President Obama's 2012 Campagn Gets Underway With Petulant Speech, Unimpressive Budget Proposal at George Washignton University

President Obama took time out from his busy schedule on Wednesday to promote the upcoming Atlas Shrugged movie during an address at George Washington University.

Wait....what? He was being serious? Damn- that's unfortunate.

Several days after announcing his campaign for re-election, a government shutdown was narrowly averted and House Budget Committee chair Paul Ryan (R, WI-1) unveiled a budget proposal that would cut government spending by $4 trillion over the next 10 years, President Obama had the opportunity to show the public he was serious about this country's growing debt but instead decided to double down on the same rhetoric that cost his party control of the House last year. Here are some of the highlights (and I use the term loosely) with commentary from me where I thought appropriate:

In the speech at George Washington University, he positioned his spending plan as a more "compassionate" alternative to one introduced last week by Ryan. He applauded Republicans for putting a plan on the table to address entitlements, but the praise stopped there.

"The way this plan achieves those goals would lead to a fundamentally different America than the one we've known certainly in my lifetime," Obama said, calling the GOP plan "deeply pessimistic." He suggested Republicans were giving up on basic functions of government.

"It's a vision that says if our roads crumble and our bridges collapse, we can't afford to fix them. [Wait wait wait wait.....hold the phone- if you want to talk about infrastructure, THEN WHAT THE FUCKING HELL WAS THE STIMULUS SUPPOSED TO BE USED FOR!?- NANESB!]

If there are bright young Americans who have the drive and the will but not the money to go to college, we can't afford to send them," Obama said of the Republican plan.

"It's a vision that says America can't afford to keep the promise we've made to care for our seniors."

The president claimed his proposal would cut $4 trillion from the deficit in 12 years or less. He drew several lines in the sand as he explained how he planned to get there.

Accusing Republicans of cutting services to seniors and poor children while cutting taxes for the rich, Obama said: "That's not right, and that's not going to happen as long as I'm president." [oh good- so we can look forward to this happening sometime in January 2013 then? Please go away you colossal asshat- NANESB!]

The president's proposal would deal with entitlements like Medicare and Medicaid, but avoid the major changes being pushed by Ryan. The president opposes turning Medicaid into a block-grant program for states and making Medicare seniors purchase government-subsidized insurance, as Ryan proposed. Rather, he vowed to make other changes he claims will extract more than $300 billion in savings from those programs over the next decade. Plus he pushed cuts in discretionary spending, including to defense. [Of course! All military spending is wasteful- until Obama decides to start lobbing cruise missiles at Libya- NANESB!]

But where Obama departed most sharply from Republicans was his call for rolling back the Bush tax cuts for the most well-off Americans -- meaning a tax hike for households making more than $250,000, or the top 2 percent of wage-earners. Republicans and Democrats had agreed to extend all the Bush tax cuts for two years, but Obama said Wednesday, "I refuse to renew them again" for the top tier. [Gee- who didn't see that coming?- NANESB!]

"The most fortunate among us can afford to pay a little more. I don't need another tax cut," he said [how generous of the guy who hasn't created a single job in his life- NANESB].

Here's the thing- exactly how much did the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act cost? The more conservative estimates put it at a minimum of $787 billion dollars. Unemployment wasn't supposed to go above 8% and all sorts of public work projects were going to create jobs as a result. Except after a few months in, the Obama Administration decided to change the metric to jobs saved or created- and that revision didn't even last until the end of 2009.

And instead of being used for infrastructure as it's cheerleaders had promised, the stimulus went instead to researching the effects of cocaine on monkeys or sexual activity of college freshmen at Syracuse University. Supposedly, in some very abstract manner, it worked and the economy is in a recovery- oh...and any budget proposal by the republicans would endanger this 'recovery'. Except this recovery features near double-digit unemployment, the dollar taking a beating, a cratering housing market as well as skyrocketing food, fuel and commodity prices.

