Blackwater to be Subject of IRS Investigation?

At least if Henry Waxman gets his wish. His main beef is over the classification of some of the security workers who are classified as contractors. It seems pretty petty for Waxman to go out and direct an investigation against Blackwater for a total of about $50 million over the last 9 years when I'm sure there are much, much more tax evasive companies out there. It never fails that when the Democrats need to hit on talking points they will go after companies that they continually demonize, Blackwater being but just one of them. Keep in mind that the security that Blackwater provides utilized by the highest ranking diplomats visiting Iraq. If Waxman really wants to set up an investigation in order to shore up the financial status of the government, perhaps he should pursue the earmark ban with a little more gusto. $50 million dollars over 9 years is chump change compared to pork that his Democratic cohorts have used for kickbacks to their financiers at the cost of the American tax payer. Regardless of their argument, it is questionable at best if Blackwater did indeed do anything to purposely avoid taxes or is the subject of a Liberal witch hunt, but the pilfering of the American tax dollars by Democrats funneling pork back to their buddies is a matter of public record and included in the various bills that have been passed over the years.

-Caomhin

Bush to Go On Pork Hunt

I'm not a big fan of the stimulus package, which equates to not much more than a short term stimulus that should help out right until election time which is basically just going to be something in which all incumbents will duly remind us. It gets even worse, and even more obscenely transparent when Harry "Defeatist" Reid, wants to make sure he slows down the process and go after some more votes and "add" to the stimulus...I mean deficit. It's pretty much a welfare package and not a true stimulus package as it's not going to increase savings incentives in the long run, nor will it reduce tax rates in the long run for both businesses and consumers, which actually would stimulate the economy through the power of the wage earners who actually drive the economy. However, there's a good silver lining here, and something that will be getting more and more play in the media for sure as the Left will be up in arms. Bush is going to go after earmarks via executive order. It's a great first step, and something that should have happened much earlier in his tenure, but it's still coming down the pike. Perhaps slashing the pork can fund most of the stimulus package, but I doubt it. It's a good move, and he has nothing to lose, it's within his power and there really can't be a challenge to it, and it may make for some great commercials when we see the Lefties in Congress crying about it. Still though, don't think for one second that the Dems are licking their chops at having control of the Legislative and Executive Branches, and the pork that will come as a result will make a Pig Slaughterhouse look like a vegan retreat. This election is of the utmost importance for the fiscal future of our nation. The last time the Dems were in that position was the Carter era...be afraid, be very afraid, if that were to happen.

-Caomhin

Bush on the Verge of Doing Something Spectacular?

John Fund has an excellent article entitled "Hold the Pork" published in the Opinion Journal section of the Wall Street Journal. The synopsis of the article, if you don't feel like reading the entire piece (a mistake, by the way, if you don't), is that the Democrats, in order to fulfill their undying hunger for all things pork, stuffed a ton of earmarks into the omnibus spending bill that President Bush can simply ignore the earmarks and direct the funds towards more useful areas, such as, oh, I don't know, funding the war. Here's an excerpt:

What Mr. Bush knows, and Congress doesn't want the taxpayers to know, is that the vast majority of the offending earmarks--the ones that aren't part of the actual budget law and were instead "air-dropped" into the committee report--aren't legally binding. A Dec. 18 legal analysis by the Congressional Research Service found that most of the committee reports have not been formally passed by both houses and "presented" to the President for signing, and thus have not become law. "President Bush could ignore the 90% of earmarks that never make it to the floor of the House or Senate for a vote," says Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, who has read the CRS report. "He doesn't need a line-item veto."

Federal agencies would still be obligated to spend the dollars appropriated by Congress. But they could use the money higher priorities that would benefit all taxpayers, rather than on favors for special interests or political donors. For example, the $700,000 for a bike trail in Minneapolis could be used to rebuild the collapsed bridge in that city and to strengthen others. In addition, under such an executive order, future earmarks would likely have to go through committee hearings and would receive much greater scrutiny and publicity than they do now.

Sure, this move would undoubtedly inflame the Libtards even more than ever, but President Bush needs to make this move for a few reasons. First, they will fight even harder during the next spending bill to stop funding the war that they have been trying to undermine for political reasons. Second, it would set an excellent precedent for Congress to stop earmarking everything imaginable. Third, it would help to undo some of the damage that was done by the increases in government under his watch. Of course, doing out of principal is reason all on its own. What will the Liberals do? How much crying could they possible do over this move? Even they wouldn't be stupid enough to go on TV to attack President Bush for putting a stop to a series of irresponsible and ethically questionable (at best) series of expenditures. Even assuming the Moonbats take full control of the party and try to use this as reason to pursue a failed impeachment proceeding, the effects would blow up in their face because the public wouldn't be so stupid as to not see the real underlying reason that they would only be pursuing this action because they were denied from gouging the taxpayers in outrageous spending provisions that serve as kickbacks to their donors. It should be a slam dunk and rank up there as one of the best moves that President Bush has done during his tenure.

-Caomhin