Fred Thompson does a good job of explaining how politics got to be over the head of the common voter.  In this video he makes it clear how the economy is over the head of the common taxpayer.  He is giving us the current government plan to get us out of the economic mess they got us into.  That is; the same people who got us into this mess are telling us the way to get out is to multiply what they've been doing.  In this way we can understand how elite the elitists are.  Politics and the economy are just too complicated for us to understand how good a job they are doing for us.

They can make decisions for us better than we can make them for ourselves.  I can understand how they came to think this way.  After all, they keep getting elected.  I'm beginning to agree with them.

A chemical attack against pro-lifers on their own property.
Terrorizing a Catholic church in meeting.
Calls to burn Mormon temples were sent out via gays' blogs and threats against Mormons and Catholics were posted there.
Anthrax scare at the HQ of the Mormon religion.  Churches being vandalized.
Anthrax scare at the Los Angeles Ward.
Anthrax scare at a Catholic Knights of Columbus HQ in New Haven, Connecticut.
Man received 16 stitches after being struck by a "No on Prop 8" advocate.
Burning copies of the Book of Mormon on the steps of local Mormon Wards

Theater director driven out over gay marriage

From intimidation tactics to outright violent attacks are being perpetrated on the organizations who supported Prop 8 all across this nation.  This is terrorism and in every case, if the roles had been reversed the legal actions that would have been taken not to mention the media coverage that would have been dedicated to 'informing' the public would have sparked an outrage that would have undermined any credibility of those organizations.  However, since the crimes are being committed by a protected group, the media have been all but silent and in at least one case the commentator equated the criminal activity with that of the victims of that crime calling both sides hate filled and angry.

This episode of obfuscation is but one more step toward the outright persecution and expunging of religion and conservatism in our land.  City councils have in the past condemned the religious organizations for their stance on the issue of family values in opposition to calling the same sex relationship equivalent and God ordained marriage.  We are headed for dark times in this world as believers.  Though there are official gay voices denouncing this behavior, they are being drowned out by the vast numbers of very vocal proponents of their agenda. 

Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council
"We are going to see, I think, unprecedented attacks against our faith through measures like the hate crimes [legislation] to the Employment Non-Discrimination Act," he says. "We're going to see attacks on innocent human life through the Freedom of Choice Act, trying to erase all the gains that have been made in the pro-life movement. And I think even our freedoms are going to come under attack." 

Please act immediately to defend the pro-family victory won in California last week when the people of California passed a constitutional amendment (Proposition 8) by a 52%-48% margin to protect marriage as the union of a man and a woman.  Since Election Day, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) has made statements supporting demonstrations against Proposition 8, and urging California 's Supreme Court to block the amendment's enforcement.

 

There are political streams of thought that would deny the church the freedom to speak the truth as it understands it.  If that happens, can the age of martyrs be far behind?

Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope: That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it! Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink: Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!

History Of Man:  from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, from dependency back to bondage – Alexander Tylers

The great cycle of faith living can be modified, interrupted, as seen in the several Jesus movements over this past century.  The Azusa Street outpouring and many other examples were exactly that.  A movement back toward Christ and the faithful church.  We who believe should first pray and then act in accordance with the Spirit who guides us.  It is very likely that the California Supreme court will again try to thwart the will of Californians to support this lobbying agenda to ruin everything this country was built upon.  Its not just the issue of homosexual marriage, its naming pornography free speech and devaluing the life of every human being.  There is so much more going on than destroying the family values that have made and kept this country strong.  Eventually, it will come down to the demonizing of our world view.

