Okay, I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted here, so I’ve promised today is the day I’m going to start posting again. Actually, I was going to promise that yesterday, but, seeing as it was April Fools’ Day, I figured I’d wait.

I’ve also got something else to do today… my taxes. Normally, our accountant does them, but she’s swamped this year, and we’d have to pay extra to file an extension, since we got our last tax information in yesterday. So, we made the command decision that we (meaning I) would break out the calculator, pocket protector, and Excedrin and do it at home. Since misery loves company, I figured I’d combine taxes and blogging for your amusement. So, without further delay (or anesthetic), here goes…

5:48pm: Logged into IRS.gov. See the American flag on the Recovery Act logo and can’t help but think of Joe Biden. This is the most painful patriotism imaginable.

5:52pm: Just did a search on the site for “1040.” Came up with 56 different files. Do we need any other evidence that our tax code needs serious revamping?

5:55pm: Downloaded the instructions for filling out the 1040 form. 161 pages. This could be a long night…

6:27pm: I think I’ve finally downloaded all the necessary forms and instructions (with some minor household catastrophes thrown in for good measure).

6:31pm: Looking back through last year’s taxes, I figure I need to do all the supplemental stuff first, before I hit the 1040. Feeling the first twinge of a headache coming on.

6:36pm: Working on Schedule A. There’s something eerily comforting about claiming state and local taxes as tax deductions. Same thing with tax preparation. Hey… if I do my taxes online, does that mean I can claim my computer as a tax deduction?

7:00pm: Thought I had everything I needed… had to go get the vehicle taxes from their registrations. Gotta remember to put them back in there before anybody drives…

7:09pm: Oops… looks like I need to do some of the 1040 before I can continue with the other stuff first. I’m starting to gain a new appreciation for my accountant. I still want to put her out of work with something like the Fair Tax, though…

7:18pm: How many kids do we have? It seems like a lot more…

7:24pm: Great… I have to do Schedule E before I can get far enough on the 1040 to complete Schedule A… before I complete the 1040. Is it any wonder three out of four Obama appointees choose not to pay their taxes?

8:00pm: Still plugging away, but need to start putting the little deductions to bed soon.

8:26pm: Oh, goody… the Recovery Rebate Credit. Wait, you mean I don’t qualify for it? Does this mean I’m part of the “wealthy” now?

8:43pm: Whew! Just caught an error! Almost forgot a $58 income… not quite enough to qualify me for an Obama Cabinet position, but I’m feeling a little more “patriotic” now.

8:51pm: That extra “patriotism” came out to $7. Next time I’ll just buy an American flag lapel pin.

9:05pm: Okay, federal taxes are done… now to get the state taxes taken care of. I’m going to go ahead and stop liveblogging now, since some of you are fortunate enough to live in states without state income taxes.

See you all at your local TEA parties on the 15th!

Tags: taxes

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Okay, so I’ve just awakened after sitting through President Obama’s address to Congress and the nation. I caught what he said, but it took a while to sort a lot of it out into something resembling cohesive thoughts, which I will share with you now:

Right off the bat, Obama talked in terms of responsibility and having to make hard choices, and he laid out the basic framework of the argument that Americans could choose between either wealth or a brighter future, but, seemingly, not both. I’m sorry, but, in the middle of an economic crisis, we have to maintain the hope (there’s that word again) that we can still attain both. He also said that Americans would have to tighten their belts right before he announced he’d signed a massive government spending package into law.

He also mentioned an accountability website, Recovery.gov, that will be tracking our tax dollars as they are spent. Of course, it’s not real accountability if the spending is in general terms and there’s eight billion dollars listed in a category called “Other.”

He did talk a lot about the fact that everyone- including him- would have to sacrifice some of their priorities if there was no money to fund them. One wonders, of course, if that sacrifice will be shared between the executive and legislative branches, or between the Democrat majority and Republican minority. In spite of Obama’s repeated calls for bipartisanship, we suspect that it will be the Republicans that do the most sacrificing.

Oh, and he called his budget a vision for the nation. Does that mean he has to tax us blind to achieve it?

Did anyone else notice that he mentioned the Chinese, Japanese, and Germans for their advances in clean, renewable energy, but failed to acknowledge American clean coal or nuclear energy?

And did anyone catch the fact that he wants to make sure Americans hold more college degrees per capita than the rest of the world? That means the bachelors’ degrees most students are getting now- the ones that pretty much guarantee decent-paying jobs out of college- are going to be worth less on the open employment market. Instead, in order to compete for good-paying jobs out of school, students will have to spend more time and money pursuing postgraduate degrees. That doesn’t sound like a very efficient economic stimulus package, unless you work for a university.

