Via NY Post:

As stage props go, $200,000 is pretty pricey. But that’s the low end of how much Warren Buffett’s secretary earns in a year, based on IRS tax tables and the information she’s made public.

Still less than her billionaire boss, but still. Can anyone fail to see the irony of President Obama inviting Debbie Bosanek to sit by his wife for his State of the Union Address to use her as an example of tax unfairness, when the Buffett aide likely earns enough to put a bullseye on her back for the tax hikes Obama has long called for on higher earners?

Bosanek and Buffett have told us that he pays federal taxes (mainly on capital gains) at a rate of 17.4 percent, and that she’s taxed (presumably on normal income) at a higher rate. But IRS tax tables from 2009, the most recent year available, show an average federal tax rate of just 12 percent for taxpayers in the $100,000 to $200,000 bracket, rising to 19 percent for people with adjusted gross incomes of $200,000 to $500,000.

So Debbie Bosanek probably is in that $200,000 to $500,000 bracket.

If this is accurate — neither Buffett nor Bosanek has released their tax returns, but only given us a few facts meant to flesh out his claim that she pays a higher rate — she may even be part of the infamous 1 percent. In 2009, that required an adjusted gross income of $343,947.

Adjusted gross income. That’s important. Adjusted gross income is what a person is taxed on after deductions for things like the personal exemption, mortgage-interest payments, qualifying tax credits, etc. So it’s possible her raw salary is even higher.

While running for president and since taking office, Obama has been calling for higher taxes on upper-income earners. He’s been all over the map on that, sometimes saying on the campaign trail he meant millionaires but generally backing legislation that would hike taxes on earnings starting in the $200,000 to $250,000 range.

I have a feeling Buffett and Bosanek are all over the map on their tax-rate claims, too.

ABC News this week used tax information selectively supplied to them by Buffett and Bosanek to make the case for how unfair the nation’s tax system is. It reported, “Bosanek pays a tax rate of 35.8 percent of income, while Buffett pays a rate at 17.4 percent.”

I don’t know how that’s possible, as the maximum federal income-tax rate is 35 percent. The average tax rate for the top 1 percent of earners was 24.01 percent in 2009, according to the IRS. And we’ve been talking about income taxes, have we not?

Keep reading…

He’s about as clueless as it gets.

(Fox News) — President Obama tells a college audience that people don’t get rich on their own. Obama’s point that without government and paying your fair share, ultimately the successful wouldn’t be able to get where they are.

“We do not begrudge wealth in this country. I want everybody here to do well. We aspire to financial success, but we also understand that we’re not successful just by ourselves,” President Obama said at a campaign event in Ann Arbor, Michigan on Friday morning.

“We’re successful because somebody started the University of Michigan. We’re successful because somebody made an investment in all the federal research labs that created the internet. We’re successful because we have an outstanding military that costs money. We’re successful because somebody built roads and bridges. And laid broadband lines and these things didn’t just happen on their own. And if we all understand that we’ve got to pay for this stuff, it makes sense for those of us who’ve done best to do our fair share and to try to pass off that bill on to somebody else, that’s not right. That’s not who we are,” he said.

Am I the only one who finds this hero-worship of Obama extraordinarily creepy?

Via Fox News:

“Curtail and decimate Al Qaida…through the President’s actions…We all deserve some of the credit. But it’s usually somebody. I just wanna tell you… this guy’s gotta backbone like ramrod…

….The final call came. You have to make decisions literally based on the moon, will there be enough light. And we had to make a decision. The President, he went around the table with all the senior people including the Chiefs of Staff. He said, I have to make this decision what is your opinion. He started with the National Security adviser, the Secretary of State and he ended with me. Every single person in that room hedged their bet, except Leon Panetta. Leon said GO. Everyone else said 49, 51, this…

It got to me.

Joe what do you think? I said “You know I didn’t know we have so many economists around the table. We owe the man a direct answer. Mr. President my suggestion is don’t go. We have to do two more things to see if he’s there.

