The Buffett Exception: The Equality of Inequality?
Yesterday President Obama introduced the “Buffett Rule.” He defined it by stating that “Middle-class families shouldn’t pay higher taxes than millionaires and billionaires.” I think there is little disagreement with this proposition. But what if this is already the case? An USA Today article, citing the Congressional Budget Office, stated that, “The 10% of households with the highest incomes pay more than half of all federal taxes. They pay more than 70% of federal income taxes, according to the Congressional Budget Office.” The article fairly stated that some millionaires have found ways to pay no federal income tax, but that these constituted “less than 1% of the nearly 237,000 returns with incomes above $1 million.”
So is the President creating a general rule based on a small exception? If the issue is an exception, surely it would be more reasonable from his perspective to cut out the exceptions rather than change a working general rule? Do you add more taxes onto the 99% of a tax class in order to make 1% pay more? Again, if a small percentage is the issue, then lets address that. And this is exactly what Rep. Paul Ryan proposed in his newest video embedded below.
However, I am not sure this is the issue for the President. Maybe for the President, he believes that the upper percentage of income earners as a whole are not paying enough in taxes. If this is the real issue, then his definition of the “Buffett Rule” seems inaccurate. And if his version of fairness is something something other than the Buffett rule as he describes it, then it begs the question, “Mr. President, if the top 10% of households already pay more than 70% of federal income taxes, what is your idea of fair?”
Sources:
USA Today Money – Fact Check: The wealthy already pay more taxes
http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/taxes/story/2011-09-20/buffett-tax-millionaires/50480226/1
Path to Prosperity (Episode 3): 3 Steps to Pro-Growth Tax Reform — VISUALIZED
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Aewj_IndN4&feature=player_embedded
Freedom Over Fear: A 9/11 Remembrance.
September 11, 2001
Ten years ago today, Americans awoke to an ordinary Tuesday. As men and women across the nation went to work, so too did men of evil intentions. First a plane disappeared, seemingly slipping into the frame of the north tower of the World Trade Center. Surely a terrible mistake has occurred many thought. Then another, just as the first, thunderously vanished into the south tower too. The worst of fears confirmed in billowing clouds of flame and smoke. Neglect, no matter how great, could not have produced this moment of sheer horror. No, neglect’s sometimes terrible hand pales in contrast to the cold calculations of men devoid of moral compass and consumed in hate. As New York City burned, our nation’s Capital also found itself under attack as a third plane struck the Pentagon strong.
As America felt helpless in one of its darkest moments, the American spirit burned brightest in those first responders, our firefighters, police, and medics. As debris fell and smoke filled the sky, they ran towards the towers to save and help any they could. Billowing like chimneys ablaze, the towers robbed of their vitality tumbled to the ground. Those first responders gave their lives so that others might live. The American spirit also burned bright in a field over Pennsylvania as Americans in the high-jacked United 93 flight fought back against their masters of terror. As Americans have done in moments past, so too did these Americans overcome fear and tyranny. Casting aside the shackles of fear, they fought and ended evil’s fourth terrible design. Bought with the price of their lives cut short, United 93 would take life no more. Freedom once again proved stronger than fear.
As the ash smoldered and smoke still hung, a man stood at the former base of the twin towers gone. In a voice that spoke for a nation in pain, he called aloud for all to hear. “I can hear you!” he proclaimed. “The rest of the world hears you! And the people — and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!”
One decade later, many of those evil men certainly have heard from us. With the diligent vigilance of our service men and women, as well as those in our intelligence services, America has not endured another attack on our soil.
Today we honor the men and women who lost their lives that September 11th morn. As we reflect on this day of tragedy and loss, may we commit to continue forward to a greater tomorrow. With resolve to never forget, may we always remember freedom is not free. May we also think of that little sung stanzas of our national anthem:
O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war’s desolation.
Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the Heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust;”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
In the face of evil, let us never turn away from justice and right. For it is in this cause, that Providence’s hand has found fit to preserve us until now. May we proclaim forevermore, “In God is our trust.” May God bless the United States of America.
Home of the Brave: Never Forget 9/11
House Freshman Veterans and Members who have served pay tribute to the brave Americans who displayed heroic efforts and to the lives that were lost on September 11th.
