President Romney Avoid Obama's Tread On Tea Party

The Cato Institute put together a presentation on the Libertarian Roots of the Tea Party. This information is key to understanding the mistake made by President Barack Obama against the tea party. A mistake that doomed the presidency of Barack Obama and left America divided and economically damaged. It is a mistake that President Mitt Romney must avoid for the good of the country. President Obama proved incapable of compromise and instead ignored, opposed and tread upon the tea party.

President Obama could have found compromise with the tea party if he had listened to our concerns. First, the tea party was not solely comprised of Republicans who opposed him. The tea party is a grassroots movement that continues to gain support in 2012.

About half of the tea party is comprised of libertarians who share some commonalities with liberals. Economics and lifestyle liberty are highly valued by libertarians. Lifestyle liberties include gay marriage and opposition to the anti-drug war. While the tea party is focused upon economic liberty issues, a competent politician uses common ground as a basis for negotiation and compromise.

President Romney has an easier path in shaping a coalition with the tea party to help fix America's economic problems. However, Barack Obama could have listened to the concerns of the tea party and formed a powerful political movement. Democrat President Bill Clinton compromised with Newt Gingrich's Republican Congress during the late 1990's to solve the economic issues of the day.

One key reason that President Obama did not compromise was due to his dangerously rigid progressive ideology. Barack Obama was unable to recognize that anger against the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) in September 2008 had lead to his election. TARP angered future tea party supporters and partisan Republicans. Senator John McCain failed to challenge the TARP program as anger mounted in his core constituent group.

President Obama could have administered TARP while pursuing a more conservative economic policy. Instead the Democrats pushed through a failed stimulus package widely known as "Porkulus" in February 2009. The program famously featured jobs that "was not as shovel ready as we had thought" as President Obama put it. The President continued the failed policy through September 2011 with "Porkulus II." These programs ran up trillions of dollars in national debt while ensuring union labor jobs, funneling money to political donors and "picking losers" in the green energy sector.

President Romney has an excellent opportunity to reverse these failures with broad-based support for fiscal austerity and economic conservatism. If Mitt Romney does not make these tough economic decisions, it may be seen as betrayal of the tea party support that currently accounts for 6 out of 10 Republican primary voters.

Future Vice President Paul Ryan is the leading voice for economic sanity as Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Budget. This will help team Romney, but the tea party will be watching closely. Tea party libertarians are neither loyal and devout Republican partisans nor supportive of authority.

The goal of the tea party movement is to restore economic liberty. The movement knows that liberty requires diligence. The diligent efforts of tea party organizers, activists and supporters has lead to growing popular support for nearly four years.

If tread upon by a Romney administration, the tea party movement is capable of reaching out to disaffected liberals. Americans will be facing a difficult economic situation in 2013. The mainstream media will quickly turn hostile to the Romney administration.  Administration lies like 9/11 Benghazi would be met with vicious reporting. Left-wing media and organizers will be receptive to criticism against a Romney administration from battle tested tea party activists who appeal to their sentiments on loyalty, authority and sanctity.

President Romney avoid this mistake, Don't Tread on Me.

California Prop 32: Popular with Voters and Tea Party

An October 19, 2012 Reason Foundation poll reported by Emily Ekins (Reason-Rupe Poll: Public Pension and Government Spending Reforms Are Popular With California Voters) shows support for California's Proposition 32. The Proposition limits automated paycheck deductions for political purposes by employers and unions.

Proposition 32 and Public Sector Worker Reforms

The poll finds 45 percent of likely voters support Proposition 32, while 48 percent oppose it. Prop. 32 would prevent unions and corporations from using automatic paycheck deductions for political purposes.  

While voters may reject telling unions how they can collect or spend their money, they are eager for elected officials to rein in public sector worker costs. In fact, 77 percent say they favor requiring government workers to pay more for their own health care and retirement benefits; 20 percent oppose doing so.

Likewise, 69 percent say future government workers—those who haven’t been promised defined-pensions—should be offered 401(k)-style retirement plans instead of the guaranteed pensions currently provided.

Nearly three quarters, 74 percent, of Californians say taxpayers should get to vote on retirement and benefit increases before they are given to government workers. Just 22 percent say taxpayers should not get to approve public sector benefit increases. The public wants its voice to be heard on the issue because 53 percent feel public sector unions have too much power over elected officials at the negotiating table and 42 percent say government unions hurt the state economy. Seventeen percent say public sector unions help the economy.

