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One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics
is that you end up being governed by your inferiors. -- Plato
(429-347 BC)
President Announces Troop Withdrawal in Iraq:
The President of the United States announced from the press briefing room, that all American fighting forces will be out of Iraq by December 31, 2011. “After nine years, the US war in Iraq will be over”, President Obama stated and then hurried off the stage, taking no questions from the press. . . . Tags:anti-war protests, Blame Bush, George W. Bush, Iraq war, Libya, Muammar Gaddafi, Super-Obama, War on Terror, A.F. Branco, political cartoon To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Gary Bauer, Contributing Author: President Obama has the audacity to claim that his latest stimulus bill would create 2 million jobs. That came from an analysis by Mark Zandi of Moody's. But when pressed for details, Zandi admitted, "I didn't know when I did that simulation how the president proposed to pay for it."
Moreover it was only a one year projection for 2012. Zandi added, "Beginning in 2013, and certainly into 2014, the plan is a drag on the economy because the stimulus starts fading away," while Obama's tax increases remain in effect. Nevertheless, Obama continued to repeat his "2 million jobs" claim during his campaign bus tour through the swing states of North Carolina and Virginia.
As a result, the folks at FactCheck.org decided to take a look at Obama's jobs spin. Here is their conclusion: "President Obama exaggerates when he claims 'independent economists' say his jobs bill 'would create nearly 2 million jobs.' The median estimate in a survey of 34 economists showed 288,000 jobs could be saved or created over two years under the president's plan."
Senate Again Rejects Obama's "Jobs" Bill
For the second time, the Democrat-controlled Senate has rejected Obama's so-called "jobs" bill. Last week the Senate shot down Obama's massive $450 billion stimulus bill. Undaunted, Obama and Reid vowed to break the bill up and pass it in pieces.
First up was a $35 billion bailout of state and local government workers. Why did that small sliver of the bill take precedence over the other 92% of it? Well, according to Harry Reid, "It's very clear that private-sector jobs have been doing just fine; it's the public-sector jobs where we've lost huge numbers, and that's what this legislation is all about."
There is an important point to keep in mind here. Obama and his Democrat allies are quick to suggest that Republicans are voting against teachers and first responders. That is false. What Republicans object to is yet another bailout/takeover by Big Government.
Teachers, firefighters and cops are obligations of local and state governments, not the federal government. If local governments can't meet their budgets they should cut back or raise taxes. Washington is spending record sums of money and incurring record deficits. Clearly we cannot afford the government we have now.
A lot of money for state and local workers was included in Obama's $800 billion stimulus bill in 2009. It was supposed be temporary. Now Joe Biden is raising the specter of rape and murder if we don't keep funding this "temporary" program. As Ronald Reagan was fond of saying, "The closest thing to immorality on earth is a government program."
More Green Jobs / Stimulus Waste
Here's another reason to resist the siren song of Big Government stimulus spending. In 2009, Fisker Automotive received a $529 million loan from the federal government in exchange for the promise of creating so-called "green jobs" by producing electric cars at a shuttered GM plant in Delaware.
Two years ago, in announcing the half billion dollar loan at the Delaware plant, Vice President Joe Biden said, "Folks, we're making a bet. We're making a bet on the future, we're making a bet on the American people, we're making a bet on the market, we're making a bet on innovation." As it turns out, by trying to manipulate the market, Biden made a bad bet against the American taxpayer.
ABC News reports that Fisker has just announced it will manufacture its cars in Finland, not Delaware. And just like Solyndra, there are allegations of crony capitalism and political paybacks involving Al Gore and major Democrat donors.
That's bad enough. But it's far from certain that the taxpayers will even get their money back. What kind of market exists for Fisker's $97,000 electric car? So far "Government Motors" has only managed to sell 4,000 of the $41,000 taxpayer-subsidized Chevy Volt.
This is what happens when Big Government makes bets with your money. Taxpayers almost always end up as the biggest losers.
------------- Gary Bauer is is a conservative family values advocate and serves as president of American Values and chairman of the Campaign for Working Families. Tags:Fact Checking, Obama, job, jobs, Keeping His Job, public sector jobs, teachers, firefighters, police, Green Jobs, Stimulus Waste, Fisker Automotive, Gary Bauer, Campaign for Working FamiliesTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
On Abortion Clinics, Pro-Lifers Are 'Close'-Minded
Tony Perkins, FRC Washington Update: Americans need to understand that when organizations like Planned Parenthood insist that women have a "right" to abortion, they don't mean a safe one. In clinics across the country, vulnerable women are shuttled in and out of clinics that look more like combat zones than surgical centers. Kermit Gosnell, who is on trial for 261 pages of abortion horrors at his Philadelphia clinic, put a real face on the "choice" movement. For his patients--and so many others--"choice" means being subjected to rusty equipment, bloodstained blankets, and untrained staff. And unfortunately, Gosnell is just one example of a nationwide nightmare. Like other clinic operators, the millionaire doctor shirked on safety to grow his profit margins. And thanks to a shift in pro-life strategy, that's all starting to change. In states across the country, America is getting serious about protecting women with airtight regulations for abortion clinics. In fact, when I was in the Louisiana legislature, I authored a bill to do exactly that. While conservatives are still trying to change people's minds about abortion, they're putting more emphasis on protecting the mothers that seek it. To do that, pro-lifers are cracking down on abortion at the source. It's what Dr. Theodore Joyce calls "The Supply-Side Economics of Abortion."
He expanded on this phenomenon in an article published by the New England Journal of Medicine. "Early approaches to restricting abortion access were directed largely at [women]--the demand side of the market& Perhaps frustrated by many women's determination to overcome demand-side hurdles, abortion opponents have turned to supply-side restrictions, focusing on providers of abortion services. This strategy is likely to be more effective." Believe it or not, abortion is one of the least regulated surgeries in the United States. In Pennsylvania, for instance, one district attorney said the state's clinics have fewer regulations than beauty salons or public schools. So one approach pro-lifers have taken, most recently in Virginia and Kansas, is passing laws that force abortion clinics to meet the same standards as ambulatory hospitals. That means more licensed staff, better sanitation, bigger rooms, and cutting-edge equipment. To most of us, that only sounds logical. But to abortion clinics, the bulk of which cut corners to make a profit, it represents a huge hurdle in doing business. For them, the emphasis has always been on revenue, not patient safety. When they're asked to comply with strict new health standards, most would rather shut down than protect women.
