AMERICAN CONSERVATISM IN 2008 AND BEYOND

Those who benefit from the sale of these products should bear some responsibility for their downside.

Quote:
The sale of alcohol generates large amounts of tax revenue for states and the federal government. The most recent national statistics on revenues from taxes and fees on alcohol are from 2006. Federal Tax Revenue _ Distilled Spirits: $4.6 billion _ Wine: $877 million _ Beer: $3.7 billion State Tax Revenue _ Distilled Spirits: $5.7 billion _ Wine: $1.6 billion _ Beer: $5.4 billion Local Tax Revenue _ Distilled Spirits: $529 million _ Wine: $219 million _ Beer: $1.09 billion

http://article.wn.com/view/2009/02/15/A_look_at_taxes_generated_by_the_sale_of_alcohol_l/

:"So you want miracles? Obama has been in office for less than two months, and Bush had eight years to destroy our economy and country. What a dork!

If you want miracles, go to your church and pray. "

Not one has yet agreed with Boetcker's principles that have been posted a few times now, and several have criticized me for posting them. Certainly they have not been willing to discuss them on their own merit. (I think one person dismissed them because MACs couldn't exclusively claim them. )

But these principles I believe illustrate critical underpinnings of MACean thought:

Quote:

Basic principles defined by Wm Boetcker:
* You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
* You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
* You cannot help little men by tearing down big men.
* You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
* You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
* You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money.
* You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
* You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn.
* You cannot build character and courage by destroying men's initiative and independence.
* And you cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they can and should do for themselves.

Sir Winston Churchill said: "Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy; its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery."
That must be one of the reasons one of Obama's first official acts was to return to England a Churchill bust that had graced the Oval Office while Bush was president.

I wonder if other European nations can look forward to similar disdainful treatment from our President who had pledged to rebuild diplomatic ties and restore American prestige in the world?

Article I.Section 8. The Congress shall have power
To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
To borrow money on the credit of the United States;
To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes;
To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States;
To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures;
To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States;
To establish post offices and post roads;
To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;
To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court;
To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations;
To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;
To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years;
To provide and maintain a navy;
To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces;
To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions;
To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the states respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the state in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings;--And
To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof.

http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/fed36.asp
Hamilton No. 36
Let it be recollected that the proportion of these taxes is not to be left to the discretion of the national legislature, but is to be determined by the numbers of each State, as described in the second section of the first article. An actual census or enumeration of the people must furnish the rule, a circumstance which effectually shuts the door to partiality or oppression. The abuse of this power of taxation seems to have been provided against with guarded circumspection. In addition to the precaution just mentioned, there is a provision that "all duties, imposts, and excises shall be UNIFORM throughout the United States.''

http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/fed41.asp
Madison No. 41
''But what color can the objection have, when a specification of the objects alluded to by these general terms immediately follows, and is not even separated by a longer pause than a semicolon? If the different parts of the same instrument ought to be so expounded, as to give meaning to every part which will bear it, shall one part of the same sentence be excluded altogether from a share in the meaning; and shall the more doubtful and indefinite terms be retained in their full extent, and the clear and precise expressions be denied any signification whatsoever? For what purpose could the enumeration of particular powers be inserted, if these and all others were meant to be included in the preceding general power? Nothing is more natural nor common than first to use a general phrase, and then to explain and qualify it by a recital of particulars.

:"Sir Winston Churchill said: "Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy; its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery."
That must be one of the reasons one of Obama's first official acts was to return to England a Churchill bust that had graced the Oval Office while Bush was president."

In all the right-wing blogs, you mean to say. Most of the papers didn't buy into the faux-outrage bullshit the Conservatives tried to drum up on this non-issue.

Cycloptichorn

British press aghast at 'cheap' Obama gift

Posted on: Saturday, 7 March 2009, 14:15 CST

British newspapers are upset over what they see as rude treatment given to Prime Minister Gordon Brown by U.S. President Barack Obama this week, observers say.

The London dailies criticized Obama's treatment of Brown during his state visit to Washington this week on several fronts, including alleged cheap gift-giving, the New York Daily News reported Saturday.

"President Obama has been rudeness personified toward Britain," The Daily Telegraph wrote Friday. "His handling of the visit of the prime minister, Gordon Brown, to Washington was appalling."

The main point of contention was an alleged gift-giving snub. Brown gave Obama a pen holder made from the timbers of the 19th century British warship HMS President, while Obama responded by awarding Brown a collection of classic American movie DVDs.

"Oh, give me strength," the Daily News quoted an appalled Daily Telegraph staffer as writing. "We do have television and DVD stores on this side of the Atlantic."

So Walter, where is it written that the USA can install any kind of missile launcher, offensive, defensive, or anti-missile, in any European country without that country's consent?

:"It was in all the papers, radio broadcasts, telecasts etc. President Obama did not hold a state dinner or do any of the traditional ceremonial stuff for Mr. Brown citing distraction re the economy as the reason--this despite the fact that he has not been too distracted to throw several lavish parties at the White House for his buddies. Also, there was a lot of comment about the cheesy cheap gifts presented to Mr. andMrs. Brown and the children with suggestions that they were a last minute afterthought and picked up by staffers in the White House gift shop."

Downing Street is looking to avoid potential humiliation after the White House scaled down the profile of Gordon Brown's first formal meeting with Barack Obama.

While the Prime Minister is expected to hold nearly two hours of talks with the US president, the White House has categorically ruled out a traditional joint press conference before the White House media. After overnight protests from British diplomats, the White House agreed to allow journalists into the Oval Office later for a brief round of questions after the talks.

Gordon Brown's officials have played down the significance of the decision and deny the Prime Minister is being snubbed. However, the move will distinctly lessen the prestige of the PM's coup of becoming the first European leader invited to Washington for talks with Obama since his inauguration in January.

That Obama will find time to meet with the Boy Scouts of America later this afternoon is sure to add to the embarrassment.

The trip is in marked contrast to the hospitality lavished on Tony Blair by George Bush when they met for the first time.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/03/gordon-brown-faces-humili_n_171406.html