Barack Obama's First One Hundred Days in Office

Most public opinion polls show that his support continues to be strong with the American public after his first one hundred days in office.

However, tea party protests have begun to challenge government spending which continues to go unrestrained.

In the first hundred days the Obama administration has outlined policies that are clearly to the left of the center of the political spectrum. Taxes on the highest levels of income will eventually be raised. Capital gains tax cuts will not be continued and Cap and Trade if passed will be an energy tax on every American.

Meanwhile, a deep recession continues in America but economic stimulus saw more pork than stimulus and many think all that spending was really just for political gain. Government intervention into banks and the automotive industry have given Obama a socialist label but he says the need to solve the current economic crisis is to blame.

There has been a European trip and the President has engaged and reached out to former adversaries. However, NATO commitments for new troops in Afghanistan have not materialized and North Korea has test launched another missle. Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan continue to pose major foreign policy challenges.

So, where are we headed and what will be the result of the President's first one hundred days in office?

For more on Barack Obama's first one hundred days read: A Slogan For Barack Obama's Hallmark Holiday and The Media In Obama's First One Hundred Days on eworldvu.com

A Drug To Eliminate The Memory Of New Taxes

As California and Kansas struggle to pay state tax refund checks to taxpayers due to government mismanagement and an inability to balance a state budget, other places continue in their never ending quest to raise more tax revenue.

In Portland Oregon, four legislators joined a Springfield senator to introduce Oregon House Bill 2461, which would impose a $49.61 tax on each barrel of beer produced by Oregon brewers. Its a 1900% tax increase. The tax would raise revenue for the state at a time when budgets are running in the red. Specifically, the bill says it would fund prevention, treatment and recovery programs for those addicted to alcohol and other substances. The bill's language defends the tax by arguing alcoholism and “untreated substance abuse” costs the state $4.15 billion in lost earnings as well as more than $8 million for health care and nearly $1 billion in law enforcement-related expenditures.

Meanwhile in Austrailia: A household would be charged for each flush under a radical new toilet tax designed to help beat the drought. The scheme would replace the current system, which sees sewage charges based on a home's value - not its waste water output.

CSIRO Policy and Economic Research Unit member Jim McColl and Adelaide University Water Management Professor Mike Young plan to promote the move to state and federal politicians and experts across the country. "It would encourage people to reduce their sewage output by taking shorter showers,recycling washing machine water or connecting rainwater tanks to internal plumbingto reduce their charges,''Professor Young said.

Do you want to get away from this ever increasing tax burden? Well you can now just forget about the whole thing. From Reuters:

A widely available blood pressure pill could one day help people erase bad memories, perhaps treating some anxiety disorders and phobias, according to a Dutch study published on Sunday.

The drug was shown to significantly weaken people's fearful memories of spiders. The generic beta-blocker propranolol significantly weakened people's fearful memories of spiders among a group of healthy volunteers who took it, said Merel Kindt, a psychologist at the University of Amsterdam, who led the study."We could show that the fear response went away, which suggests the memory was weakened," Kindt said in a telephone interview.
The findings published in the journal Nature Neuroscience are important because the drug may offer another way to help people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and other problems related to bad memories.

Democrats Show Its Time For The Flat Tax

Tom Daschle the current nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services is “deeply embarrassed” about $128,000 in errors on his taxes.

Daschle has amended his returns for 2005, 2006 and 2007, and paid $140,000 in taxes and interest.Daschle refiled his returns Jan. 2 to add unreported consulting fees, unspecified charitable contributions and a car and driver provided by Leo Hindery Jr., a founder of the private-equity firm InterMedia Advisors.

Of course, the Congress recently approved the nomination of Timothy Geithner for Treasury Secretary. Geitner had been at the upper reaches of international finance for more than a decade. He has an MA in international economics from Johns Hopkins SAIS.

The new Treasury Secretary who is also now charge of the Internal Revenue Service failed to pay $34,000 in Medicare and Social Security tax in 2001 through 2004. After being nailed by the IRS in an audit for 2003 and 2004 deficiencies, he still failed to pay what was owed for 2001 and 2002 until he became aware that Obama would nominate him to be Treasury secretary.

Either the tax code is so complex that even these rich Democratic lawyers are making errors,or Barack Obama is nominating tax cheats and the Congress is recklessly approving their nominations to positions of power in the new administration.

If we give the new administration the benefit of the doubt, it seems the Democrats are making a strong case to eliminate the IRS. Indeed Democratic errors on tax returns show that its time for a change and should give everyone new hope for the implementation of the flat tax.

Be sure to read todays Daily Vu: The California Budget Mess Is Spending Unrestrained

Americans Need A Bailout From Government Taxes

Benjamin Franklin once said that nothing is certain but death and taxes. Today, he may have altered his famous quote to say that its certain that government is taxing people to death.