We are essentially paying a flat tax under the current tax code.  All 15,000 pages of it.  That almost sounds fair.  Almost.  Until you find out how much each of us is paying.  It is fair in the sense that everyone is paying their fair share but it is entirely unfair in the sense that it is a huge waste of our personal wealth.  The following study shows that all Americans, wealthy, poor, or somewhere in between are paying the same amount after everything is figured in.  To include sales taxes, income taxes, benefits taxes, property taxes, state and local taxes, excise taxes, etc.,  Now the amount we are paying is something to be noted here.  Forty percent.  I said 40% and more.  Yes, big business and the poor are both paying 40%!!!! and so are the middle class.  We all want tax reform.  We all have different ideas of what reform should look like.  The reality is we are all being screwed for about 30% of our income and getting crap results in education, in military payoffs and waste and general corruption from legislators to contractors to funded institutions.  Why?  Because our legislators are lazy or worse, corrupt.  Instead of requiring value for dollars spent, they are pouring ever more into the problem areas. 

I used to be on the supply side of a government organization.  I know how spenders of government funds think.  I've witnessed it first hand.  Every year government funded operations horde their budget trying to make it stretch to the next funding.  At the end of that fiscal year, they spend everything left in their budget.  They have to.  Yes, they have to or face having their budget cut for the next year.  Because, the bean counters aren't counting tools, or uniforms, or any other form of supplies.  That's under inventory on their pages full of numbers.  That's why you get news reports of school employees dumping perfectly good textbooks in the dumpsters year after year.  That's why you hear about $140,000 ashtrays.  They aren't interested in cost effectiveness until the budget reaches the voters' ears.  $10,000 dollars per student? per year? and you can't get that kid to pass a 3rd grade test after they graduate from high school?  Value for dollars spent is net loss and meta-negative in the world market.  Further, they operate on the 'bigger problems, more money' principal.  So, if an institution wants more money, they will sometimes create problems or exaggerate existing problems.

Back to that tax code.  This is also unfair.  15,000 pages nobody, including the IRS, can interpret fairly and consistently.  As a manager and small group leader, I can attest that people expect consistency from their authority figures.  Each individual will feel his is the worst lot measured against his coworker if you are not willing or able to give them consistency.  You don't necessarily even have to treat them well, as long as everybody gets equal treatment and the leader is up front with the expectations placed upon them.  That's why everyone in this country agrees the tax code must be reformed.  Everyone except those who are supposed to oversee it.  Our wonderful Congress in all its glory and with its 6% approval rating.  Now, given this little tidbit, how did at least four legislators wind up on the ballots?  3 of them are still on the ballots.  All of them Senators.  The only exception is the VP pick on the Republican ticket and she was never in the running for the top spot.  How did this happen?

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A Tax is a financial charge or other levy imposed on an individual or a legal entity by a state or a functional equivalent of a state (for example, secessionist movements or revolutionary movements). Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities. Taxes consist of direct tax or indirect tax, and may be paid in money or as its labour equivalent (often but not always unpaid). A tax may be defined as a "pecuniary burden laid upon individuals or property to support the government […] a payment exacted by legislative authority."^[1] A tax "is not a voluntary payment or donation, but an enforced contribution, exacted pursuant to legislative authority" and is "any contribution imposed by government […] whether under the name of toll, tribute, tallage, gabel, impost, duty, custom, excise, subsidy, aid, supply, or other name."^[1]

In modern taxation systems, taxes are levied in money, but in-kind and corvée taxation are characteristic of traditional or pre-capitalist states and their functional equivalents. The method of taxation and the government expenditure of taxes raised is often highly debated in politics and economics. Tax collection is performed by a government agency such as Canada Revenue Agency, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the United States, or Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in the UK. When taxes are not fully paid, civil penalties (such as fines or forfeiture) or criminal penalties (such as incarceration)^[2] may be imposed on the non-paying entity or individual.

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In a study for the National Bureau of Economic Research, Boston University economists Laurence J. Kotlikoff and David Rapson have found that our all-in marginal tax rate is 40%, give or take a bit. Yes, you read that right: 40%.

Most workers will pay about that much on each dollar of income when all taxes -- federal and state income taxes, sales taxes, taxes for benefit programs, etc. -- are considered.

