric vehicle.  Just, please, don’t park anywhere near me – okay?

p.s.:  On behalf of the OWS bunch, I’m happy to report that the ‘Green Fisker Karma’ also took a Mercedes SUV AND an Acura NSX to a fiery grave with it.  Yeah, that’ll teach the richest 1%!!!

These 1%’s, though, it appear are the only ones who can buy these Earth Friendly EV’s – so, should Liberal folks be happy, or sad? 

Man, it’s HARD to be them…  Trying to figure out who they should hate more?  Rich People or Earth Killers?

Have  a nice weekend!  Oh, and keep your car away from open flames (i.e.:  Chevy Volts, or Fisker Karmas).

Mike

http://godfatherpolitics.com/5236/we-do-get-you-joe-why-liberals-are-the-crazy-ones/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ok5Q_ut788&feature=player_embedded

In a speech the other day in Youngstown, Ohio, Vice President Joe Biden  screamed at the audience, “They just don’t get us! They don’t get who we  are!”

“They,” of course, means you and me, conservative types who are just too dim  to understand all the wonderful things the Obama Administration is doing for the  country.

The accusation came after a rant about how jobs are “coming back” and how  there were “signs of life” in the Heartland because of the administration’s hard  work and economic policies.

It was a typical liberal shoutfest where the louder you yell something, the  more true it becomes. I’ve heard it numerous times from some of my educated  friends who should know better: “You’re blaming the guy driving the firetruck  for starting the fire.” For liberals, it’s we conservatives who look crazy.

So it’s helpful once in a while to do a reality check. A little  self-analysis, as with confession, is good for the soul. I mean, if you were to  go crazy, wouldn’t you at least want to know that you were?

In the case of political views, side-by-side comparison of liberal vs.  conservative views on President Obama is one illuminating technique.

President Obama as a person

• Conservative: Obama comes from a highly suspicious  background in which he was raised and schooled around numerous anti-American  socialists and communists; vital records such as schooling, medical history and  selective service remain not only unavailable but deliberately kept under wraps;  there is evidence that suggests Obama could have used false identities and been  involved in fraud; even his birth certificate appears to have been forged.
• Liberal: He’s black. He’s cool.

President Obama’s economic performance

• Conservative: President Obama’s stimulus packages have  shown no effect in improving the economy; there is ample evidence to suggest  that most of the money was used as payback to supporters; he has turned auto and  other companies into essentially state-run businesses; jobs have not come back  in any significant way since Obama took office, and any statistical “gains” have  mostly been attributable to large numbers of Americans simply giving up any hope  of finding a job, thus shrinking the number of people counted as “jobless”; three years into it, Obama is still blaming President Bush for the economy.
• Liberal: President Obama says the economy is getting  better, and I believe him. He’s black. He’s cool.

Obama’s foreign policy

• Conservative: Obama negotiates from weakness; he began his  administration by apologizing to many countries that have been our enemies and  bowing to the king of Saudi Arabia; he told the Russians over an open mic that  he is essentially willing to cave to their demands that we remove missile  defenses in Europe; he has tacitly and overtly encouraged violence in the Middle  East, even engaging in military actions against Libya without informing  Congress; he has weakened America’s standing in the world and pursued a policy  of having America follow the crowd rather than lead.
• Liberal: Obama says we are stronger than ever, and I  believe him. He’s black. You’re a racist. He’s cool. You drool.

Obama’s domestic policies

• Conservative: Obama has appointed an unprecedented number  of “czars” who are not subject to any scrutiny or approval by Congress or  voters; his TSA is out of control, violating the privacy of travelers under the  pretense of airport security; the Department of Homeland Security and the IRS  have been allowed to target conservative groups for harassment; Obama’s cabinet  members and czars have shown repeatedly they are willing to go around the law by  quietly creating “policies” for their respective agencies that were rejected as  laws by Congress; the administration has demonstrated a culture of disdain for  constitutional limits on presidential power; the president himself has tried to  unconstitutionally decree that religious institutions must buy into a health  insurance policy with abortion and contraceptive provisions that violate  religious conscience.
• Liberal: Obama knows best. You’re racist. I’m going to  report you. You should be on a watch list. Shut up.

So, in summation, the reason conservatives know we aren’t crazy is that we  actually pay attention to what’s coming out of Washington and draw logical  conclusions. Could we be wrong on any given issue? Of course. All humans are  fallible.

Liberals on the other hand seem to base their beliefs solely on the fact that  someone in authority “says it’s so.” So liberalism is in essence just irrational  faith.

