Mick’s Musings

Joe the Plumber may have called out Barry, but Charlie the Newsanchor fleshed out his socialism during a debate between Barack and Hillary where he makes it clear when it comes to taxes he’s down with OPP (Other People’s Paychecks)

GIBSON: All right. You have, however, said you would favor an increase in the capital gains tax. As a matter of fact, you said on CNBC, and I quote, “I certainly would not go above what existed under Bill Clinton,” which was 28 percent. It’s now 15 percent. That’s almost a doubling, if you went to 28 percent.

But actually, Bill Clinton, in 1997, signed legislation that dropped the capital gains tax to 20 percent.

OBAMA: Right.

GIBSON: And George Bush has taken it down to 15 percent.

OBAMA: Right.

GIBSON: And in each instance, when the rate dropped, revenues from the tax increased; the government took in more money. And in the 1980s, when the tax was increased to 28 percent, the revenues went down.

So why raise it at all, especially given the fact that 100 million people in this country own stock and would be affected?

OBAMA: Well, Charlie, what I’ve said is that I would look at raising the capital gains tax for purposes of fairness

Source: ABC News

See folks Barry isn’t about the health of our economy.  His tax plan has nothing to do with raising revenues to pay down our debt.  He’s not even trying to hide behind that tree.  He wants to be Robinhood, hopefully at least sans the tights.  He’s robbing from the rich to give to the poor.

Barack has already started to back away from his cuts using little hints like “sacrifice” and “pitching in” -

“We will all need to sacrifice, we will all need to pitch in.” –Barack Obama 8 October 2008

Bill Clinton did the same thing when he was elected.  With Obama and Liberal Democrats controlling Congress you can expect a full scale SPRINT away from his campaign promises and the true socialist will be revealed.

Redistributing wealth isn’t American, at least it didn’t used to be, however it does seem the seeds planted by the Liberal Left since the 60’s are starting to sprout.  Nothing will kill our economy faster.  Carter II anyone?

John Murtagh was a victim of Bill Ayers.  The Weather Underground firebombed his house because his father was a NY State Supreme Court Justice presiding over the trial of some Black Panthers.  In this story he recounts that evening and states why Obama’s relationship with Bill Ayers is relevant and critical to his qualifications as President.

As the association between Obama and Ayers came to light, it would have helped the senator a little if his friend had at least shown some remorse. But listen to Ayers interviewed in the New York Times on September 11, 2001, of all days: “I don’t regret setting bombs. I feel we didn’t do enough.” Translation: “We meant to kill that judge and his family, not just damage the porch.” When asked by the Times if he would do it all again, Ayers responded: “I don’t want to discount the possibility.”

Though never a supporter of Obama, I admired him for a time for his ability to engage our imaginations, and especially for his ability to inspire the young once again to embrace the political system. Yet his myopia in the last few months has cast a new light on his “politics of change.” Nobody should hold the junior senator from Illinois responsible for his friends’ and supporters’ violent terrorist acts. But it is fair to hold him responsible for a startling lack of judgment in his choice of mentors, associates, and friends, and for showing a callous disregard for the lives they damaged and the hatred they have demonstrated for this country. It is fair, too, to ask what those choices say about Obama’s own beliefs, his philosophy, and the direction he would take our nation.

More here

The John McCain campaign released a futher statement from Mr Murtagh:

While Barack Obama once downplayed his relationship with Ayers, today his campaign took that deceit one step further. Barack Obama now denies he was even aware of his friend’s violent past when, in 1995, Ayers hosted a party launching Obama’s political career. Given Ayers’ celebrity status among the left, it’s difficult to believe. The question remains: what did Obama know, and when did he know it?

When did Obama learn the truth about his friend? Barack Obama helped Ayers promote his book in 1997, served on charitable boards with him through 2002, and regularly exchanged emails and phone calls with him through 2005. At what point did Barack Obama discover that his friend was an unrepentant terrorist?

And if he is so repulsed by the acts of terror committed by William Ayers, why did the relationship continue? Any honest accounting by Barack Obama will necessarily cast further doubt on his judgment and his fitness to serve as commander in chief.

Barack Obama may have been a child when William Ayers was plotting attacks against U.S. targets — but I was one of those targets. Barack Obama’s friend tried to kill my family.

More Here

In a 2006 letter to the Senate Majority Leader and the Chairman of the Senate Banking Cmte, John McCain demanded reforms on the dangerous actions of Fannie and Freddie in order to protect the American Taxpayer.

Senator Obama couldn’t be bothered to sign.  He was too buy accepting bribes err campaign contributions from them.

Letter from GOP Senators in 2006 demanding reforms on Fannie and Freddie, McCain and Sununu signed, Obama couldn't be bothered. Image courtesy of Human Events.

