Obama Shafts Military Again

As part of a military retirement ceremony, one of the presentos given to the retiree is a letter “signed” by the Commander in Chief (President). Since I retired in 2010, my Commander in Chief was President Barack Obama. Because of his record towards the military, both as president and as a Senator, I decided not to have the letter presented to me as part of the ceremony. I do have it, but having a letter from him read aloud, thanking me for my service, kind of rang a bit hollow to me. I do have it, but it will never be displayed.

Now Obama has yet again confirmed this decision.

President Obama’s latest policy outrage makes no attempt to hide his contempt for our military, as he is ordering that our troops serving overseas in war zones overseas are no to receive combat pay unless they are being shot at, or at risk of being injured by hostile aggression. A Marine who lives in Florida (also currently serving in Afghanistan) has just posted a note on facebook which stated that he received a letter from his MyPay account that he would only be receiving his Hazard pay (Imminent Danger Pay) if he actually in a hostile area and at the risk of being shot at.

“So I just got a letter from MyPay (the way we get paid in the military), saying that I will only receive Combat Pay while deployed for the days that I take fire or am in a hostile area. Now, as an Infantry Marine, I’m constantly in a combat zone…it may not always be popping off, but for them to take that away from us is bull----. Now the aviation tech who sits on Camp Leatherneck, sure, I can see him not getting Combat Pay, but to take it away from the grunts, that ground pounders, the front line of defense…come on, Uncle Sam. You let the Liberals win a big one here…Marine from Florida” (Name redacted) (Source (Conservative Action Alerts)

The Marine make a very a couple of valid points. While you are “outside the wire” you are in constant danger of getting hit. It could be a sniper taking potshots at your convoy; it could be that improvised explosive device cooking off while on a dismounted patrol; or it could be a group of combatants firing AK’s at helicopters as they fly overhead.

Is California Getting Smart?

Very interesting state of affairs in California. California has long lived up to its nickname, The Golden State, with golden-type welfare benefits, state-employee retirement and benefit plans, and a secondary education subsidized like no other.

The economy, which has hit California very hard with the nation’s second highest unemployment rate, has been extremely slow to recover. This means tax revenue have fallen well short of needs and projections.

It now looks like Governor Jerry “Moonbeam” Brown has finally realize the state government can no longer afford to carry everyone who desires to be on welfare.

The friend who sent me this link is doing his retirement travels. He started in Washington, then down along the Oregon coast to California. He noted that once they crossed the Cal-Ore state line, the increase in homelessness was noticeable. While much of that can be attributed to the economic times, it should also be pointed out that with the great welfare benefits the state doles out, it is a mecca for those who wish to live off of taxpayer money. It looks like those days might be over.

Cuts Aren't Balanced

I know it has been a while since I last posted, but have been up to my eyeballs in some new stuff.  I’ll cover this in another post in the next day or two.

On to the posts

Many of you are aware that the state of Washington is struggling to balance its budget. Poor revenue forecasting and just plain old decreasing revenue has caused another huge shortfall in what the state is going to bring in and what it has to spend. Like most states (and unlike the feds) Washington State is required by its Constitution to balance the budget. Because of the lack of income, the Governor and state legislature are trying to deal with the $1.2 billion gap.

Initially I have been a supporter of the tough decisions that Christine Gregoire has made. In times of budget constraints, there really aren’t any sacred cows anymore. But recent events have made me reconsider both my support and my opinion.

Gregoire Proposes Sales Tax Increase

I have blogged may times about the budget situation here in the Evergreen State. A special session of the state legislature has been called and will convene tomorrow in hopes of finding further budget cuts totaling nearly $2 billion.

In an effort to close the shortfall, Governor Christine Gregoire has called for additional taxes and fee increases. In what will probably be the most hotly debated increase is her proposal to temporarily increase the state sales tax by 1/2 percent, increasing the baseline sales tax to 7%. If the voters approve of this increase, Washington State would only trail California as the highest sales tax rate in the nation.