One specific example: 53 percent of Californians say the average state prison guard, who costs taxpayers over $100,000 a year in salary, overtime and benefits, is overpaid. Thirty-eight percent say guards are paid about the right amount and 6 percent say they are underpaid. 

This poll coincides with broad sentiments responsible for the tea party movement and a growing belief that public employee unions are hurting the common welfare. On September 10, 2012, Polling Shows Most Americans Think Teachers Unions Have Hurt Public Education Quality reported the following:

Since 1976, Gallup has surveyed Americans’ perception of teachers unions' efficacy. In April 1976, 38 percent of Americans believed that teachers unions hurt the quality of public education in the United States. By 2011, nearly half of Americans think teacher unionization has hurt the quality of public education in the United States.

Emily Emkins spoke on October 16th as part of a Cato Institute panel: Libertarian Roots of the Tea Party broadcast on C-SPAN. Her discussion included research that tea party and most non tea party Americans believe that retirement planning should be the responsibility of individuals and not government. This sentiment impacts the same voter motivations relied upon by unions to push for power.

A common left-wing retort to tea party sentiments has portrayed selfishness and hypocrisy within the movement on the issues of Medicare and Social Security. Emkins debunked these accusations with research on tea party sentiments on each issue. Most tea party supporters are also supportive of entitlement reforms including social security reforms.

The most famous accusation made against tea party supporters is the "keep your government hands off my Medicare" attack. Many tea party supporters have counter-attacked that the entire narrative was fabricated using union plants and Photoshop. Regardless, data shows that it is wishful thinking and marketing on the part of the left.

The polling shows 74% of tea party supporters and 49% of non tea party Americans are in favor of Medicare reform. When paid-in benefits are guaranteed, Medicare reform support strengthens with 65% of non tea party Americans willing to sacrifice personal benefits for the good of the country.

Sacrifice for the good of the country is not a virtue assigned to the targets of Proposition 32. Union bosses wield political influence on the backs of workers through required automatic paycheck withdrawals. Crony capitalist corporations also politically tilt the law in their favor.

Money is spent on political contributions and lavish lobbyist jobs to further the advantageous status quo or create an unfair competitive environment. Public employee unions use the "cycle of tax payer money" to boost their political power and increase their tax payer funded benefits. Benefits that are currently out of reach for the individual tax payer who is footing the bill.

Corporations use their political influence to gain opportunities that are excluded to the tax payers at large. Privileged access to foreclosed homes is one example. The California tax payer is currently hindered from buying low priced homes while interest rates are low due to excessive bank regulations and the Fanny/Freddie secondary market. A market that only funds loans for the most typical home in the most typical neighborhood. These typical homes are scarce in California. When found, the typical home buyers are outbid by multiple investment corporations with cash offers and face restrictive loan regulations. Regulations which will be lifted the moment that corporate investors decide to sell the properties at a massive profit.

Traditionally, America's real estate market provides opportunities to frugal families and individual investors. The free real estate market has created millionaires in every previous economic recovery. This time around,  investment corporations will be the big winners due to the new loan market created by regulations, Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac.

Beset on all sides by the inequities of regulations and the tyranny of union bosses, California tax payers are deciding to take a stand with Proposition 32.

Terrorist MANPADS Target Israel

Israeli officials told Yedioth Ahronoth Daily that a Stela shoulder-launched surface-to-air missle targeted an Israeli military helicopter last week in the Gaza Strip but missed. This is the first terrorist attempt of using these weapons against Israel.

CNSNews reports:

Israel has long suspected Hamas and other terror groups in Gaza of having such weapons, and amid the chaos accompanying the downfall of the Gaddafi regime in Libya many went missing, and more are believed to have been smuggled into the Strip, via tunnels from the Sinai peninsula.

Soviet-designed Strela-2 missiles (known by NATO as SA-7 Grail) have been used in various insurgencies around the world, including the mujahedeen’s fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan, and the anti-coalition insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past decade.

...
MANPAD’ ease of operation, portability and relatively low cost make them a weapon of choice for terrorists wanting to target civilian or military aircraft.
...
The reported use of a MANPAD by Gaza-based terrorists came during the same week as Hezbollah, the Shi’ite Iranian proxy in Lebanon, deployed a drone aircraft over Israel.

Over 10,000 MANPADS went unaccounted from Libya according to NATO officials. About 5,000 are SAM-7. The SAM-7 is a crude weapon with a range of about four kilometers and an infra-red guidance system. The systems are powered by a thermal battery, operated by a single person, and are simple enough so that a couple of hours of training would suffice for mastering their operation.

