Thursday, April 15, 2004

THE MOST DREADED DAY OF THE YEAR -- TAX DAY

Here we go...it's tax day. If you hate our current tax system as much as I do, have a look at fairtax.org. Read, understand, and vote appropriately. If you missed the show with John Linder and Saxby Chambliss discussing the Fair Tax Bill, we're sending out the audio in today's Boortz Blast. If you sign up quick, you might get on the list in time to receive it.

April the 15th is my least-favorite day of the year.  This is the day when about one-half of those who actually earned money last year will file their papers with the imperial federal government verifying just how much of the money that they earned will be retained by government for its operations.  The other half?  They'll pay nothing.  In fact, many of them will get government checks covered by those who actually do pay taxes.

Only 50% of Americans say that their income taxes aren't too high.  What a surprise!  Could that be the same 50% that isn't paying taxes?  Duhhhhhh.

About 62% of Americans say that their income tax burden is fair.  Judging from IRS figures this 62% of would be paying about 8% of all federal income taxes collected by the feds.  What do they have to complain about?  

But ...  what do Americans think of the evil, hated rich?  As you might expect, 63% say that the rich just aren't paying enough.  That, my friends, is Democratic class warfare working.  Those at the bottom income levels think their federal tax burden is fair because they aren't paying any!  While they sit there enjoying their free ride they complain because the rich just aren't paying enough!

One bit of good news.  Thanks to the Bush tax cuts, every single American who does actually pay taxes is paying those taxes at a lower rate then a few years ago.  That's one of the big reasons our economy is growing so strongly.  It's the same old story playing out again as it did with Kennedy and Reagan.  Allow people to keep more of what they earn by working, and they'll work harder to earn more.   

CHECK AROUND FOR YOUR PERSONAL TAX IDIOT    

And just how do you identify your own personal tax idiot?  Everybody has one, you have to find yours.  It's really very simple.  You just walk to some friend or coworker and ask "How much did you have to pay in income taxes this year?"  If they answer "I didn't have to pay anything, I'm getting some back!" You have found your own personal tax idiot.  Please take care of them for they are stupid and incapable of survival without your help.

HOSTAGE EXECUTED, BUT ITALIANS STAND FIRM

You no doubt saw the headline yesterday that one of the four Italian hostages in Iraq was tragically executed.  A videotape of the murder was sent to the Al-Jazeera terrorist television network, and they declined to air it because they said "it was too graphic."  How nice of them...not out of respect for the victim's family, but because it was too graphic for TV. Thanks for nothing.

The typical reaction from most liberals and the media, not to mention various other Euro-weenies, would be to fold.  People hear about something like this and just want to give in.  Not the Italians.  This is what you would call leadership, something you don't see from countries like Spain anymore, for instance.  The kidnappers are demanding that Italy and its 3,000 troops leave Iraq.  Not a chance, says Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.  He says the killing of the hostage would not affect their efforts there. This is called standing up for what's right, instead of caving in. We need more allies like this.

You can't negotiate with terrorists...you have to speak their language, which is death and violence. It's a very simple offer: do what we say, or we'll kill you.  That should get their attention.

Nice to see Italy hasn't joined the axis of weasels.

OSAMA OFFERS EURO-WEASELS A DEAL.  HISTORY SAYS THEY'RE DUMB ENOUGH TO TAKE IT

The media is making too big a deal of this nonsense this morning.  There's a new audio tape out there where the speaker claims to be Osama bin Laden.  He promises a truce with Europe ... a truce that will begin when the last European soldier leaves Muslim countries in the Middle East.  No such deal for the United States.

On second thought ... maybe the press is making a big deal out of this because of European history!  When it comes to appeasement of enemies, the Euro-weenies are hard to beat.  If the French had any troops in Iraq they would be the first to take advantage of Osama's generous offer.

AL-SADR IS PLAYING NICE ALL OF A SUDDEN

Prominent Shiite "cleric" (terrorist) Moqtadad al-Sadr has now come out and softened his stance. Reportedly, he has dropped all his conditions for negotiations with the Coalition. No longer is he demanding that the Coalition troops have to leave the area before he'll stop his terror campaign.  Apparently he is pledging to follow some other cleric named Al Marjeiya, who is apparently the highest Shiite authority.  Hard to keep up with all the clerics following the other clerics. Does anybody do anything over there without some cleric telling them what to do?  Whatever. Who cares.

