Barney Frank Springs Into Action, Spits on Constitution

My Dear Fellow Patriots;

A new proposal in Congress would “prohibit unreasonable and excessive compensation and compensation not based on performance standards...”

Well, there it is. It's called the "Pay for Performance Act of 2009," and if you haven't heard of it, that's because, well, not very many folks have been talking about it. This piece of stealth Marxism is brought to us by the lovely and vivacious Barney Frank and his backup band, the House Financial Services Committee.

In short, this measure would permit the government to impose controls on the pay of all employees of a company that has received bailout money, a.k.a. "a capital investment by the U.S. government." And not just top execs, either; in this case "all" means all, even the rank and file employees. The bill directs the Treasury Department, a.k.a. Tim Geithner, to evaluate “the performance of the individual executive or employee to whom the payment relates.”

Wouldn't you know that this little dandy would be retroactive, too, meaning that employment contracts in place wouldn't be worth the paper upon which they're written. Destruction of the sanctity of the contract seems to be an Obama Administration forte.

If you're thinking to yourself that this cannot possibly be constitutional, I'd say you're on target. If you're looking around to find the outrage, I'd say keep looking, even though you're not likely to find it.

Where is the outrage, indeed. Where are the Republican press conferences about this usurpation of power? Where is the Republican media blitz condemning this headlong dive into Marxism? Sadly, nowhere to be found.

I'm Sorry. I Would Rather Strike First.

Check out this link and be very afraid...and then be determined not to strike back - but to strike FIRST!

A British MP Gets It. Completely.

" ...you cannot carry on forever squeezing the productive bit of the economy in order to fund an unprecedented engorgement of the unproductive bit. You cannot spend your way out of recession or borrow your way out of debt."
-Daniel Hannan, MEP



I don't have to tell you what to do; if you're politically plugged in you're doing it automatically. You're exchanging the words "Prime Minister" for "Mr. President," the words "United Kingdom" and "Great Britian" for "United States," and "British" for "American."

You Just Can't Make This Stuff Up.

There was an album that I used to love as a kid. It was the first-ever release by the Mamas and the Papas, entitled If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears, and as I peruse the political landscape these days, that phrase just keeps popping into my head.

The latest foray into insanity by this bizarre Congress comes to us today courtesy of Sen. Benjamin Cardin, D.-Md.

You see, Senator Cardin has figured out a way to staunch the flow of red ink that has been afflicting most major, left-leaning newspapers throughout the country, all long-time allies of the Liberal establishment that they are loath to see lose further ground to the blogosphere.

The crux of his proposal is that he wants to allow newspapers, if they so desire, to choose to become non-profit organizations, thereby avoiding the burden of paying taxes. Liberals are so good at avoiding that particular heavy load, aren't they?

After all, newspapers perform a public service for democracy and should be allowed to operate as tax-exempt non-profits! Right? RIGHT? His bill would explicitly include newspapers as an eligible organization for 501 (c) (3) status, the same status as public radio and public television.

I will pause here for a moment to allow you to catch your breath if you are doubled over with laughter, or to resume breathing if you were momentarily struck dumb at the horror of it all.

The business-ownership model under which these non-profits would operate is called L3C, short for Low-profit, Limited Liability Company. Under the legislation proposed by Cardin, newspaper revenues would be tax-exempt and conversely, those who purchase newpapers could declare their "contributions" as tax deductions.

"We are losing our newspaper industry," Cardin said in a statement. "The economy has caused an immediate problem, but the business model for newspapers, based on circulation and advertising revenue, is broken, and that is a real tragedy for communities across the nation and for our democracy."

Now here's the onion: In order to maintain its tax-exempt status, the non-profit newspaper would not be allowed to endorse political candidates. But DO NOT panic - they would still be able to report political news. Because, y'know, the way they report a story doesn't carry any built-in political proclivities, or any kind of agenda or anything. Nope. No siree.

Fair. Balanced. Tax-free.

Something Is Brewing In America...

Tea Parties are taking place all across the nation...
...and the movement continues to grow.

Short Memories. Absolutely Amazing....

Gentle readers, please pay particular attention to Barney Frank's remark, "...and we wouldn't bail 'em out, anyway."

Michael Goodwin NAILS IT!

One of the great feelings in life is to find a deeply-held conviction, which you just cannot quite put into words, expressed by another with great clarity. You know what I mean - the kind of writing that makes you say "Yes, there it is! THAT is what I wanted to say..."

So along comes Michael Goodwin of the New York Daily News, a columnist who is not a staunch Conservative by a long shot, and he draws a bead on Washington, takes dead aim, and hits the target dead center. Here is his column in its entirety:

Everybody makes mistakes, and I made a beaut the other day. I was wrong to call members of Congress blow-hards and buffoons and declare them worse than useless.

