Friday, November 06, 2009

Today, Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Committee Dave Camp (R-MI) released a letter from the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) confirming that the failure to comply with the individual mandate to buy health insurance contained in the Pelosi health care bill (H.R. 3962, as amended) could land people in jail.  The JCT letter makes clear that Americans who do not maintain “acceptable health insurance coverage” and who choose not to pay the bill’s new individual mandate tax (generally 2.5% of income), are subject to numerous civil and criminal penalties, including criminal fines of up to $250,000 and imprisonment of up to five years.

In response to the JCT letter, Camp said:  “This is the ultimate example of the Democrats’ command-and-control style of governing – buy what we tell you or go to jail.  It is outrageous and it should be stopped immediately.”

Key excerpts from the JCT letter appear below:

“H.R. 3962 provides that an individual (or a husband and wife in the case of a joint return) who does not, at any time during the taxable year, maintain acceptable health insurance coverage for himself or herself and each of his or her qualifying children is subject to an additional tax.” [page 1]

- - - - - - - - - -

“If the government determines that the taxpayer’s unpaid tax liability results from willful behavior, the following penalties could apply…” [page 2]

- - - - - - - - - -

“Criminal penalties

Prosecution is authorized under the Code for a variety of offenses.  Depending on the level of the noncompliance, the following penalties could apply to an individual:

• Section 7203 – misdemeanor willful failure to pay is punishable by a fine of up to $25,000 and/or imprisonment of up to one year.

• Section 7201 – felony willful evasion is punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and/or imprisonment of up to five years.” [page 3]

When confronted with this same issue during its consideration of a similar individual mandate tax, the Senate Finance Committee worked on a bipartisan basis to include language in its bill that shielded Americans from civil and criminal penalties.  The Pelosi bill, however, contains no similar language protecting American citizens from civil and criminal tax penalties that could include a $250,000 fine and five years in jail.

“The Senate Finance Committee had the good sense to eliminate the extreme penalty of incarceration.  Speaker Pelosi’s decision to leave in the jail time provision is a threat to every family who cannot afford the $15,000 premium her plan creates.  Fortunately, Republicans have an alternative that will lower health insurance costs without raising taxes or cutting Medicare,” said Camp.

According to the Congressional Budget Office the lowest cost family non-group plan under the Speaker’s bill would cost $15,000 in 2016.

......I place you and Hanas* [*Nidal Malik Hasan...Larry the grammar Nazi can’t spell...] in the same category.......calling a woman a foul name on a website was a great start.....
--- Larry the Lympian

Imagine just a few years ago had somebody walked around with images of Hitler.
--- Robert Gibbs 11.06.09

The 13 people killed when an Army psychiatrist allegedly opened fire on fellow soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, included a pregnant woman who was preparing to return home, a man who quit a furniture company job to join the military about a year ago, a newlywed who had served in Iraq and a woman who had vowed to take on Osama bin Laden after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Here is a look at some of the victims…

see no evil

shocked… again

Investigators are searching the New Orleans offices of the activist group ACORN in connection with embezzlement and tax fraud allegations.  ...the allegations of embezzlement were made last year by ACORN board members who were fired after they asked to look at the group’s books.

Still willing to fund these ACORNholes, Congress?

President Barack Obama said Friday the entire nation is grieving for those slain at Fort Hood, and he urged people not to jump to conclusions while law enforcement officers investigate the shootings…

Today, Americans in uniform, unarmed and preparing for DOD ordered deployments were murdered on American soil where they thought they were safe. Their killer was a US Army doctor of Psychiatry and a Major in rank. The Doctor had received orders to Iraq. He was apparently a recent convert to the religion of Islam.

Most of us will recall that prior to D-day in the Iraq invasion, an American soldier threw hand grenades into a tent of officers and killed several of them. His religion was Muslim.

President Bush and President Obama have and continue to refer to Islam as a Religion of Peace.

