98 Search Results for "bailout"

• The Mule

  • From: WJC55
  • Description:

    The Mule

     

    Curtis &Leroy saw an ad in the Starkville Daily News Newspaper in Starkville, MS. and bought a mule for $100.

    

    The farmer agreed to deliver the mule the next day.
    The next morning the farmer drove up and said, "Sorry, fellows, I have some bad news, the mule died last night."
    
    Curtis &Leroy replied, "Well, then just give us our money back."
    
    The farmer said, "Can't do that. I went and spent it already."
    
    They said, "OK then, just bring us the dead mule."
    
    The farmer asked, "What in the world ya'll gonna do with a old dead mule?"
    
    Curtis said, "We gonna raffle him off."
    
    The farmer said, "You can't raffle off a dead mule!"
    
    Leroy said, "We shore can!  Heck, we don't hafta tell nobody he's dead!"
    
    A couple of weeks later, the farmer ran into Curtis &Leroy at the

     

    Piggly Wiggly  grocery store and asked.
    "What'd you fellers ever do with that dead mule?"
    They said,"We raffled him off like we said we wuz gonna do."
    
    Leroy said,"Shucks, we sold 500 tickets fer two dollars apiece and made a profit of $898."
    
    The farmer said,"My Lord, didn't anyone complain?" 
    
    Curtis said, "Well, the feller who won got upset. So we gave him his two dollars back." 
    
    Curtis and Leroy now work for the government.

    
    
    They're overseeing the Bailout Program.

     

    Limit all US politicians to two terms.

    One in office

    One in prison

    Illinois already does this!

  • Blog post
  • 1 week ago
  • Views: 146

• Wake up, the alarms are ringin

  • From: dlindberg102
  • Description:

    As we find ourselves in the throes of a mini depression let examine the causes and try to find the cure. It’s obvious that Congress is too embroiled in petty politics to solve our dilemma in a reasonable fashion.

    First we have to examine the obvious; the financial meltdown of Wall Street and the terrible crash of the housing market. The finger points at greed in both cases. Both political parties, and the past 4 administrations are just as guilty as the other. This constant blame game that has gone on for the last 8 years has exacerbated the problem and driven us farther and farther away from a positive solution. We know the Wall Street problem stems from the housing situation, as huge amounts of capital were invested in these high risk loans. When the Real Estate crash hit it depleted equity positions and caused a run on the industry never before experienced. Banks failed at an alarming rate causing the Federal Reserve to stretch beyond its means.

    What caused this catastrophe in the first place? I believe it was the long term effect of the desire of the Clinton administration to open the Housing market to those who normally couldn’t afford one. Their instructions to Fannie Mae Lowered the standards for loan qualifications. At once this became a boon to the industry as millions of previously unqualified buyers flooded the market. Prices soared and everyone was convinced they would never go back down only up and up. Suddenly real estate was the gold standard of the world. The Bush administration made one half hearted attempt to control this runaway train but was rebuffed by the likes of Frank, Dodd and Waters and retreated into a cocoon of silence. The attempt by Bush’s Secretary of the Treasury Paulson to bailout the banks was the worst decision that could have been possible. $780 Billion of our tax dollars simply disappeared into a whirlpool of greed and fraud. The Obama administration has worsened the situation with their attempt to Nationalize the banking and auto industry. The so called stimulus they pushed down our throat was more Pork than substance and just paid back the liberal establishment for their loyalty.

    Unemployment; Now that the rate has hit over 10% even the diehard Union establishment must be questioning the process. Jobs are created by small business not government programs is not going to solve the unemployment situation. The trickery of numbers being thrown about by the administration are a farce. Show me 640,000 saved jobs and I’ll eat my hat. Jobs are created by an active market and a population that has confidence in the economy. If only a smidgeon of the bailout and stimulus money that has been wasted on the auto industry and banking was used for tax incentives and low interest loans for businesses that were willing to expand and hire new workers there wouldn’t have been a need for an auto bailout.

    Congressional arrogance; We are in the midst of an attempted takeover of our country by an elite group of supposed Representatives, that could care less what you think. They believe that they are the supreme power in this country and will do whatever they think is in their best interest. The fact that they were elected to do the bidding of the people who put them there is irrelevant, they feel they know what’s best for America. We were warned about this happening when our founding fathers wrote the Constitution. These elitist arrogant egotists, have ignored all aspects of the Constitution and our rights in general. If we allow these people to force a vote on medical reform, without allowing both parties of the Congress and the people to study the content of the bill, we might as well have capitulated to The Soviet Union in the 60’s. It’s time to find your Cahonies America, it’s time to recall the entire bunch and start over with people who understand the American way and our Constitution.

  • Blog post
  • 2 weeks ago
  • Views: 82

• Visitors List

  • From: ExciteM
  • Description:

    Updated 5:02 PM EST

    Typical lying liberal says there is no list. So much for Lefty's credibility:

    http://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/disclosures/visitor-records

    The White House released Obama’s "Visitor Log". 
    
    Oprah. Lloyd Blankfein. Serena Williams. Michael Jordan. Vikram Pandit. George Clooney. Al Gore. Al Franken.
    
    No, not the invite list to the hottest party of all time. Just a few of the characters who have shot the bull (and maybe worked out a few deals) in the Oval Office with President Obama since he took office in January.

    According to the White House, no administration has ever released a roster of the president’s visitors until now (not true). The White House posted the list on its website after over 100 requests for disclosure, and the administration promises that it will continue to share visitor information regularly beginning in December (transparency).

    Andy Stern, president of one of the largest American unions SEIU, takes the cake for most visits with 22. But he’s easily outdone by former AIG CEO Maurice R. Greenberg, who visited Obama three times (that’s about $60 billion bailout dollars per visit).
    
    William Ayers and Jeremiah Wright also visited the Oval Office. But not "that" Williams Ayers or that Jeremiah Wright. Just people with the same name. The White House dodged that bullet, writing that “Given this large amount of data, the records we are publishing today include a few ‘false positives’: names that make you think of a well known person, but are actually someone else.”

  • Blog post
  • 2 weeks ago
  • Views: 60

• Dear Employee

  • From: ExciteM
  • Description:

    There have been some rumours around the office about the future of this company, and more specifically, your job. As you know, the economy has changed for the worse and presents many challenges. However, the good news is this: The economy doesn’t pose a threat to your job. What does threaten your job however, is the changing political landscape in this country.
    
    However, let me tell you some snipits of fact which might help you decide what is in your best interests.
    
    First, while it is easy to spew rhetoric that casts employers against employees, you have to understand that for every business owner there is a back story. This back story is often neglected and overshadowed by what you see and hear. Sure, you see me park my Lexus outside. You’ve seen my big home at last years Christmas party. I’m sure; all these flashy icons of luxury conjure up some idealized thoughts about my life.
    
    However, what you don’t see is the whole story.
    
    I started this company 32 years ago. At that time, I lived in a 300 square foot studio apartment for 5 years. My entire living apartment was converted into an office so I could put forth 100% effort into building this company, which by the way, would eventually employ you.
    
    My diet consisted of Ramen noodles or macaroni and cheese because every dollar I spent went back into this company. I drove a rusty Belair with a defective transmission. I didn’t have time to date. Often times, I stayed home on weekends, while my friends went out drinking and partying. In fact, I was married — to my business (hard work, discipline, and sacrifice).
    
    Meanwhile, many of my friends got jobs. They worked 40 hours a week and made a modest $30K a year and spent every dime they earned. They drove flashy cars and lived in expensive homes and wore fancy designer clothes. Instead of hitting Macy's for the latest hot fashion item, I was strolling through KMart extracting any clothing item that didn’t look like it was made in the 60’s. My friends refinanced their mortgages and lived a life of luxury. I, however, did not. I put my time, my money, and my life into a business with a vision that eventually, some day, I too, will be able to afford these luxuries my friends supposedly had.
    
    So, while you physically arrive at the office at 9am, mentally check in at about noon, and then leave at 5pm, I don’t. There is no “off” button for me.
    
    When you leave the office, you are done and you have a weekend all to yourself. I unfortunately do not have the freedom. I eat, and breathe this company every minute of the day. There is no rest. There is no weekend. There is no happy hour. Every day this business is attached to my hip like a 1 year old special-needs child. You, of course, only see the fruits of that labor  (the nice house, the Lexus, the country club) you never realize the whole story and the sacrifices I’ve made.
    
    Now, the economy is falling apart and I, the guy that made all the right decisions and saved his money, have to bail-out all the people who didn’t. The people that overspent their paychecks suddenly feel entitled to the same luxuries that I earned and sacrificed a decade of my life for.
    
    Yes, business ownership has is benefits but the price I’ve paid is very high and not without personal peril. Unfortunately, the cost of running this business, and employing you, is starting to eclipse the threshold of marginal benefit and let me tell you why:
    
    I am being taxed to the hilt and the government thinks I don’t pay enough. I have state taxes. Federal taxes. Property taxes. Sales and use taxes. Payroll taxes. Workers compensation taxes. Unemployment taxes. Taxes on taxes. I have to hire a tax man to manage all these taxes and then guess what? I have to pay taxes for employing him. Government mandates and regulations and all the accounting that goes with it, now occupy most of my time. On Oct 15th, I wrote a check to the US Treasury for $150,000 for quarterly taxes. You know what my “stimulus” check was? Zero. Nada. Zilch.
    
    The question I have is this: Who is stimulating the economy? Me, the guy who has provided 14 people good paying jobs and serves over 2,200,000 people per year with a flourishing business? Or, the single mother sitting at home pregnant with her fourth child waiting for her next welfare check?
    
    Obviously, government feels the latter is the economic stimulus of this country.
    
    The fact is, if I deducted (meaning stole) 50% of your paycheck you’d quit and you wouldn’t work here. I mean, why should you? That’s nuts. Who wants to get rewarded only 50% of their hard work? Well, I agree which is why your job is in jeopardy.
    
    Here is what many of you don’t understand: to stimulate the economy you need to stimulate what runs the economy. Had suddenly government mandated to me that I didn’t need to pay taxes, guess what? Instead of depositing that $288,000 into the Washington abyss, I would have spent it, hired more employees, and generated substantial economic growth. My employees would have enjoyed the wealth of that tax cut in the form of promotions and better salaries. But you can forget it now.
    
    When you have a comatose man on the verge of death, you don’t defibrillate and shock his thumb thinking that will bring him back to life, do you?
    
    Or, do you defibrillate his heart?

    Business is at the heart of America and always has been. To restart it, you must stimulate it, not kill it. Suddenly, the power brokers in Washington believe the poor of America are the essential drivers of the American economic engine. Nothing could be further from the truth and this is the type of change you can keep.
    
