Thursday's Daily News
Andrew Roth
THE DAILY NEWS
Voters Want Less Pork, Even in Their Own District - Pat Toomey, WSJ
After Bailout, Fannie, Freddie Need Reform - Rep. Paul Ryan, IBD
Housing Bill Hammers Taxpayers - Wall Street Journal Editorial
House Passes Housing Bill - Jessica Holzer, The Hill
Reid Thinks He's Putting Coburn on the Hot Seat - David Freddoso, NRO
No Bailout for the Earmarked Highway Bill - Ron Utt, Heritage
Is Upside Surprise In Store For GDP? - IBD Editorial
What’s Charlie Rangel Hiding? - Daniel Ikenson, Cato Institute
Losing Faith in What? - Will Wilkerson, The Fly Bottle
Income Taxes and the Rich - Kurt Brouwer, Fundmastery Blog
Cubs 10, D'Backs 6 - Associated Press (I hate these late West Coast games)
How Many Zeros in Septillion?
Andrew Roth
From Reason's Michael Moynihan:
The economic woes of Zimbabwe—an understatement, I know—continue apace, and BBC News is reporting the odd nomenclatural difficulties facing local economists. For instance, can the average Zimbabwean count the zeros in a quadrillion? A septillion? With wads of worthless billion dollar notes in circulation and inflation showing no sign of abating, one woman told the BBC that she is using the Internet to make sense of all those zeros in her wallet: "I actually Googled what comes after trillion about a month ago, and sent that out to all my friends so they'd be prepared."
Another Bailout
Andrew Roth
Obama wants to give Detroit automakers $4 billion.
Can You Say 'Conflict of Interest'?
Andrew Roth
From Roll Call ($):
Rep. Jerry Costello (D-Ill.) said Wednesday he will ask the House ethics committee whether he may continue to seek earmarks for a community college in his district after his wife was named president of the school last week.
You need an ethics committee to decide on whether this is a conflict of interest or not? Costello got a 0% score on our 2007 RePORK Card.
Voters Want Less Pork, Even in Their Own District
Andrew Roth
Club President Pat Toomey had an op-ed in this morning's Wall Street Journal about a nationwide poll that we did on earmarks. Excerpt:
If you want to know how out of touch Congress is on the issue of wasteful spending, listen to Florida Rep. John Mica defend his pork projects: "There's no way in hell I would support banning earmarks. That's our job, getting elected and making decisions." Mr. Mica is the most powerful Republican on the Transportation Committee.
The idea that bringing home federal dollars is integral to a politician's job and essential to getting re-elected is a favorite of Republicans and Democrats alike. Three months ago, Hillary Clinton told the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, "I'm very proud of my earmarks. It's one of the reasons I won 67% of the vote, because I took care of my people." Alaska Republican Rep. Don Young, a professional earmarker, sees a direct correlation between earmarks and political longevity. "I listen and I provide. That's what I'm elected for. You show me a congressman who says, I'm not going to have any earmarks, and I'm not going to listen, and I'm not going to provide, and I'll show you a short-timer."
There is just one problem with this theory. It is dead wrong.
Click here to learn why.
A Monument to Adam Smith
Andrew Roth
Congrats to the Adam Smith Institute. From their website:
On the 4th of July 2008, the ASI unveiled the world's first major public monument to Adam Smith – the great Scottish economist, philosopher, and author of The Wealth of Nations.
The monument, which takes the form of a 10-foot bronze statue on a massive stone plinth, sits on Edinburgh's Royal Mile – right in the heart of Scotland's capital city, where Adam Smith worked and died. The statue was created by Alexander Stoddart, Scotland's leading monumental sculptor, and was unveiled by Nobel Laureate Economist Professor Vernon L. Smith.
Private Taxis in Cuba
Andrew Roth
Raul Castro has apparently lifted the ban on private taxis.
HT: Mark Perry
The McKinley Tariff
Andrew Roth
The Tax Foundation's Alicia Hansen reminds readers of the dreaded McKinley Tariff of 1890.