A couple of issues must be addressed before I could even begin to consider this tax increase. The biggest concern that I have is would this actually be a temporary increase, or would the politicians, who are mostly tax and spend democrats, attempt to keep this increase? I certainly would not hold my breath or trust the words of a politician. There must be some language written into the bill that would give us an iron-clad promise this increase would only be for the stated number of years (currently proposed for three years). Even if the economy continues to tank in three years (a distinct possibility if Obama gets reelected) the increase must go away AND only through voter approval could it continue.

The other concern I have is how the money would be spent. Would this increase just give the democrat-control legislature a license to spend? Or could it be directed at only those areas mostly in need? I am not sure if there are any sort of safeguards that could be put into place that would prevent the corruptocrats in Olympia from not being wise with our money. They certainly haven’t been able to do so thus far. I foresee these bungles of our money following the letter of the law: the increased revenue from the tax increase going towards what is required by the law. But I also see general funding being redirected towards pet projects and vote-buying schemes. Then we’ll be back at square one, but only with an increase in our sales tax to show for our troubles.

One thing to note here: If approved, folks living in certain sections of Seattle would see their sales tax increase to a full 10%

Budget Crisis, Round Two (or is it Three)

The state of Washington is about to get hard once again due to needed budget cuts.

For the fourth year in a row, Gov. Christine Gregoire on Thursday outlined more than $1.5 billion is state cuts to health care, social services, prisons and education.

The latest round would increase public-school class sizes, eliminate subsidized health care for the working poor and release hundreds of inmates early.

“These are pretty much the very shocking things we’ve been trying to avoid for the last three years,” Senate Ways and Means Chairman Ed Murray, D-Seattle, said of the governor’s proposal.

“There are no choices left,” he added (Source: Seattle Times)

We have been down this road once already. The last time was much worse, in terms of dollar amounts. In the last legislative session, over $5 billion had to be trimmed from the state’s budget. All kinds of program were impacted, including health care, prisons, and government salaries (3% reduction).

While the dollar amount of the cuts begin sought by Gov, Gregoire won’t be as large, the reductions could have far wider and significant impact.

Budget Cuts Starting Point

As with many localities and states, the state of Washington is struggling with its operating due to high levels of spending and a sharp decrease in revenue during this deep recession (I don’t care what the numbers say, we are still in a recession). Last winter, the legislature passed a spending bill that cut over $5 billion from the state budget. Even that wasn’t enough as Governor Christine Gregoire is seriously contemplating calling a special session in order to cut another $1 billion.

In the initial cuts, state workers saw an across the board cut in their salaries and many programs saw deep cuts. It is quite possible that more cuts will have to be initiated to get the budget balanced as revenue was under-forecasted.

In this environment of tightening budgets and people hollering their salaries or programs should be cut comes news from a state auditor that government employees are wasting our tax dollars.

Several state workers habitually tended to personal affairs while on the clock, including planning a wedding, trading stocks and even running a private business.

A new report by the state auditor details waste at state agencies, which cost some workers their jobs and led to a computer crackdown.

State employees use computers and phones to conduct their business, but they’re not supposed to use that equipment or their work time for anytime personal.

“State law’s pretty clear. You cannot use public resources – and that’s going to time, money or equipment – for personal use,” said state auditor Brain Sonntag. (Source: KOMO News)

Sure seems like there might be a little room for some more cuts in the budget if people can use their work time to conduct personal business. Here is an idea: the positions held by those folks that were fired or decided to resign in lieu of getting fired should not be filled. It certainly won’t make up much of the difference in the grand scheme of the budget shortfall, but it could be a starting point.

WA Special Session on the Table

$1.3 billion.

In today’s budget numbers, at least on a national scale, that figure is not overwhelming, but on a state scale it is a crippling figure.

