There Already is a Palestine

by Rod Martin: Forty-six years after the Six Day War, its memory invariably produces a deluge of propaganda attacking “the Zionist Entity” and promoting “an independent Palestine”, restricted to the territories Israel took in 1967 (for English-speaking audiences), or “driving the last Jew into the sea” (in Arabic and Persian). Lost in the din are some particularly “inconvenient truths”, both historical and contemporary, but none more so than this: there already is a Palestine, and it’s called Jordan.

This may be news to you. It is certainly not news to the Jordanians (the vast majority of whom are actually Palestinians). It’s not news to the Israelis either, who having made peace with Jordan don’t care to raise the issue. It certainly isn’t news to the terrorists in the West Bank and Gaza: it just doesn't serve their purpose.

But truth is truth. And it might ultimately serve everyone’s interests to remember it.

“Palestine” (from the Greek for Philistine, the deadly enemies of ancient Israel) was a creation of the World War I Allies after they severed it from the Ottoman Empire, or Turkey. It was largely empty, and even then a large percentage of the people in the western portion (today’s Israel) were Jews.

In 1917 the British committed themselves in the Balfour Declaration to creating an independent Jewish homeland in Palestine, in much the same way that the Allies shortly carved Europe into independent homelands for the Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, Finns, Hungarians, Slovenes, Serbs, Bosnians, Montenegrins and Croats. This was based in large measure on Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points, the driving principle of which was the end of empire and the right of self-determination.

Hardly anyone opposed this. As Hussein ibn-Ali, the Hashemite Sharif of Mecca and leader of the Arab Revolt against the Turks, wrote in 1918, “The resources of the country are still virgin soil and will be developed by the Jewish immigrants. [The Arabs know] that the country [is] for its original sons, for all their differences, a sacred and beloved homeland.” Implicit in his statement was the emptiness of the land, largely depopulated for two millennia.

The next year, Hussein’s son Faisal, newly King of Syria and chief representative of the Arab nations at the Versailles Peace Conference, signed a treaty of friendship with Chaim Weizmann, leader of the Zionist Organization, jointly adopting the Balfour principles. It said: “All necessary measures shall be taken to encourage and stimulate immigration of Jews into Palestine on a large scale, and as quickly as possible….” King Faisal further wrote: “We Arabs, especially the educated among us, look with the deepest sympathy on the Zionist movement. Our delegation here in Paris is fully acquainted with the proposals submitted yesterday by the Zionist organization to the Peace Conference, and we regard them as moderate and proper.”

To implement this clearly enlightened position, Britain was given control over Palestine by the new League of Nations. But that “Palestine Mandate” covered neither what we think of as Palestine (the West Bank and Gaza, two concepts which did not yet exist) nor the PLO’s idea of Palestine (any territory currently held by a Jew). Oh no. “Palestine” meant what Weizmann, Faisal, Hussein, Churchill and all the powers at Versailles understood it to mean: Biblical Palestine, all of today’s Israel and Jordan. And the borders were drawn accordingly.

Hence, 80% of Palestine is today’s Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. And from this, things began to go off the tracks.

The problem began when France was granted Syria at the San Remo Conference the next year. It promptly invaded its new “mandate”, made it a French colony, and expelled Faisal. His brother Abdullah prepared to march on Damascus, but Churchill persuaded him not to attack Britain’s ally, and instead offered to make him Emir of a new British protectorate, “Transjordan” (literally, “the other side of the Jordan”). With the stroke of a pen, the Jews lost 80% of their land.

They didn’t complain that much. The Zionists understood that Jordan was filled with Palestinian Arabs, and there simply weren’t enough Jews to settle there anyway. They also hoped for continued peace and cooperation with the Hashemites: Hussein, Faisal and Abudullah, who had made peace with Weizmann and now ruled most of Arabia.

But of course the rest is history. The rising House of Saud drove Hussein’s Hashemites out of the Arabian Peninsula, which meant out of control of Mecca and Medina. Despite long-promised support, the British did nothing. They did make Faisal King of Iraq, but Iraq is not Mecca, or even Syria, and multiple broken promises by the European powers increasingly soured the Arabs on their deal with the (largely European) Jews.

Compounding stupidities, the British appointed the violent anti-Zionist Haj Amin al-Husseini (uncle of longtime PLO leader Yasser Arafat) Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. From this high post he not only incited ever-increasing hostility between Arab and Jew, but also, seeing the Germans as a superior alternative to the duplicitous British and French (like most Arab and Persian nationalists of the Thirties and Fourties), he openly collaborated with Adolf Hitler to bring the “Final Solution” to Palestine, adopting much of Nazi ideology in the process. Rabid anti-Semitism thus became the dominant sentiment of Arab leaders throughout the Middle East. It still is.

By 1947, the situation had deteriorated beyond repair. The UN attempted to resolve matters by partitioning the remaining 20% of Palestine into a Jewish half and an Arab half, leaving Jerusalem neutral and under international control. The Jews readily agreed to this 10% solution, and to peace. The Arabs instead chose war.

Failing to annihilate the Jews, Jordan instead annexed the West Bank. Egypt annexed Gaza. Even though these territories roughly corresponded with the UN’s planned Palestinian state – to which Israel had agreed – no Arab power even considered that an option. No Palestinian wanted it. And Jordan already existed: as King Hussein put it as late as 1981, “The truth is, Jordan is Palestine and Palestine is Jordan.”

No, the only thing the Arabs wanted was the extermination of the Jews. Which is still true of most of them, particularly the “Palestinians”, the ones on the west side of the Jordan River at least.

So is there a solution in all of this? Maybe.

The overwhelming majority of all Palestinians are today called Jordanians. Except for the Hashemite foreigners, they are the same people who live in the West Bank and Gaza.

But whereas Jordan is a functioning country, “the territories” are not. Gaza is a city-state with no commerce or industry occupied by 1.5 million largely unemployed and unemployable people whose primary skill is firing mortars at Jewish subdivisions. The largely rural West Bank is better, but not by much, and has no desire to be ruled by the city-dwellers in Gaza. There are virtually no jobs (other than “assassin” and “suicide bomber”) in either territory, and cannot be: who will invest in a country almost completely cut off by sea and air, that has a population whose chief skill is slitting throats, and is semi-permanently at war?

And then there’s Israel, just nine-miles across in its most populated region if the West Bank were independent. Which might be okay if the West Bank were populated by Canadians instead of Jew-hating suicide bombers.

Under the current diplomatic approach – the “two state solution” – Palestine can never be more than a seething economic and military dependency of Israel. Unless, of course, it achieves its sworn aim of actually destroying Israel.

But what if, instead of creating a dependent postage-stamp state with no future, “Palestine” was reattached to Jordan instead?

It would not be easy. Jordan doesn’t want the terrorists: it already fought a civil war in 1970 to drive the PLO (today’s Palestinian Authority) out of Jordan. And Israel would have to get some or all of the land, work out a permanent “neutral zone” under Jordanian authority but Israeli military and police, or somehow be able to trust the Jordanians with a border leaves Israel just nine miles across. Both sides would have to eradicate Hamas and the PLO, much easier said than done, but on the other hand, a boon to the entire world, most especially the Palestinian people.