The Army’s Lt. Col. Andy Wood, who led a 16-person security team in Libya testified about Al Qaeda's Libyan presence:

"their presence grows every day. They are certainly more established than we are.”

He also said that some 10,000 to 20,000 shoulder-fired missiles are missing from Libyan arsenals.

Digital Journal reported in February 2012:

The U.S. government has allocated $40 million in an attempt to secure the weapons stockpiles...

In a November CNN interview, House Intelligence Committee chairman Mike Rogers expressed reservations that “very undisciplined” Libyan troops will “secure the weapons sites” until stability returns to Libya.

On the same day of Rogers’ interview, a North African commander with Al Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb said his group was in possession of some of the weapons, looted during the conflict for control of Libya.

Russian-made SA-14 and SA-24 MANPADS are more effective and make up some portion of the missiles that fell into the hands of Al Qaeda in Libya.

The Wall Street Journal added that MANPADS traveled to Syrian rebels through Turkey and Palestinian militants:

Most of the shoulder-fired missiles in rebel arsenals have come from Libya, smuggled into the country through the Turkish border without the official blessing of regional states or their Western backers, several rebel coordinators said.

Other shoulder-fired, surface-to-air missiles, which these rebels identified as Russian-made Strela systems, have been supplied by militant Palestinian factions now supporting the Syrian uprising and smuggled in through the Lebanese border, they said. Syrian military defectors also say they have been able to buy some SA-7's—a Russian-designed Manpad—from regime forces since the summer.

Per ConservativeNewsandViews.com:

Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-Cleveland), a staunch and consistent opponent of American intervention in the Middle East, reminded everyone that:

•Our bombing and destruction of Libya was not authorized.
•Obama never received approval from Congress for any of the actions America took in that war

Additional Sources:
http://2001-2009.state.gov/t/pm/rls/fs/107632.htm
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/israel-reports-first-use-surface-air-missile-gaza-terrorists
http://thehill.com/blogs/global-affairs/terrorism/261255-witness-says-increased-security-wouldnt-have-prevented-libya-deaths
http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/nato-10000-libyan-shoulder-fired-missiles-unaccounted
http://digitaljournal.com/article/319326
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443684104578062842929673074.html

Obama Lies About "Acts of Terror" Comment During Presidential Debate

In a contrived debate comment about the 9/11/2012 terror attack in Benghazi, President Obama falsely claimed to have called the attack terrorism. In the White House Rose Garden on 9/12/2012 the phrase "Acts of terror" is being pointed to by the left-wing media. Of course, this is a lie. The President's "acts of terror" comment was referencing the 9/11/2001 attack. The White House transcript of the speech points to this:

Of course, yesterday was already a painful day for our nation as we marked the solemn memory of the 9/11 attacks.  We mourned with the families who were lost on that day.  I visited the graves of troops who made the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq and Afghanistan at the hallowed grounds of Arlington Cemetery, and had the opportunity to say thank you and visit some of our wounded warriors at Walter Reed.  And then last night, we learned the news of this attack in Benghazi.

As Americans, let us never, ever forget that our freedom is only sustained because there are people who are willing to fight for it, to stand up for it, and in some cases, lay down their lives for it.  Our country is only as strong as the character of our people and the service of those both civilian and military who represent us around the globe.

No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation, alter that character, or eclipse the light of the values that we stand for.  Today we mourn four more Americans who represent the very best of the United States of America.  We will not waver in our commitment to see that justice is done for this terrible act.  And make no mistake, justice will be done.

President Obama knew during the Rose Garden speech that the attack was terrorism, but attempted to blame a youtube video over the next two weeks. A lie still pushed by Media Matters. Regardless, the speech mentioned 9/11/01 and the sacrifices by our military in the battle against terrorists. The speech then connected the military service of the former Navy SEALs and Ambassador Stevens service to the sacrifices of other military service members. Clearly, the speech did not describe the Benghazi attack as terrorism.

Watch from 3:20 to see the comments as delivered.

Mitt Romney tried to clarify during the debate:

You said in the Rose Garden, the day after the attack, it was an act of terror? It was not a spontaneous demonstration?

President Obama's reply:

Please proceed Governor.

Evidence that the debate preparation of President Obama included the specific phrase "Act of Terror" in order to link back to the comment about 9/11/01. This is clearly deception against the American people, revealed by the President's "voting present" non-answer to the specific phrase "spontaneous demonstration."

For more information on Benghazi read; Killing Stevens: The Obama Scandal.