He walked out and said I’ll give you my decision. The next morning he came down to the diplomatic entrance getting in the helicopter, I believe to get to Michigan, and he turned to Tom Donnel and said…go.

Knowing that as loyal as everyone is around that table. When pressed and when books are written later that would’ve said “I didn’t tell him to do that”… I hope no one would’ve done that.

But not knowing that the people around the table said “Yes, Mr. President, go.”

He knew what was at stake. Not just the lives of those brave warriors. But literally the Presidency.

And he pulled the trigger.

And that is clear to American people. And it says less about Bin Laden then it does about character, about this guy leading from behind.

This guy doesn’t lead from behind…he just leads.

And that’s clear.”

Only a lobotomized lefty buys into this nonsense. Romney earns his income primarily off of interest and dividends which is exactly the same way millions of retired Americans do. If she wants to raise the tax rate on dividends then it would hurt the middle class the hardest.

Via RCP:

“And that is that Mitt Romney pays 14% of his income in taxes and people who get out there and work for a living pay 25%, 28%, 30%, 33%. I get it. Mitt Romney gets a better deal than any of the rest of us because he manages to earn his income in a way that has been specially protected for rich folks. I think that’s wrong,” Elizabeth Warren, a democratic candidate for U.S. Senate from Massachusetts said on MSNBC’s “The Last Word.”

Joltin’ Joe Biden, hero of the working class.

Via Beltway Confidential:

“The difference between us and them is we are strongly supportive of the private sector, they’re supportive of the privileged sector,” Biden told House Democrats in Maryland today, while talking about Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, and the Republican Party at large. “Wall St unabridged — the super wealthy who are not prepared to contribute,” Biden added, saying he could provide other indices of the “privileged sector” as defended by Republicans.

Keep reading…

dsffdsf esrwe 7yihkhjn 2234rtncwe . . . sorry about that, was banging my head off the keyboard.

Via Mediaite:

On Thursday night’s Politics Nation, host Al Sharpton called out Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer‘s disrespectful conduct toward President Obamaduring their tarmac tussle, connecting it to a pattern of such contemptuous behavior by Republican leaders. Sirius XM radio host Joe Madison gave it a name, saying that there are people “who cannot stand the fact that this is an african-american who is now one of the most powerful individuals on the planet.” [...]

Joe Madison weighed in by pointing out that even a small child knows it is disrespectful to point in someone’s face, and related some suggestions he got from his radio audience, including bending back her finger, to having the Secret Service jack Brewer up. “I give the President of the United States credit for doing what?” Madison said. “Walking away.”

He continued, “This is nothing more, and I’ll just say it straight up. There are some people, not all, in this country who cannot stand the fact that this is an African-American who is now one of the most powerful individuals on the planet. And there are those who cannot consciously and subconsciously handle it.”

“You know you’re not going to get a debate from me,” Rev. Al replied. “They brought race in. They put a race deck on the table. If you pull a card, it’s a race card because they set the deck.”

Keep reading…

People have cell phones in North Korea?

(Telegraph) — North Korea has warned that any of its citizens caught trying to defect to China or using mobile phones during the 100-day mourning period for Kim Jong-il will be branded as “war criminals” and punished accordingly.

There are reports from within the isolated state that food supplies are again dwindling and that there has been an increase in the number of people attempting to cross the border into China. Many of those that do manage to cross the frontier eventually manage to reach South Korea, where an estimated 23,000 defectors have now settled.

The Workers’ Party has issued the stern warning in an effort to deter more from attempting the already perilous journey, apparently in an effort to ensure the stability of the new regime of Kim Jong-un, who took over from his father, according to Good Friends, a South Korean relief group.

People who are caught attempting to flee the poverty and political oppression in the North, as well as those detained in China and sent back over the border, usually end up in the North’s network of hard labour camps, human rights groups have reported, while repeat offenders can expect to be executed.

Yesterday was Navy SEAL Danny Dietz’s 32nd birthday, he willingly sacrificed his life for our Country.

Please take a moment to stop by the Danny Dietz Memorial Page and leave a message so his family knows that Danny will NEVER BE FORGOTTEN.

