The Republican Presidential Debate; Taxes, Taxes and Taxes… and the Media

President Ronald Reagan suffered greatly in his first term. There was one reason. He phased in his tax cuts over time. The economy never heated up, it remained stagnant until… the tax cuts hit their lowest point. Businesses waited to re-invest and start up their companies until the taxes reached their lowest possible level. The Republican Presidential candidates should keep this in mind.

With all the talk of the economic suppression of the people through an over expansive and demanding tax system I, a simple common man, kept thinking; ‘If you want to give us some economic relief talk about repealing ObamaCare.’ This will bring instant relief and a drop in healthcare costs. The repeal will bring a boom to our economy.

But taxes are otherwise an out of control problem. I classify the republican presidential candidates into two categories in terms of their policies on taxes. Those who hold the political viewpoint and those who hold the viewpoint of the people.

Those of the political viewpoint are; Kasich, Huckabee, Christi, Bush and Rubio. I was listening on the radio and didn’t realize that Christie was in the debate until about two thirds in, and my wife was trying to speak to me during the debate. So the lack of visual aids and distractions may leave my analysis lacking. I certainly would have been aware of Chris Christi’s presence if I could have seen the candidates.

Kasich had a very strong performance from my perspective. “I did it and I will do it.” speaking of conservative reforms. He stayed away from the PC, but expressed the compassion he feels is so important to a successful campaign with expressions of faith in families and a nation built from the bottom up. It was a very masterful response to previous mistakes. I suspect he may have a small bump in the polls, small being the optimal word.

Huckabee presented clear moral values. It was again a masterful focus of his perceived strong points, being a former minister. “If we can’t keep our promises to our elderly then…” Well, do people even understand why we should be more respectful to the elderly, more than to a younger person anymore. I am uncertain if many in this country have the ability to recognize the moral weaknesses of this nation of which Mr. Huckabee was speaking. I personally, from his past presidential run, do not believe Huckabee lives up to his words. He is a politician through and through.

Christi? He did a good job. They all did well except for one. I appreciated the positive views he, and others, expressed of their fellow candidates. He believes in global warming. Enough said.

Rubio was Rubio. He made a good impression but didn’t advance his cause. The negative spat he got in with Bush didn’t help him. His view on taxes was establishment.

Bush? He came across jaded. He is establishment. His campaign keeps suggesting that this country needs to be saved but at the same time that America is as great as it has ever been and will be greater in the future. …Future?

Fantasy football is gambling. So long Jeb.

All these political viewpoint tax plan candidates did well compared to past performances. I fear they may grow in prestige in the polls. They conformed to the people’s expectations in word, but a political class seldom feels the need to follow through in deed. If you believe any of these five  political viewpoint men will bring the change and reform we need in our government, I have another name for you; John Boehner.

Now let us get to the real people running for president. Those who hold the viewpoint of the people on taxes.

Donald Trump was clear and direct. He knows who he is. He clarified completely his plans for a border/wall in less than ten seconds. His tax plan comes across much more complicated than the others in this group but he understands that lowering taxes will spur the economy. That is the conservative position.

The plans of Donald Trump and the others in this group were criticized by the establishment types. The political types, who haven’t been able to produce a balanced budget in years if truly ever, claimed the implied economic growth (generating more tax income) would not cover the cost of their opponents proposed tax cuts. Well, If we have to have a few more budgets running a deficit until we get it right, in the words of Hillary Clinton; “What difference does it make now?”

Donald Trump hit one out of the park with his call to end Super PACs. Issues over Super PACs have been front and center in the political drama since they were formed. They give off a bad smell. People are tired of the controversies over free speech. Marco Rubio scored big off of Donald Trump with his association of Super PACs with the media.

Ben Carson had one of the simplest tax plans. Every other member of the people’s viewpoint on taxes upheld the validity of his perspective, though their plans differed. This was Ben Carson’s big victory in the debate and a victory for we the people. Ben Carson is not being judged on his debate performances and the reality is none of the candidates are in most people’s minds. We watch simply for clarification on each candidates views and for what we can glean of the quality of their characters. When Scott Walker dropped out I was adrift, not sure of exactly who to throw my support behind. This debate changed that.