Take the state of Texas, for instance. Seven years ago, legislators passed a law that required all abortions at or after 16 weeks be performed in a hospital or ambulatory surgical center. Dr. Joyce points out that the policy had a shocking effect on the abortion rate. In one year, "the number of abortions performed in Texas at or after 16 weeks of gestation dropped by 88%, from 3,642 in 2003 to 446 in 2004." In Arizona, he explains, bearing down on the clinics had a similar effect. Leaders there passed a rule that only doctors could perform abortions. "As a result," Dr. Joyce writes, "Planned Parenthood of Arizona stopped performing abortion services in three clinics, since only nurse practitioners had been available." Ironically, the same groups spending millions of dollars to protect abortion are the ones fighting these laws. That, more than anything, should expose the pro-abortion movement for what it is: cold, calculating opportunists who see women as profit, not patients. Tags:Tony Perkins, Family Research Center, FRC, pro-life, stop abortions, abortion, abortion mills, planned parenthood, unsafe abortions, Kermit Gosnell, Philadelphia, pro-abortion, lack of safety, sanitation, revenue, women for profit, To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
There Is Never Enough Of YOUR Money For The Liberal Democrats
Democrats Never Have
Enough Of Our Money
Today in Washington, D.C. - Oct. 21, 2011:
The Senate is in recess until a pro-forma session at 3:45 PM on Monday. It will reconvene for legislative business on Oct. 31st.
Yesterday, Senate Democrats failed to get 60 votes to move to the first of what Democrats say will be several bills containing parts of President Obama’s new stimulus plan. The bill, S. 1723, a $35 billion stimulus for state and local government workers, including teachers, failed to get cloture by a vote of 50-50.
After that, Democrat leaders filibustered a bipartisan provision of President Obama’s plan, championed by Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA), which had 6 Democrat cosponsors. Ten Democrats actually voted to move forward with the bill, but most of the Democrat majority voted for the filibuster. The bill, S. 1726, which would have repealed a job-stifling requirement that the government withhold 3% of their payments to contractors for tax purposes, failed to get cloture by a vote of 57-43.
Also yesterday, the Senate voted 64-36 to confirm Heather Higginbottom to be deputy OMB director and 74-26 to confirm John Bryson as Secretary of Commerce. In addition, the Senate voted 83-16 to invoke cloture on the Inouye substitute amendment to H.R. 2112, the Fiscal Year 2012 Agriculture appropriations bill, which combines the FY 2012 Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-Science, and Transportation-Housing and Urban Development appropriations bills (also referred to as an Ag-CJS-THUD minibus).
Prior to the cloture vote, the Senate voted on 12 amendments to the minibus bill. Among those considered, the Senate rejected an amendment by Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), which would have prohibited funding for prosecuting foreign terrorists in civilian courts, by a vote of 47-52.
The Senate agreed to an amendment from Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) prohibiting farm subsidies to people who make more than $1 million per year by a vote of 84-15, but rejected another Coburn amendment to end housing payments to slumlords by a vote of 59-40.
Politico writes today, “President Barack Obama’s jobs agenda hit another roadblock in the Senate on Thursday night . . . . In their first attempt to advance individual pieces of the president’s sprawling American Jobs Act, Democrats fell short of the 60 votes needed to move forward a $35 billion package for states and localities to hire and prevent the layoffs of teachers and first responders. A united GOP Conference, along with three members of the Senate Democratic Caucus — Sens. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) — voted 50-50 to block a debate on the package, which would have been funded by a 0.5 percent surtax on those earning more than $1 million. ‘It seems all we care about is scoring political points to be used in the next election,’ said Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.). ‘Shame on us if the blame game is the best thing that we can do.’”
And though only 3 Senate Democrats voted against taking up this stimulus bill that the president and vice president spent all week promoting, a number of Democrats declared their opposition to the bill itself. Speaking on the Senate floor, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) said, “We’ve already had two rounds of stimulus funding. This is our third… We only created 33 new jobs the first round [of stimulus] with over $217 million… We have to be responsible, and basically if spending money would fix our problems in America, we’d have no problems.” Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) said, “I’m all for individual states making smart choices with their own money, but giving them federal money and just hoping they’ll use it for education and teachers -- well, that’s not good enough.” Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) also announced his opposition to the bill and Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) “said she was not convinced that the overall bill was ‘the right way forward.’” As Sen. Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) told Fox News, “[W]hen you look at the president’s jobs act, even if you break it down to bite-sized pieces, it’s spending money we don’t have, and you got to raise taxes to pay for it, and to me, all that just makes the job of the debt reduction committee, the committee itself, even harder.” He added, “Our economy needs a jolt. Paying for more state jobs is not going to be that jolt.”
Meanwhile, Republicans tried to move forward with one of the few bipartisan proposals that could actually help job creators from President Obama’s stimulus bill. Last night, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell explained, “[W]hat we’ve done is we’ve combed through the President’s latest stimulus bill looking for things we can actually support, for things that don’t punish the very people we’re counting on to create jobs. In other words, since the President never asked if there was anything in this legislation we could support, we’ve done it ourselves. And it turns out there’s a very sensible provision in there that would help businesses across the country. In fact, it’s identical to a bill Senator [Scott] Brown introduced with 30 co-sponsors earlier this year, many of them Democrats: Senator Begich, Senator Klobuchar, Senator Pryor, Senator Tester, Senator Franken and Senator McCaskill—they’re all co-sponsors of Senator Brown’s bill. ... it repeals an existing requirement that government agencies at the state, local, and federal level withhold three percent of every payment to any contractor they do business with. This is money contractors may very well end up getting back from the IRS at some point long after the job is done, but in the meantime, the government gets to hold on to it instead of allowing the businesses to invest it in jobs and the economy. This is money these companies could be putting toward hiring workers and growing their businesses, but it’s going to the IRS instead, basically as a zero-interest loan to the federal government in Washington.”