Yet even the most casual observer of the differences between Islam and Christianity would not describe them as Peaceful. Past history is rife with examples of war between these religions(as would Hindus, Jews, Buddhists, and/or any local religion that was not Islam!

I ask you Americans, what does it take to convince you that Islam is at WAR(undeclared) with America and non-Islamic cultures? The “Death” of about 3000 innocent noncombatant humans in New York City on 11 September, 2001? The death of 241 humans(mostly US Marines) in Lebanon during president Reagan`s administration? The death of Americans in barracks in Saudi Arabia, The death of sailors on a US destroyer, USS Cole? The death of a US Marine Lt/Col by hanging(on duty w State Dept....), the death of American citizens on a cruise ship captured by Islamo-radicalists, the death of American citizens by sniper fire on the East Coast of the USA by Muslims, and, as an afterthought, the attempt on American deaths during the Clinton administration on the same buildings they destroyed by American airliner collisions, years later?

We are watching and experiencing a beginning of a wonderful response by “AMERICAN EXCEPTUALISM” as the result of the last presidential election and subsequent proposal/actions.

We the People, don`t like what our government is proposing. We are rolling up our sleeves and doing what is necessary to demonstrate that. It. is. working! Unlike a 30 or 60 minute TV program, it will not be so simply adjusted and/or resolved....

WE are on the right track, which is what our ancestors would agree. EXCEPT for ONE thing.

Like our delay in realizing what Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, until they demonstrated how late we were....had in mind for all civilization, we correctly responded and industrialized/mobilized and smothered them both with our *unknown to the world* capacities!

That capacity still exists! It runs in the veins of Americans---and is from our ancestors!

I do not agree that the Greatest Generation was identified by Mr. Brokow. The capacity is alive and still maintains and still stands superior to barbaric intentions!!!!!

KISP and our HEADMISTRESS and her husband JR are classic examples! Who can imagine them domesticated to a philosophy that they would never believe?

*I* perceive those of us on this wonderful Blog as really the true examples of citizens of the American Republic; historically past and historically present. We will endure and solve the mis-election of president Obama. We will make America strong again and announce to all planetary threats that their efforts, particularly those religious, shall not come to pass....

I have come to know, one way or another, all of you. It is this knowledge that provides me comfort, for SondraK`s commenters(...not to mention her own strong logic(s)...) is proof extraordinaire that “....we ain`t as stoopid as we look...”

I remain your baffled, yet happily pleased, obedient servant,

Colonel Jerry

“You’ve all been to gatherings where you’ve been told to bow your heads and have a moment of silence. Well, here’s your chance to fight back."…

In panick horrour of purfuing dogs; With many a deadly grunt and doleful fqueak.

So there you have it.  disgruntling is hateful in the eyes of allah.

Have fun in Gehenna, Hasan.

Close the book.

Fact Avoidance Disorder

What if Thursday’s atrocious slaughter at Fort Hood only signals that the worst is yet to come? ...may momentarily remind us of a reality that most Americans can readily forget: soldiers and their families are living, and bending, under a harrowing and unrelenting stress that will not let up any time soon. And the U.S. military could well be reaching a breaking point as the president decides to send more troops into Afghanistan.

...That the two wars currently being waged are taking a psychological toll on soldiers is no surprise.

Right down the list of Teh Narrative from 1968.  The only change has been in turning the soldiers from crazed “baby killers” into pathetic victims. More insulting in its infantilization of the very folks we count on to stand up and be sheepdogs.

The most egregious part is this clown’s failure to recognize that most of the tension comes from the Civilian Administration [Executive and Legislative alike] refusing to clarify a Plan for Victory.  Dithering does not create confidence on our side—just for The Enemy.

(As a psychiatrist, Hasan may have been particularly vulnerable: there have been numerous accounts of chaplains suffering from depression and PTSD after counseling returning soldiers. Hearing their horror stories, sharing their pain, and being unable to help often pushed these men over the edge. The fact that they were supposed to be healers, that they had never seen combat themselves, made it much harder to ask for help.)

