Conservative Musings

Not Progressive Enough?

Many say that the rich are not paying their fair share of taxes.  I, and the numbers, however, say differently.

Newly released data from the IRS clearly debunks the conventional Beltway rhetoric that the "rich" are not paying their fair share of taxes.

Indeed, the IRS data shows that in 2007—the most recent data available—the top 1 percent of taxpayers paid 40.4 percent of the total income taxes collected by the federal government. This is the highest percentage in modern history. By contrast, the top 1 percent paid 24.8 percent of the income tax burden in 1987, the year following the 1986 tax reform act.

Remarkably, the share of the tax burden borne by the top 1 percent now exceeds the share paid by the bottom 95 percent of taxpayers combined. In 2007, the bottom 95 percent paid 39.4 percent of the income tax burden. This is down from the 58 percent of the total income tax burden they paid twenty years ago.

To put this in perspective, the top 1 percent is comprised of just 1.4 million taxpayers and they pay a larger share of the income tax burden now than the bottom 134 million taxpayers combined.

Some in Washington say the tax system is still not progressive enough.

Now the government health care proponents are pushing another tax burden on this same 1% of our population.  How long will it be before they just go Galt?

-Colonel Steve

Apollo 11 Launch

Back as a kid in the 60's, I was an avid follower of the space program.  So today, 40 years ago, one 8 year old was glued to an old black&white console, watching as Apollo 11 lifted off to the Moon.

The pilot of Apollo 16 said in an interview:

"My father was born shortly after the Wright brothers. He could barely believe that I went to the moon," says Charles Duke, who flew on Apollo 16 in 1972.

He pauses and wrinkles his nose. "But my son Tom was 5 -- and he didn't think it was any big deal."

Me, I fit in the WOW category.  But yet, even now at 48, I still have that kid in me that looks up and watches, each time it hears a plane flying overhead.  Or when looking thru a telescope, wows at the marvels of the solar system.

Here's to not losing that amazement in each of us.

-Colonel Steve

Stimulus? Not Exactly.

Stats from Larry Kudlow of CNBC and National Review Online:

Fortune magazine recently reported that the number of U.S. companies in the world’s top 500 fell to the lowest level ever, while more Chinese firms than ever before made the list. Thirty-seven Chinese companies now rank in the top 500, including nine new entries. Meanwhile, the number of U.S. firms has fallen to 140, the lowest total since Fortune began the list in 1995. This is not good.

China also surpassed the U.S. as the world’s biggest automaker in the first half of 2009, with June sales soaring 36.5 percent from a year earlier. The Chinese registered 6.1 million car sales for the first half of the year. That way outpaced American sales, which were only 4.8 million.

Here’s the clincher: Year-to-date, Dow Jones stocks are off 7 percent, while China stocks are up 71 percent. The world index is up 4 percent. Emerging markets are up 25 percent. They’re all beating us. None of this is good.

So this is how stimulus works.  Maybe we should quit while we're behind.

-Colonel Steve

SyFy??

SciFi channel is remarketing itself as SyFy.  Give me a break!  This coming from the channel that's added ECW Wrestling to it's lineup.

I agree with the article writer.....let's just call it Sigh Fi.

-Colonel Steve

Bye Bye CompuServe

I didn't even know it still existed, in any fashion, until today when I saw the news that AOL has shutdown the last remains of CompuServe.  Yeah, I was one of those early geeks, dialing in with my 1200 baud modem into what was then "the net" (along with services like Prodigy).  Sad to see that now, it's just a reminder of how old I've gotten.

Now where are those punch cards I stored away somewhere?

-Colonel Steve

Fourth Of July (And Vacation Thoughts)

I spent this past week down in South Carolina.  While visiting Fort Moultrie, I viewed this sight.  It got me thinking along several lines.

Very recently, a local Louisville church got in a little hot water over having a Saturday "gun" service.  Some were quoted as saying "I find it extremely distressing that faith and guns in any way go together", and "The only weapon we need is a peaceful heart".

I wondered about this, after I viewed the above, and continued to walk about Fort Moultrie.  Although the fort is more famous for it's use by confederates to attack Fort Sumter, Fort Moutrie dates itself as far back as 1776.  Back at the beginnings of the Revolutionary War, 9 British warships attacked the Fortress.  The fort and it's men saved Charleston from the British attack.

After the Revolutionary War came the Constitution of the United States, containing the 1st amendment clause (freedom of religion) and the 2nd amendment (right to bear arms).  Both came after men with guns and cannons secured our independence.

So, do both items in the picture above really belong there?  Do cannons and church steeples really go together?  If the only weapon we had in the 18th century was a peaceful heart, we wouldn't be sitting in the United States of America today.  Therefore, I think they do. 

The subtitle of the Courier-Journal story says it all: "Pastor links religious freedom in U.S. to right to bear arms".  I strongly agree.  All our freedoms were purchased through the use of weapons.

Happy Independence Day.  Revel in your freedoms today.

-Colonel Steve

One Reason NOT To "Pre-pay" Taxes

Lots of folks I speak to like to overpay their federal and state taxes through the year.  That way, come April 15th, they get a tax refund from Uncle Sam and their state capitol.

Now comes a good reason NOT to pre-pay those taxes.  California is now issuing IOU's to pay for, among other things, tax refunds.  Those receiving these IOU's might get a small window in time to cash out these IOU's at some California banks.  However, with California's debt woes, this might not last long.

I wonder if California residents will overpay their state taxes for 2009?.

-Colonel Steve

We Think We'll Get Better Health Care?

We think we'll get cheaper and better health care when the government takes over?  As John Stossel notes, no way!  Making it cheaper just means it'll be rationed, as the Canadians have noticed.  But cheer up, at least one part of the medical world won't have to ration care.

We saw this in Canada, where we did find one area of medicine that offers easy access to cutting-edge technology -- CT scan, endoscopy, thoracoscopy, laparoscopy, etc. It was open 24/7. Patients didn't have to wait.

But you have to bark or meow to get that kind of treatment. Animal care is the one area of medicine that hasn't been taken over by the government. Dogs can get a CT scan in one day. For people, the waiting list is a month.

At least my golden retrievers will get better care than I will. 

-Colonel Steve

Senator Spector Goes Full Circle

Senator Arlen Spector's switch to the Democratic party, in order to keep his Senate seat, may end up costing him his seat anyway.  As Ed Morrissey of Hotair.com notes:

Arlen Specter has had a bad year, hasn’t he?  The Senate veteran got a Republican primary challenger in Pat Toomey, who immediately jumped out to a 20-point lead over the incumbent.  Specter tried getting the national GOP to push Toomey out of the race, and when that failed, he jumped ship to the Democrats.  Specter expected to get a cushy deal that would preserve his seniority, but his new colleagues rejected Harry Reid’s deal with Specter and made the Pennsylvanian a back-bencher.  Now, it looks as though Specter will have to fight in a primary anyway.

Wow! I would say "poor guy", but really, I don't quite feel that way.

-Colonel Steve