A memo to our liberal friends: The next time you go to some online site to  complain about how stupid and dangerous you think conservatives are, try looking  in a mirror first.

Read more: http://godfatherpolitics.com/5236/we-do-get-you-joe-why-liberals-are-the-crazy-ones/#ixzz1v9iOFl45

Is it tinfoil hat time or should we take a genuine look at a possible conspiracy that involves perhaps hundreds or even thousands of people?  I am not a conspiracy kind of guy most times but I am now beginning to wonder.  This particular conspiracy involves a former community organizer, his czars, several of his cabinet appointees, and various members of his agencies to create a vast amount of civil unrest.  The term Civil War comes to mind.  The time frame is PRIOR to the November election.  The purpose is to insure there is no November election and Obama continues as President.

When I was in the military, to brief a particular piece of intelligence we needed to have three independent sources of verifiable information that essentially reported the same thing.  This is not true in this case…EXCEPT B Hussein Obama is President.  The MO of any Community Organizer is to stay semi in the background, foment unrest, create chaos to prevent businesses (in this case our Nation) from operating normally, and keep twisting arms until you get what you want.  If I were to run a check list in this regard, I would have a whole bunch of “got it, got  it, got it.”

There is no doubt the Department of Justice is totally corrupt.  Holder has been instructed to increase the racial divide and he is beyond pleased to do so.  Whether the non-prosecution of the New Black Panthers or the Trayvon Martin incident, he will continue this course of action as long as he is in office.  States rights and DOJ have long been at loggerheads and will continue to be so.  Whether it is illegal immigration, “Fast and Furious” to remove weapons from American hands,  Voter ID, or going after Arizona’s Sheriff Joe,  Holder can be counted to toe the line.  He is part and parcel of the Cabal.

The Obama Agencies and fellow travelers are all heavily involved in this conspiracy.  The EPA is doing its level best to destroy American business with onerous regulations.  The FCC will reinstate the “Fairness Doctrine” but with a different name.   The idea is to eliminate free speech.  Drilling for the abundance of oil America possesses is under the gun from numerous Obama outfits.  America MUST be kept dependent on foreign oil, according to plan.

It appears the lead department for the upcoming “Civil War” is Homeland Security.  Directly under Obama control, and especially answerable to Valerie Jarrett,  the DHS is actively preparing for massive social unrest inside the United States.  FACILITATING “unrest” perhaps is the better word.  Americans unhappy with events as they develop with the DHS?  Not to worry.  They seem to believe that if Americans will put up with the TSA “radiate and grope” regulations just to get on a plane they will put up with most anything.    Rumors of special camps being constructed in remote areas?  “Words, just words.”  Procurement of additdional FEMA trailers?  “Absurd poppycock.”   DHS procurement of enough additional hollow-point ammunition to shoot all of us if necessary?  Definitely “tinfoil hat conjecture.”

The Obama Regime is counting heavily on the financial disintegration of the EU.  Why do you think Corzine remains free and in fact continues to bundle money for the Obama?    When Greece leaves the EU you can expect massive hyperinflation and good chance the collapse of our Dollar.  Any possibility there might be chaos in the streets if something goes haywire with our money?  Little Timmy is on top of this plan, of course.  Geithner is a biggie Cabal member, as is Corzine.

Does a “race-war” part of the master plan if this conspiracy idea holds water?    Oh yeah!  Trayvon was just the tip of the iceberg.  Look for some incident against Obama and/or his family.  This will enrage  Black America.  It will be carefully  choreographed, of course.  and executed in such a manner as to evoke the ugliest of reactions as to make the Watts riots and Rodney King pale in comparison.  When this happens the DHS will use its force to maintain order.  They will blame and go after the Tea Parties, the Gun & God Clingers, the Constitutionalists, and virtually anyone who has complained about Obama.  FOX News, Limbaugh, and Hannity come to mind.  This will begin in the Urban areas using the 99%ers as agitators.  This will include disruption of business and commerce.

And thus it begins.

Today Americans would be outraged if UN troops entered Los Angeles to restore order.  With our cities in turmoil and a perceived outside threat to our Nation, they would perhaps be grateful.  They would likely be joined by other nations pleading with World Leaders to save us from this evil.  Fear of the unknown may see Americans relinquish individual rights for guarantee of their well-being by their new World Government.

                                                                                       “My Work Is Done Here”

This conspiracy theory was put together from articles found in Instapundit and Canada Free Press.  I sincerely hope it is all imagination gone wild, not simply connecting the dots.