And yet Senate Democrats filibustered the bill, even though White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said of the provisions in President Obama’s stimulus, “they’re all important, they’re all of equal value.” The AP noted, “The legislation failed to get the 60 votes needed to end a Democratic filibuster late Thursday. Many Democrats and President Barack Obama support the idea but opposed it Thursday because it would be paid for with $30 billion in cuts from domestic agency spending. The White House promised a veto.”
In sum, last night, Senate Democrat leaders filibustered one of the few provisions in President Obama’s proposal that has bipartisan support and would have removed a burdensome government requirement, and couldn’t get the votes for a partisan stimulus bill they were championing that spent even more federal money on local government workers. To quote Sen. McConnell, “[I]t’s become increasingly clear to many Americans that Democrats in Washington have lost all sense of balance when it comes to the size and the scope of the federal government in Washington.”
Gary Bauer at Campaign for Working Families summed it up this week: "The Congressional Budget Office reported recently that federal expenditures are up -- not down. In fiscal year 2011, the government spent a record $3.6 trillion and posted its second highest deficit ever of $1.298 trillion. As a reminder, the deficit in 2007 was $161 billion, just 1.2% of GDP. Obama's deficit this year is $1,298 billion, nearly 9% of GDP. And that's not enough for Harry Reid. There is never enough of your money for the liberal Democrats. The best way to stop their taxing and spending is to stop them at the ballot box!" Tags:Washington, D.C., US Senate, Harry Reid, democrats, no jobs, Gary Bauer, Mitch McConnellTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
A.F. "Tony" Branco provides a warning fr all of us. Note the US economy up there on the wall of the dead and the special place awaiting the US Constitution and YOU!
Tags:Anwar al-Awlaki, Libya, Libya Rebels, Missing missiles in Libya, Muammar Gaddafi, Qaddafi captured, A.F. Branco, political cartoon,To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Tags:Cain 999 Plan, Herman Cain, Obama zero Plan, Barack Obama, repairing the economy, the economy, Political Cartoons, William WarrenTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
A.F. Branco: The Economically Challenged Verses The Economically Illiterate on Occupy Wall Street)
Tags:anti-capitalism, Anti-Semitism, declaration of occupation of new york city, Occupy Chicago, Occupy Wall Street, Wall Street Protesters, Wall Street protests, A.F. Branco, political cartoonTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
With my computer being down, I catching up on Just Conservative Girl's (JCG) Quote's of the Day from the fruits, nuts and COWS (Commies on Wall Street) of Occupy Wall Street (OWS). Thought, you might enjoy a few of them.
Alec Baldwin speaking to protesters at OWS: "You cannot not have strong capital markets in this country or the country is going to go down the tubes," he said. "I think most people want change in this country but they don't want the country to go down the tubes. They don't want the country to become England."
JCG's Comment: "I don't know about England, but the don't seem to mind becoming Greece. I also don't think he understands the audience that he is speaking to. Many of them do want to see America go down the tubes."
Ah, The Irony. Apparently, they are having some theft problems at poopalooza. “Stealing is our biggest problem at the moment,” said Nan Terrie, 18, a kitchen and legal-team volunteer from Fort Lauderdale. “I had my Mac stolen — that was like $5,500. Every night, something else is gone. Last night, our entire [kitchen] budget for the day was stolen, so the first thing I had to do was . . . get the message out to our supporters that we needed food!”
JCG's Comment: Now, what are the chances that she paid for that $5K computer herself? I have this feeling it was a gift from Mommy and Daddy. She is 18 years old and doesn't seem to have a job or classes to go to. She can spend her time at "protesting" the dirty rich.
I can't afford to spend almost 6 grand on a computer. So Nan, since you can afford a computer that is that expensive and I can't, it is only "fair" that someone else in need gets it. After all, that is what spreading the wealth is all about. You have more than others, so you have to share. Even if it is taken by force. Dumb asses.
Unidentified Nut: "We don’t know where it comes from. It just appears, and we eat it.”
JCG's Comment: On how they are eating during their sit in. Who cares who pays for it, as long as they get some. The level of entitlement of these people is simply stunning.
JCG's Comment: Steve Zamfotis, Manager of Charley's Restaurant. Charley's is located across the street from the poopalooza that is known as Occupy Wall Street. Gee, what a shock.
Tags:quotes, Occupy Wall Street, COWSTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV): “…this bill will not solve the fiscal problem...”(Sen. Manchin, Floor Remarks, 10/20/11)
MANCHIN (D-WV): “We've already had two rounds of stimulus funding. This is our third… We only created 33 new jobs the first round [of stimulus] with over $217 million… We have to be responsible, and basically if spending money would fix our problems in America, we'd have no problems.”(Sen. Manchin, Floor Remarks, 10/20/11)
SEN. JON TESTER (D-MT): “I'm all for individual states making smart choices with their own money, but giving them federal money and just hoping they'll use it for education and teachers -- well, that's not good enough. With that kind of money, we need guarantees.” (Sen. Tester, Floor Remarks, 10/20/11)
TESTER (D-MT): “Mr. President, only after this final bill is amended to guarantee job certainty will it be able to earn my vote. And in order to amend it, I’m going to vote for the motion to proceed. My vote is a vote for debate that we ought to have.” (Sen. Tester, Floor Remarks, 10/20/11)
SEN JOE LIEBERMAN (ID-CT): “[W]hen you look at the president's jobs act, even if you break it down to bite-sized pieces, it's spending money we don't have, and you got to raise taxes to pay for it, and to me, all that just makes the job of the debt reduction committee, the committee itself, even harder.” (Fox News, 10/18/11)
SEN. MARK PRYOR (D-AR): “It’s a little philosophical in the sense that I’m not sure federal taxpayers should be paying for teachers and first responders. That’s traditionally a state and local matter… I have a big question mark about whether the teacher portion benefits our state at all because of some of the stuff we’ve done on the state level over the past few years.” (“Spending Bill Hits Wall With Moderates,” Politico, 10/19/11)
JAY CARNEY: ‘They're All Important, They're All Of Equal Value’Q: “Can you give us any guidance on which part [of the president’s bill] is likely to come up first?” CARNEY: “... It really doesn't matter to us, because they're all important, they're all of equal value…” (White House Press Briefing, 10/17/11)
A ‘Narrowly Targeted Exercise In 2012 Politics’