    So where am I going with all this? It’s quite simple.
    
    If any new taxes are levied on me, or my company, my reaction will be swift and simple. I fire you. I fire your co-workers. You can then plead with the government to pay for your mortgage, your SUV, and your child’s future. Frankly, it isn’t my problem any more.
    
    Then, I will close this company down, move to another country, and retire. You see, I’m done. I’m done with a country that penalizes the productive and gives to the unproductive. My motivation to work and to provide jobs will be destroyed, and with it, will be my citizenship.
    
    So, if you lose your job, it won’t be at the hands of the economy; it will be at the hands of a political tsunami that swept through this country, steamrolled the constitution, and will have changed its landscape forever. If that happens, you can find me sitting on a beach, retired, and with no employees to worry about.
    
    Signed,
    
    Your boss

  • Blog post
  • 2 weeks ago
  • Views: 83

• Lets make a deal

  • From: dlindberg102
  • Description:

    As a business man I have to keep a record of my spending and balance it against my income each month. If my income goes down I have to do the same with my expenditures. Over the last year we have had to reduce our expenditures by over 40% as our sales have fallen off at least that amount. For the first time in years we showed a serious loss on our books for the year, even with the reduced overhead. The reason I’m telling you this is because I’m trying to understand how the government justifies these bank bailouts. We have always been a successful enterprise over the years and with one bad year we are considered a bad loan risk. The same banks have been bailed out turned us down when we needed a small loan for operating capital. We were able to obtain it privately, but does that mean they operate on different principles than us small businesses? The government piles money on them and they use it for bonuses and buying debentures rather than loaning it out to us poor bad risk companies who are the backbone of the employment force in this country. They keep claiming the Small Business Administration is primed and ready to help out but when you talk to the banks that have to actually make the loans it’s a different story. A great example is GMAC, they formed a new bank called Ally, you probably have seen the massive amount they are spending on TV. They are on their third bailout of over 5.5 Billion each, you might ask any GM dealer how it’s working out for them.
    
    As I write this article the Stock market has dropped below 9800 almost below 9700. The Obama administration still claims the recession is over and that they saved 640,000 jobs. I would love to see where these jobs are and talk to the people who have them. Every month We get reports of additional job losses and every month they candy coat the reports. I’m tired Of the BS provided by this or any administration, all I want is to see the results of the billions of our tax
    dollars that have wasted on a tremendous amount of pork, that they call
    stimulation. The only jobs that I have seen stimulated are the ones in
    Washington D.C. and on Wall Street.
    
    I may sound bitter to some and aggravated to others, the truth is I’m just like the rest of the small business people in America, mostly we’re disgusted with the direction this country is headed. For you who believe that this is a positive direction I ask that you put your name down here with a statement of your
    beliefs and we will revisit this article in a few months and see who’s right or wrong. As you know I put my name on this blog, I don’t hide behind a phony
    cutesy computer handle. It’s time to stand tall in your beliefs as I try to do
    in each and every article and lets make this an understanding between us. It
    could be the beginning of a consensus of opinions that could lead us out of this mess.

  • Blog post
  • 2 weeks ago
  • Views: 59

• FCC Approves Proposed Net Neut

  • From: zcat
  • Description:

    The proposal, or so-called net neutrality regulations, will set off a series of regulatory procedures and a final rule is expected to be introduced early next year.

    The Federal Communications Commission voted Thursday to approve proposed new rules aimed at blocking Internet service providers, like Comcast, and wireless phone companies such as Verizon and AT&T, from intentionally halting or slowing Web traffic.

    The proposal, or so-called net neutrality regulations, will set off a series of regulatory procedures and a final rule is expected to be introduced early next year.

    Supporters say the regulations prevents any company from steering viewers to its own outlets and manipulating choice by consumers to watch or read what they choose.

    But critics charge that the plan is another power grab by the government.

    "These new rules should rightly be viewed by consumers suspiciously as another government power grab over a private service provided by private companies in a competitive marketplace," Sen. John McCain wrote in an opinion article published by The Washington Times.

    "Does this sound familiar? It should," McCain said, comparing the proposal to the federal bailout of Wall Street and the auto industry.

    McCain argued that a government takeover of the Internet will "stifle innovation" and "hinder job creation," noting that the technology industry is the fastest-growing job market behind health care.

    "Regulation kills innovation," he said. "Let's not kill the Internet. An open and unfettered Internet may be the real stimulus during these difficult economic times, and it comes without a $787 billion price tag that is passed along to taxpayers at a significant cost for future generations."

    The proposal contains six principles, including four existing guidelines adopted in 2005 on Internet network operations. The additional rules are designed to prevent Internet traffic discrimination and increase transparency on how carriers manage their networks to ensure that they aren't targeting technologies that may compete with their own services.

    Verizon and Google have endorsed the plan, saying they need open access to all Internet users, while AT&T has opposed it, saying the status quo should be maintained.

    The FCC will take comments on how to apply the rules until Jan. 14 with replies due March 5, an FCC spokesman told Foxnews.com.

    * This is so f'd up!!!!

  • Blog post
  • 4 weeks ago
  • Views: 27

• 11 Reasons he has to go!

  • From: ffemt
  • Description:
    What would you say if I gave you 11 reasons why the 2010  elections will be the most important in the history of the United States ?

    1. What if I had told you in October 2008, before the last presidential election, that before Barack Obama's first 100 days in office, the federal government would be in control of both the mortgage and the banking industries? That 19 of America 's largest banks would be forced to undergo stress tests by the federal government which would determine if they were insufficiently capitalized, so they must be supervised by the government?

    Would you have said, "C'mon, that will never happen in America .."

    2. What if I had told you that within Barack Obama's first 100 days in office the federal government would be the largest shareholder in the US Big-Three automakers:  GM, and Chrysler? That the government would kick out the CEO's of these companies and appoint hand-picked executives with zero experience in the auto industry and that executive compensation would be determined, not by a Board of Directors, but by the government?

    Would you have said, "C'mon, that will never happen in America !"

     

    3. What if I had told you that Barack Obama would appoint 44 Czars, without congressional approval, accountable only to him, not to the voters, who would have control over a wide range of US policy decisions. That there would be a Stimulus Accountability Czar, an Urban Czar, a Compensation Czar, an Iran Czar, an Auto Industry Czar, a Cyber Security Czar, an Energy Czar, a Bank Bailout Czar, and three dozen other government bureaucrats with unchecked regulatory powers over US domestic and foreign policy.

    Would you have said, "C'mon, that will never happen in America !"

     

    4. What if I had told you that the federal deficit would be $915 billion in the first six months of the Obama presidency - with a projected annual deficit of $1.75 trillion - triple the $454.8 billion in 2008, for which the previous administration was highly criticized by Obama and his fellow Democrats. That congress would pass Obama's $3.53 trillion federal budget for fiscal 2010.. That the projected deficit over the next ten years would be greater than $10 trillion.

    Would you have said, "C'mon, that will never happen in America !"

     

    5. What if I had told you that the Obama Justice Department would order FBI agents to read Miranda rights to high-value detainees captured on the battlefield and held at US military detention facilities in Afghanistan . That Obama would order the closing of the Guantanamo detention facility with no plan for the disposition of the 200-plus detainees held there. That several of the suspected terrorists at Guantanamo would be sent to live in  freedom in Bermuda at the expense of the US government. That our returning US veterans would be labeled terrorists and put on a watch list.

    Would you have said, "C'mon, that will never happen in America !"

    6. What if I had told you that the federal government would seek powers to seize key companies whose failures could jeopardize the financial system. That a new regulatory agency would be proposed by Obama to control loans, credit cards, mortgage-backed securities, and other financial products offered to the public.

    Would you have said, "C'mon, that will never happen in America !!"

    7. What if I had told you that Obama would travel to the Middle East, bow before the Saudi king, and repeatedly apologize for America 's past actions. That he would travel to Latin America where he would warmly greet Venezuela 's strongman Hugo Chavez and sit passively in the audience while Nicaraguan Marxist thug Daniel Ortega charged America with terrorist aggression in Central America .

    Would you have said, "C'mon, that will never happen in America !!"

    8. Okay, now what if I were to tell you that Obama wants to dismantle conservative talk radio through the imposition of a new "Fairness Doctrine." That he wants to curtail the First Amendment rights of those who may disagree with his policies via internet blogs, cable news networks, or advocacy ads. That most major network television and most newspapers will only sing his praises like state-run media in communist countries?

    Would you say, "C'mon, that will never happen in America !!!"

     

    9. What if I were to tell you that the Obama Justice Department is doing everything it can to limit your Second Amendment rights to keep and bear arms. That the federal government wants to reinstate the so-called assault weapons ban which would prohibit the sale of any type of firearm that requires the shooter to pull the trigger every time a round is fired. That Obama's Attorney General wants to eliminate the sale of virtually all handguns and ammunition, which most citizens choose for self-defense.

    Would you say, "C'mon, that will never happen in America !!!"

    10. What if I were to tell you that the Obama plan is to eliminate states rights guaranteed by the Tenth Amendment and give the federal government sweeping new powers over policies currently under the province of local and state governments and voted on by the people..  That Obama plans to control the schools, energy production, the environment, health care, and the wealth of every US citizen.

    Would you say, "C'mon, that will never happen in America !"

     

    11. What if I were to tell you that the president, the courts, and the federal government have ignored the US Constitution and have seized powers which the founders of our country fought to restrict. That our last presidential election may have been our last truly free election for some time to come. That our next presidential election may look similar to the one recently held in Iran .. (And maybe under review by ACORN.)

    I know, I know what you will say. "That will never happen in America !"

    If we don't do everything in our power to stop this madness in 2010...

    May God have mercy on our worthless souls.

     

    Pass this on to every freedom  loving American you can.

     

    Thank you

  • Blog post
  • 2 months ago
  • Views: 54

• Obama open to newspaper bailou

  • From: zcat
  • Description:

    The president said he is "happy to look at" bills before Congress that would give struggling news organizations tax breaks if they were to restructure as nonprofit businesses.

    "I haven't seen detailed proposals yet, but I'll be happy to look at them," Obama told the editors of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Toledo Blade in an interview.

    Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) has introduced S. 673, the so-called "Newspaper Revitalization Act," that would give outlets tax deals if they were to restructure as 501(c)(3) corporations. That bill has so far attracted one cosponsor, Cardin's Maryland colleague Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D).

    White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs had played down the possibility of government assistance for news organizations, which have been hit by an economic downturn and dwindling ad revenue.