Due to continued slow economy Washington State revenue is expected to fall $1.3 billion short of projection, necessitating another round of budget cuts. This is after over $4.6 billion was cut from last year’s budget (WA works on a two-year budget cycle).

Governor Christine Gregoire is going to formally call for a special session of the state legislature to address this looming crisis,

Gregoire budget director Marty Brown said the governor is still finalizing the details of the session but will make a formal announcement Thursday morning. He and spokesman Cory Curtis said it is likely to begin at the end of November – after the state gets a new revenue forecast.

State officials projected last week that the state faces a $1.3 billion shortfall in the current budget cycle because economic conditions have not improved as initially anticipated, and that’s if the Legislature drains a rainy day fund and leaves no money left as a buffer. Lawmakers have talked about the need to prepare $2 billion worth of changes in a roughly $30 billion budget. (Source: Seattle PI)

The last round of budget cuts hit education and social services very hard and there may be little wiggle room this time around with out causing significant pain. GOP lawmakers have vowed to fight any tax increases, and while they are in the minority, the voter-approved need for a 2/3 majority to increase taxes works in their favor.

I foresee another round of very tough budget calls and more pain for nearly everyone in the state. While I certainly hope that taxes stay off the table, there appears to be a growing momentum for a raise in taxes.

Obama Deficit Reduction: Long on Taxes, Short on Cuts

For the past two and half years, President Obama has danced around the whole tax increase platform. It has been mentioned several times, but nothing concrete has ever been proposed. In fact, when he actually had a chance to raise taxes on the wealth, he chickened out, seeing how the left took an absolute bath in the 2010 election cycle.

Well, it looks like the dancing is done and the gloves have come off. President Obama has finally proposed a significant tax increase on the wealthy in an attempt to whittle away at the $14 trillion deficit.

In this proposal, which will more than likely be DOA at arrival in House, he wants to raise taxes on those making more than $1 million a year. His goal is to keep the rich from paying fewer taxes than folks in the middle class.

I wonder if he is aware that 48% of all Americans, including a sizeable percentage of the middle class, don’t even pay taxes. And I know there is no way that he is not aware that the top two percent pay more than 40 percent of all taxes received by the federal government.

His whole fair-share shtick, exposed by “Joe the Plumber” back during the campaign is beginning to wear a little thin. All he is interested is redistribution of wealth. As long as he continues to pay lip service to entitlement reform, all he is trying to do is take money for the rich and give it to the poor. And like Robin Hood did back in Sherwood Forest, he is going to use force to make this happen. While the method of taking from the rich will be different, government power vs. a bow and arrow, the result for refusal will be the same.

And you really have to wonder about the people who are providing his advice. Why would these people tell him that it will be OK to raise taxes on job providers, especially when it looks like second round of the recession is on the way?

Comment Response

While clicking through my local newspapers this morning, I came across this linked article. In it the writer makes his case for how the federal budget crisis we are currently under had its roots in the spending practices of the previous administration, while barely casting any blame on the current administration. As I read through his column, I began to formulate a response that I was going to post in the comments section. However, the more I wrote, the longer the response. So I decided rather than post it where my readers might not be able to find it, I will put my response here.

Enjoy

OK, decent article that has obviously been researched. But Talton, as a journalist you should that numbers and figures are journalism 102 (101 being who, what, when, where, and why (or how)). The statistics did make the point that spending is out of control, and the wars didn’t help matters.

They have been fought on credit (Iraq and Afghanistan). Instead, President George W. Bush pushed through tax cuts, heavily weighted toward the rich, that added another $1.8 trillion in red ink – and this was before their extension under President Obama last year.

You kind of forget to mention that the tax cuts that favored the rich also coincided with a nice long run of economic prosperity after the recession brought on by the 9/11 attacks. Gross domestic product had an average rate of just under 4% (this includes 2009 which really screwed up the curve). Our unemployment rate hovered near 5%. In terms of strict numbers, it is quite possible the tax cuts did cost the US Treasury $1.7 trillion dollars.