Originally posted at http://www.gop.gov/blog/11/09/09/home-of-the-brave-never
The Signing of the Declaration of Independence
As I walked around the base of Capitol Hill this past Friday and I looked down the national lawn, I thought about the significance of the 4th of July. Thinking about the monuments that line the city itself, my mind wandered to a story about the Hebrew leader Joshua.
In the book of Joshua, we read the story of how God miraculously intervened on behalf of the Hebrews and brought them success. Afterwards, God spoke to Joshua and told him to have men pile stones in the place of the miracle. The book of Joshua goes on to say that these stones would “serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.”
Just like those stones, the marble monuments of Washington speak to us about our past and calls to us to ask the question, “What do these stones mean?” Unlike the stones of Israel, many of our white stone monuments answer this question directly with the words inscribed on them. Bold and prominent in the Jefferson memorial, we read, “God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God?” The peak of the Washington monument proclaims from the highest point in the city, “Laus Deo” or “Praise be to God.”
Working in Washington for the summer, I see often the statutes throughout the Capitol building representing the lives of many key revolutionary figures. As they stand silent, they too prompt us to ask the question, “What do these stones mean?” If we asked this question of the statute of John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg, not only would we find a Major General of the American Revolution, but a pastor who called out to his church congregation to take up arms in defense of their God-given liberties. The statue of Jonathan Trumbell would tell of a colonial governor who gave official proclamations calling his colony to days of fasting and praying unto God.
If I had any question as to whether these American stones still speak out to us, I found that question resolved the other day when I led of group of Germans on a tour through the Capitol. Having concluded the tour, one noted to me all of the religious mottos and symbols throughout the Capitol. And sure enough, they prompted him to ask me a question. The stones spoke out to him.
These American stones continually point us back to a faith in God’s providential hand and His principles. President Calvin Coolidge on a Fourth of July once remarked:
“[The Founders] preached equality because they believed in the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. They justified freedom by the text that we are all created in the divine image, all partakers of the divine spirit. …Equality, liberty, popular sovereignty, the rights of man . . . are ideals. They have their source and their roots in the religious convictions. …Unless the faith of the American people in these religious convictions is to endure, the principles of our Declaration will perish. …We live in an age of science and of abounding accumulation of material things. These did not create our Declaration. Our Declaration created them. The things of the spirit come first. . . . If we are to maintain the great heritage which has been bequeathed to us, we must be like-minded as the fathers who created it. We must not sink into a pagan materialism. We must cultivate the reverence which they had for the things which are holy. We must follow the spiritual and moral leadership which they showed. We must keep replenished, that they may glow with a more compelling flame, the altar fires before which they worshipped.”
As we spend this 4th of July reflecting on the freedoms we enjoy, let us think about the words the Founding Fathers approved 235 years ago today. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Those men risked all to approve and later sign our founding document, the Declaration of Independence. And some of those men gave all to to preserve that document. The least we can do today is know what their lives stood for and to ask the question, “What do these stones mean?”
Memorial Day: A Sacrifice Embraced with a Promise
A Sacrifice with a Promise
Over the past several months, I have had the opportunity to work in a Congressional District office. Of all the opportunities such work has afforded me, one of the most humbling has been to meet a family who’s son died in Afghanistan while serving in our military. I met the young man’s mother and father, as well as his young brother and sister. As I talked to this mother, I learned that her son died at the youthful age of 19. Only being in my mid-twenties, my heart connected to the thought of all the years I have enjoyed that he never will.
In my efforts to find words adequate to encapsulate that kind of sacrifice, the words of Lincoln continue to ring out. In consecrating the blood-soaked field of Gettysburg, he proclaimed, “[I]n a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract.” Understanding that words paled compared to the deeds of the fallen soldiers, the President further stated that, “It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.”
In this statement, Lincoln revealed a promise implied in the American spirit since the first pilgrims and settlers came to these shores. This promise finds itself woven through the sacrifices of our revolutionary patriots to that young 19 year-old man: When freedom requires the sacrifice of one’s own future, those who remain will commit themselves to ensuring that liberty is handed off to the next generation. That young man is no longer present to ensure that his parent and siblings will always enjoy the freedom he died to protect. But his death is a voice that will forever call to you and I who remain. Therefore, we must be “dedicated to the great task remaining before us…that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.”