    *If you did not catch the phrase "if they were to restructure as nonprofit businesses" let me rephrase it for you. STATE MEDIA. No fact checking, no journalism just regurgitation of the party line. Government controlled propaganda. Right or left propaganda its still propaganda. "Strange You Can Believe In?"

    http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/59523-obama-open-to-newspaper-bailout-bill

  • Blog post
  • 2 months ago
  • Views: 61

• State Copycats Federal VMT Pro

  • From: BornToBeWild
  • Description:

    TAXES, TAXES AND MORE TAXES!

    It would seem that our state legislator’s are in the process of being a copycat regarding their proposal which is the same exact proposal that was present to Congress by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood (Rep) who was seeking a vehicle miles-traveled (VMT) tax as a replacement for the federal gasoline tax. A VMT tax would be levied based on the number of miles driven per vehicle, as opposed to the amount of gasoline purchased. A number of factors are said to be behind such an idea and this proposal was rejected.

    According to LaHood, Gasoline taxes that for nearly half a century have paid for the federal share of highway and bridge construction can no longer be counted on to raise enough money to keep the nation’s transportation system moving.  LaHood stated, “We should look at the vehicular miles program where people are actually clocked on the number of miles that they traveled”.

    Apparently the trend towards vehicles with better mileage, including hybrids, electric cars, and other vehicles using alternative fuels, is having or will have the effect of diminishing receipts from the federal gasoline tax, contributing the urge of politicians to look for other ways to tax motorists besides the gasoline tax. It would seem that a VMT tax, were it enacted, would come in addition to a federal gasoline tax (perhaps with a reduction in the latter just to try to make taxpayers feel better), and not simply in place of it. But that would be the least of concerns about the VMT tax. The real concern lies with how the tax would be levied and collected.

    In order for the VMT tax to be computed, there would have to be a way of determining the number miles driven for any given vehicle. This would most likely be accomplished by requiring the installation and use of GPS chips in every vehicle.

    The system would require all cars and trucks be equipped with global satellite positioning technology, a transponder, a clock and other equipment to record how many miles a vehicle was driven, whether it was driven on highways or secondary roads, and even whether it was driven during peak traffic periods or off-peak hours.  Now what ponders in my mind is the costs to the installations of vehicles that are not already equipped with GPS chips and where those costs would fall upon.

    Rob Atkinson, chairman of the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission, the blue-ribbon group that is developing future transportation funding options, said moving to a national VMT tax would take about a decade.

    The method of tax collection certainly raises some very troubling issues, not the least of which is privacy.  Rob Atkinson, chairman of the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission said, “Privacy concerns are based more on perception than any actual risk.  The satellite information would be beamed one way to the car and driving information would be contained within the device on the car, with the amount of the tax due the only information that’s downloaded”

    Whether the information is beamed one way or two ways is not even the point. The point is that information regarding what kinds of roads and what kinds of traffic conditions, and even where one has driven, would be potentially available to a government bureaucrat acting on behalf of tax collection. Perhaps it might seem far-fetched, but GPS devices could potentially be used as tracking devises to restrict freedom of movement in a “national emergency”. It could be hoped that the Obama Administration wouldn’t engage in such abuse, and we probably could expect public assurances to that effect, but whether it’s the Obama Administration as opposed to some other administration isn’t even the point. The point is that government would be taking yet another dangerous step on the slippery slope towards restricting the freedom of movement, a power that could be abused by most any future administration.

    It shouldn’t be lost on anyone that a large, expensive government bureaucracy (either under the Department of Transportation or the IRS) would be required to enforce such a tax. Attempting to enforce such a tax would be a nightmare for the taxpayer, requiring an unprecedented degree of government intrusion worthy of Orwell’s 1984. Even so, it wouldn’t work, because no government bureaucracy can operate with the degree of efficiency that would be required to make a “success” out of such a monstrous program.

    The administration of such a tax would no doubt be done in the same fashion as done with the income tax and IRS, turning on its head yet again the concept of “innocent until proven guilty”. Furthermore, such a tax would be yet another violation of the right to use one’s own property.

    It would not be surprising to see requirements for GPS chips in all vehicles (for the future purpose of a VMT tax) inserted into a future “stimulus” or bailout bill, or some other omnibus bill that would be frantically rushed through, probably under the suspension of the rules in the House, or possibly even by a House-Senate conference committee.

    It is bad enough that politicians constantly seek novel ways to tax the people, even as we suffer in the future from that most insidious of hidden taxes, the inflation tax which destroys the value of our money. Taxes which require ever-increasing levels of government intrusion and violation of our privacy must be seen for the evil that they are (this includes, of course, the income tax), and the politicians and policy makers who advocate for these taxes must be exposed to the light of day.  And although this proposal was not passed (for now that is) through federal, it is crucial that we be ever watchful and vigilant against such a proposal, whether it comes at the state level or the federal level, lest we slide ever further down the slippery slope towards an Orwellian police-surveillance state.  Federal Vehicle Mileage Tax may be dead for now, but it is still part of a future Trend!

    Some states (Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Idaho) are already at various points in the formative stages of considering such a tax. And now the state of Florida intends to do the same.  The President’s current position notwithstanding, seems clear that trends appear headed towards a VMT tax at the federal level, as well as at the state level.

    Here are some links for your reading on the VMT proposals….

    Government tax slam on Mileage - February

    http://www.nypost.com/p/news/politics/department_slams_mileage_tax_QvN7L7G2YEm94r2krtc8FK

    Orlando Sentinel coverage on State Mileage tax

    http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-gas-tax-pay-per-mile-091509,0,4134653.story

  • Blog post
  • 2 months ago
  • Views: 87

• Let's talk about Czars

  • From: leftahead
  • Description:

    There sure seem to be a lot of people on the Right that have their panties in a wad over the appointment of these advisors. Not much is really made of the fact that "czar" is not an official title, but a media description. For example, do you know what they call the Director of Health and Medicine? Drug Czar. They name them "czar", because its a heck of a lot easier to explain. But, now it seems that the GOP has some major issues with czars, even though they invented them, and have used them extensively in every administration since Nixon. And, Obama has, for the most part, simply re-assigned positions that already existed. He has not invented new czar positions, as the Right would lead you to believe. The fact of the matter is that Bush had many, many more "czars" on his administration, than Obama has right now....

     

    Here, for your reference, are the 47 czars during the Bush Administration:
    
    Bush’s AIDS Czars (5)

    CNN: Bush Appointed “AIDS Czar” Randall Tobias In 2003. In a story entitled “Ex-Eli Lilly Exec Named Global AIDS Czar,” CNN reported: “President Bush tapped a former pharmaceutical executive Wednesday to coordinate his administration's $15 billion program to combat AIDS in Africa and the Caribbean. If confirmed by the Senate, Randall Tobias -- the former chairman and chief executive officer of Eli Lilly and Co. -- would head up the administration's efforts to bring more medical workers, medicine and training to those countries hit hard by the virus.” [CNN, 7/2/03]

    NPR: Bush’s First “AIDS Czar” Was Scott Evertz.“For the first few months of the Bush administration, there was a White House Office of National AIDS Policy, but no one seemed to be working there. Public health officials and AIDS activists were concerned there would be no Bush AIDS policy. Today, with a new AIDS office director and a thrust toward international issues, that all changed sharply. The president's AIDS czar, Scott Evertz is an openly gay Republican from Wisconsin.” [NPR, 4/9/01]

    NYT: Joe O’Neill Was Bush Administration’s “AIDS Czar” In 2003. “Among the White House officials briefing the Log Cabin Republicans today was Dr. Joe O'Neill, the administration's AIDS czar, who is openly gay.” [New York Times, 5/10/03]

    AIDS Policy & Law: Carol Thompson Was Bush Administration’s “AIDS Czar” In 2006. “The heads of the U.S. government's domestic and global AIDS offices will be leaving their posts to take on new jobs. Their replacements have yet to be named. Carol Thompson, director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy, sometimes referred to as the national "AIDS czar," left Feb. 10 for a new job at the State Department's Africa division.” [AIDS Policy And Law, 2/24/06]

    ABC: Mark Dybul Was Sworn In As “AIDS Czar” In 2006. JAKE TAPPER (ABC NEWS) (Voiceover) For its part, the Bush White House won re-election in 2004 partly by campaigning against gay marriage. PRESIDENT GEORGE W BUSH (UNITED STATES) I believe our society is better off when marriage is defined as between a man and a woman. JAKE TAPPER (ABC NEWS) (Voiceover) And yet, it can seem perfectly accepting of such unions, as was seen this week, when Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice swore in as AIDS czar Dr. Mark Dybul, who is gay, while Dybul's partner held the bible. [ABC World News, 10/13/06]

    Bush’s Faith Czars (3)

    National Review: John DiIulio Was Bush’s Administration’s First “Faith Czar.” “John DiIulio is an enigma. An Ivy League professor with a Ph.D. from Harvard, tenure from Princeton, and now an endowed chair at Penn, he is also a devout Roman Catholic who refers to himself as ‘born again’ and credits black Pentecostalists for his return to faith. A pro-life, pro-family social conservative, he is also a pro-poor registered Democrat who served in the highest levels of the Bush administration as our nation's first ‘faith czar.’” [National Review, 11/19/07]

    Jim Towey Replaced DiIulio as “Faith Czar.” “A former Florida political insider who once worked as legal counsel to Mother Teresa will be named today (Friday) to head the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, Cox Newspapers has learned. President Bush will announce that Jim Towey, president and founder of Aging With Dignity, will replace John J. DiIulio Jr. as director of the office the president says is central to his ‘armies of compassion’ campaign to help lift poor people out of poverty.” [Cox News Service, 1/31/02]

    Jay Hein Became “Faith Czar” In 2006. “On Aug. 21, Jay Hein became the third director of the White House Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives.” [Religion News Service, 9/6/06]

    Bush’s Budget Czars (4)

    Indianapolis Star: Mitch Daniels Was Bush’s “Budget Czar” In 2004. “A new political action committee, dubbed "Frugal Hoosiers for Mitch," was formed Wednesday to persuade White House budget czar Mitch Daniels to seek the Republican nomination for governor in 2004.” [Indianapolis Star, 12/5/02]

    Orlando Sentinel: Joshua Bolten Was White House “Budget Czar” In 2005. “White House budget czar Joshua Bolten conceded the money was only a ‘stop-gap measure’ and Congress will need to approve more money later. FEMA is spending $500 million a day so far.” [Orlando Sentinel, 9/2/05]

    White House Bulletin: Rob Portman And Jim Nussle Were White House “Budget Czars” In 2007. “At the same time, the resignation of White House budget director Rob Portman, who is returning home to Ohio possibly to run for governor, has led to the appointment of former Congressman Jim Nussle as the new budget czar.” [White House Bulletin, 9/22/07]