As a consequence, a 30-year-old couple earning only $20,000 a year has a marginal tax rate of 42.5%, while a 45-year-old couple earning $500,000 pays at 43.2%. There are some exceptions: A 30-year-old couple earning $50,000 a year, for instance, pays 24.4%, and a 60-year-old couple making $150,000 a year faces a tax rate of 47.7%.

The average marginal tax rate on incomes between $20,000 and $500,000 is 40.3%, the median tax rate is 41.8%, and the standard deviation of all of those rates is 5.3 percentage points. Basically, most of us pay about 40%, plus or minus 5.3 percentage points.

That's not a big range, particularly when you notice that it covers an income rise of 2,500%.

So I have a modest proposal: Ask your senators or representative if they have a clue about this. If they don’t, regardless of party, they shouldn't be in office. Vote accordingly.

The de facto flat tax

All-in marginal tax rates for couples
Age	$20,000	$30,000	$50,000	$75,000	$100,000	$150,000	$200,000	$300,000	$500,000
30	42.5%	42.3%	24.4%	36.9%	37.0%	45.9%	36.8%	43.9%	44.0%
45	41.7%	41.8%	35.8%	36.1%	36.1%	45.1%	35.9%	40.9%	43.2%
60	32.0%	36.3%	36.5%	45.5%	45.5%	47.7%	43.2%	45.8%	45.0%

Source: "Does It Pay, at the Margin, to Work and Save?" by Laurence J. Kotlikoff and David Rapson

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I've been trying to compare total taxation in the States to that of other countries but no research I've found reflects the total tax weight in other countries the way this one does.  Those put American taxation way down the list of heaviest taxers probably based entirely on GDP % or income tax %.  Neither reflects the true tax rates in multiple tax societies.  What's more, those studies vary widely, as much as 100% variance.  21% according one is 45% according to the other.  I've heard on the moldy media that we have the second highest tax rate in the world.  Now, that sounds both scary and doubtful.  I've heard other estimates of taxes reaching 65% in other countries in the past.  Please don't quote me as having said that our taxes are 21% or 65%.  I'm only commenting on rumors here.  The last section was a legitimate study by professionals without political agenda and I acquired their report from an MSN news site.  MSN did not include links back to their source so I'm not providing links back to the original MSN story but I am including the authors' names.

I started out digging into the story behind Nancy Pelosi.  Twana had asked me to do an expose` on her but as I dug in, I found that Nancy is straight up Democrat Party hack to the core.  She has a further left voting record than Barak Obama.  Where Obama's voting record shows he has voted along party lines 96% of the time in the Senate (more than any other senator, Nancy has voted along party lines 98% of the time in the House of Representatives.  The further I dug, the more I realized that all of Nancy's astoundingly stupid moves have not been Nancy moves but Democratic moves.  She is simply following the party line and agenda.  The astounding dangerous games with national security and foreign policy are founded and supported by the Democratic version of wisdom.  So, here is what I've learned.

In the House of Representatives, the captain of the football team or the quarterback is the speaker of the house.  The position is the third highest in the U.S. government after the president and the vice president which means if anything should incapacitate both the president and the vice president, the speaker would assume the position of president until an emergency election could be held to fill the position again.  The fourth would be Harry Reid, president pro-tem of the Senate.  A Speaker of the House is elected by the elected Representatives.  So, when Democrats won the majority in 2006, Nancy assumed the position by House vote.  In this position she controls which bills come before the House of Representatives to be debated and voted on.  In essence as long as the bill is in the house, the speaker controls the political football.  The most visible responsibility of the Speaker is wielding the gavel in the House to allocate time for opposing parties to argue their points over each bill and to keep the order in the House.  This position requires a certain decorum.  One has to be fair to the minority party delegates with regard to counting votes and declaring wins or losses.  Often these are made verbally in the interest of expedience, but are sometimes disputed and so go to a recorded vote.  What happens if the speaker is less than honorable?

