Shocking News: Higher Tax Rate In Britain Results In Lower Tax Revenue

By William Teach February 21, 2012 – 9:51 pm

It’s the height of Liberal/leftist/progressive fashion to try and tax those evil rich people to make up for idiotic government spending, and also because in Liberal World rich people are simply evil and….well, you’ve heard the story before. So, what happens when government tries it?

(Telegraph) The Treasury received £10.35 billion in income tax payments from those paying by self-assessment last month, a drop of £509 million compared with January 2011. Most other taxes produced higher revenues over the same period.

Senior sources said that the first official figures indicated that there had been “manoeuvring” by well-off Britons to avoid the new higher rate. The figures will add to pressure on the Coalition to drop the levy amid fears it is forcing entrepreneurs to relocate abroad.

The self-assessment returns from January, when most income tax is paid by the better-off, have been eagerly awaited by the Treasury and government ministers as they provide the first evidence of the success, or failure, of the 50p rate. It is the first year following the introduction of the 50p rate which had been expected to boost tax revenues from self-assessment by more than £1 billion.

Although the official statistics do not disclose how much money was paid at the 50p rate of tax, the figures indicate that it is falling short of the money the levy was expected to raise.

The obvious answer is to then play with the tax code and regulations and laws to stop the “manoeuvering” (don’t you just love the Brits and their spelling?), instead of incenting them to put more of their money back into the economy, which then flows around, helping citizens, and eventually ends up in the Treasury in higher amounts.

And, while we don’t have any figures, I think we can all guess that high earning liberals were the most guilty of manoeuvering to avoid the higher rate.

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Grist Really Excited Over The Ultimate Warmist Apartment

By William Teach February 21, 2012 – 3:48 pm

I’m sure they’ve all rushed out move in

(Grist) If you’re like me, you watch this video and think “my house is 10 times as big as this apartment and only slightly more functional,” and then curse the day you moved to the suburbs.

If you’re like me, you wonder why the hell someone would pay for it, but, then…

This is the smallest studio apartment you can build in California, by law — 160 square feet — and it includes a bevy of space-saving measures.

…you realize they pay way, way, way to much for living space in the People’s Republic Of California. Of course, this is the kind of living space Warmists want Everyone Else to live in. That is, when they aren’t pushing homes more reminiscent of 1499. Video below the fold

According to the guy who uploaded the video at the Youtube page, “This first development breaking ground in March in SOMA (south of market area) will be rental units, starting at $1,595 month. Sounds high for the size though the average rent for a studio in SOMA is $2063.”

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If All You See…

By William Teach February 21, 2012 – 1:00 pm

…is an evil plastic water bottle, you might just be a Warmist

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Obama To Take Victory Lap On Payroll Tax Extension, Forgets To Do One Thing

By William Teach February 21, 2012 – 12:04 pm

Despite having done zip regarding the extension of the payroll tax cut (which will decrease the available money available for Social Security), his typical leading from behind, Campaigner In Chief Obama is taking a victory lap today

(ABC News) President Obama will spend this morning touting the agreement to extend the payroll-tax cut and urging Congress to take additional steps to help the middle class.

“Because of this bipartisan action, the typical American family will still see an extra $40 in every paycheck, keeping nearly $1,000 of their hard-earned money this year,” the White House said of the legislation that the president plans to sign into law later this week.

The president will be joined at today’s White House event by Americans who stand to benefit from the tax cut and unemployment insurance extension.

There’s only one problem, well, two: Obama hasn’t signed the legislation, H.R. 3630, because the Democrat controlled Senate has yet to send it over for his signature. This is like take a victory lap before actually crossing the finish line. Fortunately, Obama will spend the day excoriating Harry Reid for this failure….oh, sorry, no, he’s going to attend a concert at the White House this evening.

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Democrats Feeling A Bit Cocky About November

By William Teach February 21, 2012 – 9:30 am

For the life of me, I can’t understand why. But, they do have the majority of the media watching their backs

(Politico) Democrats have plenty of reason to feel good right now: The economy’s improving, the president’s numbers are up, their prospects for holding the Senate have brightened, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is confidently predicting that she’ll have a shot to regain the speaker’s gavel next year.

Television screens and news pages are full of stories about new Democratic momentum.

Because continued 8+% unemployment, the lowest employment participation rate in US history, low consumer confidence and spending, extremely low disposable income levels, continued problems in the housing market, and rising gas prices (among others) are great things. Well, they are if spun correctly by the Liberal media. Remember how the media portrayed the economy during Bush’s terms, especially in the run-up to the 2004 election? It was portrayed as horrible, and that all the jobs were bad ones. Doug Powers has a few contrasts when discussing oil prices.