    Bush’s Cleanup Czars (3)
    Tri-City Herald: Jessie Roberson And Paul Golan Were “Cleanup Czars” In 2004. “The acting assistant secretary for environmental management at the Department of Energy, sometimes called the cleanup czar, will visit Hanford next week. Paul Golan has been filling the position temporarily since Jessie Roberson resigned in July.” [Tri-City Herald, 11/9/04]

    Tri-City Herald: James Rispoli Was Cleanup Czar In 2005-2006. “James Rispoli, a key Department of Energy official for Hanford cleanup, plans a visit to the Tri-Cities next week. The assistant secretary for environmental management is scheduled to speak at a meeting of DOE's Environmental Management Advisory Board in Richland. He's held the position, sometimes referred to as the cleanup czar, since being sworn in a year ago.” [Tri-City Herald, 8/17/06]

    Bush’s Communication Czars (2)

    US News & World Report: Ed Gillespie And Dan Bartlett Were “Communications Czars.” “Recently named White House communications czar Ed Gillespie is winning rave reviews for handling critical PR issues, a sign that gives insiders confidence that the president will weather the upcoming congressional storm over the Petraeus troop surge review...You might recall that Gillespie replaced Dan Bartlett, Bush's longtime communications aide.” [U.S. News & World Report, 8/21/07]

    Bush’s Cybersecurity Czars (2)

    San Jose Mercury-News: Richard Clark Was “Cybersecurity Czar” In 2003. “Since a 2003 presidential commission issued the National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace, the White House has suffered from a leadership vacuum on cybersecurity. Richard Clarke, the former counterterrorism coordinator, retired as cybersecurity czar just as the strategy was published.” [San Jose Mercury News, 11/12/07]

    Wired: Rod Beckstrom Was Cybersecurity Czar In 2008-09. In a story entitled, “Cyber-Security Czar Quits Amid Fears of NSA Takeover “, Wired reported: ”Rod Beckström, the Department of Homeland Security’s controversial cyber-security chief, has suddenly resigned amid allegations of power grabs and bureaucratic infighting. Beckström — a management theorist, entrepreneur and author — was named last year to head up the new National Cybersecurity Center, or NCSC.” [Wired, 3/6/09]

    Bush’s Homeland Security Czars (2)

    Vanity Fair: Tom Ridge was Bush’s “Homeland Security Czar.” “Former Homeland Security czar Tom Ridge remained the dutiful Bush & Co. team player throughout his tenure. Once he left the organization, however, he became increasingly forthcoming.” [Vanity Fair, September 2005]

    Michael Chertoff was Bush’s “Homeland Security Czar.” “The latest National Intelligence Estimates were released yesterday and they are enough to make any sane person want to head for the nearest bunker. The combined assessment of the nation's 16 spy agencies are a sobering reality check of the dangers - long and short-term - that exist right here on our own shores. Perhaps it was his own advanced look at the report that caused Homeland Security czar Michael Chertoff to have that well-publicized uneasy feeling in his ‘gut.’” [Boston Herald Op-Ed, 7/18/07]

    Bush’s Intelligence Czars (2)

    Time: John Negroponte Was Bush’s “Intelligence Czar.” “As the government's new intelligence czar and the President's primary intelligence adviser—a position created late last year by Congress after fierce lobbying by the 9/11 commission and families of the 9/11 victims—Negroponte has the job of making sure that the kinds of intelligence stumbles that led up to 9/11 and the sorts of miscalculations about Iraq's WMD programs don't happen again.” [Time, 1/20/05]

    Mike McConnell Took Over As Intelligence Czar. “Negroponte, who will be replaced as DNI by former National Security Agency chief Mike McConnell, had received some criticism for his quiet, behind-the-scenes approach to the daunting task of unifying the massive, $44 billion intelligence community.” [U.S. News & World Report, 1/4/07]

    Bush’s Manufacturing Czar (2)

    Detroit News: Albert Frink Was Bush’s “Manufacturing Czar.” “Michigan lawmakers had hoped that President Bush's manufacturing ‘czar’ would be a powerful voice in support of the state's battered factory sector. Instead, they're seething in bipartisan anger over what they see as his lack of clout -- and accomplishment. For instance, Albert Frink, U.S. Commerce Department assistant secretary for manufacturing and services, has rarely even been in the same room as President Bush in his first year and a half on the job.” [Detroit News, 4/28/06]

    William G. Sutton Replaced Frink In 2007. “The Senate recently confirmed William G. Sutton, a retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral, to serve as the assistant secretary of commerce for manufacturing and services. Sutton's government role as lead advocate for the manufacturing community will require perseverance in addressing the issues that constrain U.S. manufacturers' ability to compete globally. According to industry observers, Sutton will need to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor, Al Frink, to raise the country's awareness of such issues as the industry's skills shortage; the impact of regulations, litigation, and taxes; and the importance of free trade…The job of assistant secretary for manufacturing — sometimes referred to by NAM as the ‘manufacturing czar’ — gained momentum under Frink, who was the first to hold this position and who resigned in December 2006.” [Managing Automation, 9/29/07]
    
    Bush’s Public Diplomacy Czars (2)

    Washington Post: Karen Hughes Was Bush’s “Public Diplomacy Czar.” “Karen Hughes, the new public diplomacy czar charged with improving the U.S. image, began her maiden diplomatic voyage Sunday, meeting in picturesque settings with Egyptian students who have benefited from American largess.” [Washington Post, 9/26/05]

    Washington Post: James K. Glassman Was Bush’s “Public Diplomacy Czar.” Al Kamen wrote, “Meanwhile, the agency is also minus a chairman because the current one, James K. Glassman, who took over just a year ago, was sworn in yesterday as public diplomacy czar at the State Department.” [Washington Post, 6/11/08]

    Bush’s Regulatory Czars (2)

    Albany Times-Union: John Graham Was Bush’s Regulatory Czar. “The curious case of John Graham, the ‘regulatory czar,’ who can block any new regulation from his position inside the Office of Management and Budget, has attracted some attention because of Graham's unusual public record.” [Albany Times Union, 8/25/01]

    Washington Business Journal: Susan Dudley Was Bush’s Regulatory Czar in 2007. “President Bush avoided a nasty confirmation battle by appointing Susan Dudley as his regulatory czar while Congress was out of town. The recess appointment avoided the need for Senate confirmation of Dudley, who has been criticized as being an anti-regulatory extremist by consumer groups, labor unions and environmental organizations.” [Washington Business Journal, 4/16/07]

    Bush’s Other Czars (18)

    NPR: Neel Kashkari Was Bush’s “Bailout Czar” In 2008. “And so today, in the Rose Garden where he's made so many appearances lately, President Bush announced what he called the G7 action plan to strengthen banks across the country. Neil Kashkari, the Treasury Department's bailout czar, now expresses confidence that we are building the foundation for a strong, decisive, and effective program.” [NPR, “All Things Considered,” 10/14/08]

    US News & World Report: Leon Kass Was Reported As Bush’s “Bioethics Czar” In 2003. In a story highlighted as “College professor Leon Kass has become the nation's first bioethics czar,” U.S. News & World Report reported, “Leon Kass loves the intellectual back-and-forth of intense conversation. The man whom President Bush picked to direct a national discussion on bioethics confesses, "I believe in talk. I believe in argument, almost to a fault, if the goal is understanding, not victory." [US News & World Report, 2/1/03]

    Politico: Stewart Simonson Was Bush’s “Bird Flu Czar” In 2004. “Remember the bird flu czar? He was Stewart Simonson, appointed by President Bush in 2004 as assistant secretary of health and human services for public health emergency preparedness. Simonson's mission - his wonkish title aside - was no less than protecting the country from an avian influenza epidemic.” [Politico, 10/21/08]

    Salon.com: Eric Keroack Was Bush’s “Birth Control Czar” In 2007. “Even our birth control czar was one until Eric J. Keroack resigned amid allegations of Medicaid fraud. (Now, according to a killer bit of investigative reporting by Raw Story, it seems he may have gotten his federal job based on fraudulent qualifications as well. He claimed to have been in private practice for 20 years, but other documents suggest it was closer to five years; his much-touted experience as ‘medical director’ for nonprofit group A Woman's Concern looks as if it may have been a part-time volunteer position.)” [Salon, 5/31/07]

    The Nation: “Aids Ambassador” And “Abstinence Czar” Randall Tobias Stepped Down After He Appeared on D.C. Madam’s Client List. “So far, the most significant player to show up on Washington madam Deborah Jeane Palfrey's much-discussed client list is USAID chief Randall Tobias, the former pharmaceutical company CEO who ran Bush's global AIDS initiative for its first three years. His ignominious tenure as AIDS ambassador was marked by a preference for pricey brand-name HIV drugs over cheap generics, which sharply reduced the number of people who could be treated. Ironically, given his regular ‘massages’ from call girls, when we can surmise he ignored the abstinence-only instruction to ‘keep all of your clothes all the way on all of the time,’ Tobias was also an avid defender of the President's puritanical approach to HIV prevention… Tobias is not the first abstinence czar to leave his job after running afoul of the moral agenda he promoted. Claude Allen, once the leading White House abstinence advocate, stepped down as domestic policy adviser last year after he was caught stealing.” [The Nation, 5/10/07]

    Slate: Elliot Abrams Was “Democracy Czar” In 2005. “Hours before the president's State of the Union address earlier this month—a perfect moment for burying inconvenient news—the White House announced the ascension of Elliott Abrams to the highest ranks of its foreign-policy team. Abrams has moved from the staff of the National Security Council to the post of deputy national security adviser. It's a significant promotion, one that gives Abrams both an elevated stature and new management powers. Specifically, the White House says Abrams will be in charge of ‘global democracy strategy,’ effectively making him Bush's democracy czar.” [Slate, 12/17/05]

    Washington Post: Karl Rove Was Bush’s “Domestic Policy Czar” In 2004. “In the wake of Bush's 2004 reelection, Green reports, Rove, newly promoted by Bush to domestic policy czar, concluded that the time for this realignment had come.” [Washington Post, 8/15/07]

    New York Times: John P. Walters Was Bush’s Drug Czar in 2001. “President Bush today nominated as his drug czar John P. Walters, who has long argued for jail time over voluntary treatment for drug offenders, calling him the man to battle illegal drugs that rob people ‘of innocence and ambition and hope.’” [New York Times, 5/11/01]

    NPR: David Atchison Was Bush’s “Food Safety Czar” In 2007. “There's been lots of U.S. czars since then right up to food safety czar, David Atchison, who took office this month.” [NPR, 5/16/07]