Of course, he’s going to roll back the Bush tax cuts. The longstanding myth is that those tax cuts only benefited the rich. Wrong. The real impact to the average American was greater than the $13 per week Obama is promising, and it went to all taxpayers, not just those lucky enough to earn under $250,000 per year. Doesn’t it seem odd that people are now going to be “lucky” to earn under $250,000 per year? And, if all taxpayers benefited under the Bush tax cuts, then won’t rescinding those tax cuts result in a tax increase, by definition?

Oh… while we’re talking about misinformation, the one thing he gave America credit for in the technological realm wasn’t an American achievement. American Henry Ford may have invented the automobile assembly line, but it was German Karl Benz that actually invented the modern automobile. This may be a pesky little fact to mention, especially since it led to a great line in the speech, but it points to an overall indifference to getting the facts straight if it compromises the overall effect. That pattern has already shown itself in his Cabinet appointments, it showed up in his speech tonight, and it will probably show itself when his budget is submitted to Congress later this week.

Tags: Barack Obama, coal, college, economic stimulus, nuclear energy

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Maybe it’s the fact that I can finally recover from the inaugural Obama Overdose, but it took me getting ready for Presidents’ Day to finally realize the true meaning of his message of “Change.”

He’s not referring to the way government is going to do its business.

He’s not referring to a new era of responsibility and accountability from those holding the highest offices in the land.

He’s not referring to a new wave of people coming into the government to bring fresh ideas.

He’s not even referring to what will be left of our hard-earned dollars once he’s taken his “fair share.”

He’s referring to changing which of his forty-two predecessors he’ll be emulating.

He campaigned as the second coming of John Kennedy, even trotting out the reclusive Princess of Camelot to help bolster that image.

He borrowed heavily from Abraham Lincoln, from announcing his candidacy in Springfield to taking the train into Washington to using Lincoln’s Bible for his ceremonial swearing-in.

He is currently channeling Franklin Roosevelt in his “government can and must fix everything” approach to handling the current economic downturn, even going so far as to conjure up images of (cue the scary organ music) The Great Depression in order to scare Americans into believing he’s taking a historically proven course.

Of course, emulating anyone, even Presidents, can have its downsides.

He’s also mirroring the bipartisanship of Andrew Jackson and Lyndon Johnson.

He’s adopting the appeasement strategy Jimmy Carter used in the Middle East.

He’s staffing his Cabinet with all the caution of Warren Harding.

Maybe if he’s trying for “change we can believe in,” he should stop trying to emulate other Presidents and just become his own man. Okay, maybe we still wouldn’t believe in him, or approve of his policies, but at least he’d have a chance to be admired for his personality.

Just like Bill Clinton.

Tags: Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Jackson, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Franklin Roosevelt, Jimmy Carter, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Warren Harding

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Okay, so things have gotten interesting recently with the stimulus package. After passing the House without a single Republican vote, it looks like some concessions were made in order to bring a couple of Republicans on board in the Senate, at least to the point of being able to break a Republican filibuster. While we’re grateful in one sense that they were able to cut a little bit of the fat from the bill, it’s extremely disappointing that they didn’t/couldn’t/wouldn’t hold out for more. Hopefully, their constituents will insist they stand fast and fight for more responsibility, if not fight this mess altogether.

Oh, and the reason for the picture? Besides the fact that it’s a little creepy watching so many old folks using the word “stimulus” this often, it’s a visual indication of how politicians view spending our tax dollars. If this stimulus package passes- to the tune of around $1,000,000,000,000- it may also be an indication of what American taxpayers can expect.

Tags: economic stimulus, filibuster, Senate

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February 6 is something of a holiday (and for some people, it’s almost a holy day) in Republican circles. This date is, of course, the birthday of our 40th President, Ronald Wilson Reagan. The Gipper would have turned 98 today.

Of course, the GOP mentions Reagan a lot, and for good reason. He’s widely regarded as one of our all-time best Presidents. He managed to appeal to a broad swath of the country, including people of all political stripes (as millions of “Reagan Democrats” will affirm), and overwhelmingly won reelection in 1984 by combining conservative principles and what he called his “Big Tent” policy. He also restored confidence in America, brought the Cold War to an end, and survived an assassination attempt.

But, to a new generation, Reagan is an icon that can only be studied, like Washington and Lincoln, through the filter of history. Those born during his first Presidential campaign, in 1976, will turn 33 this year. Those born when he was first elected in 1980 will turn 29; during his reelection in 1984, 25; and those born in 1989 when his second term ended will turn 20 this year. In short, the current generation of young adults most likely does not know what life was like before the Reagan administration, and millions of those are too young to remember his administration at all.

