Depsite Obama storytelling, the facts remain—the rich already pay more in taxes

So much for the “rich don’t pay taxes” meme:

The data tell a different story. On average, the wealthiest people in America pay a lot more taxes than the middle class or the poor, according to private and government data. They pay at a higher rate, and as a group, they contribute a much larger share of the overall taxes collected by the federal government.

There may be individual millionaires who pay taxes at rates lower than middle-income workers. In 2009, 1,470 households filed tax returns with incomes above $1 million yet paid no federal income tax, according to the Internal Revenue Service. That, however, was less than 1 percent of the nearly 237,000 returns with incomes above $1 million.

[…]

This year, households making more than $1 million will pay an average of 29.1 percent of their income in federal taxes, including income taxes and payroll taxes, according to the Tax Policy Center, a Washington think tank.

Households making between $50,000 and $75,000 will pay 15 percent of their income in federal taxes.

Lower-income households will pay less. For example, households making between $40,000 and $50,000 will pay an average of 12.5 percent of their income in federal taxes. Households making between $20,000 and $30,000 will pay 5.7 percent.

Facts are difficult for the left to embrace.

Rick Perry’s Gardasil problem

That Rick Perry has emerged in recent weeks as the front-runner in the GOP race is not really surprising.  There was a lot of pent-up feelings over the summer about whether he would throw his hat into the ring or not, and when he finally did, it felt like voters were relieved that there was a new face.  Which only confirmed my suspicions that conservatives and Republicans weren’t that fond of this particular group of contenders.

With his rise in the polls, and the media lamenting his brash approach to politics, his outspoken demeanor, etc.,  conservatives began taking to him as the most electable candidate–the one most likely to beat Obama.  And so began the inevitable comparisons to Ronald Reagan circa 1980.

I didn’t watch last night’s CNN/Tea Party debate, but I was glad to see that Bachmann landed some jabs at Governor Perry for his Gardasil debacle.   If only because someone on the stage of contenders actually addressed the issue.

To conservatives who are embracing Perry with open arms, how do you reconcile his Gardasil law with your conservative values?  The chief executive of Texas signed a law an executive order that mandated teenage girls receive a vaccination, whether they want to or not, whether their parents approve or not, under the penalty of law.  That isn’t a conservative trait.

It’s certainly not the conservatism of the Tea Party, but more like a big government conservatism.  Republicans have seen this movie before and it doesn’t end well for conservatives, and certainly not for the Republican party.

UPDATE.  And just like that, Bachmann took any success she had with her Gardasil attack and flushed it down the toilet.

The thrill is gone

In total agreement with Jennifer Rubin here:

The chasm between the president’s agenda (and leadership skills) and the problems we face seems to widen with each passing day. The problem is not the Martha’s Vineyard vacation but the two and a half years that preceded it. The policy initiatives and the president himself seem too small for the challenges we face. He resorts to political stunts to fill the time and directs blame to Congress, the Republicans or whatever else he can think of.

People who complain about the vacation are missing the point.   I hear a lot of conservatives complaining about this vacation, as the economy seems to deteriorate with each passing day, and world markets continue to melt, and that the President should be….um, well…I’m not exactly sure what they think he should be doing.   Sure the optics look bad, and I honestly don’t think the President really cares.  And, as the last four years have shown us, anything the Democrats propose to “help” the economy, is bound to be a disaster.

But more importantly, as Rubin notes, when he does come back from vacation, then what?  Democrats, as always, appears to be out of bullets and have nothing to contribute.

[Hat Tip: Instapundit]

It’s always been about the jobs, stupid.

Eugene Robinson whines about the lack of cool slogan for progressives:

In the midst of a profound economic slump, with unemployment at crisis levels, we’ve just had a long and bitter budget debate that wasn’t about how government might try to create jobs. It was about budget cuts that will eliminate jobs.

And what is the progressive response? Basically, all of the above — which doesn’t fit on a bumper sticker. Democrats have utterly failed to develop and communicate a Big Idea of their own.

Obama talks about “winning the future,” but that’s too nebulous. I’d suggest something pithier: jobs, jobs, jobs.

People may dislike paying taxes, but they dislike unemployment more. Progressives should talk about bringing the nation back to full employment and healthy growth — and how this requires an adequately funded government to play a major role.

The emphasis was mine, as Robinson’s comments are clueless.  Democrats had the better part of three years with control of the White House and majorities in Congress, plus trillions in new debt, and stimulus money.  Surely this was and “adequately funded” government at work, no?

Jim Geraghty smacks Robinson around:

Really? Seriously? The president with a stagnant economy, unemployment that never dipped below 8.8 percent since April 2009, and with the rate inching up again is going to run on jobs, jobs, jobs?

Of course Obama inherited a troubled economy with an unemployment rate rising fast. The problem is that he was given a heavily Democratic Congress, and he gave us the very best he could do with the stimulus, which hasn’t even come close to bringing it down. In fact, Obama’s A-team of economic advisers didn’t clearly understand the recession, and vastly overestimated how much good their preferred stimulus plan would do […]

What’s the slogan after “Jobs, Jobs, Jobs”? “I swear, I’ll do better next term! This has never happened to me before!”

I think we’ve had enough with empty slogans, styrofoam Greek columns and long-winded speeches, and other such nonsense.

Bachmann’s migraine “problem”

It doesn’t get much dumber than this.  Caught this screenshot last night off of the WaPo website.  Idiocy on parade:

This is from a  “serious” political pundit, people us rubes need to really listen to and take seriously when it comes to politics in Washington.  Apparently forcing a conservative Republican woman to release a doctor’s note confirming she has migraines, and that said migraines might negate her ability to be President are of paramount concern to our media overlords.

