Scrap Public Unions

Unions in the private sector are fine but unions in the public sector should be forbidden.  Wages for public sector jobs should be set according to private sector jobs.  It is a conflict of interest for our lawmakers, who represent the citizens, to be  negotiating with unions and setting the wage scale.  

IRS Records Department

There was some question recently how long we needed to keep records of our tax returns.  My very efficient X-bookkeeper (my wife) decided to look it up at www. IRS.gov.  How long should you keep records?  Here is their answer.

 

How long should I keep records?

The length of time you should keep a document depends on the action, expense, or event the document records. Generally, you must keep your records that support an item of income or deductions on a tax return until the period of limitations for that return runs out.

The period of limitations is the period of time in which you can amend your tax return to claim a credit or refund, or that the IRS can assess additional tax. The below information contains the periods of limitations that apply to income tax returns. Unless otherwise stated, the years refer to the period after the return was filed. Returns filed before the due date are treated as filed on the due date.

Note: Keep copies of your filed tax returns. They help in preparing future tax returns and making computations if you file an amended return.

1. You owe additional tax and situations (2), (3), and (4), below, do not apply to you; keep records for 3 years.

2. You do not report income that you should report, and it is more than 25% of the gross income shown on your return; keep records for 6 years.

3. You file a fraudulent return; keep records indefinitely.  (Uh-huh, sure!)

4. You do not file a return; keep records indefinitely.

5. You file a claim for credit or refund* after you file your return; keep records for 3 years from the date you filed your original return or 2 years from the date you paid the tax, whichever is later.

6. You file a claim for a loss from worthless securities or bad debt deduction; keep records for 7 years.

7. Keep all employment tax records for at least 4 years after the date that the tax becomes due or is paid, whichever is later.

The following questions should be applied to each record as you decide whether to keep a document or throw it away.

Interesting, isn't it, how more serious the IRS is about your record keeping than there own!  

 JJ

Immigration Reform

I am for immigration reform, I really am.  But I am not in favor of the current immigration bill passed by the Senate.  That would be the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013. 

SB 744. has some good point  and I applaud the Senate - especially Senate Republicans - for their effort.  For instance, the path to citizenship requires over $2000 in fines and thirteen years before an illegal immigrant can even begin to apply for citizenship.  There is other stuff too like obeying the laws, learn the english language, and pay taxes, which a illegal immigrant must do before applying for citizenship.  

Some would say that any path to citizenship is amnesty, but I don't think that's true.  Thirteen years of paying taxes and steep fines for the wrongdoing is punishment enough.  It would be easier for them to go back to their country and start over.  And many probably would, saving us the cost or need to deport them.  In the end, many would not apply for citizenship either, and never be eligible to vote or receive any government assistance - including Social Security.  The bill also makes border security mandatory before any issues of the illegals can be addresses.   

Well then, what's the problem?  The bill is too big!  Unfortunately, the bill, 844 pages by my count (some say 1200 pages) is far too large for anyone to really understand.  And there lies the problem.  Like the infamous Obama Care bill, this bill is so big, and so complicated that, well, we won’t know how it will all work until it gets passed.  That’s plain crazy. 

There are five major parts to this bill.  The House should divided SB 744 into five separate bills, simplify and refine them. then pass them individually.  That way everybody, illegals, law enforcement, Congress and citizens like you and me can read the bills and understand them.  

Strengthen the Presidency?

I really appreciate articles that strive to improve our federal government, because they are more concerned with fixing problems than blasting opponents.  I'll give David Brooks, New York Times Op-Ed columnist, points for trying, with his recent article, Strengthen the Presidency.  

In his article, David suggested that a stronger executive branch could overcome the gridlock of government and enable the nation to develop the necessary reforms to deal with todays issues.  His reasoning is that the presidency can mobilize and organize quickly; has abundant specialized knowledge to deal with the problems; and it is more immune to political pressures and influence. 

While his reasons about the executive branch are partly true, I oppose this solution as would most Americans.  Dictatorships are very efficient and as one commented on his article, maybe we should just crown a king.  If maximum efficiency of government is all we are looking for then maybe he has a point.  However, our government is based on democracy which necessary makes governing more cumbersome and less efficient.  And that is why so many believe in limited government.

My thoughts are more in line with President and Founder James Madison, who said, “Numerous bodies are less subject to venality and corruption,” which pretty much nixes "more power to the president".  The smaller the body where power resides, the greater the chance for corruption.  George Washington understood this and declined the offer to become King of the United States.  

Our founders took Madison's admonition seriously and built in checks and balances to limit the dominance of any one branch of government.  Increasing the number of representatives in the people's house, as the nation grew, was another way to assure power would never be concentrated in just a few.  Unfortunately, in 1913 Congress thought it best to permanently maintain the number of representatives at 435 members. (The actual law was passed in 1929.)  From then to now, the people's power has been slowly slipping away.

The average size of a congressional district today is 710,767 - more than triple the average district size (225,500) of 1910.  From an individual’s prospective, citizens influence has diminished by two-thirds. 

What does this have to do with how our government runs?  The influence we lost (and continue to lose) didn’t just disappear.  It transferred from citizens to those willing to buy influence with money.  Corporations, unions, political pacs, foreign governments all compete for that 2/3 influence with money. 

My solution to fixing our federal government is not to increase the power of the presidency but to restore the power to the people by creating smaller congressional districts as was originally intended.  

A Glimmer of Hope!

I had a email from a friend in Colorado who was excited about the victories he has  shared by being involved in the grassroots Second Amendment effort responsible for  the recall of two Democrat state senators. They promoted and voted for the radical, job-destroying gun-control measure that ended up passing a year ago. 

