HEARTS FOR HAITI

Toulouse Restaurant
cordially invites you to attend

The Steve Penley Dinner 
To Benefit The ServeHAITI Foundation

with special guest
Donna Williams
Donna's poignant photographs of Haiti will also be on exhibition


Join us for good food, good art and a good cause.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010 
Meet the artists at 6:30
Dinner starts at 7:15

The cost of $125 per person includes tax and gratuity
Each guest will enjoy a 5-course meal and 2 glasses of wine.

Please call Toulouse for inquiries and reservations
404-351-9533

2293 Peachtree Road NE  |  Suite B  |  Atlanta, GA 30309

Why did Bernie Madoff go to prison? To make it simple, he talked people into investing with him. Trouble was, he didn't invest their money. As time rolled on he simply took the money from the new investors to pay off the old investors. Finally there were too many old investors and not enough money from new investors coming in to keep the payments going. Next thing you know Madoff is one of the most hated men in America and he is off to jail.

Some of you know this .. but not enough of you . Madoff did to his investors what the government has been doing to us for over 60 years with Social Security. There is no meaningful difference between the two schemes ... except that one was operated by a private individual who is now in jail, and the other is operated by politicians who enjoy perks, privileges and status in spite of their actions.

Do you need a side-by-side comparison here? Well here's a nifty little chart.

Now that was just spectacular. I'm guessing nobody has managed to present this situation to you with such crystal clarity before. Must be the SAM-e.

OK ... I've understood this scheme for some time now, so just what was it that almost slipped by me? For some time now we've been told that it would be 2016 or 2017 before Social Security started paying out more money than it was taking in. Well ... we're here. In 2009 the economy forced many more people than expected into retirement. These people filed for their Social Security benefits. Last year Social Security durned near ran out of money. The benefits paid almost exceeded the taxes collected. There is, of course, no "trust fund" to go to. That money has been spent. For Madoff that was a crime. For our politicians, it wasn't. Now the chief actuary of the Social Security system says that we're going to "go negative" for the next year or two.

Now the politicians will naturally be looking for a solution. They cause the problem because they just couldn't stand seeing all of that money sitting in the trust fund. They just had to get their hands on it ... and leave behind some IOUs. Now the IOUs are due, and there's no money to pay them off. The solution? Well, they'll probably have to raise the retirement age. Then they may well introduce means testing. They'll tell retiring seniors who have done well with their own retirement plans that they may well lose their Social Security benefits. Can they do that? Oh hell yes they can. There is no federal law which guarantees Social Security benefits to anyone who has been forced to pay the taxes.

Then, of course, they'll try to raise the Social Security taxes. The earnings cap for this year is $106,800. My best guess is that the Democrats will propose a change in the law that allows the current earnings cap to stay, or to possibly adjust it to $100,000. Then they will give all income between $100,000 and $250,000 a year a pass .. then all incomes above $250,000 a year will be taxed with no further caps.

Wunnerful wunnerful.

Just take a look at some of the emails I received yesterday after I said that Sarah Palin would spell certain doom for the GOP if she's the candidate in 2012.

• Your message:I used to think you were somewhat of a conservative. But now that I have heard you criticizing Sarah Palin because she criticized President Obama, I can only conclude that in your heart you must be an Obama fan. Even if you don't think Palin should not be President, I can't believe you got so bent out of shape because she critized Obama. I will not sign off of your show.
   
• Your message:neal people like you will never run for public office cause you cant hide behind your mic any more and make fun of other people.people like you make me sick thank god thats right i said god i know that a subject you dont like to deal with but like i said THANK GOD people like you were not around in the 1700s.you might have a lot of money neal but you are still a LOW LIFE LAWYER
   
• I as, alistenerof many years, would like for you to remove boortz from your line up. The slander and rant against sara plain is not the views of alot of your listeners. You could pick up lara ingram at same time period. I know know why Rush dislikes him. HOPE YOU CONSIDER THE RAMIFICATIONS OF KEEPING THIS MAN ON. THANKSRandy Carlisle, Broker, First Choice Realtors 107 N. Main Seminole,Texas 79360

Hmmmmm .... The "ramifications" of keeping this man on? Golly, you don't think that's a threat, do you? And this bit about how Rush dislikes me? I guess that's why he flew himself and a bunch of his pals to Chicago last November to deliver the speech for my induction into the National Radio Hall of Fame. By the way, Mr. Carlisle, it's "now know", not "know know." But it goes with the territory I guess.

