Yesterday was good news for those believing in freedom, small government, and democracy. The Senate does not plan on voting for Cap and Tax until September. This delay will certainly give us more time to change minds, write letters, send emails, and melt the phones of our representatives. We must continue to do so, even whilst they are away for the month of August. The beginning of the next session begins immediately after Labor Day in which the Senate plans on voting/passing an immigration reform bill. September will be a very busy month for those of us fighting for our country. Hopefully the impact of the 9/12 tea party protest will be felt far and wide. I also hope that we do a little more – Since Congress begins the new session after Labor Day, which is the week of the massive 9/12 March on DC, why not take the week off as vacation time and engage in a sit-in on the steps of Capitol Hill as our Congress-critters come back to work for the first day after their summer vacation!? It’s time to make them realize who they work for; a good government is one that fears its people.
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee began their hearings on the 1,500 page Waxman-Markey cap and trade legislation Tuesday, and ranking member Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) won a startling admission from Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa Jackson. Inhofe produced an EPA chart generated last year during the Senate’s debate of the Lieberman-Warner cap and trade legislation. The chart showed that the carbon reductions under that bill would not materially effect global carbon concentrations in the atmosphere. Inhofe then asked Jackson if she agreed with the chart’s conclusions. Jackson replied: “I believe that essential parts of the chart are that the U.S. action alone will not impact CO2 levels.”
Also at the hearing, Energy Secretary Steven Chu said he did not agree with chart which is interesting since all the best science confirms Inhofe’s and Jackson’s conclusions. For example, a recent study of cap and trade by MIT concluded: “The different U.S. policies have relatively small effects on the CO2 concentration if other regions do not follow the U.S. lead. … The Developed Only scenario cuts only about 0.5 °C of the warming from the reference, again illustrating the importance of developing country participation.”
Michelle Malkin and Nate Silver put some great information together regarding the “softies” on cap and tax in the Senate. There is a chance to change several Democrat’s minds, especially those living in energy and coal producing states. (Don’t forget the liberal repubbies either)!
There is also some new and interesting data coming from those reading through the bill now that it has been posted. One of those interesting tidbits is the amount of money going to ACORN in a CLIMATE CHANGE bill:
“The American people will see tax dollars go to so-called community development organizations like ACORN, to teach low-income residents how to live in accord with the worldview of the Environmental Left,” scowled a news release yesterday from Congressional critics of the Cap and Trade bill.
Sure enough, there are 19 mentions of the term “community development” in the bill, but nothing specific about ACORN.
Sec. 264 of the bill is on “Low Income Community Energy Efficiency Program,” which says the feds will dole out grant money to community development organizations “to provide financing to businesses and projects that improve energy efficiency” for low-income residents.
On page 561, the bill authorizes $50 million per year for six fiscal years, so that’s $300 million in all for these kind of programs.
“I just want to know if ACORN would qualify for these grants,” said House GOP Leader John Boehner, who was the only Republican to note the ACORN issue during debate on the House floor.
If you really want to make your blood boil and find the additional goodies that were hidden in the bill go here.
John Fleming (R-LA) has created a resolution in the House, backed by several other sponsors, which stipulates any Congress member who votes to back a government “option’ for health care, must use that same “option.”
The latest bill set to pass through congress, the health care bill, is stacked with pork products, and not the type you eat at baseball games.
Congress is trying to stuff the bill full of projects that have absolutely nothing to do with health care. I will provide some examples:
1. Walking Paths: walking paths drastically increase health because it is almost impossible to walk and exercise on streets, grass, gyms, your home, or school race tracks.
2. Streetlights: Although not directly associated with vitamin D – it could serve as a great replacement for the sun some time in the future… or wait…
3. Jungle Gyms: I am hoping that those who need health care the most, i.e. senior citizens, get some new ‘sneaks’ and hit the playground. I’m sure their hips and joints will love climbing up and down. Is it just me or aren’t jungle gyms and things related to parks and recreation considered city works? – eh… who am I kidding – it’s not like Congress follows the rules; the Constitution.
4. Farmer’s Markets: After cap and tax and the new Food bill on the table – why worry about additional Farmer’s markets? Our grocery stores will become just that… Plus, given the economic downturn I may just be forced to grow my own food or steal some from Michelle Obama’s garden!
I am hoping that those of you reading this are beginning to see the insanity if you haven’t already. This is unbelievable, and the sad part; most Democrats think it all makes sense:
Advocates, including Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, defend the proposed spending as a necessary way to promote healthier lives and, in the long run, cut medical costs. “These are not public works grants; they are community transformation grants,’’ said Anthony Coley, a spokesman for Kennedy, chairman of the Senate health committee whose healthcare bill includes the projects.
