Conservative Wanderer

“A troubled and afflicted mankind looks to us, pleading for us to keep our rendezvous with destiny; that we will uphold the principles of self-reliance, self-discipline, morality, and, above all, responsible liberty for every individual that we will become that shining city on a hill.” — Ronald Wilson Reagan

Daily Archives: 12 January 2011

Once Again, Democrats Hike Taxes

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (CBS) – By a single vote, Illinois lawmakers approved a 66 percent increase to the personal income tax overnight, and soon, your paycheck will be shrinking.

But as CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reports, Democratic state lawmakers have said the tax hike is necessary to get the state’s outstanding bills paid. Lawmakers also say cuts and spending limits will be part of the plan.

[snip]

The hike increases the state’s personal income tax rate from 3 percent to 5 percent.

In real numbers, if your gross income is $50,000 a year, your state income taxes will rise from $1,500 to $2,500 a year.

As CBS 2′s Susanna Song reports, the tax hike wasn’t sitting well with Chicago residents Wednesday morning. She spoke with dozens of commuters Wednesday and none of them supported the tax increase.

“I don’t like that. I’m already losing enough money,” one woman said.

“My taxes are high, so I just really … I’m really struggling as is,” another woman said.

The hike will also boost the corporate income tax rate by nearly 50 percent, from 4.8 percent to 7 percent. In addition to the corporate income tax, many businesses in Illinois pay a “Personal Property Replacement Tax” of 2.5 percent of income, bumping their corporate tax rate to 9.5 percent.

So, the Land of Lincoln has not only taken a bigger bite out of the average employed person’s paycheck, they’re also working hard to make it more expensive for businesses to stay in business… which will lead to many of them closing or fleeing the state for greener pastures elsewhere, meaning fewer employed people.

I’d call that a real lose-lose situation. But I guess that’s what Illinois Democrats want.

Do ABCNews.com Columnists Even Read Their Own Articles?

And now, a short study in cognitive dissonance, from ABCNews.com’s The Note.

The final paragraph begins:

BOTTOM LINE: Sarah Palin, once again, has found a way to become part of the story.

However, earlier in the same article, the authors admit:

[Palin's] words, of course, amount to a rebuttal of those who have called her out for using violent images to “target” Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and other Democratic lawmakers during the 2010 election.

Note… “those who have called her out.”

You see, Palin didn’t “[find] a way to become part of the story,” she was made a part of the story by those who wanted to smear and attack her. All she did was respond to the attacks.

In other words, this article is self-refuting… the earlier paragraph giving the lie to the last. Almost as though neither of the authors had bothered to read what they had written.

That’s the Dinosaur Media for ya… all those fact checkers and editors and People Who Know More Than Us Bloggers. (For the humor deprived… this paragraph is mostly satire. If you cannot determine which parts, consult your nearest conservative.)

Tucson Narrative Continues To Fall Prey To Ugly Facts

ABC’s Good Morning America had a friend of the shooter’s on this morning, and he had this to say about the shooter’s politics:

He did not watch TV. He disliked the news. He didn’t listen to political radio. He didn’t take sides. He wasn’t on the left. He wasn’t on the right.

So much for blame Palin, blame Bush, blame the Tea Party, blame the right!

Of course, when has the left ever let facts get in the way of their narrative?

You can view the interview here.

Morning Must-Read

It’s always like this in media memeland where the news travels faster than thought and the usual perpetrators of the lie spew their usual lies. The “narrative” is set out in templates as rigid as rebar laced through concrete: Nothing to hear here, move along. Nothing to see here, move along. Nothing new to be here, move along…. Oh, by the way, see those people over there? Yes, the ones who had nothing to do with it. They did it. What? You don’t believe me. Come over here and let me shout it in your ear over and over until you can’t hear yourself think. Repeat after me: “Even though they had nothing to do with it, they did it.” Got that? Good. Now go and vote likewise.

The reduction of tragedy to political commentary in this age is a banality. To point to it is only to extend it. To use insanity to count coup on political opponents is not insanity, it is evil.

Read the whole thing.