Monday, January 31, 2011

Issues and Legislative Advisory Committee Resolutions

On January 27th, 2011 at the Bonneville County Republican Central Committee meeting the following resolutions passed:

1. Be it resolved by the Bonneville County Republican Central Committee that we support the education reform plan by Idaho's State Superintendent Tom Luna.

2. Be it resolved by the Bonneville County Republican Central Commitee that we oppose designating a FTZ (Foreign Trade Zone) of 30,000 acres south of the Boise Airport or any land in Idaho that would allocate this acreage to be owned and inhabited by the Chinese Communists to be foreign soil, not subject to local laws and give permanent resident status to Chinese foreigners under the EB-5 program selling out Idaho.

These Resolutions will be sent to the State Republican Party and Governor C. L. "Butch" Otter.

Click the links below to read more about FTZ's


http://www.channelingreality.com/NAU/FTZ/inland_ports.htm


http://www.channelingreality.com/Vicky_Rants/2010_09_08_sell_out_to_the_communist_chines.htm

Region VII Republicans Lincoln Day Banquet

Location: Idaho Falls Shilo Inn

Date: Saturday, March 5th, 2011

Time: 6:00 p.m. Social / 7:00 p.m. Dinner

Adults $25 in advance---$30 at the door
Students $15 in advance---$20 at the door

If you would like to purchase tickets just use our contact page and let us know. Be sure to submit an address and phone number where you can be reached.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

House Highlights


Idaho House of Representatives
Legislature.Idaho.Gov



House Highlights
By Tom Loertscher


A couple of years ago, we were cleaning the shop at the ranch. While doing so I could hardly believe some of the things that I had kept around the place. There were worn-out bearing races, short pieces of useless metal, and other old parts that we had accumulated from previous repair efforts. I thought that it probably was just me, but I soon found out that the whole family had been doing the same thing I had. Apparently, there is a little bit of pack rat in all of us.

Each year as I leave a legislative session, I gather up some of my stuff from the capital and take it home. Linda is not terribly fond of this activity because it all resides very comfortably in the off-season in my office. Now I'm not going to say that I never use these things, but I do tend to go through them from time to time looking for information on things that were done during the previous session. As you can imagine, the next thing that happens is to repack everything and haul it back to the capital. I was doing that last week on Sunday evening after arriving in Boise. The only other person I happened to see at that time in the entire building was a security guard and I don't think he saw me. It was an eerie feeling to have everything so quiet knowing full well that the legislature would start in earnest the next morning.

On Monday, After Convening in the House, and gathering the Senators, the Elected Officials, and the Judiciary, the Governor Gave His Annual State of the State Message and Budget Message. It was one of the more interesting that I have seen during my time in the legislature. I think it is the first time that I have heard a governor not present a large wish list for the legislature to consider. He has projected a small increase in revenues but seemed to recognize that there is no room this year for new items in the budget. One thing that stood out, was his request to bond for the money that we owe the federal government for unemployment benefits. It certainly deserves consideration but at the same time we need to make sure that we don't over-extend the resources of the state.

The other item during the week that seemed to occupy a lot of discussion time was the new education reforms that Superintendent Luna proposed. I think it is a good thing for students to begin to learn how to take courses online. There are so many resources available for education in this day and age and I hope that educators will have an open mind when it comes to considering these new ways of educating kids. I have been told that there is a vast new resource online called Google Apps Education that is being successfully used in other parts of the country. I hope we will look seriously at what is available from that source. The other part of the proposal in providing a laptop computer for every student is one that will need careful consideration. Just giving a computer to each student could be problematic and a better way might be to require some ownership of the students for the equipment. It seems like when we as humans have some ownership we take better care of things.

Several members of the House health and welfare committee had a chance to participate in a conference call with the former director of health and welfare for the state of Rhode Island. That state has worked with the federal government in getting flexibility to operate the Medicaid program. They claim to be realizing great savings while at the same time not reducing the programs or eligibility. This looks to be a major new effort that we will be looking at during this session.

And so it begins. One of the suggestions I heard around these halls was that we probably should just adopt the Governor’s budget and go home. That may be too much to hope for because I am sure a lot of legislators want to have a careful look at what he has proposed. Seeing how it is our constitutional responsibility to develop a budget, that is what we will do.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

The Urgent Need for More George Washingtons

By Earl Taylor, Jr. ~ National Center for Constitutional Studies




The Urgent Need for More George Washingtons



As we move into a New Year there seems to be some similarities between our situation today and that of the transition from 1776 into 1777.