Dietz was part of an elite team of four SEALs on a reconnaissance mission “tasked with finding a key Taliban leader in mountainous terrain near Asadabad, Afghanistan,” according to a Navy news release.

On June 28, 2005, SEAL Team 10 was assigned to kill or capture a high ranking Taliban leader in the Hindu-Kush mountains. The SEAL team was made up of Michael P. Murphy, Marcus Luttrell, Danny Dietz and Matthew Axelson. Luttrell and Axelson were the team’s snipers while Dietz and Murphy were the spotters.

“They were spotted by anti-coalition sympathizers, who immediately reported their position to Taliban fighters. A fierce gun-battle ensued between the four SEALs and a much larger enemy force with superior tactical position,” the Navy release said. The SEALs radioed for help, and a responding Chinook helicopter was shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade, killing eight more SEALs and eight Army NightStalkers. It was the worst single combat loss for the SEALs in SEAL history.

Remember his absurd campaign promise to be the first “post-partisan” president? Good times, good times indeed.

(Politico) — President Obama’s third year in office elicited some of the most polarized job approval ratings ever, as the differences between Republican and Democratic views of the president stood at near-record highs, a new survey shows.

In 2011, 80 percent of Democrats approved of Obama’s job performance, compared to only 12 percent of Republicans, according to Gallup.

The gap of 68 percent is the fourth-highest on record, going all the way back to the Eisenhower administration, the pollster said.

Only President George W. Bush’s fourth, fifth and sixth years in office showed higher degrees of polarization.

It appears that the last decade has seen some of the most polarized views on the presidency ever. Put together, the Bush and Obama administrations account for the 7 most polarized years on record, and 8 of the top 10.

Despite all this, the polarization looks to get even worse in 2012.

Keep reading…

Veiled play of the race card.

Via Politico 44:

The president said it will be up to the American people to decide whether Newt Gingrich calling him the “foodstamp president” reflects values that America wants in a president.

Asked if the label carried potentially racist undertones, Obama called it a “rhetorical flourish” that he doesn’t think the American people are interested in.

“I think the American people are going to make a judgment about who’s trying to bring the country together and who’s dividing it, who reflects sort of the core values that helped create this country– values of hard work and responsibility but also of looking out for one another — and who is tapping into some of our worst instincts,” he said in an interview with ABC News.

New tone.

(NBC News) — A senior Democratic congressman likened Republican lawmakers to terrorists on Thursday for their insistence on tying approval of construction of a new oil pipeline to must-pass legislation.

California Rep. Henry Waxman, the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the coauthor of the 2009 cap-and-trade climate change bill, decried efforts by the GOP to force the Obama administration into approving a permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline.

“They want to use legislation as a way to act like terrorists. They hold things as hostage,” Waxman said. “We almost couldn’t fund the government because Republicans wanted to hold that idea hostage, we almost couldn’t pay our debts because the Republicans wanted to hold that legislation hostage to their extreme agenda, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they scuttled this conference by trying to hold us hostage.”
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Waxman was referring specifically to rumblings from Republicans that they might attach the provision to legislation extending a payroll tax cut through the end of 2012. Waxman is one of the 20 bipartisan negotiators who are working to reach an agreement on that extension by Feb. 29, when the current extension is set to expire.

The left oozes class.

Via Radio Equalizer

NYT’s Paul Krugman hardest hit.

Via Rasmussen:

President Obama laid out in his State of the Union speech Tuesday night a continuing path to economic recovery with government fully involved. The candidates seeking the Republican presidential nomination argue that it’s best to get the government out of the way. When it comes to money issues, voters continue to prefer the more conservative course.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 42% of Likely U.S. Voters say they are fiscal conservatives when it comes to issues such as taxes, government spending and business regulation. Just as many (42%) describe themselves as fiscal moderates. Only 11% are fiscal liberals.

Crazy even by MSNBC’s woeful standards.