Now, after all the funds that went towards in the 'stimulus' the President wants to raise taxes on 'wealthy' Americans (and make no mistake, the Democrat party has a very malleable definition of 'wealthy'). This is not unlike Bernie Madoff demanding a raise after bilking investors out of their life savings.

If this is part of President Obama's 2012 campaign strategy, I have to say that it is indeed very powerful and effective materiel......for whoever winds up running against him

General Electric, General Motors Avoid Paying Taxes for 2010

While taxpayers and small business owners are poring over their IRS 1040 forms, I'm sure this bit of news from a pair of corporations that have benefitted from government bailouts and lagresse will bring a bit of joy and wrmth to their weary hearts.

A little over two months ago, GE Chairman Jeffery Immelt was appointed to an economic panel by the Obama Administration. This was the same conglomerate who lobbied for cap & trade back in 2009 and who's subsidiary TV networks of NBC and MSNBC acted as unabashed cheerleaders for Obama during his 2008 Presidential campaign. Now it's been learned that General Electric will pay nothing in taxes for 2010 and will in fact be getting $3.2 billion in tax breaks from the US government thanks in part to concentrating most of its $14.2 billion in profits offshore. More than half of GE's current workforce is outside the United States as well.

Back in November the Wall Street Journal reporteda few weeks before GM's stock was set to be re-listed in the NYSE that General Motors could wind up with tax breaks worth an estimated $45 billion thanks in part to lossesincurred prior to the bailout.

GM, which plans to begin promoting its relisting on the stock exchange to investors this week, wiped out billions of dollars in debt, laid off thousands of employees and jettisoned money-losing brands during its U.S.-funded reorganization last year.

Now it turns out, according to documents filed with federal regulators, the revamping left the car maker with another boost as it prepares to return to the stock market. It won't have to pay $45.4 billion in taxes on future profits.

The tax benefit stems from so-called tax-loss carry-forwards and other provisions, which allow companies to use losses in prior years and costs related to pensions and other expenses to shield profits from U.S. taxes for up to 20 years. In GM's case, the losses stem from years prior to when GM entered bankruptcy.

Usually, companies that undergo a significant change in ownership risk having major restrictions put on their tax benefits. The U.S. bailout of GM, in which the Treasury took a 61% stake in the company, ordinarily would have resulted in GM having such limits put on its tax benefits, according to tax experts.
"The Internal Revenue Service has decided that the government's involvement with these companies, both its acquisitions plus its disposals of their stock, means they should be exempt" from the rule, said Robert Willens, a New York tax consultant who advises investment banks and hedge funds.

The government's rationale, said people familiar with the situation, is that the profit-shielding tax credit makes the bailed-out companies more attractive to investors, and that the value of the benefit is greater than the lost tax payments, especially since the tax payments would not exist if the companies fail.

The pricetag for the GM bailout was thought to have reached at least $30 billion. The fact that the government was still a stakeholder in General Motors at the time could help explain the DOT's aggressive pursuit of Toyota Motors for a number of safety issues last year.

All That Glitters: 0bamacare Contains Tack-On Tax Provision Targeting Precious Metals Dealers, Individual Buyers

ABC News is reporting that a little known provision tacked onto 0bamacare set to take effect in less than 2012 will oblige precious metals and coin dealers to file IRS form 1099s for transactions of $600 or more. With gold currently selling for more than $1200 an ounce, that would mean a 1099 would basically have to be filed whenever a customer purchased or sold to them more than a half-ounce of gold.

