Since around 1995, the amount of revenue Uncle Sam has been able to squeeze out of the average American has leveled off between $6000 and $8000 per year, suggesting that we’ve hit the practical limit. Historically, the most revenue the federal government can expect to raise is an average of 18% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product; the entire annual American economy). In brief boom times or during existential threats like World War II, the federal government can squeeze more than 18% out of the economy, but it never lasts long. No matter how hard Uncle Sam tries, the biggest average chunk he can grab is locked in at 18% of the economy, because people respond to taxes.

In the seventeen years since 1995, Uncle Sam’s borrowing and spending has not leveled off. The average American’s share is past $10,000 per year and climbing. Our debt is piling up faster than we can repay it. The “recovery” from the late 2008 economic crash has been flat for years, but Uncle Sam keeps pushing the gas pedal down as we drive toward the edge of the cliff.

There is no more revenue to be had.

If the federal government raises taxes it can only collect more than 18% of the economy for a short period, and then revenue will drop again, as always. If the government keeps borrowing — or tries to print boatloads of money — to feed its spending addiction, the inflation rate will skyrocket. That will destroy the value of the dollar, which will destroy the economy and your life’s savings.

As long as “money out” is a bigger number than “money in,” the national debt will grow and you’ll be on the hook for it. It will sink the economy as surely as that iceberg sank the Titanic. “Money in” is not going to get bigger, but “money out” absolutely will keep getting bigger as long as we keep sending the same progressives to Washington. They won’t stop themselves. Only we can stop them by replacing them with sane people who will reduce “money out” until it’s a lot lower than “money in,” and keep it there for generations. We can either take our medicine now and have an unpleasant experience, or we can keep deceiving ourselves and watch America collapse. There is no third option. The insane big-spending politicians in Washington are going to ruin your life and your children’s lives unless you stop them. Listen to the warning and save your country and your family.

We do not have a revenue problem. We have a spending problem. Anyone who tells you otherwise is either misinformed, a fool, or a liar.

It neatly summarizes our predictions for how the Republican Establishment will justify its opposition to constitutional conservatives over the next several years, if we manage to put them back in power.

Now hear this. Now hear this. Set RINO Threat Level Blue. Check status of all conservative principles. That is all.

Nominations are due by May 25th.

Behold the meme collision:

5/16 Update: Instalanche? Sort of.

And now the RNC piles on.

Look at Stossel’s 2010 video starting at ~2:15 and compare it with my post from 2009.

Nowadays, though, we have much better methods for extracting intel from uncooperative Islamists.

We have a spending problem.

When a country’s debt climbs past 60% of the total size of its economy for an entire year (what economists call its “Gross Domestic Product”), the country’s economic health suffers. When the debt-to-GDP ratio passes 90%, alarm bells go off. The longer it stays that high — or higher — the greater the risk of total economic collapse. We are becoming Greece.

We do not have a revenue problem. We have a spending problem.

Lest you think this is all theoretical opposition on my part, allow me to refute that notion right now. My parents, uncles, aunts, and grandparents are refugees from the Soviet invasion of Estonia and Latvia in 1944.  Had they not escaped in time, many of them would have been deported to Siberia — or worse.  My father’s earliest memory involves being helped onto the very last German troop transport ship fleeing the capital city of Tallinn on his 4th birthday, and being given a precious gift of a piece of candy by a German soldier.  That was September 22nd, 1944.  Members of my family who couldn’t leave in time did wind up disappearing into the Gulag Archipelago in Siberia. Brutally warring communists and nazis — utopian statists all — very nearly got my father killed at age 4.

I will resist progressives, their agenda, and their lethally foolish theories until the day I die.

Over in Iraq, U.S. troops’ pets need your help before time runs out! SPCA International’s (SPCAI) Operation Baghdad Pups Program needs to rescue 24 animals from war zones overseas by June 1st.