Killing Stevens: The Obama Scandal

10/15/2012 1:29 AM PST:

The last ambassador killed in the line of duty was Adolph Dubs in 1979. The U.S. ambassador in Afghanistan was assigned the post in 1978, after a Soviet coup in the country and prior to the invasion in late 1979. Dubs was shot in an exchange of gunfire during an attempted kidnapping. Ambassador Dubs was the last U.S. ambassador in Afghanistan until 2002, after the U.S. toppled the Taliban regime. The assassination is considered by the State Department as a “Significant Terrorist Incident."

Thirty-three years later, on the 11th anniversary of 9/11, Libyan Ambassador Chris Stevens, a long-time friend of Libya, was killed by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in a coordinated attack along-side a local militia group. The attack was in retaliation for the killing of Sheikh Abu Yahya al-Libi and the recent spiking of the "I killed Bin Laden" football by President Obama during the Democratic National Convention.

The attack happened in Benghazi as the Ambassador was working to collect military grade weapons distributed under order of President Barack Obama.  See, ABC, The Blotter, American Killed in Libya was on Intel Mission to Track Weapons

In an interview with ABC News last month, Glen Doherty, a 42-year-old former Navy SEAL who worked as a contractor with the State Department, said he personally went into the field to track down so-called MANPADS, shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles, and destroy them.

The "Fast and Furious" style arming of Libyan rebels allowed military-grade U.S. weapons to fall into the hands of terrorists. Weapons that were almost certainly used in Benghazi during the terrorist attack. Weapons that may have been used in any of the over 20 American embassy attacks since the incident.

Further, the prime suspect in the murder of Ambassador Stevens and the former Navy Seals was a terrorist released from an Egyptian prison during the Arab Spring.

Intelligence officials said in Egypt—currently ruled by the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood—one of the key al Qaeda organizers has been identified as Muhammad al-Zawahiri, brother of al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. Muhammad al-Zawahiri was released by Morsi in March after having been sentenced to death for terrorist acts in Egypt.

In recent months Egypt-based al Qaeda terrorists were dispatched to Libya and Syria, where they have been covertly infiltrating Libyan militia groups and Syrian opposition forces opposing the Bashar al Assad regime.

Facts that could sink the reelection hopes of President Obama.

Libya's former head of state Muammar Gaddafi was killed on October 20, 2011. Gaddafi was added to the short list of leaders to be overthrown when he challenged the U.S. dollar as the world's reserve currency.

"The system would be [directly] challenged a second time, this time by Libya. In February of 2009, Muammar Gaddafi was elected the chairman of the African Union and would continue the effort to create the United States of Africa, which among other things, would include a unified currency, a dinar based on gold. Gaddafi went so far as to suggest that the African nations' oil trade would be switched from the dollar to this new gold currency."

In order to remove Gaddafi, President Obama used Ambassador Stevens as the intermediary with Libyan rebels. The Ambassador was the one person with complete information on the arming of terrorists by the Obama administration. After the overthrow of the Gaddafi regime, those arms needed to be collected or erased.

Despite multiple requests for additional security due to hit lists by Al Qaeda and former Gaddafi supporters, the Ambassador was placed in harms way. Believing in both America and the Libyan people led Ambassador Stevens to accept the assignment with the assistance of some heroic former U.S. Navy Seals. A mistake that cost them their lives, but nearly erased the inconvenient truth about the Obama administration's involvement. A truth revealed when CNN recovered the Ambassador's diary at the site of the attack. Consider how the formerly pro-Obama news network, CNN, suddenly began to air damaging truths about the 9/11/12 terrorist attack. Truth including this statement by the Mother of Slain State Department Worker:

I cried on Obama's shoulder. And he -- then he'd kind of looked off into the distance.
So that was worthless to me. I want to know, for god's sakes. Or for Allah's sake or whoever's sake is there. 

In order to ensure that American-made weapons were not found at the destroyed Benghazi consulate, the Obama administration delayed investigations by floating a cover story about a nonexistent protest due to an anti-Islamic video. The cover story was provided by the CIA in a quickly declassified document stating:

'The currently available information suggests that the demonstrations in Benghazi were spontaneously inspired by the protests at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and evolved into a direct assault against the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi and subsequently its annex.' 

During the delay, CNN found the Ambassador's dairy, but all weapons were removed from the scene by hostile forces. Weapons that may have directly linked back to the Obama administration in a repeat of the Fast and Furious scandal. The weapons taken also included a cache of British weapons which had been stored in the annex.

