BluegrassBulletin.com

Voices Added To End The IRS

Last year and since I have called for the repeal of the income tax and an end to the IRS by replacing it with a national sales tax.  Mike Huckabee is calling for the same thing and now his voice is joined by the Detroit News.

In a still-unfolding scandal, the IRS has been caught red-handed targeting conservative political groups for special scrutiny in what seems obvious was an attempt to aid the reelection bid of President Barack Obama.

An agency that has proven itself willing to manipulate the levers of government to achieve a political end should not be rewarded, it should be punished.

The most fitting punishment would be to disband the IRS. And junk the income tax, too.

Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas and now a TV talk show host, is urging Congress to replace the income tax with a national sales tax. You’d pay tax on the money you spend instead of the money you earn.

That would eliminate the need for an IRS that audits tax returns, hands out non-profit status and enforces a tax code that is egregiously complex and unfair.

With no reason to examine returns, the IRS could be much smaller. Without auditing power, it’d be less intimidating. [Detroit News]

The Time For The Fair Tax Is Now

I had the pleasure of participating in the republican primary for Congress from my district last year.  Of course as I told everyone, I was more George Plimpton in the Paper Lion than a conditioned player on the field.  But I did have one take-away that I feel it is time to share.  Even those I respected most were mealy-mouthed about changes to the tax laws.

I heard nearly every candidate say, when asked, that they were in favor of a "fairer-flatter" tax.  I guess that's an homage to both the proponents of the "fair tax" and proponents of the "flat tax" and a way to show voters that you empathize with their dislike of the income tax. 

But none really committed to any effort to make a dramatic and historic change for America.  I did though.  I favored the "Fair Tax".  Yes I had some questions about the "prebate" but continue to be certain that some of the difficult details of that portion of the proposal could be worked out.

Proponents of the Flat Tax would keep the IRS, and apparently don't think the Fair Tax would pass.

But there is probably no better time for a discussion and for a strong push for the Fair Tax than right now.

Why not the Flat Tax?  The Patriot Post has done a comparison of the Fair Tax, the current Income Tax and the Flat Tax.  I suggest that you CLICK HERE to do your own comparison.

Why do I prefer the Fair Tax over the Flat Tax?  Here are a few examples.

 

I was not surprised that a candidate would bob and weave during a campaign and was thrilled to have the chance to share the stage with the others to engage in the ongoing debate about the future of our nation, but now we are at a time when talk should end and action take its place. 

Now is the time for the Fair Tax.

Ending Aid To Egypt: Now Where Have I Heard This Before?

Allen West has called for ending aid to Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood.  So has representative Joe Walsh. Seems like the idea is gaining popularity.  Glad I made it major part of my fun little Congressional run.  Being on the record about such things is one of the benefits of running for office.

Preliminary Results Of My Experimental Campaign

I said from the beginning that I was running an experimental campaign intended to test what components of an election contest worked and which ones didn't.  Along the way I was able to stay in close contact with the other candidates and monitor what they were doing as well.  The results are still coming in.

But here is a little glimpse of what seems to be an early set of observations.

First, as in most campaigns in the past the same things worked again yesterday.  Despite a recurring call by the voters for "change" what they really respond to is sameness.

I tested the methods by which voters get their information.  Eventhough "new media" is slowly replacing the mainstream in some areas, people still get most of their news and information from traditional sources.  Television and direct mail feed voters.  Other sources require much more effort and do not resemble the kind of "courtship" to which voters have become accustomed.

While voters will often say they don't like negative campaigns and big money politics, attack ads and big money were a part of the campaigns of the top three vote getters in the Congressional race.  In the end, the candidate with the most money won. (That's not to say it was all to do with money, but it is an inescapable fact).

The TEA party movement is a little harder to pin down.  On one hand it was born out of a distrust for "politics as usual" but as more and more candidates court TEA party support, the politics of appealing to this group is becoming the norm.  It's supporters tend to be very energetic and engaged but to some extent this makes them easily exploited.  It is hard to find an issue which they enthusiastically support which is not shared by other conservatives who don't call themselves "TEA party" members.  As such, and since being a member of the unofficial "TEA Party" seems to be required in order to win these days, voting party labels looks to be as much a part of what they are up to as the kind of party loyalty to the republican party which they reject as "old school".