Due to the extreme Middle Eastern heat, air travel becomes unsafe for animals and all airlines place an embargo on animal travel, which remains in effect until October 1st. If SPCAI cannot rescue these animals before June 1st, many of their soldiers will be forced to leave their animal companions behind to certain death. Your donation will help provide these patriot pets with travel crates, vaccinations, and transportation from the Middle East all the way to the soldier’s home in the U.S. The cost of saving these animals is great -– but cannot be compared to the comfort and companionship these animals bring to our troops.

Click on the banner above to find out more, and then chip in your movie ticket money for April. The troops — and their four-legged friends stuck in Iraq — will never forget your kindness.

And another one on May 23rd in Louisville? Come on! I need more notice so I can rehearse.

Included in Murray’s book is a 25-question quiz that has become a popular online test to gauge whether you live in a social and cultural bubble. First published by PBS NewsHour to “help readers determine how thick their own bubble may be,” we’re embedding it below in advance of Murray’s speech at Heritage.

Here’s my score.

Title 76 Utah Criminal Code
Chapter 6
Section 703.   Computer crimes and penalties.

(1) A person who without authorization gains or attempts to gain access to and alters, damages, destroys, discloses, or modifies any computer, computer network, computer property, computer system, computer program, computer data or software, and thereby causes damage to another, or obtains money, property, information, or a benefit for any person without legal right, is guilty of:
(a) a class B misdemeanor when:
(i) the damage caused or the value of the money, property, or benefit obtained or sought to be obtained is less than $500; or
(ii) the information obtained is not confidential;
(b) a class A misdemeanor when the damage caused or the value of the money, property, or benefit obtained or sought to be obtained is or exceeds $500 but is less than $1,500;
(c) a third degree felony when the damage caused or the value of the money, property, or benefit obtained or sought to be obtained is or exceeds $1,500 but is less than $5,000;
(d) a second degree felony when the damage caused or the value of the money, property, or benefit obtained or sought to be obtained is or exceeds $5,000; or
(e) a third degree felony when:
(i) the property or benefit obtained or sought to be obtained is a license or entitlement;
(ii) the damage is to the license or entitlement of another person; or
(iii) the information obtained is confidential; or
(iv) in gaining access the person breaches or breaks through a security system.
(2)
(a) Except as provided in Subsection (2)(b), a person who intentionally or knowingly and without authorization gains or attempts to gain access to a computer, computer network, computer property, or computer system under circumstances not otherwise constituting an offense under this section is guilty of a class B misdemeanor.
(b) Notwithstanding Subsection (2)(a), a retailer that uses an electronic product identification or tracking system, or other technology to identify, track, or price goods is not guilty of a violation of Subsection (2)(a) if the equipment designed to read the electronic product identification or tracking system data and used by the retailer to identify, track, or price goods is located within the retailer’s location.
(3) A person who uses or knowingly allows another person to use any computer, computer network, computer property, or computer system, program, or software to devise or execute any artifice or scheme to defraud or to obtain money, property, services, or other things of value by false pretenses, promises, or representations, is guilty of an offense based on the value of the money, property, services, or things of value, in the degree set forth in Subsection 76-10-1801(1).
(4) A person who intentionally or knowingly and without authorization, interferes with or interrupts computer services to another authorized to receive the services is guilty of a class A misdemeanor.
(5) It is an affirmative defense to Subsections (1) and (2) that a person obtained access or attempted to obtain access in response to, and for the purpose of protecting against or investigating, a prior attempted or successful breach of security of a computer, computer network, computer property, computer system whose security the person is authorized or entitled to protect, and the access attempted or obtained was no greater than reasonably necessary for that purpose.

If Ms. Hirst is found guilty of a Class B misdemeanor, she can be jailed for up to six months. For a Class A misdemeanor, the jail term can be up to a year. For a third degree felony, she can be jailed for up to five years. I hope she earned enough from her little “performance” to cover her attorney’s fees.

The smug “patrons” who participated in her crime “art” had better hope they can’t be identified by prosecutors.

Anna Jones deserved to have her Facebook account hacked … um … why, exactly?

Whew.

