Quotes Of The Year
Thomas Sowell Cuts Through The Crap
"One of the major purposes of tax cuts is to get people to take their money out of tax-free securities and invest that money in something that will increase economic activity and create jobs. Since our income tax system is steeply graduated, any across-the-board tax cut will immediately benefit most those who pay most of the taxes -- which is to say, people with higher incomes. After Ronald Reagan's tax rate cuts in the 1980s first brought out anguished cries of 'tax cuts for the rich,' it turned out that the federal government collected more tax revenue than ever and that people in upper income brackets not only paid a larger amount of taxes than before, but even paid a higher share of all taxes than before. How could this be? This takes us back to slippery words and sloppy thinking. What was cut were tax rates. What went up were tax revenues. At lower tax rates, it paid to take money out of tax shelters and put it somewhere where it was more productive, both for the individual investor and for the economy as a whole. As the economy expanded and incomes and employment rose, tax revenues rose, despite lower rates being charged for a given income. The incomes of people in the higher brackets went up especially sharply, so the total taxes they paid also went up especially sharply -- again, despite lower tax rates. Much sloppy thinking about economic issues is based on reasoning as if there is a fixed amount of income, so that someone has to lose whenever someone else gains. The real test of an economic policy is whether it can produce a rising tide that lifts all boats. Ronald Reagan's policies did that, even while he was being denounced for 'tax cuts for the rich'." --Thomas Sowell
Like It Or Leave It
"Liberals of America, unite! Leave this horrid and wicked and irredeemable land! Why not create a workers' paradise off the shores of France? You can all speak French, allow Janet Jackson to show both her breasts, create a cradle-to-grave welfare state, read The New York Times every day, scramble the satellite signal for Fox News, and worship your new leader, Michael Moore! Here's an added incentive: You will never have to take the war on terrorism to the terrorists; they will almost certainly bring it right to your doorstep. Now, there's the catch in all this. It turns out that a lot of the liberals can't afford the trip, or the entry fee into places like Canada. So here's my idea: a new project called the Export a Liberal Fund. From this pool we will donate $100 to every liberal who agrees to give up his U.S. citizenship and flee the country permanently. Warning #1: There's no coming back for health care when you get sick. Warning #2: There will be no amnesty program. These are one-way tickets. ... I, for one, stand ready and willing to do my patriotic part and contribute to the Export a Liberal Fund. I hope you will join me in this worthy charitable endeavor. Let's really go out and paint the country red!" --Stephen Moore
Mandate?
"Speaking of gay marriage, as long as liberals are so big on discussing 'mandates' and whether Bush has one (they say he does not), I think the one thing we can all agree on is that there is definitely a 'mandate' against gay marriage. In fact, a clear majority of us are uncomfortable with the word 'mandate' because it sounds like Wayne asking Stephen out for dinner and a movie."
--Ann Coulter
The Heartland
"Since most of our military comes from red states, who do the blues imagine will defend them? The French? The Aspen Institute? An elite force of yoga instructors? Liberals have concocted a fantasy version of America, where all of the nation's brain-power and productivity reside in the blue states, while red America is a land of trailer parks, country-music bars, tractor-pulls and Klan rallies. (Quick, someone tell the Texans with their oil reserves, cattle and industrial output that they're a virtual wasteland.) ...Red state residents are portrayed as slack-jawed knuckle-draggers, ignorant, superstitious yokels inflamed by wily politicians and pernicious preachers." --Don Feder
For The Record
"Marxism is an emotional disorder, not a political philosophy. Wealthy people sometimes accept Marxism, not because it has ever worked, but because they feel guilty about having more than other people. But, more often, it is accepted by those with less who are angry, usually because they lack the talent and drive to succeed in a capitalist society. This realization often occurs at a ten-year high school reunion after they see people with less schooling and fewer degrees but with more money than they have. They don't want to compete with these people. They just want the IRS take their wealth and 'redistribute' it against their will under the threat of incarceration. They also like to call conservatives 'fascists'." --Mike Adams
Moral Values
"We do not live in a secular country. There are all sorts of people of faith that place moral values over personal freedoms. They are not all "wacky evangelicals." They are people who don't like Howard Stern piping a hard porn show over the airwaves and wrapping himself in the freedom of the First Amendment. They don't like being told that a young girl does not have to seek her mother's counsel about an abortion. They don't like seeing an eight-month-old fetus having his head punctured and his brains sucked out. They don't like being told the Pledge of Allegiance, a moment of silent prayer and the words "under God" are offensive to an enlightened few so nobody should be allowed to use them."