I was too kind.

I should have said our representatives are gangsters in pinstripes and pearls. They are petty tyrants and the more power they grab, the more at risk we are. Homeland Security should flash Code Red any time this Congress is in session.

It is twilight in America now. The House vote to use the tax code to retroactively punish bonus babies was an act of sheer madness. What started as phony outrage at AIG has crossed the line into insane policy. It is stunning that the vote was lopsided and bipartisan.

The Senate is itchy to go along, and President Obama says he's ready to tighten the thumbscrews on the banks. Is there no adult who will bring a straitjacket?

We should all be very afraid. Class warfare is mere predicate for a witch hunt that, once unleashed, will not stop with misbegotten wealth. It will punish success and stifle innovation. Dissent will invite dishonor.

That Congress is a gang of cheap connivers is not news. Chris Dodd, Charlie Rangel, Charles Grassley, Barney Frank - they have been national embarrassments for years.

But now they are dangerous, emboldened by public fear and anger. They know nothing, but have power and smell opportunity for more.

Missing in action is the Barack Obama who vowed to unite the country around common values. Lately he has been the very opposite of the man he promised. Instead of hope, many have a growing fear of the arrogant government he leads.

Obama is smart, quick and charming, and, as he showed on "The Tonight Show," owner of a thousand-watt smile he can deploy at will. He silkily manages to make the ridiculous sound reasonable. When he insults the Special Olympics, he is forgiven.

Yet even "Tonight" host Jay Leno broke from full flattery to reveal his qualms about the meaning of the bonus tax. "Here's something that kind of scared me," he said. "If the government decides they don't like a guy, all of a sudden, hey, we're going to tax you and then, boom, and it passes."

Obama brushed it off, part of an endless road show claim that he will bring back "common sense" to the financial system and restore "those values that built America."

If only. In truth, there is no history for what he is doing. He is the most radical President of our times, far outside the mainstream of our political philosophy.

He is not a reformer who fixes things. He fancies himself "transformative," a man who reshapes and reorders. It apparently begins with smashing the existing order under the pretext of managing the crisis he inherited.

During the campaign, a fellow journalist confided that "I know Obama is a Manchurian candidate, I just can't figure out what for."

I laughed then, but no more. Obama represents a secular religion that believes, no matter the malady, Washington is the antidote. More government is the chicken soup of his tribe.

It is an illusion of many Republicans and Democrats that Washington can successfully manage the economy and our lives. Our institutions and culture are too big, too diverse and too unruly to be run like a banana republic.

Yet the economic mess has robbed the nation of its confidence, and the vacuum is being filled by politicians bearing promises and borrowed dollars. The true cost of this "help" will come later, with back-breaking debt and a lack of growth and opportunity.

We can't say we haven't been warned. "Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad" is more than folklore. It predicts our fate if we follow the government mob.

We calls 'em like we sees 'em....

...and we call Congressman Michael McMahon "SAFE AT HOME" for his NO vote on a bill that will enact illegal, punitive taxation against those individuals that received contractual bonuses in the AIG debacle. Distancing himself from the hard-left members of his party earns our kudos and commendations.

Who knows? More independent thinking like this and perhaps the good Congressman will come out and demonstrate WITH us in front of his offices at noon on Tax Day, protesting the not-to-be-believed trillion dollar deficits that the Obama administration is foisting upon generations of Americans as we lurch sickeningly towards European-style socialism.

The thought that Congress can legislate punishment for private citizens because they find their LEGAL actions to be odious smacks of big-brotherism on a scale never before imagined in the United States. This Congress continues to ignore the Constitution in the most shocking manner, and bills like this can only be a pre-cursor to other legislation curtailing the rights and liberties Americans have enjoyed since our country was founded. Heck, perhaps they'll decide to tax the incomes of certain radio talk-show hosts at a 95% rate. That'll shut 'em up.

If Only We Had Known...

Victor Davis Hanson reminds us that Barack Obama was, well, less then honest with the American people during the campaign. However, Congressman McMahon, totally nonplussed by all the slippin' and slidin', has managed to help facilitate this radical agenda with amazing consistency, thumbing his nose at a constituency which voted heavily against Barack Obama.

Setting aside for the moment the puzzling inconsistency that our borough could soundly reject Barack Obama but soundly elect McMahon, let's take a moment to examine just what President Obama has done since his $170 million (what recession?) inauguration this past January, less than three months ago. In that short time, this administration has proposed or passed legislation, with Congressman McMahon's assistance, that:

- Borrowed $787 Billion (over a trillion with debt servicing) for a stimulus package that contained precious little actual "stimulus."