In the past the GOP won voter loyalty with buzzwords like "cutting taxes" and "family values".  Of course any number of examples of voter let down can be cited as cause for TEA party rebellion, but these days buzzwords like "liberty" and "property rights" have replaced the old ones as the new tune being played by the modern day pied pipers of the political type.

There is no doubt a momentum showing which places a good deal of emphasis on mobilizing volunteers among the TEA party types and that too is more "old school" than might at first appear.  In fact, it is one of the ways in which the GOP gained strength against a much lazier Democratic Party a few decades ago.  The Democrats had gotten accustomed to being in power and so they just didn't work as hard anymore.  The Republicans are acting similarly and are being outworked by TEA party activists.

The biggest divide between TEA party ideals and those of the mainstream conservative movement comes in the area of foreign policy.  The Republicans under presidents since Nixon have enjoyed a reputation for taking a much harder line against foreign threats from the Soviets to the Radical Islamists.  Democrats were always much softer in this area.  The TEA party seems to be more concerned about domestic issues and as such has claimed territory previously occupied by Democrats. 

There is also a thread of discontent which one might identify as having started, not with the spending and warring policies under George W. Bush, but with the presidency of Barack Obama.  While it is unspoken, there is a special dislike for Obama which seems to stray into some very delicate areas, a dislike which has drawn a number of fringey folks to the movement.

A fuller assessment of how the various campaign strategies of the candidates worked will have to be done over a few more days than a morning after analysis will allow.  But it does seem pretty clear that what wins campaigns in 2012 looks very much like what has won campaigns for several decades, leaving a very clear path to victory for anyone who follows and is paying attention.

The Election Is Tomorrow; Answers To YOUR Questions From Our Final Town Hall

** NOTE:  This video was recorded LIVE.  As such a pre-roll of about 1:15 was included.  You can drag the slider to about that spot to skip a long still photo shot which was used to allow viewers to log on early.

In this Town Hall I think I have answered most of the questions which have been asked during the campaign.  Thank you for your words of encouragement and support.

Tomorrow is the primary election.  I am asking for your vote.

Paid for by Carey2012

Why I Am Running For Congress

Courier Journal Offers Direct Comparison Between Congressional Candidates

If you would like to have a "Consumer's Guide" of sorts to the Fourth District Congressional race, you might want to look at the service being provided by the Courier Journal.  CLICK HERE

WARNING! The Call To Cut Social Security & End Medicare For CURRENT RECIPIENTS! **UPDATED**

**See update below:

Rand Paul and his minions have a plan for America.  Cut federal spending at all costs. In today's climate those words spark standing ovations.  But those words reveal a very dark side of political persuasion.  Those words inspire crowds to focus on money, and forget about people.  Life, dignity, honor and duty are easily cast aside when throngs of panic stricken people are given permission to care more about numbers, than real human beings.

Okay, let’s call Rand Paul cynical — but not because of his playground taunt of the president a few days ago at a gathering of religious conservatives in Iowa. Let’s call him cynical because of the monstrous proposal the Kentucky Republican offered on the Senate floor Wednesday.

The tea party darling’s plan would, among other things, cut the average Social Security recipient’s benefits by nearly 40 percent, reduce defense spending by nearly $100
billion below a level the Pentagon calls “devastating,” and end the current Medicare program in two years — even for current recipients, according to the Senate Budget Committee staff.

It is, all in all, quite a nasty piece of work, and even an intervention by the Aqua Buddha wouldn’t get it through the Senate. It failed, 83 to 16. Yet the very fact that such a proposal would be seriously debated on the chamber floor shows that a troubling number of lawmakers have gone off the deep end. [Washington Post]

Judging by Senator Paul's recent endorsement in the Congressional race here in Kentucky, he seems to be saying to one candidate in particular from the deep end "come on in, the water's fine, I need help getting my agenda passed."

My God!  Are you seriously considering saying yes to Rand Paul's call for you to send "reinforcements" to help pass this draconian kind of legislation?  How heartless have we become?

From day one I have made it clear, that the time to take a stand in favor of our seniors in NOW, before it is too late and their lives are no longer seen as worthy, but rather, as a budget expense we can no longer afford.

It makes me sick to my stomach.  Please tell you parents and every one you know that only one candidate for Congress this year has taken an unrelenting stand for life, at both ends of the spectrum.

