Huckabee Has Own Show on Fox

Former Presidential Candidate and Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee will start his own show today on Fox. The show is called “Huckabee” and is scheduled to run on Saturday and Sunday evening at 7 p.m. Central and 8 pm Eastern times. The show's first guest will be Elisabeth Hasselbeck, the conservative co-host of ABC's "The View."

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Tags: Arkansas, Elizabeth Hasselback, Fox News, Mike Huckabee To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Today in Washington D. C. - Sept 27, 2008 (Saturday Session) #pork

Yesterday, Senate Democrats did not get the 60 votes needed to move forward with a bloated $56 billion stimulus package stuffed with all kinds of extraneous spending (pork) including billions in food stamps and extensions of unemployment insurance.

The Senate reconvened at 9:30 AM and voted 82-12 to agree to the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to concur with an amendment to the continuing resolution (CR) (H.R. 2638). A final vote on the CR could come as early as 1 PM today. Staff negotiations on the economic stablization plan went well into the night last night and are expected to resume this morning. Members are expected to join in later in the day. Sen. Harry Reid said this morning that he may file for cloture on the fiscal 2009 Defense authorization bill (S. 3001) today, setting up a vote on Monday. Few on Capitol Hill are pleased with situation that has led us to this legislation, but most believe something like it is necessary. As Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), “The only reason to support this action is to save ordinary Americans from an economic disaster that they had no hand in creating.”

Today, the editors of The Wall Street Journal lay out their arguments for supporting the plan being crafted in Congress, concluding, “The U.S. banking system continues to be under enormous stress, and if managed well the Paulson plan offers a decent prospect of preventing it from further infecting the economy. It might save taxpayers money in the long run. Yes, some bankers will remain in business when they wouldn't otherwise, but Schadenfreude is not a policy and revenge against what's left of Wall Street isn't worth the potential harm to innocents on Main Street.” The Hill reports that former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan urged rapid passage of the rescue plan stating, “swift action to relieve the current financial crisis” which “would maintain the functions of credit markets and prevent a serious economic contraction.”

In a positive development yesterday, a bipartisan group of senators rejected a plan pushed by Sen. Harry Reid and Sen. Ken Salazar (D-CO) to re-impose the ban on oil shale development in the Rocky Mountains that House Democrats had agreed to drop. Sen. McConnell said, “A bipartisan group of Senators stood up today for the American people by refusing to block access to our vast western states oil reserves. For the last several months, Americans have been clamoring for Congress to bring relief to high prices at the pump by promoting new energy sources – particularly through off-shore drilling and developing oil shale.”

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Tags: Continuing Resolution, CR, domestic oil production, economic stabilization, economic stimulus, economy, oil ban, US Congress, US House, US Senate, Washington D.C. To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

The Federalist on Regulating Commerce or Revenue

“Every new regulation concerning commerce or revenue; or in any manner affecting the value of the different species of property, presents a new harvest to those who watch the change and can trace its consequences; a harvest reared not by themselves but by the toils and cares of the great body of their fellow citizens. This is a state of things in which it may be said with some truth that laws are made for the few not for the many.” — James Madison

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Tags: commerce, Federalism, Federalist, James Madison To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Explosive Video, Fannie Mae CEO calling Obama & Dems the "Family" & "Conscience" of Fannie Mae

In tonight's Debate, Barack had the nerve to bring up the recent financial industry crisis and assign blame, but he didn't mention that the top 3 recipients of campaign donations from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were Democrats - and that he was ranked #2. And Senator Obama didn't mention that he was among those who supported the granting of sub-prime loans to individuals who could not afford to pay them back. The Banking Failures are because of the Housing Crisis which was caused by mortgage lenders handing out bad loans and the biggest offenders: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Democrats have been taking PAYOFFS from Fannie and Freddie to look the other way FOR DECADES! The video is not our opinion but Fannnie Mae's CEO and FoxNews.

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Tags: bank failure, Barack Obama, Fannie mae, Freddie Mac, housing crisis, payoffs, presidential debate To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Motivational Poster of the Day

While a majority of the national democrat leadership today is liberal, many grassroots democrats remain faitful to their conservative roots. All Democrats not interested in seeing their party and our country slide further left into socialism are welcome to join in supporting John McCain for President. Sky (in the poster) is a Democrat that is voting for McCain. She even joined other conservative right minded bloggers us in supporting and reporting John McCain at the RNC 2008 convention. And she is not alone. Along with Lady Rothschild, The Donald and the rise of the PUMAs, I think we may see more of this. H/T to Stix for the lead on the poster.

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Tags: conservative democrats, Democrats, Election 2008, John Mccain, RNC Convention, standards To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Today in Washington D. C. - Sept 26, 2008 - #pork

The Senate is expected to proceed to the continuing resolution (H.R. 2638) to fund the government until March 2009. Yesterday, Sen.s Reid (D-NV) and Robert Byrd (D-WV) announced a $56.2 billion stimulus bill full of all kinds of extraneous spending including billions in food stamps and extensions of unemployment insurance. The vote on the stimulus package could come today. Although the CR does not extend the moratorium on offshore drilling or on exploration of western oil shale, Reid and Sen. Ken Salazar (D-CO) are working to try to extend the oil shale ban by attaching it to the stimulus package.

The CR funds most departments at 2008 levels and includes the full fiscal year 2009 Defense, Homeland Security, and Military Construction-Veterans Affairs appropriations bills: $487 billion for Defense, $40 billion for Homeland Security and $73 billion for Military Construction and Veterans Affairs. Also included is $22.9 billion in emergency funding for hurricane and natural disaster relief. Reid has identified that he expects the Senate to be in session beginning at 9:30 AM Saturday and to vote on the CR in the morning.

From Senate & News Sources: Congress is set for a busy few days as work and negotiations continue on a number of key pieces of legislation, but while most of the week has been marked with bipartisan deal-making. In the last couple of days Democrats have begun pushing partisan agendas, making it more difficult to finish things up.

On the economic stabilization plan, Senate Republicans continue to negotiate in the hopes of getting a bill ready to vote on in the next day or two. Unfortunately, Sen. Harry Reid is determined to use the situation to launch partisan attacks. He called a press conference this morning to blast Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) for joining the negotiations and claiming that his appearance derailed a deal negotiated yesterday. In fact, there was no deal. Democrats tried to claim there was a deal in order to preempt news coming out of a meeting in the White House later in the day. When it turned out there was no deal at the end of the day, Reid tried to blame a dissolution of a deal on McCain when there was no deal to begin with. Reid held a press conference this morning where he said, “We don’t need presidential politics involved in this.” But Reid then attempted to claim that it was Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-IL) plan that negotiators have agreed on, when that is simply not the case. So after complaining about presidential politics being involved, Reid went out of his way to insert it himself.

Meanwhile, Democrats on both sides of the Capitol are threatening critical legislation by pushing policies they know will run into severe opposition. In the Senate, Reid and Sen. Ken Salazar (D-CO) are attempting to reinsert a ban developing western oil shale resources into the continuing resolution (CR). Republicans are not happy with this development, which could complicate passage of the CR.

