Quote of the Day

You ever come across raccoons in the outdoor trash can at 11:30 or so at night? As soon as they’re exposed by the beam of the flashlight (by the way, how much CO2 does the beam of a flashlight put into the atmosphere?), they turn on you with fangs and paws and let you know what follows will be a short conversation with very little talking involved.
Currently, climate scientists are raccoons hip-deep in statistical garbage and you should approach them with caution because they are unarmed (with facts) and dangerous.

– Dennis Miller

All Original material is copyright © Mark Urbin

Gripe of the Day

It’s snowing in Texas and the Transnational Socialist elites are getting together in Copenhagen to whine about Capitalism Anthropogenic Global Warming.

Private jets and limos. Nothing is too good for the self appointed saviors of Mother Gaia.

Of course Mother Gaia can’t tell them to shove off.
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All Original material is copyright © Mark Urbin

Facts don’t matter to Palin haters

Ask most people on the right on why they don’t like our Dear Leader and most will be able to articulate specific policy issues they disagree with. OK, often they sum it up with “He’s a Socialist,” but when pressed, they can cite actual policies and give details.

Ask a typical hater of Gov. Sarah Palin why they don’t like her, and most can, at best, deliver quotes made by Tina Fey, and try to attribute them to Gov. Palin. If you press them for details, they tend to get angry and often blame you for attempting to insert reality into their irrational hatred that makes them feel all warm and fuzzy.

Proud ignorance is sadly a common feature of Obama supporters.

Originally published at the Urbin Report

All Original material is copyright © Mark Urbin

A few simple questions

I found this list of questions on flickr.

If George W. Bush had been the first President to need a teleprompter installed to be able to get through a press conference, would you have laughed and said this is more proof of how inept he is on his own and is really controlled by smarter men behind the scenes?

If George W. Bush had spent over a million dollars to take Laura Bush to a play in NYC, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had reduced your retirement plan’s holdings of GM stock by 90% and given the unions a majority stake in GM, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had made a joke at the expense of the Special Olympics, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had given Gordon Brown a set of inexpensive and incorrectly formatted DVDs, when Gordon Brown had given him a thoughtful and historically significant gift, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had given the Queen of England an iPod containing videos of his speeches, would you have thought this embarrassingly narcissistic and tacky?

If George W. Bush had bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had visited Austria and made reference to the non-existent “Austrian language,” would you have brushed it off as a minor slip?

If George W. Bush had filled his cabinet and circle of advisers with people who cannot seem to keep current in their income taxes, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had been so Spanish illiterate as to refer to “Cinco de Cuatro” in front of the Mexican ambassador when it was the 5th of May (Cinco de Mayo), and continued to flub it when he tried again, would you have winced in embarrassment?

If George W. Bush had mis-spelled the word “advice” would you have hammered him for it for years like Dan Quayle and potatoe as proof of what a dunce he is?

If George W. Bush had burned 9,000 gallons of jet fuel to go plant a single tree on Earth Day, would you have concluded he’s a hypocrite?

If George W. Bush’s administration had okayed Air Force One flying low over millions of people followed by a jet fighter in downtown Manhattan causing widespread panic, would you have wondered whether they actually get what happened on 9-11?

If George W. Bush had failed to send relief aid to flood victims throughout the Midwest with more people killed or made homeless than in New Orleans, would you want it made into a major ongoing political issue with claims of racism and incompetence?

If George W. Bush had ordered the firing of the CEO of a major corporation, even though he had no constitutional authority to do so, would you have approved?

If George W Bush had proposed to double the national debt, which had taken more than two centuries to accumulate, in one year, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had then proposed to double the debt again within 10 years, would you have approved?

So, tell me again, what is it about Obama that makes him so brilliant and impressive? Can’t think of anything? Don’t worry. He’s done all this in 8 months — so you’ll have three years and one month to come up with an answer (November 2012)

All Original material is copyright © Mark Urbin

Taxs found so far in the 1900+ page democrat "heath care" bill

If you thought Health Care was expensive now, just wait until it is “free.”
Here is a list of the new taxes you will be paying found so far:

Employer Mandate Excise Tax (Page 275): If an employer does not pay 72.5 percent of a single employee’s health premium (65 percent of a family employee), the employer must pay an excise tax equal to 8 percent of average wages. Small employers (measured by payroll size) have smaller payroll tax rates of 0 percent (<$500,000), 2 percent ($500,000-$585,000), 4 percent ($585,000-$670,000), and 6 percent ($670,000-$750,000).

Individual Mandate Surtax (Page 296): If an individual fails to obtain qualifying coverage, he must pay an income surtax equal to the lesser of 2.5 percent of modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) or the average premium. MAGI adds back in the foreign earned income exclusion and municipal bond interest.

Medicine Cabinet Tax (Page 324): Non-prescription medications would no longer be able to be purchased from health savings accounts (HSAs), flexible spending accounts (FSAs), or health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs). Insulin excepted.

Cap on FSAs (Page 325): FSAs would face an annual cap of $2500 (currently uncapped).

Increased Additional Tax on Non-Qualified HSA Distributions (Page 326): Non-qualified distributions from HSAs would face an additional tax of 20 percent (current law is 10 percent). This disadvantages HSAs relative to other tax-free accounts (e.g. IRAs, 401(k)s, 529 plans, etc.)