But why don’t we look at this from another direction. Each state in the Union collects taxes for the state coffers. Some states collects taxes through sales taxes, other through income taxes, while others still collect taxes using a combination of both. While this might be comparing Red Delicious Apples to Granny Smith Apples, I think it is worth exploring. During the recent economic downturn the state of Washington has come up close to $7 billion dollars short in tax revenue because of unemployment and people pinching their pennies. ($5.5B actual, $1.5B projected). At 6.7 million people, The Evergreen State has just over 2% of the US population. If we were to project out this $7 billion and 2%, we can come up with a possible state level revenue shortfall of somewhere near $330 billion. Keep in mind this is only state level revenue generation, which is typically lower than the federal government (except for maybe California and we’ve seen how well they’ve done with all that tax revenue).

As Usual, Dems Blame Someone Else

Someday, in the future, President Obama and his staff will actually take responsibility for their own actions and their own failures. From the very first day of his presidency he has sought to blame all that ails on someone else. Occasionally, he has been at least partially correct. The economic collapse did occur on George Bush’s watch. While the foundation of the trouble (housing crash) can be rightfully tied to democrat policies under Clinton, Bush had his chances to fix Fannie and Freddie. But after a year or so, the economic troubles belong to the current administration, no matter how much he tries to paint this otherwise. Obama and his spending policies have sent our national debt into the stratosphere.

Now his staff and his main stream media sycophants are attempting to place the blame for the S&P downgrade on the Tea Party. Never mind that the Tea Party and the representatives they sent to Congress tried to get a balanced budget amendment passed and also championed deeper cuts. The lack of both of these was cited by S&P officials as reasons why the downgrade occurred.

Illegal Immigrants to Get California Student Aide

While California is mired in debt and obligations it cannot pay, a recently passed and signed bill will further tax an already collapsing system.

California is going to the banks to ask for a temporary $5 billion dollar loan in case the federal debt ceiling is not raised. At the same time California governor “Moonbeam” Brown has just signed legislation that will add more financial burden to the state. Known as the California “Dream Act”, this bill will allow illegal immigrants access to funds for a college education. The money is private, but the fallout will impact the bottom line. As private money is drained, students who don’t qualify for the private grant money will then turn to the state funding lines. (Links via Drudge Report)

BTW: I want you to notice that never does the writer for the LA Times refer to these folks as illegal immigrant students, instead using the purposefully benign term “undocumented students.”

Suit To Challenge Local Anti-Tax Initiative

A couple of years back an initiative was passed in the state of Washington that limited our state legislature’s ability to raising taxes. Initiative 1053’s language requires that there be a “super-majority” in order to pass any tax increases.

It seems there are some legislators who just don’t get it when it comes to taxation. Several democrat legislators, along with the League of Education Voters are filing suit in Superior Court to get this initiative overturned.

To support their suit the plaintiffs are cherry-picking the state constitution. According to the State Constitution “No bill shall become law unless on its final passage the vote be taken by yeas and nays…and a majority of members ge elected to each house be recorded thereon as voting in its favor.”

However, Article II, Section 1 and Amendment 7 are fairly clear in that the initiative process takes precedence over legislative actions and the legislature is bound by any initiative passed that has any impact over their actions. I am not a lawyer, so I don’t always understand the legal mumbo-jumbo, but it seems fairly clear to me that this suit doesn’t have a leg to stand on.

Take a look at who is filing this suit. It is all democrats or organizations that support democrat causes (more taxes). Since I can’t find any evidence that contradicts, I am going to assume that the League of Education Voters has pretty much supported democrats across the board. There might be instances otherwise, but I cannot find them.

Even people in a liberal state like Washington recognize that there has to be limits on how our “representatives” collect and spend our money. The people spoke loud and clear when this initiative was overwhelmingly approved with a 64% “yes” vote.

