Pinheads and Patriots by Bill O'Reilly Page B

Thirty percent on it. That’s Vegas, man. I am not going with those odds.
    Obama: I, I—
    O’Reilly: Fifteen, I’ll pay. Not 30.
    Obama: I, I, I didn’t go there. Uh, I didn’t say we would go that high. Well, let’s say we go up to 20. I have talked to—
    O’Reilly: Twenty is okay.
    Obama: That, that—
    O’Reilly: Not 25.
    Obama: Okay. Well, there—well, you and I agree.
    O’Reilly: All right. Good.
    ----
    The most difficult part of researching this book has been trying to ascertain what will happen to America’s economy under President Obama. Things are so shaky, so murky, so unpredictable that, like Afghanistan, just about anything could happen—with the exception of a tax cut for me.
    Here’s what we know for sure:
Unemployment hovers around 10 percent despite massive government spending to stimulate the economy.
Because of that spending, the new ObamaCare health system, and corporate bailouts, the United States now owes more than 13 trillion dollars.
The New York Times and other Pinhead Far Left organizations demand even more government spending. Apparently, owing 13 trillion is not enough. Let’s go for it! Let’s get that up to 15 trillion.
If President Obama is worried about this staggering debt, he is hiding it very well.
Beginning on New Year’s Day 2011, many, many taxes will rise in America. My federal income tax rate, for example, will go up to 39.6 percent. My payroll taxes will also go up. In fact, just about everything the feds can tax, they will tax. And all that additional revenue will not come even close to denting the deficit if the Obama administration continues its spending spree.
Capital gains tax (the money you make when you sell profitable investments) will rise 5 percent to 20 percent, as Mr. Obama and I discussed.
But interest on savings (yeah, sure, for many of us) will be taxed to the tune of almost 40 percent, a punishing situation.
If you die in 2011 or beyond and leave more than a million in assets, the feds will take 55 percent of what you have over that amount. Thank you very much for expiring.
    I could go on and on, but you get the picture. President Obama wants our money even though higher taxation might put the economy back into recession. Higher taxes often mean that folks spend less in our consumer-driven economy. President Reagan got us out of a nasty recession by cutting taxes. President Obama is doing just the opposite.
    The real danger down the road is a Value Added Tax (VAT). Even though the President is playing the Alfred E. Neuman (“What, me worry?”) card on government spending, his guys know there’s a bad economic moon rising. The federal government is already almost broke; when ObamaCare finally kicks in, it could send us over the bankruptcy cliff.
    So say hello to my little friend, the national sales tax. They do this in Europe to raise entitlement money so that workers can have eight weeks of paid vacation and call in sick every ten days. It does get chilly in Sweden, you know.
    The VAT would be a promise-breaker for Mr. Obama, but he may have no choice. Remember, he said he would notraise taxes on Americans making $250,000 or less a year. But a national sales tax stings everybody. Read my lips: a VAT is a broken promise.
    Of course, all this could change if the Democrats continue to lose public support. If Republicans regain control on Capitol Hill, as many observers believe likely, all of President Obama’s programs and economic visions will be carefully scrutinized.
    Finally, I understand it is my duty as a citizen to pay taxes, so I do pay them and try to keep the whining to a minimum. But many Americans are not as fortunate as I am. They are struggling to keep their homes, but high and rising property taxes are killing them. They want to send their kids to college, but every time they turn around, the government is keeping take-home pay away from them. There has to be a