Denial of Tax Deduction for Employer Health Plans Coordinating with Medicare Part D (Page 327): This would further erode private sector participation in delivery of Medicare services.

Surtax on Individuals and Small Businesses (Page 336): Imposes an income surtax of 5.4 percent on MAGI over $500,000 ($1 million married filing jointly). MAGI adds back in the itemized deduction for margin loan interest. This would raise the top marginal tax rate in 2011 from 39.6 percent under current law to 45 percent—a new effective top rate.

Excise Tax on Medical Devices (Page 339): Imposes a new excise tax on medical device manufacturers equal to 2.5 percent of the wholesale price. It excludes retail sales and unspecified medical devices sold to the general public.

Corporate 1099-MISC Information Reporting (Page 344): Requires that 1099-MISC forms be issued to corporations as well as persons for trade or business payments. Current law limits to just persons for small business compliance complexity reasons. Also expands reporting to exchanges of property.

Delay in Worldwide Allocation of Interest (Page 345): Delays for nine years the worldwide allocation of interest, a corporate tax relief provision from the American Jobs Creation Act

Limitation on Tax Treaty Benefits for Certain Payments (Page 346): Increases taxes on U.S. employers with overseas operations looking to avoid double taxation of earnings.

Codification of the “Economic Substance Doctrine” (Page 349): Empowers the IRS to disallow a perfectly legal tax deduction or other tax relief merely because the IRS deems that the motive of the taxpayer was not primarily business-related.

Application of “More Likely Than Not” Rule (Page 357): Publicly-traded partnerships and corporations with annual gross receipts in excess of $100 million have raised standards on penalties. If there is a tax underpayment by these taxpayers, they must be able to prove that the estimated tax paid would have more likely than not been sufficient to cover final tax liability.

All Original material is copyright © Mark Urbin

Morning Quote

From the comments in a Daily Telegraph article:

“How is it that when Righties quote Lefties, they have video, audio, and notarized confirmation from the Pope, but when Lefties ‘quote’ Righties, they have Wiki entries contributed by ‘Cobra’?”

All Original material is copyright © Mark Urbin

Damn You John Ringo! Damn You!

First off, ya…I’m a big fan of John Ringo’s books, and he’s written a lot of them. I’ve been reading the Sluggy Freelance comic, which gets a lot of references in his books, even longer and I’m a long time Schlock Mercenary fan too.

I took a peek at the leaked advanced chapters for his next book, Live Free or Die, over at Buckley’s site (ya, that Buckley) and Ringo explains in the forward that this book is “sort of playing about” in the Schlock Mercenary universe, but back when the galactic civilization first made contact with Earth.

Now to highlight what an evil being John Ringo is (something he freely and perhaps just a bit too gleefully admits), this book won’t be released until February 2010. Oh…Baen will have an e-ARC version available earlier, which could be mind for about the cost of the hardcover that won’t be out for another four months.

Ok, so both John Ringo and Baen Books are EVIL! I say that with the highest level of respect for their grasp of the capitalistic system.

While I’m here, I’ll put in a good word for Baen’s ebook sales. No DRM (i.e. the copy ‘protection’ crap that assumes that their paying customers are thieves), available in multiple formats, and when new books are released in hardcover, you can pick up the e-book version, direct from Baen, for usually $6. If that is still too much for you, check out what they have on the net for free! If you haven’t read of any of John Ringo’s books, you can read seven of his book for free.

Originally posted at the Urbin Report.

All Original material is copyright © Mark Urbin

NewsBusted! September 22, 20091

All Original material is copyright © Mark Urbin

Down The Memory Hole?

Yesterday I posted a link to news story to the RWING mailing list and the first paragraph of the story about a detail of Die Grosse Null’s plan for destroying the health of Americans.

“Americans would be fined up to $3,800 for failing to buy health insurance under a plan that circulated in Congress on Tuesday as divisions among Democrats undercut President Barack Obama’s effort to regain traction on his health care overhaul.”

Are we now on a plantation? Or is the Chicago Democrat setting up a protection racket?

This morning when I clicked on the link I found that the story had been changed. The subject of the original first paragraph had been moved down the page and rewritten.

“One provision would fine families up to $3,800 for failing to buy health insurance, essentially requiring that everyone have medical coverage, much like the case with car insurance. Obama rejected a mandate, and fines, during his presidential campaign.”

Oh, they were only thinking about it, but they decided not to do it. (Or have they?)

They should not have been thinking about it at all.

What do they, both in our so-called government and in the mainstream media, think we are? A bunch of mindless animals?

I’ll update this story as circumstances require.

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All Original material is copyright © Mark Urbin

Recent posts

Most of blogging is done over at the Urbin Report.

Here are some of the recent posts:

Obama’s Communist Troofer Czar

When you mix Science with Gangster Rap you get some damn funny music!
Check out E=MC Hawkin’s A Brief History Of Rhyme

Unemployment is on the rise again, just part of that Obama Economy.

Loosing your base

Why is the left afraid of honest questions?

“This used to be America!” “It ain’t no more, okay?”

Obama adds $2 Trillion to the National Deficit

Politics and Star Trek

All Original material is copyright © Mark Urbin