Near the end of the year 1776, the thirteen colonies had begun to form a very loose confederation. The war against the tyrannical King George III was not going very well. The disastrous defeat at New York had forced Washington and his army to retreat into a position that the British generals had all but declared victory. It looked rather hopeless to many people that real freedom would ever be possible.


“I Will Not…Despair”


In addition to the tragic loss of New York which forced the American army to retreat down the full length of New Jersey, there was the fall of Fort Washington and Fort Lee, the fearsome advances of the British, the plotting of Washington's Generals Lee and Reed against him and the overwhelming reality that the enlistments were up for more than two thousand of his fifty-four hundred troops. Still Washington wrote, “I will not…despair.”


Amidst all this discouragement, one of the men present during the New Jersey retreat, a fiery young patriot named Thomas Paine, sat by the campfire for light and using a drumhead for support, penned the familiar passage that Washington later used to try to energize his troops:
“These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph....Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated.”


Washington knew that freedom-loving Americans needed a victory, even a small victory, to prove that, in spite of all the defeats, it is still possible to win against overwhelming odds.


A Much-Needed Victory at Trenton


As small as it was, Washington 's victory over the British-hired Hessian troops at Trenton had a much greater meaning. It showed that, indeed, the forces of freedom can win, and little by little, begin to chip away at the powerful forces of soul-destroying tyranny. Of the Trenton battle Parry and Allison wrote:


“It was a glorious and almost unbelievable victory for the beleaguered American commander and his troops. Nearly 1,000 Hessians were taken captive; another 115 were killed or wounded. Four Americans had been wounded, but not a single one was lost in battle—although in the fierce night before, two had tragically frozen to death.


“‘The enemy have fled before us in the greatest panic that ever was known,' one of the patriot soldiers wrote after the victory. ‘Never were men in higher spirits than our whole army is.'”
Could it be compared to the small but significant victories in our day seen at the November 2, 2010 elections?


Washington Not Lulled into False Sense of Security


In the wake of the Trenton and Princeton victories, many Americans began to proclaim high praise for General Washington. His brother-in-law, Bartholomew Dandridge, seemed to echo the feelings of many when he wrote to Washington saying: "It is plain [that] Providence designed you as the favorite instrument in working out the salvation of America . It is you alone that can defend us....I am sure you have no idea of your real value to us."


An article in the Pennsylvania Journal, published about six weeks after the victory at Princeton, described Washington in glowing terms:


“In his public character he commands universal respect and admiration. Conscious that the principles on which he acts are indeed founded on virtue, he steadily and coolly pursues those principles, with a mind neither depressed by disappointments nor elated by success, giving full exercise to that discretion and wisdom which he so eminently possesses. He retreats like a general and acts like a hero. If there are spots in his character, they are like the spots in the sun, only discernible by the magnifying powers of a telescope.”


Washington was indeed beginning to be viewed as a hero in the eyes of many. His countrymen had been given a closer look at the capabilities of their commanding general, and they liked what they saw.


Surprisingly, Washington did not react favorably to this rising tide of popularity and praise. "Everybody seems to be lulled into ease and security," he wrote. They needed to be shocked into the possibility of a potential disaster: "I think we are now in one of the most critical periods which America ever saw."


Washington Foresees Need for
Spiritual Preparation for Coming Battles


As the American army was emerging from the difficult winter encampment at Morristown , and in preparation for the coming battles of the New Year 1777, General Washington issued strict orders to ensure that his troops were preparing themselves spiritually for the coming difficulties. "All chaplains are to perform divine service...every...Sunday," he declared, and he ordered "officers of all ranks" to set an example by attending. "The commander in chief expects an exact compliance with this order, and that it be observed in the future as an invariable rule of practice. And every neglect will be considered not only as a breach of orders, but a disregard to decency, virtue, and religion."


He had already issued a general order stating. “The General hopes and trusts that every officer and man will endeavor so to live and act as becomes a Christian soldier defending the dearest rights and liberties of his country.”


Washington Not Deterred by “Ignominious Epithets”


Washington 's stirring challenge in his day is ever so applicable in our own day as we face criticism and derision from similar foes. Said he:


“Let it never be said that in a day of action you turned your backs on the foe. Let the enemy no longer triumph. They brand you with ignominious epithets. Will you patiently endure that reproach? Will you suffer the wounds given to your country to go unrevenged? Will you resign your parents, wives, children, and friends to be the wretched vassals of a proud, insulting foe? And your own necks to the halter?...Nothing, then, remains but nobly to contend for all that is dear to us. Every motive that can touch the human breast calls us to the most vigorous exertions. Our dearest rights, our dearest friends, and our own lives, honor, glory, and even shame urge us to fight. And my fellow soldiers, when an opportunity presents, be firm, be brave. Show yourselves men, and the victory is yours.”