Rep. Daniel Lungren, Republican (CA-3), has introduced legislation to repeal the section of the health care bill that would trigger the new tax reporting requirement because he says it's a burden on small businesses.
"Large corporations have whole divisions to handle such transaction paperwork but for a small business, which doesn't have the manpower, this is yet another brick on their back," Lungren said in a statement e-mailed to ABCNews.com. "Everyone agrees that small businesses are job creators and the engine which drives the American economy. I am dumbfounded that this Administration is doing all it can to make it more difficult for businesses to succeed rather than doing all it can to help them grow."
The ICTA's [Industry Council for Tangible Assets] Piret says identity theft is another concern because criminals may set up shops specifically to extract personal information that would accompany the filing out of a 1099.
The office of the National Taxpayer Advocate, a citizen's ombudsman within the IRS, issued a report June 30 that said the new rule "may present significant administrative challenges to taxpayers and the IRS."

And for those of you who think gold coins or bullion are the exclusive pursuit of monocle wearing Uncle Pennybags-types who light cigars with $500 bills, you would be dead wrong. Coin shops are generally small businesses whose clientele typically includes the working class who don't trust the stock market or banking system and want to own physical gold as a hedge against inflation and currency devaluation.

Earlier this year, Washington state had proposed removing tax breaks for bullion and precious metals retailers in the state. Naturally, the coin shops- which could hardly be considered powerful and influential special interest groups themselves- objected, pointing out that even in good times, they operate on a profit margin of 1% to 3% and that customers would simply buy their gold and coins out of state.

Even less surprisingly, state government employee unions came out in support of the proposal, hoping that it could ward off salary, benefit and job cuts.

Larger gold companies such as Goldline, who are regular sponsors of conservative talk shows, have come under attack from politicians such as Anthony Wiener (D-Probably Got Beat Up Alot As a Kid With That Name) accusing the Company of using 'fear mongering' and colluding with talk show hosts to drive up sales [Because as the last 18 months have indicated, we have absolutely nothing to fear under 0bama's stewardship of the US Economy- NANESB!]. These accusations come despite an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau.

Nobody said I had to pay a fine or go to prison if I didn't use Goldline's services- can I say the same for health insurance thanks to you, Wiener?

If Congressman Wiener is so interested in consumer protection when it comes to precious metals transactions, maybe he could take a long look at some of these companies that say they'll buy your gold via the mail. Besides usually paying less than what the gold is worth, I have to wonder what safeguards there are to make sure they're not receiving stolen property. Lord knows a brick and mortar pawn shop would be in plenty of trouble with the law if they're caught in possession of stolen goods.

Tea Party Confidential; Voting "Present" on April 15th

My curiosity got the better of me and even though it was a bit of a haul and coincided with part of my odd work schedule, I decided to swing by one of the tax day Tea Party protests at the nearest (and unnamed) metropolitan area. Through the magic of this thing called the Internet, I found the location and time of one earlier today that started a few hours before I was supposed to be at work.

One of the advantages of showing up so early is that I got to park nearby. About 30 or so people were already there with hand-made placards, Gadsden Flags or star-spangled doggie sweaters for the pooches that were accompanying them. A few people were also there to circulate petitions and pass out campaign literature for the upcoming Senate race (although I reside in a different district). Earlier in the week, reports were circulating that counterdemonstrators were planning to infiltrate the Tea Parties and hold up racist or outlandish signs for the media to record. That seemed to be the case with one individual who was holding up a large sign claiming the moon landings were faked by NASA, although he was subsequently flanked by people with hand-made brightly colored arrows saying 'FAKE' that were pointing Mr. Mooninite.

It's also worth noting that the Tea Party protest took place directly in front of a Post Office, so as the crowd was growing, one of the postal workers had to wade into it with a ginormous cart to empty out all of the mailboxes [and lived to tell the tale, since to hear CNN and the Southern Poverty Law Center tell it, every last Tea Party protester hates all things from the government and will lash out violently at them with no provocation- NANESB!]. There was also a steady stream of vehicles passing by the drive-up mailboxes, many no doubt dropping off their tax forms by the midnight deadline.