I’ll bet you a hundred bucks, Duke, that Senator Brown can’t explain why oil speculators smooth out price swings in the oil market.

How does this behavior by Klout make any sense?

–

11:55 PM Update: The benefits of a high Klout score. Ooooo!

Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) sure is a useful tool.

But hey, to hear our own Sherrod Brown (D-OH) tell it, passing a budget isn’t all that meaningful.

Do your jobs, for once.

… and try to claim with a straight face that the unborn is not a human being.

“If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.

But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.

He who hates Me hates My Father also. If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well. But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, ‘THEY HATED ME WITHOUT A CAUSE.’ ”

Brent Bozell points out the latest pop culture dumpster-swill to hit the TV, a show called GCB.

My reaction? Mostly yawns. This is to be expected from our brave, transgressive betters in Hollyweird. It’s always cool and titillating among their crowd to pick on Christians. We expect it, and tend not to fight back in any serious sense beyond withholding our financial support. Re-read the quote above, and you’ll understand why we often regard their disdain as an honor. Sinful and imperfect as we are, there’s also that whole Turn The Other Cheek thing to live up to.

I’ll give the secular progressives in the entertainment biz some credit for real courage if and when they ever take a similar swipe at muslims. Don’t hold your breath, though. That kind of thing tends to provoke a much more primitive and physical response from the targets.

I give GCB one season, tops.

Bell believed then, as he does to this day, that whites would support civil rights protections for blacks only if those protections would also promote white self-interest and social status. Since Bell maintains that racial minorities are a permanently oppressed caste — and that racism is a normal, permanent aspect of American life — he reasons that equality before the law is unfair to blacks, whose moral claims are superior to those of whites. He has endorsed a journal dedicated to the “abolition of whiteness,” called Race Traitor, whose motto is “Treason to the white race is loyalty to humanity.”

According to Professor Bell and his fellow Critical Race theorists, existing legal structures are, like American society at large, racist in their very construction. Critical Race Theory suggests that to combat this “institutional racism,” oppressed racial groups have both the right and the duty to decide for themselves, which laws are valid and are worth observing. Critical Race Theory also promotes the use of storytelling narratives in law-review articles to better reflect the “oral traditions” of black experience. Bell has used the technique of placing legal and social commentary into the mouths of invented characters extensively in his writings. While acknowledging that this “style of storytelling” is “less rigorous than the doctrine-laden, citation-heavy law review pieces,” he employs it nonetheless.

He was also a mentor to a young Barack Obama, who idolized the aging racist and organized at least one student demonstration supporting him while the future president was a law student. Selectively-edited footage of that demonstration leaked today, but the raw footage will air tonight thanks to Andrew Breitbart’s happy warriors.

–

3/8 Update: More on Bell and his past.

–

3/8 Update 2: Well, look what we have here.

The Scientific Method:
1) Define a question
2) Gather information and resources (observe)
3) Form an explanatory hypothesis
4) Test the hypothesis by performing an experiment and collecting data in a reproducible manner
5) Analyze the data
6) Interpret the data and draw conclusions that serve as a starting point for new hypothesis
7) Publish results

See what got missed there?  This is Science 101.  No amount of cover-ups can fix this, you environmentalist wackos and media leftists.  Give it up.  The fraud has been exposed.  Find your next scam to push.

About Me
I can’t believe how many rude and ignorant people there are on this site. What gives anybody the right to talk to another human being in that manner. Why on earth would you judge a book by its cover. That’s what’s wrong with society today, everyone is obsessed with someone’s looks and not what’s inside. Granted, looks play a big part in anyone’s decision but still, give me a break people. I am a quiet, down to earth person and would never judge anyone else. We as humans have no rite to judge another person. The only one to judge us is GOD himself! Whether you think something is right or not, it is not your place to judge or voice your opinion. Why do you think there are so many wars and so much hatred in the world, because pride and ego get in the way. Get off your high horse and come down to reality. If someone offends you or hurts your pride, just be polite and walk away. There is no need for you to justify yourself to someone. It’s a waste of breath and a waste of time. No matter how blue you are in the face by trying to defend yourself, the other person is not going to care, they will only think what they want to think and believe.