“President Barack Obama didn’t do much to bring along lawmakers on his jobs bill — and it showed… the relentless focus on the American Jobs Act wasn’t about racking up a legislative win. It was always about laying the foundation for … 2012.”(“Obama Looks Past Hill On Jobs Bill,” Politico, 10/11/11)
“The reality in Congress is this bill has virtually no chance of passing and Democrats know that.” (Kate Bolduan, CNN’s Situation Room, 10/19)
VP JOE BIDEN: ‘Are we campaigning? … Yes!’ “Vice President Joe Biden lashed out at critics today who have claimed that his and the President's efforts to get a job's bill passed is mere ‘campaigning.’ ‘Are we campaigning?’ he said. ‘Yes!’” (“Biden: 'Are We Campaigning? Yes!'” NBC, 10/18/11)
“public theater … they know it’s going nowhere.” “Democrats may not vote on President Barack Obama’s jobs bill just once. They could hold several votes on it, even though they know it’s going nowhere. But that’s just the public theater.” (“Democrats' Plan B On Jobs Bill: Go Smaller,” Politico, 10/10/11)
“WH senior aide pre-spinning the Jobs bill defeat in senate: ‘first act of a long term play.’”(@Chucktodd, Twitter, 10/11/11) Tags:U.S. Senate, Democrats, White House, jobs bill, bailout, designed to fail, no moneyTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Harry Reid Continues Stupidity: "Private Sector Jobs Are Doing Just Fine"
Potato Love From Congress
Today in Washington, D.C. - Oct. 20, 2011Reid Reveals Democrats See Government Not Businesses As "Main Engine Of Job Creation." Looks like Dem's view the private sector workers (the majority) and business owners as just plantation slaves for the Government (the Big House) Plantation Bosses who provide the so called "real" jobs.
Reminder: The House is not in session; it is a constituent work week. Of course, neither is the Presidency. Candidate Obama (with no democratic opponent is still too busy campaigning for reelection in 13 months and thus absent from his duties. His comments at the various pit stops seems to be shout-outs for Sen. Harry Reid to keep up with his partisan insanity. Also, Vice President Joe Biden appeared to be off his meds and White House Press Secretary Jay Carney was forced to defend Biden's comment that rape and murder incidences in the U.S. "would" increase without passage of an Obama $35 billion jobs bill.
With Biden and Obama whooping it up, the news outlets provided Hillary Clinton air time as people wanted to know what this Sec. of State Clinton, a former anti-war peace hippie, felt about the Libyan President Qaddafi being killed. Obama has no need to worry if Clinton running as an opponent. Just dust off this video where she was giddy and joked: "We came, we saw, he died." Now, does he want her to replace Biden as his ticket mate in 2012?
The Senate resumed consideration of H.R. 2112, the Fiscal Year 2012 Agriculture appropriations bill today, which will combine the FY 2012 Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-Science, and Transportation-Housing and Urban Development appropriations bills (also referred to as an Ag-CJS-THUD minibus). By voice vote the Senate accepted an amendment by Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) that blocks the USDA from putting any limits on serving potatoes or other vegetables in school lunches. The House has already said enough with interfering with the amount of potatoes and other vegetables served in school meals. For the moment, "french fries" have been saved in public schools. And so are the jobs of many in the agriculture industry. Cost for the Potato bailout - Zero dollars.
The Senate will vote on confirmation of Heather Higginbottom to be deputy OMB director. Immediately following that vote, the Senate will vote on two amendments to H.R. 2112: one from Sen. David Vitter (R-LA), which would allow the re-importation of prescription drugs from Canada, and one from Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA), which would establish a National Criminal Justice Commission. Both amendments will require 60 votes for adoption.
There will be 4 more amendment votes: An amendment from Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), which would require steel and iron used in certain projects be produced in the U.S., one from Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) which would increase funding for Housing and Community Development, one from Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), which would add requirements of oversight and accountability for Justice Department grant programs, and one from Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS), concerning funding for watershed and flooding protection. The first 3 of these amendments will require 60 votes for adoption. Further votes are possible today.
Last night, Majority Leader Harry Reid filed cloture on the Inouye substitute amendment, which contains the minibus, and on the underlying bill. Also last night, Reid filed cloture on S. 1723, Democrats’ teacher bailout bill, which is the first of what Democrats say will be several bills containing parts of President Obama’s new stimulus plan.
Sen. GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) filed cloture on S.1726 a bill he is co-sponsoring with Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) to repeal a requirement that the government withhold 3% of their payments to contractors for tax purposes, which inhibits job creation by private contractors.
At noon, the Senate voted 82-17 to confirm David Mariani to be District Judge for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. The Senate then voted 59-39 to table an amendment to H.R. 2112 from Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) which would have ensured that transportation funding is used for repairing bridges and highways instead of building bike trails and squirrel sanctuaries.
Criticisms of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) for his disconnect from reality have been mounting after he declared on the Senate floor yesterday, “It’s very clear that private sector jobs have been doing just fine, it’s the public sector jobs where we’ve lost huge numbers, and that’s what this legislation is all about.”
Asked if he disagreed with Reid’s comments by MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough this morning, former Obama administration economic advisor Austan Goolsbee said, “I guess I would disagree a little.”
Examining Reid’s comments in an editorial, The Wall Street Journal writes, “[I]t’s hard to see what Mr. Reid could possibly mean when he says it is ‘doing just fine.’ Private nonfarm employers added only 137,000 new jobs in September and 352,000 in the last three months. That’s why the overall jobless rate remains an unprecedented 9.1% two years into an ostensible economic recovery. Going back to 2008, the Labor Department reported 111.822 million employed private workers at the end of 2008. The number plunged during the recession, and as of September of this year overall private employment had climbed back to 109.349 million. But that’s still some 2.5 million fewer jobs than in 2008. If this is doing fine, we’d hate to see Mr. Reid’s definition of lousy. What these numbers show is that, contrary to Mr. Reid, the real U.S. jobs problem continues to be in the private economy. If private employers were hiring at the pace they normally do in an economic recovery, we might be doing fine.”