But on the ground level, Democrats’ newfound optimism is heavily salted with caution. The confidence is tempered by the knowledge that the political environment can change in an instant, especially when the resurgence owes to a fragile economic recovery — and the fact that three wave elections in a row haven’t sated the pitchfork politics of a nation that hates its capital.

Wait till gasoline is at $4 a gallon on average even before Memorial Day. I’m sure we’ll get some words from Obama about someone having to do something. Perhaps another round of releasing oil from the Strategic Reserve….btw, how’d that work last time? And perhaps some assaults on the oil industry for not doing their part, along with talking points about “record breaking profits”, despite Big Oil not setting the price, and making about 8 to 10 cents on the dollar.

Congressional Democrats, long frustrated with Obama’s reluctance to go full guns on Republicans, now say they see a president who has warmed to his role as leader of the party is reaping rewards from a more confrontational brand of politics.

So, Democrats are finally admitting that Obama is not acting as POTUS, but as leader of the Democrat Party. We are finally free to say “hey, he’s not my president.”

Interestingly, the vast majority of the article is pro-Democrat and anti-Republican. Just like we are used to seeing. Oh, and here’s Queen Nancy complaining about high gas prices while Bush was president

Think we’ll see her do the same around Memorial Day? Funny how she complains about dependency on foreign oil, yet, Democrats did nothing to alleviate that, and have blocked measures to increase domestic drilling. Republicans should have someone virtually mimic her speech the day gas hits $4 on average.

Crossed at Right Wing News and Stop The ACLU.

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Warmist Peter Gleick Admits To Being Part Of Heartland Document Leak

By William Teach February 21, 2012 – 9:05 am

You remember the kerfuffle over the Heartland documents, right? The ones that include what is charitably called a completely faked “gotcha” document. And now, Peter Gleick, involved in globull warming advocacy for numerous organizations, including the National Academy of Science, has admitted to obtaining the documents by impersonating a Heartland board member

The Origin of the Heartland Documents

Peter Gleick

Since the release in mid-February of a series of documents related to the internal strategy of the Heartland Institute to cast doubt on climate science, there has been extensive speculation about the origin of the documents and intense discussion about what they reveal. Given the need for reliance on facts in the public climate debate, I am issuing the following statement.

At the beginning of 2012, I received an anonymous document in the mail describing what appeared to be details of the Heartland Institute’s climate program strategy. It contained information about their funders and the Institute’s apparent efforts to muddy public understanding about climate science and policy. I do not know the source of that original document but assumed it was sent to me because of my past exchanges with Heartland and because I was named in it.

Given the potential impact however, I attempted to confirm the accuracy of the information in this document. In an effort to do so, and in a serious lapse of my own and professional judgment and ethics, I solicited and received additional materials directly from the Heartland Institute under someone else’s name. The materials the Heartland Institute sent to me confirmed many of the facts in the original document, including especially their 2012 fundraising strategy and budget. I forwarded, anonymously, the documents I had received to a set of journalists and experts working on climate issues. I can explicitly confirm, as can the Heartland Institute, that the documents they emailed to me are identical to the documents that have been made public. I made no changes or alterations of any kind to any of the Heartland Institute documents or to the original anonymous communication.

I will not comment on the substance or implications of the materials; others have and are doing so. I only note that the scientific understanding of the reality and risks of climate change is strong, compelling, and increasingly disturbing, and a rational public debate is desperately needed. My judgment was blinded by my frustration with the ongoing efforts — often anonymous, well-funded, and coordinated — to attack climate science and scientists and prevent this debate, and by the lack of transparency of the organizations involved. Nevertheless I deeply regret my own actions in this case. I offer my personal apologies to all those affected.

An anonymous document and did not know the source, eh? Of course, Peter is going for the “fake but accurate” position, and, like all good Warmists, defends his pseudo-religion. And one must love the part about “anonymous, well-funded, and coordinated.” Like Anthony Watts, I’m not anonymous, well-funded, nor coordinating with anyone. I’d love to see some of that money, which tends to be a whole heck of a lot less than the Warmists get, especially considering how much taxpayer money is funneled their way.

Then there is the part about “debate”. What debate? Warmists refuse to debate. They are the ones who claimed that the science was settled, and rarely allow themselves to appear with a Realist to discuss the issue. Then we get to “transparency”: remember, it is and was Warmists who did everything they could to block Freedom Of Information requests, including deleting material and emails, and looking to put it all under the banner of the UN IPCC, which is not subject to FOI requests, as we learned in the latest round of Climategate emails.

Andrew Revkin states

One way or the other, Gleick’s use of deception in pursuit of his cause after years of calling out climate deception has destroyed his credibility and harmed others. (Some of the released documents contain information about Heartland employees that has no bearing on the climate fight.) That is his personal tragedy and shame (and I’m sure devastating for his colleagues, friends and family).