Even so: recognition that Jordan is and always has been the promised Palestinian state restores the possibility of a meaningful solution instead of a violent stalemate. It permits geographic and security options now impossible for either side. It allows the possibility of peace based on equality with Israel, not dependence. And given today’s friendly ties and even free trade agreement between Jordan and Israel, it opens the door to genuine prosperity and freedom for all involved: a rolling back of the clock to a time when Arab and Jew lived confidently and cooperatively in mutual respect and peace.

For many, it is indeed an inconvenient truth. But it’s long past time someone pointed it out.
-------------
Rod D. Martin, founder and CEO of The Martin Organization, is a technology entrepreneur and conservative activist. Previously he served as policy director to Governor Mike Huckabee. He is currently President of the National Federation of Republican Assemblies (NFRA), is a member of the Council for National Policy and shares his his writings are online at RodMartin.org. This article was original published on the Center for Security Policy.

---

Tags:  Middle East, History, Gaza Strip,  Terrorists, Hamas, PLO, Israel, Israeli Borders,  Palestine, Palestine authority, Jordan,  Palestinians, United Nations,  UN, Rod Martin To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Sequester? What Sequester?

Norm Beznoska Jr., Letter to Editor: Sequester hasn't affected Mr.and Mrs. Life Styles of the Rich and Famous, Barack & Michelle Obama, from taking a week long vacation in June to Africa, along with their  "groupies' and relatives, costing taxpayers over $90 million dollars. In July, why it's time for another vacation to 'party on' in Martha's Vineyard, along with 75 hangers on; costing taxpayers another $7.6 million dollars. This is Obama's idea of "shared sacrifice": you sit home with your family and sacrifice; he vacations and parties on your dime.

What's that you liberal lemmings say?

Barack did save several million dollars by cancelling all student and taxpayer tours of the White House indefinitely; he cancelled Navy Fleet Week in New York City; grounded the Air Force Thunderbirds and Navy's Blue Angels flying teams for all of 2013; closed several National Parks; and lest we Greater Clevelanders forget, thanks to Barack the Most Generous, there will be NO Cleveland Air Show on Labor Day weekend for the first time in 49 years. After all, Barack says this is all for the greater good; who wants to listen to a bunch of noisy Navy and Air Force jets, and be around our brave men and women of the Armed Forces and show them our respect and appreciation for their service?

Certainly not Barack.
----------
Norm Beznoska Jr., aka Navyman Norm, lives in Strongsville, OH.

---

Tags: letter to the editor, Norm Beznoska, sequester, what sequester, Barack Obama To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Drowning in Sea Level Nonsense

Alan Caruba, Contributing Author: New York Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D) and forty members of Congress believe the sea levels are rising, that a panel should be created to determine what should be done, and, of course, to throw billions of dollars at a problem that does not exist. Politicians were eager to scare the public with the discredited global warming hoax and now they have found a new one.

In New York City, Mayor Bloomberg has proposed a $20 billion flood barrier system to protect the city from future hurricanes and rising sea levels. Well, hurricanes like tropical storm Sandy are real, but rare. Rising sea levels, however, represent no threat at all.

William Happer who researched ocean physics for the U.S. Air Force and is currently a physics professor at Princeton University notes that “The sea level has been rising since 1800, at the end of the ‘little ice age’”, a cooling cycle last from around 1300 to 1850. Far from heating up, the Earth entered a new cooling cycle around 1996 or so.

Harrison Schmitt, a former Apollo 17 astronaut, U.S. Senator, and a geologist, says “Predicting a sea level rise of seven feet over the next few thousand years would seem too risky a prediction on which to spend tax dollars” and that is surely an understatement. Wasting billions on “climate change”, however, is the new siren call of the Obama administration, but the National Research Council is warning, as Fox News reported, “that those kinds of subsidies are virtually useless at quelling greenhouse gases.

In fact, as the amount of carbon dioxide, the leading greenhouse gas—alleged to “trap” heat—has risen and has had zero effect on the cooling cycle.

A recent article in the British newspaper, The Register, reported on a study by scientists in Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, that was published in “Nature Geoscience” that concluded there was no “scientific consensus” to suggest the rate of the seas’ rise will accelerate dangerously.

The notion of the seas rising, swamping coastal cities, and creating havoc is the stuff of science fiction, not science. This is why spending millions or billions on the assertions of some who have a real stake in keeping the public frightened is a very bad idea.

At the center of the global warming scare campaign is the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Its most recent report said that “no long-term acceleration of sea level has been identified using 20th-century data alone” but that does not discourage the IPCC from forecasting an increase due to global warming. This organization should be disbanded and, if I were in charge, many of its leaders would be in jail right now for fraud.

Who can you believe? One such person is Dr. Nils-Axel Morner, the former chair of the Paleogeophysics and Geodynamics department at Stockholm University in Sweden. He is the past president (1999-2003) of the International Union for Quaternary Research Commission on Sea Level Changes and Coastal Evolution. He has been studying sea level and its effects on coastal areas for more than 35 years. I cited his credentials because others making predictions lack the same level of authority.

Dr. Morner acknowledges that “sea level was indeed rising from, let us say, 1850 to 1930-40. And that rise had a rate in the order of 1 millimeter per year. (Emphasis added). Get out your pocket ruler and look at what one millimeter represents. It is small. It is very small. Not surprisingly Dr. Morner is very critical of the IPCC and its headline-grabbing doomsday predictions. He scorns the IPCC’s claim to “know” that facts about sea level rise, noting that real scientists “are searching for the answer” by continuing to collect data “because we are field geologists; they are computer scientists. So all this talk that sea level is rising, this stems from the computer modeling, not from observations. The observations don’t find it!”

A recent paper reviewed by CO2 Science finds that sea levels have risen from 2002-2011 at a rate of only 1.7 millimeters per year over the past 110 years, the equivalent of 6.7 inches per century. This is close to Dr. Morner’s assertion that, at most, there has been a rate of increase that tops out at 1.1 millimeter per year. The review concluded that there is no evidence of any human influence on sea levels.

Even so, in early July a scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Josh Willis, told Fox News, that “There is no question that the time to prepare for sea level rise is now… We will definitely see seven feet of sea level rise — the only question is when.” And who funds NASA?

Between the scientists trying to gin up more government money for their agencies and departments and the politicians trying to find a new reason to spend more money, the public is left wondering if the oceans are rising and whether that represents something worth worrying about. The answer is (a) yes, sea levels are rising in infinitesimal amounts and (b) no, we need to stop spending money based on such claims.

It’s not the sea level rise you should worry about. It is the rising levels of national debt and the deficit.
------------------
© 2013 Alan Caruba. Alan is a writer by profession; has authored several books, and writes a daily column, "Warning Signs" disseminated on many Internet news and opinion websites and blogs. He is a contributing author at ARRA News Service.

