the Centrist

Dear friends and family:

Congratulations to our grandson Scott for becoming the first Marine in our immediate family. Uncle Les and our great friend Richard welcome you to this unique and exclusive form of patriotism. Dan, Betsy, and Jen … good job.

Proud family: Dan, Betsey far left; Jen (Scott’s Mom) and Chelsea (Scott’s soon to be wife); with Chris,John, and James

Father and Son

Article: I knew RFK, and Senator Obama, you are no RFK

So as I await a suggestion from a blogger (who thinks I am “too negative”) for this week’s article, I thought I might make a clarifying statement. If H ( my pet name for Sen. Obama … if the media can call a sitting Pres. W, why can’t I have fun and call him H?) is elected our president then he is my president. Unlike the Bush haters, a president represents all of the people, and I will accept the people’s will.

But there are four aspects to this election of which I am concerned:
1. His birth … is he an American Citizen … if so, present his birth certificate and solve the dilemma
2. H has the ability to distance himself from his past relationships with radicals, i.e. Black Muslim leader and avowed anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan, terrorist William Ayers, Kenya’s dictator, etc. Senator H, please, simply disavow these radicals.
3. He has a close association with Acorn; tell the Sec. of State of Ohio to release those 200,000 questionable votes (and or registrations) and ask that Acorn’s book be open and transparent ensuring a fair election
4. H has collected more money for his campaign than any person in history. H went back on his pledge to take government funds when he realized his monetary potential. While it is true that the candidates do not legally have to reveal sources under $200, McCain has opened his books and shown us that all of his donations are above board … i.e. none coming from foreign sources … to eliminate even the possibility of wrongdoing, reveal these sources … open your financial books.
Then and only then will we the people be assured that H has won fair and square, and he will be able to garner the support of all Americans.

Okay, I have waited over 24 hours for my blogger to send forth a subject and none has been suggested, so I will take up my brother’s question comparing RFK to H. I agreed that they have one thing in common, both were (are) anti-war candidates, RFK – Viet Nam; H-Iraq.
But that is where the comparison ends. RFK was a serious Roman Catholic and pro-life advocate. H voted for infanticide of surviving aborted babies when he was an Illinois State Senator (Wikipedia, CNN, Fox News).
RFK, as Attorney General, was anti-crime, cracking down on organized crime and corrupt unions, perhaps like none since. H has done little to fight the unions and gangs of Chicago’s south side, or speak about gang violence. Moreover, he is in favor of disallowing the cheerished American ideology of the secret ballot. He would have union representatives present while the indivual votes … an invitation to intimidation.
RFK was strongly anti-communist, being an architect in the failed Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis. H says he will initiate talks without preconditions with the Communist Cuba’s Castro Brothers and leftist Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez.

RFK never railed against or initiated any legislation to threaten America’s 2nd Amendment; H has perhaps the most aggressive anti-2nd Amendment record, with the possible exception of his running Sen. Biden, in recent history. For instance H voted for lawsuits against gun manufacturers and for confiscation of legal handguns (NRA literature). RFK, in my opinion, would have been an advocate of strong border control for national security purposes. H has supported amnesty for illegal aliens and is an advocate for open borders. It is a matter of record that RFK took all questions without fear and never threatened retaliation. Two of the most difficult questions in the past few weeks have come from Joe the Plumber and a television journalist questioning Biden in Orlando, rather than the main stream media.

We now find that the Plumber’s personal data was given to the media by a stealth in the government, and that the journalist in Orlando was told that Democrats would never again grace them with an interview … we do live in a free society don’t we?
Finally RFK supported his brother’s cutting taxes in the face of a recession. JFK was the original engineer of supply side economics, H wants to raise taxes across the board while facing a serious recession. While he states that 95% of citizens will get a tax rebate, his rebate will go to 40% of those who pay no tax. That is neither a tax cut, nor a rebate, that is the re-establishment of welfare. H says it will be permanent. Perhaps it is time to remind you that WJ Clinton ran on a middle class tax cut, but reneged on his promise and burdened the middle class with the largest tax hike in the history of the world. The Bush tax cuts eliminated a good share of that burden; H says he will end that tax relief two years before it expires.