American taxpayers will pay 1.2 trillion dollars in federal and social security taxes in 2008. They will pay $101.6 billion per month in personal income taxes and $65.6 billion per month in FICA taxes.

However, the total tax burden on Americans is far greater when state, local, sales, excise and property taxes and fees are considered. Since the Congress is bailing out bad mortgage loans, hedge fund ponzi schemes and the United Auto Workers, with American taxpayer dollars, how about a bailout of the actual American taxpayer?

A 2009 payroll tax holiday would be the best place to start but here are several tax initiatives that are such bad ideas that the American taxpayer needs an immediate bailout.

Can you believe that farms or ranches with more than 25 dairy cows, 50 beef cattle or 200 hogs may soon be required to pay an annual fee of about $175 for each dairy cow, $87.50 per head of beef cattle and $20 for each hog?

The executive vice president of the Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation, Ken Hamilton, estimated the fee would cost owners of a modest-sized cattle ranch $30,000 to $40,000 a year.

These new fee's are a tax on the gas emissions of farm animals. Its a tax apparently designed to reduce green house emissions and save the planet from global warming. It will result in bankruptcy for many farms and significantly raise the price of meat. Global climate change has more to do with the hot air of Washington politicians than with the gas of cows.

A loaf of bread needs a a bailout. The government imposes 30 different taxes on bread . They are federal income taxes, state income taxes, state and local property taxes, federal payroll taxes, sales taxes, capital gains taxes, unemployment compensation taxes, workmen’s compensation taxes, retailers’ excise taxes, business license taxes and fees, utility taxes, and state wheat farmer checkoff taxes. Enough is enough, government needs to give bread a break.

If you live in Alabama, North Carolina, or Nevada and possess illicit drugs, you should have already purchased a stamp that registers tax payments on those drugs. To pay the illegal drug tax, visit your Department of Revenue and pay a small fee for a stamp that is to be placed on the container of the drugs. The stamp serves as evidence that you paid your tax so after you get arrested for illegal drug possession, you won’t be fined an increased amount based on not paying your illegal drug tax. Whoever actually pays that tax has also been seen staring at frozen orange juice because it said concentrate.

Did you realize that every time you get on an airplane you are paying a $6.00 Immigration User Fee and a $2.00 Agricultural Inspection Fee, in addition to a $12.40 Arrival Tax, and a $12.40 Departure Tax? Its just amazing there is not a tax for a passenger's actual travel time in the air.

The amusement tax works like this: the government taxes the owners of places that offer “amusement” and in return those businesses pass those taxes on to us. You're not amused? I didn't think so. Paying taxes for amusement is certainly no fun.

Some areas of the country levy a 0.5 percent tax on all take-out food. Chicago and Washington, D.C. both have enacted a tax on fast food, purportedly to pay for the removal of litter often accrued with the purchase of burgers and dogs. This tax applies to everything take-out, from egg McMuffins to late night cheese steaks. Take-out of the tax code is the appropriate action for this strange idea.

New York Gov. Paterson, is very concerned with obesity. In fact, he is so concerned that he is considering taxes on non-diet soft drinks. If the tax passes, ice cream or anything containing sugar or fat could be taxed next. Fat chance that a hefty tax on non-diet soft drinks does anything to reduce obesity.

Joe The Plumber Saves The Day For John McCain

The third and final Presidential debate was held last evening at Hofstra University. It was certainly the best performance by John McCain of the three debates.

In this debate, the candidates finally discussed Barack Obama's plan to raise income taxes on 5% of americans during a recession. During the debate, McCain forced a discussion of Obama's recent response to a regular guy on the campaign trail by the name of Joe the Plumber.

Joe the Plumber was concerned about Obama's income tax policy and Obama responded that he was going to "spread the wealth around". Wealth redistribution, class warfare and the dubious effect of raising taxes during a recession are winning issues for the Republicans.

However, until Joe the Plumber's question about raising taxes and Obama's wealth redistribution response, it was hard to distinguish any real policy difference between the two candidates on the issue of income taxes.

So, Joe the Plumber was able to do with one question what the incoherent campaign of Republican John McCain has heretofore failed to do. Focus a debate on the wisdom of raising income taxes during a recession.

In general, John McCain was on the offensive all night but Barack Obama was smooth as usual on defense. The truth is that based on style points there is really no contest between these two candidates. Barack Obama will win on style every time.

However, in what may well be the final public debate of his political career, McCain began to highlight a pattern in Obama's background that suggest policy positions that are far to the left of the centrist, middle class Democratic candidate that Obama portrays himself to be today.

Recent public opinion polls suggest a Democratic sweep in election 2008. Indeed, this Presidential race may already be over. However, there are still nearly three weeks until election day and three weeks is a very long time in Presidential politics.

The fact is that Joe the Plumber has saved the day for John McCain. In three weeks, we will see if an income tax question from a concerned plumber was the turning point for McCain's Presidential campaign. A campaign which currently appears to be on life support and close to the political abyss.