Created a new plugin to use in Wordpress blogs. This plugin is a flash widget that can be added to a sidebar of current versions of Wordpress.
I couldn’t find anything that would work for what I wanted to do so I had to create it myself. If you are interested in having it on your wordpress website just visit the page for the plugin and download it today.
Filed under: General Posts | No Comments »
I still think a Gas tax holiday is ridiculous. It doesn’t accomplish anything. But recent developments have made the possibility of paying more at the pump closer to a reality.
Lawmakers are currently considering raising the taxes the government collects on gasoline and diesel. Gasoline taxes may go from 18 cents per gallon all the way up to 40 cents per gallon over a period of time.
The American Road & Transportation Builders Association is calling for a 10-cent-a-gallon raise and indexing the tax to inflation. With construction costs soaring because of competition for building materials from China and other developing nations, the tax rate would have to be about 29 cents a gallon to achieve the same purchasing power as the 18.4-cent rate imposed in 1993, the association says.
Including state and local levies, people in the U.S. pay about 47 cents on average in taxes for a gallon of gasoline. Fuel in many European countries costs $8 to $9 a gallon, with half or more of that going to taxes. - Fox News
While I am sure that the budget would require an increase in funds, one would have to consider how much of those funds are spent on frivolous projects and earmarks. How about $8 Billion? Almost the entire shortfall they are looking at.
Just 3 years ago they had a surplus. Quite a large one at that.
Just three years ago, that trust fund enjoyed a surplus of $10 billion. Even without a tax freeze, the fund is projected to finish 2009 with a deficit of $3 billion. That could grow as Americans drive less and buy less gas because of higher pump prices.
Why do our congressmen still have their heads in the sand? It is time to put on an austerity program and ban earmarks. It is time to develop our resources. It is time to stop wasteful spending. It is what people want.
Filed under: National Politics | No Comments »
Wondering why you haven’t heard anything recently about a sales tax holiday this year? It is because it hasn’t been passed. It was put into the bill to be August 2-8. However, it was not passed and was shelved for the year.
Spokeswoman Renee Watters at the Florida Department of Revenue in Tallahassee put the matter of the back-to-school sales-tax holiday to rest: There won’t be one this August. - Beacon online
Florida Legislatures are worried about a loss in revenue from the tax holiday. With the economic slowdown, tax revenues have also fallen. People spend less on goods and services and more on necessities.
The tax holiday spurred sales of taxable items when consumers went to purchase school supplies. Now retailers are worried that those purchases won’t occur. This could be a legitimate concern. Why the Florida Legislature hasn’t taken this into account is a big mystery.
Neighboring states of Alabama and Georgia are still having their tax holiday. Florida could lose out to people going to those states to buy their supplies.
This isn’t going to help the States tax revenue problem. They should be a little more realistic with the money they collect from tax payers. I am sure they can find some things that are not absolutely necessary. For example, raises.
Filed under: Florida Politics | No Comments »
There are two things that are contributing towards the high oil prices we enjoy today. Speculation in the markets by commodities traders and lack of new exploration/drilling in areas that are known to have oil.
Senator Bill Nelson has addressed one of these issues with his bill to end trading of commodities by large institutions. This may actually help prices in the short term. Much of the prices at the moment is inflated due to traders in the commodities and futures market speculating on oil. Many large investment groups have purchased contracts for long term investment in retirement funds. Also driving up the prices.
Perhaps the passage of this bill will help the prices in the short to mid term.
However, that is about as much as he is will to do at this moment. He has blocked legislation to open up the areas we know hold oil to exploration and drilling. Preferring to import more and more from our friends in the Middle East and South America. Many who don’t particularly like us.
As a matter of fact, he introduced legislation that actually blocked such actions. You can view it here on his website. Eventually he will have to get his head out of the beautiful white sand we have and see that the impact of oil drilling on our beaches isn’t nearly as significant as that from nature. Which is something that Senator Jim DeMint has no problem doing.
Even the President recognizes the fact that things have changed and our needs have increased. Oil is not going away. He even recently lifted the Executive ban on Drilling after asking Congress to do the same. How long will it take to get Congress to do the same? Will Senator Bill Nelson see the light?
There is an ever larger and larger base that is pushing for drilling in the areas currently closed. American Solutions is one of the groups pushing for opening the closed areas. If you are concerned and want to have your voice heard then you need to help by signing the petition.
An ad currently running on television also addresses this.
Are we going to continue to mortgage our nation to foreign countries or are we going to try to do something about it by reducing our independence on them for our oil. True, it will take awhile to start producing but until we can come up with a viable alternative we need to exploit our own resources.
Filed under: Florida Politics, National Politics | No Comments »
The AFL-CIO has set up a Veterans Council for its military veteran members. While this is great, why now? Is it because the Union fears that any legislation proposed by McCain won’t favor Unions? I’d bet even money that they are worried that their membership will continue to decline with policies that McCain would like to push through.
The Union claims that McCains economic record is undesirable and wants to show how poorly McCain is treating veterans.
“Not only has McCain voted the wrong way on veterans’ issues - - such as opposing increased funding for veterans’ health care the last four years in a row — but he also doesn’t support middle class people’s issues,” Mr. Ayers said. “He wants to tax people’s health care benefits, and supports unfair trade deals, including NAFTA.” - New York Times
This is completely misleading. His support for NAFTA, for example, will only continue to provide avenues for American made products. Where Obama would like to get rid of the NAFTA agreement that a fellow Democrat President Bill Clinton signed to provide free trade of our goods.
This would only lead to our goods having a tariff in other countries because of protectionist policies that Obama would like to implement.
Their facts are lacking as well.
