OPINION: OWS Celebrates Three Month Anniversary

Over the weekend – the Occupy Wall Street movement recognized its 3-month anniversary.  Demonstrators attempted to “re-occupy” another park in New York City – but were prevented from doing so by a Church that owned the land.  As expected – the NYPD arrested 50 patriots during the day of action.

But the movement lives on in other ways after three months – from people moving their money from big banks on Wall Street to local credit unions – to helping families facing foreclosure – to fighting against student loan debt – the 99% of us are still being represented all across America.

Let’s keep it up.  

OPINION: Illinois Suffers

Earlier this year, the state of Illinois dramatically raised personal income taxes and corporate taxes.

Now companies are looking to leave Illinois. Trying to keep them, the state is offering them money to stay. For example, a Motorola subsidiary is being offered $100-million if they will stay put, along with 3,000 jobs. Another company got $65-million not to move. Now Sears says it may take 6,000 jobs to other states unless it gets incentives.

Who knows? Illinois might end up paying more for companies not to move than it ever expected to gain from higher taxes.

States that burden business with taxes and red tape are finding that it chases away jobs to other states. There’s a moral here for Uncle Sam. With our world’s worst corporate income taxes, is it any wonder when companies expand overseas instead of here in America?

From The Heritage Foundation, I’m Ernest Istook.

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OPINION: A Glimpse At 2012 America

Time Magazine named its person of the year this week. It was the protester. I don’t have a problem with it naming a person of the year or the protester. It was a choice I agree with. But, I thought, well enough for Time magazine, good enough for me. It jumped the gun with its timing, as it does every year.

Usually I wait for my New Year’s predictions, but this year I decided to do it the week before Christmas and not wait till next week. So, here they are:

President Obama wins re-election:

I think the president will win this election handily. Why would I come up with that prediction when his polls are low and the country is not happy with his leadership? It is a simple answer.

If the nominee is Gov. Mitt Romney, and the president debates him, it is going to be obvious to the American people that he will not be the kind of leader they want in terms of creating jobs and moving the American people forward. George W. Bush, a graduate of Harvard Business School, was also supposed to be the businessman America needed. He got us into two expensive wars and busted the budget that had finally come to be balanced.

If the nominee is Newt Gingrich, then the American people will be treated to a great debate on the economy and the direction of the country. Speaker Gingrich is so smart that the debate will be really interesting and will engage the American people in the solving of our problems. In the end, however, I think the American people will decide that he is too much of risky deal and will go to the voting booth and select President Obama. If by some chance Ron Paul is the nominee, the American people, while agreeing with a lot of what he has to say, will feel he is too “out there,” and he will not be elected.

I think the president can go to bed this Christmas safely knowing he will be re-elected. He will have to work for it, but he will be re-elected.

Syrian “President” Assad will be deposed:

Year 2011, the year of the Arab Spring, saw changes in governments in Tunisia and Egypt and some major changes in others. By the most recent counts, more than 5,000 protesters have been killed. The U.N. Security Council is considering action, and clearly the various CIA-type organizations from different countries are helping the opposition. It may take some months, but with recent army defections in Syria, there is almost no way he can stay in power. The Arab League has rejected him, and with major trade sanctions there is no way he can survive. His best hope is to recredential himself as a physician and have a nice life on the millions of dollars he undoubtedly has socked away.

The Supreme Court finds that Obama’s health-care plan is legal:

Most of the justices believe Congress can make laws and that the laws it makes should be upheld. Although Congress might find some parts of the law to be unconstitutional, I think the law will move forward and stay law in 2014.

Congress will pretty much stay the same:

I don’t think the House will turn over to the Democrats, and I don’t think the Republicans will take back the Senate. The Republicans will pick up some seats in the Senate and lose some in the House, but look for it to be pretty much the same configuration it has been this election cycle.

Iran continues to make noise, but no action is taken except via drones:

Iran will play its version of the kids game “mother may I” and try to taunt the rest of the world, but no major progress in their goals will be made. Iran will continue to be an election hot point, but neither Israel nor the U.S. will make moves to be more aggressive, other than surveillance by drone.

The Keystone XL pipeline will stay the political hot potato it is now:

It will take much more of the up-front Democrat-Republican partisan wrangling than the unemployment insurance or the payroll tax reduction that has surfaced. Most Republicans agree on both issues, even though they are loath to say it. The real disagreement is over energy policy and the XL pipeline.

These are just a few of my predictions and I might add some in the next few weeks. Of all my predictions, I am sure of President Obama’s re-election. That might irk some readers, but we can check in next year and see if President Obama is re-elected.

OPINION: Wyden Too Cozy With Paul Ryan

One day after Oregon’s Democratic Senator Ron Wyden teamed up with Republican Congressman Paul Ryan to end Medicare as we know it - the Democratic backlash is underway.  Several Democratic Members of Congress - and the President - have rejected the Wyden-Ryan plan, which turns Medicare into a public option - giving senior citizens a voucher to buy private health insurance instead of Medicare. 

The President’s Press Secretary Jay Carney called the plan “radical,” although Republican Presidential candidates are praising the plan.  That’s when you know it is a really bad idea. 

Time to call Senator Wyden’s office - and ask him to quit drinking the $300 bottles of wine with Paul Ryan and his billionaire buddies.  We can’t afford it. 

OPINION: Congress Sees The Light

Congress wants to be home for Christmas, so they’re rushing to approve spending that is $40-billion more than what the House budgeted last spring.

But national defense will get $12-billion less than the House had planned. It’s because the Senate and White House wanted more for everything else, but less for national defense.

Yet there is one bright light. Mixed-in with the billions of extra spending is a postponement of the new light bulb law. The phase-out of incandescent bulbs that was to begin January 1st, starting with 100-watt bulbs, is put off until at least next September.

Environmentalists claim that newer bulbs use less energy and last longer. They never mention that the higher price wipes out supposed savings—especially when they burn out a lot quicker than they advertise. Score one small victory for us consumers.

From The Heritage Foundation, I’m Ernest Istook.

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