Here is a comparison of H and McC’s tax plans:

CAPITAL GAINS TAX
MCCAIN 0% on home sales up to $500,000 per home (couples). McCain does not propose any change in existing home sales income tax.
OBAMA 28% on profit from ALL home sales. (How does this affect you? If you sell your home and make a profit, you will pay 28% of your gain on taxes. If you are heading toward retirement and would like to down-size your home or move into a retirement community, 28% of the money you make from your home will go to taxes. This proposal will adversely affect the elderly who are counting on the income from their homes as part of their retirement income.)

DIVIDEND TAX
MCCAIN 15% (no change)
OBAMA 39.6% – The following statement is not factually correct – see retraction and correction in the next article (How will this affect you? If you have any money invested in stock market, IRA, mutual funds, college funds, life insurance, retirement accounts, or anything that pays or reinvests dividends, you will now be paying nearly 40% of the money earned on taxes if Obama becomes president. The experts predict that ‘Higher tax rates on dividends and capital gains would crash the stock market, yet do absolutely nothing to cut the deficit.’)

INCOME TAX
MCCAIN (no changes) Single making 30K – tax $4,500
Single making 50K – tax $12,500
Single making 75K – tax $18,750
Married making 60K- tax $9,000
Married making 75K – tax $18,750
Married making 125K – tax $31,250

OBAMA (reversion to pre-Bush tax cuts) Single making 30K – tax $8,400
Single making 50K – tax $14,000
Single making 75K – tax $23,250
Married making 60K – tax $16,800
Married making 75K – tax $21,000
Married making 125K – tax $38,750

Under Obama, your taxes could almost double!
INHERITANCE TAX
MCCAIN – 0% (No change, Bush repealed this tax)
OBAMA Restore the inheritance tax
Many families have lost businesses, farms, ranches, and homes that have been in their families for generations because they could not afford the inheritance tax. Those willing their assets to loved ones will only lose them to these taxes.

NEW TAXES PROPOSED BY OBAMA (Cal and Pat)
New government taxes proposed on homes that are more than 2400 square feet. New gasoline taxes (as if gas weren’t high enough already) New taxes on natural resources consumption (heating gas, water, electricity) New taxes on retirement accounts, and last but not least….New taxes to pay for socialized medicine so we can receive the same level of medical care as other third-world countries!!!

These facts can be verified at the following web sites and were supplied by bloggers Cal and Pat:

http://money.cnn.com/news/specials/election/2008/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/issues/issues.taxes.html

http://elections.foxnews.com/?s=proposed+taxes

http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourworld/politics/articles/mccain_obama_offer_different_visions_on_taxes.html

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/candidates/barack_obama/

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/candidates/john_mccain/

So to say that H is the new RFK, is like saying that I am the new John Steinbeck.

On the lighter side:

From Blogger Bud:

Note Found on the Refrigerator One Morning:

My Dear Wife,
You will surely understand that I have certain needs that you, being 54 years old, can no longer satisfy. I am very happy with you and I value you as a good wife. Therefore, after reading this letter, I hope that you will not wrongly interpret the fact that I will be spending the evening with my 18 year old secretary at the Comfort Inn Hotel. Please don’t be upset—-I shall be home before midnight.
When the man came home late that night, he found the following letter on the dining room table:

My Dear Husband,
I received your letter and thank you for your honesty about my being 54 years old. I would like to take this opportunity to remind you that you are also 54 years old. As you know, I am a math teacher at our local college. I would like to inform you that while you read this, I will be at the Hotel Fiesta with Michael, one of my students, who is also the assistant tennis coach. He is young, virile, and like your secretary, is 18 years old. As a successful businessman who has an excellent knowledge of math, you will understand that we are in the same situation, although with one small difference – 18 goes into 54 a lot more times than 54 goes into 18. Therefore, I will not be home until sometime tomorrow.
The Definition of Political Correctness:
The belief by liberals that one can pick up a turd by its clean end.

Dr B