The AFL-CIO, in documentation it provided to FactCheck.org, cites four specific votes as support for this allegation. Three of them were against Democratic amendments to the annual budget bill in 2004, 2005 and 2006. And all of them failed along party lines in a Republican-controlled Senate. But in each case, McCain later supported different amendments to increase veterans’ health benefits, either on the same day or the following day. - Factcheck.org
Unions have a long history of using member dues to push political agendas that not all of the members agree with. They also have a long history of suppressing dissent within the union of the upper level management policies and distorting the facts to benefit their image.
Unions want even more control over its members and hopes that Obama would help give them those rights. They hope to resurrect failed attempts at getting unions formed based solely off of union cards.
What little I know about Unions has come mostly through my own research and the Union vote the company I work for has recently completed. I can say with some certainty that not all veterans that the union represents agree with the Unions opinions. Yet the Unions do not care one bit about those opinions unless it furthers their agenda.
When watching, listening or reading anything from a union, you need to keep in mind that they are doing what they have always done. Covered their butts to get more money and concessions from the government and employers.
The Advertisements by the AFL-CIO have little to do with the concern they have for Vetrans and more to do with their own financial welfare. That’s what they are in it for.
Filed under: National Politics, President 2008 | No Comments »
Continued political pandering by Barak Obama has his policies shifting more and more towards the center in order to gain those voters. However, Barak Obama’s voting record and words has put this in question as a result of political expedience or one of just plain old policy change after seeing the “light”.
Obama built his candidacy on the support of his party’s liberal base, which favors restrictions on guns and wiretapping, raising taxes for companies, and pulling U.S. forces from Iraq. As an Illinois state legislator, he voted against a law carving out self-defense exceptions to local handgun bans; as a U.S. senator, he opposed business tax cuts and extending warrantless eavesdropping, and backed tougher gun laws. On Iraq, he has long focused on ending the war and withdrawing troops. - Bloomberg
The media is starting to focus a bit more on these changes in heart and shift to the center. It has alienated some of the more liberal supporters and it shows that he really is just blowing the political wind.
At the same time, changing positions may present risks by endangering one of Obama’s biggest assets, his “seeming authenticity,” said Mark Corallo, a strategist who worked on Republican Fred Thompson’s presidential bid.
Obama, 46, rejects the notion that he is trying to move to the center.
Which is it Barak Obama? Are you or are you not trying to shift towards the center with your constant changes in policy?
Filed under: President 2008 | No Comments »
I just had to create this poll after reading through the NW Florida Daily News and seeing a poll on John McCain’s military experience qualifying him to be president.
Here is the poll from here.
Loading ...Now who in their right mind would even think that because he has experience in the Military he wouldn’t be qualified to be President?
The left often touted John Kerry’s military experience over President Bush’s. Saying that it was what qualified him to be a better President than Bush. Now Barak Obama’s lack of military experience is suddenly causing those on the left to attack McCain’s experience.
The NW Florida Daily News likes to think that it is neutral but the fact is that they are often more left leaning than the citizens in Okaloosa County.
Filed under: Florida Politics, General Posts, National Politics, President 2008 | No Comments »
Barak Obama continues to deny that the surge has actually helped when other leaders in his party have acknowledged that hard cold fact. What does this say about his ability to apply diplomacy? He continues to show he has absolutely no clue on how foreign relations work or how the military works.
A new RNC ad targets Obama’s continued denial of the facts in Iraq. It shows that he really isn’t ready to command our troops or even our country. He wants to run on his judgment, but, how does his views on Iraq and the fact that policy of troop surge McCain supported and he didn’t has worked?
Here is the new Ad:
I think it says quite a bit about Barak Obama. Why is it that people on the left continue to support someone as clueless as this?
Filed under: President 2008 | No Comments »
While the left continues with the accusations that the Republican party is trying to keep gas prices high by pandering to the Oil Industry, they continue to block real change. Barak Obama continues with his party line vote on the things that he claims wouldn’t help.
A new Advertisement in four States paints John McCain as the real Bipartisan candidate. The one who will work across the isle to get things accomplished. The candidate who has real ideas and solutions. The only candidate who has voted for real change in the energy industry. Unlike Barak Obama, who has continued to vote the party line and obstruct new ideas.
If you really want someone who has actual ideas instead of telling you what you want to hear today then changing his mind tomorrow, then John McCain is the one to vote for. Barak Obama is nothing but one of those empty suits that everyone complains President Bush is all about.
Filed under: President 2008 | No Comments »
Senator Obama has often said that words matter when you are saying something. He has used it on occasion when speaking about Senator Clinton in his run for the Democrat party nomination. Maybe what Senator Obama fails to realize is that they also matter if he says them. Not just when others say them.
You don’t promise something then turn around and do something completely different. Senator Obama is quite good at this though. He has done it on several occasions. His most recent flip-flop has been his reversal on campaign finance.
At the beginning of his campaign he promised to use public financing as a way to limit political lobbyist influence. Just recently he has reversed this decision. Most likely because he is bringing in much more than public financing could bring in for him. Of course this also makes him beholden to those same lobbyists that he doesn’t want to be associated with.
Here it is in his own words.
Update:
For even more on words that matter, Ed Morrissey over at Hot Air has this to say:
it could help define Obama as either careless with his facts or dishonest altogether.
When speaking about a recent ad Senator Obama used to claim some accomplishments.
“Obama ad cites bill he did not vote on… While the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee authored provisions that ultimately made it into the law, he did not vote for its passage on Jan. 22, when he was busy campaigning in advance of the South Carolina primary.” (06/20/08) - Chicago Tribune
Filed under: President 2008 | No Comments »
Loading ...