The passing of the gun control law was funded by billionaire, gun-grabbing Michael Bloomberg, who dumped tons of cash and lobbying expertise into Colorado, making this another example of how lobbyist work to pass bills contrary to the people. With deep pockets they managed to persuade enough state representatives to adopt new gun-rights restrictions.   

Lobbying is an important part of our government, which is why I don’t support banning the practice. The majority of Lobbyists are like expert witnesses in a court trial, offering valuable insights and knowledge on issues that help our elected officials create legislation to govern. It’s when special interest groups use this lobbying tool to unduly influence legislators that it becomes a problem. In Colorado, this has backfired and those who supported the recent gun control measure are now being held accountable. Unfortunately, Colorado’s grassroots effort is the exception not the rule.  

As our states and nation become more populous, governing becomes more and more complicated. Some suggest term limits as a way to keep legislators focused on the will of their constituents. I do not believe that is the answer. Creating restrictions on the people’s representatives will only serve to strengthen big money, not the people. To level the playing field we need smaller districts which make our representatives more accountable. Smaller districts will return the control to the people.  

Diminish the Lobbyists’ Influence

In 2008, there were nearly 15,000 registered lobbyist in the United States, equal to 28 lobbyist for each of our 535 Congressmen.  (By “Congressmen” here, I am referring to both Senators and Representatives.)  That same year, these lobbyists reported spending over $3.2 billion, which is equivalent to spending more than $6 million per Congressman.  Though not all of that spending was lavished on the Congressmen, these totals do provide a reliable measure of the extent to which various special and foreign interests are purchasing political influence.  This explains why we now have a government that is of, by, and for the Special Interests.

Senator Baucus and Elizabeth Fowler 

As an example of how much influence lobbyist have, consider Elizabeth Fowler, former Vice President of Public Policy at WellPoint.  Her job - in other words, overseeing WellPoint’s lobbying and other government-influencing activities.   Wellpoint is, of course, the largest health insurer in the country.  

In 2008, she left her job to go to work for Senator Baucus, Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee as his Chief Health Counsel.   This is what Senator Baucus had to say about her.  “I want to single out one person,” he said. “Liz Fowler is my chief health counsel. Liz Fowler has put my health care team together. … She put together the White Paper last November 2008, [the] 87-page document which became the basis, the foundation, the blueprint from which almost all health care measures in all bills on both sides of the aisle came. She is an amazing person. She is a lawyer; she is a Ph.D. She is just so decent. She is always smiling, she is always working, always available to help any Senator, any staff. I just thank Liz from the bottom of my heart.”

Not only was Senator Baucus happy, happy, happy, so was the entire health industry.   Liz Fowler gave the health care industry exactly what they wanted - higher profits and no competition from alternative  non-profit coverage that could lower costs and premiums.  Instead, Obamacare  protected the interest of the health care industry, especially insurers and the pharmaceutical companies. 

After the bill passed the House and Senate, Liz Fowler was brought over to the White House to oversee the new law’s implementation.  She served first at the Department of Health and Human Services and then became Special Assistant to the President for Healthcare and Economical Policy.  Last December 2012, Liz Fowler left the White House and took a job with Johnson & Johnson in their Government Affairs and Policy Group.  

So, who’s the big winner?  Big pharma and big health care providers.  The loser?  Isn’t it obvious?  It’s us, the American people.

Shaky Ground

It seems the President is on shaky ground relying on his election as a mandate that the American people want Obama Care.  Just because the media has taken up his cause doesn’t mean the President is right.  There were other elections last year that mandate quite the opposite point of view.  The Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives comes to mind.  Polls today still show Obama Care as extremely unpopular, and that is consistent with how Americans have voted - and will continue to vote.  

There are 314 million citizens in the U.S. who are divided into 435 congressional districts.  Each of these district consist of approximately 720,000 citizens.  And every two years these congressional districts elect a person to represent them in our national government.   In 2012, the country elected 240 Republicans (55.7%) and 191 Democrats (44.3%) to the House of Representatives.  That is a mandate greater than the President’s.  His margin was only 51.1% to Romney’s 47.2%.  

The Republican majority in the house has every right and reason to carry out the wishes of the majority of the American people by getting rid of Obama Care.  It is why they were elected.  The left may roll their eyes and shake their heads declaring that battle is over and the Supreme Court has ruled the law is constitutional.  But that is hardly the issue.   

The Senate is not representative of the States.  It has 100 members - two senators from each state.  Only forty-two of them are Republicans, fifty-six of them are Democrats, two are Independent (but caucus with the Democrats).  Unlike the House of Representatives, who are to represent the people, Senators are to represents the States.  Unfortunately, they don’t because the majority of states are Republican. 

Thirty of the fifty states have Republican Governors.  In twenty-nine states Republicans are the majority in the lower house and thirty-two states Senates have Republican majorities.  The majority of the states are controlled by Republicans not Democrats.  The U.S. Senate clearly is out of step with the nation and represents neither the people nor the states.     

Currently, the government shut down is very unpopular with Americans because they see it as detrimental to the economy.   And so far, Republicans more than Democrats are being blamed.  Republicans stated their position, lowered their position, and then lowered it again to no avail.  The President and the Senate staunchly refuses to negotiate.  Even as the debt ceiling limit closes in, Democrats refuse to negotiate telling the lower house they must either comply or be responsible for economic chaos.  

Republicans are loosing the propaganda war thanks to a bias media.  If they must relent to an unbending presidency in order to save the economy, you can bet Republicans will sacrifice, suffer defeat and save the economy.  A year from now, however, when Obama Care proves to be as inept and expensive as predicted, Democrat heads will be on the chopping block for their arrogance.  And you can bet the voters who elected 30 Republican governors, 32 Republican majority state senates, 29 Republican majority state houses and sent 240 Republicans to Congress will give no quarter.