In the House, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-NY) continues to lead Democrats in his chamber down the path of confrontation with the Senate over a bill full of important tax measures. Rangel is insisting on fully offsetting the cost of the bill with tax hikes, even though this approach has been rejected multiple times in the Senate. Even Harry Reid is warning House Democrats not to hold up the bill, since President Bush has threatened to veto the House version.

In addition, Senate Democrats are attempting to push a bloated $56.2 billion economic stimulus bill they know is not likely to get enough support to pass. It’s a transparent attempt to add one more political vote for use on the campaign trail, instead of a serious attempt to find consensus. If Democrats truly want to have a successful end to this session and do the right things for the country, they should drop the partisan maneuvering and work with Republicans to pass critical legislation, as they had been doing earlier in the week.

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Tags: bailout, Congressional Pork, Continuing Resolution, CR, economic stablization, economic stimulus, pork, US Congress, US House, US Senate, Washington D.C. To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Major "Earmark" in Democrat Bailout Agreement

Update (9:58AM, Sept. 26th): While Sens. Harry Reid and Chris Dodd stand before the news this morning pontificating and mocking Republicans, especially Sen. McCain, for the perceived delay in reaching agreement, they also continues to prevaricate. Sen. Reid and Speaker Pelosi initially asserted that they needed McCain to clinch a deal for Democrats and now they are like a pack rabid dogs blaming John McCain for the deal falling apart. In fact, the deal fell apart before McCain arrived.

A republican senate source has confirmed that the questioned provision reported in this post is being opposed by Senate Republicans which has upset Democrats. Republicans are not opposing the obvious issues identified by Reid. They are working to get rid of the questioned provision "if they can." Also, they have already gotten the Democrats to back down from providing "most" of the money ("future profits") to the groups mentioned in the article "to a much smaller percentage." Negotiations are likely to continue throughout the day. Obviously no one is happy - especially the majority of the American public.

Breaking News - Bill Smith, ARRA Editor. I received a copy of "Agreement in Principle" relative to the $700 billion "bailout" being proposed and supported by Senate Democrats. The one page agreement from the U.S. Senate Banking Committee details guidelines to be put in place relative to taxpayer protection, oversight and transparency, home ownership preservation and Funding Authority.

While on the surface the agreement looks generic and positive, However, the "devil is in the detail." There is one detail that Democrats are concerned that Republicans will not agree to in the bailout agreement. That is if the Republicans even see the item. It seems that this issue may be one reason that many Democrats have hounded Sen. John McCain and pushed for his speedy approval. Senate Majority Harry Reid (D-NV) has already identified that it is Sen. John McCain's approval, not Barack Obama approval, that is needed to secure the agreement of Senate Republicans. In fact, the questioned provision indirectly focus on some prior concern regarding Sen. Barack Obama involvement with various organizations. Maybe that is why Obama would prefer being at a debate in Mississippi than being in Washington D.C.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) cohorts are also hounding Sen. McCain to agree. They know that neither the House Republicans nor the House Blue Dog Democrats are going to sign on easily to an agreement extending $700 billion "bailout" if Sen. McCain disagrees. Pelosi does not have control of the fiscally conservative Blue Dogs who are not happy with committing $700 billion to the "bailout" effort.

In the "agreement in principle," there is the effect of a major "earmark" which commits money from future "profits" to be given to nonprofits organizations like ACORN, National Council of La Raza and potentially the National Urban League. This agreement clearly evidences that the Government expects to benefit in the future from the bailout when the values of property rises and mortgages or properties are then sold by the Federal government. The agreement --

"Directs a certain percentage of future profits to the Affordable Housing Fund and the Capital Magnet Fund to meet America's housing needs."

In the proposed bailout agreement, Sen. Christopher Dodd, the Senate Banking Committee and other Democrats desire to pre-direct that future funds (profits) not be returned to the taxpayers via the treasury but that they be used to underwrite potential questionable (maybe even illegal activities) of certain nonprofits which have had a hand in promoting and expanding access to "no money down" loans for minorities, illegal voter registrations and extensive lobbying activities.

Let’s examine the connection of the Affordable Housing Fund and the Capital Magnet Fund with the various nonprofit groups mentioned above. In July, 2008, a Wall Street Journal article addressed the previous housing bill signed into law:

Provide[d] a stream of billions of dollars for distressed homeowners and communities and the nonprofit groups that serve them. One of the biggest likely beneficiaries, despite Republican objections is Acorn, a housing advocacy group that also helps lead ambitious voter-registration efforts benefiting Democrats. Acorn -- made up of several legally distinct groups under that name -- has become an important player in the Democrats' effort to win the White House. Its voter mobilization arm is co-managing a $15.9 million campaign with the group Project Vote to register 1.2 million low-income Hispanics and African-Americans, who are among those most likely to vote Democratic. Technically nonpartisan, the effort is one of the largest such voter-registration drives on record.

The organization's main advocacy group lobbied hard for passage of the housing bill, which provides nearly $5 billion for affordable housing, financial counseling and mortgage restructuring for people and neighborhoods affected by the housing meltdown. A third Acorn arm, its housing corporation, does a large share of that work on the ground. Acorn's multiple roles show how two fronts of activism -- housing for the poor and voter mobilization -- have converged closely in this election year. The fortunes of both parties will hinge in part on their plans for addressing the fall of the nation's housing market and the painful economic slowdown. . . .

Partly because of the role of Acorn and other housing advocacy groups, the White House and its allies in Congress resisted Democrats' plans to include money for a new affordable-housing trust fund and $4 billion in grants to restore housing in devastated neighborhoods. In the end, the money stayed in the bill; the White House saw little choice. What most riles Republicans about the bill is the symbiotic relationship between the Democratic Party and the housing advocacy groups, of which Acorn is among the biggest. Groups such as the National Council of La Raza and the National Urban League also lobby to secure government-funded services for their members and seek to move them to the voting booth. Acorn has been singled out for criticism because of its reach, its endorsements of Democrats, and past flaws in its bookkeeping and voter-registration efforts that its detractors in Congress have seized upon. . . .

Sen. Obama is especially reliant on registration drives, such as Acorn's with Project Vote, to help him win the White House. The Illinois Democrat draws his strongest support from blacks, Hispanics and young people, groups that are among the least likely to be registered. After law school, Sen. Obama was the director of Project Vote in Chicago. . . .

Democrats on Capitol Hill have helped to steer millions of dollars in housing and other grants from the federal government toward Acorn and groups like it. The groups must qualify and compete for the money, which is typically doled out from the federal government to states and municipalities. The housing package includes a new, permanent source of affordable-housing money that congressional Democrats and grassroots groups have sought for years. The Affordable Housing Trust Fund and the Capital Magnet Fund will be funded by a tax on mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored mortgage titans.

That tax eventually will channel upwards of $600 million annually in grants for developing and restoring housing, mostly as low-income rentals, available to Acorn and other groups. Democrats on Capitol Hill and housing groups say the housing-assistance money is vital to helping Americans hit hardest by what some call the largest drop in home values since the Great Depression. But they acknowledge the perception of political conflict in giving federal funds to an organization that does political work. "We are guarding against it," said Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank in an interview. He secured the Affordable Housing Trust from his seat as chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. . . .