Is anyone truly surprised at this, though? We’ve seen the lengths to which people on the Left, in this case Warmists, will go to protect their interests. One of the people commenting at Revkin’s article even mentions “Lucy Ramirez.” Remember her? She was intricately involved in Rathergate.

Obviously, this isn’t stopping the Warmists. Excitable Charles Johnson, the DeSmog Blog, and all manners of liberals are saying “who cares if any of the documents are fake and stolen from a private institution, climate change is real and Heartland is EVIL!”

And, and in an interesting bit of transparency and debate, the comments for Gleick’s HuffPo article were closed from the get go. That’s called “debate” in Warmist World.

Others: Michelle Malkin, Heartland Institute, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, EU Referendum, blogs.forbes.com/stevezwick, Guardian, Watts Up With That?, iOwnTheWorld.com, Tim Blair, The PJ Tatler, Watts Up With That?, Guardian, Vox Popoli,

More: The Other McCain says Gleick is blaming the victims: ““It’s not my fault!” The end justify the means: The alleged evil of their opponents excuses any shoddy smear Gleick and his allies may perpetrate against them. And despite their admitted amorality, they wonder why we doubt their claims to “science”?”

Warmist Greg Laden says this is proof, proof, I tell you!!!!11!!! that the faked document is real.

Excitable Balloon Juice whines about the “a massive, multi-billion dollar effort to convince the world that setting the place on fire is fine and that science itself is suspect.” Sorry, bub, the multi-billions are on your side, designed to convince anti-science dupes to give up their liberties, and Warmists have spent billions, and want to waste trillions, on limiting temperature rise with projects that won’t actually work.

Crossed at Right Wing News and Stop The ACLU.

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Bummer: Eating Shrimp Is One Of The Worst Things You Can Do For Globull Warming

By William Teach February 20, 2012 – 5:32 pm

Here we go, another example of why the climate change hoax movement is out of control: they take a real environmental issue, and drag it under the banner of “climate change”

(Treehugger) There’s perhaps no other animal on Earth so synonymous with all things diminutive as the modestly framed shrimp — but, as it turns out, not everything about those famed crustaceans is small. Biologists say that common shrimp farming methods across Asia are so devastating to fragile ecosystems as to make ordering a simple shrimp cocktail one of the worst things you could do for the environment in the name of grabbing some grub.

In an attempt to measure the economic costs of deforestation and habitat loss, Oregon State University biologist J. Boone Kauffman set out to quantify the oft overlooked true pricetag of harvesting shrimp. According to the researcher, over half of the shrimp consumed in the world originate from farms in Asia, with most of those farms having been established on land where mangrove forests once stood. And, as if that weren’t bad enough, the ecologically impactful farms are horribly inefficient.

How’s this for mindboggling: it takes five square miles of cleared mangrove forest to produce just over two pounds of shrimp — and that land is typically left depleted within ten years and rendered unusable for another forty. By comparison, the devastation left behind from cattle-ranch deforestation seems, well, quite rosy.

“The carbon footprint of the shrimp from this land use is about 10-fold greater than the land use carbon footprint of an equivalent amount of beef produced from a pasture formed from a tropical rainforest,” Kauffman tells the AFP, via Phys Org.

There’s no denying that the ecological degradation is horrific from a true environmental standpoint. Yet, instead of decrying the actual impact for what it is, the Warmists have to hijack the issue and place it under their banner, which deflects from solutions necessary to deal with the issue. And causes many people to roll their eyes when they see the phrase “climate change” and “carbon footprint.” This is one of the things that drives me nuts about the Warmists, especially since their solutions seem to be “tax people” but never actually deal with the issue.

Over to the Physorg article

If the seafood is produced on a typical Asian fish farm, a 100-gram (3.5 ounce) serving “has an ecosystem carbon footprint of an astounding 198 kilograms (436 pounds) of CO2,” biologist J. Boone Kauffman said.

Who gives a crap? I’m more concerned with the what happens to the land. But, let’s go back to something else

The farms are inefficient, producing just one kilogram (2.2 pounds) of shrimp for 13.4 square kilometers (five square miles) of mangrove, while the ponds created are abandoned in just three to nine years because disease, soil acidification and contamination destroy them, he wrote.

Seriously? 2.2 pounds of shrimp for 5 square miles of clear cut land? I’m not buying it.

I expect all Warmists to stop eating shrimp immediately.

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Posted in AGW Idiocy, AGW Scaremongering, Global Warming | 9 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach February 20, 2012 – 1:00 pm

…is an ocean that will rise up and cover all the landmasses, you might just be a Warmist

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John Glenn Uses 50th Anniversary Of 1st Space Flight To….Attack Bush

By William Teach February 20, 2012 – 11:05 am

Sad, really

(Telegraph) Fifty years after Glenn’s groundbreaking flight on Feb 20, 1962, the former senator said he regrets that ignoble end of the heated space race that captivated the world in the second half of the 20th century.

