Obama TV

NOTE: To all Chuckophiles, the following is a reprint from an earlier posting, brought back by (1) popular demand, and (2) absolute necessity.

I noticed something very strange last Thursday afternoon and 4:40 p.m. I turned on the TV and guess what? No Obama! He was nowhere to be found. Not on CBS or NBC or ABC or CNN or Fox. Not even on MSNBC, the marketing, sales and public relations department for Obama & Company, and the primary publicity subsidiary of the Democratic National Committee. Since I'm used to awakening each day to the soothing and dulcet tones of Mr. Obama as I crank on the Telly, and then seeing him give speech after speech after speech all day long, his very absence that fateful day was shocking! I was wondering if he was sick. Or maybe he was in some high level meeting planning to take yet over another segment of our rapidly-dwindling democratic society, robbing us of yet another freedom. Or figuring out which military program to gut. Or which union to give even more millions of our tax dollars. Or flying to yet another campaign stop in Air Force One (by the way, hasn't he worn out that airplane yet? Isn't it time for a new one?).

Think back. Remember when you could turn on the TV and not see the President of the United States? No, really. I mean he was nowhere to be found. And although it seems like eons ago, it was in actuality only a few short months back. Ahh, those were the good ol' days.

Now he's everywhere. From early in the morning until deep into the evening, he'll be delivering his Major Policy Speech of the Day, followed by a Town Hall meeting somewhere, and on to reading from his trusty TelePrompTer at a unionized plant that he single-handedly rescued from failure with tons of our money, and on to an address to a group of sycophant libs who slavishly lap up every word cascading from his highly polished mouth, and then on to another fund-raiser to amass even more millions with which to bash the Republicans. Or he'll be chatting with Letterman just before heading off to his umpteenth round of golf, or leaving for his fortieth vacation since assuming office, or scolding us for some real or imagined transgression or other, letting know it's really our fault for all the problems he faces. Is it me or is it All Obama All The Time?

So it hit me. Instead of all the networks having to cover the Energizer Messiah's every move and record his every word, why not have the Government simply take some more of our diminishing money supply and start the Obama Channel? Kind of like a reality show (but far less interesting), the cameras could follow him everywhere all day long. This would leave the other networks finally able to provide uninterrupted programming, sell their ad space and grow profits. Profits that he could then tax to the max. Just tune your DirecTV to channel 666. Of course, he could simply take over NBC, which is so in the tank for Obama they're selling His memorabilia in their Manhattan gift shop. And in the unlikely event that you finally have your fill of him, you could simply tune to any other channel without fear of having your airwaves and your attention span high jacked by the most overexposed public figure of our time.

Just a suggestion…

Corporate Jets

Last week when our Redistributor-in-Chief gave his Major Policy Address of the Day, he mentioned six times that we had to do away with tax breaks for owners of corporate jets. Six times! He's spent us upside down more than One Thousand Six Hundred and Twenty Five Billion Dollars and he's worried about corporate jets? I got to thinking, what has this guy got against the folks who design corporate jets, and make them, and sell them, and service them, and work or around them, and maintain them and fly them. According to Federal statistics, the corporate aviation industry accounts for more than $150 Billion per year in gross revenues and equates to 100,000 American jobs. That's pretty serious territory, business-wise, so there must be something here I don't see that causes the Campaigner-in-Chief to want to hose them out of their goodies. Or is it just that good ol' Class Warfare so deeply ingrained in the Liberal Mindset. You know, in order to buy one of these expensive toys the purchaser MUST have stolen the money to do so from some poor person somewhere. Probably a Black farmer from Arkansas. Yeah, that's the ticket.

So I got to checking. Back in 2009 our Community Organizer-in-Chief came up with his Stimulus Package to right all the wrongs in America. $787 Billion it cost, but by the time the dust settled the actual price was nearly One Trillion Dollars! A piece of this little package was a series of tax breaks to get companies to make more corporate jets and advanced depreciation schedules to get more people to want to buy them. It's worth remembering that not one Republican in the House and only 3 RINO Republicans in the Senate voted for this bloated load of pork. So let's see now. Our Hopeychanger-in-Chief and his liberal weenies in both houses of Congress, which he controlled, dreamed up and passed tax breaks for corporate jet owners pretty much all by his lonesome, and is now railing against Republicans to try to browbeat them into eliminating them. Huh?