Acorn describes itself as the nation's largest grassroots community organization, with more than 400,000 families organized into 1,200 neighborhood chapters in 110 cities. Over four decades, Acorn has turned its broad membership into a powerful lobbying tool. Its representatives are well-known in the marble halls of the Capitol, and press local, state and federal governments . . .

ACORN is the agency where Sen. Barack Obama worked as a trainer for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform (ACORN), whose affiliate, Project Vote, is known for voter fraud. It is this same organization from which a large part of the mortgage mess has grown. After Harvard Law School, Obama provided legal representation for ACORN. Obama sat on the boards of the philanthropic Woods Foundation and the Joyce Foundation which both funneled millions of dollars to ACORN.

In 2006, the Wall Street Journal addressed Acorn Indictments. In a recent article, additional complaints, indictments and arrests and conviction of ACORN members for voter fraud have been detailed for Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington State, and Wisconsin. Democrats on Capitol Hill have steered billions of the taxpayer monies to risky ventures and to nonprofits organizations like ACORN, National Council of La Raza through the government’s Affordable Housing Fund and the Capital Magnet Fund. As a result groups like ACORN have developed powerful lobby groups to secure tax money for their organizations. Now the proposed "agreement in principle" for the $700 Billion "bailout" seeks to continue the protection of this process. In another article by James H. Walsh, a former federal prosecutor, it was noted that:

ACORN Housing Corporation (AHC) was instrumental in its passage of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) which has plagued the mortgage markets since 1977. The U.S. Congress through the CRA compelled banks and lending institutions to make loans to “communities of color” disregarding sound economic and risk guidelines. CRA encouraged the relaxing of “outdated” risk-management protocols and underwriting obligations by lending institutions. In the name of ending discrimination, no longer were “communities of color” required to provide verification of income, employment, credit history, ability to pay homeowner bills, or down payment. In response, many banks and mortgage groups bundled trillions of dollars of “subprime” loans and sold them to investors here and abroad. It is these bundled Community Reinvestment Act mortgages, doomed to fail, that are today causing financial strain in U.S. and global financial markets.

In short, a Democrat Congress and President demanded that banks change the rules of good banking and open the Pandora’s Box of mortgage defaults and foreclosures now coming to a head. This home-parity concept of the radical left was mobilized by ACORN resulting in a purchase of a property without any credit, income, employment, and a zero down payment.

In 2003, Fannie Mae home-parity funding in Chicago reached $600 billion. When Franklin Raines, former chair and CEO of Fannie Mae, stepped down in 2004 but managed to take with him a multimillion-dollar parachute and a monthly pension of $114, 393 for life, and should he die, for his wife’s lifetime. Until recently, Raines was an advisor to Obama.

Open Secrets reveals the investment made by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in Democrats and details the Top 25 Democrat Recipients of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac contributions in 1989-2008. The top three in order were Senators Christopher Dodd, John Kerry and Barack Obama.

When government tries to fix social issues through the use of the taxpayers’ money, there are consequences. Now the American taxpayers are being called upon again to underwrite the problems exacerbated by the prior actions of former and the current Congress and past administrations. It is hoped that Senators and Representatives will avoid this massive "earmark." All "future profits" from the resolution and disposition of the alleged current bad mortgages ("bad paper"), should accrue to the American taxpayers as a whole and be returned to the Treasury. Any determination as to the use of "future profits" should be determined by those elected and representing the people at that future point in time. No agreements should include an obligation on the potential "future profits." No agreements should support questionable programs that support organizations that contributed to the failures of mortgages or to the bad lending practices promoted by prior Congresses and administrations.

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Tags: ACORN, bailout, Barack Obama, Chris Dodd, Democrats, earmark, Harry Reid, John Mccain, La Raza, Nancy Pelosi, profits, Republicans, US Congress, US House, US Senate To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Local, national issues combine to impact Arkansas elections

by Joanne Bratton, USA TODAY: Mountain Home, AR -- Voters here, like in most places, will be thinking about the economy, the Iraq war and health care when they go to the polls Nov. 4. But in Mountain Home, they'll also be thinking about a proposed hike in the 8% sales tax to pay for an indoor swimming pool in Cooper Park. The pool's a big topic in this small Ozarks city of 11,000. It's an example of how national issues can influence local concerns and of how people across the USA will have more on their minds than presidential nominees Barack Obama and John McCain when they go to vote. . . . Some residents, such as Howard Richert, 70, say they're not willing to pay extra and feel the addition to the city's outdoor pool is a luxury in difficult times. "Too many people are living day-to-day," Richert said. "It's hard enough to pay for groceries. It's nice to have all this stuff if the economy was different." . . .

Economy, war top issues . . . "The bottom line is the economy and the war," said resident Tom Fazio, 66, whose son fought in Iraq for 15 months. "Everybody's getting tired of higher prices. We've got to get a party to work for the working people and not the rich people." A statewide poll by American Research Group Sept. 20-22 showed McCain leading Obama 53% to 41%, with 5% undecided among likely voters. That's consistent with past elections. George W. Bush received 54.3% of Arkansans' votes in 2004 and 51.3% in 2000. Mountain Home, where 63% of registered voters turned out in 2004, voted similarly to the rest of the state. Residents predict a larger turnout this election. . . .

Local Republicans say McCain has the experience to lead the country and were pleasantly surprised by his choice of running mate, Sarah Palin. "I think it's a powerhouse ticket," said Baxter County Republican Committee Chairman Gary Smith, 53, of Lakeview, who says he likes McCain's ability to work across party lines, his financial conservatism and military experience. Resident Noel Rozelle, 63, says he's concerned about terrorism more than the economy and supports McCain. "He can handle the terrorism problem better than Obama," Rozelle said. But he worries that with a Democratic majority in Congress, nothing would get done.

Those who plan to vote for Obama say they agree with his stance on the environment, health care and public policy that affects families. "Sen. Barack Obama and Joe Biden are willing to roll up their sleeves and try to get something started to solve the energy problem," said Nell Engeler, 70, of Mountain Home, president of the Arkansas Federation of Democratic Women's Baxter County Chapter. . . . [Full Story]

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Tags: Arkansas, Barack Obama, economy, election, Election 2008, Iraq War, John Mccain, Mountain Home, Politics, Sarah Palin, taxes, voters To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

McCain and Obama On Priorities

One Reader's Opinion: Gary Evans, Baxter County, AR: Please bear with me as I blow off a little steam!!! What next?

If I am not mistaken, both of these candidates have already been elected to represent their constituents as well as their country’s best interest (also known as their day job). This appears to be the biggest issue during Obama's short time in office. I am shocked his ego would not allow him to temporarily leave his bid for a new position to do a job he has already been elected to do. His ego may be his worst enemy, assuming that is what prevented him from choosing Hillary as a running mate. I don't see that he (Obama) can have it both ways. Is it important enough to see that it is done right or not? The fact is he's slamming the proverbial door on the hand (some of you will relate to this more than others, i.e. Rick) of bipartisanship and saying they can do this without him. In paraphrase he states if they need him they know where to find him. What kind of attitude is that for a leader? If Obama was smart he would join McCain and cash in on McCain's ability to deliver the Republicans to get what is needed passed (at this time he is the only one that can delivery the Republican's vote). Obama has had many opportunities to debate McCain in the past but all of a sudden he has to do it on Friday, regardless of what happens with our economic future.