Washington had a strong conviction of the
influence of God in guiding America 's destiny


It is, no doubt, the desire of freedom-loving Americans today to have national leaders that could bear the same testimony about America that Washington did:


“We may, with a kind of pious and grateful exultation, trace the fingers of Providence through those dark and mysterious events which first induced the states to appoint a general convention, and then led them one after another...into an adoption of the system recommended by that general convention, thereby, in all human probability, laying a lasting foundation for tranquility and happiness, when we had but too much reason to fear that confusion and misery were coming rapidly upon us. That the same good Providence may still continue to protect us, and prevent us from dashing the cup of national felicity just as it has been lifted to our lips, is [my] earnest prayer.”


Washington had an intense desire to teach the science of government to our youth and to not dilute America 's greatness in their minds with teachings from foreign lands


Multiculturalism in education and the thought that America is just one of many good systems from which one may choose to live under, had no place in Washington's philosophy:


“A primary object...should be the education of our youth in the science of government. In a republic, what species of knowledge can be equally important? and what duty more pressing on its legislature than to patronize a plan for communicating it to those who are to be the future guardians of the liberties of the country?”


“It has always been a source of serious regret with me to see the youth of these United States sent to foreign countries for the purpose of education, often before their minds were formed or they had imbibed any adequate ideas of the happiness of their own, contracting, too frequently, not only habits of dissipation and extravagance, but principles unfriendly to republican government and to the true and genuine liberties of mankind, which thereafter are rarely overcome.”


Washington felt America must remain
the great neutral nation of the earth


“I hope the United States of America will be able to keep disengaged from the labyrinth of European politics and wars....It should be the policy of united America to administer to [other nations'] wants without being engaged in their quarrels.


“My ardent desire is, and my aim has been (as far as depended upon the executive department), to comply strictly with all our engagements, foreign and domestic, but to keep the United States free from political connections with every other country; to see that they may be independent of all and under the influence of none


“I have always given it as my decided opinion that no nation had a right to intermeddle in the internal concerns of another;… and that if this country could, consistently with its engagements, maintain a strict neutrality and thereby preserve peace, it was bound to do so by motives of policy.


Washington felt that morality and religion were
inseparable and indispensable supports to our Republic.


Our first president dispels the modern myth that one can be a moral person without religion. Religion is necessary to give morality a standard. And be careful, he said, when someone with advanced educational degrees claims that religion is not necessary for morality or freedom. He would label such modern philosophies as deceptive and false:


"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens.... Let it simply be asked, where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education ... reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."


Upon hearing of the death of Washington , Thomas Jefferson quoted the scripture, “verily, a great man hath fallen this day in Israel .” But Jefferson was not without hope that the Creator would provide others to come to maintain what his friend George Washington was so instrumental in starting. Said he: “And indeed, it would have been inconsistent in creation to have formed man for the social state, and not to have provided virtue and wisdom enough to manage the concerns of the society.”


Should we not this New Year resolve to make an intensive effort to teach, identify and support those who have the same values and character as our great Founding Father, George Washington?

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

That My Sons May Have Liberty!



“I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy.

“My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce and agriculture in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain.”

~ John Adams

This quote came from a letter to his wife Abigail.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

No Amnesty, No DREAM Act

No Amnesty, No DREAM Act

The upcoming debate over the DREAM Act’s passage is beginning to look more like a con man’s shell game, of sorts. With two new versions of the original DREAM Act now on the table, it will be easier to perpetrate a great fraud on the American public. Players in the game -- the American people -- will be tantalized with accepting changes in the law via legislation, substituting amnesty applied to current law breakers for the legitimate and honest legal immigration process already in place.

The White House, unaccountable agency czars, and congressmen, some of whom compromised integrity for votes in the pre-mid-term election cycle, are creating confusion over the details with the political goal of passing it without much objection. Congressmen who never read bills, won’t know which version they are voting on. However, this is one measure where the devil is NOT in the details of the two bills, but in principle.

The truth of the DREAM Act's goals, S. 3827, were best exposed by Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) in his “Ten Things You Need to Know About S. 3827, The DREAM Act." Here are a few of the low-lights he enumerated:

The DREAM Act Is NOT Limited to Children, And It Will Be Funded On the Backs Of Hard Working, Law-Abiding Americans.

The DREAM Act PROVIDES SAFE HARBOR FOR ANY ALIEN, Including Criminals, From Being Removed or Deported If They Simply Submit An Application.

