Today's News...

The Truth About Income Taxes

One thing you will constantly hear from liberals is that the rich people in America don't pay their fair share of income taxes while the middle class and "working poor" shoulder a larger share of the tax burden in our country.

In the 2008 presidential race, the Democrats are promising to repeal the "Bush tax cuts for the rich". What they are referring to are the cuts in the rate of income taxes that occurred during President Bush's first administration, which appeared to reduce the amount of tax paid by the richest Americans.

Income taxes are taxes that individuals pay to the government based on the money (income) that they earn, whether from a job or from the profits of their business. It may also include income from pensions, social security, interest earned on investments, and other income sources.

But how much do the richest of Americans pay in taxes compared to the average person? Are the liberals and Democrats right, or are they using class envy to gain political power?

The truth is that the richest 1% of Americans pay more than 39.38% of the total income taxes, even though they only earn 18% of the income. Since President Bush took office, the top 1% of earners have gone from paying 37.42% to 39.38%, carrying more of the tax burden than ever.

In fact, the top 50% of income earners actually pay 96.93% of the total income tax burden in our country. (Click here to see the charts from the IRS)

That means that the bottom 50% pay only 3.7% of the total income tax burden.

Since the poor pay no income taxes*, why do liberals lie about it to the people?

First of all, they know that it's human nature for people who have less to be jealous of those who have more. Whether it's a nicer skateboard or a bigger house or a new car, children and adults usually want bigger or better things and can become jealous of people who have those bigger and better things.

The same thing happens with money. People with less money are often jealous of people with more money. Because they make less money, they feel that people who they consider rich should pay more money than them in taxes.

After all, if the rich have so much money, they can afford to give more of it to the government, right?

This kind of taxation, where the more you earn, the higher percentage you pay in taxes, is called progressive taxation. Progressive taxation is one of the foundations of communism, socialism and Marxism.

Unfortunately, our American economic system has been infected with this kind of Marxism: progressive taxation, the welfare system, food stamp programs, Social Security and Medicare; and now the liberals are proposing some form of universal health care, which is socialized medicine.

People who are successful through hard work and smart money management are punished by having more of their money confiscated by the government (taxes), while those who don't work and don't achieve are rewarded with government freebies at the expense of those who do.

The true power of government is it's ability to take people's money away from them and give it to someone who will vote for them. Liberals use this power to buy the votes of the poor, who are essentially voting themselves government benefits when they put liberals and Democrats in public office.

Only by educating the public and using the power of the vote can we reverse this trend.

First, people need to learn that by hard work, smart money management, and better education, they can achieve financial success without the help of government.

Next, we need to make sure that conservative political candidates who understand and promote the free market, individual liberty and responsibility, and smaller, less intrusive government get our support and votes.

* Even though the poorest people may have income tax deductions from their paychecks during the year, the Earned Income Credit and other credits gives them that money and more back during tax season, which amounts to welfare.

If you liked this article, there are more like it on conservativekids.net

Today's News...

SWAT Team Invades Home, Seizes Boy for Medical Treatment

Comment: The story below is a good example of what happens when government violates it's constitutional limits. In most states, child welfare agencies have authority that is unconstitutional. Child welfare agencies do not have to meet the constitutional requirements of "probable cause" and are allowed to violate the "unreasonable searches and seizures" clause of the 4th Amendment. You'll also notice that the father of the family is described as a "self-proclaimed constitutionalist" by the Sheriff, as if that's a bad thing.

original story on World Net Daily
Nearly a dozen members of a police SWAT team in western Colorado punched a hole in the front door and invaded a family's home with guns drawn, demanding that an 11-year-old boy who had had an accidental fall accompany them to the hospital, on the order of Garfield County Magistrate Lain Leoniak.

The boy's parents and siblings were thrown to the floor at gunpoint and the parents were handcuffed in the weekend assault, and the boy's father told WND it was all because a paramedic was upset the family preferred to care for their son themselves.

Someone, apparently the unidentified paramedic, called police, the sheriff's office and social services, eventually providing Leoniak with a report that generated the magistrate's court order to the sheriff's office for the SWAT team assault on the family's home in a mobile home development outside of Glenwood Springs, the father, Tom Shiflett, told WND.

