Our president, Barack Obama, has told us repeatedly how "unfair" America is.
Remember "You did not build that..." and "If we can't ask from society's lottery winners to just make that modest investment, then really this conversation is for show" and his numerous complaints that "the poor" are ignored and "the rich" need to pay more? [Emphasis added.]
As usual, Obama ignores facts disproving his thesis
-the top 1% of earners pay almost 40% of federal income taxes
- the top 10% of earners pay 70%
- the top 50% pay 97%, and
- 47% pay no federal taxes
- the top 5% pay a larger share of US income taxes than the bottom 95% .
-"the rich” and "the poor” are not static entities; the beauty of America is that people move in and out of those categories.
https://www.ireallymissreagan.com/single-post/2016/09/24/TAXES-NEVER-ENOUGH-FOR-POLITICIANS
More often than not, success is a result of hard work and intelligence, not a lottery chance.
Economist Walter Williams:
:
Bill Gates cannot order you to enroll your child in another school in order to promote racial diversity. He has no power to condemn your house to make way for a casino parking lot. Unless our elected public officials grant them the power to rip us off, rich people have little power to force us to do anything. A lowly municipal clerk earning $50,000 a year has far more life-and-death power over us. It is that type of person to whom we must turn for permission to build a house, ply a trade, open a restaurant and do myriad other activities. It's government people, not rich people, who have the power to coerce us and rip us off. They have the power to make our lives miserable if we disobey. This coercive power goes a long way toward explaining legalized political corruption.
It is no surprise that Barack Obama's actions fail to match his rhetoric, no surprise there.
Ignore the poor? Unfair acts by the rich? Arbitrary rewards?
Meet Barack Obama and The American Taxpayer Card, better than The American Express Card because the holder does not foot the bill.
President Barack Obama accompanied by first lady Michelle Obama and his daughter Sasha, steps off from Air Force One upon their arrival at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Monday, Jan. 2, 2017, returning from vacation in Hawaii. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
The final tab for former President Obama's eight years of family travel to ski resorts, beaches and European cities has finally come in and the bill is $99,714,527.82. which include
— The March 2014 trip to Key Largo during Spring Break – where the first family stayed at the exclusive Ocean Reef Club – cost the Secret Service $247,827.50; $182,120.33 for hotels and $65,707.17 in travel expenses. The total cost of that trip with previously released $885,683 in flight costs from the Air Force is $1,133,510.50.
— Michelle Obama's February 2015 Aspen vacation cost the Secret Service a total of $64,807.41; $47,109.28 for hotels, $3,559.43 in rental cars and $14,138.70 in other travel expenses. The total cost of the trip with $57,068.80 in flight costs from previously released Air Force records is $121,876.21.
—the 2016-2017 Obama family Christmas trip to Honolulu showing 17.9 hours flying at $142,380 per hour, bringing the total flight cost to $2,548,602.
And note: The price does not include all expenses and many of the unknowns are expensive, including those for communications, security and the prepositioning of jets, limos and even ships for security when the Obama's vacationed in Hawaii and Martha's Vineyard.
Since first taking office in 2009, the Obama family have acted like they won the lottery, not the presidency. The first family has treated Air Force One like their personal taxi, jet-setting around the world on taxpayer’s dime. This latest 15-day trip to Martha’s Vineyard alone will cost the American taxpayer an estimated two million dollars. [Emphasis added]
Records from the U.S. Secret Service and the Department of the Air Force detail the costs of Obama’s trip to attend the 2015 Paris Climate Change Conference. Charges for Obama and his staff cost taxpayers $1,324,171.60; flight expenses cost $2,840,896.80. The total expenditure was $4,165,068.40.
In 2015, Obama's flights from Washington to vacation in San Diego cost taxpayers $2,001.468. In 2014, the Obama family's Hawaii Christmas vacation cost the taxpayers $3,590, 313 in flight expenses alone. And earlier in 2015, the bill for his golf vacations and fund raises cost us $4,436,245, again just for travel expenses!
Conclusion
A friend brought Judicial Watch to my attention. After following its emails for a time, I had to agree with him that it provides valuable service to our country. Judicial Watch does more to uncover facts, politicians would rather hide, than all the Congressional committees combined. It has a remarkable success rate when it sues for information. So here is an unsolicited endorsement for the folks at Judicial Watch: I make a modest contribution each month and believe it is money well spent.
...governments don’t produce economic growth, people do..We don't have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven't taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much...Government is like a baby: an alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.
Ronald Reagan