I don't know about you guys but I am tired of being put last behind some politician’s personal lust for money and power. I agree with Obama if we need him we’ll call him but he shouldn't hold his breath! Regardless of who is elected, if the current party’s do not stop representing themselves and start representing the people our beloved country is in dire straights.

I personally salute Senator McCain for his willingness to put me and my country’s best interests first above his desire for a much coveted bid for the Whitehouse. Repeatedly he shows the signs of a real leader with loyalty and integrity to a degree that is far too rare (and sought after far too little). Although I have in the past had my doubts, I am blessed with the opportunity to take a second look at this Patriot Proud to be born in a great nation built on love, devotion and sacrifice!

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Tags: Barack Obama, debate, economic stabilization, Election 2008, John McCain To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Today in Washington D. C. - Sept 25, 2008

The Senate is expected to begin consideration of the continuing resolution (H.R. 2638) to fund the government until March 2009. Negotiations on Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson’s economic rescue plan continue today. Congressional leaders, including Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Barack Obama (D-IL), are expected to meet with President Bush at the White House in the afternoon. If agreement is reached on a bill, the House could take it up tomorrow.

Yesterday, the House passed the CR by a vote of 370-58. Most departments will be funded at 2008 levels, but the bill also includes the full fiscal year 2009 Defense, Homeland Security, and Military Construction-Veterans Affairs appropriations bills. The CR provides $487 billion for Defense, $40 billion for Homeland Security, and $73 billion for Military Construction and Veterans Affairs. Also included is $22.9 billion in emergency funding for hurricane and natural disaster relief. The bill does not extend the moratorium on offshore drilling. Two important considerations. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, realizes that this issue is not dead and that she can with a new Congress impose the moratorium again if Obama becomes president. Also, word on the Hill is that Sen. Harry Reid intends to insert a moratorium on exploration in the Western states. Reid continued to demonstrate his opposition to the will of the American people.

From Senate & News Sources: Congress has three major bills it must complete work on before the end of this session: the economic rescue legislation, a tax extenders bill, and a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government after the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.

As negotiations on the economic rescue plan continue, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell identified some principles that any result should adhere to: “. . . . This isn’t about bailing out investment bankers, this is about keeping the US economy from entering a downward spiral. To that end, any action we take must include the following: Limits on executive compensation, debt reduction, congressional oversight and transparency, and taxpayer protection.”

On the tax extenders, House Democrats insist on playing around with a bill that took months to reach a compromise on in the Senate. Democrats are demanding tax increases to offset the extension of tax relief in the bill, but time and again, Democrats and Republicans have demonstrated there are not 60 votes for this approach in the Senate. On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Reid implored House Democrats to accept the Senate bill, saying, “[E]veryone should understand we have had a very difficult time getting to the point where we are, in passing the final version of this bill. If the House does not pass this, the full responsibility of not passing this is theirs, not ours.”

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Tags: US Congress, US House, US Senate, Washington D.C., tax extenders,continuing resolution, moratorium To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

All Deliberate Speed: Constitutional Fidelity and Prudent Policy . . .

Todd F. Gaziano and Andrew M. Grossman, The Heritage Foundation: Even in times of difficulty or crisis, the constitutional design for legislation requires careful, bicameral deliberation and presentment to the President. For sound policy and constitutional reasons, Congress should not recess until it acts on a solution to the credit crisis, but it should also be mindful of the virtues of calm deliberation and the dangers to liberty of a crisis mentality. The mounting resistance to the Administration’s proposal presents an opportunity for careful deliberation. The constitutional and policy concerns expressed by many Members of Congress and thoughtful scholars this past week must be thoroughly considered.

No one doubts the importance of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s call for immediate legislative action to calm the financial markets, which have the potential to wreak long-term damage to the world economy, but the initial deadline with which he urged Congress to act on a dramatic bailout plan raises risks that Congress must avoid: either acting imprudently (and with serious constitutional consequences) or not acting at all before it recesses.

Members of Congress had planned to depart Washington on Friday to spend the month campaigning for votes, but they should stay in session around the clock if that is necessary to complete action before the end of the month. The exigencies of electoral politics should not be allowed to keep Congress from its constitutional duties. That result—Members of Congress abandoning Washington in a time of crisis to campaign for their own reelections—would be irresponsible. It is also, in all likelihood, unnecessary: What statesman would believe that his constituents would exact punishment for staying a few extra days to do the people’s work? In the minds of true statesmen, this contest between constitutional values and politicking should not present a conflict.

As many have come to realize this week, there are some fundamental constitutional values at stake in the present debate. . . . [Full Article: Constitutional Fidelity and Prudent Policy Go Hand in Hand in Fixing the Credit Crisis]

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Tags: financial crisis, Henry Paulson, Heritage Foundation, US Congress, US Constitution, Washington D.C. To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

The End of the Day - The Palin Family

Bill Smith, ARRA Editor: As we end this day with trepidation over both the current financial situation and the actions that the Government may take to correct the situation, let us end our day with an image that brings us home to the reality of family and loved ones. In this photo, we don't see a governor or a union iron worker but a mother and father loving their child who is perfect in their eyes even though others would not agree. Love heals a multitude of problems!

"We cling to our God . . . and our Children."Sarah, Todd, and Trig Palin

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Tags: children, love, Sarah Palin, Todd Palin To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Not So Faithful

Tony Perkins, FRC Action: People hoping for a lively discussion on faith and values from Sen. Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) campaign were surprised yesterday when Team Obama failed to show for a media-heavy debate. The capacity crowd that gathered at the Capitol Hill Club had expected Obama's Senior Advisor for Religious Affairs, Rev. Evna Terri La Velle, to square off with Bob Heckman, a representative from Sen. John McCain's campaign. Just hours before the lunchtime event began, members of the sponsoring organizations, the National Clergy Council and Evangelical Church Alliance, received word that Obama's delegation of 11 had backed out. Rev. Rob Schenck, who was scheduled to moderate the debate, released a statement questioning the Obama campaign's genuine commitment to issues of concern to social conservatives. "Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean assured me...that his party would do everything possible to constructively engage Evangelicals, traditional Catholics, and other moral conservatives... Barack Obama has made similar promises. They did a couple of high-profile media events, but it appears they were not serious at a grassroots level." While the Illinois senator and his campaign never shy away from talking about faith, they have missed opportunities to let that faith be examined up close to determine how it would impact their public policy positions. Additional Resources Release: Obama Rep No Show at Christian Forum

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Tags: Barack Obama, Christian Values, CNN Debate, Faith, FRC, Tony Perkins, values To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Five Chaplains Lose Jobs For Praying “In Jesus’ Name”

Gordon Klingenschmitt, Christian NewsWire: Virginia Governor Tim Kaine is defending why his administration forced the sudden resignation of five Virginia State Police Chaplains because they prayed publicly "in Jesus' name." Police Superintendent Col. W. Steven Flaherty single-handedly created then enforced a strict "non-sectarian" prayer policy at all public gatherings, censoring and excluding Christian prayers, then accepted the resignation of five chaplains who refused to deny Jesus or violate their conscience by watering down their prayers.