WND calls and e-mails to Garfield County Social Services were not returned, and Leoniak, who earlier served as a water court clerk/referee, also was not available.

Sheriff Lou Vallario, however, did call back, and told WND he ordered his officers to do exactly what the magistrate demanded.

"I was given a court order by the magistrate to seize the child, and arrange for medical evaluation, and that's what we did," he said.

According to friends of the family, Tom Shiflett, who has 10 children including six still at home, and served with paramedics in Vietnam, was monitoring his son's condition himself.

The paramedic and magistrate, however, ruled that that wasn't adequate, and dispatched the officers to take the boy, John, to a hospital, where a doctor evaluated him and released him immediately.

read the rest of the story here...

Iraqi Soldier Deliberately Kills Two American Soldiers

An Iraqi soldier has shot and killed two American soldiers and wounded three others, it has emerged.

The two American soldiers are pictured to the left, Captian Rowdy Inman to the far left, and Sergeant Bejamin Portell to the right.

The incident - thought to be the first of its kind since the US-led invasion of 2003 - happened on Dec 26 but details have only just been disclosed by US and Iraqi military officials.

The soldier was out on a joint US and Iraqi patrol in the northern city of Mosul when he opened fire. A civilian interpreter was also wounded in the attack.


The US military said it was not clear why the soldier had shot members of his own patrol.

But one Iraqi general said the soldier was "an insurgent infiltrator" with links to Sunni militant groups.

Huckabee Wins Iowa, Expect More Attacks from Punditry

The Christian Right and the Fairtaxers came through for Huckabee last night in the Iowa Caucus, giving him a substantial 11 point victory over Mitt Romney.

Huckabee's success is truly amazing when you consider how hard the Republican machine was working against him. Novak, Hannity, Limbaugh, Coulter, Malkin, Will, and about every conservative pundit with an audience was denouncing Huckabee as they bought into the Romney/Rudy/Thompson hysteria.

Expect the attacks on Huckabee to escalate. I fully expect Limbaugh to come out with a qualified official endorsement of Thompson or Romney before the New Hampshire primary, possibly even today.

The republican elites do not want to give up control of the party to the members, they are still feeling their oats after derailing the last amnesty bill and essentially killing the Harriet Myers nomination to the Supreme Court. They feel they are giving the Republican Party and even the president marching orders and they now have a huge problem with a strong Huckabee campaign that is not beholding to them.

But as Rush likes to say about the media: "If they don't make you, they can't break you".

Limbaugh, as the most powerful voice in the conservative movement, has been very disappointing.

He keeps saying "don't tell me Huckabee is a Reagan conservative". I don't know of anybody who is saying that Huckabee is a Reagan conservative. Maybe I'm just out of the loop.

Rush (and Hannity) also gives every Huckabee supporter on his show a raking over the coals, while giving Huckabee bashers a free pass.

One caller went unchallenged by Rush as he accused the Southern Baptists of being a religion that keeps women down and basically makes them slaves. Another female caller said she could never vote for an ex-minister, ex-rabbi, or ex-priest.

Both of these bigoted comments went unchallenged by Rush, yet he had no problem quoting Huckabee or Ed Rollins (Huckabee's campaign manager)out of context. You would think that Rush would have better sense than that after his "phony soldiers" controversy last fall!

And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Sean Hannity basically became a Romney advertisement on Thursday afternoon before the caucus, as he sucked up to Mitt and attacked Huckabee. Mitt went unchallenged on Hannity's show, and Sean wonders why Huckabee didn't come on that afternoon.

Ann Coulter made fun of Huckabee's stretch marks and basically said we could expect more stained dresses in the Oval Office if Huckabee gets elected.

The rank-and-file republicans see through this BS coming from the conservative pundits, explaining Huckabee's success in Iowa.

Record Snows Hit U.S.

To see how much you know about global warming, take the Global Warming Test

All across the northern United States, cities and states are reporting record snowfall.

Cities reporting record or near-record snowfall are: Detroit, Michigan; Aspen, CO; Boston, Mass; Oshkosh,Wisconsin; Laconia, NH; Rochester, NY; Salem, Mass; and Madison, Wisconsin.