The “Change” candidate couldn’t possibly be bothered to push for real reforms.

Dean Reynolds compares and contrasts the two campaigns from a Press point of view.

I would love to have someone from Obama’s campaign explain why the entire press corps, the Secret Service, and the local police idled for two hours in a Miami hotel parking lot recently because there was nothing to do and nowhere to go. It was not an isolated case.

The national headquarters in Chicago airily dismisses complaints from journalists wondering why a schedule cannot be printed up or at least e-mailed in time to make coverage plans.

—

The McCain folks are more helpful and generally friendly. The schedules are printed on actual books you can hold in your hand, read, and then plan accordingly. The press aides are more knowledgeable and useful to us in the news media. The events are designed with a better eye, and for the simple needs of the press corps. When he is available, John McCain is friendly and loquacious. Obama holds news conferences, but seldom banters with the reporters who’ve been following him for thousands of miles around the country. Go figure.

—

All this talk about Sarah Palin not talking to reporters when in fact she’s been far more accessible to the media than Zerobama has.

—

The McCain campaign plane is better than Obama’s, which is cramped, uncomfortable and smells terrible most of the time. Somehow the McCain folks manage to keep their charter clean, even where the press is seated.

The other day in Albuquerque, N.M., the reporters were given almost no time to file their reports after McCain spoke. It was an important, aggressive speech, lambasting Obama’s past associations. When we asked for more time to write up his remarks and prepare our reports, the campaign readily agreed to it. They understood.

Similar requests are often denied or ignored by the Obama campaign aides, apparently terrified that the candidate may have to wait 20 minutes to allow reporters to chronicle what he’s just said. It’s made all the more maddening when we are rushed to our buses only to sit and wait for 30 minutes or more because nobody seems to know when Obama is actually on the move.

—

When the camera’s are off Obama is unorganized, self righteous and snide.  Ohhh his Presidency is going to be a joy.

BROKAW:Next question for Sen. Obama, it comes from the F section and is from Katie Hamm. Katie?

KATIE HAMM: Should the United States respect Pakistani sovereignty and not pursue al Qaeda terrorists who maintain bases there, or should we ignore their borders and pursue our enemies like we did in Cambodia during the Vietnam War?

OBAMA: Katie, it’s a terrific question and we have a difficult situation in Pakistan. I believe that part of the reason we have a difficult situation is because we made a bad judgment going into Iraq in the first place when we hadn’t finished the job of hunting down bin Laden and crushing al Qaeda.

So what happened was we got distracted, we diverted resources, and ultimately bin Laden escaped, set up base camps in the mountains of Pakistan in the northwest provinces there.

Reality Check:

Osama Bin Laden escaped into Pakistan during the Tora Bora campaign in December 2001.  The Iraq build up didn’t start until late 2002 and many deployments didn’t actually start until January 2003.  There was no diversion of resources to Iraq at this time.

Not that I expect Barack Obama to be a student of military history, I think he’s told this lie so many times he actually believes it now.

Bill McGurn in the Wall Street Journal reminds us of the last time a Democrat promised a Middle Class Tax Cut on those who earned less than $200,000 a year (sound familiar?)

Back when Mr. Clinton was campaigning for president in 1992, he made a pretty direct pitch:

Raise taxes on people making more than $200,000, and use those revenues to fund tax relief for the “forgotten middle class.”

In an October presidential debate, then-Gov. Clinton laid out the marginal-rate increase he wanted and some of his plans for the revenue that would be brought in. He followed with a pledge:

“Now, I’ll tell you this,” he said. “I will not raise taxes on the middle class to pay for these programs. If the money does not come in there to pay for these programs, we will cut other government spending, or we will slow down the phase-in of the programs.”

Mr. Clinton, of course, won that election. And as the inauguration approached, he began backtracking from his promise. At a Jan. 14, 1993, press conference in New Hampshire, he claimed that it was the media that had played up a middle-class tax cut, not him. A month later, he announced his actual plan before a joint session of Congress.

On page one of the New York Times, the paper described the fate of the middle-class tax cut this way: “Families earning as little as $20,000 a year — members of the ‘forgotten middle class’ whose taxes he promised during his campaign to cut — will also be asked to send more dollars to Washington under the President’s plan.”

Only Barack isn’t even waiting to be elected.  Right now as I type this he’s already dropping hints in a stump speech in Indiana.

“We will all need to sacrifice, we will all need to pitch in.” –Barack Obama 8 October 2008

Bend over folks, we were screwed by Congress last week, next year with an Obama Presidency and a likely all Democrat Congress to rubber stamp whatever he wants…the pain train’s a comin!