Ali Zeidan, a former Gaddafi opponent, was just elected Libya Prime Minister. Zeidan narrowly edged out Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed al-Hrari, 93-85, due to backing from the liberal coalition in the 200-seat assembly. This is the Libyan legacy of the sacrifice made by Ambassador Stevens and the former Seals by his side. However, an eight vote margin and public calls for Libya's militias to disarm is not a long-term victory against brutal theological terrorists.

Terrorist who are now armed with MANPADS, surface-to-air, shoulder-fired missiles, capable of shooting down passenger jets.

P.S.

One conspiracy style motive being assigned to the Benghazi consulate attack was as an October surprise. Ambassador Stevens was to be kidnapped and then exchanged for The Blind Sheikh just prior to the election.  A plan foiled by the presence of two former U.S. Navy Seals. Whatever the motive, the facts point to another failed Obama plan.

Update 11/15/2012:

Adding CIA Annex in Benghazi held three Libyan militia members. This backs up the information that the US was tracking MANPADS that had been sold to Al Qaeda through the Libyan militia. General Petraeus investigated the situation personally in October. David Petraeus will hopefully reveal the situation to Congress today and prove himself a patriotic American hero.

General Carter Ham:

The head of the U.S. military's Africa Command said Wednesday that some of those who attacked the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya were linked to al Qaeda's North Africa arm.

Additional Sources:
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_21551200/sudan-2-protesters-killed-outside-us-embassy
http://reason.com/blog/2012/09/12/the-last-us-ambassadors-to-die-on-duty
http://www.defence.pk/forums/military-history-strategy/13544-pakistan-comes-full-circle-light-shone-zia-ul-haqs-death.html
http://www.fas.org/irp/threat/terror_chron.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/9602439/Libya-British-guns-unaccounted-for-after-Benghazi-consulate-attack.html
http://macsmind.com/wordpress/2012/09/benghazi-gate-what-was-ambassador-stevens-and-three-others-doing-at-benghazi/
http://www.trevorloudon.com/2012/10/spooks-in-the-machine-speak-up/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2211369/How-CIA-missed-clues-al-Qaedas-role-U-S-consulate-attack-Libya.html
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543_162-20048619-503543/obama-allies-must-decide-on-arming-libya-rebels/
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57520884/libyan-who-captured-qaddafi-tortured-killed/
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2012/10/13/brits-missing-weapons-left-at-us-libyan-consulate.html?comp=7000023317828
http://gulagbound.com/34933/the-real-why-of-benghazi-part-2/#.UHxeym_A9BE
http://www.westernjournalism.com/october-surprise-gone-horribly-wrong/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoMubxspWz4

ObamaCare Doctors on Strike

Here are some headlines from the future of ObamaCare, doctors on strike:

Doctors strike over pensions shakeup – as it happened, June 21, 2012

• Between a third and a quarter of GPs' surgeries affected

• Doctors still turning up to work to deal with emergencies

• Lansley says thousands of patients inconvenienced

• BMA accuses government of misleading public

Canada: Doctors on Strike, TIME magazine retro, Saskatchewan, July 1962

Some strikes no one wins, and a doctors' strike is plainly one of them. Last week, refusing to practice under a socialized medical insurance plan enacted by the Saskatchewan legislature, two-thirds of the province's 900 doctors locked up their offices and went off on vacation. 

The Ontario Doctors’ Strike, 1986

In Ontario and Alberta, animosity against the federal legislation ran high. Doctors in both provinces rejected what they saw as attempts to “dictate how medicine should be practiced”

Doctors, professors on strike against Italy's spending cuts, 28 SEPTEMBER

Strikers included civil servants, university employees and doctors, ruling out all but emergency medical visits. Labor leaders organized demonstrations across the capital.

Germany: Doctors’ Strike about to be prevented, Jan. 19th, 2012

Slovakia's Doctors No, Nov 30th 2011

Earlier this autumn more than 2,000 Slovak doctors began to resign en masse, complaining that they were grossly underpaid

Estonian doctors continue their strike, October 9th, 2012

The Hospitals Association has proposed a 6.6 percent raise for its employees, but that is contingent on whether the Health Insurance Fund agrees to make changes in its prices for service.

Portugal: Operations cancelled as medical staff strike, 11 July 2012

The health ministry has warned that as many as 4,500 operations and 400,000 appointments may be cancelled.

A little closer to President Obama's dream from his father:

Kenyan Doctors Vow to Continue Strike, September 24, 2012

There are many more examples to be found, but this seems sufficient to make the point.