    AP: John Howard Was Bush’s World Trade Center Health Czar in 2006. “New York lawmakers and Sept. 11 health advocates urged President Obama on Monday to rehire a World Trade Center health czar who was let go last year by the Bush administration. John Howard's six-year term as director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health expired last July and he was not asked to stay on. Since 2006, Howard had become the government's point person for post-Sept. 11 illness.” [AP, 2/23/09]

    ANSI: David J. Brailer Was Bush’s “Health IT Czar.” In a story titled “David J. Brailer Resigns as Health IT Czar,” the American National Standards Institute reported, “Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael O. Leavitt announced this evening that he has accepted the resignation of Dr. David J. Brailer as National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. Brailer was appointed to the position by President George W. Bush on May 6, 2004.” [ANSI, 4/20/06]

    Time: Philip Mangano Was Bush’s “Homelessness Czar.” “With a freak-show economy in which unemployment has reached 6%--a 50% increase since November 2000--but housing prices have stayed at or near historic highs, the number of homeless appears to be at its highest in at least a decade in a wide range of places across the U.S., according to Bush's own homelessness czar. ‘It's embarrassing to say that they're up,’ says czar Philip Mangano of the number, ‘but it's better to face the truth than to try to obfuscate.’” [Time, 1/20/03]

    New York Times: Donald E. Powell Was Bush’s “Gulf Coast Reconstruction Czar.” “The White House said Friday that the administration’s Gulf Coast reconstruction czar, Donald E. Powell, was resigning to return to his family in Texas.” [New York Times, 3/1/08]

    Sunday Times: Michael Gerson Was Bush’s “Policy Czar.” Andrew Sullivan wrote, “And, in fact, every single critical figure in this White House has been there from the start: political guru Karl Rove, secretary of state Condi Rice, former speechwriter, now policy czar, Michael Gerson, budget director Josh Bolten, and national security adviser Stephen Hadley. Hadley, according to the Post, schedules a full battery of meetings on Saturdays as well.” [Sunday Times, 3/19/06]

    Education Week: G. Reid Lyon Was Bush’s Reading Czar. In a story titled, “National Reading Czar to Leave Public Sector for Teacher Ed. Venture,” Education Week reported: “G. Reid Lyon, the influential chief of the branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development that sponsors studies on reading and a key adviser on the federal Reading First initiative, will step down July 1 to take a job at Dallas-based Best Associates.” [Education Week, 6/7/05]

    Business Week: John Marburger Was Bush’s “Science Czar.” In a story entitled “A Talk with Bush's Science Czar,” BusinessWeek reported: “When President Bush needs to talk science, he turns to John Marburger, director of the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy.” [Business Week, 3/16/04]

    CBS: Richard Clarke Was Bush’s “Terrorism Czar.” “Clarke helped shape U.S. policy on terrorism under President Reagan and the first President Bush. He was held over by President Clinton to be his terrorism czar, then held over again by the current President Bush.” [CBS 60 Minutes, 3/21/04]

    Wall Street Journal: Gen. Wayne Downing Was Bush’s “Counterterrorism Czar.” “Gen. Wayne Downing, said to be tired of battles with Pentagon's Rumsfeld, exits as the post-Sept. 11 counterterrorism czar at the White House National Security Council.” [Wall Street Journal, 6/28/02]

    AP: Bush Chose Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute For War Czar. “President Bush has chosen Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, the Pentagon's director of operations, to oversee the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan as a ‘war czar’ after a long search for new leadership, administration officials said Tuesday.” [AP, 5/15/07]

     

     

    So, for the love of God, get over this phony outrage, and actually try to be part of the solution, instead of part of the problem....

  • Blog post
  • 2 months ago
  • Views: 81

• Wicked Witched of the West

  • From: ExciteM
  • Description:

    Newt Gingrich, a Republican, served in the House from Georgia from 1978 and as House Minority Whip in 1989. He was Speaker of the House from 1995 to 1999. During that time he never made use of military aircraft.
    
    
    Now, compare his travel habits to Nancy Pelosi, Democrat from California, current Speaker of the House.

    The Pentagon provided the House speaker with an Air Force plane large enough to accommodate her staff, family, supporters, and members of the California delegation when she travels around the country. But, Pelosi wanted routine access to a larger plane. It includes 42 business class seats, a fully-enclosed state room, an entertainment center, a private bed, state-of-the-art communications system, and a crew of 16. Pelosi wanted "carte blanche for an aircraft any time," including weekend trips home to San Francisco .

    Pretty nice but very expensive perk. Her Air Force C-32 costs approximately $15,000 an hour or approximately $300,000 per trip home.
    
    And she has the audactity to confront the Big Three CEOs for flying their corporate jets to Washington . YOU WOULD THINK SHE, ALONG WITH A HUSBAND WORTH AN ESTIMATED BILLION DOLLARS, WOULD LEASE OR BUY AND FLY THEIR OWN PLANE, OR FLY FIRST CLASS ON COMMERCIAL AIRLINES LIKE OTHER RICH PEOPLE.
    
    
    NANCY PELOSI FACTS:
    
    Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's home district includes San Francisco . Star-Kist Tuna's headquarters are in San Francisco, Pelosi's home district. Star-Kist is owned by Del Monte Foods and is a major contributor to Pelosi. Star-Kist is the major employer in American Samoa employing 75% of the Samoan workforce.
    
    Paul Pelosi, Nancy 's husband, owns $17 million dollars of Star-Kist stock. In January, 2007 when the minimum wage was increased from $5.15 to $7.25, Pelosi had American Samoa exempted from the increase so Del Monte would not have to pay the higher wage. This would make Del Monte products less expensive than their competition's.
    
    Last week when the huge bailout bill was passed, Pelosi added an earmark to the final bill adding $33 million dollars for an 'economic development credit in American Samoa.'
    
    Pelosi has called the Bush Administration "CORRUPT".
    
    Can you say "HYPOCRISY"? Sure ya' can. 
    
     

  • Blog post
  • 2 months ago
  • Views: 72

• "ACORN - OBAMA" ANTI GUN CONSP

  • From: bosshog06
  • Description:
    The Obama-ACORN Anti Gun Conspiracy

    ACORN -- the Association of Community Organizations for Reform -- a publicly funded national organization is using your tax dollars to actively interfere with the Second Amendment exercise of gun rights in New Jersey and elsewhere.
    
    ACORN went public with its gun control activism when it intervened in an unsuccessful attempt to defend Jersey City, New Jersey, a hot bed of anti-gun rights extremists, to disarm its citizens with a local gun control ordinance. ACORN pushed for stronger local gun restrictions that were already struck down by the New Jersey state court as a violation of state law.
    
    Obama and ACORN's interest is in disarming law-abiding citizens.
    
    It is an outrage that this group has intervened to defend an anti-gun ordinance that has already been declared illegal by the court. So long as ACORN accepts one penny of public funding, the organization should=2 0remain absolutely neutral on social issues, political campaigns and especially legal actions defending the right to keep and bear arms.
    
    For the past few election cycles ACORN has clearly grown more partisan toward the radical political Left. ACORN'S PAC, in fact, endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for president, even though their tax-exempt status prohibits endorsement of political candidates. That's hardly surprising since he used to serve as their legal counsel and he taught the group about community organizing. ACORN and Obama are lockstep in seeking to destroy our Second Amendment rights.
    
    We call upon the FBI to expand the scope of its ACORN investigation and focus on the group's involvement in the Jersey City case.
    
    We support Ohio Congressman John Boehner's request that the White House immediately block all federal funding of ACORN activities until this group's questionable activities are fully investigated. We want to know how they are paying for attorneys, and why Seton Hall's Center for Social Justice and the Public Interest Law Center are providing legal assistance to ACORN for this effort.
    
    ACORN has, since 1998, received an estimated $31 million in government funding. Yes, Obama knows a great deal about ACORN and its role in the bailout mess. He is a central figure in the left-wing ACORN exploitation of financial institutions to pressure them to make high risk loans. The very same left-wing ACORN that was sued for voter fraud in our last presidential election.
    
    Fax NOW - STOP ACORN TAXPAYER FUNDING
    Select Here-Pull ACORN Funding and Expand The FBI Investigation
    https://secure.conservativedonations.com/saf_faxacorn/?a=2941
    
    Obama's presidential campaign paid more than $800,000 to a front of ACORN, currently under investigation in a dozen States for voter registration fraud and bribery schemes, for "get-out-the-vote-efforts";
    
    Obama co-sponsored legislation called the "Helping Families Save their Homes in Bankruptcy Act of 2007"-- that was supported by ACORN and protects them from prosecution and any responsibility for causing the largest financial crisis since The Great Depression.
    
    "Bad enough that ACORN is implicated in fraudulent activities in several states, but now an ACORN chapter in the Garden State is working against the ability of New Jersey gun owners to exercise a constitutionally protected individual civil right to own a handgun," said former NYPD detective, Sid Frances.
    
    This is still the United States, not a socialist gulag. Public money should not be given to private organizations which then turn around and utilize that funding to usurp the electoral process and erode constitutionally guaranteed civil rights.
    
    The fact that the federal government would even consider using ACORN as part of its 2010 Census to disenfranchise gun rights supporters is cause for Americans to be very concerned.
    
    All that s eems to be on the minds of Anti-Gun Obama and at the offices of gun control extremists is figuring out how to invade your privacy to erode and eventually destroy the right, and the means, of self-defense.
    
    
    Like all other threats against our freedoms, we must rise and cut off all federal funding to ACORN.
    
    In order to stop Obama and his fellow gun-grabbers-we need to let the Congress know with thousands of faxes telling them to stop ACORN and leave guns alone.
    
    Americans like you who understand what our Founding Fathers envisioned for our nation...and who are willing to fight to defend our Constitution and for what it stands.
    
    So please, help the Second Amendment Foundation and me defeat those who wish to gut and trash the United States Constitution.
    
    Help me flood the U.S. Senate with a sea of FAXES big enough to drown each and every Senator willing to vote away the Second Amendment.
    
    
  • Blog post
  • 2 months ago
  • Views: 100

• "OBAMA-ACORN ANTI GUN CONSPIRA

  • From: bosshog06
  • Description:

    The Obama-ACORN Anti Gun Conspiracy ACORN -- the Association of Community Organizations for Reform -- a publicly funded national organization is using your tax dollars to actively interfere with the Second Amendment exercise of gun rights in New Jersey and elsewhere.
    
    ACORN went public with its gun control activism when it intervened in an unsuccessful attempt to defend Jersey City, New Jersey, a hot bed of anti-gun rights extremists, to disarm its citizens with a local gun control ordinance. ACORN pushed for stronger local gun restrictions that were already struck down by the New Jersey state court as a violation of state law.
    