The northern chill is even reaching into Florida, where the overnight low in sunny Daytona Beach is expected to be 30ºF.

Although this is all anecdotal evidence, it very clear that weather records (whether for record low temps or high temps, snowfalls, drought, or rain) are made to be broken.

Anecdotal evidence is not scientific. It's very small amounts of information based on what the observer can gain through their senses of sight, sound, feel, etc. Because our bodies and viewpoints can change minute by minute, anecdotal evidence like this is not reliable for coming to valid conclusions.

Just as being in the middle of a record snowfall does not mean there is no global warming, being in the middle of a drought or heat wave does not mean that global warming is occurring.

What's needed is reliable scientific data without any political or social biases. This is sorely lacking in the global warming debate today.

To see how much you know about global warming, take the Global Warming Test

Pro-Life Video: From Conception to Birth

2007: A Great Year in Iraq

Al-Qaeda out, troop deaths down as "Surge" works

The Iraqi interior ministry lauded its achievements over the past year on Saturday, saying that 75 percent of Al-Qaeda's networks in the country had been destroyed in 12 months.

Ministry spokesman Abdul Karim Khalaf also outlined sharp falls in the numbers of assassinations, kidnappings and death squad murders.

He told a news conference that increased patrols along the borders with Saudi Arabia and Syria had slowed infiltration by militants and played a key role in Iraq's improved security situation.

"We have destroyed 75 percent of Al-Qaeda hide-outs, and we broke up major criminal networks that supported Al-Qaeda in Baghdad," he said.

"After eliminating safe houses in Anbar province, which used to be Al-Qaeda's base, we moved into areas surrounding Baghdad and into Diyala province. Al-Qaeda headed north and we are pursuing them," he said.

Khalaf said kidnappings were down 70 percent and that an average of three to five people killed by death squads were being found each day in Baghdad compared with 15 to 20 a day in February.

Personnel with militant or criminal links had been weeded out from Iraqi security forces, he said, adding that Sunni-US alliances against Al-Qaeda had also significantly contributed to the drop in violence.

The dropping death toll of American soldiers also gives proof that the surge started in the summer of 2007 has worked spectacularly.

According to icasualty.org there were 14 American soldiers killed in hostile action in Iraq, down from 120 earlier in March of 2007.

“Every trend we watch is down roughly about 60 percent: civilian deaths, numbers of attacks, and thankfully our casualties are down as well,” Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of Multinational Force Iraq, said on “Fox News Sunday.” “As we go into the new year, we clearly want to build on the momentum that has been achieved by our forces working closely together with Iraqi forces.”

Petraeus said Iraqi forces also had a surge this year, with 110,000 new Iraqi soldiers and police.

Petraeus appeared on the morning news program to discuss the release of this week’s quarterly report, “Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq.” With the success of the surges comes the question of reducing the number of U.S. forces in Iraq while maintaining the positive trends, he said.

“We want to reduce the strain on our ground forces as much as we can while recognizing that what has been achieved here remains tenuous and is still fragile in a number of areas,” the general said. “We have laid out a plan that will take us through the end of July, and it will result in the reduction without replacement of about one-quarter of our combat forces.”

Petraeus was cautious about committing to further troop reductions and reiterated that al Qaeda remains a significant threat. “Al Qaeda remains a very dangerous and very lethal organization, and it is one that will continually try to reconstitute and one that we must pursue tenaciously and relentlessly, and that is what we and our Iraqi partners are doing,” Petraeus said.

Huckabee Rally in Orlando

Republican presidential front-runner Mike Huckabee was in Orlando December 27 at a rally attended by about 200 supporters from central Florida.

One of the highlights of the rally happened before Huckabee's arrival, when Florida state senator Dick Langley, a campaign chairman for Mitt Romney in Lake County, tore off his Romney lapel sticker and replaced it with a Huckabee sticker.

"I wanted a candidate who stood where I stood on the issues," Langley said later. "And I couldn't figure out where Mitt stood."

There was also a pre-event skirmish when a hoard of Ron Paul supporters tried to crash the Huckabee rally. After a confrontation between Huckabee supporters and the Paul supporters, airport security ran off the party crashers and peace and harmony was restored.

