The Happy Carpenter

Happy birthday Rochelle!

Happy birthday to my dear eldest daughter!

go & get your Steyn

Here.

Not social security again.

Franklin Roosevelt, a Democrat, introduced the Social Security (FICA) Program.  He promised:

1.) That participation in the Program would be completely voluntary,

2.) That the participants would only have to pay 1% of the first $1,400 of their annual incomes into the Program,

3.) That the money the participants elected to put into the Program would be deductible from their income for tax purposes each year,

4.) That the money the participants put into the independent "Trust Fund" rather than into the General operating fund, and therefore, would only be used
to fund the Social Security Retirement Program, and no other Government program,and,

5.) That the annuity payments to the retirees would never be taxed as income.

Since many of us have paid into FICA for years and are now receiving a Social Security check every month -- and then finding that we are getting taxed on 85%
of the money we paid to the Federal government to "put away," you may be interested in the following

--------------------

QUESTIONS
Q: Which Political Party took Social Security from the independent "Trust" fund and put it into the General fund so that Congress could spend it?
A: It was Lyndon Johnson and the democratically controlled House and Senate.

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Q: Which Political Party eliminated the income tax deduction for Social Security (FICA) withholding?
A: The Democratic Party.

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Q: Which Political Party started taxing Social Security annuities?
A: The Democratic Party, with Al Gore casting the "tie-breaking" deciding vote as President of the Senate, while he was Vice President of the U.S.

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Q: Which Political Party decided to start giving annuity payments to immigrants?
A: Jimmy Carter and the Democratic Party. Immigrants moved into this country, and at age 65, began to receive Social Security payments!

So what are you going to do about it?

It's the vote that counts.

Check this, ripped off in full from PoliPundit:

Don Lambro reports that Moveon.org is backing the candidacies of Florida Democrat, Bill Nelson, and Pennsylvania Democrat, Bob Casey, Jr.

Mmm, hmm.

And that, my friends, is the dirty little political secret about which anti-GOP conservatives have been unaware – often by willful ignorance – for decades.

The harsh truth is that there are no moderate Democrats. They’re gone.

They’ve either pulled a Zell Miller and openly advocate against their ostensible party, or they’ve formally switched to the GOP, or they’ve kept their Democrat registrations but simply have been voting Republican since 1980 or thereabouts. The remainder of the putative “moderate Democrat” bloc stand up and lie through their teeth to get elected and then vote right along with Teddy, Nancy, Kerry, Babs, and the gang.

Bill Nelson, by way of example, voted against the nominations of Priscilla Owen, Janice Rogers Brown, and William Pryor. To put that into perspective, Lincoln Chafee (!) voted in favor of Rogers Brown and Olympia Snowe (!) voted in favor of Rogers Brown and Owen too. Sen. Nelson also voted against cloture for John Bolton’s nomination, whereas Chafee and Snowe both voted “yea.”

Bottom line:

If you’re a conservative living in Pennsylvania or in Florida, and if you stay home or skip those U.S. Senate ballots, next November, you will have cast a de facto vote in favor of Moveon.org.

Political parties matter.  They matter far more than the nice guy image of a man like Senator Nelson, who to me seems to be a genuinely decent guy, but so what?  If he votes like Senators Kennedy and Kerry, why the heck would anyone not from Massachussets vote for him?

Fed up with free spending Republicans?

It could be worse:

At a recent gathering for Democrats, Congressman Jim Moran (unfortunately, [Andy Roth's] congressman) promised to bring home more bacon if the Democrats re-capture the House and he gets re-elected. And he isn’t shy about admitting it. Here’s what Moran said according to a report in the Arlington Sun-Gazette:

“When I become chairman [of a House appropriations subcommittee], I’m going to earmark the s—t out of it,” Moran buoyantly told a crowd of 450 attending the event.”

It might be possible to shame and bully Republicans into holding the line on spending.  But this guy?

A blank check?

Thomas Sowell writes:

It is now clear to all that this year's Democrats are deliberately avoiding spelling out any coherent policy program of their own.

Their strategy is to second-guess, denigrate and undermine Republicans instead of offering an agenda of their own. Rather than having a contract with America, they are seeking a blank check from America. Moreover, they may get it.

What little the Democrats do spell out is horrible.  What I don't understand is why so many otherwise reasonable people think that what the Democrats don't spell out will be any better than what they do?

Vote Republican.

Giving the religion of peace a bad, errrr, name

Steyn:

NOT long after 9/11, I said, just as an aside, that these days whenever something goofy turns up on the news chances are it involves some fellow called Mohammad.

A plane flies into the World Trade Center? Mohammad Atta.

A sniper starts killing gas station customers around Washington, D.C.? John Allen Muhammad.

A guy fatally stabs a Dutch movie director? Mohammed Bouyeri.

A gunman shoots up the El Al counter at Los Angeles airport? Hesham Mohamed Hedayet.

A terrorist slaughters dozens in Bali? Noordin Mohamed.

A British subject self-detonates in a Tel Aviv bar? Asif Mohammad Hanif.

A terrorist cell bombs the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania? Ali Mohamed.

A gang rapist preys on the women of Sydney, Australia? Mohammad Skaf.

A group of Dearborn, Mich., men charged with cigarette racketeering in order to fund Hezbollah? Fadi Mohamad-Musbah Hammoud, Mohammad Fawzi Zeidan and Imad Mohamad-Musbah Hammoud.

A Canadian terror cell is arrested for plotting to bomb Ottawa and behead the prime minister? Mohammad Dirie, Amin Mohamed Durrani and Yasim Abdi Mohamed.

Well, that took longer than expected

Bankruptcy, that is:

Air America Radio filed for bankruptcy reorganization Friday, in the latest patch of turbulence to befall the liberal talk radio network that launched two years ago headlined by the comedian and author Al Franken.
The network will continue to operate with funding from its investor group, led by RealNetworks Inc. CEO Robert Glaser, who owns 36.7 percent of the company, and two other former board members...

Air America has struggled financially since its inception. Court documents show the company lost $9.1 million in 2004, $19.6 million in 2005 and $13.1 million so far in 2006.

Radio is the theater of the mind, and therefore of conservatives.  Liberals should stick to TV.

The real Bambi & Thumper

Ahhhhhhh, so cute!

Pointless family picture of the year