Byron's Blog

Finally, Anonymous discovered the true meaning of the message about change that Junior Senator Barack Obama has made his campaign theme and that nugget of wisdom came from a most unexpected source.

Change

by Anonymous

It was nothing short of pure genius when a colleague uttered this about the theme of the Barack Obama campaign and the gobbledygook that is his prescription for the economy: "Change -- yeah, that's all you'll have in your pocket if that guy gets elected."

One fun part about genius is you just never know where you'll find it and in this case, it came from a man, who's been careful with his money and is closing in on retirement. His concern is not unique to people with similar circumstances, but Anonymous has not found anyone who more succulently expressed the problem with Barack Obama and his knuckle head ideas about money.

How about his one-size-fits-all notion about people who make more than $150,000 a year. Barack Obama believes they should pay more tax because they're making so much money. Try that one on a couple who live in mid-town Manhattan or any other large American city. That salary in a big city makes you middle class, but Senator Obama's rant about tax increases for those people is just one more example of how he's simply out of touch with reality.

More proof came in a session during which he pandered to retired individuals and promised to increase the Social Security tax on people who make more than $250,000 a year. You see, right now, once you cross the $102,000 a year threshold, you've fulfilled your obligation to pay the tax. His nutty solution is to eliminate the tax on income between $102,000 and $250,000 and impose the tax on everyone who makes more than a quarter million dollars a year. You've got to love his rationale -- he says it's not fair that millionaires and billionaires only pay a fraction of their income for the tax.

Uh, Barack -- millionaires and billionaires do not earn a quarter million dollars a year. They earn way more than that. The social engineering that Barack Obama is attempting will punish people who are hard at work to get ahead. Hey Senator, millionaires and billionaires will not care and probably will not be hurt too much from your ridiculous idea. Chances are their accountants are clever enough to find other ways to off-set the tax.

Barack Obama's wacky approach hurts people who are starting to turn the corner and become wealthy, but the junior Senator is against that basic American ideal -- reward for hard work. Seriously, why would anyone want to vote for this guy given his propensity to hammer people who want to improve their financial situation?

Instead, Senator Obama should be working to lower all taxes and enable all people to keep more of what they earn, but that's not Barack. He wants to increase taxes on people who have done well in life and kowtow to middle class Americans with a tax cut for them. Interesting, Barack Obama constantly talks about one America, but continually looks for ways to divide the nation into affluent and poor.

Here's a little dose of reality for the Senator and anyone else who would like to understand some of the basic tenants of economics. Tax and spending cuts help everyone. That recipe always improves economic performance, but that does not matter to Senator Obama. He's not interested in what will work. He's interested in saying the things that will make him popular.

That's probably why he's talking about pouring money into "green" energy. Sure, it sounds great, but the fact is that government sponsored energy initiatives generally fail. Just think about the billions and billions that the government has spent over the decades to fix the energy problem. What has any of it done for the nation? The answer is nothing.

Why not use tax breaks as an incentive for firms to build hybrid cars and for you to buy them? That will work, but perhaps Barack Obama is not creative enough to understand that concept. Instead, he's the guy who's certain the government's job is to solve all of life's problems.

Then there's his foolish idea of a windfall profits tax on oil companies. Great plan Barack, increase the tax on oil companies at precisely the time when gas prices are rising. Sure, he says he only wants to prevent oil companies from earning so much money, but what he's too short sighted to see is that his plan will lead to even higher energy prices.

Oil companies use profits to invest in new sources of energy. Take away that money and you take away that form of investment. What will be the result? Supplies will decline because energy companies will not spend money on the search for new sources of energy. The result -- higher prices. Here's the kicker and it does not require much thought, unless you're Barack Obama -- how does a tax increase lead to lower prices? Hooray Barack Obama, champion of the middle class, with a plan that will ultimately hurt working people if he gets his way. Good job Barack!

The truth about Barack Obama is, he's nothing more than the classic tax and spend liberal. Wouldn't it be great to ask him about that during one of those town hall meetings, where a member of the public gets the chance to ask candidates a question. Here's one that goes straight to his herky-jerky tax schemes. "Senator Obama, this is a two part question. Could you please explain how a tax increase on any sector, in a declining economy improves productivity and the second part is, where did you go to business school?" Then, just step back from the microphone, watch the Senator stammer, stutter then fail to adequately answer the question.

If he understood economics he would know that taxes drain the economy. He would also see that the amount of money the government collects from a tax increase is often less than the projections because people always find legal ways to avoid paying. Just check the tax code. It's complicated for that very reason. Sure, Barack Obama says he's going to get rid of all those nasty nuances in the code and crack down on all those fat cats, with their $150,000 a year salaries, who are swimming in cash, but his formula will hurt people who could use a break, while the truly wealthy will easily find new ways to avoid his barrage of taxes.

Oh, by the way, what exactly is Barack Obama going to do with the loot he hopes to collect from his tax hike scheme? He enjoys revving up crowds with talk about building schools or health care, but seriously, do you think for a minute that his tax boondoggle is going to pay for all that? Let's get real for a minute.

Do not expect edgy questions about this from his public relations team, who've cleverly disguised themselves as reporters. They're busy with the soft, gentle ones, perhaps about his next multi-million dollar book deal, gulping down his tired message about change and be certain, he's talking about the spare change you'll be left with, jangling around in your pocket if he becomes President.