In a floor speech this morning, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell added, “For Democrats, the solution [to the jobs crisis], apparently, is to increase the number of people who work for the government. My good friend the Majority Leader made this pretty clear yesterday when he said the private sector ‘is doing just fine,’ and that the President’s latest stimulus is focused on government jobs instead. . . . [I]t’s become increasingly clear to many Americans that Democrats in Washington have lost all sense of balance when it comes to the size and the scope of the federal government in Washington.”
As the WSJ editors point out, “Mr. Reid was trying to defend a new Democratic proposal to spend another $35 billion that the government doesn’t have to help states hire teachers and other public workers. He seems to be under the impression that private job creation is doing well, and that happy days would be here again if we could only gin up more government jobs. . . . Mr. Reid knows his proposal can’t pass the House, and perhaps not even the Senate, so his real agenda is to stage a vote that Republicans will oppose so President Obama can claim on the stump that Democrats are doing something to help create jobs and that Republicans stopped them. Instead, Mr. Reid’s comments yesterday reveal that he and his fellow Democrats inhabit an economic universe in which government is the main engine of job creation. That’s how you get a jobs crisis.”
Leader McConnell addressed the problem with Democrats’ view of the economy, saying, “ . . . Washington, D.C. area now has the highest median income in the country — primarily because of the high salaries that so many government bureaucrats are making these days. And I have no doubt that many of these people do good work. But the point is, they’re weathering this economic downturn pretty well. Not only are they making big salaries relative to the private sector. They’re also holding onto their jobs. The unemployment rate for the country as a whole is 9.1 percent. For government workers it’s almost half that, at 4.7 percent. So with all due respect t . . . it’s the private sector that’s been begging for mercy. It’s the private sector that’s being crushed by regulators in Washington. So I don’t think the solution to this crisis is to make the federal government even bigger.”
Contrary to Democrats’ latest bill, which would raise taxes on job creators, McConnell said, “When it comes to jobs, the primary role of government is to create an environment in which Americans and American businesses can grow and flourish without the heavy hand of government on their backs. We shouldn’t be making it harder for people to do business and prosper. We should be making it easier.” Tags:Washington. D.C., US Senate, Harry Reid, Mitch McConnell, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, absentee president, Barrack Obama, Libya, potatoesTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Even though I already posted one of Branco's cartoons today. The following was to good not to post. Talking airheads still don't get it. People like Herman Cain for many reasons beginning with his straight forward honesty, he is a gentleman, he is willing to laugh, he doesn't "put on airs," his aged wisdom and experience in life and business, and most important his willing to do something today to save America for the benefit of Americans before it is to late for our kids and grandkids. A.F. "Tony" Branco:
Tags:2012, 2012 Election News, 2012 GOP Presidential debate, 2012 Presidential candidates, CNN GOP debate, Herman Cain, Mitt Romney, Nevada GOP debate, Rick Perry, Tony Branco, political cartoonTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Eric Holder Learning That What Goes Around Comes Around
Anyone else upset about Eric Holder and "Fast and Furious, "the Black Panther's Case," "foreign terrorist's trails in the U.S.," "suing states for enforcing illegal aliens laws," "supporting ObamaCare in court," "Gibson Guitar," "refusals to cooperate with Congress," "supporting the liberal protests on Wall Street," "after previously attacking the peaceful TEA Party" and ---> [Add your own remembrance adding to why AG Holder should not be AG].
Tags:2nd Amendment, DOJ, Eric Holder, Fast and Furious, Gibson, gun rights, gun runner, Gunrunner, gunwalker, A.F. Branco, political cartoonTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Harry Reid Stupidly Says: "Private Sector Jobs Are Doing Just Fine"
Today in Washington, D.C. - Oct. 19, 2011: Out Of Touch Dems Want More Spending On Gov't Jobs Despite "Stimulus Fatigue"
The Senate resumed consideration of H.R. 2112, the Fiscal Year 2012 Agriculture appropriations bill, which will combine the FY 2012 Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-Science, and Transportation-Housing and Urban Development appropriations bills (also referred to as an Ag-CJS-THUD minibus). At noon, the Senate voted 82-17 to confirm David Mariani to be District Judge for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
The Senate then voted 59-39 to table an amendment to H.R. 2112 from Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) which would have ensured that transportation funding is used for repairing bridges and highways instead of building bike trails and squirrel sanctuaries. More amendment votes are possible today.
Yesterday, the Senate voted 99-0 for an amendment from Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), which blocks the Justice Department from using taxpayer funding for any current or future gunwalking operation similar to “Fast & Furious.”
Also yesterday, the Senate, by a vote of 44-55, rejected an amendment from Sen. McCain which would have eliminated the Trade Adjustment Assistance for Firms program, which has been recommended for cuts by the OMB. Even OMB has no weight with the liberals and it is amazing that McCain still tries since his friends across the isle love reminding him why he lost the race for president - "no support."
Democrats just seem to be disconnected from reality at the moment. The Hill reports, “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Wednesday said Congress needs to worry about government jobs more than private-sector jobs, and that this is why Senate Democrats are pushing a bill aimed at shoring up teachers and first-responders. ‘It's very clear that private-sector jobs have been doing just fine; it's the public-sector jobs where we've lost huge numbers, and that's what this legislation is all about,’ Reid said on the Senate floor.” (See video of Reid’s remarks here.)
And in an interview with ABC’s Jake Tapper yesterday, President Obama said, “[E]ven though I believe all the choices we've made have been the right ones, we're still going through difficult circumstances.”
But the reality isthat over 1.5 million private sector jobs have been lost since February 2009, unemployment is still 9.1% while the unemployment rate for government workers is a much lower 4.7%.
Yet Democrats continue to push another bailout for teachers and other local government workers, despite the billions they spent on it in the 2009 stimulus and a follow-up bailout in 2010. Teachers and first responders are the responsibility of States and communities and not the Federal Government who is taking Other People's Money [or borrowing from China] and redistributing it to certain states and certain teachers and first responder programs in an effort to buy votes with our money.