You buffoonish dullard.  A professional - chaplain or psychiatrist - does not “share the pain” of their clients/patients.  And a properly trained professional has many many ways to help.  PTSD, simply put, is a natural response to too many things happening for the individual to process and put into perspective at the time.  The trauma/shock gets encapsulated so that the individual can continue to function in the circumstances.  The help comes in supporting the individual to recognize that the circumstances have changed and he now has time and space to process the events.  It’s hard work, but it is do-able.  I imagine it would be helpful to have someone who has already been successful in his own process, but it is not required.  All that is required is a trained professional who can keep his own issues well out of the way.
[/soap box]

...In the midst of two wars, those living as military and military family experience a different—often, more distressing—everyday experience of “normal.” And forgetting that, either in understanding this singular case, or making a decision about more deployments, is dangerous at best, and morally bankrupt at worst.

...But the situation is bad, and getting much worse. From there, it isn’t much of a leap to argue that to further tax our military would do as much as anything to guarantee that the homegrown terror on display today could well repeat itself in the future.

This wasn’t “homegrown terror:” it was an act of war.

The goal is the same as the ‘68 meme—to make regular civilians afraid of not only any effort to defend this country but of those who do the heavy lifting in that effort, the soldiers.  It was seditious bullshit then: it is seditious bullshit now.

Oh before I go on, I’d like to shout out to my slammin’ supahdope peeps up in Camelot, word to ya grail, holmes.

Qaseem Ali Uqdah, who was a Marine for 21-years before becoming the Executive Director at American Muslim Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs Council, now fears a “witch-hunt” like that which followed September 11, 2001.

Yeah, I still shudder when I recall those mobs of armed, angry WASPs pillaging Islamic neighborhoods, torches and nooses held aloft, lynching everyone in a keffiyeh.  Right terrible, it was.

Nothing at all like the level-headed, brow-furrowed concern of Islam to the mere rumor of someone wiping their ass with a page of the Koran.

“you pay - we play”

Congressional Hispanics [Congressional Hispanic Caucus] have threatened to vote against the bill because of a last-minute threat from within the Democratic Caucus to bolster the House bill’s immigration restrictions to match those included in the Senate Finance bill.

...they’re also fighting President Barack Obama, the original sponsor of the language prohibiting illegal immigrants from accessing the public health insurance exchange.

Ok—so y’all [uds].  You want US citizens to pay for the health insurance of folks from citizens of other countries.  Are you limiting that to citizens of Mexico?  Want to include citizens of El Salvador?  Honduras? Do those citizens of other countries even need to reside [*cough*illegally*cough*] in the US?  Why?

What about those living in the US who are citizens of China?  India?  Waziristan?  Alpha Centauri? How’re ya gonna differentiate under the law—a[n] Hispanic test?

rly?!?

A police officer who intervened to stop a shooting spree at America’s biggest military base was hailed today a heroine as she received treatment for the wounds received in a shoot-out with the gunman.

Major Nidal Hasan, an army psychiatrist due to be posted to Afghanistan, shot dead 13 people and wounded 30 others after opening fire with two handguns at Fort Hood yesterday afternoon.

But the death toll from the rampage could have been far worse had it not been for the actions of Sergeant Kimberly Munley, a civilian police officer stationed at the base who was the first on the scene as Major Hasan picked off his victims....

I hear that Dr. Joe Medicine Crow was around, and so I want to give a shout out to that Congressional Medal of Honor winner.

Well, except....

...Joe Medicine Crow didn’t win the Congressional Medal of Honor. He won the Presidential Medal of Freedom (given to him by Obama, no less) and the Congressional Gold Medal…

vamping to Teh Narrative

WTH?!?  Passed by Lou Dobbs’ coverage of the Ft Hood incident last nite.  Heard General Honore, among others, holding forth on the extreme stress of the military fighting on two fronts while the rest of the nation is not at war.

His point is apt—but not relevant in the way it was presented to the Ft Hood story.  The few facts that had emerged at that point demonstrated that.

