Obama Dictates It All For You!!

Now America will learn the folly of voting for style over substance. Obama and his ideological partners in crime have played fast and loose with the American electorate the first two years of his administration. Elected on a platform of centrist moderation and bi-partisan support, he fooled the electorate, and rammed a radical leftist agenda down America’s throat with nary a glance at the poll numbers telling him that America didn’t want what he was selling: backdoor deals, bailouts, clandestine votes held on Christmas Eve, and a health care policy already spinning out of control…and it hasn’t even really started.

America fought back, and handed Obama a shellacking; his words not mine. It was the biggest turnover in the House of Representatives in seventy five years. Faced with an overtly Republican House, and a Senate now dominated by Republican and conservative Blue Dog Democrats up for re-election in 2012, Obama made nice on the tax compromise. But he kicked and screamed all the way calling Republicans hostage takers. So much for his feeble attempt at bi-partisanship!

But never fear!! Leftists always have a plan B, and it usually involves circumventing the Democratic process because what they want fails in the normal Democratic process. It is called authoritarianism…and we are now on the brink of entering Dictatorship America.

Pshaw, you say. You can pooh-pooh all you want, but that is exactly where we are headed. If he can’t win the vote in Congress…and can’t win the case court…he will do it through the Dictatorship of the Bureaucracy. Here come the agencies, courts and Congress be damned.

1) While America was out fa-la-la-ing around, the FCC took over the internet. Congress already told the FCC it couldn’t do it. The Supreme Court of the United States said it couldn’t do it. It did it, and how Congress and the Supreme Court reacts will dictate our freedoms for the future. Using old laws governing radio waves, the FCC implemented something called net neutrality, which means the owners of the broadband wires can’t play favorites as to who has access to them. Sounds good? You bet. Here’s the problem…there was no problem. Nobody was complaining. It is just something they wanted to do. And the FCC in a 3-2 vote told Congress and the Supreme Court to shove it. So what’s the big deal? Besides the obvious that the FCC is trying to dictate how the internet is used by fiat, it is a precursor to the re-establishment of the fairness doctrine in radio broadcasting. This is dangerous, and the proverbial getting the camel’s nose under the tent.

2) The EPA is about to promulgate (I love that word) a bunch of new rules that will implement by executive order the Cap and Trade global warming fiasco defeated in the Senate last year. It has declared carbon dioxide a dangerous gas, and is now claiming the right to regulate it. Watch out, America. While you are freezing your ass off in one of the coldest and snowiest winters on record, the global warming zealots are on the prowl doing good for you and for mankind. Never mind the science or the will of the people, they know what’s good for you.

3) In the health care debacle, Republicans warned of death panels. Congress removed from the health care bill funding to pay doctors for end of life counseling. That’s telling people the virtue of dying with dignity. This is more than turn off the machines when brain dead. This is making seniors feeling guilty about spending money for treatments that may prolong life but are expensive. Let’s just put granny in the box and bury her out back. By the way, this counseling is not the death panel Sarah Palin warned about. THAT is the government agency that determines the cost effectiveness of treatment by dividing the cost of the treatment by the actuarial tables’ life expectancy of the patient to determine whether that patient is qualified for treatment. If you break your hip if your 85, your screwed. That, of course, is not to be confused with the Health and Human Services Secretary granting compliance “waivers” to the new health care regs to “friends” while the rest of us twist slowly in the breeze. Seriously!!!!

This kind of arbitrary governance is dangerous and can lead to civil disobedience and civil unrest. Obama is conceding that he is finished in Congress. So now he will do what leftists do best…rule by decree. The battle for freedom over the next two years will shift to the courts….and I predict the United States Supreme Court will be very busy telling Obama and his minions just what they can, and more importantly, what they can’t do.

Death and Taxes

The nation dodged the bullet on the trillion dollar omnibus spending bill and saved the country a bundle. Couple that with the extension of the Bush tax cuts it was a pretty decent week for the American taxpayer. The electorate spoke in November, and Washington listened. One can only hope.