Were you aware of any of these socialized medicine caused doctor strikes? These stories would hurt the Obama campaign, so they conveniently escape the mainstream media. There have been times in American history when the media was biased, but never like this.

Tea Party Vs Obama Administration in VP Debate

Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin is not the leader of the tea party, but he will do. In 2009, the tea party formed to oppose the trillion dollar deficits and crony capitalist corruption of top down, trickle down big government. We tea party types did not seek to impeach or even vilify President Obama. We just wanted to be heard.  If the president had embraced our proven solutions, the world would be a much safer and happier place today.

Millions of tea party Americans and yours truly would give our right arms to debate President Obama or even Joe Biden. The goal would be to convince the administration and the American people of the correct course and scope of government. A few witty swipes would be taken in such a debate, but in 2009 or 2010 it would have saved millions of American families and untold foreigners from many of the recent massive economic hardships.

The closest event of this nature was Paul Ryan's epic take down of ObamaCare in February 2010. In six minutes, Rep. Ryan eviscerated President Obama's "Affordable Care Act." In the end, the president pushed the bill through regardless of Rep. Ryan's warnings, proving Barack Obama's intractable nature. Here is the clip:

"...a bill that is full of gimmicks and smoke and mirrors."

In April 2011, Rep. Ryan proposed the first U.S. Budget to pass in several years. It passed in the House of Representatives, but the Democrat controlled Senate and the President failed to approve the bill. Due to this Democrat failure, America has continued wandering economically without a clear path.

The VP pick of Rep. Ryan has been the highlight of the 2012 election cycle. There are few others who can fill his shoes on the important fiscal issues facing America. If there is a flaw in the Paul Ryan VP pick, it is that there are no proven replacements for him in the House of Representatives to chair the budget committee.

If a magic lamp's genie had granted the tea party three wishes, the upcoming Ryan/Biden VP debate may have made the list. After Mitt Romney's unmasking of our fictionalized president, the Ryan/Biden VP debate will be the icing on the cake. The upcoming debate should be put in movie theaters as a "Joe Biden double feature" with epic disaster movie "2012."

The debate will aired on most major news networks on Thursday, October 11 from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm PST. CSPAN has excellent coverage starting at 5:30 pm PST for those who wish to skip the political pundits. The debate will be moderated by ABC News’ Martha Raddatz.

Martha Raddatz is a friend of Barack Obama as the President attended her wedding in 1991, per the Daily Caller:

Obama and groom Julius Genachowski, whom Obama would later tap to head the Federal Communications Commission, were Harvard Law School classmates at the time and members of the Harvard Law Review.

Regardless of the stacking of the deck in favor of the Democrat incumbents, and current VP Joe Biden's 40 year debating career as a U.S. Senator, Rep. Paul Ryan is the obvious favorite on Thursday. In addition to the tea party's four years of economic preparation, Rep. Ryan is honing his skills as you read this. Paul Ryan has been preparing for the debate with attorney Ted Olson, who's wife was killed on Sept. 11, 2001.

The Republican attorney famously argued in federal court for same sex marriage and against Proposition 8. Paul Ryan is against same sex marriage.

At a LGBT dinner in Washington D.C. in March, the renowned attorney called the battle against Proposition 8 “the highlight of my life” and “this is the most important thing we’ve done in our lives,”

Olson served as Solicitor General in the George W. Bush administration, and as Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel in the Administration of Ronald Reagan.

Vice President Joe Biden has been in Wilmington, Delaware preparing for the debate with senior campaign adviser David Axelrod. Biden increased his debate prep from four to six intense days after the first presidential debate.

This will be good!

America's The End of the Beginning

To those who have worked and prayed to save America over the last several years, today is your day.

Intrade still shows Barack Obama as the favorite in the election and the election is not over. However, things have changed. The polls may not reflect the change yet, but the media will reflect last night's debate.

Terrorism, murders, lies, incompetence, fraud, greed, and failure have been covered-up and unreported. Every news outlet in America has Obama related stories that have been neglected. A simple search of this blog or those of my fellow bloggers will reveal at least a dozen major stories that need to be covered, including Scytl. Each and every one of these stories is like a reservoir of truth dammed by the gatekeepers in the media.

The dam just cracked.

Every small ounce of support, each fact learned, every moment spent, each t-shirt worn, every time you stood up for the truth, each sign waved, every right defended, each bumper sticker displayed, every link shared, each message tweeted and email sent has led to this moment.

