This is great:

“Investors undertook their annual pilgrimage to Omaha this weekend to hear Warren Buffet opine on open markets and the world. One surprise is that the Berkshire Hathaway CEO seems to have adapted (NOT adopted) his famous Buffet Rule of taxation when it applies to his own company.”

“Readers may recall the original Buffet Rule that President Obama offered as part of his re-election campaign that essentially posited a minimum tax rate for the rich of about 30% (remember Buffet said “I pay a lower tax rate than my housekeeper?”) That was also a misleading statement, he pays a lower rate on his capital gains, as does everyone. The income tax rates are the income tax rates. There are no favors other than legislatively passed deductions). Mr. Buffet heartily endorsed the idea and Mr. Obama hauled out St. Warren as a soak the rich cudgel to beat up Mitt Romney in countless speeches.”

“So it was fascinating to hear Mr. Buffet explain that his real tax rule is to pay as little as possible, both personally and at the corporate level. “I will not pay a dime more of individual taxes than I owe, and I won’t pay a dime more of corporate taxes than we owe. And that’s very simple,” Mr. Buffet told Fortune magazine in an interview last week. “In my own case, I offered one time to match a voluntary payment that any Senators pay and I offered to triple any voluntary payment that Republican Senator Mitch McConnell made, but they never took me up on it.”

“The billionaire was even more explicit about his goal of reducing his company’s tax payments. “I will do anything that is basically covered by the law to reduce Berkshire’s tax rate,” he said. “For example, on wind energy, we get a tax credit if we build a lot of wind farms. That’s the only reason to build them. They don’t make sense without the tax credit.”

“So political favors for the wind industry induce a leading US company to misallocate its scarce investment dollars for an uneconomic purpose. Berkshire and its billionaire shareholder get a tax break and the feds get less revenue, which must be made up by raising tax rates on millions of other Americans who are much less well heeled than Mr. Buffet.”

“This is precisely the kind of tax favoritism for the wealthy that Mr. Romney’s tax reform would have reduced, and that other tax reformers want to stop. Too bad Mr. Buffet didn’t share this rule with voters in 2012.”

Wall Street Journal

5/5/2014

Finally we will have a Select Committee on Benghazi. A thorough investigation is in order. Chaired by Senator Trey Gowdy, the American people should finally hear the truth. This is only the beginning; we still have no answers and no accountability on the other scandals listed weekly below in the View. We must never forget what has been done and never accept less than the truth. Democrats are saying this is a waste of time and money. Why is it? The administration has been stonewalling since the beginning. If they had been forthcoming with the truth none of this would be necessary, Eric Holder would probably be gone, Lois Lerner would be in jail, Hillary would have been vilified and the President may have been impeached….. He may yet. I mean, he is the President, right? Where was he that night? Not in the Situation Room, we know that. Who gave the stand down order? Who pushed the video? He knows the truth and is responsible to speak the truth but he simply ignores the issues. Very un-presidential.

Lois Lerner has been charged with contempt of Congress…is the house of cards about to fall???

A review by economist for the PMPA, Dr. Ken Mayland, of last weeks’ Institute for Supply Management numbers:

The PMI registered a solid performance for April. The index rose from 53.7 in March to 54.9 in April. According to the ISM’s own analysis, if the April survey reading were to be sustained, it would be consistent with 3.9% GDP growth. The Production, Orders and Employment components of the survey all clustered around 55-firm indications…..The PMI index has now been above the 50 level (manufacturing activity increasing) for 11 consecutive months. The current level, in the neighborhood of 55, is consistent with solid gains being registered for manufacturing in the months ahead…Q2 is looking pretty darn good.”

The Real MVP

If you have not seen NBA player Kevin Durant’s heartfelt speech to his mom during a recent MVP ceremony, it’s on YouTube (2:30 in on the clip, below); watch it and have your children view it also. What a stand up guy, raised properly by an adoring mother. He obviously knows how lucky he is to have had her in his life as he grew into a man and now, as the man she raised, he can show his appreciation to her in many other ways.

Remember:

  • Fast & Furious-providing weapons to criminals leading to a loss of American life. No one held accountable. The president was unaware.
  • The loss of 4 American lives at our embassy in Benghazi, Libya. No one held accountable. The president was unaware.
  • The IRS targeting conservative political groups for tax-exempt status. No one held accountable. The president was unaware.
  • The National Security Administration eavesdropping on the phone calls of American citizens. No one held accountable. The president was unaware.
  • The software program created for the Affordable Healthcare Act, at a cost of $1 billion (thus far) and 3 ½ years to “perfect”, has been unusable to the American people. No one held accountable. The president was unaware.
  • Spying on our Allies, specifically Angela Merkel of Germany. No one held accountable. The president was unaware. (Although these things go on knowingly between countries all the time, the fact that our president denies knowledge of this is just another sign of his incompetence as the leader of the most powerful country on the planet).
  • “If you like your current insurance plan you can keep it. Period” Barack Obama

Have a great Mother’s Day weekend

If you are a mother, God bless you for the things you do.
If your mom is still with you, honor her for what she does. If she is not, honor her for what she did and….

Hug your children and grandchildren, tell them you love them.
Buy American made products whenever you can.
Hire a Veteran: they are patriots, honest, hard working, disciplined, loyal…. and …. They need and deserve our support.

God Bless America