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Flap’s Links and Comments for April 8th on 16:42
These are my links for April 8th from 16:42 to 16:48:
- San Jose Democrats Dress Up Corporate Tax Dodges – But It is Crony Capitalism – San Jose's John Vasconcellos presided over the Assembly's budget committee for many years in the 1970s and 1980s and, liberal Democrat that he was, frequently railed about a lack of money for what he considered to be vital public services.
Peculiarly, however, Vasconcellos also carried into law one of the most outrageously unfair and illogical corporate tax breaks ever enacted in California. It exempts custom computer software programs from sales taxes, but leaves in place taxes on consumers' off-the-shelf software.
The exemption costs state and local treasuries an estimated $120 million a year.
Perhaps there's a chemical in San Jose's water that compels liberal Democratic politicians to carry water for corporate interests because one of Vasconcellos' successors is doing the same kind of favor for airlines.
Assemblyman Jim Beall, D-San Jose, is carrying Assembly Bill 81, which would protect airlines from paying higher sales taxes on their fuel purchases in California when prices spike upward. It would levy taxes on the average of spot fuel prices for the preceding five years, rather than on the current price.
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Crony capitalism by California Democrats in the Legislature at their worst.
- Maryland House OK’s Illegal Immigrant In-State College Tuition – As many southern states pass news laws to crack down on illegal immigrants, the Maryland General Assembly is moving to allow them to pay in-state college tuition, if they meet certain conditions.
The Maryland House voted 74-66 on Friday for the measure. The Senate already has approved similar legislation.
Illegal immigrants would have to complete two years at a community college and show that their parents paid state income taxes for the three years before they enrolled to qualify for in-state tuition.
Democrats say it creates opportunity for people who have lived in Maryland for years, but Republicans contend it rewards illegal behavior at taxpayers' expense
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Maryland is a deep blue state and they are rewarding their Latino constituency despite the fact that it is unfair to native born taxpayers.
- San Jose Democrats Dress Up Corporate Tax Dodges – But It is Crony Capitalism – San Jose's John Vasconcellos presided over the Assembly's budget committee for many years in the 1970s and 1980s and, liberal Democrat that he was, frequently railed about a lack of money for what he considered to be vital public services.
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Flap’s Links and Comments for March 25th on 06:38
These are my links for March 25th from 06:38 to 06:55:
- President 2012: Scapegoating Mitch Daniels – Over the past year, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels has been a case study in how not to seek the Republican presidential nomination — if indeed that is his intention.
Despite having a generally conservative governing record, in the run-up to a possible candidacy, Daniels has managed to alienate all parts of the GOP’s so-called “three-legged” stool. He has rattled economic conservatives by floating the possibility of a VAT tax, unnerved national security hawks by talking about defense cuts and seeming indifferent about foreign policy, and angered values voters by calling for a “truce” on social issues while the country confronts the national emergency of our fiscal crisis.
It’s the latter comments that have drawn the most heat, giving his potential rivals an easy opening at conservative events to say that yes, social issues are a priority.
But while Daniels has become a popular target for social conservatives who understandably don’t want to see their issues downplayed, the reality is that Daniels’ crime was to say explicitly what most of the other potential candidates are saying and doing implicitly — that is, emphasizing the importance of economic and fiscal issues over moral matters.=======
Read it all.
- Sen. Jim DeMint’s Defense of RomneyCare is Ignorant…And Dangerous – Jennifer Rubin alerts me to these disturbing comments Sen. Jim DeMint made to the Hill in defense of RomneyCare:
“One of the reasons I endorsed Romney [in 2008] is his attempts to make private health insurance available at affordable prices,” said Sen. Jim DeMint (S.C.), a GOP kingmaker.
DeMint blames Democrats in the Massachusetts State Legislature for adding many of the features to Romney’s plan that many on the right decry.
“It just depends on how he plays it. For me, I think he started with some good ideas that were essentially hijacked by the Democrat Legislature,” DeMint said.
To start with, blaming everything on the Democratic legislature is simply not an accurate account of what happened. Romney helped craft the basic architecture of the health care plan, and pursued it even though he knew that he was working with an overwhelming Democratic legislature who he knew would override his symbolic line-item vetoes of parts of his bill. He signed the bill with Ted Kennedy at his side, and did so knowing he wasn't seeking reelection and that it would almost certainly fall on a Democratic governor to implement it….======
Read it all
Sen. Jim DeMint is turning out to be just another POL.
- President 2012: Tea party leader says he’d endorse Mitch Daniels – Gov. Mitch Daniels: the tea party pick for president?
That could happen, former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, said Thursday.
Armey, now the leader of the tea party group FreedomWorks, was in Indiana to begin a three-day campaign-training seminar his group is conducting along with the Indiana-based tea party group America ReFocused.
He met with Daniels privately before a Statehouse ceremony honoring the governor with a "legislative entrepreneur award" and told reporters he encouraged Daniels to "think about the service he could do for this nation as president."
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Some on the right are scapegoating Mitch Daniels but Dick Armey knows Daniels is a credible conservative office holder with a track record.
- President 2012: Scapegoating Mitch Daniels – Over the past year, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels has been a case study in how not to seek the Republican presidential nomination — if indeed that is his intention.
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Flap’s Links and Comments for March 17th on 15:02
These are my links for March 17th from 15:02 to 15:07:
- DeMint walks back his Romney support — after the right attacks him – (“Is DeMint going to risk his Tea Party status for ROMNEY??”) Very shortly thereafter, a DeMint aide contacted The Hill to walk back DeMint’s comments, claiming DeMint “never considered backing Romney again unless he admits that his Massachusetts health-care plan was a colossal mistake.” That’s a flip-flop worthy of, well, Mitt Romney.
The answer to Right Turn’s question is: No, DeMint is not going to throw away his standing with the Tea Party to give Romney cover for a plan that is an anathema to the base. The problem for Romney now is: If DeMint won’t let him get away with defending RomneyCare with spurious arguments, who will?
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Well, nobody I know.
- Willie Sutton Never Met a Payroll or How the GOP Can Make Federal Budget Arguments – “Hey, look over there! There are some really expensive programs over there!” Mike Kinsley criticizes one of the most annoying liberal arguments against cutting the fat in government–the Willie Sutton argument, or “Why bother to cut the fat in these agencies and programs when the really big budget busters are entitlements like Medicare and Social Security”:
It’s also true, but unconvincing, that the whole budget debate is focusing on the smallest part of federal spending — discretionary spending — and ignoring the big bucks, which are in inexorably rising health care costs. Given all past experience, a perfectly adequate reaction to the Obama administration’s claims that health care reform will save the government money is, “I’ll believe it when I see it.” But that is no reason not to show more discipline on smaller matters. Every little bit helps.
You’d think a good GOP budget-cutting argument would be: “They’re talking about cutting Social Security and Medicare costs to control the deficit, but it would be wrong to cut even a dollar from someone’s Social Security checks or Medicare to pay for unnecessary bureaucrats in Washington.”
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Well, argued.
- DeMint walks back his Romney support — after the right attacks him – (“Is DeMint going to risk his Tea Party status for ROMNEY??”) Very shortly thereafter, a DeMint aide contacted The Hill to walk back DeMint’s comments, claiming DeMint “never considered backing Romney again unless he admits that his Massachusetts health-care plan was a colossal mistake.” That’s a flip-flop worthy of, well, Mitt Romney.