Posted by Pete on March 26, 2009 · Leave a Comment
WASHINGTON — A key Senate panel stacked with allies of President Barack Obama approved his ambitious budget blueprint Thursday, giving the president a symbolic endorsement of efforts to boost clean energy, fight global warming and improve access to health care.
*****As you all know, this was a major theme of the “Press Conference” and “Web-Hall Meeting” upon which the theory is social spending will cure many of the ales the plague America. So where is the job creation for the American worker who was displaced by outsourcing, plant closings, or downsizing?******
Senate Budget Committee approval by a party-line vote sets the stage for floor debate next week, where moderate Democrats unhappy with deficits wield more influence. The Senate measure is a nonbinding road map for major legislation later this year on health care, energy and education.
******This is a chance the Republican minority needs to seize upon and woo the Blue Dogs into our corner. These Dems see things a lot more our way than the Presidents way. Education and Health are important things, but throwing cash at these things do nothing to solve the root problems******
But general agreements on fighting global warming and boosting health care promise to be severely tested later in the year as details are penciled in.
The Senate plan and its House counterpart will both go to the floors of their respective chambers next week over passionate protests from Republicans, who warn of big spending increases and record deficits.
******Lead by our number one Congresswoman—Michele Bachmann—against the out of control spending*****
Obama’s budget would leave a deficit of $749 billion in five years’ time, according to congressional estimates — too high for his Democratic allies — and would grow to unsustainable levels exceeding 5 percent of the economy by the end of the decade.
For their part, House Republicans unveiled their response to Obama’s budget plan Thursday in a glossy pamphlet short on detail and long on campaign-style talking points. Among the few details was a promise to simplify the tax code and cut income tax rates to 10 percent for people making $100,000 or less.
******If that is what you call rolling out something (I mean come on Rep Boehner! EDS (our Dept of Navy enterprise network provider) did a better job, and that was a disaster!! You have to come out with meat and potatoes, not a wimpy appetizer!*******
Republicans pointed out budgetary sleights of hand in the congressional plans, such as abandoning Obama’s promises for permanent relief from the alternative minimum tax and other politically essential legislation, such as money to shelter doctors from cutbacks in payments they receive for serving Medicare patients.
During Senate panel debate Thursday, Democrats shot down a series of GOP amendments, including a plan by Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., to save $200 billion by freezing spending on non-defense domestic programs for the next two years and allowing modest increases in the future.
The panel also defeated an amendment by top panel Republican Judd Gregg of New Hampshire to block Democrats from passing a health care reform bill that uses deficit dollars to finance a health care reform bill in the first six years of the plan.
*******And the Dems sit there, on their high thrown and tell the American people, that the GOP sits by and do nothing, when time after time, any republican suggestion, amendment, or proposal is shot down by the majority party. This is why we must make bed fellows with the Blue Dogs. We must combat this situation and stop it now befor we are bankrupt.*********
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Posted by admin on February 24, 2009 · Leave a Comment
02/24/09
While Obama was on TV all day spewing his rhetoric about fiscal responsibility and cutting the Federal deficit in half, House Democrats introduced a $410 billion spending bill. Associated Press reports:
WASHINGTON (AP) -House Democrats unveiled a $410 billion spending bill on Monday to keep the government running through the end of the fiscal year, setting up the second political struggle over federal funds in less than a month with Republicans.
The measure includes thousands of earmarks, the pet projects favored by lawmakers but often criticized by the public in opinion polls. There was no official total of the bill’s earmarks, which accounted for at least $3.8 billion.
The legislation, which includes an increase of roughly 8 percent over spending in the last fiscal year, is expected to clear the House later in the week.
Democrats defended the spending increases, saying they were needed to make up for cuts enacted in recent years or proposed a year ago by then-President George W. Bush in health, education, energy and other programs.
Republicans countered that the spending in the bill far outpaced inflation, and amounted to much higher increases when combined with spending in the stimulus legislation that President Barack Obama signed last week. In a letter to top Democratic leaders, the GOP leadership called for a spending freeze, a step they said would point toward a “new standard of fiscal discipline.”
