The Arbiter of Fairness

Well, Timothy Geithner is not only a financial genius, but also an expert on global warming and Turbo Tax. Sorry…forget Turbo Tax.

Yesterday the wizard of Wall Street testified before Congress that subsidies in the form of tax breaks to oil and natural gas producers should be abolished because they contribute to global warming. He also voiced the position of the messianic administration, which proposed levying an excise tax on oil and natural gas producers in the Gulf of Mexico that would help raise 5.3 billion dollars between 2011-2019. An additional proposed fee of $4 per acre on leases in the Gulf would generate an additional 1.2 billion dollars over said period of time.

Let us ponder this. We are in the midst of a recession that, according to Obama, might turn into a depression, and now the proposal is to add new taxes? I am not sure how many economics courses Obama took in college, but does he really believe that the oil companies will swallow the tax increases and the additional fees, and deduct it from their dividends? Of course not. Every additional dollar in the cost of exploration will be passed along to the consumer, and each dollar going to the coffers of the state, is a dollar less in the circular flow of currency of the free market.

As I watch members of the cabinet testifying, I came to realize that Obama has surrounded himself with two types of acolytes. Those who are radicals just like him, and this group includes Hilda Solis at Labor, Attorney General Eric Holder, HHS secretary Kathleen Sibelius, Janet Napolitano at Intelligence and Lisa Jackson at EPA. The other group includes characters that probably know better, but are too enthralled of being in this historic administration and have become yes men for Barack Obama. Geithner, who seems sick every time he testifies, heads this group with trade representative Ron Kirk, who is another tax evader, OMB director Peter Orszag, Hilary Clinton at State and Leon Panetta at the CIA. The rest seem to belong to the Tabula Rasa Club.

I remember hearing presidential candidate Obama interviewed by Maria Bartiromo on CNBC. He mentioned raising taxes on the wealthiest American, a group that in New York City would include a policeman married to a teacher. When presented with evidence that tax cuts lead to increase revenues he responded that increasing taxes on the wealthy was “a question of fairness.”

Just like Chris Matthews, I felt a tingling sensation crawling up my leg. In contrast to Matthews, I recognized the feeling. It was the hand of the IRS inside my pockets.