---

Tags: sea level, global warming scare, New York City, Mayor Bloomberg, national debt, the deficit, Alan Caruba To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

The Sequester And The GDP

by Public Notice:  Rising Taxes – Not Federal Spending Cuts – Are The Primary Contributor To The Projected Drag On The Economy. “Surprisingly, despite all the attention federal spending cuts and sequestration have received, our calculations suggest they are not the main contributors to this projected drag. The excess fiscal drag on the horizon comes almost entirely from rising taxes. Specifically, we calculate that nine-tenths of that projected 1 percentage point excess fiscal drag comes from tax revenue rising faster than normal as a share of the economy.” (Brian Lucking And Daniel Wilson, “Fiscal Headwinds: Is The Other Shoe About To Drop?,” Federal Reserve Bank Of San Francisco, 6/3/13)

• The “Super-Cyclical” Rise Of Tax Revenue Is Due To Higher Income Tax Rates, The Expiration Of Social Security Payroll Tax Cuts, And New Taxes From Obamacare. “As Panel B shows, at the end of 2012, taxes as a share of GDP were below both their historical norm in relation to the business cycle and their long-run average of about 18%. However, over the next three years, they are projected to rise much faster than our estimate of the usual cyclical pattern would indicate. The CBO points to several factors underlying this ‘super-cyclical’ rise, including higher income tax rates for high-income households, the recent expiration of temporary Social Security payroll tax cuts, and new taxes associated with the Obama Administration’s health-care legislation.” (Brian Lucking And Daniel Wilson, “Fiscal Headwinds: Is The Other Shoe About To Drop?,” Federal Reserve Bank Of San Francisco, 6/3/13)

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has Long Warned That Reversing Sequester Cuts Would Weaken The Economy In The Long Term

NOVEMBER 2012: The CBO – In Analyzing The Then-Looming "Fiscal Cliff" – Projected That "Continuing Current Policies Would Lead To Faster Economic Growth In The Near Term But A Weaker Economy In Later Years." "CBO projects that the significant tax increases and spending cuts that are due to occur in January will probably cause the economy to fall back into a recession next year, but they will make the economy stronger later in the decade and beyond. In contrast, continuing current policies would lead to faster economic growth in the near term but a weaker economy in later years." ("Choices For Deficit Reduction," CBO, 11/8/12)

FEBRUARY 2013: "Although CBO Expects That Reducing The Amount Of Fiscal Tightening This Year Would Strengthen The Economy In The Short Term, The Resulting Increase In Federal Borrowing Would Weaken The Economy In The Longer Term Unless Other Changes In Spending Or Tax Policy Were Made To Offset That Additional Borrowing." (Wendy Edelberg, "Automatic Reductions In Government Spending -- AKA Sequestration," CBO, 2/28/13)

JULY 2013: "Although Output Would Be Greater And Employment Higher In The Next Few Years If The Spending Reductions Under Current Law Were Reversed, That Policy Would Lead To Greater Federal Debt, Which Would Eventually Reduce The Nation’s Output And Income Below What Would Occur Under Current Law." "Although output would be greater and employment higher in the next few years if the spending reductions under current law were reversed, that policy would lead to greater federal debt, which would eventually reduce the nation’s output and income below what would occur under current law. Moreover, boosting debt above the amounts projected under current law would diminish policymakers’ ability to use tax and spending policies to respond to unexpected future challenges and would increase the risk of a fiscal crisis (in which the government would lose the ability to borrow money at affordable interest rates)." (Douglas W. Elmendorf, "How Eliminating The Automatic Spending Reductions Specified By The Budget Control Act Would Affect The U.S. Economy In 2014," CBO, 7/25/13)
-------------
Public Notice is an independent non-profit dedicated to providing facts and insight on the economy and how government policy affects Americans’ financial well-being.

---

Tags: sequester, GDP, CBO,  the economy, spending, debt, public notice To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

US Economy Still Sucks | McConnell: 'Pushes Unity And No Votes On Spending'

Today in Washington, D.C. - July 31, 2013:
BIG DEAL: The U.S. economy grew at a 1.7% in the second quarter which was ahead of analysts' predictions. The Commerce Department says growth improved from a sluggish 1.1% in the January-March quarter, which was revised from an initial 1.8% Now, we wait for the revised number for this quarter. Comparing apples to apples verses apples (the original figures) verses to oranges (the revised figures) means the economy is still sluggish at 1.7% which is less than last quarters original figure of 1.8%. While figure don't lie, it is obvious that in Washington, lairs do figure.

This paltry level of growth shows that big government attempts to revive the economy have failed, and big government policies, like Obamacare, higher taxes and excessive regulation, continue to impede recovery.Despite adding trillions of dollars to the debt, some in Washington will no doubt call for even more reckless government spending and to reverse the sequester. But the fact is, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has repeatedly said that doing so would hurt our economic output even more in the long run and only increase the risk of a fiscal crisis. It’s time for Washington to remove itself from the picture, and empower innovators and entrepreneurs to retake the reins of our economy. The best we can say on the Commerce Departments report is that the "U.S. Economy Still Sucks!"

The Senate reconvened at 9:30 AM today and resumed consideration of S. 1243, the Fiscal Year 2014 Transportation-Housing and Urban Development (THUD) appropriations bill. Following leader remarks, senators debated an amendment offered by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) that would have redirected money that would be spent on foreign aid to Egypt on infrastructure projects in the U.S.

The Senate then voted 86-13 to table (vote down) the Paul amendment. The Senate then recessed until 1 PM so Senate Democrats could meet with President Obama.

At 1 PM, the Senate will take up the nomination of Todd Jones to be Director of the ATF Bureau. At 2 PM, the Senate will vote on cloture (cutting off debate) on the Jones nomination. If cloture is invoked, the Senate will then vote on confirmation of the Jones nomination.

At 4:25 PM, the Senate will take up the nomination of Samantha Power to be Ambassador to the United Nations. and will vote at 6:25, the Senate will vote on confirmation of the Power nomination.

Yesterday, the Senate confirmed five members to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Kent Hirozawa was confirmed by a vote of 54-44. The Senate invoked cloture on the nomination of Nancy Schiffer by a vote of 65-33 and she was confirmed by a 54-44 vote. Senators then voted 69-29 to invoke cloture on the nomination of Mark Pearce and confirmed him by a vote of 59-38. The nominations of Harry Johnson and Philip Miscimarra were then confirmed by voice vote.

The House reconvened at 10 AM and resumed action on H.R. 2711 "To amend title 5, United States Code, to establish certain procedures for conducting in-person or telephonic interactions by Executive branch employees with individuals, and for other purposes." Votes on other bills expected.