Consider if you will that the totality of the cost of the tax breaks in question equates to about $3 Billion Dollars a year. Contrasted against our current 2011 Federal budget shortfall of $1.65 Trillion, it would take more than 5,000 years to generate enough revenue from this piddling effort to equal our budget deficit for 2011 alone! Looking at it another way, screwing the corporate jet buyers would save a whopping 0.03% of this year's deficit. Can you say disingenuous? Do his liberal sycophants actually buy this load of crap? If they do, why do they? Are they truly that brain dead? Is anybody besides me paying attention to this stuff?

You're Just Too Damn Dumb

Let me start with the Bottom Line: You out there in the digital universe. Yes, you. You are too damn dumb to be permitted to make decisions for yourself. There. I said it. Yes, Mr./Mrs./Ms./Other America, the Commie Pinko Liberal Dumbass Weenies (CPLDW) believe to their very core that the American people cannot and should not be allowed to decide for themselves where, when, how and under what circumstances to live their own lives. You think I'm exaggerating? Please allow me to elaborate:

Although I'd dearly love to lay everything that's happening squarely at the feet of our newly-minted Redistributor-in-Chief, in truth, pols in both parties have colluded to erode our individual and collective civil and Constitutional rights for the past 70 years. But the efforts of the Democrats since they took charge of D.C. on January 20, 2007, under the direction of Speaker Nancy ("You have to pass the bill to find out what's in it") Pelosi and Majority Leader Harry ("This war is lost!") Reid, and more recently under the aegis of the New Chicago Administration and with the complicity of state governments such as the spectacularly lame and feckless one currently operating in Sacramento these days, our rights have been under an assault of unprecedented proportions (Whew! 86 words. Long sentence!). Let me count the ways:

Shelly Obama has decided that we eat too much and of the wrong things. According to her, we should cut back on the fats and calories and drop some Elll Beeezzz. Yes, she of supremely large, Kardashianesque derriere feels comfortable in telling us what to eat and what to feed our kids. But, she freely admits that she just cannot stop eating Freedom Fries. Weenie. Just do what you're told. You're too damn dumb to do any different.

Mikey Bloomberg, the billionaire ex-Republican, ex-intelligent Mayor of New York City, believes that you shouldn't eat salt. So, he simply banned it from New York's restaurants. Oh, and trans fats too. And let's not forget, despite the 2^nd Amendment guarantees, he really, really doesn't want you to have guns. So much so that he sent two plainclothes N. Y. detectives on the clock to a gun show in Phoenix to try and buy some weaponry without background checks. In Phoenix! Hello! Phoenix isn't in New York, Mikey! Can you say nosey? Yep, go straight from the 1^st to the 3^rd, says Mikey. Right. Without Bloomberg you'd no doubt be gobbling handfuls of salt and swilling gallons of trans fats while working overtime to try and buy lots and lots of guns. Because you're too damn dumb not to.

BHO really, REALLY believes that five buck gas is quite okay. He's said so repeatedly. Check out YouTube and you'll find the video. He thinks that will cause us to feel all warm and fuzzy about "investing" in green energy so we can save the planet, presumably from Al Gore. You know what "investing" means, don't' you? That means taking tax dollars from those that produce and spending them by the bushel to try and jump-start the windmill/solar technology industry that has nearly bankrupted Spain. The Spanish say for every new "green" job created there during the last ten years, they've lost 4 and one-half regular jobs. Interesting. In the meantime, Barry has said you can't drill your way to energy independence, as if the rules of supply and demand economics have somehow been rendered ineffectual where oil and gas are concerned. Yet, he just decided to release somewhere between 30 and 60 million gallons of crude from the National Petroleum Reserve to help bring down prices, no doubt to help his fading reelection prospects. Can you say no clue? Can you say disingenuous? You don't understand all of this do you? That's because you're too damn dumb.