House Republican Leader Morgan Griffith and Delegate Charles W. Carrico, (R-Grayson) both issued public statements defending the chaplains, questioning Governor Kaine's role in terminating the chaplains, and vowing to introduce legislation protecting police chaplains' right to pray according to their own conscience. . . . Citizens are urged to call Governor Kaine's office at 804-786-2211, to insist the chaplains be reinstated and the policy reversed . . . [Virginia Governor Tim Kaine Urged to Stop Persecuting Christians]

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Tags: chaplain, Christian, Christian Right, Gordon Klingenschmitt, Jesus Christ, prayer, Tom Kaine, Virginia To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Ten Reasons Obama Dumps Biden

I posted previously, Is Biden on the way out? i can now now identify the source as Steve Maloney who was subsequently cites as the source by Pittsburgh columnist Jack Kelly. Kelly cited Maloney as one of the sources on the movement to dump Joe Biden and replace him with Hillary Clinton. Maloney stands by the story, although he believes it is becoming more difficult for Obama to act as the story gains greater publicity.
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Ten Reasons Obama Dumps Biden [Humor Helps!]
In Barack Hussein Obama's Own Words . . .
1. Barack: "Joe, when Sarah Palin said you were a "Beltway Insider and a pompous windbag,' the correct response was NOT 'Hey, will you look at the legs on that gal.'"
2. Barack: "Joe, I forgave your remark about my being 'clean' but did you then have to go and sniff me?"
3. Barack: "Joe, when I said 'presidents don't look like me,' you weren't supposed to shout out, 'No, they look like ME!'"
4. Barack: "Joe, when you reported you drew a crowd of 49 adoring voters, you WEREN'T supposed to include the Secret Service detail."
5. Barack: "Joe your 'lipstick on a pig' line about Palin was NOT WELL RECEIVED."
6. Barack: "Joe in the whole vetting process you claim you 'forgot to mention" that Delaware's number of electoral votes is a grand total of THREE?"
7. Barack: "Joe, a gaffe now then is okay, but why did you introduce me as 'our country's first Arab-American President?"
8. Barack: "Joe, I don't think the best way to get on Michelle's good side is with a stream of 'Yo Mama' jokes.
9. Barack, "Joe, I admit it: when you said you got 9,000 votes in the primaries I misheard it as 9 MILLION votes."
10. Barack: "Joe, why did you tell an African-American audience that 'Even though Barack is more than 90% Caucasian and Arab, I can assure you his heart is Black?'

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Tags: ABC News, Barack Hussein Obama, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, political humor, Politics, Steve Maloney, Top 10 Reasons To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Arkansas 527 AD Hits Obama

H/T to David Kincade:

Citizens for Open and Reponsive Government (CORG), an Arkansas-based 527 group, released a new independent ad hitting Barack Obama for what they describe as “slurs” against John McCain. It’s a response to Obama’s ad from a week or so ago hitting McCain for not using a computer—but it soon became clear that McCain doesn’t do much work with computers because his war wounds preclude it. The issue picked up a little extra steam this week when Obama’s running mate, Joe Biden, pronounced the ad “terrible” in an interview and said he would not have run it. (The Obama campaign quickly released a follow-up statement from Biden in which he denounced his denunciation.)

The ad features Lt. Col. Mike Fairhead, a wounded war veteran from Rogers, AR. CORG Director Carlton Saffa says in a news release that the ad will run in Colorado which has emerged as a key state in the campaign as a potential flipper for Obama.

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Tags: Arkansas, GORG, political ad To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Today in Washington D. C. - Sept 24, 2008

The Senate and House are in session. Yesterday, the Senate passed a compromise tax extenders package (H.R. 6049) by a vote of 93-2. The bill extends “the research tax credit, deductions for tuition and education expenses, and deductions for sales tax in states without income taxes,” among many other tax provisions. It includes a one year alternative minimum tax (AMT) fix that prevents 20 million taxpayers from being hit with that tax. The bill also includes $17 billion in renewable energy tax incentives and a tax credit for plug-in hybrid cars. Negotiations continue today between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) concerning an omnibus bill (S. 3297) Reid has been pushing of measures Coburn has held up over spending concerns.

From Senate & News Sources: Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke are back on the Hill today to speak with the House GOP Conference and testify at hearings of the Joint Economic Committee and the House Financial Services Committee. The President is scheduled to speek this afternoon on the subject. While Americans and lawmakers are rightly concerned with the state of our financial system this week, there has been some potential good news in on critical issues affecting energy and gas prices.

Facing stubborn Democrat resistance, Republicans have led in calling for legislation that would help “find more and use less” American energy. In June, GOP senators, introduced the Gas Price Reduction Act. Republicans fought hard all summer to get a vote on the bill while Democrats delayed, obfuscated, and attacked the proposal. Yet today, it appears that some of the key provisions of the bill "may" be enacted. The Washington Post reports that House Democrats have relented and will allow the two decade long moratorium on offshore drilling expire. The drilling ban had been renewed annually by attaching a rider to appropriations bills and would have had to be included on a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government. However, Roll Call writes, “the bill will not include contentious offshore drilling language, after Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) conceded that House Democrats would be unable to keep in place restrictions on offshore drilling that are set to expire Sept. 30 in the face of stiff opposition from Republicans and President Bush.”

Also, it appears that the federal moratorium imposed by Democrats last year on exploring for oil shale in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming will not be extended in the CR. Lifting these bans were two key components of the Gas Price Reduction Act in letting our country “find more” energy. To help Americans “use less,” Republicans had called for $7,500 tax credit for plug-in electric vehicles. This provision was included in a tax package passed the Senate yesterday. These are major victories considering that Democrats spent most of the summer disparaging the idea of allowing more offshore drilling and suggesting that their strategy for tackling gas prices would be “drive small cars and wait for the wind.”

However it is too early to celebrate. Nothing yet has been written into law and Republicans appear to be taking Democrats at their word that the bans will not be in the CR. Also, the tax credits for plug-ins cars need to get through the House, and the Democrat leadership there is in danger of jeopardizing that bill if they go ahead with attempting to amend the Senate version with tax hikes. Still, it appears that three key components of the GOP “find more and use less” energy strategy are set to pass Congress ; maybe we will eventually see relief at the pump.

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Tags: omnibus bill, oil drilling, tax extenders, US Congress, US House, US Senate, Washington D.C. To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

74 miles in Alaska & Bakken Formation in Mountana & N. Dakota

Congress Continues to Deny the American People Access to Our Domestic Oil

74 miles in Alaska: Congressman Don Young urges the opening of ANWR and the development of American Energy Sources. His bill, HR 6107, the American Energy Independence and Price Reduction Act, would open ANWR and use the approximately $200 billion in federal revenue generated to develop Alternative Energy sources.