“The fact is when I see that still, I cannot help but be reminded of that photograph that was captured in 1957 in Little Rock Arkansas of a young woman Hazel screaming at a young Elizabeth Eckford trying to get into Little Rock High School.

She’s claiming this picture taken in 1957 Little Rock:

Is comparable to this:

Via BreitbartTV

What, no pom-pons?

Via Daily Caller:

Michelle Obama is playing a growing role in her husband’s reelection campaign, partly as a fundraiser, but especially as a cheerleader for her husband’s female supporters.

The first lady attended at least two Jan. 26 fundraisers in Florida, where she ticked off a list of the president’s progressive accomplishments, promised more government intervention and ended with urgent appeals for audiences to join the campaign, according to the White House transcripts of her remarks.

Roughly 250 people paid a minimum of $500 to attend a lunchtime fundraiser in Sarasota, according to the transcript.

MRS. OBAMA: “So let me ask you one final question: Are you in?

AUDIENCE: Yes!

MRS. OBAMA: Wait. Are you in?

AUDIENCE: Yes!

MRS. OBAMA: Because I am so in. (Laughter.) I am so very in.

Prior to the 2010 mid-term election blowout, the first lady played only a minor role in her husband’s campaign plans. But her role has increased markedly since then.

Mrs. Obama has attended 17 fundraisers organized by the Democratic National Committee since June 2011, including five in Florida, three in California, and others in Vermont, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Illinois and Louisiana.

Keep reading…

Do as I say, not as I do.

Via Nevada Journal:

On January 26, 2012, President Obama visited a Las Vegas UPS plant. Stimulus subsidy for said UPS plant to purchase natural-gas-powered trucks: 5.6 million dollars. Stimulus subsidy for North Las Vegas green energy plant that laid off 200 workers yesterday: 5.9 million dollars. Using taxpayer dollars to leave an event promoting clean-energy vehicles in a motorcade of twenty-two fossil-fueled vehicles: Priceless.

Via Business Insider:

From the just-released GDP report:

Real GDP increased 1.7 percent in 2011 (that is, from the 2010 annual level to the 2011 annual level), compared with an increase of 3.0 percent in 2010.

The increase in real GDP in 2011 primarily reflected positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures (PCE), exports, and nonresidential fixed investment that were partly offset by negative contributions from state and local government spending, private inventory investment, and federal government spending.  Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased.

Keep reading…

Nothing is ever his fault. Nothing.

Via ABC News:

Obama pushed back against what he called Republicans’ “rhetorical flourishes,” including Newt Gingrich’s oft-repeated contention that Obama is the “food stamp president.”

“First of all, I don’t put people on food stamps,” Obama said. “People become eligible for food stamps. Second of all, the initial expansion of food-stamp eligibility happened under my Republican predecessor, not under me. No. 3, when you have a disastrous economic crash that results in 8 million people losing their jobs, more people are going to need more support from government.”

He’s so selfless.

TFB, you’re not getting it and we most definitely do not need it.

Via Mediaite:

President Obama spoke with ABC’s Diane Sawyer in an interview on Thursday. Sawyer asked him how intense his reelection ambitions were. “How much do you want it?” “Badly,” Obama replied. “Because I think the country needs it.”

“Whoever wins the Republican primary is going to be a standard bearer for a vision of the country that I don’t think reflects who we are,” Obama said. “I’m going to fight as hard as I can with every fiber of my being to make sure that we continue on a path that I think will restore the American dream.”

Some people?

Nice try, Barack, your laughably pathetic Jedi mind tricks won’t work on us.

LAS VEGAS – President Obama refused to pick favorites in the Republican field or wade deeper into the heated primary-season rhetoric, declaring, “Until the Republicans have a nominee, we don’t have a campaign.”

In an interview with Spanish language network Univision, recorded in Arizona one day after his Tuesday State of the Union address, the president was challenged to defend his own campaign-style speeches as he travels the country. He denied that he is campaigning.

“My general instinct is to focus on doing my job because my attitude is, if I’m doing my job well, people will recognize it, and the politics will follow,” he said. “Some people may interpret that as campaigning. I consider that to be important to my leadership in governing this country.”

