Trampling Out The Vintage

Tax Time
In the Affordable Care Act, the new tax on investment income is called an “unearned income Medicare contribution.” However, the law does not provide for the money to be deposited in a specific trust fund. It is added to the government’s general tax revenues and can be used for education, law enforcement, farm subsidies or other purposes. (NYT, 12/8/2012)

An article worth reading to learn about the taxes already coming (never mind the fiscal cliff) as a result of Obamacare. Fox News told you about these while the rest of the media ignored them. With Obama safely re-elected, the Times is now free to report the facts. Also interesting is that "the affluent" are now defined not as the top 2%, but as the top 20%! Shortly, in order to up the pot, Obama and the Dems will define the rich as the top 53%.... which gets us exactly to the 53-47 split that Mitt Romney spoke about. Ooops.


Sign O' The Times
Yet amid the celebration, there were signs of concern over how the Supreme Court might rule. The fact that the Supreme Court is hearing the cases hardly means it is about to ratify same-sex marriage. As supporters and opponents said in interviews, the court might well use these cases to find that there is no constitutional protection for same-sex marriage. (NYT, 12/8/2012)

RedStateVT prediction: The Supreme Court will rule that same-sex marriage is unconstitutional in a 5-4 decision. However, Justice Roberts will side with the minority in a "let's make an exception" extra-judicial ruling. Remind us again: Who signed the Defense of Marriage Act? Oh, of course, it was Bill Clinton.


All-Nighter
The annual United Nations climate change negotiations concluded here late Saturday after the customary all-night negotiating session and recriminations over who must bear the costs and burdens of a warming planet.

Delegates from more than 190 nations agreed to extend the increasingly ineffective Kyoto Protocol a few years and to commit to more ambitious — but unspecified — actions to reduce emissions of climate-altering gases.

Wealthy nations put off for a year resolution of the dispute over providing billions of dollars in aid to countries most heavily affected by climate change. Industrial nations have pledged to secure $100 billion a year by 2020 in public and private financing to help poor countries cope with climate change, but have been vague about what they plan to do before then. (NYT, 12/8/2012)

Forget saving the planet. The number one goal of the climate change crowd is income redistribution. Remind us again: What was the U.S. Senate vote on the Kyoto Protocol? Oh, that's right, it was 95-0 against.