OBAMA'S "SWINDLE OF THE YEAR"

From his Senate Conservatives Fund, Senator Jim DeMint wrote a detailed letter about the so-called 'compromise' to extend the Bush era tax rates. On the one side, it's Democrats as usual with their spend addiction and committed re-distribution of wealth at the expense of our children and grandchildren, but the other side is the most disturbing of all - Republicans have not seen the error of their ways.

It's almost as bad as Obamacare -- the more you read it, the worse it gets. Talk about Pork, it's loaded with it (and they keep adding more, the longer this drags out), along with more and more deficit spending. The Beltway must be a magical sort of Disneyland, where over spending has no ramifications, because Republicans are not holding up to their part of the November 2nd agreement, and have gone back to spending. That, or else they are not looking at what the other hand is doing. It's hard to believe they are that blind.

At this point, you gotta know Obama doesn't do anything without reaping loads of rewards on the back end. This mis-worded compromise is full of little goodies, such as scheduling unemployment to expire at Christmastime; the Bush tax rates to expire just in time for the 2012 re-election (scary thought, re-election); and more pay-offs to his cronies, including the unions. On-line gambling? Are you kidding me? In other words, as Charles Krauthammer writes, Obama just pulled a fast one on the Republicans.

Most of us want to spend the next two weeks before Christmas having fun shopping, gathering with friends and family, and rejoicing in the birth of Christ. But the next two weeks is all this Lame Duck session needs to add destruction to an already weakened country and economy. We can't let this happen. We worked too hard, and have been sold a cheap bag of Obama tricks.

If we have to bite the bullet for a month or two, so be it. It's far better than another close to trillion dollars in debt. We can't afford it. We don't have the money. Congress can pass a bill next month, that deals with extending the Bush tax rates only. Not more spending. And, they can make it retro-active. Americans had to deal with Clinton's tax increases retro-actively. It can be done. Republicans will have the majority. Nancy Pelosi has been fired. She no longer has the power, unless we give it back to her.

Read Senator DeMint's letter below (and Krauthammer's "Swindle of the Year"), and let's get to work. We can rejoice on Christmas Day, but in the meantime call, fax, and email our Congress that this is not the compromise we voted for. We can't move forward towards ending the deficit and recovering our economy by spending at the same time.

Have we been hood-winked again? What happened to no earmarks, no new spending, reduce the deficit? Here's some contact numbers for our elected officials. Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5. (Click on page to enlarge)

Obama wants this so-called 'compromise' desperately. You gotta ask yourself -- WHY?

From United States Senator Jim DeMint
Senate Conservatives Fund
December 10, 2010

Dear Fellow Conservatives:

Many of you have contacted me about the bipartisan tax deal reached between President Obama and Republican leaders. I've carefully reviewed the legislation and I wanted to explain to you why I cannot support it.

First, I do not want to see anyone's taxes go up and I have been fighting for years to permanently extend all the tax rates. I disagree with the President that we cannot afford to extend these rates for everyone. It's the people's money and we should not raise taxes on hardworking American families.

But this bill does much more than simply extend tax rates.

For starters, it includes approximately $200 billion in new deficit spending and stimulus gimmicks. That's a lot of money that will have to be borrowed from China and repaid by our children and grandchildren. If we're going to increase spending on new programs, we must reduce other spending to pay for it.

The bill also only extends rates for two years. We don't have a temporary economy so we shouldn't have temporary tax rates. Individuals and businesses make decisions looking at the long-term and we're not going to create jobs without giving people certainty as to what their taxes will be in future.

The bill also fails to extend all of the tax rates. It actually increases the death tax from its current rate of zero percent all the way up to 35 percent. One economic study shows that this tax increase alone will kill over 800,000 jobs over the next ten years.

Finally, the bill now includes dozens of earmarks for special interests, including ethanol subsidies, tax breaks for film and television producers, give aways for Puerto Rican rum manufacturers, favors for auto racing track owners, and a hand out for businesses in American Samoa.

The President called Republicans "hostage takers" this week but he should be pointing his figure squarely at himself. We've known for years that these tax rates were going to expire but he did nothing about it until the last minute. Now Americans are being told they have to accept hundreds of billions in new spending and stimulus gimmicks, an increase the death tax, and a bunch of unnecessary earmarks or their taxes will go up.

I'm not going to be bullied into voting for things that will hurt our country because politicians in Washington ignored the problem until it was a crisis.

Many of you fought hard to elect new leaders to the Senate this year with the expectation that they would fight deficit spending, tax hikes, and backroom deals. I take that commitment very seriously and I'm prepared to vote against this bill even if I'm the only one in the Senate to do so.

I appreciate the efforts made by my party's leaders to negotiate this deal but I believe Americans deserve much better. This deal should be rejected and then fixed. We can easily extend these tax rates without increasing spending once the new crop of Republican senators, including Pat Toomey, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Mike Lee, and Ron Johnson, are sworn in. The President has already conceded that taxes cannot go up and we'll have more Republicans in Congress in a few weeks to fight for a better deal.