And though Democrat leaders like Sen. Reid and President Obama are enthusiastic about spending even more money on the same policies that didn’t work before, Politico writes, “Several moderate Democrats and Republicans appear to be struggling to overcome ‘stimulus fatigue’ setting in among voters back home and are withholding support for now — meaning the latest proposal is at risk of winning even less backing than the president’s signature economic bill, which fell nine votes shy of breaking a GOP-led filibuster last week. ‘At some point — and my opinion is now — we’ve got to stop spending money we don’t have,’ said Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), who caucuses with Democrats. He told POLITICO he probably would vote to block the latest proposal from even moving forward for debate.”
Politico even noted, “‘It’s a little philosophical in the sense that I’m not sure federal taxpayers should be paying for teachers and first responders. That’s traditionally a state and local matter,’ Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) said in an interview. . . . Other Democratic moderates are far from sold. Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) said he would oppose the bill but vote to begin the debate. And Sens. Jon Tester of Montana and Ben Nelson of Nebraska — who face tough reelection campaigns in red states next year and were the only Democrats to vote to filibuster Obama’s overall jobs plan last week — aren’t ready to embrace the latest proposal.”
As Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said today, “This is the third time in three years the President’s asked us to bail out the states. How many more times — and how many more billions — before someone realizes it’s a bad idea? More bailouts aren’t going to solve this problem. They’ll just enable it. But the bottom line is this: Everybody knows the last thing you want to do in a jobs crisis is raise taxes. It’s just common sense. The President has said as much himself. But for some reason he’s determined to keep trying anyway.”
He added, “The Majority Leader is out there telling people that Republicans are rooting for the economy to fail. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Look: if Republicans wanted the economy to fail, we’d all line right up behind the President’s economic policies, rather than opposing them. Because they haven’t solved this jobs crisis. . . . It’s completely preposterous at a time when 14 million Americans are looking for a job in this country for the President to be riding around on a bus saying we should raise taxes — on the very folks who create jobs. Think about that: We’ve got 14 million people out of work, and two self-identified conservatives for every liberal in this country, and the President’s out there doing his best Howard Dean impersonation. He’s completely out of touch.” Tags:Washington, D.C., Harry Reid, loss of jobs, government bailouts, Barack Obama's Jobs BillTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Florida Man Fired for Wearing American Flag Pin to Work
Bill Smith: As a retired military, I can hardly stand knowing that anyone was prohibited from wearing, let alone being fired for wearing a U.S. flag pin right here in in the USA. I have made many a trip to St. Augustine, Florida, a beautiful city and tourist stopping point. It is stories like this that tarnish the image of St. Augustine. I don't care what the policy of the hotel was or is regarding pins. In this situation, the 20,000 veterans in the area need to let the Casa Monica Hotel to get their head out of their backside.
"Right minded" Bobbie Eberle posted the following as a lead in and his opinion on the story previously reported by News 4, Jacksonville, Florida. So as not to confuse anyone, the entire article is posted with a link to the News 4 video is at their site, just click the below image.
Military bloggers and other patriot bloggers should promote this story. While leaving comments on Eberle's site is nice, even better would be your letting the Casa Monica Hotel know your opinions. Let us know if and when you contact them and if possible, what they had to say in response.
Bobby Eberle, GOPUSA
By Bobby Eberle, GOPUSA: After two years of wearing an American flag pin on his jacket lapel, the front desk supervisor at a downtown hotel in St. Augustine, Florida was told to "remove it or go home." He chose to go home, and now he has been fired for his actions. It's one thing for a hotel or any company to have appearance guidelines, and it's quite another to suppress a modest show of patriotism. We should be promoting patriotism... not punishing it.
His name is Sean May and he is at the heart of a brewing story between his supporters and the Casa Monica Hotel management and ownership. Here's the story:
But now, the hotel has taken further action. From being sent home, May has now been fired. The hotel responded to questions asked by News 4 in Jacksonville by issuing the following statement:
"The Casa Monica Hotel located in St. Augustine, Florida, is an American-based, homegrown historic hotel," the email reads. "The property reflects its pride in America and great patriotism by flying the Stars and Stripes high over the hotel. The American flag greets every guest and employee with its symbolism of our belief in this great country."
"However, our employee handbook clearly states, 'No other buttons, badges, pins or insignias of any kind are permitted to be worn.' No matter an individual's national preference, political views or religious affiliation, it is a standard regulation which ensures equality for all Grand Performers (employees)."
What do you think? Dress code violation or suppression of patriotism? St. Johns county Commissioner Mark Miner had this to say:
"The Casa Monica Hotel and Kessler Enterprise certainly have the legal right to forbid their employees from wearing an American flag pin. However, their inability to discern between the flag of our nation and other pins and buttons that their policies forbid is of great concern to me. St. Johns County is home to nearly 20,000 military veterans and is made up of an ideologically and culturally diverse population whose collective love for the United States is second to none. I want to make clear that the actions taken by the Casa Monica Hotel and Kessler Enterprise do not represent the patriotism shared by St. Johns County residents and businesses."
"I hope Kessler Enterprise will act quickly to correct the disrespect they have shown the flag of our great nation and end the embarrassment they have brought upon St. Johns county."
I understand the idea of uniformity for employees and thus the need for a standardized set of guidelines and appearance policies. But this is insane. The man has been wearing the pin for two years. It's situations such as this that should remind all of us that common sense is in short supply these days. It's ok to burn an American flag, but you better not wear an American flag pin on your lapel. Crazy. Tags:employee fired, U.S. Flag Pin, Casa Monica Hotel, St. Augustine, Florida, St. Johns county, GOPUSA, Eberle To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Gary Bauer, Contributing Author: Seriously, folks, you may think that it is silly to suggest that some in the Occupy Wall Street movement might celebrate Goldman Sachs' troubles, but it's not. With each passing day we are learning more about the thugs taking to the streets. And while Obama is increasingly embracing the movement as his ticket to reelection, more serious Democrats are becoming alarmed at what they are finding.
Doug Schoen is one such Democrat. In an op-ed in today's Wall Street Journal, the former Clinton pollster warns Democrats not to embrace the Occupy Wall Street movement. Schoen sent one of the top researchers at his polling firm into the OWS crowd to interview 200 demonstrators. Here are some of his findings:
65% believe government should provide "health care, a college education, and a secure retirement—no matter the cost."