The Coalition has said that doesn't matter...they intend to capture or kill al-Sadr for the murder of a pro-American rival last year. Good.  Now is not the time to start negotiating with Islamic terrorists.  Why do you suppose this lunatic wants to negotiate all of a sudden?  Because we have him surrounded, that's why.  He's in a position of weakness, and he knows that casualty-averse elements in the United States and the rest of the world might be ready to take him up on his offer to bargain, but we can't let that happen.  We have got to stop being nice..it is not going to be rewarded.

Some in the Iraqi leadership want to compromise with al-Sadr.  Screw that noise. This guy is wanted for murder, and if we're going to teach the Iraqis the rule of law, then they need to know that you do not cut deals with murderers.  Besides, the United States and its allies are the occupying force in Iraq.  It's time we started acting like it. 

The sooner we capture al-Sadr  and send him on his trip to see Allah, the better.

CLINTON OFFICIAL WON'T LEAVE COMMISSION

Jamie Gorelick, a woman Dick Morris has called the public official "most responsible for 9/11 happening." is refusing to leave her post on the 9/11 Commission.  She was the deputy attorney general during the Clinton years, and by all accounts really wore the pants at the justice department.  So once again, we have another double standard.  Can you imagine the howls of protest if a former Bush official was on this same commission charged with investigating events in which they took part?  The media would be jumping up and down, along with Democrats in Congress.  As it stands now, hardly a word. Funny how that happens, isn't it?

"Of all the public officials in the Clinton administration and the Bush administration, the one who is most directly, in my judgment, responsible for 9/11 happening is Jamie Gorelick," said Morris, who served in the Clinton administration himself.  So what did she do that is causing all the fuss?  Well, when Ashcroft recently testified in front of the commission, he pointed out that Gorelick sent out a memo in 1995 setting up a wall between the FBI and the CIA.  This prevented investigators from receiving intelligence that may have thwarted the 9/11 plot.  Outraged yet? It gets worse.

A specific example is the case of Zacarias Moussaui.  He is what people are calling the 20th hijacker.  Anyway, he was being pursued on an immigration violation, but as Morris put it, "they couldn't let the intelligence types look at his computer."  And just what was on that computer?

The names of some of the September 11th hijackers and the flight schools they attended. Would the 9/11 attacks have happened if the FBI had been able to share that information with the CIA? We may never know, but you tell me..just who should be doing the apologizing? 

Gorelick refuses to step down from the commission, saying there is no conflict of interest. Yeah right. She's on the wrong side of the table.

ANOTHER TALKMASTER "I TOLD YOU SO"

I have really taken some heat over the past few months for asking intemperate questions about those Purple Hearts that John Kerry received in Vietnam.  Now I have some company.

Yesterday's Boston Globe came out with a story about a growing controversy over one of Kerry's Purple Hearts.  Lt. Commander Grant Hibbard, Kerry's commanding officer, is questioning one Purple Heart.  He says that Kerry was standing there with a scratch on his forearm.  He was holding a piece of shrapnel.  Hibbard is saying that Kerry's fellow soldiers told him that they didn't think that they had received any enemy fire.  Hibbard says that he questioned John Kerry about the incident, but that Kerry was so adamant about receiving a Purple Heart for that scratch that Hibbard reluctantly dropped the matter.  Kerry got his Purple Heart for a scratch on his arm, one of the three he needed to get out of any further service in Vietnam.

You do know, don't you, that John Kerry refuses to release his medical records from his Vietnam service.  Those medical records would have details on all three combat injuries that Kerry reportedly suffered.  We now learn that one was a scratch.  What of the other two? 

I remember one caller who sarcastically asked "Well, Boortz.  Just how many times have you been shot?"  My answer?  The same number of times as John Kerry's been shot.  Never. 

Are we going to learn the true story of Kerry's Purple Hearts?  Are we going to find out whether or not he anxiously demanded Purple Hearts for scratches and minor scrapes ... just to take care of the "three and you're out" rule?  The answer is NO, not if John Kerry has anything to say about it.