Mitt Romney did a great job, but without you he would not have been in place to challenge President Obama. Many of us did not support Mitt at the outset, but we have forced him to be better.Whether you are a tea party supporter, a Ron Paul or a Gary Johnson supporter, you had a hand in shaping what just happened in the first presidential debate in Denver.

Winston Churchill,

Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.

America is not a place or an era, it is the idea of individual freedom. America is the culmination of western philosophy. It is the idea put forth in the U.S. Constitution that all men are created equal. That we are not either kings or slaves by birth, but citizens with God given rights. Rights that our government is established in order to protect.

These rights of Americans are individual, but hold a higher purpose. These rights hold the highest moral purpose, freedom. The freedom to choose to be good and do what is right. The freedom to stand up for what you believe and help guide humanity by your words, actions and sacrifices. The freedom to choose to stand by your God and to help those in need. The freedom to preserve, protect and defend freedom for humanity's future.

You may not hear this elsewhere, but you are an American hero. You are hope.

Romney Winner of Denver Presidential Debate

President Obama had better hope that a butt kicking is covered under ObamaCare.  The 2012 Denver Presidential Debate was a huge defeat for the president. Moderator Jim Lehrer stepped into the debate to give the President the equivalent of boxing's standing eight count. The moderator helped the President start his sentences on at least one occasion:

21:33:26: LEHRER: About the idea that in order to reduce the deficit, there has to be revenue in addition to cuts.

21:33:30: OBAMA: There has to be revenue in addition to cuts. Now, Governor Romney has ruled out revenue. He's ruled out revenue.
...
21:44:43: LEHRER: Mr. President?

21:44:44: OBAMA: First of all, I think it's important for Governor Romney to present this plan that he says will only affect folks in the future.

And the essence of the plan is that you would turn Medicare into a voucher program. It's called premium support, but it's understood to be a voucher program. His running mate...

21:45:05: LEHRER: And you don't support that?

21:45:07: OBAMA: I don't. And let me explain why.

The president started the debate with the first question on jobs. Since it is difficult to defend such a horrendous record, the initiative was taken by Gov. Mitt Romney. Years of tea party concerns about economic policy, constitutional rights and ObamaCare paved the way for an impressive rebuttal to the Obama presidency. Governor Romney revealed what many of us have known about President Obama, as million-dollar-Obama-Campaign-donor Bill Maher tweeted:

i can't believe i'm saying this, but Obama looks like he DOES need a teleprompter
— Bill Maher (@billmaher) October 4, 2012

A video reports to show President Obama stating "You won" to Gov. Romney at the end of the debate.

Gov. Romney removed all obfuscation of ObamaCare and jobs. He took the President to school. Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are obviously the perfect team to defeat the Obama campaign. Without teleprompters and audience applause prompters, Barack Obama is an empty suit. The President rambled on and on trying to justify the unjustifiable and explain the unexplainable. CSPAN reported that President Obama spoke longer on CNN's debate clock. We found confirmation here:

By the end of the debate, Obama had spoken for nearly 43 minutes and Romney had spoken for 38 and a half minutes, according to CNN’s clock.

The debate defeat of Barack Obama was historic. Two-thirds of debate watchers believe Mitt Romney won the debate. Just 25% of debate watchers believe President Obama won the debate and 67% pointed to Mitt Romney as the winner.

"No presidential candidate has topped 60% in that question since it was first asked in 1984," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.

The highlight of the debate per Frank Luntz's focus group was from Mitt Romney, who scored nearly 100% with undecided voters. Per the CNN transcript:

22:24:50: ROMNEY: We -- as president, I will sit on day one -- actually, the day after I get elected -- I'll sit down with leaders -- the Democratic leaders, as well as Republican leaders, and continue -- as we did in my state -- we met every Monday for a couple hours, talked about the issues and the challenges in the -- in the -- in our state in that case. We have to work on a collaborative basis, not because we're going to compromise our principle, but because there's common ground. And the challenges America faces right now -- look, the reason I'm in this race is there are people that are really hurting today in this country. And we face -- this deficit could crush the future generations. What's happening in the Middle East, there are developments around the world that are of real concern.

22:25:53: LEHRER: All right.

22:25:53: ROMNEY: And Republicans and Democrats both love America. But we need to have leadership -- leadership in Washington that will actually bring people together and get the job done and could not care less if -- if it's a Republican or a Democrat. I've done it before. I'll do it again.

Intrade chances of Mitt Romney becoming president increase by 3.5 points to 33.4%.