    Obama and ACORN's interest is in disarming law-abiding citizens.
    
    It is an outrage that this group has intervened to defend an anti-gun ordinance that has already been declared illegal by the court. So long as ACORN accepts one penny of public funding, the organization should remain absolutely neutral on social issues, political campaigns and especially legal actions defending the right to keep and bear arms.
    
    For the past few election cycles ACORN has clearly grown more partisan toward the radical political Left. ACORN'S PAC, in fact, endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for president, even though their tax-exempt status prohibits endorsement of political candidates. That's hardly surprising since he used to serve as their legal counsel and he taught the group about community organizing. ACORN and Obama are lockstep in seeking to destroy our Second Amendment rights.
    
    We call upon the FBI to expand the scope of its ACORN investigation and focus on the group's involvement in the Jersey City case.
    
    We support Ohio Congressman John Boehner's request that the White House immediately block all federal funding of ACORN activities until this group's questionable activities are fully investigated. We want to know how they are paying for attorneys, and why Seton Hall's Center for Social Justice and the Public Interest Law Center are providing legal assistance to ACORN for this effort.
    
    ACORN has, since 1998, received an estimated $31 million in government funding. Yes, Obama knows a great deal about ACORN and its role in the bailout mess. He is a central figure in the left-wing ACORN exploitation of financial institutions to pressure them to make high risk loans. The very same left-wing ACORN that was sued for voter fraud in our last presidential election.

     

    
    Obama's presidential campaign paid more than $800,000 to a front of ACORN, currently under investigation in a dozen States for voter registration fraud and bribery schemes, for "get-out-the-vote-efforts";
    
    Obama co-sponsored legislation called the "Helping Families Save their Homes in Bankruptcy Act of 2007"-- that was supported by ACORN and protects them from prosecution and any responsibility for causing the largest financial crisis since The Great Depression.
    
    "Bad enough that ACORN is implicated in fraudulent activities in several states, but now an ACORN chapter in the Garden State is working against the ability of New Jersey gun owners to exercise a constitutionally protected individual civil right to own a handgun," said former NYPD detective, Sid Frances.
    
    This is still the United States, not a socialist gulag. Public money should not be given to private organizations which then turn around and utilize that funding to usurp the electoral process and erode constitutionally guaranteed civil rights.
    
    The fact that the federal government would even consider using ACORN as part of its 2010 Census to disenfranchise gun rights supporters is cause for Americans to be very concerned.
    
    All that seems to be on the minds of Anti-Gun Obama and at the offices of gun control extremists is figuring out how to invade your privacy to erode and eventually destroy the right, and the means, of self-defense.

     

    
    Like all other threats against our freedoms, we must rise and cut off all federal funding to ACORN.
    
    In order to stop Obama and his fellow gun-grabbers-we need to let the Congress know with thousands of faxes telling them to stop ACORN and leave guns alone.
    
    Americans like you who understand what our Founding Fathers envisioned for our nation...and who are willing to fight to defend our Constitution and for what it stands.
    
    So please, help the Second Amendment Foundation and me defeat those who wish to gut and trash the United States Constitution.
    
    Help me flood the U.S. Senate with a sea of FAXES big enough to drown each and every Senator willing to vote away the Second Amendment.
    
    Please, send your Donation and FAX TODAY!

    
    Fax NOW - STOP ACORN TAXPAYER FUNDING
    Click Here to Pull ACORN Funding and Expand the FBI Investigation

    
    Keep calling your Senators today, toll free numbers include 1-877-851-6437 and 1-866-220-0044, or call toll 1-202-225-3121 AND REGISTER YOU'RE OUTRAGE at ongoing efforts to take guns away!
    
    CALL PRESIDENT Obama, 202-456-1111 and 202-456-1414 expressing your disdain and ABSOLUTE REJECTION of ACORN and their efforts to BAN GUNS.
    
    DO NOT BE SILENCED - MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!
    
    
  • Blog post
  • 3 months ago
  • Views: 54

• Obamacare bails out union pens

  • From: zcat
  • Description:

    Union bosses who have mismanaged benefits for their own members are poised to receive a $10 billion bailout from U.S. taxpayers in the form of a “reinsurance program” that has been folded into the healthcare bill, according to the Workforce Fairness Institute (WFI).

    This provision should be viewed as part of a larger payback effort the Obama White House and top congressional figures have set up in exchange for the support they have received from organized labor, Katie Packer, executive director of WFI said.
    Section 164 of the Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 provides that the government pay 80 cents on the dollar to corporate and union insurance plans for claims between $15,000 and $90,000 for retirees age 55 to 64. Union health insurance funds only have about 30 cents available to cover each dollar of anticipated claims, according to the Lewin Group and other research outfits.
    If this provision were to be passed as part of the overhaul package favored by the Obama Administration, the $10 billion figure would probably expand overtime as union plans continue to come under financial pressure, Packer said.  
    “What we want to see is some kind of accountability,” she said. “These union bosses make promises that they can’t keep. I don’t know what exactly they are doing with union dues and other money but they seem to have hundreds of millions of dollars to spend every time there is a campaign. It’s the labor bosses that have put the companies over a barrel and extracted commitments that they know were unsustainable. Now they expect the taxpayers to bail them out and they use their own workers as victims.”
    In an email letter to supporters, the United Auto Workers (UAW)  urged their membership to support the Obama plan and specifically cites the benefits outlined in section 164. It concludes with a call for activism that draws from key alliances.
    “Not surprisingly, insurance companies and various right-wing groups are mounting a campaign to block health care reform. To counter their dishonest, disruptive scare tactics, UAW activists need to join with our progressive allies in sending a strong message to members of Congress that NOW is the time to pass genuine health care reform,” the letter says.
    The union bailout provision can be found in multiple versions of the bill, which indicates it is being pushed by powerful labor officials who maintain influence with the White House and Congress, Packer said.
    In the 2008 election cycle, labor union political action committees (PACS) contributed over $66 million dollars to congressional candidates with 92 percent of those contributions going to Democrats, according to OpenSecrets.org.
    The Employee Free Choice Act, which includes the controversial Card Check and binding arbitration measures, remains the major priority for labor bosses, Packer said. But the bailout money labor backers in Congress attempted to conceal in the healthcare bill shows that union paybacks remain in motion, Packer said.
    “We see paybacks to labor bosses over and over again,” she said. “We saw it with the bailout to General Motors and Chrysler, we also saw it with the restrictions on companies that don’t use union workers with the stimulus bill. The Employee Free Choice Act is the coup de grace, but the payback remains on going.”
    President Obama received almost $28 million in independent expenditures from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) for his 2008 campaign, while Labor Secretary Hilda Solis received $10,000 from the SEIU’s PAC for her congressional race.
    SEIU has been a leading proponent of  Card Check and binding arbitration.
    http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Obamacare-bails-out-union-pension-plans-too--54816897.html
     
  • Blog post
  • 3 months ago
  • Views: 54

• Government efficiency, hee hee

  • From: dlindberg102
  • Description:

    Lets talk about Government programs. Have you ever seen one work the way it was supposed to? Not likely, most get so mired down in bureaucracy that they soon dissolve into a muck so deep that it takes a high power shredder to get through all the paper work. Who in their right minds would voluntarily give their sacred rights away to the criminals that make up our Congress? Before you answer, take a stern look at Social Security. It was designed as a failsafe for seniors who worked all their lives and paid into the program. Go to a Social Security office in your town and see who’s there collecting your benefits. The Congress has allowed it to be drained of its assets by everything from Aid to dependant children, ( in many cases women who continue to have babies to milk the system) and illegals who line up for the free money provided by our benevolent leaders. If you are under 55 now you probably won’t get much of your social security that you paid so dearly for.
    
    Our Congress and many of our administrations over the years, have raped the system for votes. Don’t expect much more from Medicare either, the whole thing will be overrun by the year 2012. We have so much graft and corruption imbedded in the program, that it is impossible for it to continue as it is. With all these wonderful experiences in the inner working of government how can anyone in their right mind believe that Socialized Medicine will be any different? I think we need a grassroots uprising to force Congress and the President to include themselves in any program they design. No more special treatment, what's good for the Goose is good for the Gander. The same thing with Social Security, these Elitists we have in Washington could care less about the people of the country. They have their own set of rules, and they don’t include scrimping and saving their way through their Golden years. Congress and the President should have the same benefits that the rest of us are blessed with.
    
    I’m old enough to have seen corruption from both parties. The present administration is just as, or even more corrupt them most who have gone before them. Tax cheats in power even to the point of being in a position to prosecute you for making a simple mistake on your taxes. Who prosecutes them? We have a President who uses the poor and the uneducated to build his base, and buys the Latin vote with potential amnesty, using our retirement money to pay for his promises. Our children and their children will never know the America that anyone over 50 remembers. They are the ones who will be saddled with this debt to the point of ruination. They will be forced to accept the total take over of their rights by the government just to survive. The last real Presidents were Truman and Eisenhower, Reagan did his best but by the eighties, the Congress had already began to self serve. Our system had become corrupt with power hungry Elitists that no longer felt the need to represent the people, they had evolved into a station above their constituents. They voted themselves raises, and benefits that outsiders to Washington would never be allowed to obtain.
    
    As I have preached so many times before, we have become an entitlement society. It makes for good press for the government to give to the poor, but when they don’t use their own money to buy that press, it is steeling out of our pockets for their glory. How does a Senator or Congressperson go to Washington as an average money earner and end up a millionaire in just a few short years? They have become so callous about it that they even have decided in this time of recession, to order personal jets at the taxpayers expense. This expense will reach over $500,000,000. Of course Madam Pelosi has one that costs almost that much all by itself.
    
    I really don’t give a damn if you are a republican or a democrat, if these combined things don’t send you into a rage, you’re walking around in a daze. Look at the pain all around you, look at the lost homes, the families that have had to pull their kids out of college. All across this land people are suffering. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not all this administrations fault. What is their fault is the phony stimulus that was more pork than substance, the take over of business instead of making it possible for business to survive on its own. The huge deficits that are the result of billions of wasted bailout dollars. Jumping into things like the Cash for Clunkers program instead of thinking them out and testing the waters. The low end used car market is no longer affordable for those who need cheaper cars. Three billion dollars have gone for the destruction of viable transportation vehicles for the poor that they supposedly are trying to help. Wouldn’t it have been cheaper and more effective to offer anyone who wanted to purchase a new American car, a voucher for $2,000 to be used within 30 days of its issue? It would have done the same thing without all the confusion and the dealers wouldn’t be waiting for their money.
    