The Bakken Formation - U.S. Geological Survey: 3 to 4.3 Billion Barrels of Technically Recoverable Oil Assessed in North Dakota and Montana’s Bakken Formation — 25 Times More Than 1995 Estimate . . . [Official Govt Source]

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Tags: American, ANWR, Bakken formation, domestic oil production, Don Young, energy, Gas prices oil drilling, Montana, North Dakota, US Congress, USGS To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Gary Varvel - Political Cartoon - Government Bailout

Gary Varvel

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Tags: bailout, Gary Varvel, Henry Paulson, political cartoon, the economy To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Lisa Benson - Political Cartoon - McCain - Palin

Lisa Benson

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Tags: Election 2008, John McCain, Lisa Benson, political cartoon, Politics, Sarah Palin To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Obama, Voter Fraud, Mortgage Meltdown & ACORN

Obama worked as an ACORN community organizer and was a trainer for Project Vote. Obama provided legal representation for ACORN and for Tony Rezko. ACORN Results - Voter Fraud! Voter Fraud!! The home-parity concept of the radical left was mobilized by ACORN resulting in a purchase of a property without any credit, income, employment, and zero down payment. Result - the investment & mortgage crisis! Franklin Raines, former chair and CEO of Fannie Mae, was an advisor to Obama. Obama was the Senate’s second largest recipient of campaign contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. American taxpayers have already paid and suffered as a result of poor judgement and involvement of Barack Obama. Article by James H. Walsh, a former federal prosecuter: "I’ve been fighting alongside ACORN on issues you care about my entire career. Even before I was an elected official, when I ran Project Vote voter registration drive in Illinois, ACORN was smack dab in the middle of it, and we appreciate your work." — Barack Obama, Speech to ACORN, Nov. 2007 . . . [H]ow many voters know that Obama, during his four-year tenure in Chicago as a community organizer, worked as a trainer for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform . . . the infamous ACORN, whose affiliate, Project Vote, is known for voter fraud — the same ACORN from which a mighty mortgage mess has grown. . . . after Harvard Law School, Obama provided legal representation for ACORN . . . Obama sat on the boards of the philanthropic Woods Foundation and the Joyce Foundation, both of whom funneled millions of dollars to ACORN. . . .

ACORN, Project Vote, and Voter Fraud - Although ACORN has pled to various charges of voter fraud, it continues today enrolling large numbers of voters, some legitimate and others not so much. ACORN tee shirts are visible at Obama rallies. According to the Consumer Rights League, ACORN has been involved in voter fraud, directly or indirectly, in Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio, and Virginia. ACORN’s Project Vote, for which Obama was a paid employee in Chicago, is the organization that appears to be most active in voter fraud. ACORN and Project Vote have a rap sheet of voter misconduct and voter registration fraud that extends across the nation . . .:
Colorado - . . . hundreds of voter registration forms appeared suspect, . . . found a woman forging the forms, for which she received $50 a piece. . . two ACORN employees were given community service for submitting false voter forms.
Florida - . . . ACORN issuing fraudulent voter registration cards, a former ACORN field director charged that ACORN submitted “thousands of invalid registration cards”.
Minnesota - . . . ACORN canvassers were selling voter registration cards for $1 a piece. . . .
Missouri - St. Louis . . . 1,492 of fraudulent voter address changes have been turned in by ACORN. Kansas City . . . had similar voter fraud attempts. Eight ACORN employees plead guilty to federal election fraud . . .
Ohio - . . . during the Ohio Democratic primary, the Obama presidential campaign paid more than $800,000 to a subsidiary of ACORN, Citizens Services Inc. (CSI). . . . in 2004, a federal grand jury indicted four ACORN employees for submitting 19 fraudulent voter registration forms all with similar handwriting and false addresses. . . . Aug 28, 2008, . . . Cleveland . . . investigating 75,000 voter registration forms --many found to be fraudulent and submitted by ACORN.
Pennsylvania - In March 2008, ACORN was accused by Philadelphia Election officials of filing fraudulent voter registration forms prior to the Democratic primary.
Washington State - ACORN was fined $25,000 by the state of Washington in 2007 for voter fraud committed by Project Vote. Five ACORN workers pled guilty to filing phony voter registration forms.
Wisconsin - . . . 39 ACORN voter registration workers were referred to the DA for possible voter fraud.

Obama, ACORN, and Mortgage Meltdown - In 1977, a Democrat Congress passed and President Jimmy Carter signed The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), and the ACORN Housing Corporation (AHC) was instrumental in its passage. The U.S. Congress through the CRA compelled banks and lending institutions to make loans to “communities of color” disregarding sound economic and risk guidelines. CRA encouraged the relaxing of “outdated” risk-management protocols and underwriting obligations by lending institutions. In the name of ending discrimination, no longer were “communities of color” required to provide verification of income, employment, credit history, ability to pay homeowner bills, or down payment. In response, many banks and mortgage groups bundled trillions of dollars of “subprime” loans and sold them to investors here and abroad. It is these bundled Community Reinvestment Act mortgages, doomed to fail, that are today causing financial strain in U.S. and global financial markets.

In short, a Democrat Congress and President demanded that banks change the rules of good banking and open the Pandora’s Box of mortgage defaults and foreclosures now coming to a head. This home-parity concept of the radical left was mobilized by ACORN. . . . resulting in a purchase of a property without any credit, income, employment, and zero down payment. . . .

In . . . 2003, Fannie Mae home-parity funding in Chicago reached $600 billion. When Franklin Raines, former chair and CEO of Fannie Mae, stepped down in 2004 but managed to take with him a multimillion-dollar parachute and a monthly pension of $114, 393 for life, and should he die, for his wife’s lifetime. Until recently, Raines was an advisor to Obama, who was the Senate’s second largest recipient of campaign contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. . . . [Full article] The U.S. cannot "afford" anymore of Obama. See also: [Carter More to Blame for Financial Crisis Than Bush or McCain ] & [Congress Lies Low To Avoid Bailout Blame]

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Tags: ACORN, Barack Obama, Election 2008, Fannie mae, Freddie Mac, mortgage default, the economy, voter fraud To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Today in Washington D. C. - Sept 23, 2008

Congressional #Pork Alert! The Senate will consider H.R. 6049, the vehicle for the tax extenders compromise. Three amendments previously reported will be considered. After amendments have been considered and voted on, the Senate will vote on final passage of the bill. Votes are expected to begin in the afternoon, because of weekly policy lunches.

Sen. Reid indicated that prior to the Senate considering the tax extenders bill he would have an exchange on the floor with Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) concerning an omnibus bill (S. 3297). This bill is loaded as usual with pork. Reid has been pushing of measures Coburn has held up over spending concerns.

Also, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke are testifying at a hearing of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee this morning. As negotiations continue behind the scenes on Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson’s economic stabilization plan, Democrat leaders are also crafting important end-of-session legislation, including a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government.

Of course, no one yet knows what will be in the CR, since Democrats are once again crafting it behind closed doors in secret with little or no input from Republicans. Democrats have not missed an opportunity in the last couple of years to attempt to load up must-pass legislation with all sorts of extraneous spending items (pork) and bad ideas, and of course the CR appears to be no exception. Beyond simply funding the government, Democrats are looking to pile on all sorts of spending proposals to the CR. Chief among these is a $25 billion loan for auto manufacturers. Like clockwork, Democrats can always be counted on to call for more funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which could be around $5.1 billion. In addition, reports are that the CR also could become a vehicle for infrastructure projects, Medicaid funding for states and an extension of unemployment insurance.

A key issue is whether Democrats will seek to extend the current ban on additional offshore oil drilling, which expires at the end of the month.

