I was stunned when I heard President Obama’s “You didn’t build that” speech. Here is the pertinent part.

 “If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didn’t get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet.”

My first thought was that Obama is vastly out of touch with the American people and what has made America great. Now, I will give Obama his due, he is a very good campaigner. Much better than anyone since Bill Clinton, so a gaff of this size is out of character.  I decided to read the whole speech, being as the president’s supporters claims he was taken out of context, and draw my own conclusion. I learned, well, actually reaffirmed, many things from this speech. All of them reveal a lot about Obama’s strategy to get re-elected and the character of this man.

“In 2008, I promised to make sure that middle-class taxes didn’t go up.  And in fact, because of the recession, you needed some help, so we cut the typical family's income taxes by $3,600.  (Applause.)  So if you hear somebody say that I'm a big tax guy, just remember $3,600 for the typical family.  That’s the tax break you've gotten since I've been in office.”

Two lies for the price of one, right here. Obama did not cut anyone’s taxes. Haven’t you heard the media decrying the evil “Bush Tax Cuts”? Take the word “Bush” out of that and what do you have?  You have the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, which actually cut the tax rates of every single taxpayer in America. The only thing Obama did was sign a piece of legislation that left those tax rate cuts alone. He gave no one any tax relief. As for the “big tax guy” comment; Obamacare is the single biggest tax increase in the history of this nation. Did you hear me? Single biggest. Ever. But, Bush was evil and caused this whole mess, because he decreased tax rates for everyone, and Obama signed the bill leaving them alone?  Moving on.

“And so, just as we came together in the last campaign -- not just Democrats, by the way, but Republicans and independents, because we’re not Democrats or Republicans first, we’re Americans first.” 

Later in the speech he says

“Four years later, I'm running to keep middle-class taxes low.  So this week, I called on Congress to immediately extend income tax cuts on the first $250,000 of income.  Now, what that means is 98 percent of Americans make less than $250,000, so 98 percent of folks would have the certainty and security that your taxes, your income taxes would not go up a dime. “

The first point here is obvious; first he confirms what I just said about the tax rate cuts. The second is a big hint into his philosophy. Part one “we’re American’s first” Part Two he makes a clear division between Americans. That is the overriding theme of the Obama campaign; divide America and bribe them, one segment at a time. 

In my last blog I explain what the Buffett Rule (a minimum 30% tax on those making a million or more) and why it is nothing but a ploy from our president to pit everyone else against the millionaires. His plan is to convince everyone that Obama the Great is looking out for them and only he will make the millionaires pay their fair share. I also pointed out that the top 1% of taxpayers pays 37% of the total taxes collected. Those 1% encompass taxpayers who make $344,000 and above. 

Assume for a minute that Obama gets his way and he gets the Buffett Rule through Congress (he won’t; it won’t pass either house), and he signs it. Then what? Well, let’s start with what Obama said it would do when he introduced it back in September

“and that basic principle of fairness, if applied to our tax code, could raise enough money that not only do we pay for our jobs bill but we would stabilize our debt and deficit for the next decade. And as I said when I made the announcement, this is not politics, this is math.

The italics in the quote are mine. So this would stabilize our debt and deficit for the next decade and this is math, not politics. So why don’t we apply a little math to the Buffett Rule. First, how
much money is this 30% tax rate going to bring in? 

Well according to the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation it will raise 5.1 billion dollars in 2013.Now if that was my lottery winnings I would think it a lot of money. But, compare it first to the 2013 project budget (3800 billion) and more importantly the deficit, which is the amount of
money we need to somehow find to make how much we spend and how much we take in
balance (1300 billion)

So let’s do the math. We need 1300 billion. The Buffett Rule would raise 5 billion. Does this sound like it will stabilize our debt and deficit? 

This like your spouse telling you that we need to buy a $1000 refrigerator. You know that you have $660 dollars in savings. But, your spouse knows a great way to get the rest of it; we check the couch for change. You do and glory be, you find exactly $1.32; problem solved.