"A society will be judged on the basis of how it treats its weakest members; and among the most vulnerable are surely the unborn and the dying." - Pope John Paul II

 

Paid for by Carey2012

**UPDATE: Rather than posting this merely as a comment I am publshing here a rebuttal to the Washington Post story quoted above as provided to me by Senator Paul's office:

I would like to clear up some of the misinformation from the Washington Post article you recently posted for your readers

Senator Paul's budget does not end or gut Social Security or Medicare. 

Rather, his 5 year balanced budgeyt plan includes entitlement fixes that extend the life of Social Security for 75 years and Medicare for decades

It should be noted that the current system is unsustainable. It will fail if we do nothing

Senator Paul's plan puts all Seniors eligible for Medicare into the Congressional health care plan.  The same one we, our wives and kids have.    Every senior is covered.  And it isn't a voucher plan like the Ryan plan.  It covers seniors the same percentage as Medicare, and does so at lower costs to seniors.
 
Social Security benefits are not cut 40%.    The age rises for FUTURE recipients (56 and under) over about 25 years, and then the benefits are means tested to have reductions in payments to the wealthier recipients.   We do that in lieu of the calls we hear all the time to lift the cap on the Social Security tax.   Lifting the cap punishes job creators and small businesses.   Means testing on the benefit side does not.
 
We don't cut the defense budget 100 billion.  In fact we restore the "sequester" cuts.   that were put in place in last year's budget deal.  
 
We are able to do that because we are actually serious about cutting major areas, like Depts. of Education, HUD, etc.

Senator Paul's budget is a serious document that would fix our fiscal mess. He was joined in this plan by Senator Demint, Senator McConnell and 13 others.

Could Ron Paul Influence Really Break GOP Apart?

Ron Paul's vow to "take over" the republican party might come true in a very weird way.  He might end up with a party in name only.

Fed up with an inept and self-destructive GOP apparatus in Nevada, the Republican National Committee and the Mitt Romney campaign have decided to erect a “shadow state party” in this critical swing state, sources confirmed Wednesday.

“They are still bogged down in the minutiae of whether Romney will be the presumptive nominee,” scoffed a GOP strategist familiar with the details of the restructuring. “We don’t have time for that when the Obama campaign already is in full campaign mode. We have no use for them [the state GOP].”

The lack of faith in the Republican Party in Nevada intensified with the botched February caucus, metastasized after the Ron Paul takeover in Sparks, and reached its zenith with Tuesday’s call for RNC Chairman Reince Priebus to resign by a divided Clark County GOP.

Priebus was described as “disappointed with the censuring.” So Priebus, in concert with the Romney folks in Nevada, has decided to turn the so-called Team Nevada office into the de facto Republican Party.

“The goal is for us to be running get out the vote, running phone programs, voter ID, voter contact, everything through the Team Nevada headquarters,” the strategist said.

He continued: “The RNC has said it is willing to do everything possible as the state party appears not to be willing to work with us, so we will do it without them.” [POLITICO]

I have been writing a series of articles for the past couple of weeks at KyForward.com which detail some of the periods in our history when factions within the each major party resulted in new parties under new names coming to the foreground, leaving the shell of the old party in the hands of those who wanted to control it.

Maybe Ron Paul will succeed in taking over the GOP, but maybe the money, the power, the presidency and the people will leave him behind.  In a weird turn of events he could end up being the "RINO" (Republican In Name Only).

Obama Cracks Down On Free Speech, Again

I sometimes feel like Dorothy hugging Toto.  I don't feel like I'm even in the United States any more.  And you still want to know why I'm running for Congress?

President Obama has issued an alarming executive order that would allow the government to crackdown of U.S. citizens and other individuals who “indirectly” oppose U.S.-backed Yemeni President, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. Hadi was the right-hand man to the prior  dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh and won an “election” composed only of himself.

[T]he Obama Administration is now threatening anyone who opposes him, including our own citizens. The Administration appears delighted that, while opponents are not welcomed in the country, American drones are.

The executive order appears to fall into that ever-widening category of extreme presidential powers claimed under the “Trust me I am Obama” rationale. Once again, Democrats and liberals are silent despite the fact that they would be outraged if this had been done by Bush. [Jonathan Turley]