    This Congress and this Administration have run roughshod over everything that America has stood for, they have spent us into a new millennium and now want to tear down and take over the greatest medical industry in the history of mankind. Instead of doing something simple like giving a tax break to businesses who provide coverage to help these companies afford the high costs. They could lower the cost significantly with a simple thing like Tort Reform. The highest expense for your doctor by far is his malpractice insurance. Stop frivolous lawsuits and you will reduce medical costs by 50 to 60%. Of course these people are all lawyers, why would they do that?
    
    What we need is commonsense in Washington, but we’d have to gut the whole thing to fix the problem. We could do that, if enough people would only wake up and smell the burning fat of government before it spreads over us like honey in an anthill. 2010 should be our rally cry, and Heaven help any idiots from ACORN that get the way of a fair election this time. God Save America.

  • Blog post
  • 3 months ago
  • Views: 83

• GOP making HUGH GAINS in polls

  • From: FlaNative
  • Description:

    No surprise here...the people are over the Messiah and his "change", along with the Democratic govenors and congressmen.  Even seats like those belonging to Barbara Boxer and Obama's seat are now in a deadheat!!!

    Those of us with any sense knew the pork (aka stimulus) package, bailout of GM, union and ACORN favors and the socialized healthcare plan would be the death of the Democrats. 

    We may be able to save our county afterall.  Depends how much damage the current cast of crooks can do before Nov next year.

    Nine months after Republicans suffered their worst political defeat in decades, President Obama and the Democrats are slipping in the polls and the Republican Party is expected to make gubernatorial and congressional gains in the 2009-10 election cycle, according to pollsters and election analysts.

    Six months into his presidency, Mr. Obama's approval ratings have fallen from the 70s to the low 50s or less and the Democrats' once-muscular lead in the polls also has shrunk. Republicans are leading in this year's two governorship races, in Virginia and New Jersey, and analysts say they likely will capture several more governor's mansions next year.

    "It would be hard to envision a political landscape as tilted against Republicans as it was in 2006 and 2008. There is now a body of polling data to suggest that the generic congressional ballot has closed. In the NBC/Wall Street Journal, Democrats have a seven-point advantage, the smallest it's been since April of 2006," said Jennifer Duffy, senior elections analyst at the Cook Political Report.

    "That is all good news for Republicans," Ms. Duffy said.

    Even in the Senate, where campaign analysts say five open Republican seats give Democrats more to shoot at, Republican recruiting and missteps by Democrats are putting some unexpected seats into play.

    • In Connecticut, five-term Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, weakened by charges that he received low-interest mortgage loans from a Countrywide executive, is running behind or is tied with two of his potential Republican challengers in the latest polls.

    • In California, former Hewlett-Packard Chief Executive Carly Fiorina was trailing three-term Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer by just 4 percentage points, according to a recent Rasmussen poll.

    • In Illinois, Republican chances of filling Mr. Obama's former Senate seat improved significantly when state Attorney General Lisa Madigan turned down White House pleas to run. The Republican Party is fielding its strongest candidate, Rep. Mark Steven Kirk, who has crossover appeal to Democrats. The race is being called a tossup.

    • In Pennsylvania, early surveys suggest voters may be cooling to Sen. Arlen Specter's party switch from the Republicans to the Democrats. A recent Quinnipiac University poll showed that he is in a dead heat with former Rep. Pat Toomey, the expected Republican nominee.

    Pollsters say the shift in voter attitudes is fueled by rising unemployment that economists say will hit 10 percent before year's end, unhappiness with the administration's economic stimulus bill, growing concern over sharply higher federal spending, a mushrooming budget deficit expected to hit $1.8 trillion this year and a divisive debate over the trillion-dollar costs of government health care legislation pending in Congress.

    "Democrats still have more opportunities than does the GOP, but the public's growing nervousness about the economy and the deficit could develop into a problem for Democratic candidates next year, particularly in open seats such as Missouri and Ohio," said the Rothenberg Political Report, which tracks election campaigns.

    "But the tide may be shifting slightly away from the Democrats," veteran analyst Stuart Rothenberg reported last week.

    The Rasmussen daily presidential tracking poll showed late last week "that 28 percent of the nation's voters now strongly approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Forty percent strongly disapprove, giving Mr. Obama a presidential approval index rating of minus 12. That's the lowest rating yet recorded by President Obama," the pollsters said.

    There is also growing disapproval of the Democratic Congress, which has begun to erode the Democrats' political support in next year's elections.

    The Gallup poll reported late last week: "If the elections were held today, 50 percent of U.S. registered voters say they would vote for the Democratic candidate in their district and 44 percent for the Republican candidate."

    The Democrats' shrinking margin of support "suggests the 2010 election could be quite close if it were held today given low turnout in midterm elections and the usual Republican advantages in turnout," Gallup said.

    "Thus, at this early stage, 2010 does not look like it is shaping up to be as strong a Democratic year as 2006 was, and that could make it difficult for the party to hold onto the gains it made in the 2006 midterm and 2008 presidential elections," the polling organization said.

    Democrats outraised Republicans in House and Senate races last year, but the Republican Party, with some exceptions, appears to be doing better on the fundraising front this year as it stakes out bedrock conservative positions on spending and taxes.

    The Republican National Committee beat the Democratic National Committee in fundraising by almost $7 million a month last year, but the money race is much tighter in this election cycle, Republican officials said.

    The RNC, in a strong fundraising performance, reported that it had raised $8.9 million in June, with a total of $23.7 million in cash on hand, compared to $6.8 million for the DNC, which had $13 million in the bank.

    The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said it raised $30.8 million in the first two quarters, compared to $17.5 million at the National Republican Congressional Committee.

    The National Republican Senatorial Committee, chaired by Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, has improved fundraising significantly over its dismal record last year, raising more than $20.1 million in the first two quarters, virtually matching the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee's $20.9 million for the same period.

    http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/aug/04/republicans-closing-gap-in-polls/?feat=home_top5_read

  • Blog post
  • 3 months ago
  • Views: 58

• Obamacare is AN OBOMINATION

  • From: candyaquino
  • Description:

    PEOPLE WAKE THE HELL UP AND START PROTESTING.................THIS HEALTH CARE WILL NOT WORK; IT IS ANOTHER BULLSHIT STREAMLINE WELFARE/MEDICARE BULLSHIT.....

    WE ARE GONNA FF DIE .........STOP WHINING AND COMPLAINING AND START

    GETTING OUT THERE AND PROTESTING...............

    Congress Thinks We're An Oligarchy

    You know how page 16 of the Obamacare bill outlaws private insurance? Turns out that that provison only applies to us plebes. Who's exempt from it? Congress and federal employees. That would be among the exemptions in secti0n 3116.
    
    From WSJ:
    

    Last September Sen. Barack Obama promised that under his health-care proposal "you'll be able to get the same kind of coverage that members of Congress give themselves." On Monday, President Obama repeated that promise in a speech to the American Medical Association. It's not true.
    
    [snip]
    
    Members of Congress "enjoy the widest selection of health plans in the country," according to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. They "can choose from among consumer-driven and high deductible plans that offer catastrophic risk protection with higher deductibles, health saving/reimbursable accounts and lower premiums, or fee-for-service (FFS) plans, and their preferred provider organizations (PPO), or health maintenance organizations (HMO)." These choices would be nice for all of us, but they're not in the offing. Instead, if you don't enroll in a "qualified" health plan and submit proof of enrollment to the federal government, you'll be tracked down and fined (sections 3101 and 6055).

    Can I get a bailout if you fine me, Dear Leader?
    

    [snip]
    
    It is reasonable to require that people who accept a government subsidy for health insurance tolerate cost controls to protect taxpayers. But according to the terms of the Kennedy bill, you must enroll in a "qualified" plan or face a fine, even if you and your employer are paying the entire cost of the plan you already have (section 161).
    
    The president has promised that if you like your plan you can keep it. Mr. Kennedy's bill says that too. It's doubletalk, as the consequences of nonenrollment make clear. How big a fine will you face? The bill doesn't specify or set a limit. It says the fine will be enough to "accomplish the goal of enhancing participation in qualifying coverage" (section 161).

    Congress should be the first people upon whom socialist medicine is imposed, or, barring that, any and all representatives who vote for this abomination. Let them take their own medicine
  • Blog post
  • 4 months ago
  • Views: 82
  • Not yet rated

• A czar here a czar there, here

  • From: bearly98
  • Description:

    Your tax dolllars hardly at work
    

    Name	Czar-ship	Actual Title
    Richard Holbrooke	Afghanistan Czar	Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan
    Jeffrey Crowley	AIDS Czar	Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy
    Alan Bersin	Border Czar	Assistant Secretary for International Affairs and Special Representative for Border Affairs
    David Hayes	CA Water Czar	Deputy Interior Secretary
    Ed Montgomery	Car Czar	Director of Recovery for Auto Communities and Workers
    Todd Stern	Climate Czar	Special Envoy for Climate Change
    Lynn Rosenthal	Domestic Violence Czar	Adviser on violence against women
    Gil Kerlikowske	Drug Czar	Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy
    Paul Volcker	Economic Czar	Chairman of the Economic Recovery Advisory Board
    Carol Browner	Energy Czar	Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change
    Joshua DuBois	Faith-based Czar	Director of the Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships
    Cameron Davis	Great Lakes Czar	Special advisor to the U.S. EPA overseeing its Great Lakes restoration plan
    Van Jones	Green Jobs Czar	Special Adviser for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality
    Danny Fried	Guantanamo Closure Czar	Special envoy to oversee the closure of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay
    Nancy-Ann DeParle	Health Czar	Director of the White House Office of Health Reform
    Vivek Kundra	Information Czar	Federal Chief Information Officer
    Dennis Blair	Intelligence Czar	Director of National Intelligence
    George Mitchell	Mideast Peace Czar	Special Envoy to the Middle East
    Dennis Ross	Mideast Policy Czar	Special Adviser for the Persian Gulf and Southwest Asia - Different, unnamed position now
    Kenneth Feinberg	Pay Czar	Special Master on executive pay
    Cass Sunstein	Regulatory Czar	Director of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
    John Holdren	Science Czar	Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Co-Chair of the President’s Council of Advisers on Science and Technology
    Earl Devaney	Stimulus Accountability Czar	Chair of the Recovery Act Transparency and Accountability Board
    J. Scott Gration	Sudan Czar	Special Envoy to Sudan
    Herb Allison	TARP Czar	Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Stability
    Elizabeth Warren	TARP Oversight Czar	Chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel for the $700B Bailout Fund
    Aneesh Chopra	Technology Czar	Chief Technology Officer
    John Brennan	Terrorism Czar	Deputy National Security Adviser for Homeland Security
    Adolfo Carrion, Jr	Urban Affairs Czar	Director of the White House Office of Urban Affairs
    Ashton Carter	Weapons Czar	Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics
    Gary Samore	WMD/Terrorism Czar	Coordinator for the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism

  • Blog post
  • 4 months ago
  • Views: 39
  • Not yet rated

• Health Care Talking Points and

  • From: bearly98
  • Description:

    3 Main Talking Points for Health Care Tea Parties

     

    1. Americans should be in control of their medical decisions, not government and third party payers who will ration care for politics and profit.  (relevant points: rationing, comparative effectiveness, pay for performance, EMR, Congress’s unkeepable promises, Politicization of health care. Cookbook medicine, one size fits all medicine, “Health Care Fed”).
    2. Government should reserve public finding of health care for poor and provide tax breaks to all for private health care. (relevant points: government debt on children, unfunded liability of Medicare, Tax breaks for individual purchase, HSA/HDHS, Public option.)
    3. Patients should decide how much to pay for routine annual medical care and reserve health insurance for rare catastrophic events.  (HSA/HDHP, Private Contracting of patient with doctor, medical inflation, Market forces as means to improve quality and lower costs, ending certificate of need laws, interstate purchase of health insurance).