Let us always heed the voices of sacrifice that stand guard over our history of liberty, and response with the same degree of devotion in upholding our promise to their sacrifice. May God Bless the sacrifices of our fallen soldiers and the families who daily carry that sacrifice. And may God Bless this great land of liberty and freedom.
A Half-Slice Compromise
In many ways not unexpected, I awoke this morning to the news that Republicans and Democrats came to a last minute agreement to avoid the impending government shutdown (Click here for information concerning the agreement). For the numerous military and government employed families, they can breathe a little easier knowing that they will not have to face bills and creditors empty handed. And this is undoubtedly a good thing. But what about the average tax payer? Is this morning news welcomed? I’m not sure it should be.
Compromise in expected. Sometimes you take part of the loaf hoping you can come back for the rest of the loaf later. But do you compromise for only half a slice of bread? The road to fiscal responsibility will be marked with compromise. The recovery of the 80′s was marked with compromise. And in many ways, our political system requires compromise. But the compromises should reflect the situation we find ourselves in. As trillions of dollars of debt continue to mount, should we be content with $39 billion in cuts over six months? If we are to compromise, let it be the halfway point between no cuts and a balanced budget.
Some Congressmen have it harder than others. For those in heavily military districts or with high government employment, a shutdown would have involved not paying families and individuals very likely living from paycheck to paycheck. No one wants to vote for that. But we must be able to look someone squarely in the eyes and say, “I did not vote against you, I voted for your children and grandchildren.” A few Republicans did just that. And for me they stand out as beacons in Washington worth our support and hard work.
Unlike military and government employees, our children and grandchildren, not to mentioned the private sector employee, will get no government reprieve from excessive spending. As federal government regulations and spending continues to sink the economy, private employees either find themselves with smaller paychecks, or none at all.
The House Republicans have one more shot to get this right before the 2012 elections. For now,
the “crisis” has been adverted while the real crisis looms ominously. And once again, the American taxpayer has footed the bill.
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty
In a moment of desperation, Charlie Brown cried out the now immortal request, “Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?!” 
Responding to his despondent inquiry, Linus took center stage and recited the passage from Saint Luke recounting the birth of Jesus. And in doing this, Linus pointed Christmas back to God’s gift of a Savior for all mankind. For thirty-three years, God in human form walked among men. He showed men how to love each other. He showed them the ways of a Heavenly Father. He showed men how to live.
While every Christmas we celebrate the birth of Christ, it was not Christ’s birth and life alone that saved us. It was in death that Christ gave men the gift of life. Just as addictions bind men to habits they despise, sin inseparable bound you and I to destruction. By dying, Christ took onto himself the penalty for the sins of all men and thus gave men the ability to live lives honoring unto him.
As I sit on my couch this Christmas morn, I am doubly reminded of God’s gift of a Savior. Not only have I received the gift of spiritual liberty, but the gift of temporal liberty as well. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” These words stand in direct opposition to the actions of governments and authorities throughout the annuals of time.
For the Founders, spiritual liberty preceded temporal liberty. This is why George Washington in his farewell address proclaimed, “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.”
Over the course of this Christmas break, I visited one of America’s oldest and most historically influential cities, Philadelphia. During my visit, I saw the Liberty Bell with its famous crack representing years of use. Forged onto the bell itself are the words, “Proclaim Liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.” This Christmas, let us remember the birth of a Savior which heralded not only spiritual liberty, but liberty in all realms life. And let us continued to proclaim liberty throughout the land and world.
From Salaries to Taxes, One Tax Increase at a Time
I have seen several cartoons over the past few days and they often look like this:
The message is that Republicans are only looking out for the “rich.” For anyone who has not had the chance to follow the news, Democrats have essentially made the extension of the Bush tax cuts dependant on extending unemployment benefits. And consequently we have the above cartoons.
And so the Democrats paint a picture. By Republicans holding out for an across the board extension of the Bush tax cuts without extending unemployment benefits, Republicans are for the “rich” and Democrats for the unemployed. But is this really what is going on?
For the past eight years, the Bush tax cuts have acted as the standard tax rates. Business folks took this into account and began putting this money to work. Rather than being sapped up by Congress, this money has been out in the economy allowing entrepreneurs to hire workers, expand business, and develop new fields of revenue. It has been hard at work combating the very unemployment Congress has stated it is committed to reducing.