Just kinda looking to see who is out there. I’m down to earth, I don’t take any crap from anyone, I love life and never take anything for granted. I am the type of person that I would give you the shirt off my back if you needed it. I don’t cause any trouble, I go to church, i love my job and I am a very loving individual. There is a saying “if you love your job 100%, you will never work a day in your life”. I am happy to be one of those people!!!!!

So with me saying “never judge a book by it’s cover”, please understand that underneath everything that you see in my pictures, I am someone who has a lot more to offer than the average woman, physically and mentally. So if you get my drift then please send me an e-mail and we can get to know each other.

First Date
Well, I have never been on an actual date before LOL. I have never experienced getting picked up, dressing really nice, going to a fancy dinner….I would just love to have a date and not have it end up on a sexual note. Do guys take women out anymore on dates? Not just a date, but one of those dates where you have to prepare most of the day for, make sure everything is right, pick out your outfit for the evening (do guys even wear ties anymore or wear their pants where they are suppose to be with a tucked in shirt????), hope everything goes well, start at a great restaurant with conversation and light dinner music, maybe end the date with a walk in a park somewhere or go to some kind of show. Does that even exist anymore? I think it only exists in the movies and that people nowadays are just thinking about the sexual aspect of it and just not wanting to put the effort into a date anymore. Just my opinion!

Now consider that the offended prickliness expressed above was accompanied by the following photos (click to enlarge).

Sure, honey, we all take you very seriously, but if you gave someone the shirt off your back it wouldn’t do much. A hankie would be warmer.

Clearly, they know what to say. They might even know what to do. But getting them to actually do what’s needed most – take the initiative to rein in federal spending – means voters will have to wise up.

Ohio’s Congressional District 2 is represented by Jean Schmidt, who calls herself a conservative and boasts of big-name endorsements and high scores from conservative watchdog groups.

But how many actual conservatives got elected to Congress the first time around with the benefit of $37,000 in Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee money? (Source: 1 2 3 contributions)

What is conservative about earmarking $14.6 million, the most of any Greater Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky member of the House, in 2007′s congressional spending bills? (Source: Cincinnati Enquirer, Oct. 7, 2007)

How can one claim to be a fiscal conservative while supporting $25 million in federal spending on a local park? (Source: Cincinnati Enquirer, May 1, 2007) Note that this occurred when the federal debt was approaching $9 trillion.

In 2009, Rep. Schmidt requested more than $10 million in District 2 spending as part of a pork-laden bill, prompting nearby District 8′s Rep. John Boehner – who has publicly sworn off earmarking – to urge President Obama to veto the entire bill. (Source: Cincinnati Enquirer, Mar. 6, 2009)

Interestingly, in 2010 Rep. Schmidt cited Congressional overspending as her reason for voting against extending the Bush tax cuts. (Source: Cincinnati Enquirer, Dec. 18, 2010) The problem for her, it seems, was that everybody except Rep. Schmidt was spending too much money.

Yet, as Rep. Boehner’s record illustrates, a Congressman does not have to treat the U.S. Treasury as a personal printing press in order to get re-elected.

In fact, as the video Alo kindly linked below explains, 85 percent of Congress consists of “safe seats,” solid-red and solid-blue districts where the winner of the right primary is virtually certain to win in November.

Add that only 1 in 10 registered voters participate in the primaries, and it’s clear that only 5 percent of the electorate (or, a majority of primary voters) actually chooses most of Congress.

So, all a GOP incumbent has to do in most districts is convincingly don the “conservative” mantle through the primary, then go back to politics as usual. Congress is full of such representatives. They get high scores from ACU and other organizations, but they don’t actually take initiative to get Washington under control. Why bother, if the primary voters aren’t paying attention? It’s hard work, turning a ship that big around.

But that’s what will have to happen. Voters will have to realize they’ve been sending the same go-alongs and earmarkers to Congress every two years, expecting a different result.

