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• When the income tax was instituted in 1913, it only applied to the top 1% of wage earners. 
• When the Alternative Minimum Tax was implemented in 1970, it was supposed to target only 155 tax payers.

You can bet that these tax increases will eventually affect more than just the top 2%.  You can read more about taxes here.

I ran across this thought-provoking article by Michael Lind today.  Michael Lind is policy director of the Economic Growth Program at the New America Foundation.

The article basically says that due to: outsourcing, cheap immigrant labor, and emerging markets, the rich have a decreasing dependence on the middle and lower class.  While I don’t agree with everything in the article, it sure makes you think.  Our government should be looking at these trends and addressing accoudingly.  Unfortunately, it is difficult to get elected to national office unless you are rich and/or sold out to rich people!

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• Are the American people obsolete? (salon.com)

Chirp. Chirp. Chirp.

Suppose you gave a news conference and nobody came.

That happened to U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy Thursday outside the West Wing of the White House. Actually, journalists were there to hear Murphy’s brief remarks at a portable podium in the driveway. But none asked any questions after he stopped speaking, according to a reporter from ABC-News.

Silence. Awkward silence. Still nothing.

Finally the Bucks County Democrat broke the mood with a joke before leaving the executive compound.

Elapsed time: Less than two minutes.

What was Murphy there to talk about? Cutting federal waste.

— Pete Leffler

Are others as tired of Patrick Murphy’s lies as I am?  He ran in 2006 as a fiscal conservative pushing for: elimination of waste and “pay as you go”.  Here are a couple of his campaign quotes:

If we want to put forth a piece of legislation that’s going to help out people, which is a good piece of legislation, I’ll support it. But we have to figure out first how we’re going to pay for it because we cannot keep racking up these record debts and these deficits.  – From this NPR interview on January 7th, 2007, shortly after being elected

If families in the 8th District have to balance their checkbooks, then so should the federal government. With each of us owing $30,000 to the record national debt… it is immoral to leave our $9 trillion debt to our children. ..Government spending is out of control. — From Patrick Murphy’s 2008 campaign web site (this quote was removed after I brought it up in a press conference and it was published in the Intelligencer/Courier Times).  Below is a  picture from that press conference:

Now we are running record deficits and our debt is over $13 Trillion dollars.  He tells us what we want to hear and does what Nancy Pelosi tells him to.  It’s time for change that won’t bankrupt our country!

Press Conference - May 25, 2010

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• Uncomfortable Silence: Congressman Vamps When Reporters Don’t Ask Questions (blogs.abcnews.com)

I discovered this graphic through the Thomas Jefferson Club blog at http://thomasjeffersonclubblog.wordpress.com/2010/07/15/taking-apart-the-federal-budget/.  They always have good information there.  Well done!

• The Wall Street Journal has an article on The Obama-Pelosi Lame Duck Strategy.  I hope that Patrick Murphy becomes a “lame duck”, but has some class and does not participate in more complete disregard for the will of his constituents
• The Intelligencer has an article on Murphy: Failed policies cost jobs.  It’s nice to see that Congressman Murphy has finally decided to show up in public.  I’m sure the upcoming election threat from Mike Fitzpatrick has nothing to do with this sudden/abrupt change.

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• Shep Smith Unleashes On Judge Napolitano After He Blames Gov. For BP Spill (mediaite.com)
• Political Futures On The Line As Oil Continues To Gush (npr.org)

President Obama managed to get BP to agree to $100/million dollars to cover payroll expenses for his six month moritorium on drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.  The problem is that the monthly salaries of the workers is actually $330/million per month.  So, 6 months would amount to $1.98 Billion dollars or $1.88 Billion dollars short.  That’s the way our government does math. 

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• BP fends off further oil spill costs(ftalphaville.ft.com)

Image via Wikipedia

BucksRight.com published an excellent article analysing the job numbers and Patrick Murphy’s spin.  He tried to make them look good, but the truth is that since he took office unemployment went from 4.4% to the current 9.7%.  We’re not buying it anymore Congressman Murphy.   You can read the full article at http://www.bucksright.com/murphy-to-constituents-youre-welcome-for-that-crap-job-report-5717

Personally, I don’t want our government to have any of these powers.  They should be an enabler not a provider and certainly not a dictator.  This much power is dangerous.

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