Oddly enough, even though I do support Initiative 1053, I am on the fence when it comes to the whole initiative process. We live in a representative democracy, more commonly referred to as a Republic. This has been done in order to prevent the chaos of pure democracy. Most states have chosen to emulate the national government in the sense that they too govern in a representative manner. Some states like Washington and Oregon have backtracked somewhat from this republic form of government with the initiative process inserted into their state constitutions. The initiative process allows for a “majority rules” kind of actions which is what the framers of the US Constitution wanted to avoid.

On the plus side of the initiative process is it acts as another check and balance on the government. If the people do not support actions of the legislature, they have the ability to overturn (some say hinder) legislative actions. As I have stated several times in the past, Washington is a liberal state where the population isn’t really fond of over taxation. They have proven this time and time again over the years. The voters have prevented the legislature from imposing higher taxes with the 2/3’s legislative requirement to raise taxes.

But at what point does an initiative hinder the ability of those chosen (voted in) to represent us? The state of Washington faced a $5 billion budget shortfall this past session. Initially, the avenue attempted to file the gap was a combination of higher taxes and some budget cuts. But initiative 1053 forced the legislature to make cuts only because they could not muster the 2/3’s needed to raise taxes. But was it a good thing that taxes were not raised? The state had to slash nearly every program under their purview. This included health care for the poor as well as cuts to education. User fees were raised across the board. State employee salaries were cut by 3% over the next couple of years.

This time around, I do think these things were necessary. Usage requirements for the state health care system were tightened. People who use the programs have to jump through more hoops to gain access to the state health care system, but it should be that way. If you are on the taxpayer dime, it shouldn’t be a “no questions asked” kind of access.

State employee salaries needed to be more in line with the private sector. The benefits allotted to employees are far and away better than those who work in the private sector. The retirement plan is generous, to say the least. The state contributes over 5% of the employee’s salary (not deducted from) to a retirement fund. Employees are not required to contribute anything. Health care is relatively cheap. $112.00 a month gives an entire family a robust health care plan. And there is no charge for dental or vision care. So maybe a 3% cut in salary was necessary for employees who earn an average of $53,000.00 a year.

In a way, the initiative forced the government of Washington State to act more responsibly. Legislators had to find the guts to make the necessary tough calls in order to balance the budget. And these calls were tough, especially for democrats, who have a spend now, get the funds later mentality.

Conservation Groups Concerned About Budget Cuts

It has always been tough to be caught between a rock and hard place and everyone has experienced that feeling at one time or another during their lives. Now it seems that recreational hunters and fishermen are the ones caught in between.

During this latest budget crisis, many programs are being looked at for significant cuts. There are few, if any, sacred cows, as Congressional leaders look to ways to curb the out of control spending that has occurred in recent years, especially under President Obama. Even the defense department has floated the idea of reducing pay, retirement, and other benefits of military members.

Now it seems that conservation programs funded by the federal government are also going to experience the axe. And they are not happy about it.  The linked article is not referring to radical tree-hugger who prays to Mother Earth. The folks that are more than a little concerned are folks who hunt and fish. Contrary to some popular opinions about these folks, they really do care about the condition of the environment. Granted, they want the nice environment so they can hunt and fish, not to be “one with nature” as the radicals can be like. In all the budget cutting talks, programs that improve hunting and fishing grounds are likely to see hits (as well as almost every other program under the sun).

Pay Cuts for Our Military? UPDATE: 2 Jun

In these tough times, everyone in the government is going to have to make some sacrifices to get our budget problems under control. Now it seems that outgoing SecDef has put cuts to military pay and compensation on the table as a cost-cutting measure.