The House yesterday voted on numerous amendments to HR 2711 and approved:
Griffin (R-AR) (Voice Vote) - Page 2, Line 13 - Reduces the Office of the Secretary - Salaries and Expenses by $500,000 and increases the Pipeline Safety Fund by the same amount.
Latham (R-IA) (Voice Vote) - Page 4, Line 4 - Makes technical changes allowing for funds to be available for Research and Innovative Technology Administration.
Speier (D-CA) (Voice Vote) - Page 11, Line 4 - Decreases NextGen by $500,000 and increases Aviation Safety Activities by the same amount (intended for Low Airspeed Warning Systems).
Wolf (R-VA) (Voice Vote) - Page 29, Line 23 - Strikes Sec. 123 and eliminates an additional $13 million from the administrative expenses from the Federal Highway Administration.
Gallego (D-TX) (317-92) - Page 3, Line 5 - Removes the $10.778 million for Intelligence, Security, and Emergency Response under Transportation - Office of the Secretary - Salaries and Expenses.
Gallego (D-TX) (317-92) - Page 3, Line 5 - Removes the $10.778 million for Intelligence, Security, and Emergency Response under Transportation - Office of the Secretary - Salaries and Expenses.
Young (R-AK) (239-175) - Page 9, Line 6 - Exempts Alaska and Hawaii from the prohibition on essential air services for communities with a per passenger subsidy rate over $500.
Castor (D-FL) (Voice Vote) - Page 68, Line 11 - Reduces HUD - Executive Offices by $3 million and transfers the same amount to Office of Field Policy and Management (intended to prevent the closure of HUD field offices).
Capito (R-WV) (Voice Vote) - Page 68, Line 19 - Increases Community Development Block Grant Program by $350 million and reduces various other accounts by the same amount.
Second Latham (R-IA) (Voice Vote) - Page 96, Line 9 - Makes a technical correction that keeps FY2014 funding for Project-Based Rental Assistance at FY2013 levels.
Second Grayson (D-FL) (Voice Vote) - Page 108, Line 19 - Increases funds available under Fair Housing Programs for the Limited English Proficiency Program to $450,000.
Fourth Broun (R-GA) (Voice Vote) - Reduces funding for the Federal Maritime Commission by $100,000 (back to FY2013 levels) and transfers the same amount to the Spending Reduction Account.

The following were rejected:
Broun (R-GA) - (Voice Vote) Page 43, Line 10 - Eliminates all funding for Amtrak Capital and Debt Service Grants ($600 million) and transfers the same amount to the Spending Reduction Account.
Grayson (D-FL) (191-224) Page 9, Line 7 - Restricts funds from being used to provide essential air service to communities with a subsidy of higher than $250 per passenger.
McClintock (R-CA) (166-248) - Page 8, Line 9 - Eliminates all funding ($100 million) for Payments to Air Carriers (Essential Air Service) and transfers the same amount to the Spending Reduction Account.
First Hastings (D-FL) (154-258) - Page 11, Line 9 - Increases funding for the NextGen program by $3.497 million without a corresponding offset.
Second Hastings (D-FL) (109-300) - Page 14, Line 9 - Intends to make $870 million available for NextGen facilities and equipment.
Third Hastings (D-FL) (116-295) - Page 15, Line 16 - Makes $61.96 million available for NextGen research and development from FAA Research, Engineering, and Development.
Third Broun (R-GA)(Voice Vote) - Page 102, Line 9 - Reduces Rental Housing Assistance by $5 million and transfers the same amount to the Spending Reduction Account.

Roll Call reports today, “It’s been a rough road for the Transportation-HUD spending bill that’s pending on the Senate floor. . . . Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Wednesday morning on the Senate floor that he was encouraging opposition to the bill, which should come as no surprise, since the Kentucky Republican has voted against measures in committee, where he has maintained his seat as Republican leader. ‘Voting for appropriations legislation that blatantly violates budget reforms already agreed to by both parties moves our country in the exact wrong direction. It puts us on the Democrat path to austerity. That’s one of the many reasons I’ll be voting against this spending bill, and that I urge my colleagues to do the same. Because it’s time to get serious about the challenges we face,’ McConnell said. ‘It’s time to work together to reposition America for growth, and prosperity, and sustainability in the 21st century.’ . . . ‘We need to hold together and defeat cloture on the bill,’ Republican Conference Chairman John Thune of South Dakota said Tuesday.”

On the Senate floor this morning, Leader McConnell explained, “Last year, the slightest hint of fiddling with spending caps led to a furious response from senior Washington Democrats. It even led to a veto threat from the White House. But now, Washington Democrats are tired of bipartisanship. The commitments they made have become an inconvenience to their special-interest agenda. So now, they’re threatening to shut down the government if they’re not allowed to break their word. That’s what this appropriations debate we’re having is all about. It’s about an attempt to blow up an important bipartisan achievement by busting the spending caps both parties already agreed to. Well, Republicans don’t believe we should be breaking our commitments to the American people. And breaking commitments in order to overspend, as Democrats propose, seems like an even worse reason for them to shut down the government.”

A year ago, Democrats were outraged that House Republicans suggested spending less than the spending levels agreed to. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said, “We passed the Budget Control Act. … We've agreed to all of those numbers. They're done. They're agreed to.” And Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) fumed, “They want to undo the Budget Control Act from August and put discretionary cuts back on the table. … Stop pushing domestic discretionary cuts that violate the debt ceiling agreement from August.” But now Democrats are demanding to exceed those spending caps that they agreed to.

Arguing against allowing Democrats to ignore the spending agreement, Leader McConnell said, “That’s why the choices we make today are so important. We can follow the Democrat path to austerity. The path of breaking spending caps wide open and borrowing more money we don’t have, of callously rejecting reform and blissfully denying the future. The path that inevitably leads to European-style austerity. To the decimation of the middle class. To desperation for the least among us. Or we can follow the Republican path to reform and growth. A path of smart choices, innovative reforms, and orienting our economy toward the future. A path that not only prevents austerity tomorrow, but leads to more jobs and a better economy today. A Democrat path to austerity, or a Republican path to reform and growth. These are the choices. Voting for appropriations legislation that blatantly violates budget reforms already agreed to by both parties moves our country in the exact wrong direction. It puts us on the Democrat path to austerity. That’s one of the many reasons I’ll be voting against this spending bill, and that I urge my colleagues to do the same.”

---

Tags: Washington, D.C., the economy, Republicans, no votes, wasteful spending To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Speaker Boehner: We’re Not Just Talking About Jobs, We’re Taking Action

WASHINGTON, DC – At a press conference with Republican leaders today, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) highlighted the House’s continuing action on the Republican jobs plan, and took the president to task for recycling the same proposals that have left the economy stuck with the new normal of slow growth, stagnant wages and high unemployment.Following are Boehner’s remarks:“Under the president’s leadership our economy continues to struggle with slow economic growth, high unemployment, stagnant wages. And frankly, I think we can do much better.

“Instead of working together, the president yesterday threatened to shut down the government and recycled some of his old partisan proposals. His scheme yesterday would actually require small businesses to pay higher tax rates than big companies. Now the only thing that’s new here is that he wants to take some of that revenue and use it for more of his ‘stimulus’ spending.

“Listen, Republicans are acting on economic growth and job creation. This week, we’ll work on a permanent, market-based rate for student loans. It’s very similar to a bill that we moved here in May. I want to congratulate the Senate for finally getting this bill over to us. We’ll pass bills to stop government abuse. And we’re going to continue to work on real tax reform, both on the personal side and the corporate side, not just to help big companies.

“We’re not just over here making noise, the House Republicans are continuing to take action.”