Either way, the bill advanced less than one week after Obama signed the $787 billion economic stimulus bill that all Republicans in Congress opposed except for three moderate GOP senators.
Apart from spending, the legislation provides Democrats in Congress and Obama an opportunity to reverse Bush-era policy on selected issues.
It loosens restrictions on travel to Cuba, as well as the sale of food and medicine to the communist island-nation.
In another change, the legislation bans Mexican-licensed trucks from operating outside commercial zones along the border with the United States. The Teamsters Union, which supported Obama’s election last year, hailed the move.
The Bush administration backed a pilot program to permit up to 500 trucks from 100 Mexican motor carriers access to U.S. roads.
The legislation covers programs for numerous Cabinet-level and other agencies, and takes the place of regular annual spending bills that did not pass last year as a result of a deadlock between the Bush administration and the Democratic-controlled Congress.
Congressional expenses are included. The bill provides $500,000 for what is described as a Senate “pilot program” that will defray the cost of mass mail postcards to households notifying them of a nearby town meeting to be attended by any senator.
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Posted by admin on February 22, 2009 · Leave a Comment
02/22/09
I know I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer and when it comes to mathematics, a butter knife is a cut above me. However, when I hear the numbers being tossed about by Washington, even I know something isn’t adding up.
The headline reads: Obama Aims to Halve Deficit by 2013. I had to read that twice. Halve the deficit!? I mean, didn’t we just spend $787 billion in pork? If you go by what the “experts” say, one third of that is tax cuts and job creation so that creates an actual total of about $520 billion in pork spending. Stay with me, the numbers are about to get even more confusing.
We musn’t forget the $75 billion in mortgage bailout, or is it $275 billion? I still haven’t figured this one out. The President said it was a $75 billion dollar plan and yet the same day the news was reporting it at $275 billion. Get out your calculator folks. This plan is supposed to help up to 9 million homeowners by renegotiating loans to save them $6,000 on their mortgage. According to my trusty rusty Texas Instrument, 9 million times 6 thousand equals, 54 billion. Is your head spinning yet?
On top of all this is Geithner’s yet to be named, planned, or rolled out blueprint to save the world from economic collapse. We don’t know what it is and he won’t tell us, but we do know it will cost at least $2 TRILLION. In addition are the trillions in bank, insurance, and auto bailouts.
Now then, the report I read said that the new administration was left with a $1.3 trillion deficit when it took office. Politicians prefer to say it was left with a $9 trillion deficit. To-may-toe, to-mah-toe? To try and reconcile these numbers, I dug a bit deeper. Guess what I found? They are both right! What I learned is that there is a difference between Federal deficit and National deficit. Say whaaat!? You read that right folks. There are two sets of books. I know some of y’all already knew this but keep in mind… I am aspiring to be a butter knife.
So, when the President says he is going to cut the Federal deficit in half, he just might be able to do it; by moving pork spending and pet projects outside the budget and into spending bills, instead of within the proper budget appropriations where they rightfully belong (remember the stimulus bill).
Now that those trillions are no longer on the Federal books how is he going to halve what is left? Well, he is going to raise taxes. He said he will raise them on businesses and on the wealthy. Now, I take issue with the term “wealthy” because by his definition you are wealthy if your household earns more than $250,000. Right now, those poor schmucks who work hard, pay their mortgages, pay their bills, and earn $250,000 are paying $87,500 of their earnings in income tax. When Obama gets through they will be paying $99,000 in income tax. That’s just income tax, folks! It doesn’t take into account social security, medicare, and for some, State tax. Now, if the median household income is $40,000 then that means for every household earning $250,000, there are two jobs that could have been created had they not been taxed. But Obama doesn’t really want to create jobs, does he? No, he wants to take money from the so called wealthy and give it to the “poor” so that the “poor” doesn’t actually have to work.