The Sacto boys passed a law last year making it a crime to feed a live hamster or mouse or rat to your pet python. You must now euthanize them so they feel no pain whilst your Boa gobbles them down. BTW, snakes don't want to eat dead critters. They prefer their meals to be kicking and screaming. And then they made it a crime to drive with your Teacup Chihuahua on your lap. All this while (mis)managing to spend $25 Billion each year for the past several they do not have. And now they want you to agree to allow them to extend temporary taxes for another five years to cover their shortfall. Right. And now, the good citizens of the People's Republic of San Francisco have outlawed Happy Meals and the purchase of any pet that flies, walks, crawls or swims. Yep, no dogs, cats, hamsters, snakes, birds, or even FISH! BTW, it's okay to buy a lobster to take home, boil up and eat, just not put it in a fish tank. Cruelty, don't you know. Tell me this all sounds very strange to you and I'll tell you're it's because you're just too damn dumb.

You love pickups and SUVs and really large, heavy cars. Ford has been selling more than 500,000 F150 pickups a year for more than 20 years. That's what you want and you should be able to buy it, right? Unfortunately, wrong! The TelePrompTer-in-Chief and the Boys don't want you to drive these vehicles, especially Fords, because Ford refused to take TARP money. They want you to buy little overpriced hybrid and electric weenie cars. So much so they'll give you some of your neighbor's money as a bribe to get you to buy one (invest?). Does that make sense? If you don't think so it's because you're too damn dumb.

In the final analysis, CPLDWs just want to be left alone to live your life, because you're just too damn dumb to handle the task for yourself. You need to be told what to eat, what to wear, what to drive, where to educate your kids and even whether or not you can own a pet. And don't you dare try to stop them! They get really nasty when confronted with common sense…

Anothony Weeeeeennnnnerrr

Sung to the tune of the Oscar Meyer jingle:

Oh, I'm glad that I'm not Anthony Wei – ner,
That is what I'm really glad to say - ay - ayyy.

'Cause if I were Anthony Wei – ner,
I'd be a Commie, pinko, liberal dumbass, loudmouth,
Latte-sipping, limousine-riding, overpaid, undersmart,
Arrogant, disingenuous, fool with a Nepoleonic complex.

I just love poetry. Don't you?

Push Polling in Costa Mesa

Work with me here while I pretend to be an actual reporter. Not a self-important, politically-incorrect pundit. Nope. An actual reporter such as they puke forth from "J" schools like the University of Missouri, from whence I emanated. I'm going to try to play against type from my normal nasty, snarky, snide, sarcastic, opinionated little self and do what my good friend the Pot Stirrer suggested and report on the facts as I witnessed them recently. So, fair citizen, sit back, open up a Bud, or the adult beverage equivalent of your choice, and let's consider the situation together…

For those of you who don't know, the Chuckmeister has been a happy, loyal and productive resident of the wonderful little city of Costa Mesa, California, for more than 35 years. Mrs. Chuckmeister, too, and all the little Chuckmeisters we've produced along the way. It suits me and my family just fine. Along with another 117,000 or so residents, it appears. Of late, Costa Mesa has found itself embroiled in a monumental controversy that threatens to tear our tight-knit little town apart. Some background for the unanointed out there in Digitalville…

Over the past few years the City has suffered diminished revenues due to a painful recession, which reduced sales tax receipts, and increased expenditures due to ever-escalating costs of operation. The biggest of those costs has been and will be employee labor and healthcare benefits, and the pension contributions that go along with it. Our city budget is down about 20% from its high a few years back and our costs for people is now consuming nearly 85% of all revenues. Data published by the City indicates that over 90% of our public employees earn more than $100,000 per year. A side effect has been a serious reduction in infrastructure expenditures such as for parks, curbs, gutters and street repair. We've burned through more than $30 million of our savings during the past five years and are now $1.5 million short in balancing the 2011- 2012 budget. The Bottom Line: Something had to be done.