Estimates Suggest That At Least 2.1 Million Illegal Aliens Will Be Eligible For the DREAM Act Amnesty.

Illegal Aliens Will Get In-State Tuition Benefits.

The DREAM Act Does Not Require That An Illegal Alien Finish Any Type of Degree.

The DREAM Act does not require that an illegal alien serve in the military as a condition for amnesty, and There is ALREADY A Legal Process In Place For Illegal Aliens to Obtain U.S. Citizenship Through Military Service.

Despite Their Current Illegal Status, DREAM Act Aliens Will Be Given All The Rights That Legal Immigrants Receive—Including The Legal Right To Sponsor Their Parents and Extended Family Members For Immigration.

Current Illegal Aliens Will Get Federal Student Loans, Federal Work Study Programs, and Other Forms of Federal Financial Aid.

Dreamy buyers need to beware, both versions are on the Senate calendar. From Congressional Quarterly comes the minute differences between the two versions:

One version (S 3962) keeps an eligibility age of younger than 35 for the program, but a second version (S 3963) lowers that age to younger than 30....
If no other eligibility criteria are changed, the potential number of people eligible would drop slightly, from roughly 2.1 million to slightly more than 2 million, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute.

Besides the usual Democrats who support the measure, Republicans Richard Lugar from Indiana and Robert Bennett of Utah are already vocalizing their support. Senator Orrin Hatch may be on board if the cut off point is lowered somewhat; after all he authored the original legislation, nine years ago. Senators Snowe, Collins, Murkowski, Brownback and McCain either have not yet made up their minds, or haven’t made public statements on how they will vote.

If your elected representatives are out of sync with you, your family, friends and neighbors on this issue, contact them immediately as time is of the essence in this lame duck session, and let them know you are not in favor of limited or conditional amnesty for illegals. Remind them that the front door of the United States, the one our forebears came through, is always open for those seeking application for a new life in a new land. True justice requires that a nation and those from outside respect the established laws of that nation. Breaking those laws and then rewriting them after the fact is no justice at all.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

LARGEST TAX HIKES IN HISTORY

LARGEST TAX HIKES IN HISTORY

On January 1, 2011, the largest tax hikes in the history of America will take effect.

They will hit families and small businesses in three great waves.

On January 1, 2011, here’s what happens... (Read it to the end, so you see all three waves)...


First Wave:

Expiration of 2001 and 2003 Tax Relief

In 2001 and 2003, the GOP Congress enacted several tax cuts for investors, small business owners, and families.

These will all expire on January 1, 2011.


Personal income tax rates will rise.

The top income tax rate will rise from 35 to 39.6 percent (this is also the rate at which two-thirds of small business profits are taxed).

The lowest rate will rise from 10 to 15 percent.

All the rates in between will also rise.


Itemized deductions and personal exemptions will again phase out, which has the same mathematical effect as higher marginal tax rates.


The full list of marginal rate hikes is below:
•The 10% bracket rises to an expanded 15%

•The 25% bracket rises to 28%

•The 28% bracket rises to 31%

•The 33% bracket rises to 36%

•The 35% bracket rises to 39.6%



Higher taxes on marriage and family.

The "marriage penalty" (narrower tax brackets for married couples) will return from the first dollar of income.

The child tax credit will be cut in half from $1000 to $500 per child.

The standard deduction will no longer be doubled for married couples relative to the single level.

The dependent care and adoption tax credits will be cut.


The return of the Death Tax.

This year only, there is no death tax. (It’s a quirk!) For those dying on or after January 1, 2011, there is a 55 percent top death tax rate on estates over $1 million. A person leaving behind two homes, a business, a retirement account, could easily pass along a death tax bill to their loved ones. Think of the farmers who don’t make much money, but their land, which they purchased years ago with after-tax dollars, is now worth a lot of money. Their children will have to sell the farm, which may be their livelihood, just to pay the estate tax if they don’t have the cash sitting around to pay the tax. Think about your own family’s assets. Maybe your family owns real estate, or a business that doesn’t make much money, but the building and equipment are worth $1 million. Upon their death, you can inherit the $1 million business tax free, but if they own a home, stock, cash worth $500K on top of the $1 million business, then you will owe the government $275,000 cash! That’s 55% of the value of the assets over $1 million! Do you have that kind of cash sitting around waiting to pay the estate tax?

Higher tax rates on savers and investors.

The capital gains tax will rise from 15 percent this year to 20 percent in 2011.

The dividends tax will rise from 15 percent this year to 39.6 percent in 2011.

