Category Archives: Taxes

I was gonna give this a couple of days to percolate, but I think something got lost in the mix last night. Clearly Paul Ryan steadfastly adhered to a pre-planned strategy for the debate. So much so I believe he missed a number of opportunities to knock that arrogant old fart off the stage with a cold blast of facts. However, it was even more simple than that. Biden was on point and delivered the pandering message in order to scare the living crap out of the old folks, as well as every other “hot button” group he could think of. The problem was he misrepresented every issue he raised.

Now I know the fact checkers will eventually pick this thing apart and they should. But here are just a few basic points. I’m a big Reagan fan and I can tell you President Reagan initially provided very few specifics on his tax reform plan in 1986. #40 knew full well that a tax code  printed on about 50,000 pages back then was sure to contain enough wiggle room to accomplish his “across the board” goals. He was right and legendary House Speaker Tip O’Neil knew it. That was how the extraordinary bipartisan arrangement was facilitated. So “Old Joe” got his wires a bit crossed on that one.

And how many times is the Obama Administration going to count that 700 + billion dollars they raided from Medicare? The reality is they could not possibly pay for “Obamacare” on the promise of simply cutting waste and fraud within the existing structure of the law. As a matter of fact, the CBO figured they would be about 500 billion dollars short. Joe Biden knows this but bullied his way passed a very polite Ryan to make his case for a necessary, albeit clandestine “middle class tax hike” in order to recoup the shortfall. Moreover, Obamacare adds in another 300+ billion dollars in taxes over the next ten years to account for the ever “graduating” costs of the program. Obamacare will be the greatest money pit Americans have ever seen. It is inevitable.

Biden was also out in “Left” field when he repeatedly misrepresented small business folks and how they fit into the tax structure. Team Obama continually returns to this theme because they believe Americans are too stupid to understand how many small business owners file their tax returns. Those numbers must ultimately be adjusted to reflect the (cost of actually “doing” business) including business tax, medical coverage for employees (impending Obamacare), simple overhead and a slew of other state and federal regulatory taxes and fees. So what does their final paycheck look like, and whose gonna get that tax hike Joe? This is simple economics that unfortunately even the fact checkers and economists have a hard time understanding beyond their singular academic prowess. The Democrats hope is you don’t get it, because they need that tax revenue to pay for their massive spending. Inevitably, Ryan was right. If the Dems have their way, better than a half a million jobs will likely be lost next year alone, as those small businesses will downsize and close under the suffocating pressure of “Obamanomics”. And the “big businesses” will simply just go into hibernation like they always do.

And then there was Libya. Well, that one is gonna play out soon, and I personally think it sinks the Obama Administration. (Just sayin…)

In the end, I think Ryan was too polite but did no damage, and Biden had a good night in the eyes of the red meat Libs. Talking points were on the menu and Biden “cooked” them up. Having said that, I believe the real Biden was up last night. Not the nice guy that even many Republicans portray, but a gruff old Liberal with rocks in his head, and a grudge against the truth.