When I first showed up, the crowd was predominantly old or middle-aged, which sort of made sense as this was just getting underway during what would've been a normal workday for alot of people. I tried doing the informal headcount deal-ey, but #1) I suck at that to begin with and #2) I'm easily distracted. Seriously, every time I'd try and count everybody present, my attention would wander and when I'd try and start over, there'd be a knot of people waving signs and placards where there was empty space moments ago. Alot of these newer arrivals were much younger and a few had school-age children with them. My best estimate was that it was in the 'dozens' when I showed up and well into the 'hundreds' by the time I left, with more people making their way in as I was departing. A couple of people showed up selling t-shirts, although I couldn't quite see what they said.

As for imagery, I didn't see anything as offensive as the Tennessee state flag neo-nazi insignias like certain hyperventilating bloggers or MSNBC hosts guaranteed me that I would find. Believe it or not, vexilloligy is one of my strong suits and the only flags present were the stars and stripes and variations of the Gadsden flag. There were more than a few signs that were a variation of the Obama 'O' from the 2008 Campaign that would read 'Enough Already' or 'No New Taxes' featuring the stylized O. One of the kids with the 'later' arriving families was holding up a placard depicting President Obama as a latter day Jack Sparrow-esque pirate, which I'm sure could be construed as racist by the Southern Poverty Law Center those in the professional victimocracy who have been bound and determined to find signs of 'dogwhistle' racism since January 2009. As for race, I'm not as into the 'let's count the minorities' game the mainstream media has taken to playing with the Tea Parties, but there were some older Hispanic and Asian protesters there early on- so right away it was much more ethnically diverse than the lineup of MSNBC hosts. A camera crew from one of the local TV stations was present, but at the time it looked like he was simply filming panoramic shots of the crowd.

Personally, I didn't get to do much more other than mill through the crowd [I would've taken some snapshots, but the batteries in the Fenway-cam were deader then Uday and Qusay Hussein's Iraqi Parliament campaign- NANESB!] and try to figure out where one nearby congressional district ended and the other began with some of the other attendees....it gets even more convoluted when it comes to the state senate.

So after about 40 minutes or so, I had to take my leave in order to be reasonably on-time for work. At that point, more protesters were showing up and waving signs and flags on the other side of the street, which most passers by were enthusiastically honking while driving along. There was something of a police presence, but they kept their distance of about half a block away.....probably because there was nowhere else to park their patrol cars.

I left before any of the scheduled speakers arrived (I'm not even sure who they were), so I couldn't offer any informed commentary on that. There were actually some Tea Parties scheduled in towns alot closer to where I live, but they were scheduled to start when I was supposed to be at work.

Overall, I'd say it left me with a good first impression, but that was only after some 40 minutes. Certain snide, hypercondescending TV 'personalities' and bloggers would leave their dwindling viewer/readership with the impression that the Tea party was comprised exclusively of racists, birthers and Westboro Baptist-caliber fundies. By and large, they struck me as rational people who are concerned about an ever-expanding and increasingly tone-deaf and unaccountable Congress and Administration cramming through entitlement program after entitlement program- and correct me if I'm wrong, you 'where-were-these-racist-hypocrites-when-Bush-was-running-up-the-deficit' concern trolls waiting in the wings, but President Obama is on par to triple the Bush-era deficit in one year.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Charles Johnson of Little Unseen Footballs. Napoleon Charles, I just wanted to say that if it wasn't for your sneering, intellectually dishonest broadbrusing of Americans practicing their freedom of assembly and freedom of speech expressing the same concerns that at least half the country shares about the economy as foaming-at-the-mouth racists coupled with your blocking the accounts of the lions share of veterans, Jews and conservatives at your blog, I would be less inspired to find out about the whole Tea Party phenomena firsthand. Your abrupt and contrived ideological pivot has cost you far better posters than myself, but your actions have shown you to be nothing more than a lazy hack who's blog has devolved into a reptilian MSNBC, only without intellectual heavyweights like Keith Olberman and Dylan Ratigan. Thank you and don't forget to hit the tip jar!