Do you want to read the Boston Globe story?   Here's your link.

OK ... I put this last in today's notes .. but you know it had to be here.  Air America, the much ballyhooed liberal talk radio network, is already on the ropes.  Apparently they're bouncing checks.

Listeners in Los Angeles and Chicago, what few there were, tuned in to their favorite lib-talk host yesterday only to find some Spanish-language program on the air.  The owner of the two stations reportedly kicked Air America staffers out and changed the locks on the doors.  He waved a check to some members of the press .. purportedly from Air America and for over one million dollars .. which failed to clear the bank.

Air America, of course, is denying everything.  They've even filed a complaint against the station owner who booted their shows.

Here's the key.  What in the hell is Air America doing paying radio stations to air their programming?  We don't.  Rush doesn't, neither does Hannity.  Is the liberal message so vapid and unappealing that these people actually have to pay stations to put it on the air?

Here's a little more information for you.

Jim Watkins is the program director for my affiliates in Naples and Ft. Meyers, Florida (WINK-AM and WNOG-AM).  Several weeks ago he contacted the people at Air America to inquire about putting Al Franken somewhere on his radio station.  Watkins remembered Al Franken from his Saturday Night Live days and felt that he might be entertaining and could draw an audience.

So ... Watkins gets an official from Air America on the phone.  The Air America official asks Jim what other programs they carry. Jim starts rattling off the names.  Boortz, Limbaugh, Savage .... At that point the Air America official says "Stop."  He then informs Watkins that they won't allow their programming to air on WINK and WNOG.  And why not?  Because "We don't want our programming stained by being on a station that carries Rush Limbaugh."

Is that not amazing?  Liberals are complaining that their voices aren't being heard on talk radio.  They get a big donation from some liberal in Chicago .. and they set out to create a liberal talk radio network.  At last, the liberal voice will be heard!  Then they get a call from a radio station that wants to give these great liberal voices an audience in Southwest Florida .. and they say no!  Why not?  Because they don't want the same people to hear Rush Limbaugh listening to Al Franken.  I wonder why that would be?  Could it be because they know that their liberal message will not survive exposure to Limbaugh?  Could it be that they know the liberal message only gets a foothold when there is nobody around exposing the lies, the half-truths and the complete lack of common sense and logic?

Air America ... destined to fail.  Bad idea, bad management.  Al Franken won't last till the election.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

Click here to read the Jamie Gorelick memo, which is at the center of all the controversy.

George Will says the first order of business in Iraq should be deadly force. Sounds about right.

The Media Research Center has a report on the media's demands at Tuesday's presidential press conference for an apology.

Senator Christopher Dodd has apologized for his Robert Byrd comments. It didn't do Trent Lott any good, but somehow I think the media will accept Dodd's apology.

Ann Coulter goes over the 9/11 Commission hearings, and talks about some developments that don't seem to be making news anywhere else.

So .. how many Viagra-type drugs are out there right now?  The competition is stiff.   Starting today you may see the latest from Levitra.  But only after 9:00 pm.  There's a reason for that.

Here are some random thoughts from Thomas Sowell, which are better than most people's regular thoughts.

Larry Elder writes about the soft bigotry of low expectations, and looks at racial insensitivity.

Muslims in Detroit want to use loudspeakers on their Mosques to call Muslims to prayer --- five times a day.  They say it's no different than church bells.  Some neighbors disagree.

Larry Kudlow says all eyes should be on the FBI when looking for who dropped the ball prior to 9/11.

Robert Novak says Bush came through with his prime-time press conference.

Debra Saunders says misery loves Kerry, and notes that his advisers had to cook up a new misery index to make Americans miserable.

Cal Thomas says apologize for what? Past presidents have never apologized.

Both of these jerks deserve a long time in jail.  Neither one of these jerks will get what they deserve.

You've probably heard about that soldier in Iraq who is trouble for a picture.  The picture that has been cicrulating on the Internet shows the soldier standing with two Iraqi children holding a sign that says something like "I killed their dad and then knocked up their sister."  Well ... that photo is a fraud.  Here's the real photo.

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