Today's Nuze: April 12, 2005 

YOU DO KNOW WHAT FRIDAY IS, DON'T YOU?

This Friday is April 15th.  Unfortunately, it won't just be another beautiful spring day.  It's tax day.  The day you must file your federal income tax return.  Many of you who are reading this have not yet begun to fill your forms out.  If you're like so many Americans, you're dreading it.  You're procrastinating.  A survey conducted for Associated Press shows that by a slight margin Americans would rather go to the dentist rather than fill out their taxes.   Seventy percent of Americans say that their taxes are too complicated.  Many of you will have to write a check to the Imperial Federal Government.  Go ahead, file an extension.  Nine million other taxpayers will. You still have to write the check. 

Several classes of people come to mind around this time of year.

First, we have those who pay no federal income taxes at all.  This is almost 50% of all income-earning Americans.  It is no mistake that so many Americans don't share in the responsibility of paying for the operation of the federal government.  It's been this way since the beginning.  They managed to get three-fourths of the states to ratify the 16th Amendment to our Constitution, the one allowing an income tax, by convincing most of America that only wealthy individuals in a few Northeastern states would have to pay the tax.  Americans seem to find it so easy to support taxes ... as long as other people are paying them.*  This might explain why so many Americans on the lower end of the earnings scale aren't really worked up about tax reform. 

Secondly, we have those who not only don't pay taxes, they actually get a check on April 15th.  These are the Earned Income Tax Credit freeloaders.  Their so-called tax "credit" exceeds the amount of taxes they owe, so the government just writes them a check for the amount of the unused "credit."  Washington likes to call this a "refundable credit."  People who speak plain English call it a welfare check, a handout, or outright thievery.  For the life of me I can't see how an honest American can sit there and take a check for the balance of their unused tax credit, knowing that money came out of their neighbor's wallet, and not feel guilty as hell. 

Then we have the great American wage earners who have no clue as to how much they paid in federal income taxes this year.  They just know they're getting a refund.  That's it.  If you walk up to one of these myrmidons right after they've finished filling out their 1040 and ask them how much they had to pay in taxes this year, their mouths will open and they will promptly utter that one phrase that makes thrills the political mind; that one phrase that is an aural tattoo of abject stupidity:  "I didn't have to pay anything.  I'm getting some back."  These are the people who used to ride the short bus to school and who are now anxiously waiting for that magic day when their rent-to-own furniture will finally be all theirs.  They will celebrate by tearing off those little "do not remove under penalty of law" labels.  These people are truly the poster children for government schools.

Then there's that small group of Americans who know the score; who know how much they earned and how much they paid in taxes.  They also know that they're resented, even hated, by the rest.  Amazing, isn't it?  Americans who pay no federal income taxes, Americans who are essentially getting a free ride ... these Americans actually resent the people who are paying their way ... resent them because they are more successful, because they make more money.  I digress.  Back to our final group of taxpayers, the top 50% of income earners who pay about 96% of all income taxes.  The top 1% of income earners, those who earn about 18% of all income, but who pay 38% of all federal income taxes.  These are the people who drive our economy through their creative abilities.  They're the ones who invest in old businesses and begin new ones.  They are called "boss" by about 80% of U.S. workers, and they're being rode hard and put up wet by our current tax system.

It doesn't have to be this way.

We can fund the operations of the federal government without punishing achievement.  We can fund the government without creating and sustaining class envy.  We can fund the government without putting American businesses at a competitive disadvantage with much of the rest of the world.  We can fund the government while allowing American workers to receive 100% of their paychecks each and every payday, and allowing them to become savers and investors.  It's called The FairTax .. .and the book is coming to a book store near you soon.

*Case in point.  The wage cap on Social Security right now is $90,000.  After that your wages aren't subject to the Social Security tax.  A lot of people who make much less than $90,000 a year seem to think that it would be a real nifty idea to raise that wage cap to, say, $200,000 a year to "save" Social Security.  They would much rather see other people pay more taxes than to actually take on some of the responsibility for investing their own retirement funds in a private account. 