"48% say they will vote to re-elect [Obama] in 2012, while at least a quarter won't vote."
31% "would support violence to advance their agenda."
Schoen writes, "What binds a large majority of the protesters together … is a deep commitment to left-wing policies: opposition to free-market capitalism and support for radical redistribution of wealth…" He bluntly concludes, "President Obama and the Democratic leadership are making a critical error in embracing the Occupy Wall Street movement -- and it may cost them the 2012 election."
Schoen's instincts are right, but we can't take anything for granted. Obama will have a huge war chest and the best campaign that money can buy. (More on that later.) But it speaks volumes about Obama's instincts that he is so eager to align himself with these radicals, and it tells you all you need to know about what a second Obama term would look like. America cannot afford four more years of Barack Obama! Tags:Gary Bauer, Campaign for Working Families, Occupy Wall Street, cows, commies on Wall Street, Zuccotti Park, New York, protestors, liberals, democrats, left-wing To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
After Previous Spending Bills Failed, Dems Demand Even More Money For Another Bailout
Today in Washington, D.C. - Oct 18, 2011
House is not in session; constituent work week. The Senate resumed consideration of H.R. 2112, the Fiscal Year 2012 Agriculture appropriations bill, which will combine the FY 2012 Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-Science, and Transportation-Housing and Urban Development appropriations bills (also referred to as an Ag-CJS-THUD minibus). Votes on amendments to H.R. 2112 are possible today. Among those could be an amendment from Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), which would block the Justice Department from using taxpayer funding for any current or future gunwalking operation similar to “Fast & Furious.”
Yesterday, the Senate will voted 82-3 to confirm Cathy Bisson to be US District Judge for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Later this week, the Senate may take up the nomination of Heather Higginbottom to be Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
According to The Hill today, “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) signaled on Tuesday that he and other Senate Democrats are looking to advance President Obama's proposal to spend $35 billion to shore up jobs for teachers, police and firefighters in the coming weeks. Reid, Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and other Senate Democrats on Monday introduced the Teachers and First Responders Act, which mirrors the plan Obama has been touting in a bid to get Congress to pass pieces of his American Jobs Act. Under the proposal, $30 billion would be used to shore up 400,000 teacher jobs, and another $5 billion would go for thousands of police and firefighter jobs. Reid said Tuesday that the bill, S. 1723, is ‘fully paid for,’ but said rather than cuts to other federal programs, it would raise taxes on the wealthy.”
But, as Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell explained in a floor speech this morning, these plans from Democrats sound awfully familiar. “[T]his isn’t the first time President Obama’s demanded that Congresses pass what he calls a ‘jobs bill,’” Leader McConnell said. “But if this one were to pass, and it worked as advertised, then it would be the first one that did. Again and again, the President’s response to America’s ongoing jobs crisis has been to insist that Congress pass some urgent piece of legislation right away, or an even worse calamity would result. Those bills were supposed to create jobs and prevent layoffs too. But he keeps coming back for more. I guess the President is counting on the American people to forget that part. He’s counting on us to forget about the other stimulus legislation he’s already signed into law, and that it’s failed to live up to the hype every time.”
Indeed, last year Democrats passed a $26 billion state bailout that they claimed could save something like 300,000 jobs. Former White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said at the time that it would “ensure that 160,000-plus teachers didn't get fired as a result of bad state budgets.” Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) boasted, “The measure we are considering today… will save more than 100,000 jobs in schools across America.” And the third ranking Democrat in the Senate, Chuck Schumer (D-NY), said, “There is no doubt about it, if we fail to pass this bill, hundreds of thousands of teachers and firefighters will lose their jobs.”
And in 2009, President Obama promised of his nearly $1 trillion stimulus bill, “It's a plan that will save or create up to four million jobs over the next two years … And the jobs of firefighters, teachers, nurses, and police officers that would otherwise be eliminated if we don't provide states with some relief.” Obama said because of the stimulus, “We've created and saved, as you said, Joe, at least 150,000 jobs - jobs of teachers and nurses and firefighters and police officers.”
Yet, here majority Senate Democrats and the president are, demanding passage of yet another multi-billion bailout to save the jobs of teachers and others they said would be saved by their previous two spending bills. Just this morning, Senate Majority leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said, “Nationwide, state and local budget cuts would cost as many as 280,000 teacher jobs next year—unless we do something about that. This teachers and first responders legislation will invest $30 billion to create or save nearly 400,000 teacher jobs.”
But even Democrats aren’t completely sold on Democrats’ latest bailout. Politico reported last night, “Sens. Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Jon Tester of Montana were the only two Democrats who voted last week to filibuster President Barack Obama’s $447 billion American Jobs Act. And they’re not yet sold on their party’s latest idea: Breaking off $35 billion from that plan for states and localities to hire teachers and first-responders. ‘If I didn’t think much of it on the one thing, you’ve got to assume that I won’t think much of it for something else,’ Nelson told POLITICO on Monday evening. ‘I don’t think you increase taxes for new spending.’ Tester said he wasn’t as concerned about the 0.5 percent surtax on families making more than $1 million to pay for the $35 billion plan. But he was unsure whether the new spending proposals would actually create more jobs.” And according to a Politico report today, “Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) says President Obama’s new plan to pass his jobs acts in “bite-size” pieces is not going to work. ‘When you look at the president's jobs act, even if you break it into bite-size pieces, it's spending money we don't have, and you’ve got to raise taxes to pay for it, and to me, all that just makes the job of the debt reduction committee … even harder,’ Lieberman said on Fox News Tuesday morning.”
As Leader McConnell said today, “Anybody notice a pattern here? We’ve been doing this for nearly three years now. It doesn’t work as advertised. Bailouts don’t solve the problem. They perpetuate it. Yet all we get from the President and Democrats in Congress is ‘Do it again — or else!’ We’ve been mired in a jobs crisis for three years now, and all Democrats ever want to do is throw more taxpayer money at it.It never works the way they claim it will. And yet they want to keep doing it with other people’s money. Just throw another bailout together, slap the word ‘jobs’ on the cover page, and dare people to vote against it. That’s the Democrats’ governing philosophy — three years into this jobs crisis. It wouldn’t be irresponsible to oppose an approach like this; it would be irresponsible to consider it. It didn’t work the first time. It didn’t work the second time. The third time won’t be the charm.” Tags:US Senate, Democrats, bailouts, wasting your money, debt for futre generations, taking your money, giving it to others, socialismTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Bill Smith (Ozark Guru): Today, the ARRA News Service is posting late due to computer failures. For the past couple weeks, I have been posting via other computers as my primary computer suffered death at the hands of the prior virus attack from a website in Washington, D.C., and my personal abuse over the last decade. Then, my laptop's mother board fried. As it was under warranty, it was shipped off for repair.