Ah, spring comes to the northeast.  Backyard hosta plants reclaim their place above the soil round ye olde maple tree, the snow turns to rain, and another story of wasted ‘Stimulus Spending’ makes its way into the light of day.  The cycle restarts, the circle of life begins anew, and a garden rock is moved, revealing the slimy / wiggly white things which live beneath it.

Just a spring day.  Just another morning.  Just another story of mis-placed government ‘stimulus’.

Yes, today is ALL about stimulus.  Just HOW stimulatin’ will it get?  We’ll get there, I promise.

Remember ‘back in the day’ when we were told that we had to spend a lot of money to keep from going bankrupt?  Well, I do.  And remember when the long-term survival of our Nation was contingent upon our ability to create shovel-ready jobs?  And remember when we were told that ”Joanie loved Chachi”? 

Did we ever stop to ask ‘Why’?  No, we didn’t, because we trusted Joe Biden, President Obama (well, some did, at least), and we trusted the people who thought a “Happy Days” spin-off with Erin Moran would ACTUALLY be a good idea.  (Seriously, what were they thinking?)  

Oh well, ancient history right?  Well, maybe not…

As reported today at 6:17am EST (you may want to buy a Lottery ticket today as this story was posted by NBC – yes, there’s something special about this day):

May 16, 2012, NBC Online:   The NBC Investigative Unit has raised questions about two grants totaling nearly $1.5 million dollars distributed to the University of California San Francisco. The money was part of the federal stimulus program and went to studies into the erectile dysfunction of overweight middle aged men and the accurate reporting of someone’s sexual history.

This is part of our ongoing series of investigations by the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit into who got federal stimulus dollars, and why some projects did not break ground more than two years after receiving the grant.

The Investigative Unit looked closely at the federal government’s decision to spend nearly $1.5 million dollars of taxpayer money, money that came here to California. Grant number 1R01HD056950-01A2 was among the thousands of grants funded, receiving $1.2 million dollars. This grant studied how to improve the accuracy of how people responded to questions about their sexual history.

“If you honestly report on your sexual activity and number of partners?” Scott Amey with asked with a sigh. “That’s a good one.”

…

NBC Bay Area talked to the University of California San Francisco, the institution that received the grant. “Does it make you wonder a little bit, stimulus money for a study like this?” Kovaleski asked Jeff Sheehy, who works at the UCSF Aids Research Center. “No it doesn’t,” he answered. “Because to my mind we save money if we get better health outcomes.”

According to the grant, a good portion of the study will “Improve the accuracy of responses to questions,” specifically questions about a person’s sexual behavior. “Playing devil’s advocate,” Kovaleski said to Sheehy, “Do taxpayers need to spend $1.2 million dollars to figure this out?”

“The judgment wasn’t one that I was asked,” Sheehy replied.The NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit discovered that for $1.2 million dollars, taxpayers funded a study that included 200 videotaped interviews at $6,000 per interview. Kovaleski asked Sheehy to justify the spending. “I think the average person is going to look at $1.2 million dollars to interview 200 people and say Wow!” Sheehy defended the study. “I understand people could look at it and have issues but this is research,” he said.

Kovaleski then asked about jobs. “How many jobs did this $1.26 million dollars create?” “Well I can’t really say,” Sheehy said. “There were eleven researchers hired on the job, two consultants. Well I can’t say. This has not been evaluated for job creation.”

The number Sheehy quoted during an interview with NBC Bay Area did not match information on recovery.gov, the government’s website for stimulus funds. According to the site, the grant produced 0.85 jobs. “It does make you scratch your head and wonder,” Amey said, “Wait a second taxpayer dollars went to a sex study that barely funded less than one person.”

Amey was also left questioning another UCSF grant. When asked by an NBC reporter about a study into erectile dysfunction involving overweight middle aged men he replied, “Oh boy.”

The grant totaled more than a quarter million dollars. Although UCSF was willing to discuss our questions about the sexual history grant, the University declined to provide an expert to talk with the NBC Investigative Unit about the erectile dysfunction grant.

In a written statement provided they said in part, “Obesity related health issues currently cost $147 Billion per year in direct medical costs in the United States….. Health providers therefore continue to search for incentives to encourage people to live a healthier lifestyle, to benefit both individuals and society…. Preliminary analysis indicates that is is feasible to enroll men in this type of research, they successfully lose the expected weight over a 12-week period, and they see an improvement in ED symptoms…”
There’s more, of course, but you can read the entire text at the story linked above. 

As for me, I have a couple of thoughts:

Thought 1:  For less than $100, I would have told researchers what they wanted to know on behalf of ALL men (and women?  Maybe…). 