---

Tags: House Speaker, John Boehner, jobs, taking action To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Obamacare Takes Friendly Fire

Obamacare ‘Employees Feel Like They've Been Used As A Political Tool,’ Unions ‘Want No Part Of The Law’
Obamacare Call Center Jobs: ‘Part-Time, With No Health Benefits’

‘Half the jobs are part-time, with no health benefits -- a stinging disappointment to workers’ “Earlier this year, Contra Costa County won the right to run a health care call center, where workers will answer questions to help implement the president's Affordable Care Act. …information has surfaced that about half the jobs are part-time, with no health benefits -- a stinging disappointment to workers and local politicians who believed the positions would be full-time.” (“Half Of Affordable Care Act Call Center Jobs Will Be Part-Time,” Contra Costa Times, 7/26/13)

• “One recent hire, who last week learned the job would be part-time, said the new ‘intermittent’ employees feel like they've been used as a political tool, and many now regret applying for the positions. ‘What's really ironic is working for a call center and trying to help people get health care, but we can't afford it ourselves,’ said the worker, who asked for anonymity out of fear of losing the job.” (“Half Of Affordable Care Act Call Center Jobs Will Be Part-Time,” Contra Costa Times, 7/26/13)
• “‘It reminded me of that George Clooney movie where he goes around the country firing people ('Up in the Air'),’ the employee said. ‘The woman said, 'I know you were led to believe you would be full time, but things have changed. ... You are actually 'part-time intermittent.'’ The worker said no clear reasons for the change were given. Those who became part-time were told they would have to pay full freight on their health plans, ranging from $600 to $1,200 a month for a single worker and between $1,400 to $2,900 a month for an employee with a family.” (“Half Of Affordable Care Act Call Center Jobs Will Be Part-Time,” Contra Costa Times, 7/26/13)

Unions ‘Want No Part Of The Law’

“IRS employees have a prominent role in Obamacare, but their union wants no part of the law. National Treasury Employees Union officials are urging members to write their congressional representatives in opposition to receiving coverage through President Obama’s health care law.” (”IRS Employee Union: We Don’t Want Obamacare,” Washington Examiner, 7/25/13)

Big Labor: “…the ACA will shatter not only our hard-earned health benefits, but destroy the foundation of the 40 hour work week that is the backbone of the American middle class.” (International Brotherhood Of Teamsters, UFCW, & Unite-Here, Letter To Sen. Reid & Rep. Pelosi, 7/12/13)

• “…the law creates an incentive for employers to keep employees’ work hours below 30 hours a week. Numerous employers have begun to cut workers’ hours to avoid this obligation, and many of them are doing so openly.” (International Brotherhood Of Teamsters, UFCW, & Unite-Here, Letter To Sen. Reid & Rep. Pelosi, 7/12/13)

D. Taylor, Unite Here President: Obamacare ‘incentivizes employers to drop insurance, and it hurts not-for-profit health care. We think that that is perverse.’ “Here we have people who have really good insurance: low cost, high quality insurance. And we have an act by Congress, signed by the White House that as it is today incentivizes employers to drop insurance, and it hurts not-for-profit health care. We think that that is perverse.” (“UNITE Here Boss D. Taylor Lambastes Obamacare,” Las Vegas Sun, 7/1/13)

---

Tags: Obamacare, friendly fire, unions, train wreck To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Famous Metro Disasters

by AF "Tony" Branco

---

Tags: famous, city disasters, Detroit, damaged by, democrats, editorial cartoon, AF Branco To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Reps. Donna Edwards (D-MD.) and Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) - July 2013 Porkers of the Month

Reps. Donna Edwards & Eddie Bernice
Johnson Porkers of the Month

Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) named Reps. Donna Edwards (D-MD) and Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) July 2013 Porker of the Month for co-sponsoringd H.R. 2617, the Apollo Lunar Landing Legacy Act, to establish the Apollo Lunar Landing Sites National Historical Park on the Moon.

Apparently not content to confine their legislating to this planetoid, Reps. Edwards and Johnson have gone where no member of Congress has gone before. H.R. 2617 would “preserve and protect for the benefit of present and future generations the nationally significant historic sites associated with the Historical Park.” In addition, the bill would require the Secretary of the Interior to submit the lunar landing site to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization for designation as a World Heritage Site. The costs of the park are not known, but they would likely be out of this world.

While it is typical for members of Congress to imagine themselves with celestial powers, the legality of establishing a national park outside of the United States, let alone on Earth’s largest satellite, is unclear at best. And the notion of improving upon the moon’s natural preservation facilities, such as having no atmosphere, reveals a level of hubris that only government can deliver. Of course, member of Congress cannot resist mooning about ways to fix what isn’t broken. It is no surprise that Reps. Edward and Johnson, who respectively have lifetime ratings of 4 percent and 8 percent from the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste, are extending their extravagant expenditures far past Earth.

“If this park goes forward, there are many ways that Congress can shoot for the moon,” said CAGW President Tom Schatz. “First, the cafeteria must serve only green cheese. Second, all equipment must run solely on moonbeams. Finally, and most importantly, the park entrance must be protected at all times from illegal aliens. Since Reps. Edwards and Johnson are so enamored of the historical site, they should be designated as the permanent park rangers. After all, they are both strong proponents of using tax dollars to ‘create jobs.’ We promise not to complain about the astronomical cost of their travel, salaries, and living expenses.”

For straying so far from reality’s orbit, wasting the taxpayers’ money on the paper and ink on which H.R. 2617 is written, and engaging in sheer “lunarcy,” Reps. Donna Edwards and Eddie Bernice Johnson are CAGW’s July 2013 Porkers of the Month. CAGW is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government. Porker of the Month is a dubious honor given to lawmakers, government officials, and political candidates who have shown a blatant disregard for the interests of taxpayers.

---

Tags: lunacy, National Park, On the Moon, the moon, moon, H.R. 2617, Apollo Lunar Landing Legacy Act, representatives, Donna Edwards, D-MD, Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-TX, Porker of the Months, July, 2013, Citizens Against Government Waste, CAGW To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

'No Jews Allowed'

Gary Bauer, Contributing Author: Efforts to restart stalled Middle East peace talks began yesterday at the State Department. Unfortunately, we already have seen two outrages, one from Barack Obama and one from Mahmoud Abbas.

Friday afternoon, citing "the national security interests of the United States," President Obama issued an executive order releasing approximately $150 million to the Palestinian Authority. Obama has the legal authority to issue such orders in spite of congressional opposition.

Nevertheless, what does it tell us about the "peace process" that Obama must bribe the Palestinians with our tax dollars in order to get them to the negotiating table? That taxpayer money should stay here for pressing needs rather than being used to prop up the corrupt Palestinian regime, which continues to honor jihadist homicide bombers.

Just how corrupt is the Palestinian Authority? Speaking in Egypt yesterday, Mahmoud Abbas said, "In a final resolution, we would not see the presence of a single Israeli -- civilian or soldier -- on our lands."

Sound familiar? Abbas sounds like Adolf Hitler and his "final solution" to the so-called "Jewish problem" in Europe. Abbas is talking like a 1920s-style segregationist saying that under his plan no Jews will be allowed to live in a future Palestinian state.