Huckabee and his wife Janet arrived later to an energetic crowd and Van Halen's "Right Now" blaring from some speakers. He spoke for about 20 minutes, took some questions from the press, and then hung out for several minutes before leaving on his jet to Destin, FL.

See the only pictures of the Orlando rally here

Bhutto Dies, Pakistan in Uproar

Photos from AP

It may be shocking, but take a good look at the photo to the the left.

This is what Islam, the "Religion of Peace", looks like.

The suicide bomber who caused this damage killed Pakistan's opposition leader Benazir Bhutto (also pictured to the left) and around 20 others.

Now the already turbulent situation in Pakistan is quickly worsening and threatening the promised January elections.

Add to this situation that Pakistan has nuclear weapons that could fall into terrorist hands if a full-scale breakdown of law and order occurs and you have a recipe for a disaster of international scale.

What's happening in Pakistan should remind everyone of why Islamic countries should not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons.

Stopping Iran and Syria from developing nuclear weapons has to be a top priority of the United States and the rest of the free world, even if it means keeping the option of using military force on the table.

The free world depends on a large part on nuclear-free Islamic countries.

Christmas Eve... The Story of Christ's Birth

Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth.

This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.

And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city.

Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David,in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child.

While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth.

And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.

And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.

But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace among men
with whom He is pleased."

When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, "Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us."

So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger.

When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child.

And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds.

But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.

The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.

from the Gospel of Luke 2:1-20 (NASB)

All I want for Christmas.....

All I want for Christmas is a pair of Bose Noise Canceling Headphones...Santa said he hadn't gotten any requests like that before, but it sounded good to him...

Another "Floating Cross"?

Someone call Matt Drudge, apparently there's another picture containing a floating cross on his website....

this picture was on Drudge's frontpage at 8PM Sunday Dec. 23...

Man-Made Global Warming Consensus Debunked

read the full U.S. Senate report here

The U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works has released a startling study debunking the "consensus" doctrine that has gripped the global warming religion.

Hundreds of accredited scientists, many of whom were part of the U.N.'s IPCC report on global warming last year, have now officially become deniers of man-made global warming and are urging the governments of the world to spend their time and money on other more important issues.

Here's a few excerpts:

Dr. Nathan Paldor, Professor of Dynamical Meteorology and Physical Oceanography at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem: "First, temperature changes, as well as rates of temperature changes (both increase and decrease) of magnitudes similar to that reported by IPCC to have occurred since the Industrial revolution (about 0.8C in 150 years or even 0.4C in the last 35 years) have occurred in Earth's climatic history. There's nothing special about the recent rise!" Paldor told EPW on December 4, 2007. "Second, our ability to make realizable (or even sensible) future forecasts are greatly exaggerated relied upon by the IPCC."

Physicist Dr. Gerhard Gerlich, of the Institute of Mathematical Physics at the Technical University Carolo-Wilhelmina in Braunschweig in Germany, and Dr. Ralf D. Tscheuschner: "The horror visions of a risen sea level, melting pole caps and developing deserts in North America and in Europe are fictitious consequences of fictitious physical mechanisms, as they cannot be seen even in the climate model computations. The emergence of hurricanes and tornados cannot be predicted by climate models, because all of these deviations are ruled out. The main strategy of modern CO2-greenhouse gas defenders seems to hide themselves behind more and more pseudo explanations, which are not part of the academic education or even of the physics training."

Dr. Boris Winterhalter, retired Senior Marine Researcher of the Geological Survey of Finland and former professor of marine geology at University of Helsinki: "To state that sea level rises or falls due to global change is completely out of proportion. There are far too many factors affecting this planet from the inside and the outside to warrant the idea that man is capable of influencing these natural processes..."

The U.S. Senate report is very lengthy and has links to all the research papers done by the 400+ scientists who have declared the man-made global warming crisis a myth, pure fiction, and falsification.

The global warming bubble is going to pop soon; let's hope it does before the liberals do serious damage to our economy, our country, and our way of life.

City Hall Christmas Display

more pictures from Holly Hill

The city of Holly Hill, FL is bucking the politically correct trend and still puts up a great Christmas display every year.