Let’s compare public works to community transformation, because the way in which politicians mask the truth is through words and labels: Community = Society at large; a commonwealth or state; a body politic; the public, or people in general. Transformation = to perform a specified action or activity; work; operate
“If improving the lighting in a playground or clearing a walking path or a bike path or restoring a park are determined as needed by a community to create more opportunities for physical activity, we should not prohibit this from happening,’’ Coley said in a statement.
Teddy’s idea of exercise comes in the form of running from a murder scene…
Counties that supported Obama last year have reaped twice as much money per person from the administration’s $787 billion economic stimulus package as those that voted for his Republican rival, Sen. John McCain, a USA TODAY analysis of government disclosure and accounting records shows. That money includes aid to repair military bases, improve public housing and help students pay for college.
$17 Billion in aid has gone to Obama backers from his stimulus bill. This is a captain obvious moment, but it should be disconcerting that when the country’s future is at stake, the good of the citizens takes a backseat to the pay-to-play political games of politicians – including Mr. Hope and Change himself.
Chuckie Schumer (D-NY) says the Immigration (Amnesty) bill will be ready by Labor Day. This bill would ensure that amnesty would be granted to nearly 12 million illegal aliens, who never thought twice about doing the right thing; America will reward bad behavior. I have a serious issue when it comes to morals and standards – any immigrant who wants to come to the USA should show they care enough about the country. This means they follow the rules and show respect to the millions of citizens already residing here legally, paying taxes, and working, by doing the same.
And what about the immigrants who came here legally and have been living in this country for years? I am friends with many from Asia, especially Vietnam – they came here to be free and enjoy democracy after the Vietnam War. One of the ladies I know wrote a wonderful short story about her escape from Vietnam. She fled to Europe, where she became a Dutch citizen, until she made enough money to come to America. She took her citizenship test and took all the steps required to be a productive, tax-paying member of society. She now owns her own business and does quite well for herself. She is a conservative because she remembers the horrors of where she came from and has never let one day pass where she took this country for granted… Maybe more, besides illegal aliens, should do the same.
“I think we’ll have a good bill by Labor Day,” said Schumer, D-N.Y. “I think the fundamental building blocks are in place to do comprehensive immigration reform.”
Schumer said the way to get the bill done is to be very tough on future waves of illegal immigration. He declared himself pro-immigration and said the U.S. should encourage legal immigration and find some kind of path for people now here to find a way to legal citizenship.
“We have a shortage maybe of engineers here or Ph.D’s in physics, but we probably don’t have a shortage of people who can do construction work,” Schumer said.
If you read between the lines, Schumer wants to pass amnesty and give a free pass to the millions of illegals already in the country. He then says he will be harder on future generations coming into the country. Chock this up to more empty words from the Dems – fooling the masses but making it appear as though things will be ok; if we pass this bill now, we can resolve the other issues later. However, they never resolve the other issues! They try to pass legislation that only cures the symptoms, but never fix the underlying disease! Congress-critters are too concerned about their own pockets and power, to ever go back and fix policies, although they promised they would. Most are just lying, corrupt thieves.
It’s important to remember that Massachusetts had a Republican governor at the helm, who proposed the same type of system that Obama is proposing. As much as those out there argue that the governor’s plan was taken to extremes by the next liberal administration – that still does not excuse the fact that a progressive politician (be it Republican or Democrat) set in motion a piece of legislation that harms more than it helps. The same could be said for Bush’s ‘No Child Left Behind Act.’ It was still Bush’s idea and he pushed for the legislation, even after it was made into something unintended.
A recent study released from Massachusetts showed that only 26% felt that the state’s universal health care program worked. Those who actually were the poorest and previously did not have health care, liked the program the least. Progressives want people to believe that billions of people are without health care, when that’s not the case, and the few million who don’t have it, are either here illegally, choose not to use one of the many programs in existence that offers health care, or are fine with going to the emergency rooms in hospitals.
Make no bones about it, Obama wants his way or it’s the highway. He WON remember? Get over it! He doesn’t want to compromise on the health care debate, and he made that point abundantly clear today, even from overseas. He told the moderate Democrats in Congress that he does not want a compromise with Republicans… He wants exactly what he proposed. Smoke and mirrors legislation that looks as though the program is competitive, but would eventually make it too expensive for small and medium sized business to carry insurance for their employees. The government cannot compete with the private sector – it always wins.