Ironically, America's first president of color is silent about Abbas's stated goal of a Jew free zone while he embraces the George Wallace of Palestine. There are a million Arabs in Israel. But not one Jew will be permitted in the Palestinian territories. And Abbas not only wants his Palestinian state, he also demands the right to flood Israel with millions of additional Palestinian "refugees."

Yet in spite of this vile hatred and unreasonable demand, most of the pressure during these negotiations will come down against the Israelis. Already the Obama Administration has pressured Israel to release scores of convicted terrorists as a sign of "good will."

And the front page of today's Washington Post offers this headline: "As Talks Begin, Jewish Settlers Present Challenge." So the "challenge" is not Hamas or Palestinian anti-Semitism, but Jews living in Judea and parts of Jerusalem.

Yet long before there were so-called "settlements," Israel's enemies had tried repeatedly to destroy it. The problem isn't Jewish homes in Judea and Samaria. The problem is that too many of Israel's neighbors don't believe Israel has a right to exist.
-------------
Gary Bauer is is a conservative family values advocate and serves as president of American Values and chairman of the Campaign for Working Families where his articles are also shared.

---

Tags: Israel, Palestine  Middle East, peace talks, settlements, right to exist To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Opposing Bulk NSA Surveillance | Rep. Justin Amash

Rep. Justin Amash

CATO Institute: Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) cosponsored an amendment that would have defunded the National Security Agency's unwarranted bulk collection of Americans' phone data. The measure failed narrowly, but has re-energized the legislative struggle for civil liberties. Amash believes that James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence, should be prosecuted for lying to Congress. He also says he doesn't appreciate the "condescending" tone of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie with respect to the debate over national security.

---

Tags: opposing, NSA, National Security Agency Surveillance, Representative, Justin Amash, R-MI, America, phone data, James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, lying, to Congress, Congress To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Vote Scheduled On The REINS Act - Contact Your Representative

Phil Kerpen, Contributing Author: In 2009, a Kentucky man named Lloyd Rogers handed his Congressman a piece of paper containing an idea that idea became the REINS Act, H.R. 367. The United States House of Representatives will vote on it this Thursday.

Rogers started at the beginning of the Constitution. The very first thing after the famous "We the People" preamble is this:
"All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives."So how, Rogers asked his Congressman, could the EPA double his water bill without a vote of Congress? Didn't we elect you to make these decisions?

A wounded four-year Navy veteran, Rogers was a commander of both the Disabled American Veterans and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. His political hero is Thomas Jefferson.

His REINS Act would simply require that economically significant regulations go through the constitutionally prescribed process for passing laws: approval by the House and Senate, and a presidential signature or veto override.

Please spread the word about this important vote. We need a strong showing in this House vote to pressure the Senate to act on this bill that would force Congress to finally do the job it was elected do.
Click here NOW to urge your Member of Congress to vote YES on the REINS Act to stop Congress from outsourcing its job to bureaucrats and regulators!
------------------
Phil Kerpen is president of American Commitment  and the author of Democracy Denied: How Obama is Bypassing Congress to Radically Transform America – and How to Stop Him. Phil Kerpen is a contributing author for the ARRA News Service.

Note: While the ARRA News Service is not in the book selling business, we  recommend Phil Kerpen's book which  has a whole chapter on the REINS Act including an extensive interview with Lloyd Rogers.  It is presently available on Amazon for an unbelievable 12 cents hardback. You can also get read it on your Kindle for 11 cents and no shipping cost.

---

Tags: Phil Kerpen, REINS Act, US House, H.R  367,   To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Democrat Spending Hypocrisy - They Want to Spend More Than Agreed Budget Spending Levels

Today in Washington, D.C. - July 30, 2013
CNS News reports today, "According to the Daily Treasury Statement for July 26, which the Treasury released this afternoon, the federal debt has been stuck at exactly $16,699,396,000,000.00 for 70 straight days. That is approximately $25 million below the legal limit of $16,699,421,095,673.60 that Congress has imposed on the debt."

"The portion of the federal debt subject to the legal limit set by Congress first hit $16,699,396,000,000.00 at the close of business on May 17. At the close of every business day since then, it has also been $16,699,396,000,000.00, according to the official accounting published by the Treasury Department."

"If the debt had increased by even $30 million at any time during those 70 days, it would have exceeded the statutory limit. But, according to the Treasury, the debt did not do that. Instead, it remained precisely $16,699,396,000,000.00.
Even though the government's official accounting of the debt has not budged for 70 days, the Treasury has continued to sell bills, notes and bonds at a value that exceeds the value of the bills, notes and bonds it was redeeming."

If the above makes your head spin, your not alone. But recall the culprit-in-chief at Treasury is Secretary  Jack Lew.

The Senate reconvened at 10 AM today and began consideration of Kent Hirozawa to be a member of the National Labor Relations Board. The Senate voted 64-34 to invoke cloture (cut off debate) on the Hirozawa nomination. There will be up to 8 hours of post-cloture debate on the nomination.

Cloture votes are possible later today on two other NLRB nominees, Nancy Schiffer and Mark Pearce.

The Senate is expected to return to S. 1243, the Fiscal Year 2014 Transportation-Housing and Urban Development (THUD) appropriations bill later today.

Yesterday, the Senate voted 93-1 to confirm James Comey as FBI director.

The House reconvened at Noon today. The are scheduled to consider the following bills:
HR 2094 — School Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act
HR 2754 — Collectible Coin Protection Act
HR 1300 — to reauthorize volunteer programs and community partnerships to benefit national wildlife refuges as part of the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956.
HR 2610 — Fiscal 2014 Transportation-HUD Appropriations

Americans for Limited Government President Nathan Mehrens today reacted to the impending Senate confirmation of two Obama nominees, Nancy Schiffer and Mark Pear, to the National Labor Relations Board, "The rubber stamping of two nominees to the National Labor Relations Board without even a semblance of basic Senatorial vetting, signifies the damage done by Senator John McCain and his Republican followers who gave away the threat of filibustering nominees. The Senate's new 'see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil' confirmation approach is a disgrace to the institution and a disservice to the people who elected Senators to perform their basic constitutional duties."

While Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has remained relatively silent on the recent nominations, he did speak this morning on government spending caps. McConnell said, “Two summers ago, Republicans and Democrats came together to agree on a set of spending caps for the following decade. President Obama agreed to it, as did the leaders of both parties in the Senate and the House. It was essentially a promise made to the American people that Washington would reduce spending by $2.1 trillion. And I was happy to help lead the effort. Well, two years later, Democrats are now trying to find ways to walk away from it. They’re pressing to abandon the 2011 agreement in favor of higher spending, as evidenced by appropriations bills like the one we’re considering this week – which hikes up spending by double digits. And the President is now actually threatening to veto bills that live up to that commitment we all made.”

As the CQ reported last week, “The Senate Appropriations Committee drafted its 12 annual spending bills based on a $1.058 trillion discretionary spending level that exceeds the limits of the Budget Control Act (PL 112-25) and assumes that sequestration will be repealed and replaced.” Last Thursday, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) tried to get the appropriations bill the Senate is currently working on, the Fiscal Year 2014 Transportation-Housing and Urban Development (THUD) appropriations bill, sent back to the Appropriations Committee so its spending levels would be reduced to the lower levels that were agreed on, but majority Democrats voted to block that move.

