SPEAK ON, MR. PRESIDENT.  I WON'T BE WATCHING

Tonight will be George Bush's 6th State of the Union speech.  He'll have the platform, all alone, before the entire congress, cabinet members, the Joint Chiefs, the Supreme Court (probably including Samuel Alito) and millions of Americans, and he'll say very little.  I'm not expecting to hear anything other than "the state of the union is strong" and a few ideas for expanded government programs, some additional spending on this, that or the other thing, how we're going to continue working to make America safe and secure.  New ideas?  Don't look for them.  An earnest attempt to reduce the size and the influence of the Imperial Federal Government of the United States in our lives?  Don't hold your breath. 

It's no secret that I would like to hear something about tax reform.  The current tax code in this country is killing us.  No, those words aren't too strong.  Our American economy is slowly collapsing under the burden of an onerous tax system that punishes the very activities our economy needs.  In just the past few weeks we've heard several warnings and items of bad news.  Warren Buffet, a man who some would say knows a thing or two about finance and our economy, is warning that the biggest danger facing our financial well-being isn't the huge federal deficit or the price of oil.  The biggest danger is our trade deficit.  Just yesterday the news arrived that our savings rate is at its lowest point since the great depression.  You want a reason?  As for the trade deficit, blame our tax code. The simple and brutal fact of the matter is that there is no major economic power in the world that places the tax burden on its business and industry that the United States does.  You do realize, don't you, that these corporate taxes are a simple fraud.  They're all a device to convince the American people that our wonderful elected officials have chosen to relieve us of a portion of our personal tax burden by transferring that burden to evil and greedy corporations.  Our pathetic inept system of government non-education sets up Americans to believe such nonsense.  As for personal savings, the tax code punishes us there also.  You have to pay taxes on all the money you save, and then you have to pay taxes on all the interest you earn!  Wow!  What an incentive!  Besides, why save anyway?  Could it be that Americans are saving less and less because they are embracing the idea that when politicians are so eager to provide with our every want and need in exchange for our votes, why save?  Every year we see more and more ideas floated for government-paid this, that and the other thing .... what's the point?

I hear a lot of pundits telling us that the Democrats just don't have an agenda for 2006.  Oh, and the Republicans do?  And would someone please tell me what that agenda is?  Fighting Islamic terrorism?  That's great!  But that's been the agenda for five years.  This is a short attention span house the Republicans are playing to, and this "fighting terror" thing isn't going to go anywhere. Ending our dependence on oil?  The same party that can't even get drilling started on that portion of the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge that was set aside for that purpose is going to sell us a bill of goods on energy independence?  Old hat.  Old subject.

Look at the list of issues.  Trade deficit.  Disappearing manufacturing jobs.  Low savings rate.  Tax reform is the answer to all of these problems.  Sure, I favor the FairTax.  It is the only tax reform proposal I've seen that addresses so many of the issues we are dealing with.  Our current tax code is one that was designed by and for the benefit of politicians and lobbyists. It punishes achievement and rewards laziness.  It punishes the voting blocks unimportant to politicians, and rewards voting blocks who keep them in office.  Above all, the tax codes gives thousands of high-income Beltway lobbyists their fertile territory for exchanging campaign donations for changes in the tax code to benefit their clients.

The president appointed a tax reform commission.  I don't know how much money they spent, but whatever it was, it was a waste. This failure of a commission merely recommended a repeat of 1986.  Get rid of more deductions, set up a few flat tax rates, and let 'er rip.  That's the 1986 tax reform act all over again, and as soon as it was passed the lobbyists went to work.  That bill has now been amended and changed around 10,000 times, and nothing is better. 

OK, I know I've been hammering this, but about 11 days ago there was a story in the Washington Post about the lack of Republican agenda.  The story said that Republican congressmen were hearing from their constituents on gas prices and on the FairTax.  One congressman, Zach Wamp from Tennessee, even "lamented" the fact that people are more interested in the FairTax than they are in changing Washington.  Can it truly be that these politicians don't understand that the FairTax is all about changing Washington?  Of course they realize it, that's why they're not on board!  They know that passage of the FairTax would constitute a massive transfer of power from the inside to outside of the Beltway.  These politicians want you to be taxed when they decide you should be taxed, not when you chose to be taxed.  They want the control, and the FairTax takes that control away.  They want to tell you how much you can save tax-free, not leave that decision up to you. 

There is good news.  I've been reading literally hundreds of letters from hundreds of members of congress.  These letters were sent to me by people across the country who received them as responses to their inquiries about their representatives stance on the FairTax.  The politicians write back with excuses as to why they don't support the idea.  The excuses belie a growing fear that the people of this country may have come across an issue that could do irreparable harm to the balance of power between the political class and the citizen class.  The less these politicians hear about the FairTax, the better they like it.  When they do address the issue, they find it necessary to misrepresent the FairTax in order to critique it.  We have the vote, and that puts the advantage with us.  All we have to do is use it.  Sadly, that's a very tall order. 

In the meantime ... don't expect any real news from tonight's speech.  I'll be sawing logs.