President Obama has asked the Department of Defense to cut $400B and one of the ways that this could be accomplished is by cutting the pay of our Soldiers, Airmen, Marines, and Sailors. Obama is already not terribly popular among those serving. There are many who feel he is out of touch with members of the military. I can speak first-hand on this. While deployed on 2009 he came for a visit and folks were not interested in attending. Watching videos of former President Bush’s visit compared to Obama’s there was a stark difference between the ways folks responded to each individual. Bush got a rousing welcome with lots of cheers, while Obama’s greeting was respectful but certainly not over the top. I spoke to a couple of people who attended Obama’s meet-and-greet and they said Obama seemed surprised that he didn’t get the kind of welcome he had come to expect when greeting other well-wishers.  His Executive Order eliminating Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and then pushing Congress to allow gays to serve openly in the military is a very good indicator of how out of touch he is with respect to the men and women of the military.  I point this out because if he OKs pay and benefit cuts what little inroads he has made with the military will disappear completely.

House Votes Down Debt Ceiling Increase

This was just a symbolic vote, but I am glad to see the Republicans are going to stick to their guns (is that violent rhetoric?) over the debt ceiling issue. I don’t know enough to say whether not raising the debt ceiling (don’t trust Tim G. as far I could throw him) would cause harm to our nation, but I do know that this is a great chance to start the process of whittling away at the debt and out of control spending.

Clinton Agress with Ryan (Sort of)

As noted yesterday, a democrat won a special election in a generally Republican New York district. I also pointed out that one of the reasons why the democrat won was because the fake tea Party candidate most likely pulled enough votes from the Republican to swing the election over to the democrat.

There is also another reason why this election turned out not so good for Republicans; Paul Ryan’s supposed destruction of Medicare. The dems have been fast and loose with their dissemination of information; some going as far as saying Ryan wants old people to die.

Senate Passes Spending Bill

The State of Washington has now passed a spending bill that covers the next two years. The budget bill cuts over $5B in spending over the next two years.  Coupled with this savings, usage fees have either been increased of initiated.

New Fees:

$30.00 annual fee for state park and recreation use.

This fee is expected to raise some $70M dollars over the next two years but there are some concerns that folks in the lower income brackets my no longer afford to use the parks. There is some validity in those concerns. When you live paycheck to paycheck, thirty bucks is a big deal.

Teachers, Administrators, to See Salary Cuts

Based on the actions by the teachers unions a couple of months back, this little piece of news is not going to sit well.  In a way, I can understand where they are coming from. No one likes to receive a pay cut, especially when you are performing your job in a proper manner. But these are hard times all over. The Washington State Legislature has been trying for several months to close a $5B+ budget shortfall. In their efforts to get a budget put together, many services have been cut and fees have been raised.

In my local area, one of the school districts is already planning on laying off some teachers. The district that serves my town did not have to lay off any teachers, but it was real close. In fact, one of my regular readers has lost their teaching job, although I do not know what district in which they teach (and I am not going to ask).

Weekend Links

LOCAL:

1. Space Needle celebrates 50 years. A lot had to happen to make the Seattle icon come together and the article linked tells all about how it all came together. If you have never been to the Space Needle, you probably still recognize it.

From "The Best Travel Destinations" website

We’ve been up to the top and the view is great. My wife and boys went there for dinner one night a few years ago while I was deployed. Cheeseburgers were $12 a pop.  The area around the base is also quite interesting so I highly recommend a visit if you are ever in the area.

Were the Budget Cuts Worthwhile?

If you have any confusion because of the rhetoric regarding whether the recent spending bill actually cut dollars from the federal budget this link is a worthwhile read. It was written by Quin Hillyer who was the press secretary for the House Appropriations Committee back in the mid 90s.

In the article he explains that yes, there are some smoke and mirrors, but there are some actual cuts to spending that can be measured.

It’s awfully easy to carp from the sidelines.  But it is just not fair, and not honest, to say the claimed savings are illusory or, worse, a deception.  And they certainly don’t represent a sell-out.  Go ahead and withhold the cheers if you want.  I’m not really cheering either. But fergoshsakes, stop the vitriol – and stop claiming that Boehner has acted deceitfully. (Source: The American Spectator)

The best way to learn whether or not these spending cuts are actually on the table is to do a little digging yourself.