Carly Fiorina gave a very strong performance. She was exact and detailed in the problems of this nation in regards to taxes and regulation, and how to fix the problems. Zero based budgeting, a three page tax plan and getting the government out of people’s lives, with example after example, were all powerful hits. She hit a home run with her comment that as a CEO of a publically traded company she would be held criminally responsible if she made mistakes, unlike when those in government break the law. She drove the point, a point that rings true with the people, that she will get the reforms that have been promised for forty years, but never followed through on, DONE. Donald Trump spoke of limited government. Carly Fiorina told us how to limit government.

Yes, We all want to see a cat fight between Carly and Hillary.

The private sector candidates have a distinct advantage in this election cycle for good reason. No one believes in politicians. No one believes politicians have the interests of the people in mind. But two politicians rang true last night; those in the people’s viewpoint on taxes camp; Rand Paul and Ted Cruz.

Rand Paul’s devotion to his principles and love of country are without question. His consistency on the issues breeds a great deal of trust. He is believable. He was catapulted to success in the debate by Ted Cruz stepping in with support of his tax plan. His libertarian views give most a slight pause which may be enough to keep him from the presidency. That, and that he is making a strong impression on government in his current seat.

Ted Cruz blasted front and center once he got going. He is believable. He has consistently stood against government and for the people and we all know it. His tax plan turns away from the same old same old labyrinth of tax codes waiting to be manipulated by special interests. He calls liars liars and takes no prisoners. He resembles the private sector candidates more than any other politician. He led the charge against the media.

Here is my common man’s conclusion on this last debate. Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Donald Trump, Carly Fiorina and Ben Carson are the viable candidates at this point. I have not seen any polls.

I would be happy with any of the private sector candidates winning the nomination.

Rand Paul and Carly Fiorina have been overshadowed by their particular counterparts. Carly Fiorina has the potential to breakout. I don’t believe Rand Paul does.

As I have written before, Marco Rubio is more establishment than even he realizes. Can you say, John Boehner. Still, I will be hoping for the best if he becomes our president. I absolutely expect that he will be the vice presidential candidate.

Among my list of viable candidates Ted Cruz benefited the greatest in this latest debate. He became my number one choice next to Ben Carson.

Ben Carson? Many find it hard to comprehend how Ben Carson is where he is in the polls. People want to believe that any man can become president, without climbing the ranks of a political machine. It is how most older citizens such as myself were raised. But what few understand is that the people of this once great nation want to believe that the hand of God still guides us.

Ben Carson is a man of sincere faith. When one’s faith is recognized as sincere and good it does not matter what Christian sect they belong to. Though some refuse to admit his abilities and great intelligence qualify him for president, Ben Carson brings the moral standards and abilities people believe God desires in a leader.

More to the point, there is a spirit moving across this nation. The people believe in Providence. They trust in God’s blessings. The people are turning to God for relief from the tyrant. This should be a comfort to our hearts.

As I have listened to the republican candidate debates I have often asked myself; Are they reading my blog? If you go through my posts over the last eight years you will find most of the policy ideas presented by our candidates. You can find the general views on government and the people they espouse written here. I highly doubt the candidates are reading or even know of my blog. I have heard my views and analysis reflected in commentary and in the voices of callers to various talk shows. I have had blog posts grow in my brain for weeks that I never found the opportunity to write down. Then, I read or hear read on the radio some article that reflects my developing views completely.

The point being there is a spirit moving this nation, driving the people of this nation to the good. Hopefully it is moving the hearts of all our politicians. I believe The Spirit can work through any of the six candidates I, as a common man, consider viable.

It is in this light that you must ask yourself; Why is Ben Carson so popular? It has nothing to do with race.

Finally, as I have observed the republican debates and the first democrat debate, as I have watched the media and others act and respond, as I have watched some very qualified and desirable candidates sink to oblivion, the tactic of the media is becoming clear to me.

Imagine this. After the republicans select their candidate for president and vice president they are completely ignored by the media? Day in and day out the news glows over Hillary and we just never hear a word or even see an image of the other candidates. Forget an onslaught of negative stories. There will just be no stories. The republicans will not be worth covering. They will be defined only in the words of Hillary Clinton. If there is any coverage it will be of some special interest group calling the republicans racist hate mongers; the people’s enemy. This is how we older people were taught the media in the Soviet Union operated.