The way it is relevant is all over the nooz. 

So far, what is emerging is a portrait of a disgruntled soldier.  Why he was disgruntled is the point.

He identified himself as Palestinian, though he was born in VA.

He took extra weapons training, didn’t fit in, “was mortified by the idea of being deployed” in Iraq and couldn’t handle being called camel jockey by his fellows.

There is more—piles more—some of which will turn out to be bogus an some which needs more investigation, but the early picture is pretty clear.

But the MSM won’t touch it.  Watch ‘em twist and turn to day to avoid even mentioning the shooter’s actual motivations, flinging blame hither and yon. 

Gen. Honore is right; this nation is not at war with those who make war against us.

Soldiers ... reported that the gunman shouted “Allahu Akbar!” as he fired on his fellow soldiers, the base commander said Friday.

Yep.  Just “workplace violence.”
That and a touch of “Pre-Traumatic Stress Disorder.”

people noticed

President Obama didn’t wait long after Tuesday’s devastating elections to give critics another reason to question his leadership, but this time the subject matter was more grim than a pair of governorships.

After news broke out of the shooting at the Fort Hood Army post in Texas, the nation watched in horror as the toll of dead and injured climbed. The White House was notified immediately and by late afternoon, word went out that the president would speak about the incident prior to a previously scheduled appearance. At about 5 p.m., cable stations went to the president. The situation called for not only his trademark eloquence, but also grace and perspective.

But instead of a somber chief executive offering reassuring words and expressions of sympathy and compassion, viewers saw a wildly disconnected and inappropriately light president making introductory remarks. At the event, a Tribal Nations Conference hosted by the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Indian affairs, the president thanked various staffers and offered a “shout-out” to “Dr. Joe Medicine Crow—that Congressional Medal of Honor winner.” Three minutes in, the president spoke about the shooting, in measured and appropriate terms. Who is advising him?

Anyone at home aware of the major news story of the previous hours had to have been stunned. An incident like this requires a scrapping of the early light banter. The president should apologize for the tone of his remarks, explain what has happened, express sympathy for those slain and appeal for calm and patience until all the facts are in. That’s the least that should occur.

Indeed, an argument could be made that Obama should have canceled the Indian event, out of respect for people having been murdered at an Army post a few hours before. That would have prevented any sort of jarring emotional switch at the event.

Did the president’s team not realize what sort of image they were presenting to the country at this moment? The disconnect between what Americans at home knew had been going on—and the initial words coming out of their president’s mouth was jolting, if not disturbing.

An Army psychiatrist who opened fire at Fort Hood, Texas, killing 12 people and wounding 31 others, was shot but captured alive, military officials said late Thursday.

The gunman, identified as Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, was wounded at the scene but was captured alive and was in stable condition, Lt. Gen. Robert W. Cone, commanding general of the Army’s III Corps, said at a press conference late Thursday.

Eleven of the victims died at the scene, military officials said. A 12th died later at a hospital, NBC station KCEN-TV of Waco reported. Cone said that most of those who were shot were military but two were civilians.

sparckle wrote on 11/05/2009 08:33:54 PM:

Nobody know what atrocities this man heard about from the ones who’d gone before him. They might have pushed the most sane of all over the edge. It was a horrific act, yet we don’t as of yet know the reason why.
Nobody here is an expert on an individual that they’d not even heard of until a few hours ago.
I’ll withhold judgement until I know more.

From a HotAir update:
...he talked about his deployment and said he didn’t want to kill other Muslims…

I asked our KisP roving reporter ThomasM on the scene of today’s DC Tea Party protest to pick out some photos for us that he thought best represented the day…

Jeri Thompson,

Jeri Thompson,

and Jeri Thompson

Close the book.

[*] OBAMA: Please, everybody, have a seat. Let me first of all just thank Ken and the entire Department of the Interior staff for organizing just an extraordinary conference.

I want to thank my Cabinet members and senior administration officials who participated today. I hear that Dr. Joe Medicine Crow (ph) was around, and so I want to give a shout out to that Congressional Medal of Honor winner. It’s good to see you.