If Congress chooses not to renew the current rates, the “rich” will need to pull this money out of the economy to pay the new rates. And it will come directly from the funds invested in economic capital. Investment will decrease, the market will shrink, and jobs will be cut because of the reduced capital.
This is not foreign to any of us. If you find yourself taxed more, you find ways to cut your budget. You eat out less. You make due a bit longer with the car with engine problems. You hold off investing in a few stocks. The more well to do are no different, except that their cutting back makes a noticeable impact on the economy. They invest in fewer companies. They hire fewer employees. They take fewer risks.
While cartoon strips continue to paint Republicans against the unemployed, remember that we are here in the first place because Democrats refused to support an across the board tax cut extension. If the Democrats could have gotten their way by increasing taxes on the “rich,” they would have needed those extended unemployment benefits to care for all the people whose salaries would have gone to paying taxes. When we couple the negative impact taxing the “rich” has on the economy with data indicating that unemployment benefits actually hurts the economy, is it really the Democrats who are holding out for the interest of the unemployed? I’m not so sure the above cartoons present the right picture.
The Party of Travel Planners…Or Tour Guides?
Sarah Palin has been getting a lot of flack recently. Flack for her TV show. Flack for her daughter being on dancing with the stars. Flack for going against the Republican establishment. Now flack comes with the job of being a public figure involved in politics. And often the pundits and political leaders disking out the criticism have valid points.
I am not concerned about people being critical of Palin. And any leader worth his salt will have critics to spare. What concerns me is that some of the loudest critics have been coming from within the Republican Party. For being a party that quotes Ronald Reagan at every dinner party and campaign rally, they seem to have forgotten one important Reagan rule:
“Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican.”
This does not mean of course we cannot discuss our disagreements. Reagan had plenty of disagreements with Republicans. In fact, he did not almost knock out incumbent Gerald Ford out of his own party’s primary because he agreed with him on everything.
I see Republican criticism of Palin as telling. Critics have plenty of ammo to send her way. But what I do not see is any leading people another way. Reagan did not need to verbally criticize other Republicans personally because he allowed his actions to do it for him. Joe Scarborough recently wrote a piece calling for the “GOP to man up” to Palin. For anyone with who has a problem with Palin, I completely agree with Scarborough’s call to action. But I do not believe that the GOP should “man up” by cutting her down.
As Scarborough points out, Palin does not have clean hands in regards to Reagan’s commandment. But if we are concerned someone is hijacking the GOP, then it’s about time Republicans leaders step up and gave people another person to follow. Reagan did not win over the party by cutting down other party leaders. He won their hearts by stepping up and leading. The American people can see the difference between talkers and doers, travel planners and tour guides. We need to stop telling the American people who to follow, and start giving them reasons to follow. And considering that Reagan’s commandment only allowed for the second option, maybe he knew a thing or two about leading.
Saying No with Yes
The challenge before the newly minted Republicans is as difficult as it is simple. Come January 20th, Republicans will take the majority in the House and will send a minority to the Senate. Under the current parliamentary rules, this minority will be capable of stopping any bill proposed. This will make the word, “No” roll off the tongue as easy for Republicans as Paula Deen adding butter to a recipe. And herein lies the challenge; the Republicans must not become the party of “no.”
This is not a new challenge for Republicans. Ronald Reagan in his 1964 speech endorsing Barry Goldwater for President noted that:
“Anytime you and I question the schemes of the do-gooders, we’re denounced as being against their humanitarian goals. They say we’re always ‘against’ things—we’re never ‘for’ anything.”
Considering that Republicans will be unlikely to pass anything without the help of Senate Democrats and ultimately a presidential signature, saying “no” seems like good response to an overreaching left. But therein lies the problem. The American people are not a people of “no.” And if all they ever hear from Republicans is no, they will soon be looking for someone saying yes.
But in Reagan’s analysis of the problem he also gave us the answer. Republicans must move beyond saying no, to saying yes. Republicans must stop being against big government and taxes, to being for individual freedom and pro-growth market policies. Republicans must not respond with “no” to proposals from the left, but respond with a plan showing Americans how to go forward.
This will require brains as well as backbone. Democrats will likely halt most of these plans, yet the American people have the insight to understand this. And if the American people come to like what they hear, in two years they will Republicans the Senate. They may even decide to entrust to us the White House.
In the end, we do not remember George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Ronald Reagan because they said no. We remember them because afterwards they said yes.