--Kevin Dowd
"One of the major purposes of tax cuts is to get people to take their money out of tax-free securities and invest that money in something that will increase economic activity and create jobs. Since our income tax system is steeply graduated, any across-the-board tax cut will immediately benefit most those who pay most of the taxes -- which is to say, people with higher incomes. After Ronald Reagan's tax rate cuts in the 1980s first brought out anguished cries of 'tax cuts for the rich,' it turned out that the federal government collected more tax revenue than ever and that people in upper income brackets not only paid a larger amount of taxes than before, but even paid a higher share of all taxes than before. How could this be? This takes us back to slippery words and sloppy thinking. What was cut were tax rates. What went up were tax revenues. At lower tax rates, it paid to take money out of tax shelters and put it somewhere where it was more productive, both for the individual investor and for the economy as a whole. As the economy expanded and incomes and employment rose, tax revenues rose, despite lower rates being charged for a given income. The incomes of people in the higher brackets went up especially sharply, so the total taxes they paid also went up especially sharply -- again, despite lower tax rates. Much sloppy thinking about economic issues is based on reasoning as if there is a fixed amount of income, so that someone has to lose whenever someone else gains. The real test of an economic policy is whether it can produce a rising tide that lifts all boats. Ronald Reagan's policies did that, even while he was being denounced for 'tax cuts for the rich'." --Thomas Sowell
Like It Or Leave It
"Liberals of America, unite! Leave this horrid and wicked and irredeemable land! Why not create a workers' paradise off the shores of France? You can all speak French, allow Janet Jackson to show both her breasts, create a cradle-to-grave welfare state, read The New York Times every day, scramble the satellite signal for Fox News, and worship your new leader, Michael Moore! Here's an added incentive: You will never have to take the war on terrorism to the terrorists; they will almost certainly bring it right to your doorstep. Now, there's the catch in all this. It turns out that a lot of the liberals can't afford the trip, or the entry fee into places like Canada. So here's my idea: a new project called the Export a Liberal Fund. From this pool we will donate $100 to every liberal who agrees to give up his U.S. citizenship and flee the country permanently. Warning #1: There's no coming back for health care when you get sick. Warning #2: There will be no amnesty program. These are one-way tickets. ... I, for one, stand ready and willing to do my patriotic part and contribute to the Export a Liberal Fund. I hope you will join me in this worthy charitable endeavor. Let's really go out and paint the country red!" --Stephen Moore
Mandate?
"Speaking of gay marriage, as long as liberals are so big on discussing 'mandates' and whether Bush has one (they say he does not), I think the one thing we can all agree on is that there is definitely a 'mandate' against gay marriage. In fact, a clear majority of us are uncomfortable with the word 'mandate' because it sounds like Wayne asking Stephen out for dinner and a movie."
--Ann Coulter
The Heartland
"Since most of our military comes from red states, who do the blues imagine will defend them? The French? The Aspen Institute? An elite force of yoga instructors? Liberals have concocted a fantasy version of America, where all of the nation's brain-power and productivity reside in the blue states, while red America is a land of trailer parks, country-music bars, tractor-pulls and Klan rallies. (Quick, someone tell the Texans with their oil reserves, cattle and industrial output that they're a virtual wasteland.) ...Red state residents are portrayed as slack-jawed knuckle-draggers, ignorant, superstitious yokels inflamed by wily politicians and pernicious preachers." --Don Feder
For The Record
"Marxism is an emotional disorder, not a political philosophy. Wealthy people sometimes accept Marxism, not because it has ever worked, but because they feel guilty about having more than other people. But, more often, it is accepted by those with less who are angry, usually because they lack the talent and drive to succeed in a capitalist society. This realization often occurs at a ten-year high school reunion after they see people with less schooling and fewer degrees but with more money than they have. They don't want to compete with these people. They just want the IRS take their wealth and 'redistribute' it against their will under the threat of incarceration. They also like to call conservatives 'fascists'." --Mike Adams
Moral Values
"We do not live in a secular country. There are all sorts of people of faith that place moral values over personal freedoms. They are not all "wacky evangelicals." They are people who don't like Howard Stern piping a hard porn show over the airwaves and wrapping himself in the freedom of the First Amendment. They don't like being told that a young girl does not have to seek her mother's counsel about an abortion. They don't like seeing an eight-month-old fetus having his head punctured and his brains sucked out. They don't like being told the Pledge of Allegiance, a moment of silent prayer and the words "under God" are offensive to an enlightened few so nobody should be allowed to use them."
--Kevin Dowd
posted by compugor at 8:15 PM
