RNS Quote of the Day: 02/14/11

By the numbers

National debt is over $14 trillion, the federal budget deficit is $1.4 trillion and, depending on whose estimates are used, the unfunded liability or indebtedness of the federal government (mostly in the form of obligations for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and prescription drugs) is estimated to be between $60 and $100 trillion.

Those entitlements along with others account for nearly 60 percent of federal spending. They are what Congress calls mandatory or non-discretionary spending. Then there’s discretionary spending, half of which is for national defense. Each year, non-discretionary spending consumes a higher and higher percent of the federal budget.

The spending path that Congress has chosen for the last half-century is unsustainable and will end up with economic collapse but little or nothing can be done about it unless I’m grossly wrong about the American people. Americans who detest our country and those who love our country are hell-bent, wittingly or unwittingly, on destroying it.

Walter E. Williams – Can Our Nation Be Saved

I’m not quite sure about a positive answer to that question.

Posted in Quote of the Day | 1 Comment

It’s not like it is their money

Why should they care. They get paid either way.

And if the problem gets “big enough” they may be able to increase their numbers.

The GAO has listed the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Program as having the second highest dollar amount of improper payments of all Federal programs. The IRS has made little improvement in reducing EITC improper payments since 2002 when it was first required to report estimates of these payments to Congress. The IRS continues to report that 23% - 28% of EITC payments are issued improperly each year. In Fiscal Year 2009, this equated to $11 billion to $13 billion in EITC improper payments

Surely, these are noble folks just trying to get their part of the “spreading the wealth around”.

But if you’re a “rich bastard” you’re just greedy for not wanting to pay more taxes.

See how that works?

Posted in The Government is Not Your Friend, The Left is Never Right | Leave a comment

Rules Change

As times get harder for state and local governments, they will come after anyone they see as powerless for every penny they can.

For years, New York law stated that residents of another state who spend more than 183 days a year in New York have to pay taxes on any income they make in this state. But they generally haven’t had to pay New York taxes on income they make outside of the state or on their spouses’ income if they work elsewhere.

Under the recent ruling, this might change for many out-of-state residents who own vacation homes or apartments here. In effect, it reinterprets what counts as a permanent residence.

In defining a “permanent place of abode,” New York tax code specifically excludes “a mere camp or cottage, which is suitable and used only for vacations.” New York tax experts say the new ruling is the first they recall that counts summer homes as permanent residences.

[The judge] ruled that the couple’s Long Island vacation home qualifies under the law as a permanent abode because it was suitable for living year-round—whether or not the couple actually stayed in the home wasn’t relevant. Under the ruling, if an owner doesn’t spend a single a day in a home it could still count toward a permanent residence.

The state’s ineptitude at spending within their means is your pain.

Posted in The Government is Not Your Friend | 2 Comments

Gives New Meaning to “Squamous Cell Tumor”

“Tumors of the Elder Gods” [Cancer Resembles Primordial Life Form]

Posted in Evil walks the earth | 1 Comment

I Can’t Wait for Tax Day

The wife and I are reading through the novel together. Her first time; my second. On Joe Huffman’s recommendation, we also have the audiobook version on our phones, which is nice for long drives. Now we have a deadline date to be finished with it. The film will be released April 15, 2011. Here’s hoping a major distributor picks it up.

I was worried they’d crater without the major studio backing that Angelina Jolie’s involvement would have ensured, but it looks like they did just fine. The lead actress is not my mental image of Dagny Taggart, but she’s growing on me.

Posted in Kewel! | 2 Comments

Do Not Pass Go, Go Directly to Federal Court for 42 USC s.1983 Appeals

I’d forgotten about this gem. Basically, the Supreme Court held that you do not need to exhaust administrative remedies before filing a Federal civil rights claim — such as, oh, I don’t know, infringing on my Second Amendment rights.

So let’s imagine in California a sheriff denies my application for a CCW permit because “self defense” isn’t sufficient reason. I try to file a civil rights case and the sheriff says no, you have to go through my department’s appeal process first. Supreme Court said they don’t get to do that.

*498 JUSTICE MARSHALL delivered the opinion of the Court.

This case presents the question whether exhaustion of state administrative remedies is a prerequisite to an action under 42 U. S. C. § 1983 (1976 ed., Supp. IV). Petitioner Georgia Patsy filed this action, alleging that her employer, Florida International University (FIU), had denied her employment opportunities solely on the basis of her race and sex. By a divided vote, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit found that petitioner was required to exhaust “adequate and appropriate” administrative remedies, and remanded the case to the District Court to consider the adequacy of the administrative procedures. Patsy v. Florida International University, 634 F. 2d 900 (1981) (en banc). We granted certiorari, 454 U. S. 813, and reverse the decision of the Court of Appeals.

I

Posted in Have Gun, Will Travel | Leave a comment

I knew there was something wrong with yesterday

I just couldn’t shake that feeling that something wasn’t right yesterday.

A quick trip last night to the HuffPo helped me put a finger on it.

John Maynard Keynes’s The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money was published 75 years ago today.

Shudder

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If only it was this simple

Fun discussion regarding fantasy lawmaking.

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The Soundboard: Spliced Krispies Edition

More mashups, bros

Enjoy!

Posted in Kewel! | 1 Comment

Get them coming and going

It may turn out that there are more unconstitutional provisions within Obamacare than just the individual mandate

Are health care waivers unconstitutional?

The constitutional dispute over the health-care law has thus far centered on the lawfulness of the statute itself — most dramatically when, last week in Florida, a federal judge held the act to be void. Waiting in the wings, however, is another constitutional question, one concerning not the statute, but waivers from it.

The Department of Health and Human Services has granted 733 waivers from one of the statute’s key requirements. The recipients of the waivers include insurers such as Oxford Health Insurance, labor organizations such as the Service Employees International Union, and employers such as PepsiCo. This is disturbing for many reasons. At the very least, it suggests the impracticability of the health-care law; HHS gave the waivers because it fears the law will cost many Americans their jobs and insurance.

Congress can pass statutes that apply to some businesses and not others, but once a law has passed — and therefore is binding — how can the executive branch relieve some Americans of their obligation to obey it?

It can’t. Anyone who tells you otherwise needs to take a civics class. Yes, Senator Schumer, I’m looking at you.

Posted in Order of the imperial upraised middle finger. | 2 Comments