I hope America got an earful on how some of these guys think after the announcement of the Obama tax compromise. It wasn’t the Republicans making a stink. It was the Democrats. And the hostility and class hatred bubbled to the surface and they groused around about the “rich”. The estate tax compromise was the focal point of Democratic rancor. Where does the hate come from?

Ten years ago, if you had an estate valued over $650,000.00, you paid estate tax starting at 55%. No, that is not a misprint. If you were married, you were able to pyramid various tax credits to shelter $1.2 million…but if you were single, your heirs would have to pay 55% above $650,000.00 of what was inherited to the Federal government, plus another 7% to the state.

Bush gradually phased it out. This past year, the estate tax went to zero. So George Steinbrenner, worth millions, hit the jackpot (so to speak) by dying this past year. His multi-billion dollar estate paid nothing.

Democrats talk about the lack of an estate tax as being unfair. Could somebody please tell me what is fair about taking more than half of what a person owns when he dies? While there some uber rich who could afford and not blink an eye, for the most part these estate taxes were the death knell for family farms and small businesses that were capital intensive and cash poor. You can have a business that is valued at $20 mil, but if it is all equipment or land, you have to sell it off to pay the taxes.

If there were any other winners besides the government, it would be insurance companies. Small business people, if they were able, would purchase insurance policies for the sole purpose of paying taxes. Insurance trusts were specifically designed for this, and the life insurance was NOT subject to the federal estate tax so there would be enough cash to pay the taxes on the rest of the estates.

The compromise that came out of Obama for the next two years was to tax estates over $5 million at a rate of 35%. For a married couple with a good estate planner, that means about $10 million can be sheltered. I am opposed to all estate taxes, but I can live with this.

The Democrats screamed and yelled. How awful. Those rotten rich people!! How much liberal economic policy is based on sound economic principles, and how much on class envy and jealousy?

Remember, just ten years ago government bureaucrats were taking 55% of accumulated, earned, tax paid already wealth above $650,000.00. Maybe not in Youngstown, but in certain markets, that’s the value of an average house. And the government goons had no problem with that. And here is the lesson, if the government can do it to them, it can do it to you.

Now it’s the Republicans up at bat, I only hope they don’t screw it up, too.

We Need a Little Christmas

The mood of the country is ugly. In fact, the mood of the world is ugly. The riots in London, which have only been scantly reported by the American media, are about as ugly as they can get. Police were almost forced to draw guns on the mob as it attacked a car carrying Prince Charles and Camilla. The rear window was broken, and it looked dicey for awhile as bottles, rocks, and rotten fruit were thrown at the car. America isn’t there yet, but it’s close. The anger is palpable.

Maybe the country needs a rest. Maybe the country needs a little Christmas, as the song so eloquently declares. To quote Jimmy Carter, there is indeed a malaise over the nation. Things aren’t near as festive this year. Retailers have cut back. The decorations are skimpy. The news is depressing. The weather, at least in northeast Ohio, has been abysmal. America needs some time off to take stock of things. America needs to review the situation.

The good news is that as American institutions continue to sputter and fail, the American people are showing resiliency. The very nature of the country is being debated everywhere, from quilt clubs to coffee shops to dinner tables to churches. The debate is heated, but at least there is debate as America moves to redefine itself in ways that are monumental. What is the nature of our Constitution? What is the nature of our Democracy? What is the nature of property? What is fair…and what is greed? What is the nature of our commonality as a nation? What does Rule of Law mean? What is our role in the world economically and militarily? Can you imagine these types of issues being examined in any meaningful way as little as three years ago?

But it’s time to put the debate aside for awhile…say two or three weeks. It’s time to go home to our families and appreciate what we as individuals and as a nation have achieved. It’s time to hug your spouse and children. It’s time to bake some cookies. It’s time to party and to enjoy ourselves in the midst of traumatic times. Decorate your tree. Put up the lights. Go buy some presents. Go sledding or skiing. Drink toddy…the stronger the better. Go visit some friends or go out for dinner. Go see a Christmas show. Turn off the news and sports and turn on some Frank Sinatra or Bing Crosby Christmas tunes, and watch the lake effect snow blowing outside your window.