Finally, Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address, “We can’t generate sustained growth without getting our deficits under control.” He said his budget will be “sober in its assessments, honest in its accounting, and lays out in detail my strategy for investing in what we need, cutting what we don’t, and restoring fiscal discipline.” How can this guy keep a straight face when he knows he is spewing a bold faced lie!? To add insult to injury, he is meeting tomorrow with business and union leaders, academics and lawmakers to discuss ways of cutting the deficit. Then on Tuesday he is addressing a joint session of congress with his budget. If I were a business leader invited to this faux meeting, I wouldn’t go. It’s an insult to say you want input on something when you have already made up your mind. Kinda like when he wanted input from Republicans on the stimulus bill when he had no intention of listening.
One more thing before I go repair the hole in the wall left by my Texas Instrument. Remember the $13 per week we are to receive? Evidentally, Obama is using a different calculator because in his address he claims it is $65 per month. I still haven’t figured that one out. If anyone can enlighten me please do!
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Posted by admin on February 20, 2009 · 1 Comment
02/20/09
I like my neighbor’s house. It’s a nice two story with four bedrooms, three baths, gourmet kitchen, and it has a pool! I like it so much I think I will go change the locks and move into it myself. Sound absurd? Not if you are ACORN. They are training people in cities throughout the country how to “peacefully” protest foreclosure by “taking back” foreclosed homes. Some might cheer and say, “Yea! Stick it to the evil banker!” However, they aren’t protesting at the banks. They are breaking the locks off foreclosed homes, taking possession of the homes, and changing the locks. These homes don’t belong to them! Hell, they even don’t even belong to the banks. As you will see in the video below, this particular house had been sold and the new owners were in the process of renovating the house. And this is being called a “peaceful protest.” The ACORN rep interviewed called it trespassing. I call it breaking and entering.
When you listen to the reporter, you will hear that the house was foreclosed on back in September. Also, that it was foreclosed because the owner couldn’t make the payment after it went up by $300. In her words, she tried to get it refinanced but the bank said no. I’m not an accountant nor am I a banker, but if someone can’t afford an additional $300 they probably couldn’t afford the original payment either. Not to mention that ACORN was calling this woman’s circumstance an example of predatory lending. Um… excuse me?
http://wjz.com/local/acorn.foreclosure.2.939119.html (sorry, I wasn’t able to embed the video, only the link)
ACORN has already shown that it can rig elections. ACORN peddles Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. ACORN has forced banks to make bad mortgage loans. And now ACORN is training people to steal houses. And we, the people, are paying them to do it. Lest we forget, ACORN stands to receive billions from the stimulus bill which contains $1 billion for “community development block grants” and $2 billion for the “provision of emergency assistance for the redevelopment of abandoned and foreclosed homes.” Where is the outrage?
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Posted by admin on February 12, 2009 · 1 Comment
02/12/09
This week Obama and his traveling minstrels have been holding tent revivals across the eastern states. As savior of the world, he has made women swoon and young men shout to the heavens praising his name. In his camp meetings Obama has made clear that his plan for us will create jobs, save homes, and put money in our pockets. He promised everything to his children like any good messiah would. Right?
While he was bringing his message of salvation, his closest disciples were cramped together chiseling out the final details of his commandments. As they descended from the mountain we find enscribed on the tablets: $46 billion highway, bridge and mass transit construction. (If you are an equipment operator or a ditch digger, this is good news. I’m college educated, I wonder if I could be a ‘digger of ditches’). Also bestowed upon us is a 60 percent subsidy to help the unemployed pay for COBRA. (I’m still trying to find out if that is retroactive for those thousands of people whose grace period for applying for COBRA has expired). The provision for helping prospective home buyers is all but cut. The $15,000 tax credit for anybody buying a home over the next year was dropped; instead, first-time homebuyers can claim an $8,000 credit; but you have to act fast! It only lasts until the end of August. (Since the banks aren’t loaning money, good luck with that one folks). Out of the $790 billion dollars being spent for this stimulus and the $2 plus TRILLION dollars Geithner wants to spend and the more than $2 trillion already spent to get us out of this “crisis,” Obama’s loyal minions can expect to receive, on average, $13 per week from late spring until January. Then it gets scaled back to $8 per week. Last week our savior told the world that with his plan his sheep “will be able to get that car repaired, pay bills, buy groceries.” He later told us, not to go to Las Vegas. I don’t know about you but I am taking my $13 and investing it. Thirteen lotto tickets.
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