In response to the question:  “How many people have you been, ahem, ‘Intimate’ with?   AND have you ever lied about it?”  For $97.85 I could have told them what you and I already know. 

People lie about this for either one of two reasons.

  Reason 1a:  They want people to think that they’re a ‘player’ making up stuff which never happened about people they never knew.  Or,

  Reason 1b:  They don’t want people to think that they’re a ‘slut’, a ’whore’, a ’trollop’, or ‘Sandra Fluke’ (oh, THAT felt good to get one more shot at Sandra (excuse the pun) in here)…

Thought 2:  They’re asking the WRONG Question. 

The correct question is:  “So, now that you’re here, participating in our study, have you ever cheated on your taxes?  And if so, in which Tax Years?”

If the respondent answers THIS question ‘honestly’, we’ll collect a whole LOT of money through IRS audits and pay for MORE stupid projects (like this one) yielding a whopping .85 jobs each. 

The problem, of course, is that most people, when asked hard questions will…  Not exactly be truthful with you (a.k.a.:  ‘Lie’) or just make stuff up on the spot. 

You know, just like people do when you ask them how many ‘partners’ they’ve had - people will lie. 

Or, if you ask the President how many jobs his stimulus package actually created, and when.

Have a stimulating day!

Somebody owes me $  97.85.

An important change is happening in the presidential race…the belief that Mitt Romney could actually win is spreading.  There is a growing confidence among his supporters, and the polls are starting to pick up a shift in his favor.

There is another indicator, however, and it is far more reliable. The left-leaning media is getting hysterical, launching over-the-top attacks on Romney and moving to protect President Obama as they see the public turning away from their man.

A CNN anchor compared Romney’s statement that “marriage is a relationship between one man and one woman” to George Wallace’s statement in 1963 that he favored “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.”

An MSNBC guest compared Ann Romney to Hitler and Stalin.

The New York Times, faced with the fact that its own poll showed 67 percent of voters suspect Obama supported gay marriage mostly for political reasons, buried the story on the bottom of Page 17. And not until the 16th paragraph did it mention that the poll found Romney leading Obama by three points.

Then there’s the Newsweek cover that slapped a rainbow halo on the man it called “the first gay president” — an image that captures the quest to grant Obama messiah status.

The echo-chamber quality to the hysteria is of a piece with media cheerleading on the president’s gay-marriage stance, the lack of curiosity about how it came to pass, and what it means for the election.

Pundits and headline writers widely hail him as “brave” and “courageous” for “evolving” to yes, but Obama had little choice after Vice President Joe Biden announced his own support. True courage comes only when the choice is voluntary and there is another option. Acting when you have no other option is not courageous.

Moreover, the fact that Biden apologized to Obama for forcing him out is barely noted by the kudo chorus. The apology sequence doesn’t fit with the narrative of Obama “courage,” so the press ignores it.

Strange, too, that Obama declared gay marriage a civil right, but insisted it should be left to the states. His political allies are scratching their heads over that one — it’s a civil right or it’s not — but the media haven’t pursued that incoherent angle either.

Nor do his cheerleaders seem curious about whether he will support Harry Reid and others who want to include a call for gay marriage in the party’s official campaign platform.

A further twist adds more confusion. Obama said the law designed to leave it to the states — the Defense of Marriage Act, signed by Bill Clinton — is “unconstitutional.” So, is he going to propose another version? Nobody seems to care.

Whatever you believe about gay marriage, the media double standard is doing Obama more harm than good. Accusing Romney of using his stance as a “wedge issue” while painting Obama as a hero for his doesn’t pass the smell test.

This article was written by Michael Goodwin

THIS is the reason he is not fit.

Using an Obama phrase, “let me be perfectly clear.”   Homosexuality is either a birth defect  like having six toes or it is a life style choice that offers a freedom that One Man/One Woman does not offer.  The solution to this “conundrum” is reasonably simple.  While it is true that this is an aberration, it is also true that the government has no right to intrude in the way it’s citizens wish to live.  This is a states-rights issue.  However, I would suggest a “partner provision” that allows all legal provision to be accorded that are the province of married  people today.  This is not a mandate but a suggestion for the states to seriously consider.  The homosexuals deserve no less.

For centuries, marriage has meant one man/one woman.  Religion provided this premise.  Marriage is a religious act, not a civil act.  Commen sense joins in.   Continuation of the human race is a center piece.  For America, this Judao-Christian premise is nigh universal. It is not a major problem or some form of discrimination.  Do not let anyone fool you.  This is an election year Obama idea designed to divide the electorate even further, thus insuring his electoral victory…..he hopes.   However, to buy into this brouhaha is to place yourself on a slippery slope and trust me you will  slip, slide and tumble once you start.