Some incumbents, such as Rep. Schmidt, actually have credible primary challengers this time around. Many incumbents do not. Hence, the attention this particular contest has drawn from people concerned about the impending fiscal disaster that few in Congress seem ready to head off.

Are you a primary voter? Are you ready to change the course of Washington? Your chance occurs on March 6.

Michael Smith
Activist
Campaign for Primary Accountability

2:15 PM Update (Alo Konsen): Hello, Representative Schmidt. Nice to see you.

If you want to return the Republican Party to conservatism and to limited government, this is an easy and effective way to do it. The Tea Party is not dead. It is getting organized.

Same guy, same voice, same sales pitch, same slimy evasion. The number he supposedly called from is (971) 220-1019 in Gresham, Oregon.

Or is “Tom” actually a computer?

This is the Obama Administration’s current plan, in a document never intended to actually be passed.  It’s published strictly for election propaganda (“Look!  It’s a do-nothing Congress!!!”), so it’s a very mild version of what they actually want.  They tout this as responsible stewardship of your money.  Imagine what they’ll actually spend when the election’s over, and they have four years of freedom to enact their agenda without worrying about re-election.

Are you sure you want to gamble on this bunch of geniuses again?  Their record is eye-opening.

Rick Santorum most definitely did not say that being a woman is a mental disorder. The site “quoting” Santorum is a parody site. No, I will not link to them.

The Occupy movement was met with great restraint by political leaders all over the country until push literally came to shove. And guess who got to do the shoving? That’s right — your friendly neighborhood armed government agents. Mayors and college presidents and governors have their private armies to do what begging, negotiating, and persuasion cannot — the police officer. Why don’t mayors send in a phalanx of social workers or public relations staff? How about the street cleaning guys or the city engineer’s office? Are the interns in the mail room so busy they can’t go down to the park and get some trespassers to move along? Or hey, get the firefighters — they have uniforms and everybody loves firefighters!

Why the police? One word: force. We have the license to hurt. Gosh, that sounds mean — and on video, it looks even meaner.

…

The thought process goes like this: person violates law, politician looks the other way, violator decides to continue to violate law, politician decides law should be enforced and warns violator, violator decides to continue to break law, politician orders police to enforce law, police confront violator, violator still breaks law, police exercise force to gain compliance, violator screams bloody murder, politician investigates cops for using force.

Since in all likelihood the Occupy movement will be back once the weather warms up and the Democrat Party needs their help ginning up the leftist base for the election, Chief Shults has an interesting idea for police caught in the middle.  Follow the link above to find out what it is.

Since the Occupy movement is joined at the hip with the labor movement, I find the whole situation darkly funny.  Police officers tend to be members of unions themselves.  Government employee unions are some of the most corrupt and dangerous organizations in the country, and now they’ll be cracking each other’s skulls while advancing “solidarity” and the re-election of their Democrat friends.

You’ll find plenty of stock photos and graphics of zombies at iStockPhoto, like this one I just mocked up quickly:

Imagine the same zombie community organizer, only this time canvassing for votes.

Figures often beguile me, particularly when I have the arranging of them myself; in which case the remark attributed to Disraeli would often apply with justice and force: “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.”

– Mark Twain

When you see a cheery report like this …

Persons are classified as unemployed if they do not have a job, have actively looked for work in the prior 4 weeks, and are currently available for work.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Unfortunately, that U3 number can be misleading.

Here’s a simplified way to visualize the economy when it’s as close as it ever gets to “full employment.”  The best America can typically do is when that U3 number drops to around 5% — five out of every hundred people in the workforce have no jobs.  Even when the economy’s booming that statistic never drops to zero because there are inevitably at least a few people who find themselves between jobs.  It’s not always the same people, and sometimes they’re between jobs for good reasons (on vacation between jobs, going to school, on sabbatical, just sold their business, etc.), so it’s silly to get upset if the U3 number hovers in the neighborhood of 5%.  Also remember that this doesn’t represent the whole population of America; we’re only looking at the workforce.  We’re leaving out retirees, the disabled, illegal aliens, children too young to work, and the like.