There have been protests from liberals and others in Holly Hill who do not understand the concept of religious freedom in our country and who mistakenly believe that the First Amendment somehow prohibits the display of Christian symbols on public property.

The nearby cities of Daytona Beach and Ormond Beach have given in to the politically correct crowd and now have "Holiday Parades" and "holiday decorations" throughout their towns. They snubbed their noses at the traditions and culture of America that are grounded in Christianity.

Thank God that there are still towns and cities like Holly Hill around to keep Christmas safe for another year!

More Alarmism: UN Warns of Food Shortages

The United Nations is at it again, this time warning of dangerous food shortages because of global warming and rising oil prices.

There is "a very serious risk that fewer people will be able to get food," particularly in the developing world, said Jacques Diouf, head of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

The source article for this story cites all kinds of statistics to prove that we are in danger of a global disaster that will of course hit the poor nations the hardest.

Besides global warming and high oil prices, they blame the tightening food supply on the increasing number of "upwardly mobile meat-eaters" and the diversion of grains from the food supply into bio-fuel production, such as ethanol.

Over the years the UN and other liberal and Marxist groups have warned of global starvation and wars over food supplies in an effort to get the prosperous countries of the world to give money to poor countries.

What those poor countries need isn't food, it's freedom. The people need to be free to work, farm, start businesses, and trade their goods and services without the tyranny of high taxes and government interference.

But the poor countries are run by dictators, military thugs, and Marxists who only use their power to make themselves wealthy and are not accountable to the people they rule with an iron fist.

Because of their love for big government, the UN and other liberals try to address the symptoms of liberalism (poverty, racism, poor health, etc.) instead of the cause: big government, high taxes, lack of economic opportunity, and lack of personal freedom and liberty.

TownHall Column: Huck Finned by USA Today

This is a great column by Ken Connor on TownHall.com:

In his newfound role as "front-runner", Republican Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is the subject of increased scrutiny by the media. For many in the secular media, Huckabee's prior role as a minister is of far greater concern than his prior role as governor of the State of Arkansas. (A preacher as President? Heaven help us!) Consequently, Huckabee has been the candidate among the Republican wannabes who has had to field most of the tough "God questions" during their debates.

Without a doubt, the intersection of faith and politics is one that requires careful navigation. This is particularly true in America, where our founding fathers worked hard to ensure that religious freedom was preserved for their descendants. For many, religious liberty is the "first right" and liberty of conscience has always been highly prized in these United States. The Framers of the Constitution refused to establish a national church. Conscience was deemed to be a private domain where government had no right to intrude.

Read the rest of the article...

Sen. Lieberman to Endorse McCain Monday

Wow! Lieberman endorses McCain.

Does this say more about Lieberman or McCain?

Climate Change Conference Ends; End of World Near!

The UN conference on climate change, hosted in Bali, is thankfully over and the only accomplishment to speak of was the emitting of hundreds of thousands of tons of CO2 into the atmosphere.

According to the AP story, there were no major agreements or breakthroughs, and the 200+ participants were bitterly divided and acrimonious. At one point, Dutch representative Yvo de Boer (a real Alan Alda type), pictured on the left, actually broke down in tears because of the bitter wrangling over minor details in reaching a consensus deal.

According to the AP: "The new deal does not commit countries to specific actions against global warming. It simply sets an agenda and schedule for negotiators to find ways to reduce pollution and help poor countries adapt to environmental changes by speeding up the transfer of technology and financial assistance."

The AP story tried to put their best spin on the overly-hyped climate change conference in it's lead paragraph: "World leaders overcame bitter divisions Saturday and agreed to reach a new deal on fighting global warming by 2009, turning a corner in mankind's race to stave off environmental disaster caused by rising temperatures."

So the basic consensus deal reached by these liberals, Marxists, dictators, and fascists is to keep negotiating until industrialized countries like the US, Japan, China, and Australia submit themselves to the "global warming" religion and give up the economic freedom that drives their prosperous countries.

Just like the internet bubble of the 90's, the global warming bubble is ready to burst and these goof balls are trying to get as much out of it for themselves as possible at the expense of the USA and other industrialized countries.