Now if you were to ask any of these people, I'm certain they would tell you that they are above average in intelligence. We had all better pray it ain't so.

It is no wonder that Barack Obama talks about himself so much in his speeches. He realizes that the people do not want to hear about his policies, because his policies are not what got him elected. He was elected based on his personality and charisma. Unfortunately, you cannot charm the economy into growing. (The older you get the harder it is to charm things into growing, you know).

Americans are finally realizing this to be the case. Take a look around your neighborhood, your parking lot at work or the cars parked at the grocery story ... where did all of the Obama bumper stickers go? If you DO want to catch a glimpse of an Obama bumper sticker, go to the parking lot of a government office. Or maybe outside of a union hall. These are about the only people left who are still delusional enough to believe that this is truly the change they believed in.

Meanwhile, more than half of the Americans who put Obama over the edge in the election - the independents - disapprove of Obama's job performance. The latest Marist polls just released yesterday found that 57% of independent voters have a negative view of Obama's job performance. Only 29% of independent voters approve of his performance. The rest have no clue what is going on in the world .. unless it is reported on American Idol or Entertainment Tonight.

While we are talking about poll, here's another interesting one to note. The latest Rasmussen polls show that 75% of Americans are at least someone angry at the government's current policies. Almost half, 45%, consider themselves "very angry" with current government policies. However, 60% of voters do not believe that Democrats or Republicans have what it takes to fix our current problems. Yet I wonder how many of these people are the ones saying, "We just need to vote all of our politicians out of office! That is all of them, except for my guy ... he's OK." And then we continue to get the same BS in Washington year after year.

Barack Obama has invited the Republicans to discuss healthcare during a televised meeting to be held February 25th. A lot of lawmakers of both parties aren't too keen on the idea. Look ... there is no doubt that there could stand to be some changes in our healthcare system. Do I agree with the Democrat plans for the government to take over 18% of our economy? No. But what do the Republicans have to lose by participating in this televised meeting and presenting their healthcare ideas to the Democrats and the American people?

If I were the Republicans, here are a few common sense solutions I would propose. Now keep in mind that many of these actually were proposed by Republicans over the last several months, and all were shot down by Democrats in Congress. Don't believe me? Take a look at this article. In the meantime, here are a few ideas to consider:

1. Allow people to buy health insurance across state lines.
2. Eliminate mandates for health insurance policies, which drive up policy costs.
3. Allow employees to actually own the policies their employers pay for ... which would mean they could take those policies with them.
4. Allow people to form groups to buy large group policies.
5. Allow people to deduct the cost of their health insurance from their taxable income like employers can.
6. Expand health savings accounts.
7. Tort reform.

But .. most important .. The Republican "leadership" (using the term loosely) should tell Obama that they will be willing to meet and work with him only under the following conditions:

1. Both current bills will be scrapped in their entirety and the new bill will be crafted from position zero.
2. There will be no "government option."
3. There will be no mandate for individuals to buy health insurance policies.

I suspect that this is all a "step into my lair" move by Obama. Let's hope the Republicans keep their wits about them.

While Washington and much of the mid-Atlantic has been brought to a stand-still because of snow, the Obama administration decides that it wants to form a new agency to study ..... climate change! The new US NOAA Climate Service will study and report on the changing climate. It will provide services to businesses to help them adapt to the impact of climate change. NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco says that this new service will offer information to help plan for sea level rise, coastal erosion, longer growing seasons, increases in heavy downpours and other severe weather events.