Thanks to Hansen, I also found a link to this virtual Tax Museum. Cool.
Goolsbee vs. Holtz-Eakin
Andrew Roth
The presidential economic advisers engaged in a debate.
A Must See Movie
Andrew Roth
David Zucker, the director behind Airplane!, has a new movie that targets Michael Moore and other liberals.
HT: Mary Katharine Ham
$25,000 For An Autograph
Andrew Roth
All is forgiven, Bartman. Show up to the convention, sign your name, collect the money, and give it to the Cubs Care youth baseball program.
Ironic Facts of the Day
Andrew Roth
The United State has the greatest free market economy in human history. But amid an energy crisis, a housing crisis, expiring tax cuts, and wasteful government spending, only 15% of Americans believe the country is on the right track.
On the other hand, China is a country that was decimated by communism in the 20th century where brutal government oppression lead to millions of deaths. However, over the last couple of decades, especially over the last several years, the country has increasingly accepted the free market and the wondrous benefits of capitalism. And 83% of the Chinese believe their country is on the right track.
Harry Reid's Monkey Pork Bill
Andrew Roth
As I blogged about before, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and the Democrats are extremely frustrated with Tom Coburn. Since Coburn is blocking more than 80 of their big spending bills, they can't appease their special interest cronies. So Reid has decided to create a 398-page, lard-stuffed, omnibus bill composed of more than 30 of those blocked bills. Preliminary estimates suggest that it authorizes over $11 billion in new spending...without any spending offsets. And it would create at least 36 new government programs.
One of those blocked bills is the Captive Primate Safety Act, which spends $17 million preventing the interstate sale of monkeys.
According to Rob Bluey at RedState.com:
Coburn said the bills included in Reid's omnibus have virtually no requirements for accountability, making it impossible to measure their effectiveness. "If we send a billion dollars in one direction, how do we know we accomplish what we intended to do?" he asked. "They refuse to put metrics on to hold people accountable. … It's the hard job that we're paid to do to provide oversight and get rid of waste, fraud and abuse."
Amanda Carpenter at Townhall.com adds:
Reid said the GOP would have a choice to pass these bills “or continue to stand beside a colleague or two intent on blocking virtually everything.” Reid singled out Coburn again in a news conference last week by telling reporters, "For those of you who may not know this, you cannot negotiate with Coburn. It's just something that you learn over the years is a waste of time."
Reid is desperate to move pass the energy debate since it's a losing issue for Democrats, so he could try to put the Monkey Pork bill on the Senate calendar for consideration as early as next week.
Who Pays Taxes?
Andrew Roth
From the good folks at NTU via Rep. John Campbell, here's who paid taxes in 2006, the most recent year the IRS has data on. As in previous years, the top 50% are essentially taxpayers while the bottom 50% are tax-receivers.
|
Percentiles Ranked by AGI |
AGI Threshold on Percentiles |
Percentage of Federal Personal Income Tax Paid |
|
Top 1% |
$388,806 |
39.89 |
|
Top 5% |
$153,542 |
60.14 |
|
Top 10% |
$108,904 |
70.79 |
|
Top 25% |
$64,702 |
86.27 |
|
Top 50% |
$31,987 |
97.01 |
|
Bottom 50% |
<$31,987 |
2.99 |
|
Note: AGI is Adjusted Gross Income
Source: Internal Revenue Service |
Absurd Statement of the Day
Andrew Roth
When asked if California had a revenue problem or a spending problem, State Sen. Darrell Steinberg said it had a "revenue problem."
Jaw. Drop.
Lou Dobbs Is At It Again
Andrew Roth
Yesterday, Lou Dobbs blamed the housing crisis on free market capitalism:
"And I love the idea that all these free traders, free marketeers now got to have the government to, to bail them out. If I hear one of these ignorant, hypocritical, sanctimonious free traders ever talk about free markets again, they should be pilloried. I mean they are absolutely - this is an administration of jerks and cowards and fools. I mean it's unbelievable."
Jeff Poor at NewsBusters has the details.