THE GAP BETWEEN RICH AND POOR

I notice quite a few news stories lately about all of the wonderful politicians out there who want to dedicate their efforts to "reducing the widening gap between the rich and the poor."  Spare me.   Most of the politicians want to address this problem by taking from the rich and giving to the poor.  Well, since there are more people who consider themselves poor than rich, that would sure work at the ballot box.  The answer here is to address the gap between "will work hard" and "won't work hard"; the gap between achievement and non-achievement; the gap between "paid attention in school" and "didn't pay attention in school"; the gap between good choices and bad choices.  Poverty is a behavioral disorder .. a mental disease.   You don't cure poverty by punishing the sane.

JESSE JACKSON HAS FOUND HIS NEXT PHOTO OP

Now that Terri Schiavo has passed away, Jesse has been looking for more camera time.  Well ... look no further.  He's found it, right here in Georgia.  He's working with Georgia's Black Legislative Caucus to mount a fight against a new soon-to-be law in Georgia that would (gasp!) require people to prove they are who they say they are before they pick up their ballots on election day.  Oh, the humanity!

GO FIGURE

For decades the United Nations has been critical of the United States.  Not only critical, but downright antagonistic.  Now President Bush has appointed a U.N. Ambassador who has been critical of the United Nations.  Democrats don't like it.  So ... a quick review.  The United Nations slams the United States and Democrats remain silent.  A U.S. diplomat criticizes the United Nations and Democrats go nuts.  Would someone please explain this to me?

ABSOLUTELY AT EASE WITH MY POSITION

Referring here to Terri Schiavo.  After all of the "I'm never going to listen to you again" emails from the emotional cowards out there, and after it has become abundantly clear that what we witnessed in Pinellas Park, Florida was nothing more than an obscene media circus where members of the media outnumbered protesters.  After the jugglers, the woman in the tutu, and the rantings against federal judges.  After coming to understand just how ignorant so many politicians, not to mention their constituents, are as to the concept of a rule of law vs. a rule of man ... after all of this, I just wanted to tell you how happy I am that I was on the right side of this mess all along.

May Terri Schiavo finally rest in peace. 

THE MEDIA'S POLITICAL AGENDA

Anyone that is being remotely honest with themselves can see that the mainstream media is an absolutely liberal institution.  From polls that show the majority of reporters always vote for Democrats to studies of their broadcasts...the evidence is overwhelming.  The left can protest the idea all it wants ... but the leftist bias in our mainstream media is patently obvious and overwhelming.  One need look no further than how the Bush-hating left covers this administration.  But now we have an interesting tidbit, courtesy of Robert Novak, that takes the media bias to a new level: outright political propaganda.

The media is out for blood....and their latest target is House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.  The Texas Republican is being accused of ethical lapses.  Some of what he did looks questionable, but is within the law and perhaps most importantly, is done by politicians of both parties all the time.  No matter...the left wants him out.  Democrats need a target...they need a hook if they're to have any hope of winning back the House next year.  Since they've been mad at DeLay for his role in Congressional redistricting, he's become a convenient target.

Many have called for him to step aside, including a few spineless "Republicans."  With DeLay in the headlines, the New York Times set out to find some more Republicans to call for his ouster.  They wanted somebody to write an op-ed piece.  A couple weeks ago someone from the Times sent former Louisiana Congressman Bob Livingston an e-mail asking if he would write such a piece.  When informed that it would be supportive of DeLay, they took a pass.  In other words, if it didn't support their political agenda, they had no interest in what he had to say.

If you remember, Livingston was set to become Speaker of the House when Newt Gingrich stepped down in 1998.  He resigned when a sexual affair he was having became public and the job eventually fell to Dennis Hastert. At any rate, Livingston didn't wind up writing anything for the New York Times.  Perhaps their slogan, 'All The News That's Fit To Print' now means that only Bush-hating, leftist, liberal propaganda is fit to print.

Forget media bias, folks.  They've started just manufacturing the news.

JOHN KERRY OUTS CIA AGENT

Remember all of the outrage and liberal indignation awhile ago when former ambassador Joseph Wilson's wife Valerie Plame was outed as a CIA agent?  Evidently it was an unnamed Bush administration official that supplied the name....and the results of that investigation have yet to be made public.  Well, it's happened again.  Guess who publicly outed a CIA agent this time?