(APPLAUSE)

My understanding is is that you had an extremely productive conference. I want to thank all of you for coming and for your efforts, and I want to give you my solemn guarantee that this is not the end of a process, but the beginning of a process and that we are going to follow up.

We are going to follow up. Every single member of my team understands that this is a top priority for us. I want you to know that, as I said this morning, this—this is not something that we just give lip service to. And we are going to keep on working with you to make sure that the first Americans (ph) get the best possible chances in life in a way that’s consistent with your extraordinary traditions and culture and values.

Now, I have to say, though, that beyond that, I had planned to make some broader remarks about the challenges that lay ahead for Native Americans as well as collaboration with our administration.

But as some of you might have heard, there has been a tragic shooting at the Fort Hood Army base in Texas.…

... I want all of you to know that as commander-in-chief, there’s no greater honor, but also no greater responsibility for me than to make sure that the extraordinary men and women in uniform are properly cared for an that their safety and security when they are at home is provided for.

So we are going to stay on this, but I hope in the meantime that all of you recognize the scope of this tragedy and keep everybody in their thoughts and prayers. Again, thank you for your participation here today. I am confident that this is going to be resulting in terrific work between this government and your governments in the weeks, the months and years to come. .....................

~Click Click~

Riley’s Farm

A pair of mass shootings at Ft. Hood military post in Texas left at least 7 dead and 20 wounded Thursday, and one suspected gunman is on the loose, the Army said.

A massive manhunt was under way for the suspect at large, Fox News confirmed, and one person was in custody. The New York Post said that there were two shooters at the Army post massacre; other reports said there were three.

An Army spokesman at the Pentagon said the shootings began about 1:30 p.m. Thursday at a personnel and medical processing center at Ft. Hood.

Lt. Col. Nathan Banks said two shooters were apparently involved. There is no word yet on who they were, nor on the identities of the dead.

The second incident took place at a theater on Ft. Hood, according to Banks…

Tea Party protesters are sheep, easily herded and easily led. A pitiful cross-section of duped sub-Americans.

always liked this guy

Thousands of Tea Party activists [about 10,000 by noon] descended on Washington Thursday to protest the trillion dollar health care bill and government spending, holding signs protesting Barack Obama’s agenda while aiming chants of “you work for us” at the Capitol building....

...along with celebrity conservatives Jon Voight and John Ratzenberger…

John Ratzenberger:  Money/Mouth same place.

The Seattle Sons & Daughters of Liberty:
A Seattle Action Network

Call, fax, email congress NOW!

Operation House Call is ON! NOW IS THE TIME TO MELT EVERY LINE OF COMMUNICATION - DC first, then locally. FLOOD these offices with messages!

For the phone/fax numbers of nationally targeted Representatives and Senators, click here: http://bit.ly/3QgjZs.

Locally, call these guys:

Rep. Jay Inslee, Washington, 1st
http://www.house.gov/inslee/
DC Office Number:  (202) 225-6311, DC Fax Number: (202) 226-1606
Local Office Number: (360) 598-2342, Local Fax Number: (360) 598-3650

Rep. Adam Smith, Washington, 9th
http://adamsmith.house.gov/
DC Office Number: (202) 225-8901
Local Office Number: (253) 593-6600, Local Fax Number: (253) 593-6776

Rep. Brian Baird, Washington 3rd
http://www.baird.house.gov/
DC Office Number: (202) 225-3536, DC Fax Number: (202) 225-2478
Local Office Number: (360) 695-6292, Local Fax Number: (360) 695-6197

EVEN BETTER: if you can deliver a handwritten letter to their district offices IN ADDTION to calling nationally targeted Reps., you can really make a difference!!

Michelle Bachmann, Jon Voight, Mark Levin and thousands of fellow patriots are gathering on the Capitol steps RIGHT NOW to fight the health care DEform bill! Support their efforts by calling!

IN LIBERTY!

Liberty Belle