Yes, we need a little Christmas. Right this very minute. Candles on the table. Carols at the spinet. And if you don’t have a spinet, turn on Fa la la la Lifetime and watch a hokey Christmas movie. Those are win/win. They will either make you glow all touchy feely inside, or be glad to be living in the reality of today’s world because nothing can be that sappy!!! Somebody got paid good money to write that stuff.

So, America, take a break. Cool it. And go and celebrate the season. Pelosi, Reid and cohorts will still be there after January 1.

Whacked over Wikileaks? Go See a Christmas Show!

Reading the Drudge Report, one can quickly discern that the world, the county and Obama are spinning out of control. So much bad news, so many disturbing things, I don’t know what to write about. How about you? Are you whacked over Wikkileaks? Are you suffering tax-olepy over tax cuts? Are you seething over spending? Are you dopey over the deficit? Hey, it’s Christmastime. Go see a show. And there are plenty of local chestnuts from which to choose.

If you are looking for something to do Saturday the 4th or Sunday the 5th, check out Move Over Broadway’s latest entry in its “Believe” Christmas series. We saw the show tonight, and as usual, Marlene Stollo and Company outdid themselves at St. Michael’s in Canfield. The show features the “come to be expected” outstanding choral work and spectacular solo voices, as well as numerous ensemble pieces. Highlights included the terminally cute Broadway Babies singing the Christmas Alphabet, a ladies ensemble version of It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas, and Tom Gent and Grace Vouvalis’ duet version of Thankful. The bifurcated program hits a spot on religious note the first half, and a secular extravaganza the second. The show finales with its outstanding medley of carols ending with a spectacular O Holy Night. Don’t miss this one.

But just in case you do…there is a Christmas stocking full of other holiday happenings from which to choose. The Oakland Theater is at its satirical best with How The Drag Queen Stole Christmas this weekend and next . Go with an open mind. As if the regular version is not enough, next week they offer a very special unrated, no holds barred midnight show for the most brave among you. We saw it last year, and it was hoot. We were so shocked at what we saw, we are going to see it again next weekend…the regular version…not the XXX version.

Stage Left Players in Lisbon moves Christmas to a diner in Jingle My Bells, also this weekend and next weekend. Snowbound patrons order Christmas over easy. I know the drummer, and he only does good stuff!!

Victorian Players offers In The Spirit of Christmas through December 5. It is a series of vignettes sure to tug at your heart strings. Victorian Players does an outstanding job at more traditional theater presentations…and this is no exception.

The Youngstown Playhouse does Inspecting Carol December 10 – 19th. A local theater company tries to save its subscribers and funding by doing a spiced up version of A Christmas Carol. Seems a little too close to the truth here in Youngstown…but reviews of the play say it is a side splitter. If you want to cry at Christmas, stay home and watch the Hallmark Channel!!

Salem Community Theater serves up a stage version of Miracle on 34th Street December 10 – 19th. These folks always do a terrific job, and their shows are always filled. This should be no exception. Which way to Macy’s?

On a bigger scale, Miracle on Easy Street once again is offered at the Powers Auditorium by Youngstown’s own professional Easy Street Productions. This is a Youngstown tradition, made more special by some of the personal issues overcome by the stars and owners of the production company. They have put out a CD of the show’s musical highlights. It is a great, happy CD. The $20.00 cost will go a long way in helping them to recover from some of their physical and monetary issues. I’m there this year. And the CD really is worth the money. It will be one of my favorites.

The Youngstown Symphony Christmas program Sounds of the Season is presented December 11th. This is always a top notch production. We saw it last year, and the gospel tunes set our toes a tappin’. Don’t miss it.

Finally, my own Seraphim Chorus is doing Vivaldi’s Gloria, plus other familiar Christmas tunes on December 12, 3:00 PM at Martin Luther Lutheran Church at Clearmont and Hudson. We have never sounded better, and a free will offering gets you admission to one of the hottest tickets in town. We are THAT good.

Have a Merry Christmas…and forget about that Wikkileaks leaks stuff!!