“I regret that that is the way things have developed,” Glenn told a crowd at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex on Saturday night, part of a series of celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of his flight.

“We spent over $100 billion dollars putting the space station up there. It’s too bad in the previous administration the decision was made to end the shuttle, so now we have to go somewhere else to even get up to our station,” said Glenn, who served as a Democratic senator from Ohio between 1975 to 1999.

The Telegraph points out that yes, the shuttles were announced to be retired by the Bush administration, due to high costs and because Bush, and NASA, wanted to move to a newer vehicle to replace the much aging shuttles. What’s not mentioned by Glenn is that the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, convened after the shuttle Columbia accident, pretty much recommended that all the shuttles be grounded. Immediately. Because they were possibly too dangerous to fly. Also not mentioned by Glenn is that the Democrat Congress, beginning in 2007, failed to properly fund the Constellation program, which would have provided the next generation of space flight.

Nor did Glenn mention that Obama was on-board with ending the space shuttle program, and has further failed to properly fund the next generation space vessels. And, why we certainly cannot place the “blame” squarely on Obama, either, nor should we, he did move $4 billion in NASA funds from space exploration to climate change idiocy.

Anyhow, Ed Morrissey has some nice words on the 50th Anniversary.

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Time: “Our social contract requires that we must occasionally stomach government policies that offend and outrage us”

By William Teach February 20, 2012 – 8:42 am

Of course, this is all about the contraceptive, sterilization, and abortifacient mandate

(Time Magazine – Erika Christakis) There was lots of excitable talk last week about birth control, with President Obama dialing back his initial plan for mandating contraceptive coverage to exempt employers who object to such coverage on religious grounds. In those cases, the health-insurance provider, rather than the employer, will be on the hook to pay for the services. Tellingly, health-insurance companies seem quite happy with this compromise, knowing, as they do, that paying for contraceptives is a lot less costly than paying for pregnancies and neonatal care.

As Ed Morrissey points out from a Hill article, insurers are oddly unenthusiastic about providing completely “free” contraception, sterilization, and abortifacients. Because there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch. TANSTAFL. But, we all know that women were unable to get contraception, sterilization, and abortifacients prior to ……. what’s that? They were available? It’s just that people had to bear an actual cost for their sexual romps? Who knew?

People who cry moral indignation about government-mandated contraception coverage appear unwilling to concede that the exercise of their deeply held convictions might infringe on the rights of millions of people who are burdened by unplanned pregnancy or want to reduce abortion or would like to see their tax dollars committed to a different purpose.

Got that? In Liberal World, people having to actually use their own money instead of having Someone Else bear the full cost infringes on the rights of millions. Personal responsibility is a foreign concept in Liberal World.

Why should an employer’s right to reject birth-control coverage trump a society’s collective imperative to reduce unintended pregnancy? Should employers be allowed to withhold a polio vaccine or cataract surgery or safe working conditions on similar “moral” grounds?

Well, for one thing, there is that pesky little phrase in the 1st Amendment that restricts Central Government from passing laws that restrict the free practice of religion. Do liberals ever read the Constitution? As for the polio vaccine et. all, that’s a nice try, but, no Catholic organization is doing that, nor are they denying contraception, sterilization, and abortifacients: people can still get them, but, the organizations are refusing to pay for them.

We all enjoy the multifold benefits of a plural society, but the social contract requires that we must occasionally stomach government policies that offend and outrage us. Most Americans choose to live with this trade-off because, on balance, the benefits of being part of a civil society far outweigh the costs…..

See? You must put up with decisions that morally offend you, all for some social contract that doesn’t actually exist in the Constitution, even if the decisions violate said Constitution. However, the debate is not really about contraception: it’s about the Central Government forcing decisions, laws, and regulations on the American People which violate their consciences, violate the Constitution, and violate their liberty. By Ms. Chrisakis’ definition, we simply have to put up with policies that, say, have put America on the path to economic shutdown in 2027. That force us to purchase health insurance or pay a fine/tax. That puts Federal Nannies in schools not only monitoring what children eat, but, force them to eat a different lunch, highlighting that Mommy is a Bad Mommy. That waste enormous amounts of taxpayer money of post-campaign kickbacks. That provide more stringent rights to some over the rights of others.

Ms. Chrisakis misses the point that our rights do not derive from Government: the federal government was given specific powers, and all others were reserved for the States and the People.

Crossed at Right Wing News and Stop The ACLU.

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Posted in Constitution, Current Affairs, Liberal World | 2 Comments | Trackback URL
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