The fact that many of those young people still think fondly of him, though they never knew him, is a testament to the legacy he left. His ability as “The Great Communicator” wove the timeless themes of freedom, prosperity, and optimism in the face of adversity into the American fabric for generations to come.

So, today, we celebrate his birthday in that spirit. We must remember, though, that his legacy must be carried on in ways more tangible to future generations. They- we- need a modern-day Reagan to unite us as a party and a nation. Barack Obama isn’t going to be it, no matter how hard he tries. We’ve seen glimpses in the current generation’s admiration of Newt Gingrich and his leadership of Congress in the 1990’s. We’ve seen the promise of the next generation of leaders, from Bobby Jindal to Sarah Palin to Eric Cantor and Kevin McCarthy. Perhaps the future lies with one of those, or perhaps it lies in someone else. Wherever it is, we must find it.

That would be the most fitting tribute to his legacy. If we act quickly, it may be our gift to him for his 100th birthday.

Tags: Bobby Jindal, Eric Cantor, Kevin McCarthy, Ronald Reagan, Sarah Palin

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Okay, okay… so we’ve all heard about Nancy Pelosi’s gaffe where she said that, for every month that passed without passing a stimulus bill, 500 million Americans lost their jobs. Is it really that big a deal?

In short, yes. I could leave it at that, but this would be a very short blog post, and you won’t feel like you got your money’s worth if I don’t expand on that answer.

So, do I think she’s stupid, or doesn’t have a clue how many people are in this country? Again, no. I do think she’s out of touch with most Americans, but I don’t think she’s clueless about something as basic as that. As far as being stupid, she is Speaker of the House, and you don’t get to that level by being stupid. Misguided, maybe… wrong on the issues, definitely… but stupid, no.

So what do I think happened? She misspoke.

Before you assume I just wasted your time and mine getting to that point, I do want to say, I think there’s more to the story than just that… and this is where we get into the part that concerns me.

She was speaking extemporaneously, not from a script or teleprompter. That means she was working with facts and figures off the top of her head. So when she misspoke and said “500 million” (insert Dr. Evil laugh here) instead of a more likely “500 thousand,” it raised a huge red flag. Actually, it wasn’t the factual error that caught my attention… it was the fact that, whenever politicians want to get their point across using facts and figures, they don’t speak in numbers below the millions.

This is a problem that seems to be endemic to Congress. After all, you’re talking about an organization that is fixing to put together a bailout package nearing a trillion dollars. At that point, “millions” seems like pocket change. So, when Pelosi wanted to send a warning about the economic implications of inaction, she was probably so used to saying “millions” from other discussions that “millions” came out naturally during this discussion.

And that’s what has me so scared. When “millions” can be easily substituted for “thousands” without thought, because both of those numbers sound appropriately low, then we really need to wonder if every dollar is really being accounted for, or is anything less than a million just rounded up to make the math easier? Either way, can I make the same mistake with my boss someday, or my bank?

Tags: Nancy Pelosi

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Seriously, I’m starting to wonder if Marty DiBergi is sitting somewhere amid the White House press corps. This administration continues to make a farce of itself, and I’m starting to see more than just passing coincidences between the new administration and “the world’s loudest band.”

First, rapidly declining popularity is already starting to become an issue. President Obama came in with decent approval ratings, though he has taken lots of flak for the few decisions he’s made, including from many of his former allies in the media. Of course, like Spinal Tap, they are popular overseas…

You’ve also got a volatile personnel issue that will blow up at some point. We’re only a couple of weeks into the administration, and Hillary Clinton has already been sworn in twice, each time trying to steal a little bit more of the limelight… and she hasn’t even really started working yet! And let’s not forget that Joe Biden is not exactly the type to play nicely behind the scenes while others are in front of the cameras.

Volatility isn’t the only problem they’re facing, either. Longevity seems to be factor, with Obama’s nominees and high-level appointments dropping off faster than Spinal Tap drummers. We’re down three now, with the double-whammy of HHS nominee Tom Daschle and Deputy OMB Director nominee Nancy Killefer added to former Commerce nominee Bill Richardson. The list may not stop there, either, given Obama’s hiring of lobbyists for high-level positions despite a campaign promise otherwise.

Now, if we could only find out whether Obama’s infamous BlackBerry goes to eleven…

Tags: Barack Obama, Bill Richardson, hillary clinton, joe biden, lobbyists, Nancy Killefer, Spinal Tap, Tom Daschle

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Well, Obama’s era of change and bringing the government back to the people is getting off to a rockier start than anyone had expected:

Not only was his homestate governor brought down in a corruption scandal, but one of his Cabinet appointees- Bill Richardson- had to back away from his appointment because of a similar scandal brewing in New Mexico.