I believe this is a tactic already in play. I believe this tactic influenced campaigns such as those of Scott Walker and Bobby Jindal. Rick Santorum is still in the race. …Isn’t he?

To make this media tactic work conservative radio would have to be silenced. (note I do not suggest FOX News need be silenced) President Obama acts without restraint. Many have predicted he will grow more and more lawless and radical as the end of his reign approaches. If he cannot get rid of the commentators on talk radio themselves he will go after the radio stations and corporations that own them? Are not both the establishment republicans and democrats alike, along their media cohorts, continuously targeting Rush Limbaugh?

And remember Net Neutrality?

The democrats are deadly serious about anointing Hillary. If these media tactics are not enough they have more drastic measures planned. The United States is under assault from within. It is why the people are looking outside, and ultimately to God for rescue.

The First Democrat Debate

Yes, I really did listen to the first democrat party presidential debate. We don’t have cable, so I listened on the radio.

I wondered what year we were in; 2004? 2008? The Iraq War? Did someone say Bush? Is the democrat party so lacking in substance that they have to draw topics from three election cycles ago?

Then came the homage to the radical democrat base. Socialism, every sexually deviation imaginable (as the norm), gun control, and nods to global warming and supposed renewable energy we ‘the people’ are to empty our pockets to pay for.

Then the question; “Who is your greatest enemy?” Or in other words; “Who should we hate?” the moderator wanted to know. The answer is the likes of the NRA and republicans, to name two.

That is the democrat platform. …That is the democrat platform.

You can say Hillary stood out and made an impression, but did she differ in any way from anything any other democrat candidate stood for?

The communist state, with all its destitution and horrors, is a state of the party over the people. The party decides what is good for the people, not the people. The party decides who will lead, not the people. Anyone who stands in opposition to the party is an enemy of the state. Hence, Bernie Sanders refusal to condemn Hillary Clinton for any of her illegal actions and incompetent leadership.

In the communist state, as in the democrat party, humanity is nothing more than a material resource; like baby parts.

With all her failures and what everyone knows to be her illegal activity, the party still puts forth Hillary as their candidate. She is down in the polls and has a recognizable ‘unlikable factor’, yet she still stands as the presumptive anointed one; her victory a mere technicality.

But… do you really think I just sat there for two hours listening to the radio? No! I had the TV on, with the volume off. I was watching The Women’s World Open for the two hours of the debate. That would be a woman only poker tournament. And these women could turn vicious, one upon another, in a wink. One competitor kept going all-in on another whenever they found themselves heads up. If looks could kill…

What will a Hillary presidency mean? It will mean that our nation is lost. She cannot win in an honest election. A Hillary victory will mark the death of our election process.

Hillary cannot win in an honest election, so why is the democrat party so intent that she be their candidate? Why are they so confident in her victory?

With absolute power comes more than absolute corruption. In Hillary’s grip it will bring a tyranny upon this country previously unimaginable to the minds of free born Americans. A viciousness will descend upon this nation. Hillary is due and beware to all those attempting to expose her incompetence and criminal activity.

What democrat prosecutors did to conservative leaders and causes here in Wisconsin will become common place across this nation. The ties between those democrat prosecutors here in Wisconsin and the IRS, in illegal acts of oppression and civil rights abuses, are becoming clearer with every passing news story.

These government backed attacks on the rights of conservatives and conservative organizations here in Wisconsin were accompanied by vile, hateful assaults on the character of good honest people, along with death threats and other acts of intimidation. Unions and other left wing organizations and radical individuals were and will be free to act without consequence.

If Hillary steals the 2016 election, these threats will certainly turn to action against any who would stand against a fraudulent president. Death threats from the left will turn into open attacks. Union thugs will be free to take a supposed righteous and violent stands against any and all counter protestors. Hillary will have their back.

To save this nation in the face of a Hillary victory the states will have to respond immediately. Governors need to prepare now.

That is it. These are my conclusions, the conclusions of a common man, after listening to the democrat presidential debate as I watched women play poker.