MEDIA ROOTING FOR AL-QAEDA

Yesterday, Al-Qaeda's second in command released a video tape.  There was Ayman al-Zawahri wearing his white turban, attacking President Bush and blasting the U.S.  One of the world's most wanted Islamic terrorists had quite a few things to say.

He called the president of the United States a butcher, and said the January 13th air strike in Pakistan killed innocent people.  He complained that Bush was ignoring Bin Laden's offer  of a truce, and said "Bush, do you know where I am? I am among the Muslim masses."  Nice.

But do you get the sense, reading about this story in the press and watching the coverage on TV, that the media is rooting for Zawahri?  Other than Fox News, you don't hear him described as a terrorist.  And why do you suppose that is?  Because many on the left in the mainstream media actually agree with him.  You will also hardly ever hear him accurately described as an Islamic terrorist.  Muslims would never do such things, you know.

Come to think of it, Zawahri has a lot in common with the American left.  He hates George Bush, so do they.  He thinks the Bush administration has been a failure, so do they.  Zawahri criticizes the war in Iraq and talks about soldiers coming home in body bags...so does the left.  Come to think of it, I think Cindy Sheehan has a future.  She could be a speechwriter for Al-Qaeda.

And just where does Al-Jazeera get these videotapes?  Doesn't their continued airing of these messages make them a military target?  Isn't this propaganda?

THOSE EXXON MOBILE PROFITS

Yesterday the world's largest oil company, Exxon Mobil, announced their quarterly profits.  They raked in $10.7 billion last quarter.  That should make their shareholders happy. That brings their total yearly profit to $36.13 billion.  That's a nice chunk of change.

But you know what such news means.  It's time to drag the oil executives back in front of Congress...to complain about the mythical, non-existent "price-gouging."  Politicians will wring their hands about how Exxon Mobil is stealing money from people...and not "giving back" to the community.  All of this, of course, is thanks to the government schools that churn out people who have absolutely no understanding of basic economics.

For the less-educated, here are a few pointers:

• Exxon Mobil doesn't set the price of oil, the world market does.  They're just cashing in.  That price is determined by supply and demand, and nothing else. Sorry. If you want oil to be cheaper, you have to drill for more of it, bring to market and drive down the price.



• The oil companies are doing what they're supposed to.  It is the function of a public corporation to make as much money as possible for its shareholders. 



• If we expect to drill for more oil...and refine more gasoline...where do people think the money to do that will come from?  Reinvested oil company profits, that's where.  Somebody has to pay for exploration.

At the end of the day, it is the radical environmentalists that are making oil companies rich.  The tighter the supply, the bigger their profits.  So now you know who to blame!

Suggested by a listener...gives you something to think about!

GOOD FOR THE BULL

I think this happened in Spain, sorry, Mexico ... but some bull jumped into the stands at a bullfight and messed up quite a few fans.  Good.  Bullfighting is a ridiculous and barbaric sport.  Anyone who goes to an arena to see a bull killed by some Mexican in tights deserves to be tossed around on the bull's horns for a bit.  No sad thoughts for the spectators at all. 

REDNECK SCRAP BOOK

I must not know my 10 Commandments, because I don't remember this one. More in the Redneck Scrap Book.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

The Senate is set for a vote today on the nomination of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito.  Prediction: Sandra Day O'Connor can pack her bags.  Bush's second appointment to the court will be confirmed.

CNN's Christiane Amanpour, who has some sort of twisted idea about what constitutes a successful war, has decided that the war in Iraq has been a disaster.  Makes you wonder whose side she's on.

Illegal aliens are complaining that US border policy is racist and that the planned fence along parts of the border will result in more deaths.  Of course, not a word is mentioned about their illegal status.

It would appear Bush's poll numbers are up ahead of tonight's state of the union address. 50% now approve of the way he is conducting his job, which is about what it's always been.

Bill Clinton, who never met a terrorist during his administration that he didn't like, is urging the U.S. to open a dialogue with Hamas.  Perhaps so his wife can hit them up for campaign contributions.

The Hildabeast says the American people are impatient for a woman president to be elected. That might be the case, but the prospect of electing Hillary Clinton might just make a lot of people willing to wait some more.

A bunch of graying leftists plan to protest President Bush's State of the Union address tonight by banging pots and pans to try and drown out his speech.  It's extremely doubtful that you'll hear them on TV.

George Will says you won't hear the president pushing democracy around the world in his speech tonight.  The reason: the Hamas victory in the Palestinian territories.  Will doesn't have very high expectations for the speech.

Blacks have voted overwhelmingly for Democrats for years, but as Thomas Sowell points out, there is increasingly little difference between Democrats and Republicans....particularly on the issue of taxes.

David Limbaugh reviews a recent book that argues that militant feminism is damaging society and causing problems.  He points out that studies show married women are happy, healthier and wealthier than those not.

Speaking of feminism, here's part 5 of Professor Mike Adams' series of columns on why he doesn't take feminists seriously.  He says they can't understand the difference between anti-feminism and sexism.  Interesting!

British school bans raising hands.

WHAT THE HECK ARE THOSE POINTY HAND THINGS?

These are links to each individual story on the Nuze, p-links for the geeks out there. Plus, they work today and they'll work tomorrow. Now you can easily discuss/debate/rip apart the Nuze without worrying about the links going bad. Enjoy!

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