The new City Council majority chose to attack the problem this past March 17^th by giving layoff notices to nearly half of Costa Mesa's 472 employees. This did not make those who received the pink slips happy. It made their union bosses even less happy. And, sadly, one of those employees chose to take his own life in the aftermath. It also angered a fair percentage of our citizenry, who believe that this action was taken precipitously and without sufficient prior discussion and planning. Since then there's been an ongoing war between the Orange County Employee's Association (OCEA), the union representing the laid-off workers, and the Council majority and City management, who are attempting to outsource the services these folks have been providing. The Union has since sponsored numerous events to try and change the Council's mind, which have on occasion resulted in picketing, yelling, name-calling, personal attacks and threats, as well as a very negative advertising campaign. A group has been formed to try and stop the layoffs, and another has been created to show support for the Council majority's decision. In short, it's a colossal mess and one not likely to be resolved anytime soon.

With this background now provided, let me tell you about a phone call I received last week.

A woman identifying herself as "Monica" was on the phone. She said she was calling from "California Opinion Research" and asked if I would answer a few important questions about a subject that may appear on the ballot during a special election this November. I agreed to participate. I was not expecting what then ensued.

It became immediately apparent that the questions the lady was asking me were clearly of a type known as "push polling." For those not familiar with this term, push poll questions are phrased in such a way as to elicit the desired response. The questions are designed to educate (or indoctrinate) the respondent so that the desired answer to the various questions will be given. An example of such a technique could be, "If you were told that your next door neighbor had stopped beating his wife, would you be a) very happy, b) happy, c) sad, or d) neutral in your feelings." The questions coming at me from Ms. Monica were nearly that transparent. And, by the way, I spent 35 years as a marketing, sales, advertising and P.R. exec, so I'm pretty well versed on the subject.

The poll in my opinion had been bought and paid for by the OCEA. I was even asked if I'd seen the Repair Costa Mesa ads appearing in the paper and on the Internet that they were proudly sponsoring, so I'm comfortable in drawing this conclusion. I answered in the affirmative, commenting that these Internet and newspaper ads were so ubiquitous they would be hard to avoid. Paraphrasing, I was asked questions such as, "If you were told that the top five executives in Costa Mesa paid themselves more than $1.5 million last year and were given more than $50,000 in car allowances, would you approve or disapprove?" A little research tells me that this salary number is inflated by about 300%. And, "If you were told your City's executives had spent $10,000 for carpeting in its executive offices, how would you feel?" We know, and the Union knows, that the carpet and other improvement to the CEO's office cost at most a few hundred dollars and were donated by some of our citizens who wished to make the new CEO feel welcome. And also, "If you were told that 18 city services were being outsourced and half the City's employees were being fired, but that the City's management continues to pay themselves lush salaries and perks, would you be okay with that?" Oh well, you get the idea.

Several questions later I was asked whether I approved or disapproved of the Council majority who voted for the outsourcing plan. I was asked to evaluate and approve or disapprove of each of the four Councilpersons in the majority, one at a time, and then asked if I would vote to recall any or all. I asked the caller if there was a question as to whether I would vote to recall the lone Council person who chose to vote against this plan, as inclusion of this question would tend to make the poll more balanced. I was told that wasn't part of the survey. I was then asked a series of questions about my age and educational level. Surprisingly, I was then asked to state my race. I inquired as to why she needed to know the answer to this question. The caller would not answer and continued to ask the question in a variety of ways until she became convinced I had no intention of answering it.

I then asked the caller where California Opinion Research was located. She said, "California." Cute. She would not supply the address or the city, nor would she tell me who paid for the survey to be conducted, although it was glaringly apparent which organization was behind this very misleading exercise.

I would warn my fellow Costa Mesa residents to be wary of the results of this survey if and when they're made public. By the push polled questions I was asked, they will most assuredly be found uniformly favorable to the employees' union and to their efforts to overturn the Council's outsourcing plans, and uniformly unfavorable to the Council majority's efforts, whether or not those efforts are misguided, to put our City on firm financial footing. They will likely use these suspect results in an effort to underpin a fall recall election geared toward the two members of the Council majority the survey indicates are most vulnerable. Push polling of this type is dishonest and should not be conducted by either side in this controversy. I recommend that the City immediately seek to conduct its own poll in an effort to accurately gauge the residents' actual opinions about this important topic in advance of the Union's possible advertising, marketing and public relations onslaught.