60 Democrats in the Senate?
Andrew Roth
From Roll Call ($):
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Charles Schumer (N.Y.) said for the first time this election cycle that Democrats could wake up on Nov. 5 with a filibuster-proof, 60-seat Senate majority.
If you look at the poll numbers for each race, it's hard not to reach the same conclusion.
What Was the First Stock Market?
Andrew Roth
Answer.
Emotional Battle Over Sales Tax Hike
Andrew Roth
Check out this video. Cook County Democrats defend their support for a sales tax hike, which is now the largest sales tax (10.25%) in the United States. Apparently, they aren't listening to the voters.
Business 101 by Gary Busey
Andrew Roth
I have no idea what Busey is saying in this video, which is probably the point. Anything he says is funny. EBITDA = Abeadia? Check out the other Busey clips on YouTube, like this one. Hysterical.
The Church of Holy Smokes
Andrew Roth
OpenMarkets.org: "To get around indoor smoking bans, Dutch smokers are joining “The Only and Universal Smokers Church of God.”
Wednesday's Daily News
Andrew Roth
THE DAILY NEWS
The Fannie Mae Gang - Paul Gigot, Wall Street Journal
The Opposite of Progress - Pete du Pont, Wall Street Journal
Solving the Fannie/Freddie Problem - Rep. Hensarling & Rep. Ryan, Politico
White House Drops Veto Threat on Housing - Ian Swanson, The Hill
Our Government Problem-Solvers - Tom Sowell, National Review
In the U.S., Selectively Applied Capitalism - Steven Malanga, RCP
Fannie/Freddie Should Be Cut Down and Cut Loose - A. Reynolds, Cato
Bush Urges Congress to OK Colombia Trade Pact - Deb Riechmann, AP
Doha Deals With Agriculture - Rod Hunter, New York Sun
U.S. Needs a (Shale) Oil Change - IBD Editorial
Cubs 2, D'Backs 9 - Associated Press
The Fannie Mae Gang
Andrew Roth
Our good friend, Paul Gigot of the Wall Street Journal, takes out two barrels and unloads on former Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo, former Fannie Mae CEO Franklin Raines, Rep. Barney Frank, Paul Krugman, and a whole host of others who shamelessly defended Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac while the two GSEs were going down the tubes. And which has now brought about this housing bailout scheme that will cost taxpayers at least $800 billion.
I hate to spoil the end, but it was written too justly to not share with you:
The abiding lesson here is what happens when you combine private profit with government power. You create political monsters that are protected both by journalists on the left and pseudo-capitalists on Wall Street, by liberal Democrats and country-club Republicans. Even now, after all of their dishonesty and failure, Fannie and Freddie could emerge from this taxpayer rescue more powerful than ever. Campaigning to spare taxpayers from that result would represent genuine "change," not that either presidential candidate seems interested.
HOUSE Key Vote Alert - Highway Bailout Bill
Key Vote Alert
KEY VOTE ALERT
"NO" on the Highway Fund Bailout Bill (HR 6532)
The Club for Growth urges members of the House to vote "NO" on the highway fund bailout bill (H.R. 6532). Floor consideration is scheduled for Wednesday. This vote will be included in our annual Congressional Scorecard.
The Highway Trust Fund has lower-than-expected gas tax revenue, so the misguided intention of this bill is to take the unprecedented step of directly dipping into the general revenue fund for $8 billion to bail the trust fund out. This will be done without any spending offsets.
In 2005, Congress spent over $24 billion on pet projects when it passed that year's highway bill. Canceling low priority projects and using the money to fill in the shortfall is a far more fiscally responsible solution. This bailout bill should be vigorously defeated.
Our Congressional Scorecard for the 110th Congress provides a comprehensive rating of how well or how poorly each member of Congress supports pro-growth, free-market policies and will be distributed to our members and to the public.
Fact of the Day
Andrew Roth
From Forbes:
In 2007, [IRS] audits of people who earned more than $1 million increased 84%. And last October, the government launched a program to get foreign golfers, tennis players and musicians to pay taxes on their U.S. tournament winnings and music sales.
HT: Steve Bartin
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