Muscatine

Aww come on.  Barack and Rahm wouldn't really do this would they?????   And from a lib. leaning organization too!!!!

 

http://www.aclu.org/privacy/gen/40662prs20090810.html?s_src=RSS

 

I'm taken back the years of defiling comments and debates from liberals over warrantless searches and wiretaps for National Security. "They", then said that was not justified. But web tracking users through private websites without warrants for National Security is?

 

Do as I say...not as I do??? Where have we heard and seen this before?

 

(P.S.-News this morning showed an audiance member at an Obooboo press conference (Montana?) telling he he promised during campaigns not to raise middle class taxes; so why is he proposing it now? Obooboo said, (Paraphrasing) "You are exactly right...but we have more people than planned, uninsured now, with no way to pay for it."

 

Why do "we" have to pay for it?

And the lies just keep coming.

Oh, bigbrother. You're such a lia... erm... I mean kidder. Here's what really happened per the White House transcript of the event:
"[THE PRESIDENT:] It's a gentleman's turn, and I'm going to call on that gentleman right there -- right there.

Q My name is Randy --

THE PRESIDENT: Hold on, Randy. There you go.

Q Okay. My name is Randy, I'm from Ekalaka, Montana. And as you can see, I'm a proud NRA member. (Applause.) I believe in our Constitution, and it's a very important thing. I also get my news from the cable networks because I don't like the spin that comes from them other places.

THE PRESIDENT: Oh, you got to be -- you got to be careful about them cable networks, though. (Laughter.) But that's okay, go ahead, go on with your question.

Q Max Baucus, our senator, has been locked up in a dark room there for months now trying to come up with some money to pay for these programs. And we keep getting the bull. That's all we get, is bull. You can't tell us how you're going to pay for this. You're saving here, you're saving over there, you're going to take a little money here, you're going to take a little money there. But you have no money. The only way you're going to get that money is to raise our taxes. You said you wouldn't. (Applause.) Max Baucus says he doesn't want to put a bill out that will. But that's the only way you can do that.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, let -- I'm happy to answer the question.

Q Thank you.

THE PRESIDENT: Look, you are absolutely right that I can't cover another 46 million people for free. You're right. I can't do that. So we're going to have to find some resources. If people who don't have health insurance are going to get some help, then we're going to have to find money from somewhere.

Now, what I've identified, and most of the committees have identified and agreed to, including Max Baucus's committee, is that there -- overall this bill will cost -- let's say it costs $800 billion to $900 billion. That's a lot of money. That's a lot of money. That's over 10 years, though, all right? So that's about $90 billion -- $80 billion to $90 billion a year.

About two-thirds of it -- two-thirds -- can be obtained by doing some of the things I already mentioned, like eliminating subsidies to insurance companies. So you're right, that's real money. I just think I would rather be giving that money to the young lady here who doesn't have health insurance and giving her some help, than giving it to insurance companies that are making record profits. (Applause.) Now, you may disagree. I just think that's a good way to spend our money.

But your point is well taken, because even after we spend -- even after we eliminate some of the waste and we've gotten those savings from within the health care system, that's only two-thirds. That still means we've got to come up with one-third. And that's about $30 billion a year that we've got to come up with. Now, keep in mind the numbers change, partly because there are five different bills right now. This is all going to get merged in September. But let's assume it costs about $30 billion a year over 10 years. We do have to come up with that money.

When I was campaigning, I made a promise that I would not raise your taxes if you made $250,000 a year or less. That's what I said. But I said that for people like myself, who make more than that, there's nothing wrong with me paying a little bit more in order to help people who've got a little bit less. That was my commitment. (Applause.)

So what I've said is -- so what I've said is let's, for example, just -- this is the solution that I originally proposed; some members in Congress disagree, but we're still working it through -- what I've said is we could lower the itemized deductions that I can take on my income tax returns every year so that instead of me getting 36 percent, 35 percent deductions, I'll just get 28 percent, like people who make less money than me.

If I'm writing a check to my local church, I don't know why Uncle Sam should be giving me a bigger tax break than the person who makes less money than me, because that donation means just as much. (Applause.) If we just did that alone -- just that change alone, for people making more than $250,000, that alone would pay for the health care we're talking about. (Applause.)

So my point is -- my point is, number one, two-thirds of the money we can obtain just from eliminating waste and inefficiencies. And the Congressional Budget Office has agreed with that; this is not something I'm just making up; Republicans don't dispute it. And then the other third we would have to find additional revenue, but it wouldn't come on the backs of the middle class.

Now, let me just make one final point. I know that there are some people who say, I don't care how much money somebody makes; they shouldn't have to pay higher taxes. And I respect that opinion. I respect that view. But the truth of the matter is, is that we've got to get over this notion that somehow we can have something for nothing, because that's part of how we got into the deficits and the debt that we're in, in the first place. (Applause.)

When the previous administration passed the prescription drug bill, that was something that a lot of seniors needed, right? They needed prescription drug help. The price tag on that was hundreds of billions of dollars. You know how we paid for it? We didn't. It just got added on to the deficit and the debt.

So it amuses me sometimes when I hear some of the opponents of health care reform on the other side of the aisle or on these cable shows yelling about how we can't afford this, when Max and I are actually proposing to pay for it, and they passed something that they didn't pay for at all and left for future generations to have to pay in terms of debt. That doesn't make sense to me. (Applause.)

All right, can I say this, though? Randy, I appreciate your question, the respectful way you asked it, and by the way, I believe in the Constitution, too. So thank you very much. Appreciate it. (Applause.)"

You can agree or disagree with the premise of his position, but he clearly did not take the cavalier attitude concerning middle class taxes that you implied.