After bragging loudly about ushering in the most open and honest Congress in history, Democrats have repeatedly put together major bills like this and then attempted to push them through restricting GOP opportunities to amend them. The current CR wouldn’t be necessary had Democrats managed to complete the most fundamental job Congress is expected to do - pass appropriations bills. Indeed, only one of the usual 12 bills has been considered on the House floor, and none have been considered in the Senate. The Defense appropriations bill has not even been considered by the full Appropriations committee in either chamber. After failing to pass most appropriations bills last year before the end of the fiscal year, Democrats essentially abandoned the process this year.

Once again, Congress finds itself scrambling at the end of its session to ensure the government is funded because of Democrats’ amazing mismanagement. And once again, Democrats are taking the opportunity to try to use must-pass bills to sneak through questionable spending proposals and other measures. Americans should keep an eye on everything the Democrat-controlled Congress is working on before it adjourns for the year.

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Tags: Congressional Pork, Continuing Resolution, CR, Democrats, Gas prices oil drilling, offshore drilling, tax extenders, US Congress, US House, US Senate, Washington D.C. To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Employers Beware - He Said, She Said

When Charlotte Preece interviewed David Schroer in 2005, he seemed like the perfect candidate for a job with the Congressional Research Service (CRS). Schroer was a retired colonel and Special Forces commander and had been involved in combat missions and as a counter terrorism advisor to the Pentagon's elite. Impressed, Preece made a job offer that Schroer accepted. Then a few weeks before his first day, Schroer shared at lunch with Preece that he planned to start his job as a woman named Diane. The news shocked Preece, who felt Schroer applied under false pretenses. The next day she called David and said she couldn't hire him. Schroer sued the Library of Congress, which oversees CRS, for violating the Civil Rights Act. Three years later, the U.S. District Judge James Robinson sided with Schroer, ruling Friday that he was a victim of "sex discrimination." Read More on background at: CNN: Transsexual wins lawsuit against Library of Congress

Unfortunately, the far Left won't need the courts to push their agenda if Congress passes ENDA (the Employment Non-Discrimination Act). It would mandate that employers check their personal beliefs at the door and hire homosexuals, whether or not they're best suited for the job. Although the current version of ENDA doesn't grant these special workplace rights to transsexuals, there's strong belief that any future version would be all-inclusive.

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Tags: Employment Non-Discrimination Act, ENDA, hiring, transsexual To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

The Gipper on Character

“The character that takes command in moments of crucial choices has already been determined by a thousand other choices made earlier in seemingly unimportant moments. It has been determined by all the ‘little’ choices of years past—by all those times when the voice of conscience was at war with the voice of temptation, [which was] whispering the lie that ‘it really doesn’t matter.’ It has been determined by all the day-to-day decisions made when life seemed easy and crises seemed far away—the decision that, piece by piece, bit by bit, developed habits of discipline or of laziness; habits of self-sacrifice or self-indulgence; habits of duty and honor and integrity—or dishonor and shame.” — Ronald Reagan

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Tags: character, character matters, Gipper, integrity, Ronald Reagan To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

America's founders' financial advice

Chuck Norris: America is broke. Wall Street is going out of business. The government is borrowing and bailing like there is no tomorrow. Americans anxiously await the full impact of a second Great Depression. And we all are longing and looking for solutions and saviors. Well, have no fear. Our founders are here. Yes, it's official and public news for the whole world to see: Government is the worst run business on the face of the planet. We've known it for a long time – we're just now facing the monetary music. We're going under, fast. And the government's remedy is to return to its cycle of treasury vomit – spending money it doesn't have by borrowing money it can't pay back. . . .

Call me altruistic – say the plan is oversimplified. But even mom always taught me when I was young, "If you get in a pinch, go back to the basics." It works in martial arts. It works in the movies. It works in marriage. It works in financial markets. And it worked for our Founding Fathers. With small variances, our founders agreed on five basic approaches to fiscal management, which I describe in far more detail in the third chapter ("Stop the nightmare of debt") of . . . "Black Belt Patriotism," in which I address eight major problems facing America with our founders' solutions. If we're going to reawaken America from her economic slumber, then we must go back to those who discovered and established the American dream. Their financial principles were:
1. Keep spending within constitutional limits. The Tenth Amendment restricts the size of government, and that should always bear out in the federal budget and spending. . . .
2. Don't bail out debt with more debt. George Washington wrote in 1799 to James Welch, "To contract new debts is not the way to pay for old ones." . . .
3. Return to a pay-as-you-go government. If we don't have the money, we don't spend it. Period. No more debt. No more bailouts. No more spending. . . .
4. Tax for imports, not exports or anything else. Our earliest government's primary tool to raise revenue was from tariffs. Obviously, we can't raise all the monies our government now needs by imports alone (because of its excessive taxation dependence through the decades), but we need to return to our founders' simple taxation system. That is one reason why I say abolish the unconstitutional IRS and implement a Fair Tax. . . .
5. Get over the greed. We're in this financial mess because of greed. . . . We've become a nation that confuses our needs and greeds – and we've got to get back to the basics if we're ever to understand and overcome the heart of this financial crisis. . . . [America's founders' financial advice] See also: Morning Bell: Highway Robbery & Paulson bailout would worsen contagion-spreading accounting rules

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Tags: bailout, Chuck Norris, economy, FairTax Plan, financial, founding principles, greed, lender bailout, United States To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Bill Would Keep Abortion Legal Even If Roe Overturned

Baptist Press: For years, pro-lifers have set their sights on changing the U.S. Supreme Court, hoping that a conservative judicial lineup would overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. But what if the Supreme Court someday overturns Roe, and abortion nevertheless remains legal?

That's the goal behind the Freedom of Choice Act, a bill in the House and Senate that would ensure abortion remains legal even if Roe someday is struck down by the nation's highest court. Just as problematic for the pro-life cause, the bill would lead to the overturning of nearly every abortion restriction on the books, including the federal ban on partial-birth abortion as well as state parental notification laws and waiting periods. Additionally, it almost certainly would force the public to fund abortion on demand. . . . [Bill would keep abortion legal even if Roe v. Wade someday overturned]

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Tags: abortion, pro-abortion, pro-abortion bill, US House, US Supreme Court To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Biden: Paying Higher Taxes 'Patriotic'

NewsMax: Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden said Thursday that paying more in taxes is the patriotic thing to do for wealthier Americans. The Republican campaign for president calls the tax increases its Democratic opponents propose "painful" instead of patriotic... (Read more)

• Gingrich to Biden: You're a "socialist"
• Knights of Columbus to Biden: You're wrong on abortion

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Tags: candidate, Democrat, Election 2008, higher taxes, Joe Biden, socialist, vice president To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Tax Cheat Charles Rangel Calls Sarah Palin "Disabled"

Already under fire for his tax troubles, Manhattan Congressman Charles Rangel (D-NY) really put his foot in his mouth on Friday. In a CBS 2 HD exclusive interview, Rep. Rangel called Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin "disabled."