I'm using the game metaphor because that is the way the Democrats have been treating the policy making process.  Partisanship and political strategy takes priority over any other factor whether foreign policy, national security or issues of morality being legislated by our policy makers.   It doesn't matter if its pulling our troops out of Iraq or if its embryonic stem cell research or economic stimulus efforts, self defense via citizens legally arming themselves, or corporal punishment.  Results don't matter, good intentions are what matter to Democrats.  In my estimation, they don't believe the American voters' attention span is long enough to notice the damage done by their policies or agenda.

One demonstration of this strategic partisan games playing with foreign policy especially  in regard to national security and the war effort in Iraq was Nancy Pelosi's trip to Syria to engage in talks with a hostile government for the express purpose of undermining White House efforts designed to put pressure on Syria to disengage from support for Muslim insurgency in Lebanon as well as material support for insurgency into Iraq.  The Wall Street Journal called this visit 'Dangerous' and 'Foolish.'  This gaming with policy in relation to hostile forces in the region does not just undermine the Bush administration, it undermines national and ally interests by emboldening our enemies making our national will appear divided and weak.  This puts our troops in the battlefield in greater danger and makes their mission that much harder to accomplish.

So why would Nancy be willing to play partisan politics on issues as important as national security?  A short look at her bio tells me a lot.  Nancy was born into politics and has had as her goal in life nothing but politics.  She is a political hack from the district that is furthest left in a state that is competing for the title of furthest left.  She is dependent on her base in San Francisco, California to stay seated in Congress.  As demonstrated by her base, if she wanders too far from their ideals, they loudly call her out any variance from the party line.  But that isn't all.  I submit to you that she is acting in line with the Democratic agenda to undermine president Bush at any cost for simple political clout.
http://www.petitiononline.com/everyman/petition.html

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/p000197/

PELOSI, Nancy, (daughter of Thomas D’Alesandro, Jr.), a Representative from California; born Nancy D’Alesandro in Baltimore, Md., March 26, 1940; A.B., Trinity College, 1962; chair, California State Democratic Party, 1981-1983; finance chairman, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, 1985-1986; elected as a Democrat to the One Hundredth Congress, by special election, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of United States Representative Sala Burton, and reelected to the ten succeeding Congresses (June 2, 1987-present); minority whip (One Hundred Seventh Congress); minority leader (One Hundred Eighth and One Hundred Ninth Congress); Speaker of the House (One Hundred Tenth Congress). (Source.)

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/p000197/

Nancy Pelosi has voted with a majority of her Democratic colleagues 98.1% of the time during the current Congress. This percentage does not include votes in which Pelosi did not vote. See a list of her votes against her party since 1991, a list of all Representatives in the 110th Congress with a similar score, or a full list of party voters.

As Barak Obama has the highest record voting along party lines with 96% in the Senate, so Nancy holds the highest record voting along party lines in the House.  What this means is a party hack with the most extreme leftist voting record is the third highest power in the land.  At the same time the fourth highest position of power in the land is occupied by Harry Reid, at the same time the highest party line voter in the Senate is the DNC pick for the Democratic presidential candidate.  If successful, the most extreme Leftist body in Washington will have full control of two of the three branches of government with the last one (the Supreme Court) having a history of taking specific cases to write laws by precedent and move our government and culture to the left.  This means, should Barak Obama win the presidency, for the first time in American history the dissenting voice of conservatism will have been shunted to the sidelines for at least two years and more likely as many as eight years of one sided power control.

What's at issue with partisanship is this self destructive nature of the Democratic agenda.  From national budget issues to workers' rights to human rights, every vote and every bill authored will be cementing into our governance further and further socialist action than we have ever known in America.  Nearly every position is either detrimental to freedom, to human rights, to societal health and strength, to even naming evil and will have no check or balance to limit this agenda.  The liberal mind is either dead set on destroying the greatest force for good in recorded history or simply doesn't believe our system is fragile enough to crumble under the weight of selling national pride for political currency.  Instead of defending the reputation of America's efforts to bring good and right into the world, they are celebrating its decline..