Massachusetts Senator John Kerry.  That's right...The Poodle's faux pas came yesterday as he was slamming U.N. Ambassador-nominee John Bolton at his confirmation hearings.  Here's how it went down.  For the majority of the hearings, Bolton and the Senators on the committee had been referring to a former employee of Bolton's anonymously, calling him "Mr. Smith."  Kerry was questioning Bolton about whether or not his actions toward this person were legitimate, or were politically motivated.  Then  the Souffle, reading from transcripts of closed-door meetings, says:

"Did Otto Reich share his belief that Fulton Armstrong should be removed from his position? The answer is yes."

Oops...Fulton Armstrong was the anonymous "Mr. Smith," which is how Bolton referred to him in his reply to Kerry.  Now, to be fair, Kerry was not the only member of the committee to use Armstrong's name in the hearings.  But just stop and ask yourself something.  Fulton Armstrong is/was an intelligence analyst, just like Valerie Plame apparently was.

Democrats acted like it was an act of treason when someone blew Plame's cover, even though it was supposedly an open secret around Washington.  Now Kerry obviously made a mistake.  I'll give him that.  But will Democrats and the media treat Kerry's slip-up the same way they treated the Valerie Plame affair?

What?  Are you nuts?  Of course not!

THE TORT KING RESURFACES

We haven't heard too much from John Edwards since he rode off into the sunset following his Vice Presidential defeat last November.  He didn't run for re-election for his Senate seat in North Carolina, so he slithered back into the private sector after cleaning out his desk.  But now the Tort King has resurfaced. 

It turns out the blow-dried ambulance chaser has been more than a little miffed about all this talk about The Hildabeast being a lock for the 2008 Democratic nomination.  Edwards still wants the job, and apparently has every intention of running for president again.  In an interview, he said "I think talking about a front-runner four years before an election is ridiculous."  I don't think Edwards would find it so ridiculous if the media had anointed him. 

He was also asked about the recently passed tort reform bill and somehow turned it into a referendum on himself: "People have attacked my career ever since I've been involved in politics. But the attacks never stick. I think people fundamentally believe that those who have been wronged by powerful interests should be able to hold them accountable."  Yes, but the tort reform that was passed really had nothing to do with individual personal injury cases (his specialty.)  It was about curbing the ridiculous amount of class action lawsuits that are filed through jurisdiction shopping in state courts.

By the way, he did say one thing that was right, when asked about the Terri Schiavo matter: "They will pay a price for this in the 2006 and 2008 elections."  True...but will Democrats put John Edwards on the ticket ahead of Hillary Clinton?  No way.

'60 Minutes' Andy Rooney caused a ruckus while testifying at a fraud trial yesterday, and had to be admonished by the judge.  The reason?  Rooney took exception to the oath, which included "So help you God."

Be still my heart....400 airport screeners at Hartsfield -Jackson might get the boot by the end of September.  Naturally, officials are "worried."  Worried about what?  It's not like the TSA screeners served any actual worthwhile purpose anyway.

With all of the focus on the border with Mexico...here's a little statistic for you.  Did you know that there are 50 border crossings between the United States and Canada that are unmanned?  Did you also know that Canadian  immigration laws are much more lax than ours are?

So who is to blame for high gas prices?  It isn't the oil companies.....as has been pointed out many times before, Brian Simpson says you need look no further than your friendly neighborhood environmentalist to lay blame.

When Fahrenheit 9/11 came out, Michael Moore was telling anyone that would listen that his movie was popular all across the country, and that it would derail the Bush administration.  Byron York has some insider information on what that didn't happen.

Another study has been released showing the overwhelming leftist bias of college professors in the United States.  Cathy Young says no one should be surprised at the statistics.

With all of the attention being paid to the judicial branch following the Schiavo case, Thomas Sowell asks whether or not judges should be above criticism.

With so much good news coming out of Iraq, naturally you would expect the liberal media to not be covering any of it.  David Limbaugh says the media is still following the anti-Bush template.

With the passing of Pope John Paul II, there was a lot of focus on his message over the years about helping the poor.  But was John Paul a socialist?  Star Parker takes a look at his writings.

Morning Sickness: Teen in jail after removing the head from a corpse.

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