Liberals' Pay for their Own Messes

File these 3 stories — tax hike pain, Obamacare repeal and repent, and eco-activists forced to pay damages — under "serves them right."

1. Tax Hikes: Liberals love tax increases, right? Wrong. They're squealing like little piggies about the 2% FICA payroll tax hike that hit their weekly pay checks. Here is an example from DemocraticUnderground.com:

What happened that my Social Security withholding's in my paycheck just went up? My paycheck just went down by an amount that I don't feel comfortable with. I guarantee this decrease is gonna' hurt me more than the increase in income taxes will hurt those making over 400 grand. What happened?

And on Twitter:

Really, how am I ever supposed to pay off my student loans if my already small paycheck keeps getting smaller? Help a sister out, Obama.

More here and here.

2. Obamacare Section Repealed: In the dead of night and under cover of the Fiscal Crisis deal, liberals joined conservatives in repealing part of the Obamacare law, the CLASS Act, after it became obvious to all that it was an unworkable disaster. But there's more.

Now several senators, including uber-liberal Al Franken (MN), John Kerry (MA), Charles Schumer (NY), and Debbie Stabenow (MI), are asking Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to delay Obamacare's medical device tax, "which falls on every item used in medical treatments, from stents to syringes, IV tubes, and prosthetics." Seems they've just discovered that the tax will cost jobs in their very blue states.

3. Animal Rights Group Ponies Up $9.3 Million in Damages. A decade ago, several animal rights groups filed a lawsuit against Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus's parent company alleging cruelty to animals. During legal discovery, B&B lawyers discovered that the "witness" to the alleged abuse was paid $190,000 by the animal rights groups. The case against the Circus was dismissed by the court "'with prejudice', meaning the case was found to be without merit to the point that the court blocked these groups from refiling it. Ever."

The Circus's parent company, Feld Entertainment, filed a counter suit against the animal rights groups for "conspiring to pay for false testimony." Last week one of the groups, The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), settled the suit with a payment of $9.3 million in damages to the Circus. Now that's justice!

The rest of the animal rights groups — Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), the Fund for Animals, Animal Welfare Institute, Animal Protection Institute United with Born Free USA — are still defending themselves and probably engaged in heavy fundraising right now, since they are all tax-exempt non-profit organizations.

Beware if you're inclined to fall for the heart wrenching ads by animal rights groups. Here's just a portion of the report on HSUS by the Center for Consumer Freedom (check out the full report to see how their money is spent):

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is a radical animal rights group that inaccurately portrays itself as a mainstream animal care organization. The words “humane society” may appear on its letterhead, but HSUS is not affiliated with your local animal shelter. Despite the omnipresent dogs and cats in its fundraising materials and television commercials, it’s not an organization that runs spay/neuter programs or takes in stray, neglected, and abused pets. And quite unlike the common image of animal protection agencies as cash-strapped organizations dedicated to animal welfare, HSUS has become the wealthiest animal rights organization on earth...

Maybe HSUS will be a little less wealthy when the Circus suit ends.