18 thoughts on “A Review Of The President’s Press Conference”

  1. “Republican leaders need to ask their consituents if they are willing to sacrifice the safety of their children for a tax break for a corporate jet owner.”

    First off, I don’t buy the premise. Secondly, I don’t relish the idea of raised taxes so NANCY Pelosi can travel in an AF Jet either!! But no one spoke out about that. At least no one from the left.

    Plus, I love the concept that corporate jets, that companies use to MAKE money are bad, but flying all over the country on TAX PAYER DOLLARS to stump for money for YOUR political side is NOT bad?! AW, bull-loney! If you look up “hypocritical a-hole” in the American Political Dictionary, you’ll find BHO’s picture.

  2. Unless there’s been some crime wave of corporate jet owners crash-landing their jets into childrens’ playgrounds during recess, I’m not sure WTF President Awesome is talking about. Then again, he doesn’t seem to know either.

  3. Legal Insurrection (the first link) has an update that’s just hilarious. The tax breaks for corporate jets was passed by Democrats in 2009 as part of Obama’s stimulus package.

  6. A few questions:

    How many private jets (and helicopters) does the White House have?

    How many can the President actually fly on at one time?

    How much does the executive fleet cost the taxpayers every year?

    How does this expense compare to the annual budget of Netjets?

    How much does the White House spend on private jets compared to average Fortune 500 company?

    How much one-time revenue could the White House raise by selling off excess aircraft and reducing the fleet to a single airframe?

    Has anyone graphed the answers to these questions?

  7. C’mon people, glass half full, half empty.

    If what the President wants is a tax on corporate jets and to repeal a tax credit to prosperous oil companies, let him have that. He left the door open for serious cuts along with changes in entitlements, and he doesn’t seem to be asking for more at this point.

    I mean, the President as much as supplied a “tell” that he is negotiating from weakness, that he is desperate in his pleading. Real raising of revenue would, dunno, require letting the Evil Bush Tax Cuts expire, which would raise taxes on a lot more people that jet-setting oil millionaires. What he is asking for is purely symbolic.

    Let him have his face-saving symbolism and then press for concessions on every other point.

    On the other hand, if it is the Republican (or Tea Party) plan to not yield one inch of ground, to not accede to any tax increase in any form, well, the idea of governing the country from the House of Representatives by the Conservative faction had been tried once before, and look how that had turned out. The President has enormous power to influence public opinion, even if it is only through shear power of demogoguery.

  8. If what the President wants is a tax on corporate jets and to repeal a tax credit to prosperous oil companies

    Do you think for a moment the prosperous oil companies won’t pass the tax increases on to consumers, not only at the gas pump but through petrochemical products, prices at the supermarket, and everything else you buy?

    As Milton Friedman said, invisible taxes are the worst kind, because no one sees how much they hurt.

    As for corporate jets, 1.2 million people who work in the business aviation industry. Mull that number over for a while. Compare it to the 9,000 jobs Bill Nelson is worried about losing at KSC.

  9. On the other hand, if it is the Republican (or Tea Party) plan to not yield one inch of ground, to not accede to any tax increase in any form,

    Yes, Heaven forbid that those in power refrain from taking by force more of our money than they already do. I mean, if only the government had a little more revenue, it would balance its books. It’s not like the main problem is that spending is out of control. And it’s not like letting it have more money would leave it without an incentive to change the behavior that got us into this mess to begin with.

    And of course, removing more money from an already suffering economy won’t depress it even more. Certainly it won’t have such an effect on our lives, or cause any reactive change in people’s activity, that might make revenue less than antipicated.

    (All that was sarcasm, by the way. I really think we’ve yielded much more than an inch of ground over the past several decades. I for one am tired of yielding.)

  10. “The president’s war on corporate jets.”

    You missed the punchline.

    “The president’s war on corporate jets … followed by discussion of how things are looking up for Alcoa – major supplier of aluminum … aircraft … wings.“

  11. Let him have his face-saving symbolism and then press for concessions on every other point.

    No. Screw that. I don’t want his face saved. I want 100% Grade A defeat, face pushed into the mud humiliation. His devil women — Valerie Jarett, Jamie Gorelick — stripped naked and driven wailing into the outer darkness. His dog and Eric Holder sold into slavery, his name turned into a common curse word.

  15. If what the President wants is a tax on corporate jets and to repeal a tax credit to prosperous oil companies, let him have that. He left the door open for serious cuts along with changes in entitlements, and he doesn’t seem to be asking for more at this point.

    Yeah, ’cause hiking taxes in exchange for the promise of future spending cuts worked out so well for Bush 41…

    I’m with Carl. It’s time for the girlie men in D.C. to get some Conan going…

    Mongol General: Conan! What is best in life?
    Conan: To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women.

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