5% unemployment

Now let’s say a big recession hits.  Ten out of every hundred people of working age find themselves out of work, so unemployment rises to 10%.

10% unemployment

After a long time passes, the federal government announces that unemployment has dropped to 8%, and the TV talking heads eagerly parrot that latest U3 number.  Good news, right?

Not necessarily.  True, it could mean that now only eight of every hundred workers is out of a job, which is easy to assume when you hear that happy “news” report:

8% unemployment

On the other hand, it could mean that the government designated a large chunk of the working age population (in our example, 37½%) as “discouraged workers” who have left the workforce.  Such sleight-of-hand leaves eight of every hundred people still in the workforce counted as “unemployed” according to the definition of that well-known U3 statistic, but it hides the full story.

8% unemployment (technically)

Discouraged workers might be working part time, or they’ve stopped looking for work, or they might still be looking but they’ve been unemployed for so long that the government number-crunchers simply treat them as if they don’t exist anymore. Whatever the mix may be at any given time, those people are still of working age and they’re able-bodied, but they don’t show up in the U3 number reported as the official unemployment rate on the nightly news.  This situation is worse than the reports would have you believe.

To get an accurate picture of how big a chunk of the workforce is actually working, you have to flip things around and consider employment instead of just U3 unemployment and the raw “XXX jobs created this month” announcements.

You have to look at different government figures if you want the whole story.

The next time you hear a happy jobs report in the news, turn on your B.S. detector and compare our current situation to other recessions and recoveries in American history.

Or at least ask whoever’s sprinkling fistfuls of U3 sunshine to explain this double standard:

By sending back a ‘remove me’ opt-out request you are confirming to the spammer that your address is live, you are confirming that you actually open and read spams, and that you follow the spammer’s instructions such as “click this to be removed”. You are the perfect candidate for more spam.

Bottom line: KLM is run by disreputable fools. Any company that sends unsolicited bulk commercial e-mail deserves all the bad P.R. it gets.

Hopefully this post will add one more data point to the search engine results, so that word will begin to spread: KLM sends spam.

It’s more fun to be childish, gutless, and foolish. I want to bleat empty slogans like “Hope and Change!” Personal responsibility, ordered liberty, limited government, and thinking past next Tuesday is for dorks. I think I’ll become a progressive. Now gimme your house, oppressor.

If you’re on Twitter, follow @BillWhittle.

We do not have a revenue problem. We have a spending problem.

Is Mitt Romney’s nomination inevitable?  Hardly.  He’s won a mere 71 of the required 1144 delegates.  He’s not even 7% of the way there.

On to Maine and Nevada we go.

The silence speaks volumes.

I’m a man of my word.

Norm Coleman – the former senator from Minnesota and a prominent advisor for Mitt Romney – suggested over the weekend in an interview that no matter who the Republican nominee is, they are unlikely to fully repeal Obamacare.

The conservative base of the GOP did not bust its butt to return Republicans to control in the House because we like pragmatism, bipartisanship, and tinkering around with Obamacare in an effort to “fix” it. The majority of Americans want it repealed. Obamacare is a malignant tumor on the Republic. If the GOP proves unwilling or unable to cut out that tumor before 2014 — when it goes into full effect — then we conservatives will eviscerate the GOP as a political entity and start over. The party cannot survive without us. Google the sad fate of the Whig Party; it can happen again.

If the GOP doesn’t bleed to get Obamacare repealed, we’ll bleed the party dry. Bank on it.

1. He’s a liar and a demagogue.
2. Taxation is only half of the story at best.

You have to watch spending too. The poorest Americans got back $8.21 for each $1.00 paid in taxes. The middle class got back $1.30 for every $1.00 paid in taxes. The rich got back $0.41 for every $1.00 paid in taxes. Yes, really.

We do do not have a revenue problem. We have a spending problem.

Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.

– Winston Churchill