Transcript: Already under fire for his tax troubles, Manhattan Congressman Charles Rangel really put his foot in his mouth on Friday. In a CBS 2 HD exclusive interview Rep. Rangel called Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin "disabled."
CBS 2 HD: Why are the Democrats so afraid of Palin and her popularity.
Rep Charles Rangel: "You got to be kind to the disabled."
CBS 2 HD: "You got to be kind to the disabled?
Rangel: "Yes."
CBS 2 HD: "She's disabled?"
Rangel: "There's no question about it politically. It's a nightmare to think that a person's foreign policy is based on their ability to look at Russia from where they live.

Republicans think Rangel's comments are insulting as well as shocking.
Rep. Peter King, R-Long Island: "Charlie Rangel's comments are clearly disgraceful. This is just another liberal Democrat who can't accept an independent woman running for president."

King, who is co-chair of the McCain-Palin campaign in New York, watched Rangel's comments with CBS 2 HD. He was particularly upset because Palin's 4-month-old son, Trig, is disabled. He has Down's syndrome.

King: "We should be sensitive to her or any woman who has a child or family member who has any affliction at all. And so to use the word disabled in the context of a female candidate for vice president who has a child who is disabled really is wrong. Charlie owes her and the entire disabled community an apology."

Advocates for the disabled are also upset. Michael Imperiale said: "It makes me feel as if he's trying to put her down, trying to say she's not good for the presidency or the vice presidency. A disabled president ran this country. He was disabled. His name was Roosevelt."

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Tags: CBS, Charlie Rangel, disabled, New York City, Sarah Palin, tax cheat, vice president To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Gov. Haley Barbour (MS) Raises Funds for Arkansas GOP

Arkansas Victory ‘08 Luncheon with Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour
Seating very limited on a first-come, first-serve basis.

The event is Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2008 at the The Little Rock Club, Regions Bank Building, 30th Floor, 400 W. Capitol, Little Rock, AR 72201

Time: 11:45 a.m. Host Level Meet and Greet and Photo Op and 12:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m. Luncheon. Luncheon Tickets $250 per person. People may contribute $1,000 and join Gov. Barbour in a small meet and greet and receive a photo op for two. Make checks payable to RPA – Victory ‘08 and send to 1201 West Sixth Street, Little Rock, AR 72201. For more info: contact Kathy at (501) 372-7301 or email katy@arkansasgop.org

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Tags: fund raiser, Governor, Haley Barbour, Mississippi, Republican Party of Arkansas, RPA To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Today in Washington D. C. - Sept 22, 2008

The House and Senate will reconvene today: In the Senate, no votes are scheduled for today. On Tuesday, the Senate will begin consideration of H.R. 6049, the vehicle for the tax extenders compromise. Three amendments will be offered: a substitute amendment from Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-MT) and Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-IA) containing energy tax credits, a Reid amendment with an alternative minimum tax (AMT) fix paid for with tax increases, and a Baucus-Grassley amendment with an AMT fix not including tax increases. All three amendments will need 60 votes to be adopted. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) will be allowed a point of order against the Baucus-Grassley amendment, which can be waived with 60 votes. After amendments have been considered and voted on, the Senate will vote on final passage of the bill.

Government Bailout: Administration officials made their case to Congress at the end of last week that Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson’s plan is urgently needed to address the current financial crisis. However, it didn’t take long for Democrats to begin proposing all sorts of add-ons to the legislation to implement the program. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said over the weekend that Congress “must closely scrutinize the proposal to make sure it works” but he also warned, “now is not the time for partisan plans or pet projects. Americans are looking for economic security and want us to stand up for them in a bipartisan way.”

Of course, Democrats just can’t seem to resist the temptation for partisanship. On the Senate floor last week, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) attacked “[e]ight years of deregulatory zeal by the Bush administration” and claimed “an attitude of ‘The market can do no wrong,’ have led us down a short path to economic recession.” But, The New York Sun reports that “Until the current credit crisis, Mr. Schumer had been a leading voice for deregulation: He has championed the repeal of a Great Depression-era law that prohibited commercial banks from underwriting securities; he has written an opinion piece calling for the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to be "re-examined," and he has opposed a bill that sought to reduce taxpayer risk in the event of a housing market slowdown by requiring Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to sell their entire investment portfolios of about $1.5 trillion worth of mortgage assets.” And The Buffalo News notes that Schumer has spent much of his career championing Wall Street, while talking about Main Street. Schumer and other Democrats might want to think a bit more carefully about where they stand before lobbing partisan stones.

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Tags: bailout, big government, Charles Schumer, US Congress, US House, US Senate, Washington D.C. To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

An Arkansas View - He's Kerry; She's Reagan

ICYMI: Article by John Brummett, Arkansas News Bureau: Barack Obama has turned into Michael Dukakis, John Kerry and Al Gore. Sarah Palin has turned into Ronald Reagan. Thus the electoral map looks fairly typically red where it counts and blue where it doesn't. Ohio and Florida show up red, which, unless Colorado and Nevada and New Mexico flip en masse from red to blue and are bigger than I think, pretty much means the old ball game. Democrats win the cities. John McCain and the moose-hunter take all that space in between. For all the talk of newness and history-making, we've seen this presidential race before. . . .

Let's start with Obama's ineptitude, so profound lately that we can surely look for him to show up any minute helmeted in a tank or wind-surfing or smother-kissing his spine-crushed wife. One thing Democrats stand for - or so we thought - is raising taxes on these relatively few persons with extreme high incomes. After all, these wealthy elite reaped inordinate personal benefits from the across-the-board Republican tax cuts, which, in turn, have exploded the deficit that Bill Clinton erased and replaced with a surplus.

So now Obama says he may not immediately let those high-income tax cuts expire, owing to the troubled economy and all. One thing Democrats stand for - or we thought - is ending the war in Iraq. So now Obama says the surge is working. One thing Democrats stand for - or so we thought - was a well-articulated position to protect a woman's right to choose abortion. So now Obama says the morality of the abortion issue is "above my pay grade." Then he says he doesn't like the way he put that. . . .

On the Republican side comes this vice presidential nominee who, excepting two years as governor of a remote, sparsely populated state, owes her political experience to rezoning issues as mayor of an Alaskan village of fewer than 10,000. Remarkably, she has, in those two weeks, single-handedly reassembled the decisive Reagan coalition.

That conservative coalition forged under Reagan had been destroyed by the blundering of George W. Bush. Fiscal conservatives didn't like the exploding deficits and the wasteful spending. Religious conservatives liked the Supreme Court nominees, but doubted whether George W. and Karl Rove were altogether genuine. Defense conservatives couldn't much cotton to a woefully misbegotten invasion of Iraq.

Thus dissipated, the conservative movement found itself forced to live with the Republican presidential nomination, in McCain, of a moderate and maverick who'd never been one of them. Republicans were disconnected, uninspired, depressed, bound for defeat, maybe even irrelevance. Then McCain chose as his running mate a tough-talking Assembly of God woman from Alaska who shoots guns and asserts, albeit dishonestly, that she has opposed wasteful pork-barrel spending in her state. Conservatives thought they were dead. Now they've been brought back to life by what looks and acts like Reagan's daughter, or, actually, granddaughter. . . . [Full article: He's Kerry; She's Reagan]

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Tags: Arkansas, Arkansas News Bureau, Barack Obama, Election 2008, John Brummett, Sarah Palin To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!