Then, he had to deal with some of the political baggage of his Clinton-era Cabinet appointees. Eric Holder has a lot of explaining to do regarding Clinton’s last-minute pardon bonanza. Hillary Clinton had to do some explaining of her own regarding foreign donors to her husband’s library.

Now, with the country facing economic issues, we find out that not only did his Treasury Secretary appointee, Tim Geithner, fail to be honest in filing his taxes, but now we find out the same thing about his HHS Secretary appointee. Tom Daschle, former Senate Majority/Minority/Majority/Minority leader, has apparently failed to disclose some services he received in his tax filings. It seems innocuous enough on the surface, though the amount of back taxes he had to pay totaled over $100,000.

So, apparently that whole “change” thing was really a bunch of hooey, as were his “judgment” argument during the 2008 campaign and the “culture of corruption” mantra during the 2006 midterm elections. All we can hope for now is that, with Michael Steele at the helm of the RNC, these issues will be kept at the forefront of public discussion during the 2010 and 2012 election cycles.

*- As an Arizonan and a Cardinals fan, it was really, really hard for me to write that headline.

Tags: Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Bill Richardson, Eric Holder, hillary clinton, Michael Steele, Rod Blagojevich, Timothy Geithner, Tom Daschle

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After two months of suspense and six ballots at the Republican National Committee meeting in Washington, DC, former Maryland Lt. Governor Michael Steele was elected to replace Mike Duncan as RNC Chairman. You can track the results of the individual ballots elsewhere. The rough idea behind the results is simple: the first three ballots determined whether or not we needed new leadership; the next three ballots determined who that new leader would be.

The question of needing new leadership really wasn’t much of a question, in retrospect. I’m not going to vilify Mike Duncan for the job that he did, especially since most of his work was in an atmosphere that was not conducive to Republican success. His work was also largely carried out according to the traditional RNC playbook, which is apparently in need of an overhaul. When it came down to who the next leader would be, Steele withstood a surprisingly strong campaign by South Carolina GOP Chairman Katon Dawson.

Of course, the end of the election is really only the beginning of the preparation for the next election cycle. Chairman Steele is going to have to use the full measure of his media presence to reach out to those voters that have turned away from the GOP. He has already pledged to reach out to younger voters, and we look forward to working with him to fulfill that pledge.

Tags: Katon Dawson, Michael Steele, Mike Duncan, RNC

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The Young Republican National Federation released the results of the survey it conducted of its members in relation to the RNC Chairman’s race. While the report has already garnered some national attention, I thought I’d give some thoughts on this, from an insider’s perspective.

First, the YRNF has already thanked its members for their participation in the survey, but I’ve gotta say I was impressed with the turnout. 1,249 responses is pretty good (better than many “official” surveys conducted during the recent campaign cycle that only surveyed hundreds of people), so y’all are to be commended for speaking up for your generation. Not only was the turnout impressive, but many of the responses were, too. Great job by all who participated!

Here are some of the things I learned from the survey:

Ron Paul’s supporters still seem to be well organized and as passionate as ever. I don’t have the exact numbers, since I only worked on one of the survey questions, but I think the percentage of Paul supporters responding to this survey was at least as high as (and maybe higher than) the percentage of votes he received in the GOP primaries. Whether we agree with him or not, the support he has gotten- and maintained- is something the rest of the party should study further.

The “three most important issues” question surprised me a little, but I think it may be a little misunderstood, too. I would be willing to bet that most of those issues are important to everyone at some level, but the “top three” seemed to come down to the most pressing issue of the day (the economic picture), the most unifying issue for Republicans (lower taxes), and the most unifying campaign issue for Republicans (energy independence).

As far as how to better market to younger voters, the survey, on the surface, pretty much covered the entire spectrum of available responses. But what I really took from this question was the percentages. There were a couple of basic themes, but the lack of any one solution rising far above all others (the most-selected response, “Integrating young voters,” only carried 18%) says that the RNC has been ignoring this group for so long that they are desperate for almost any attention at this point. Now, doing something for the sake of doing something doesn’t mean it will be done right. However, we’re so far behind the power curve that something needs to be done, and failure needs to be seen as a learning opportunity instead of a stopping point.

The RNC will elect its chairman Friday. Younger voters have made their voices heard. The next question goes to the RNC itself: Are you listening?

(P.S. Wondering why the picture of Rod Blagojevich at the beginning of this post? One, this is the kind of thing Republicans need to fight against. Two, this may be the last time I get to use a picture of him. Three, I’m kinda jealous about the hair.)

Tags: economy, energy, RNC, Rod Blagojevich, Ron Paul, taxes, Young Republicans

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