Take note that the persons opposed to tanning altogether are the ones who got this 10% tax added. They know that even a 10% tax (just like all the taxes added to smoking) dissuades someone from that action. Similarly, all the taxes coming down the pike will do what exactly to consumers wanting to go out and spend??
In one scene, Snooki — with her impressively orange tan — broke the shocking news that she’s been staying away from her home away from home: Tanning salons.
“I don’t go tanning anymore because Obama put a 10% tax on tanning. McCain would never put a 10% tax on tanning. Because he’s pale and would probably want to be tan,” she said.
Snooki was referring to a provision in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act that mandates tanning salons impose a 10 percent tax on UV-ray sessions.
McCain and Jersey Shore team up. Why would a President who is concerned about jobs and people (supposedly) put a 10% on small business owners that would do nothing but hinder job growth. Many of his policies hinder this.
Four in 10 Tea Party members are either Democrats or Independents, according to a new national survey. The findings provide one of the most detailed portraits to date of the grassroots movement that started last year. The national breakdown of the Tea Party composition is 57 percent Republican, 28 percent Independent and 13 percent Democratic, according to three national polls by the Winston Group, a Republican-leaning firm that conducted the surveys on behalf of an education advocacy group. Two-thirds of the group call themselves conservative, 26 are moderate and 8 percent say they are liberal.
Here is 10,000 pennies on the subject that explains why many conservatives jumped ship from Bush’s spending policies:
In blues, soul, and R&B music men like Bobby Womack, Bobby “Blue” Bland, Teddy Pendergrass, Marvin Gaye, and Al Green were noted specialists in a lyrical aesthetic known as “begging”. “Please, baby please” this, or “please, baby please” that. In my generation, the preeminent “begger” was Keith Sweat. Well, Keith ain’t got NUTHIN on this. Televangelist Benny Hinn has posted a plea for $2 million in donations on his website. Hinn says he accumulated the deficit in the past few months because offerings at some international appearances did not cover expenses.
Actually, it must be in a country that has strict gun laws already and they want to ban knives now. “Knives kill people, not people.” Here is the info from the YouTube site:
This is a knife crime animation about a group of Scottish teenagers and the consequences of knife crime. Watch how a knife affects one teen as he finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. http://www.noknivesbetterlives.com
Of course I am sure most “knife” crimes are not “first time ‘knifers’,” as shown in the animation, but street gangs and criminals. This is like people here depicting a child finding a gun and playing with it (the lowest amount of death due to negligence [not the gun itself], and then wanting to ban all guns. The question becomes this, will Scotland ban knives, or require a license to buy a set of knives for your kitchen?I wait with bated breath… not!
This “JourNOlist” thing gets worse and worse as time progresses. Here is a portion of an open letter from Brent Bozell to the Washington Post:
The JournoList scandal is getting worse every day and The Washington Post is at the center of it. Blogger Ezra Klein ran the operation and at least three other staffers were members. (Blogger Greg Sargent claims he wasn’t a member after he joined the Post.) In addition, at least one member of Slate and two from Newsweek, also owned by Washingtonpost. Newsweek Interactive, were members.
The almost constant revelations of political activism and journalistic conspiracy raise an enormous number of questions about Post policies, professionalism and ethics. As a conservative, and therefore a member of the movement JournoListers sought to demonize, I feel Post readers are owed full disclosure.
Any understanding of the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics makes clear this list and the Post’s involvement violate a number of ethical guidelines. In fact, much of the code seems to have been ignored. Here are just a few examples from the code.
Journalists should:
“Distinguish between advocacy and news reporting,”
“Recognize a special obligation to ensure that the public’s business is conducted in the open and that government records are open to inspection,”
“Avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived,”
“Deny favored treatment to advertisers and special interests [emphasis added] and resist their pressure to influence news coverage.”
This great article comes from LIBERTARIAN REPUBLICAN and should be read by all, in it entirety. I am discussion this very same topic over at THE WORLD ACCORDING TO KIMBA, a misguided friend. He feels that to try and stop this Mosque is an affront to our history, not wanting to make subject/object distinctions, but instead tear at false arguments and ideas behind the opposition. Between this and the linked post of a friends site, one can piece together a pretty tight argument as to why this Mosques shouldn’t be built. Article will follow video. (Take note that Pamela had rushed from the top video to the Hannity show here — that’s why she is in the same suit.)
As one of America’s leading Libertarian thinkers, perhaps I’m always expected to give the “Libertarian answer” to every issue. But sometimes one has to speak not as a Libertarian, Republican or Democrat, but rather as an American- preferably a common sense American. The issue of allowing a mosque to be built in the shadow of the 9/11 terrorist tragedy is one of those times.
The answer is simple for a common sense American- I support religious freedom, as all Americans should. But this is not a case of religious freedom. Yes, Muslims can build their mosque virtually anywhere in America- despite 9/11…despite the Times Square bomber…despite plots by Islamic extremists to blow up the New York subway system…despite everything happening in Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan. That’s what makes our country great. We do in fact support religious freedom. You can build a mosque virtually anywhere in America.
However, there are also the rights and sensibilities of others to consider in a free society.
Does “religious freedom” mean hate groups should build statues to Hitler in front of Jewish temples in America? Should Americans raise money to build Jewish temples and Christian churches at Mecca? Should Japan build a statue to the bravery of their pilots at Pearl Harbor? Should the U.S. build a statue to the bravery of our pilots at the site of Hiroshima? Aren’t those examples all about “freedom of expression,” “religious freedom” and property rights? Perhaps, but is it too much to ask for a little consideration and respect toward others?
[….]
Privately funded or backed by Foreign Governments?
[….]
Yes, private individuals and organizations have the right to build houses of worship with their own funds. But one has to wonder where the money is coming from to build a 15-story building on some of the most expensive real estate in the country. We Americans believe in the separation of Church and State. If it turns out that this project is sponsored by a foreign government — either directly or through a state-sponsored organization that engages in terrorism — than the idea of this being an issue of religious freedom is a sham and an argument can be made that our Constitution would actually prohibit this mosque from being built.
However, if this is privately funded by parties with no ties to a foreign government, I have to believe that we have enough people in this country who are offended by the prospect of a mosque at Ground Zero, that the money can be raised to buy this land at a fair price from the owners. I know I’d be the first to contribute to a foundation to keep this sacred land from ever being desecrated by a symbol of the very groups that attacked America on 9/11.
We can also put public pressure on the property owners to sell to this new patriotic foundation funded by Americans. We can organize massive protests, filling the streets surrounding this property with patriotic Americans concerned that the hallowed ground of 9/11 never be used as a political tool to taunt or embarrass the United States, or as a place to preach intolerance towards Americans. I, for one, am ready to fly 3000 miles to New York to join the protest.
These are the only rational answers for common sense patriotic Americans who still believe in a free society. In situations like this, none of us can afford to be Libertarians, Republicans, Democrats, or politicians of any stripe. We are all proud Americans.
Editor’s Note – Wayne Root was the 2008 Libertarian Vice-Presidential candidate. He is currently an At-Large Member of the Libertarian National Committee, and Chair of the Libertarian Committee for Congressional candidates.