Ever been on the road when another driver is making erratic moves and false signals?  You don't know whether to pass him or hang way back and wait for the inevitable accident to occur and all you can do is pray he gets off the road before he hurts himself or worse, somebody else.  Have you ever been the one others are looking at as if you got your license from a Cracker Jack box?  If we compare these kinds of road experience to the nations of the world, you can look around and see other nations swerving all over the pavement bumping into one another vying for more prominent positions in world economy and military might.  Little neighboring countries in Africa are like the cars behind us, they matter because we hate to see others hurt, but we are out of the danger zone.  Others are nearer to us and most of them seem to have a steady hand at the wheel.  One by one, others are coming up from behind and absolutely have no concern for their own welfare or anyone else's.  It used to be that the drivers would take it upon themselves to scare the nuttiness out of those passing carelessly, it used to be that the other passengers in the car being driven so dangerously would take that driver away from the wheel and put in somebody much more careful.  Nowadays, the passengers are divided, half cheering him on and the other half sitting quietly and grumbling.  Nowadays, the other cars don't want to deal with the nut, so he is zipping by them and making sure everybody on the road is intimidated by him. Often times, there are fights in the front seat over the wheel.

Lately, even though we have been way out front, the rest of the field is watching us wander from right side to left side occasionally jerking onto the left shoulder and skidding back onto the pavement.  Now, if you think of years as being minutes, its easy to see how that could be.  Every four minutes we are changing drivers and there is always a huge discussion over who the next driver will be.  The other drivers had grown accustomed to this and most would hang back whenever it was time to make the switch.  Just lately we have the governmental powers fighting over the wheel.  The president is supposed to be the one at the wheel.  But Congress has been doing its best to usurp the authority of the president to steer the bus in defensive action and aggressive action.  Add to that the Supreme court jumping in and pulling the wheel hard to the left working to take the authority to imprison battlefield combatants until war's end.  Nobody else on the road wants to work with us to ensure security because they don't know if we'll be a friend or a backstabber in the next few minutes.

So, now its time to choose a new driver again and we need to consider all that this driver is going to have to face.  Nobody in the other cars are willing to step up and do something about the gang of cars known as Islamic jihad.  This president and this congress will have to make decisions about powers commandeering the wheel and if they don't or won't, we passengers are going to have to hit the brakes and decide for the three powers, who is supposed to drive.  Wait!  Where did the brake pedal go.  Didn't we have one installed when we built this vehicle known as the union of states?  The steering wheel is being fought over and we don't have brake pedal?  Is anybody in the front seat doing something about this?  Is anybody on the bus even concerned enough to sound an alarm?

Okay, so the analogy isn't perfect, but the concern should come through loud and clear.  If we don't settle down and work out a clear plan of operation, we very likely will become the former world power.  Those who think that would be a good thing are by definition anti-American.  Who would step up to ensure the good things America does?  Would China act as the world councilor and police for human rights?  Do you think the United Nations could do it?  Maybe you could place your trust in Islam?  Which entity around the world has the muscle or the will to influence the world's drivers to serve their own well and work within the constraints of the rules of the road?  No other country or world power has both the power and the will for the job and if we allow Islam or the UN or anybody with enough might to make the rules of the road, this will be a far different world.  Islam would create a far more dangerous road by taking other vehicles and using them to their own ends.  China would probably do something similar.  The UN is basically a subset of Islam.  Every other entity is either too weak or has already succumbed to the influence of radical Islam.

Once you put a light on the responsibility of the lead position, you begin to see how tenuous is the role we play in world politics and the consequences of dropping that responsibility begin to look more ominous than the 2nd amendment or a marriage certificate for homosexuals.  This election will literally decide whether we place more judges who will fight for the wheel or more judges who will take the roll the builders and planners designed for them, whether we have a Congress who help and back the driver or are also pulling and fighting for the wheel.  The parties have drawn clear lines on who will take the wheel from the assigned driver and who will support the decision making structure as designed by the original driver and navigators.  I suggest you vote for a conservative veteran this election, whether for president or for Congress.

The last paragraph of the Declaration of Independence

We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.