To my tea party compatriots, you should feel proud. The conversation in America has been directly molded and framed by you. We have been waiting for someone to debate Barack Obama on economic policies since 2009. As many Americans are in shock at the intellectual smack down that was dished upon President Obama, we know many Americans who could have stood in Mitt Romney's place.

Congratulations and thank you!

What is the 3.8% ObamaCare Real Estate Tax?

Understanding the new ObamaCare taxes and how they apply to you. After watching tonight's episode of The O'Reilly Factor, Bill failed to explain the new ObamaCare 3.8% tax. The new tax is definitely Doo Doo Economics, so lets scoop up this pile of information.

From http://www.mcarthurlaw.com:

The 3.8% Tax is not withheld from a taxpayer’s paycheck, and it is not based on wages.  It is a tax on investment income.   It must be taken into account for estimated tax purposes; it will be treated as a tax for purposes of computing the penalty for underpayment of the estimated tax.  The 3.8% Tax is not deductible for income tax purposes. It is not indexed to inflation, so, like the alternative minimum tax, it will affect more people over time.

For individuals (i.e., U.S. citizens and resident aliens), the 3.8% Tax is equal to 3.8% of the lesser of:
i. “Net investment income” or
ii. The excess of “modified adjusted gross income” over a “threshold amount”

“Net investment income” is the excess of gross investment income over investment deductions.  It includes interest, dividends, capital gains, annuities, rents and royalties, except that any such income derived in the ordinary course of a trade or business is not included.  Net investment income also includes income from a passive activity, or a trade or business of trading in financial instruments or
commodities.  Thus, gains from trading in financial instruments or commodities are included, and hedge fund investments are included.  Net investment income also includes the taxable gain on the sale of a personal residence in excess of the amount allowed under the Internal Revenue Code as an exclusion.  In determining net investment income, no distinction is made between qualified and ordinary dividends, or between short-term and long-term capital gain.

As noted above, net investment income does not include interest, dividends, capital gains, annuities, rents or royalties derived in the ordinary course of a trade or business.  Net investment income also does not include income from an active trade or business, distributions from IRAs or other qualified retirement plans, distributions from qualified annuity plans, tax-exempt interest, veterans’ benefits,
and any income subject to self-employment tax.

With respect to trade or business income from partnerships, LLCs and Subchapter S corporations,the income attributed to a taxpayer will be excluded from his net investment income only if the taxpayer materially participates in the activities of the trade or business.  Where a taxpayer does not actively participate in the trade or business,  the gain or loss attributable to the disposition of  a
partnership or LLC interest or of stock in a Subchapter S corporation will be net investment income only to the extent of the net gain or loss that would be recognized if all of the entity’s property were sold for fair market value immediately before the disposition.

“Modified adjusted gross income” (“MAGI”) is the taxpayer’s adjusted gross income plus, for U.S. citizens or residents living abroad, the net foreign income exclusion amount.

The “threshold amount” is:
i. For married taxpayers filing jointly - $250,000
ii. For married taxpayers filing separately - $125,000
iii. For all other individual taxpayers - $200,000

To reiterate, the 3.8% Tax applies to the lesser of (i) net investment income and (ii) the excess of MAGI over the threshold amount.  Below are some examples illustrating this calculation:

Example 1: Single Taxpayer has salary income of $250,000 and no other income.  The 3.8% Tax does not apply because Taxpayer’s net investment income of $0.00 is less than $50,000, which is the excess of his MAGI over the threshold amount.

Example 2: Single Taxpayer has salary income of $50,000 and net investment income of $60,000. The 3.8% Tax does not apply because Taxpayer’s MAGI of $110,000 does not exceed the threshold amount (so that the “excess” MAGI of $0.00 is less than the net investment income of $60,000).

Example 3: Single Taxpayer has net investment income of $250,000 and no other income.  The 3.8% Tax applies to $50,000 of income (the excess of his MAGI over the threshold amount).

Example 4: Married Taxpayers (filing jointly) have $700,000 of salary income and $25,000 of net investment income.  The 3.8% Tax applies to the $25,000 of net investment income (which is less than the excess of the MAGI over the threshold amount).

Example 5: Married Taxpayers (filing jointly) have $200,000 of salary income and $300,000  of net investment income.  The 3.8% Tax applies to $250,000 (the excess of Taxpayers’ MAGI over the threshold amount).

Also, remember that this tax is in addition to the regular Federal income tax and to the alternative minimum tax.  In 2013, the Federal income tax will have a maximum rate of 39.6% for ordinary items of income, including dividends, and 20% for long-term capital gains.    The combined maximum Federal rate of taxation could be as high as 43.4%.