Leader McConnell noted, “The President of the United States – who, during the campaign, took credit for the very savings Democrats now want to walk away from – is threatening to veto spending bills that would actually follow the law and live up to the commitment he himself signed. This represents a stunning shift for Democrats, who just recently were warning against breaking the agreement.”

Last year, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said, “We passed the Budget Control Act. … We've agreed to all of those numbers. They're done. They're agreed to.” Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the number 3 Senate Democrat, accused House Republicans last year, “They want to undo the Budget Control Act from August and put discretionary cuts back on the table. … Stop pushing domestic discretionary cuts that violate the debt ceiling agreement from August.” And Budget Committee chair Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) said that “Republicans, voted with the Democrats to set discretionary spending levels at those levels we agreed to last August in the bipartisan Budget Control Act.” She complained that Republicans need to “come back to the deal that we made last August.”

But now Senate Democrats are pushing to exceed those agreed-on spending levels and the president, who last year was issuing veto threats against House-passed bills that contained lower spending levels because they “would break the agreement on discretionary spending made in last summer's budget agreement,” is now threatening to veto bills that don’t exceed it!

As Leader McConnell said, “The Budget Control Act might not be perfect, but at least we were able to secure important spending control for the American people. And if Democrats want to trade some savings for innovative reforms that can serve our country even better over the long term, then there are policymakers ready to talk. But Republicans are not going to just give up on the commitments made to our constituents.”

Meanwhile, President Obama is continuing his “pivot” to jobs (after spending most of the year on everything but jobs) campaign tour with yet another speech today, this time in  Senators McConnell and Rand's backyard, Tennessee. Obama is touting another tax-and-spend plan. Leader McConnell noted, “Today, the President . . . plans to make an announcement about corporate taxes. And while I understand he’s looking for headlines here, reports indicate that the policy he intends to announce doesn’t exactly qualify as news. It’s just a further-left version of a widely panned plan he already proposed two years ago – this time, with extra goodies for tax-and-spend liberals.”

The Chattanooga Times Free Press isn’t exactly impressed! “President Obama, Welcome to Chattanooga,” the editors write, “one of hundreds of cities throughout this great nation struggling to succeed in spite of your foolish policies that limit job creation, stifle economic growth and suffocate the entrepreneurial spirit. . . . [W]e understand you are in town to share your umpteenth different job creation plan during your time in office. If it works as well as your other job creation programs, then thanks, but no thanks. We’d prefer you keep it to yourself. That’s because your jobs creation plans so far have included a ridiculous government spending spree and punitive tax increase on job creators that were passed, as well as a minimum wage increase that, thankfully, was not. Economists — and regular folks with a basic understanding of math — understand that these are three of the most damaging policies imaginable when a country is mired in unemployment and starving for job growth. . . . So excuse us, Mr. President, for our lack of enthusiasm for your new jobs program. Here in Chattanooga we’re still reeling from your old one.”

---

Tags: Democrats, Spending, Hypocrisy To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Obama Mocks Thousands Of Jobs Created By The Keystone XL Pipeline

Editor Comment: Over the weekend, the President mocked the creation of 2000 new jobs and used ridiculous numbers to play his political game. He pooh-poohed the Keystone XL pipeline claiming that it would create only 2000 jobs. His numbers were low by 50 percent it's 4000 jobs). But setting that point aside, what does Mr. Obama have against even 2000 new jobs in an economy with so many unemployed Americans?

Sean Hackbarth at the US chamber of Commerce has responded to the "green energy" President's comment which again evidences that he would rather see people out of work before he would ever support a carbon based job. Mr. Obama has repeatedly stood in the way of the XL Pipeline.

---

Editorial Toon by AF Branco

by Sean Hackbarth, Free Enterprise: How serious is President Obama is about approving the Keystone XL pipeline? The energy infrastructure project came up in a New York Times interview and got a laugh from the President when the conversation steered toward job creation [emphasis mine]:NYT: A couple other quick subjects that are economic-related. Keystone pipeline -- Republicans especially talk about that as a big job creator. You've said that you would approve it only if you could be assured it would not significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon in the atmosphere. Is there anything that Canada could do or the oil companies could do to offset that as a way of helping you to reach that decision?

MR. OBAMA: Well, first of all, Michael [Shear, New York Times reporter], Republicans have said that this would be a big jobs generator. There is no evidence that that’s true. And my hope would be that any reporter who is looking at the facts would take the time to confirm that the most realistic estimates are this might create maybe 2,000 jobs during the construction of the pipeline -- which might take a year or two -- and then after that we’re talking about somewhere between 50 and 100 [chuckles] jobs in a economy of 150 million working people.

NYT: Yet there are a number of unions who want you to approve this.

MR. OBAMA: Well, look, they might like to see 2,000 jobs initially. But that is a blip relative to the need.2,000 jobs? Really? The facts on the ground prove otherwise. TransCanada which is constructing the pipeline, states on its website that 4,000 people are employed to build the southern length from Oklahoma to the Gulf Coast. At a minimum, the President is already off by 50%.

We're not sure where the President got this number. White House staff couldn't source it, but the Washington Post figures it might have come from a 2011 study produced by Cornell University’s Cornell Global Labor Institute that estimated between 2,500-4,650 jobs would be created from construction of the entire pipeline. We already know the high-end number has nearly been reached on the southern length. The President should have left this flawed study to pipeline opponents (who love getting arrested).

What's even more curious is the President ignored the economic analysis of his own State Department which finds that the pipeline will create 42,100 jobs. If he has a problem with the State Department’s estimate, he should discuss this with Secretary John Kerry.

We know that thousands of more jobs will be created if the northern section of Keystone XL is approved. The Washington Post reports that with the southern leg almost complete, there are 10 segments left to stretch the pipeline from Oklahoma to Alberta. Based on TransCanada's data, that will mean over 5,000 jobs created to construct the northern section, plus thousands more jobs from building pumping stations, construction camps, and storage tanks along with managing and inspecting the project.

Even if I was in a good mood and were willing to accept the President's ridiculously low number (which I'm not), the President shouldn’t scoff at 2,000 jobs. It’s not like this economy is a finely-tuned job-creating engine. In addition to creating jobs, the Keystone XL pipeline will strengthen American energy security and increase local and state government revenues – all with minimal environmental impact.

What’s grating about the President’s quip is that last year, after rejecting the pipeline and lobbying Senators to not vote to approve it, he stood up in Cushing, OK and announced that he would make construction of the southern leg a priority (even though it didn’t need the President’s approval). He’s probably taking credit for those 4,000 jobs.

Instead of chuckling, the President should find some accurate numbers, end the delays, and approve construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.