Thank you for supporting the principles of freedom and for your continued encouragement. I will continue to do my very best to be your voice in the United States Senate.

Respectfully,

Jim DeMint
United States Senator

Chairman, Senate Conservatives Fund

PLAYING WITH THE TWO IMMUTABLE LAWS OF WASHINGTON

It stinks. The only satisfaction was watching a defeated president pout, blame and lie, while the über left self-destructed. The left has finally realized that they lost power, and it isn't pretty. But.... Obama has exposed his true ideological self -- more pluses.

Where do we start on the negative side.

• Small businesses have a temporary tax relief, but 2 years may not be long enough for them to extend the risks necessary for economic growth, including new jobs. It should have been permanent.
• Unemployment has just been subsidized by tax paying Americans in extending an additional 13 months, for a total of 3 years. Notice the unusual amount of 13? That's so the next extension falls on Christmas next year, and just as in 2010, no one wants to cut off free money at Christmastime.
• The 2 percent cut in social security is another re-distribution of wealth for people who don't pay taxes, and guarantees that social security will be at death's door.
• The Death Tax is still going to be resurrected, although at a lower rate. Neverless, it's baa-ack. Taxes on money that has already been taxed. Wasn't there a revolution on double taxation?

No wonder Obama has conceded. This whole plan is a major re-distribution of wealth.

While Obama is playing as though he has made the supreme sacrifice, methinks he thinks this will play out to his advantage in the 2012 elections. "For the good of the people" has nothing to do with his decision. After all, it's always about him.

Red State's Erick Erickson writes an excellent piece, in his usual fashion, on what the American people get out of Obama's great sacrifice.

Playing With the Two Immutable Laws of Washington
by Erick Erickson - December 6, 2010

There are two immutable laws of Washington, D.C. To understand the tax compromise in the Senate, you must know the laws.

1. Politicians in leadership believe that if they make both the left and right angry they must have done something right; and,
2. If Democrats and Republicans come together in a compromise — no matter how bad that compromise may be — the media will herald the compromise and inevitably use the word “tone” in discussing it.

Then there is a corollary to the two rules: people who want a seat at the table with the politicians and media will turn into sycophants and tell you how delicious the compromise tastes.

Understanding those two immutable rules and the corollary tell you all you’ll need to understand about how the tax compromise will be played. Let’s review what the compromise is:

• Extend current tax rates for two years
• Extend unemployment benefit for another 13 months
• A two percent cut in the payroll tax for next year
• Death tax of 35% imposed above $5 million

We can first laugh about Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles. After all that work, lecturing, and lamenting they have been, in one act, put back under the rock from whence they came.

There will be no more hand wringing over saving social security and the deficit. We’re going to blow it up. Ironically, we’re going to blow it up to preserve today’s tax rates and resurrect the death tax.

Second, we can laugh at the Democrats who are in full meltdown over the Democrats daring to extend current tax rates for everyone. For all the left’s talk about equality over freedom, the left believes they can treat the most successful with the greatest disdain and take away the freedom to take risks in this country and replace it with servitude to government.

Had Obama shown any leadership, he could have gotten this passed months ago on the grounds that it’d help stem losses in the midterms. But he didn’t, despite pressure from many Blue Dogs who will, in less than a month, be called “former congressman.”

Just last week Mr. Obama said, in his weekly radio address, “I believe we can’t afford to borrow and spend another $700 billion on permanent tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires.” My what a difference a week makes.

Ultimately though, this is a compromise that leaves both sides coming up short and is full of compromising the GOP did not have to engage in, even without controlling the Senate. They could have gotten more. We will also continue subsidizing unemployment — yes you read that right. At some point it becomes welfare, not unemployment compensation.

The compromise does little to stem the tide of uncertainty that has kept businesses from hiring. Because the fight will be wrapped up in the politics of 2012, small businesses that have been keeping money on the sidelines will keep doing so. Any politician who says this has anything to do with job creation will largely be lying.

Nonetheless, we know this much is true: the media, after weeks of taking the Deficit Commission seriously, and many of the politicians who have done the same will celebrate this grand act of bipartisan comity.

For months, the Democrats have said they would never support extending the current tax rates because of their concern for the deficit. They will now.

For months, the GOP has said they would never vote to raise taxes and will now vote to raise taxes by resurrecting the death tax instead of killing it — the only reason being Jon Kyl (R-AZ) wanted to bring it back and has held this position for a while.

For months, both sides have claimed they were committed to saving social security. Instead, they will cut the payroll tax thereby bringing the bankruptcy of social security even closer.

We will know who the real conservatives are in Congress. They’ll be the Republicans who oppose this deal.

But hey, it is bipartisan!

Maybe we can get Jeff Flake to primary Jon Kyl. . .