These rates will rise another 3.8 percent in 2013.


Second Wave:

Obamacare

There are over twenty new or higher taxes in Obamacare. Several will first go into effect on January 1, 2011. They include:

The "Medicine Cabinet Tax"

Thanks to Obamacare, Americans will no longer be able to use Health Savings Account (HSA), Flexible Spending Account (FSA), or Health Reimbursement (HRA) pre-tax dollars to purchase non-prescription, over-the-counter medicines (except insulin).

The "Special Needs Kids Tax"

This provision of Obamacare imposes a cap on Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) of $2500 (Currently, there is no federal government limit). There is one group of FSA owners for whom this new cap will be particularly cruel and onerous: parents of special needs children.
There a

re thousands of families with special needs children in the United States, and many of them use FSAs to pay for special needs education.

Tuition rates at one leading school that teaches special needs children in Washington , D.C. ( National Child Research Center ) can easily exceed $14,000 per year.

Under tax rules, FSA dollars can not be used to pay for this type of special needs education.

The HSA (Health Savings Account) Withdrawal Tax Hike.

This provision of Obamacare increases the additional tax on non-medical early withdrawals from an HSA from 10 to 20 percent, disadvantaging them relative to IRAs and other tax-advantaged accounts, which remain at 10 percent.

Third Wave:

The Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) and Employer Tax Hikes

When Americans prepare to file their tax returns in January of 2011, they'll be in for a nasty surprise-the AMT won't be held harmless, and many tax relief provisions will have expired.

The major items include:

The AMT will ensnare over 28 million families, up from 4 million last year.

According to the left-leaning Tax Policy Center, Congress' failure to index the AMT will lead to an explosion of AMT taxpaying families-rising from 4 million last year to 28.5 million. These families will have to calculate their tax burdens twice, and pay taxes at the higher level. The AMT was created in 1969 to ensnare a handful of taxpayers.

Small business expensing will be slashed and 50% expensing will disappear.

Small businesses can normally expense (rather than slowly-deduct, or "depreciate") equipment purchases up to $250,000.
This

will be cut all the way down to $25,000. Larger businesses can currently expense half of their purchases of equipment.

In January of 2011, all of it will have to be "depreciated."

Taxes will be raised on all types of businesses.

There are literally scores of tax hikes on business that will take place. The biggest is the loss of the "research and experimentation tax credit," but there are many, many others. Combining high marginal tax rates with the loss of this tax relief will cost jobs.

Tax Benefits for Education and Teaching Reduced.

The deduction for tuition and fees will not be available.
Tax credits

for education will be limited.
Teachers will no longer be able to

deduct classroom expenses.
Coverdell Education Savings Accounts

will be cut.
Employer-provided educational assistance is

curtailed.
The student loan interest deduction will be disallowed

for hundreds of thousands of families.

Charitable Contributions from IRAs no longer allowed.

Under current law, a retired person with an IRA can contribute up to $100,000 per year directly to a charity from their IRA.
This

contribution also counts toward an annual "required minimum distribution." This ability will no longer be there.

And worst yet?

Now, your insurance will be INCOME on your W2's!

One of the surprises we'll find come next year, is what follows - - a little "surprise" that 99% of us had no idea was included in the "new and improved" healthcare legislation . . . those who backed this administration will be astonished!

Starting in 2011, (next year folks), your W-2 tax form sent by your employer will be increased to show the value of whatever health insurance you are given by the company. It does not matter if that's a private concern or governmental body of some sort.
If you're retired? So what? Your gross

will go up by the amount of insurance you get.

You will be required to pay taxes on a large sum of money that you have never seen. Take your tax form you just finished and see what $15,000 or $20,000 additional gross does to your tax debt. That's what you'll pay next year.
For

many, it also puts you into a new higher bracket so it's even worse.

This is how the government is going to buy insurance for the15% that don't have insurance and it's only part of the tax increases.

Not believing this??? Here is a research of the summaries.....

On page 25 of 29: TITLE IX REVENUE PROVISIONS- SUBTITLE A: REVENUE OFFSET PROVISIONS-(sec. 9001,
as modified by sec. 10901) Sec.9002 "requires employers to include in the W-2 form of each employee the aggregate cost of applicable employer sponsored group health coverage that is excludable from the employee’s gross income."
-

Joan Pryde is the senior tax editor for the Kiplinger letters.
- Go to Kiplingers and read about 13 tax changes that could affect you. Number 3 is what is above.

People have the right to know the truth because an election is coming in November.

If you would like to know more, just Google “largest tax hikes in history” and you will find a lot of websites covering this topic.