When you want to see Obama’s birth certificate however, or ask questions about his past drug use, well then clearly we need to STFU because we’re all racists.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

June’s employment report is not so good, smells like recession and…QE3 coming?

There was nothing good in June’s job report released this morning.  The unemployment rate inched up to 9.2% and the economy added about 18,000 jobs for the month.  And what’s that odor  in the air?

It’s the foul stench of recession:

The U.S. economy generated just 43,000 jobs in the last two months, perhaps taking the world’s largest economy skating closer to recession territory.

It was difficult to find a bright spot in the U.S. Labor Department report. Many key labor market signals deteriorated, and the jobless rate rose unexpectedly to 9.2 percent even though the work force actually shrank.

Shaun Osborne, senior currency strategist at TD Securities, summed it up: “The number stinks.” Watch for forecast revisions to second half U.S. gross domestic product.

The Obama administration has run out of silver bullets, as the Democrats perverse experiment with Keynesian economics has failed miserably.

So what to do?  The experts are leaving the door open for the Fed to fire up the printing presses again:

[The Labor Department’s report] could raise questions about whether the Fed should take additional actions to support growth.

Yes.  Because it’s worked so well with QE1 and QE2.

Politically, the Obama campaign administration has got to be in full panic mode now.  Time is of the essence, but even over a year away from the election, the economy will have to show some strong monthly employment gains to bring that rate down.  Some broad tax cutting would be in order to accomplish that, along with some bold moves to cut spending.  But I wouldn’t bet on that coming from this White House.

Speaking of panic, the President is holding a press conference to speak about this morning’s employment report at 10:30 this morning.

Who is this “generic Republican” person?

And when can I start volunteering for him?

A generic Republican candidate now holds a four-point lead over President Obama in a hypothetical 2012 election matchup. It’s a fifth week in a row that the GOP candidate has been ahead and the widest gap between the candidates to date.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds a generic Republican candidate earns support from 46% of Likely U.S. Voters, while the president picks up 42% of the vote.  Three percent (3%) prefer some other candidate, and nine percent (9%) are undecided.

Last week, the Republican held a 45% to 43% advantage.

All joking aside, it’s still too early to put credence into these polls so far out from the election.  But we are getting closer.

The problem for the GOP is that Mr. Generic Republican is not a real candidate and the current field really isn’t setting the faithful on fire.

Somebody needs to cause a spark soon.

Huntsman campaign off to a great start

This is hysterically brutal:

South Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Dick Harpootlian held a brief conference call just now to welcome “ambassador, governor, Democrat, Republican Jon Huntsman” to the 2012 presidential race.

Huntsman is planning a visit to South Carolina this week and has signaled that the state is a crucial stop in his GOP primary map. That’s good news for him, Harpootlian said, because “we always welcome Obama administration officials in South Carolina.”

The quotable trial lawyer mocked Huntsman as a political “schizophrenic” who’s “very similar to Mitt Romney” in his flexibility on issues such as cap and trade.

“Between Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman, we have, actually, four candidates rather than two,” said Harpootlian, who also scoffed at the idea that Huntsman can take the “high road” in 2012 and avoid negative campaigning.

That pledge will last “about two seconds” in South Carolina, Harpootlian predicted: “The high road is the road above the fray and you can’t run for political office in South Carolina without getting in the fray.”

The Huntsman campaign is barely 12 hours old, and it’s already seeing turbulence from a key primary state.  Worth noting is that Huntsman is the media’s choice to be the GOP’s nominee, the candidate that the party “should” nominate for 2012.  

Rule of thumb–when the media picks the candidate for the GOP, find someone else.

Bachmann campaign on Palin: “She’s not serious”

Forget T-Paw vs Mittens, or Cain vs whoever.  Looks like the fireworks in the GOP 2012 fight are between Rollins Bachmann and Palin:

Michele Bachmann’s new top consultant, Ed Rollins, began his tenure with scathing criticism of potential Bachmann rival Sarah Palin.

“Sarah has not been serious over the last couple of years,” Rollins told Brian Kilmeade on his radio show, Kilmeade and Friends. “She got the Vice Presidential thing handed to her, she didn’t go to work in the sense of trying to gain more substance, she gave up her governorship.”

I understand that this is what campaign consultants do, and Ed Rollins is all about Ed Rollins more than Michelle Bachmann.  But but can anyone really disagree with his criticisms of Palin here?  Palin fell out of favor with me after she resigned as governor of Alaska.  She built some decent political capital, had a decent approval rating, etc.   And not for nothing, but she has done a disservice to herself over the past few years and her ugly poll numbers will be tough to overcome.

UPDATE.   The story gets a bit more interesting.

What a month it’s been or, we’re so screwed

It’s amazing.  A month ago, our national pundits were all excited about how POTUS “got” Osama bin Laden and how he would now be unbeatable in 2012.

That buzz lasted slightly over a week.

About four weeks later, the only buzz from Democrats included Weinergate and the indictment of presidential/vice-presidential nominee for the people’s party, John Edwards.

Meanwhile, Obamanomics is continuing to create tons of shovel-ready jobs and we’re on the verge of a real Recovery Summer continues with its stranglehold on the economy. 

With full control of the White House and both chambers of Congress for nearly four years has the housing market in a double dip, a record number of people on federal assistance, about 14 million people looking for work and anemic economic growth.   Behold, the Obama’s McEconomy!

Hey, remember when Obama was elected and how the Democrats were constantly telling us how they would be pulling us back from the precipice of a repeat of the Great Depression?