- Pushed a $3.6 trillion budget with over 8,500 earmarks.

- Procured $634 billion as a "down payment" on what is essentially socialized medicine - the worst that money can buy.

- Augmented the wasted $700 billion Bush bailout of failing banks with an additional $750 billion, promulgating the liberal theory that no problem is so thorny that it cannot be solved by flinging huge amounts of taxpayer dollars at it. Like the War on Poverty.

- Promised to HALVE the federal deficit by upping the income tax burden to 40% on the "rich" 5% of Americans who currently pay 60% of our income taxes. Got that? And in addition to the tax hike, the filthy will see their Social Security limits raised and some of their deductions disappear or shrink.

- Ignored the fact that some Americans, when they add in state and local taxes, will pay over 60% of their income in taxes. No problem, even though 40% of Americans pay no income taxes at all. Can you say "redistribution?"

We could go on, but you get the point. Was there ever a more dangerous time for Americans? We cannot afford to wait. We must speak out against the travesty inflicted upon our country by this immature, inexperienced and downright dangerous Administration.

Atlas is shrugging.

Higher Corporate Taxes: WE Bear The Cost...

From Walter Williams' on-the-money IBD editorial:

It's not rocket science to conclude that whatever lowers the cost of capital formation enables workers to have more capital to work with and enjoy higher wages. Policies that raise the cost of capital formation such as capital gains taxes, low depreciation allowances and high corporate income taxes, and thereby reduce capital formation, serve not the interests of workers, investors nor consumers.

Taxes also reduce transactions. I need my computer repaired. You and I agree that the job is worth $200. Suppose there's the imposition of a 30% income tax on you. That means you would net only $140 and might refuse the job.

You might suggest that if I were willing to pay you $285, you would do the job because at that price your after-tax earnings will be $200 — what doing the job is worth to you.

There's a problem. The repair job was worth $200 to me, not $285. So it's my turn to say the heck with it. Or would we — and society — be better off if you and I agreed to the repair job but did not tell anybody? I'd say yes, but we'd be criminals.

You might wonder how congressmen can get away with taxes and other measures that reduce our prosperity potential. Part of the answer is the anti-business climate promoted in academia and the news media. The more important reason is that prosperity foregone is invisible.

In other words, we can never tell how much richer we would have been without today's level of congressional interference in our lives and therefore don't fight it as much as we should.

Congressman McMahon is an intelligent man, it is hard to believe that he doesn't see the direction this is taking. The Congressman has to make a choice: he must vote in the best interest of his constituents, or he must vote in the best interests of Nancy Pelosi.

'Nuff said.

Huge: Thousands converge for Cincinnati Tea Party

Something is brewing in America.

We are witnessing the stirring of a silent majority that has been slumbering for far too long, but has now, due to the actions of a radical administration, been rudely awakened.

It puts me in mind of the apocryphal words of Admiral Yamamoto after the bombing of Pearl Harbor: "I fear that all we have done is awakened a sleeping giant and filled him with a terrible resolve..."

Thousands converged to make their voices heard in Cincinnati this weekend, and the movement grows...

How our Congressman spends YOUR $$$ (Pt 1)

Let's start at the beginning.

The 2009 Congress was barely two weeks old when the profligate spending started. Under the title of "CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2009" Congressman McMahon and his fellow House Dems, led by the Nancy Pelosi, voted to re-authorize the Children's Health Insurance Program, a bill that was designed to provide health insurance to poor kids whose families could not afford to procure it themselves.

One problem, though, with this bill. It EXPANDS the program to include "children" up to the age of 30, and "poor" families that earn up to $78,000. That's right, YOUR MONEY will help pay for health insurance for a 30-year-old "child" whose parents earn 78 grand a year. Beautiful.

You know what it really is, don't you? It's a down payment on socialized medicine.

Rep. McMahon's Voting Record

To his credit, Congressman McMahon voted in favor of blocking the release of the second portion of the TARP funds. Of course, this was a joint resolution, and this brief moment of clarity is, sadly, the sole exception to Rep. McMahon's record of voting in favor of every outrageous spending bill and tax increase that is floated by this radical Congress.

In future posts, we will discuss many of Rep. McMahon's votes on various issues, paying particular attention to his votes on the Budget, Spending and Taxes. In the meantime, you can take a look at our Congressman's entire voting record at Votesmart.org.

"No Pork On my Watch..." Yeah. Right.

Get in touch with us....

We welcome your ideas, suggestions, and most of all, your offers of help.

If you are going to attend this demonstration, please let us know by emailing us at taxdayteapartysiny@gmail.com This will be of great assistance in helping us estimate the expected size of the crowd.