I should have treated my main computer better. Over the past eleven years, it had suffered minor failures: a power supply and cd-player. Obviously, numerous key boards and mouse replacements had occured. And, I had crammed as much software as possible on to the computer. When it died, the Ozark Guru was just too attached to lay it to rest. Which in the Ozarks means using for it for target practice and putting the hard drive on an Earth Day brush pile. I was in a state of "stupid" mourning" over an inanimate machine which had a memory but no heart. Plus, have you noted the cost of computers lately? Obviously, a sign of an old man who doesn't want change!
Fortunately for me, Pat Booth, a friend and a Missouri blogger came to my rescue. Pat lives an hour and a half northwest of me. In the Ozark Mountains that makes for an interesting but beautiful drive.
Pat has a heart for Arkansas as he lived in and graduated from a high school in Eastern Arkansas and has family still in Arkansas. On Friday, on his way to his class reunion, we met for lunch. He asked about my computer situation and then offered that he and and a friend would look over the computer to see if they could repair it. Pat loves rebuilding things from computers, to motorcycles, to boats and planes. He is also a pilot and in his younger days flew "special missions" over the mountains and rivers of Laos during the Vietnam War. He then served a full career in the FAA as an Air Traffic Controller.
On Sunday, on his way home from his reunion, we met and I presented him with the remains of my computer. I didn't expect to hear from him for a week or so. However, he called me late on Monday and said they had fixed the computer. They had poured over the computer, cussed me for my failure to attend to the inner workings of the computer over the many years, and did some major surgery. Today, we met half way, and Pat returned my resurrected computer - fixed and operational. It has new "which-a-ma-call-its" and runs like a dream. It may even outlive its owner.
Thank you Pat! Be sure to check his writings and posts at The Blue Eye View. Tags:Ozark Guru, computer, repair, Pat Booth, The Blue Eye ViewTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Tags:Communist, Democratic Attack machine, Obama incompetence, Occupy Wall Street, Wall Street, Wall Street Protesters, Wall Street protests, tool, mob, democrats, A.F. Branco, political cartoonTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Tags:Democrats, Venn diagram, ignorance, narcissism, Marxism, selfishness, theft, greedTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
MAINE: "The City of Auburn has planned to provide iPad 2 tablets to kindergartners this fall. ... The fall 2011 purchase of 309 iPads, at a cost of $228,000, will come from $96,000 in leftover federal economic stimulus money." ("Auburn explains iPad funding," Sun Journal [ME], 6/24/11)
UTAH: "In order to provide quality coaching and support the iObservation system, funds from the Title I, Part A grant were used to purchase 28 Apple iPads. The iPads were used to support district and school administrators in their use of iObservation and support them in their efforts to improve teaching and learning for students most at risk of failing to meet state standards. Another focus of the grant is to improve the technology connectivity for teachers and students at two high schools. Total Amount: $156,000; Location: Sevier School District in Utah; AWARD DATE: 7/1/2010; Project Status: Less Than 50% Completed; Jobs Reported: 0.0."(Sevier School Distract, Inc. Grants - Award Summary, Recovery.Gov)
ALABAMA: "Alabama's biggest recipient of federal education stimulus dollars thus far is not a local school system or a college: It's the Department of Corrections, according to a Press-Register analysis. The agency has received $118 million of $1.1 billion in stimulus funding doled out to the state by the U.S. Department of Education since 2009." ("Prisons The Biggest Recipient Of Alabama's Education Stimulus Dollars" Press-Register [AL], 12/19/10)
Laptops
VIRGINIA: "Virginia Beach, on the other hand, used relatively little of its stimulus money for salaries. According to Farrell Hanzaker, chief financial officer for the division, $16 million was used to build a new College Park Elementary School, and other money went toward supplies, materials and technology like laptop computers and reading and math remediation software. About 85 salaries are being paid with education jobs money. 'We didn't want to use the stimulus money to fund ongoing kinds of expenditures,' Hanzaker said. 'We knew that was one-time money that would go away in two years.'" ("Federal Stimulus Money Is Running Out For Schools," The Virginian-Pilot, 7/12/11)
Movie, Water Park Tickets
NORTH CAROLINA: North Carolina Schools used stimulus money for "tickets for movies, a water park, fast food, and other entertainment." "The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) mandates GAO to review states' and localities' use of funds made available under the act. ... In our review of documents, we found evidence that in addition to paying teachers a total of $17,270 in salaries, HAWS [Housing Authority of Winston-Salem] also used ESEA [Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965] Title I funds to pay for STEP [Summer Teaching Enrichment Program] activities that included other salaries and field trip-related expenses, including tickets for movies, a water park, fast food, and other entertainment." (GAO, "GAO Review of LEA Controls over and Uses of Recovery Act Education Funds (Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools)," 7/9/10)
STIMULUS PROMISE FLASHBACK: Will Prevent "Laying Off Firefighters, And Teachers, And Police."
PRESIDENT OBAMA: "It's a plan that will save or create up to four million jobs over the next two years ... And the jobs of firefighters, teachers, nurses, and police officers that would otherwise be eliminated if we don't provide states with some relief."(President Obama, Town Hall Remarks, Fort Myers, FL, 2/10/09)
OBAMA: "We've created and saved, as you said, Joe, at least 150,000 Jobs - jobs of teachers and nurses and firefighters and police officers. People who had been laid off are not being laid off…" (President Obama, Remarks, Washington, D.C., 6/8/09)
Tags:Obama Administration, federal spending, money for jobs, no jobs, jobs, iPads, prisions, Laptops, Movie, Water Park TicketsTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
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