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President Doom and Gloom

President Doom and Gloom

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I caught bits and pieces of the press conference held by President Obama last night and I heard the subsequent reviews. My analysis suggests that our national media threw President Obama a bunch of softballs. President Bush would have held a lot more press conferences if the questions were that easy, I bet. Bill O'Reilly called the President "boring". No kidding! And then some! Here's what's starting to grate on me. For the last 18 months, all we've heard from President Obama is how terrible things are, and now "this is the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression". Bad news is his mantra. I'm not sure if he can handle good news. It makes me wonder how he responded to the news he was going to be a father. Did he say "Great! Another mouth to feed"? Americans, for the most part, are an optimistic lot. For us, the glass is always half full. According to President Obama, there is no glass, primarily because the greedy Wall Street types stole it. He can't even discuss the whole Alex Rodriguez steroid thing without calling it "depressing". Eventually, the American people will tire of President Obama's negativity. That day is getting closer. Three weeks into his administration, it's already clear he's in way over his head. Talk about above his pay grade! And by his own admission. We're looking at [...]
President Doom and Gloom

Hope for a Change

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Or is it change for a hope? I admit my confusion on this issue. The American public was told during the 2008 Presidential campaign that things would be different. So far, it's more of the same, only worse. It seems like the entire country has gone stark, raving mad. To wit, as the Obama Administration's Cabinet nominees wind their way through the approval process, we find that not one, not two, not three, but four have a prior history of not paying their taxes. What is going on here? The best thing to come out of this mess is that the American taxpayer, at last count, is ahead some $176,000. Could this be President Obama's plan to fund this massive "economic stimulus" package that is being ramrodded through Congress? Just collect the back taxes owed by his nominees? I'm not sure that the IRS, Congress or the American public would be as forgiving if I were the one to not have paid my taxes. But then again, I try to live a life of integrity. I've read a lot about the economic stimulus package making its way through the bowels of Congress and I'm confused about that too. Or maybe I'm not the one who's confused. To me, economic stimuli are those things that stimulate the economy. Immediately. Not three years from now. So, as one of the conditions for accepting TARP money, The Brains in Washington [...]

Thoughts on Tim Geithner

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There’s something just a little, how do I put it, smarmy about our soon-to-be new Secretary of the Treasury.  Here he is, applying for the job that oversees the IRS, and somehow a few years back he came up about $30,000 short on various taxes. Where I grew up,...
President Doom and Gloom

A Letter to Our New President

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Dear President Obama: Congratulations on your historic ascendancy to the office of the President of the United States. You are now the leader of the free world. My hope is that you understand the gravity of this office and that you are serious in reaching out to all Americans, myself included. I have to be honest. I didn't vote for you. Some of your campaign rhetoric seemed designed to do nothing more than to win the election, even though you and I both know that there was no way you could adhere to the promises you made. But many of my fellow Americans were unable or unwilling to think critically, so now you're my President. I apologize that I was unable to watch your inauguration ceremony yesterday. Unfortunately, many of us had to work to pay the taxes to support the United States Treasury and the government that you are now responsible for. I guess that my efforts allowed others to take the day off and actually go to Washington and bask in your afterglow yesterday. Be that as it may, here are a few things you can do for me and my family in the next four years. First, please don't raise my taxes. My wife and I already [...]
President Doom and Gloom

Repeal the Estate Tax

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The headline on the front page of yesterday's (Monday, January 12, 2009) Wall Street Journal read "Obama Plans to Keep Estate Tax". This is the opening salvo of President-Elect Obama's tax hike and wealth redisribution plan. In 2009, estates of less than $3.5 million per person and $7 million per couple are exempt from taxation. The value of estates over that are taxed at 45%. Under current tax law, signed by President Bush in 2001, there is no estate tax in 2010. As I joke with my clients, if you're going to die, do it in 2010, because under current law, in 2011 the estate tax reverts to Clinton-era levels--a $1 million exclusion, with the rest taxed at 55%. Here's why the estate tax, in and of itself is wrong. Congress has the Constitutional right to tax any and all sources of income. Sources of [...]
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