---

Tags: XL pipeline, jobs, President Obama, speech, To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

President Obama - 'Standing His Ground'

AF "Tony" Branco

---

Tags: President Obama, Standing his ground, phoney scandals, dead Americans, Benghazi, Fast and Furious, editorial cartoon AF Branco To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

More 'Train Wreck' News: "Premiums To Go Up As Much As 25% - Taxpayers To Subsidize Part-Time Workers

Today in Washington - July 29, 2013:
The Senate will reconvene at 2 PM today. At 4:15 PM, the Senate will resume consideration of S. 1243, the Fiscal Year 2014 Transportation-Housing and Urban Development (THUD) appropriations bill.

At 4:30, the Senate will take up the nomination of James Comey to be FBI director. At 5:30, the Senate will vote on cloture (to cut off debate) on the Comey nomination.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has also filed cloture on 3 National Labor Relations Board nominees, with votes expected tomorrow.

The House will reconvened at 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday, July 30, 2013.  This past weekend, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor gave the Weekly Republican address and unveiled a plan to stop to government abuse among federal agencies. From the IRS targeting political and religious groups to wasting millions of taxpayer dollars on extravagant conferences, the waste and abuse of power must stop. The House will vote next week on a variety of bills holding Washington accountable to you. Video follows:
News reports continue to demonstrate the reality of Obamacare is far different than the promises Democrats made as they were jamming it through Congress, and the most recent news stories again demonstrate that the law is raising health care costs for many Americans and businesses and reducing full-time jobs for part-time ones to avoid higher health care costs.

The Baltimore Sun reported on Friday, “Marylanders who buy health insurance on a state exchange under health reform could see their premiums jump as much as 25 percent under rates approved by state regulators, but those increases are less than insurers sought. Maryland Insurance Commissioner Therese M. Goldsmith approved premium increases Friday for nine insurance companies who applied to sell plans to individuals through a state exchange, called Maryland Health Connection, established under health reform. The rates were significantly lower than what insurance companies had requested, but still higher than the 6 percent to 7 percent annual premium increase that is typical across the country. Insurers said they were seeking the increases to cover the uncertainty of new costs associated with health care reform. . . . Supporters of the Affordable Care Act acknowledged rates would go up, but also said consumers will get plans with better coverage. . . . Rep. Andy Harris, who opposes the health reform law, said the premiums demonstrate that ‘Obamacare will in fact lead Marylanders to pay more for their health care. It is hardly welcome news for young Marylanders who are already struggling in this economy to say their health insurance will still go up under Obamacare, but not as much. Despite promises by President Obama and others that this law would lead to lower premiums, the exact opposite is turning out to be true — Marylanders will be paying more.’”

Across the Mason-Dixon line in Pennsylvania, The Morning Call reports on yet another tax in Obamacare that businesses are struggling to comply with. “Most employers that self-insure or offer benefits such as Health Reimbursement Accounts and Flexible Spending Arrangements will have to pay an excise tax of $1 per covered person by Wednesday as part of Obamacare. . . . The tax next year increases to $2 per covered person, and the rate will be adjusted after that by the federal government until 2019 . . . . All employers who offer insurance plans will pay the tax. But only those who offer self-insurance or tax-advantaged plans will pay it directly to the Internal Revenue Service. For the others, the insurer, not the employer, pays the tax. Insurance companies then build the tax into their insurance rates, [Shawn] Hughes [vice president of BSI Corporate Benefits in Bethlehem] said. Even within those regulations, there is uncertainty, said Aaron Newman of Aaron Newman Insurance in Nazareth. Federal guidelines, he said, are unclear if businesses pay the tax on only their employees who use Flexible Spending Arrangements or also on their covered family members. In addition, the FSA tax only kicks in when employers contribute more than $500 to their employees' benefits, Hughes added. . . . The IRS could not say how many employers may be affected by the tax. . . . Those that don't file can face penalties — except they're not quite spelled out either, Hughes said.”

Meanwhile, in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Contra Costa Times reports, “Earlier this year, Contra Costa County won the right to run a health care call center, where workers will answer questions to help implement the president's Affordable Care Act. Area politicians called the 200-plus jobs it would bring to the region an economic coup. Now, with two months to go before the Concord operation opens to serve the public, information has surfaced that about half the jobs are part-time, with no health benefits -- a stinging disappointment to workers and local politicians who believed the positions would be full-time. The Contra Costa County supervisor whose district includes the call center called the whole hiring process -- which attracted about 7,000 applicants -- a ‘comedy of errors.’” . . . . One recent hire, who last week learned the job would be part-time, said the new ‘intermittent’ employees feel like they've been used as a political tool, and many now regret applying for the positions. ‘What's really ironic is working for a call center and trying to help people get health care, but we can't afford it ourselves,’ said the worker, who asked for anonymity out of fear of losing the job.”

So a call center being set up by Obamacare to explain the confusing law to Americans is itself relying on part-time work and won’t offer health benefits. The Chicago Tribune, President Obama’s hometown paper, sees this happening across the country and examines the impact in an editorial: “The Affordable Care Act will give companies — and, surprisingly, their workers — a big incentive to embrace more part-time employment. That isn't necessarily a problem, except when it comes to paying the health-insurance bills for all those part-timers. Looks like that job will fall to you, taxpayers. . . . Opponents of Obamacare have long predicted that the 2010 law would lead to reduced working hours for many Americans. We all know from high-profile announcements that some employers, notably restaurants, plan to avoid hiring full-time workers because of the new health care rules . . . . Turns out the incentives to go part time will be even greater than we suspected: Several million employees could work fewer hours for as much take-home pay by shifting to part-time labor. University of Chicago economist Casey Mulligan has his finger on how that will work. As the law kicks in, the incentive for some workers will be so strong that free-market champion Mulligan says only ‘chumps’ would resist it. Mulligan has laid out his finding in a column on The New York Times' Economix blog. He notes that a key advantage of most full-time jobs is access to company-provided health benefits. . . . Under Obamacare, that advantage will be reversed for some workers. . . . But the government subsidies only will go to workers whose employers don't offer insurance. That is, most people who work full time will be ineligible for subsidies. Those workers and their employers will be expected to keep paying a bundle for coverage. Not so for the part-timer. The law limits premiums he or she will pay to $2,149 a year. His or her employer need pay nothing at all. . . . The government — that is, taxpayers — will cover most of the part-timer's costs. The law's potential economic distortions are so damaging, he says, that he never thought it would go into effect . . . .”

The Tribune editors conclude, “Part-time work does become a problem when Washington tilts the balance of incentives against full-time work. Not only will Obamacare raise costs for the government, it stands to make one of the most competitive features of the U.S. economy — a flexible labor market — less efficient. One more reason to rewrite, or halt, Obamacare.”

As Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said recently, “I met with employers from around Kentucky who expressed continued concerns about the impact this law will have on their operations. They want the Democrats who run the Senate to follow the House’s lead in delaying Obamacare for everyone – both businesses and individuals. They know it just makes sense to do so. And I know they want the President to sign the bill when it passes. I agree – he should. It would be a great first step toward implementing the permanent delay our country needs – a delay that would give Republicans and Democrats the chance to start over and work together this time on bipartisan, step-by-step health reforms that could actually lower costs.”

---

Tags: Obamacare, train wreck, news, Republican weekly address, Eric Cantor, stopping government abuse To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!