OK .. here's what will happen. This new agency will operate under a political premise. The political premise will be that global warming is real and is being caused by man. The agency, then, will be charged with promoting this premise and developing "solutions" to a problem that doesn't necessarily exist.

Gotta love it.

Jamie Dupree has more from Washington on this new climate change office.

CNNMoney.com has posted an opinion piece, originally in Fortune Magazine, that should scare the fire out of you. The piece is entitled: VAT Trap: The inevitable fix for the deficit. Here's an excerpt:

The gigantic deficits the Administration is projecting are appalling, and they provide a chilling look at our future: America is hurtling towards a fiscal trap that is forcing us into the only option we'll have to restore budgetary sanity: A Value-Added Tax.

Unfortunately, no one really wants to address it. Nancy Pelosi has spoken admiringly of a VAT, and on the Right, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee wants the levy to replace the income tax. But so far, it's mainly a favorite of a cadre of economists at universities and think tanks. White House budget chief Peter Orszag recently dismissed it as an idea that's "popular with academics but not seriously considered by policy makers."

But it's never gotten much support in the U.S. for two reasons. First, it's a regressive tax: Low-earning families pay a bigger portion of their incomes than the wealthy. And second, the VAT -- first introduced by a French civil servant in 1954 -- has fueled the rapid growth of government in France, Germany, and even Japan. In fact, no other country spends the kind of money we're planning to spend without a VAT.

First of all ... Mike Huckabee is NOT pushing a VAT. He is a proponent of the FairTax. You would expect the reporters to know that .. but then again, it takes actual research.

The trouble here is that the political class may well manage to implement a VAT ... mainly because most Americans still don't know of and understand the FairTax. Trust me, there are plans afoot to change that. More on that next week.

A bunch of Thai girls kick this tourist's ass when he mistakes one of them for a prostitute.

Now you're not going to believe this; but Atlanta's rapid rail agency has come up with a new name for the rail line smack dab into the middle of Atlanta's Asian Community. How does "The Yellow Line" sound to you? Can't wait until we learn the name of the line into the predominantly black Southside.

Rep. John Murtha passed away from complications from a surgery. Does this change the political landscape, particularly for Obamacare?

Lawmakers supporting cap-and-trade are trying to link clean energy with the current push to pass a jobs bill.

Hillary Clinton says that a nuclear-armed North Korea or Iran isn't as great a threat to the U.S. as al Qaeda and allied jihad groups.

Democrats in the House admit that they are going to have a tough time selling the American public on increasing taxes for the evil rich.

There's a huge mismatch between Americans' desire for low taxes and high government services.

There's an entitlement crisis approaching. Quickly. News flash: we aren't going to be able to tax our way out of this one.

I don't know how many other ways I can 'splain this to you, so I am going to let someone else do it. Obama's "jobs bill" is just as bad as his stimulus plan and you can start with this phony idea of capital gains and small businesses.

When Barack Obama is trying to save his healthcare plan, who does he turn to? Clinton aides who tried to pass Hillarycare.

Here's the RFK statement I've been referring to .. this is from 15 months ago: Global warming means no snow or cold in DC.

A question for you to consider ... Why are liberals so condescending?

Obama's labor secretary is coming down hard on companies for any violations of labor law but proving remarkably lenient on the abuses of organized labor.

Connecticut has a new website that tracks every penny in government state spending. Take a look at some of the pork they have found.

Republicans in South Carolina are heeding Sarah Palin's advice and merging tea party resources with their own.

Obama wants the government to improve child nutrition and he wants to start by banning sugary drinks and snacks from vending machines.

While on duty, a Muslim bus driver in the UK pulls over and starts praying in the aisle.

Another story from the UK about Muslim school children celebrating the Sept. 11 hijackers as "heroes" in the classroom.

Apparently Sarah Palin thinks it's okay to call people "retards" if you are Rush Limbaugh.

Exercise: you're doing it wrong.