Four points in closing: First, Mrs. Chuckmeister received the very same call the next day, indicating that these folks are dedicated to reaching as many as possible with this little campaign. Second, those who have a negative opinion of union bosses and their tactics will have no reason to change their minds following this little exercise. Third, both sides of this food fight should be held accountable by the electorate and urged not to engage in this type of conduct. Fourth, I did a Google and Bing search on "California Opinion Research." My computer tells me it does not exist. Makes one wonder where those calls are coming from, doesn't it? The Union's offices, perhaps?

I don't know about you, but I'll make it a point to vote come November.

The Church of the Chuckmeister

There may be some of you out there in Digitalville who remain unaware that the Chuckmeister is an ordained minister. Yep, it's true. It took lots of reading and study and living a good clean, moral life (uh, well, sometimes) to achieve this milestone, but I did it. In fact, I've been a Reverend for most of the past 25 years. I obtained this honor with the idea in mind that I might have to start my own church in order to avoid the nasty realities that President Jimmuh Carter was foisting on me and those of you who happened to be alive during his divisive, destructive and demoralizing turn in the White House. You know, like an energy crisis and interminable gas lines and 21% interest and 24% inflation and Iranian hostages and feckless incompetence. Like that.

But, as it turned out I didn't have to. I bought a piece of the Oakland Convention Center and some unreleased Willie Nelson records and a share of a Jojoba bean farm instead to lessen the unrelenting tax bite. Great tax shelters, those. It's an old truism that if you tax those who produce enough, they'll figure a way to keep some of that which they've earned, even if they have to get creative to do it. True then. True now.

But I've been a Reverend in good standing ever since. So, in addition to being a world-class salesman and marketeer, public relations wonderkind, advertising genius, star strategist, classy dresser and stellar professional pool player, as well as possessing a near encyclopedic memory for all things useless and a sense of humor second to none, I am authorized by whichever Democrat Weenie who happens to running California into the ground at the time to conduct weddings. In fact, I've done so more than 300 times over the years, including one of my own daughters, and as far as I know every single couple I've joined in Holy Matrimony are still married. That would be "as far as I know," which isn't terribly far. But I'm also permitted to conduct funerals and Bar Mitzvahs and the Blessing of the Harvest and Druid-style equinox celebrations Roman Bacchanalian soirees and other religious gatherings at will. It turns out that may finally prove helpful.

You may also be as yet unaware that certain religious orders are exempted from having to participate in our boy President's signature new legislation, the "Affordable Care and Screw America to the Wall Forever Healthcare Act of 2009." I'm not sure that's the exact title, but it's close. This little 2,700 page wonder (drop it on your foot and bones will be breaking, trust me) has come to be known as "Obamacare." It basically subsumes one-sixth of our great nation's economy, guarantees European-style socialist healthcare rationing, robs hundreds of billions of dollars from Medicare and dumbs down healthcare service delivery to all Americans. All except the D.C. ruling class, don't you know. And the Health and Human Services Department, that bloated Federal organization that Barry has tapped to oversee this behemoth legislation, has thus far granted more than 1,200 waivers to nice folks wishing to opt out of it. Waiver recipients thus far include companies such as McDonalds, unions such as A.C.O.R.N., the AARP and even a couple of our United States. It truly makes one wonder why, if this piece of legislation is so damn good, why would be those who would wish not to participate? Good question. But that's for another discussion.

It turns out also that Obamacare exempts a couple of religious organizations from having to participate. Those would be the Church of Christ (Scientist) and the Amish Order. Why, you might ask? Well, the legislation doesn't state exactly, but we all know that the Church of Christ (Scientist) believes that you can heal whatever ails you with only the power of prayer. No doctors or hospitals needed, thank you. And the Amish don't cotton much to those newfangled things like electricity and cars and doctors. Good for them. Sounds to me like we have the makings here of the perfect way to give the finger to the Administration, HHS and the Government as a whole in one swell foop. So here's my plan…

Ta Da! I am hereby launching the Chuckmeister Church of Christ with Scientific and Amish Leanings (CCCSAL). This new church will have as its charter the belief that medical care obtained as a result of legislation stuffed down our collective throats by Commie Pinko Liberal Dumbass Weenies (CPLDW) is against God and all that is Holy. It also specifies that we should consider praying for the things we both want and need, and we should try getting around via horse and buggy and eschewing electricity whenever possible. BTW, with gas prices through the roof and no new power plants having been built in the past 30 years, we all may have to.