LiNK

Liberty in North Korea, LINK, is an organization I have mentioned before. They are extremely proficient and committed. Two weeks ago at UW Madison a group of escapees from North Korea held a gathering and presented their cause. I could not make it to the event but heard from several people who did. You can see much of their presentation in piecemeal here; on their website.

There is a regular underground railroad from the northern border of North Korea and through China. The destination for these dissidents, defectors, freedom lovers or whatever moniker you wish to assign them, is predominantly Thailand and Mongolia. China is not their friend. If arrested they face return to North Korea which translates into death or imprisonment. If their escape out of the country is discovered their families are often executed.

Members of LiNK risk much to testify to the horrors of their lives in North Korea. They swoop into a community, dependent on the goodness of others, arrange presentations where they can and fly on to their next destination. They do their best to raise money to help others make their way through China.

North Korea just celebrated their 70th Anniversary. The communist revolution in Russia occurred in 1917. In 1988, 71 years later, Russian communism, the Soviet Union, came to an end.

According to my beliefs, my faith based on the teachings of Reverend Moon, communism is the pinnacle of Satan’s dominion, where he has come to deny even his very existence to preserve his hold on humankind. Communism is allowed to grow for 66 years, but then at 70 years collapses. It is a principle that played out in Russia and is now coming to pass in China and North Korea.

China has had a change in power. Still they hold tight to their communist beliefs and this may result in great disaster for China and its’ people. It is wrong to ignore China’s human rights violations. It is necessary and such abuses can never be left out of any negotiations.

Reverend Moon invested in China, Panda Motors, to support a natural and peaceful transition from communism. Most nations around the world invest much to create a foothold in China’s markets under a similar motive; that they are helping vast numbers of Chinese who would otherwise be trapped in economic despair. Still, the human rights violations cannot be ignored and such moral pressure is required to push China to abandon their communist tyranny.

Chinese communism will fail. The internal pressures of human rights abuses, economic inequality, environmental disaster and market manipulations propping up a bubble economy are all posed to bring communist China down. China should be encouraged to abandon communism. They can take the easy path and give their people true freedom and prosperity or the hard path of obstinacy which will result in great turmoil.

Reverend Moon had made several outreaches to both Russia and North Korea in the past. He met Gorbachev in Moscow and Kim Il Sung in North Korea. He was instrumental in the development of the shared economic zone in the North when North Korea’s economy was strictly centered upon China.

Now, after their 70th Anniversary North Korea is asking for a peace treaty with the United States. Yes, we are technically still at war with North Korea. It is important to build in reaches with North Korea for a peaceful transformation and re-unification. I am fairly certain that if the North Korean government collapsed China would attempt to move in.

I believe all of us can support the opening of North Korea by support these young North Koreans of LiNK exposing the human rights atrocities of that declining dictatorship. The failures and evils of communism must be exposed and recognized for those in power to truly turn their backs on communism and to look to a better system of rule for their country. It is the turning of a blind eye to such evils that allows the illusion, the delusion, of communism to fester in the minds of those in power (or not) both here in the supposed free world and where those still live under communism or the threat thereof.

And what of our President Obama’s response to North Korea’s outreach for peace? What response??? President Obama hangs his hat on a treaty with Iran, that he claims will keep Iran from attaining nuclear weapons, while Obama, and anyone using their brain, know that just the opposite will come to pass. Yet Obama shows no interest in peace with North Korea. Even if the offer of peace is a ruse, the opportunity should never be ignored.

Peace with North Korea and substantial steps towards the re-unification of the peninsula would truly be something to hang one’s hat on. Why is this of no interest to Obama? Why does he continually allow radical Islam to expand? The Muslim Brotherhood, ISIS, Iran and any who oppose Israel have all received compassion and empathy from our President, if not outright support. The human rights abuses committed under radical Islam, including abuses committed in the sovereign nation of Iran, are as great as any in history, yet President Obama is silent. President Obama says not a single word as Christians are slaughtered for their faith under Islam.

One can never turn a blind eye to the suffering of our fellow man, no matter who their oppressor may be, if one believes in God and all that is good.

I know what you’re all thinking; “But what did you think of the first democrat  presidential debate?” I did listen to it all on the radio. You’ll have to wait a few more days.