Words do have meaning, don’t they?  Until fairly recently, the idea of a marriage between same-sex couples would have been met with derision.  Allowing the term marriage for single-sex folks could some day be akin to pointing to a tree and saying “look at that fish.”

                                                                                     An Elephant

  Oh Oh.  Here comes the lawyers.  Skilled lawyers could invalidate any contract because their client has a different interpretation of the meaning of the terms.  Or it could be argued that a person did not commit perjury because the word “is” means something entirely different to them than everyone else who hears it.  Kinda like trying to decide what the definition of “it” is…ring any bells?

ProgLibs view the Constitution as a “living document,” open to interpretation, don’t they?  Words can easily be redefined to fit the prevailing politically correct winds.  All you need to do is go judge-shopping.  Simply find a animal rights advocate and get them to change the meaning of the word “dependent.”  Case in point.  We all love our pets and frequently treat them as our children.   The term dependent is used to describe children especially when it comes to taxes.   Will this always be the case?  How about we find an anti-fur advocate or a Vegan type judge.  It isn’t too far fetched to conceive of a $1,000per pet tax credit.  Not in the near future…perhaps.  The word “dependent ” still has one meaning, as does “marriage.”

I would suppose the major argument same-sex marriage advocates use is equating this issue with civil rights.  This is bunk.  The civil rights issue dealt exclusively with skin color.  Gays say same-same.  I have never heard of anyone “experimenting” being black while in college.  Ever hear of any one you have known or heard about who decided later in life that they were black?   Equating civil rights with gay marriage only cheapens the struggle blacks went through to obtain equality.

Some believe Obama was “outed” by his VP on his “evolving” opinion on gay marriager.  Others believ the timing was deliberate.  Either way, this subject should not be center stage on the road to the November election.  It will be interesting how Obama fares in his “evolvement” in view of over 30 states enacting  one man-one woman=marriage legislation.  It will also be fun to watch him in North Carolina during ProgLib Convention time since that state has joined the thirty.

Folk Singer Pete Seeger once said, “Education is when you think and read the fine print.  Experience is what you get when you don’t” 

I think he was on to something.

1) Only in America could politicians talk about the greed of the rich at a
$35,000 a plate campaign fund raising event.

2) Only in America could people claim that the government still
discriminates against black Americans when we have a black President, a
black Attorney General, and roughly 18% of the federal workforce is black.

3) Only in America could we have had the two people most responsible for
our tax code, Timothy Geithner, the head of the Treasury Department and
Charles Rangel who once ran the Ways and Means Committee, BOTH turn out to
be tax cheats who are in favor of higher taxes.

4) Only in America will you find people who burn the American flag and
call America an “imperialist nation,” but who get offended if you say
they’re not
patriotic.

5) Only in America can we have terrorists kill people in the name of Allah
and have the media primarily react by fretting that Muslims might be
harmed by the backlash.

6) Only in America could someone drinking a $5 latte and texting to his
friends on an iPhone 4 complain that the government allows some people to
make too much money.

7) Only in America would people take rappers who brag about shooting
people and selling drugs seriously when they complain the police are targeting them.

Only in America would we make people who want to legally become
American citizens wait for years in their home countries and pay tens of
thousands of dollars for the privilege while we discuss letting anyone who
sneaks into the country illegally just become American citizens.

9) Only in America could the people who believe in balancing the budget
and sticking by the country’s Constitution be thought of as “extremists.”

10) Only in America could the most vicious foes of successful conservative
women be self-proclaimed feminists in the National Organization for Women.

11) Only in America would you need to present a driver’s license to cash a
check or buy alcohol, but not to vote.

12) Only in America can we have terrorists fly planes into our buildings
and have some peoples’  first thought be “what did we do to make them hate
us?”

13) Only in America would we think teaching kids at college is an
appropriate job for communists, terrorists, and other dregs of humanity.

14) Only in America could people demand the government investigate whether
the oil companies are gouging the public because the price of gas went up
when for every penny of profit the oil companies make, the government
tacks on roughly 24 cents worth of taxes.
 

15) Only in America could the first
people asked to weigh in on the
seriousness of a racial incident by the media be professional race
hustlers like Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and Ben Jealous. In other words,
it’s like calling in a car dealer as a neutral source on whether or not
you need to get a new car.

16) Only in America does airport security put its hands on your
underwear….while you’re wearing it.

This was sent to us via email.  Makes a lot of sense, don’t you think?

There is no connection between this picture and the above material.  We just thought the picture was too good to let go.