So, by way of this posting I'm formally notifying the Federal Government that my Church and all its members are hereby exempt from participating in Obamacare and anything like it that Barry and the Boys might up with subsequently come (remember, never end a sentence with a preposition!).

"So how do I join, Mr. Chuckmeister?" you might be asking yourself at this very moment. Very simply, just send me a check for $5.00 and I'll add your name to the Church roster and email you with proof so you can give the Feds the bird. Or, if you'd care to be a Minister in my holy quest to right all the world's wrongs, including the wrongs coming our way out of Washington on a daily basis, make it $10.00 and a self-addressed and stamped envelope and you'll be ordained. Poof! You'll receive a very nice (well, not terribly nice) certificate of your ordination by return mail. That's all there is to it. No regular Church services. No regular Church! No meetings, no requirements, no nothing. Just live a good, clean and moral life and obey at least 7 of the 10 Commandments routinely and you'll remain an adherent in good standing.

The Chuckmeister thanks you for your interest in this Public Service Announcement. Go with God, my child…

Gates, Jobs and Doggy Doo

I begin this posting on April 18^th, Tax Day 2011, with a simple economic fact: Unless you operate a Ponzi scheme, or engage in armed robbery or some other form of actionable illegal behavior, you do not get rich by making others poor. Simple, huh? In fact, Sir Winston Churchill had a famous quote on the subject. He said, "Trying to make oneself rich by making a rich man poor is like standing in a bucket and trying to pull yourself up by the handles." An Englishman said that! It would be reasonable to assume that everybody, and I mean everybody, recognizes this pronouncement as fact. Reasonable, yes. Unfortunately, such is not the case.

As we learned from our Campaigner-in-Chief on April 13^th, during his most recent "Major Policy Speech of the Week," the wealthy in this country aren't paying their fair share. They need to pay more so that Obama can redistribute it according to his progressive agenda. After all, he said, they can afford it. No matter that the top 1% of wage earners in America pays nearly 40% of all income taxes. And the top 5% pay more than 70%. And the bottom 53% pay only 3% of all income taxes collected. Pay attention Mr. and Mrs. and Ms. America, 47% of Americans pay no income tax at all! In fact, many get a redistribution check from the Feds due to "Earned Income Tax Credits" and other exemptions and deferments. No, the "rich" aren't paying enough according to Obama, and he intends to almost (actually, not almost…not even close) balance our Federal budget in the next 12 years by imposing on millionaires and billionaires increased taxes while simultaneously reducing or eliminating altogether their onerous, unearned and unfair deductions which they should never have been granted in the first place by those evil Republicans. And by "millionaires and billionaires" he means individuals making $200k a year and married couples pulling down $250k per annum. That oughta' fix them. Oh, and by the way, talk about the "marriage penalty." Two people living together and pooling their incomes could earn $399,999 per year in total before being hit with Obama's new tax sledgehammer. Yet, two folks who are married can only earn up to $249,999. Is anybody out there paying attention but me?

So, in summation, those slimy capitalists are trying to keep too much of the money they've earned, and they need to be punished! Class Warfare! Those of you who believe this would be a good idea, consider the following:

80% of those earning $200,000 per year, the threshold at which one becomes "rich" according to Obama, operate small businesses incorporated under sub-chapter S of the income tax code. That means what they earn via their company passes directly through to them personally, and then they are taxed on that profit. If we as a country take more of the money through taxation these entrepreneurs earn, that will necessarily leave them with less to reinvest in their businesses, and less to pay those they might hire. In other words, the less they're left with the less they have to plow back into their businesses and, indirectly, into our Country. If that extra money is confiscated by the Government so that it may be redistributed according to some leftist ideology, it cannot be used to create the jobs we sorely need to get us out of this recession. Of course, those running things in D.C. who have never created a job, managed a business, signed a check on its face or struggled to meet a payroll, including our brilliant young President and 93% of the very nice folks in his Cabinet, seem to be ignorant of this fact. One should consider that if 100% of the incomes of all Americans earning over $250k were confiscated by Obama and Company, it would still not be enough to erase our 2010 – 2011 Federal deficit of $1.65 Trillion. In fact, it would take 134% of the incomes of those in the top tax rate to bring $1 Trillion Dollars into the Treasury,(1) still leaving us with a $650 Billion deficit. The tax burden of the top 1% of taxpayers now exceeds that paid by the bottom 95%.(2) Enlightening?

Oh, and by the way, 75% of all the jobs in America come from small business. A small business is defined as those with up to 250 employees. Three quarters, folks. 3 out of 4. Does raping the earnings of the creators and maintainers of these jobs make a little less sense now?

Bill Gates did not become a multi-billionaire by taking those billions from others. He became rich by creating something others want and are willing to pay for. Steve Jobs did the very same thing. He created wealth by creating value. And in the process he created jobs (Jobs creates jobs, get it?). Thousands of them. Don't want an iPad? Don't buy one. The guy who invented microchips got rich, and as a result, many, many tens of thousands of others did the same using that basic technology to create a myriad of other products and services. And our lives were improved in the process. And newly-created taxes gushed into the Treasury as a result. They still do. Snoop Doggy Doo earns millions by making a fool of himself. But he does not earn those millions off the labor of others. He makes it by uttering unintelligible (c)rap. When he makes money others don't lose it. So should Gates and Jobs and Doggy Doo pay more taxes even though they're already bearing the lion's share of all taxes paid? Obama says an emphatic "Yes." And those in his little downstream redistribution club agree with him.

Should Obama be successful in raising taxes on the highest income earners in our country, I predict that no additional revenue will be raised. In fact, less money should be coming over the transom than is presently being collected. Why, Mr. Chuckmeister, you might ask? The top earners among us didn't get that way by being stupid. Tax them too much and they'll do exactly the same thing they did while Jimmuh Carter was screwing up America. They'll involve themselves in tax avoidance schemes to minimize the tax bite. They'll invest in pieces of Jojoba bean farms, unreleased Willie Nelson records, wind and solar generation plants, art investment/depreciation programs and sale/leasebacks of government buildings, etc. Or they'll engage in bartering, trading something they have or make for something else they need or want, taking that transaction off the IRS radar. It worked then and, with the help of some able accountants, it'll work again. The Bottom Line is, lower tax rates and increase tax revenues. Reagan and Bush's 1 and 2 proved it. I hope the next president is smart enough to prove it again. And hopefully, soon.

I say Obama's position on this issue proves one thing for sure: Having an Occidental and Columbia and Harvard education and having worked hard for several weeks as a Community Organizer for A.C.O.R.N. signing up folks to vote Democrat does not make one a qualified economist. In fact, I believe it proves that this fellow doesn't even know what he doesn't know. But he has been given the keys to our lives and our Treasury by a bare majority of our citizenry. They will all feel better if some extra taxation is extracted from the productive in our society, just because the "rich" can afford it. And they want it. And they're going to get it. And just because they seem to believe that these folks got "rich" by luck or thievery rather than hard work and the willingness to take risks. Keep it up, all you lefties, and watch as those who are growing weary of being picked clean by our society's Professional Leaches vote with their feet and take their money and their jobs (no, not Steve) to Costa Rica, the Panama Canal or the Cayman Islands, leaving no one here in Astlan to create jobs and pay the bills but sign twirlers and Starbucks' Baristas.

Somebody ought to tell Obama that he's making a bigger fool of himself than Doggy Doo. Given that he's surrounded himself with ideologues even less qualified than he is, if that's at all possible, I somehow doubt that's going to happen any time soon.

Oh, and by the way, yes, the Chuckmeister is a graduate economist.

1. Calculations compiled by the Heritage Foundation from data provided by the White House Office of Management and Budget.



2. Interal Revenue Service, 2008