     

    10 Facts for Health Care Reform

     

    1. Medical Inflation is Caused by Control of Health Care dollars by Big Government and Big Insurance Corporations.  Medical Costs are out of control due to payment of medical services by third party payers - parties that are outside of the patient physician relationship.  Only by paying directly for routine annual medical care can Americans drive down the costs of health care.  When Consumers tell doctors and hospitals to justify the need for every test, treatment and procedure – and their costs – medical costs will drop.  When Patients rarely have severe sickness and accidents, they can be 100% covered by low cost, high deductible catastrophic health insurance.  Also, citizens are forbidden from buying lower cost, but just as valuable, health insurance from other states.  This drives insurance costs up and must be stopped.  States should also refrain from mandating unneeded benefits like acupuncture, chiropractic care and hair prostheses into insurance plans as this drives up costs and make consumers buy coverage for things they do not want.
    2. The Government is Making Health Care Coverage Promises it Can’t keep. The Government can’t afford the Medicare, Medicaid or SCHIP programs but is asking the taxpayers and their children (through debt) to pay for health care for tens of millions of more Americans.  Medicare is effectively bankrupt as there are not enough funds from Medicare taxes to cover costs.  Since 2007, Medicare has required funds from general taxes to cover costs.  Medicare would require $84 trillion to cover all American lives now to be covered in the future.  This debt has nothing backing other than paper IOU’s in a filing cabinet in West Virginia.  Americans will have to borrow from China to pay for their health care and leave their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren with crushing debt.  Against all Reason, Congress seeks to add substantially to this debt possibly through a “public option” to purchase health insurance which has bee estimated to drive about 120 million Americans from private health insurance to the government rolls.  There is a better way.
    3. Myths and propaganda are being used to justify the wrong kind of health system reform while real problems and real solutions are ignored.   Of the “46 million uninsured Americans” claimed, 9.7 million are not even Americans.  16 million can afford health insurance but choose not to buy it while only about 8 million are chronically uninsured. Medical costs account for only about 5% of bankruptcies.   Americans receive the best medical care in the world and claims of “1/2 the proper care” are based in pseudoscience and false definitions of quality.  All Americans are guaranteed medical care if they go to an Emergency room regardless of ability to pay.  Insured patients are far more likely to use an emergency room than uninsured. Myths and propaganda are designed to create a “crisis” mentality to give politicians and big corporations an excuse to take more power to themselves.
    4. Rationing is the only way to control costs if third parties control all of health care financing.  As more money for medical care is placed in the hands of government and big insurance companies, they will resort to rationing.  Big Corporations are likely to gain near monopoly power and will have little competition to incentivize them to have only a fair profit.  They will have big government on their side to keep competitors down and hand them more power over medical care.  In the end, rationing will be used to generate profit levels that can’t be achieved in a truly competitive market.  The Government will ration because they won’t be able to afford all the medical care that is demanded.  This will occur through hard rationing created by the Federal Council on Comparative Effectiveness who will determine what treatments are justified based on cost. Soft rationing will occur as people die waiting for treatments that save and extend life.  
    5. Universal Coverage by health insurance is neither achievable nor necessary  while Universal Access to medical care is.   There is no need for every American to own health insurance.  Efforts have failed many times in this country, most recently in Massachusetts where 3% of its citizens remain uninsured despite a mandate for all to buy health insurance.   Proponents admit that they use the goal of “Universal Coverage” to justify expansion of government and corporate control of medical care and worry how to pay for it later.  Far more important is the ability to see a physician or receive care in a hospital when needed.  Many patients with “Coverage” (e.g. Medicaid) can’t access medical care because the plans don’t pay fair market value for the services sought.  They thus wait to see specialists in remote cities and over-utilize the ER for basic medical care.  When patients are economically secure and in control of their own health care financing, they are far more likely to be able to access medical care when they need it.
    6. An Individual mandate to buy health insurance is a slippery slope to socialized medicine and leads to many unintended consequences.   The state of Massachusetts has mandated all of its citizens to buy health insurance and applies a tax penalty to those who don’t.  This has been accompanied by vastly prolonged waits to see a primary care doctors since the “low cost” plans created by government for coverage don’t pay for the cost of services.  Public hospitals who see indigent patients are in severe financial trouble.  The State is creating cookbook medicine and rationing protocols to control costs.  They are requiring bailout money from Washington D.C. and placing increasing burdens on taxpayers to make end meet.  This system is likely to be proposed by Congress this summer and can’t be allowed to pass.
    7. Doctors will be forced to comply with government rationing protocols through use of cookbook medicine and electronic medical record systems.  The government and insurance companies want to tell your doctor what medical care to provide and what care not to provide to patients.  They are creating “best practice” and “pay for performance” protocols that don’t help patients.  They are then creating “report cards” to grade how well doctors comply with the cookbook. They seek to financially penalize doctors who don’t comply with the protocols. To get good grades, for these cookbook protocols doctors and hospitals have been shown avoid sicker and riskier patients, “game” the system, and use the cookbook protocols for the wrong patients as they case a wide net.  The poor and minorities are harmed even more strongly by these approaches.  Doctors and nurses must take valuable time away from patients to enter data into computers for the third parties to create the grades.  Pop-up computer windows will slow doctors down as they are programmed to force a doctor to follow the cookbook. These expensive Electronic medical record systems drain money from actual patient care and are security risks for private patient information.
    8. Medical Care will only get better under a free market system.   The many miraculous advances in medicine over the last century have arisen because they were motivated by seeking an honest profit for their creation.  While scientific work and altruism motivated many initial discoveries, companies seeking to grow their businesses brought us things like: Miracle drugs, advanced medical imaging, spinal implants and joint replacement hardware, brain and heart pacemakers, cancer drugs and radiation treatment.  More innovations in genetics, medications, surgery and early diagnosis can be ours if we let the free market engine of the American economy work its same magic.  Under current proposals, government seeks to remove the profit motive for medical care and insurance companies seek to provide only basic medical care as they collect premiums and deny care. This will cause the science and technology of medicine to “Stall” at the year 2010.  Furthermore, when patients privately contract with their doctor for medical care, they can force prices down and force doctors to spend more time with them. This will drive down costs, increase quality and patient satisfaction.  Also, doctors and business should be granted the freedom to open up focused and lower cost medical facilities that patients want and “certificate of need” laws should change as they grant hospitals protection from competition that can drive down costs and increase variety and quality of services.
    9. Government and private charities have the capacity to take care of the poor.  What about the poor?  There will always be those with lower incomes that need help to receive needed medical care.  Americans are generous and – if freed from crushing tax and debt –  will fund charity care which was common prior to the creation of Medicare.  The government should also help pay for those of lower incomes directly and help others with government reinsurance of insurance plans for high risk patients.
    10. The tax code needs to be changed to grant Medical financial power to Americans, not to force Americans to act against their interests or grow the size of government.  Tax treatment of medical costs are a relic of World War II when the government fixed how much workers could make on the job.  To retain workers, corporations were allowed tax breaks if they provided health insurance. However, since that time individuals have been forbidden from getting the same tax break for insurance if they bought insurance outside of work.  This has caused insurance companies to sell insurance to employers –not directly to consumers.  The tax code should be changed to ensure every American gets a tax credit for individual and family health insurance coverage. Lower income Americans can have a more generous credit as a voucher to purchase health insurance.  Tax benefits of Health Savings Accounts and high deductible health insurance should be protected and expanded.
  • Blog post
  • 5 months ago
  • Views: 42
  • Not yet rated

• The legal joes GOT SOLD OUT

  • From: candyaquino
  • Description:

    I can't believe what I just learned today, OH WAIT, yes I can

    after WELLS FARGO RECEIVED A GOOD 25 BILLION IN BAILOUT MONIES FROM

    TAXPAYERS, TO SAVE JOBS ADN BUSINESSES AND PUT THE NATION ON THE ROAD

    TO ECONOMIC RECOVERY.

    WELLS FARGO IS NOW BLOCKING THAT RECOVERY. THE BANK HAS CUT OFF CREDIT TO QUAD CITY DIE CASTING, a well-run, viable family owned manufacturer that has operated in Moline, IL for 60 years.  Unless WElls Fargo restores financing, the plant will close in July THROWING 100 PEOPLE OUT OF WORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    WELLS FARGO IS IN DEFAULT on the obligation to the American people.  These poor souls are now demanding WELLS FARGO, AND IN THEIR RIGHTS, USE

    THE BAIL OUT FUNDS TO HELP THE RECOVERY AND NOT DESTROY JOBS.

    WELL, another great job from the people IN WASHINGTON...............

    WAS IT BAILOUT PORKUS MONEY REALLY NECESSARY? I THINK NOT,

    OBVIOUSLY, ONLY THE PROMINENT ATE THE PORK AND THE ORDINARY

    STILL STARVING TO MAKE ENDS MEET...................

    WHAT A CRYING SHAME.

    THIS MESSAGE IS BEING SENT BY ME, CANDY ON BEHALF OF SOME OF THESE PEOPLE LOSING THEIR JOBS WHICH I MET TODAY!!!

    JMO....................AND CARING FOR THE LITTLE PEOPLE..............

    BY THE PEOPLE, FOR ORDINARY PEOPLE..........

    NO PROMINENT PEOPLE ALLOWED

  • Blog post
  • 5 months ago
  • Views: 40