The president is on a three-day swing through five states that might well be battlegrounds for the fall general election. “What I’m trying to do is persuade as many members of Congress as possible, as well as the American people, that we’re making progress” on economic recovery.

When the Univision host asked why he has failed to pass immigration reform, the president blamed his adversaries. “We couldn’t get any Republican votes. Zero. None.”

At least a portion of which would then be funneled back to Democratic party.

Via The Foundry:

George Soros, a billionaire investor and major backer of President Obama, stands to reap a windfall from legislation promoting natural gas-powered vehicles. The White House unveiled a proposal on Thursday that would do just that.

The proposal would offer incentives for companies to buy and use trucks powered by natural gas. Obama announced the effort at a UPS facility in Las Vegas that received stimulus funding to buy natural gas vehicles and build a fueling station for them. [...]

One company that stands to benefit handsomely from the president’s proposal is Westport Innovations. The company converts diesel engines to be fueled by natural gas. Wall Street analysts predicted a boom for the company if the NAT GAS Act were passed. CNBC analyst Jim Cramer said he “expects shares to absolutely explode” in the event the legislation were to pass.

If Westport reaps the predicted windfall, one of the chief beneficiaries will be George Soros, a major Obama donor and supporter. Soros’s hedge fund holds 3,160,063 company shares (as of its last SEC filing).

Keep reading…

Sure is.

(Egypt Independent) — The inauguration of Egypt’s new parliament is an important step toward fulfilling public demands for the establishment of a regime based on Islam, said Ali Larijani, speaker of the Iranian parliament, in a letter on Wednesday. The letter was sent to Saad al-Katatny, People’s Assembly speaker.

In the letter, Larijani extended his congratulations to Katatny and expressed pleasure that the latter had been elected as parliamentary speaker.

In the message, posted on Al-Alam channel online, Larijani also said he hoped that brotherly ties between the two countries would grow stronger.

Given the importance of parliamentary cooperation in the development of bilateral relations, Iran’s parliament is ready to help promote parliamentary collaboration, Larijani said.

Ties between predominantly Sunni Egypt and mostly Shia Iran were severed in 1979 following Iran’s Islamic revolution and the signing of Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel.

His douchiness knows no limits.

Via Beltway Confidential:

As White House press secretary Jay Carney accepted questions from, White House reporters they were obviously interested in the reported ‘testy’ exchange between the President and Arizona governor Jan Brewer yesterday. [...]

“I think that there is — that some of this is political theater to some degree, I guess.” insisted Carney, repeating that Brewer’s book “was not accurate” and “did not reflect what happened in the meeting in the Oval Office.”

Keep reading…

Hey, who’s up for yet another debate? Fun starts at 8:00 pm EST.

Update: Debate over, poll added.

Love it!

Via Gretawire:

My FNC colleague Kimberly Schwandt passed along this link on Drudge showing Gov. Jan Brewer’s book “Scorpions for Breakfast” surging on Amazon.com.

As of writing this post, Gov. Brewer’s book has jumped from 276,665th to 56th place — an increase of 493,944%!

And this poll was conducted by the left-leaning Kaiser Foundation.

(WSJ) — A new poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that more than half of Americans say the Supreme Court should rule that the health overhaul law’s requirement to have health insurance or pay a fine is unconstitutional.

The poll by the nonpartisan foundation found that 54% of those surveyed said the Supreme Court should rule against the mandate while only 17% said the court should uphold it and 29% either didn’t know or didn’t answer.

Republican opposition to the Democrats’ 2010 health care overhaul law is intense, with 73% of Republicans having an unfavorable view of it. By contrast, 62% of Democrats view it favorably.

The survey also found that most Republican voters don’t agree with the attack on GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney that the health care law he signed as governor of Massachusetts is similar to the federal law. Some 30% said they felt Mr. Romney’s views on health care were akin to President Barack Obama’s, but almost half said the former governor’s views are different, and 22% didn’t answer.