News Blog for social, fiscal & national security conservatives who believe in God, family & the USA. Upholding the rights granted by God & guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, traditional family values, "republican" principles / ideals, transparent & limited "smaller" government, free markets, lower taxes, due process of law, liberty & individual freedom. Content approval rests with the ARRA News Service Editor. Opinions are those of the authors. While varied positions are reported, beliefs & principles remain fixed. No revenue is generated for or by this "Blog" - no paid ads - no payments for articles.Fair Use Doctrine is posted & used. Blogger/Editor/Founder: Bill Smith, Ph.D. [aka: OzarkGuru & 2010 AFP National Blogger of the Year] Contact: editor@arranewsservice.com (Pub. Since July, 2006)Home PageFollow @arra
One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics
is that you end up being governed by your inferiors. -- Plato
(429-347 BC)
Thursday, January 29, 2009
DeMint Sponsors Amendment to Reinstate Mexico City Policy
Yesterday, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) made the following statementafter he joined U.S. Senator Mel Martinez (R-Florida) and others in introducing an amendment to reinstate the Mexico City Policy during debate on the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) bill. Last week, President Obama overturned the Mexico City Policy by Executive Order, thereby allowing the use of taxpayer dollars to fund and promote abortion overseas. “Taxpayers should never be forced to pay for the destruction of human life, here at home or overseas,” said Senator Jim DeMint. “President Obama campaigned on a platform of reducing abortions, yet one of his first official acts was to force millions of American taxpayers who find this practice immoral to pay for more abortions overseas.”
Without the Mexico City Policy restrictions, countries that have strong pro-life laws may be forced to reduce their protection of the unborn in order to receive U.S. foreign aid. “We cannot have a debate about protecting the health of children while we’re use tax dollars to destroy the lives of the most vulnerable children. Children are a precious blessing and this amendment ensures American taxpayers will not be forced to support ending the lives of unborn children abroad.”
Please contact Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln and Senator Mark Pryor and ask them to support this legislation would stop taxpayer funding of abortions overseas.Tags:abortion, Mexico City policy, SCHIPTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Stimulus: Promoting Birth Control, Not Self-Control
Tony Perkins, FRC: Exactly what kind of stimulus did Speaker Nancy Pelosi have in mind? That's a question more Americans are asking now that details are trickling in about the controversial $825 billion "economic recovery" package. As it stands, more than 10 percent of the proposal--$87 billion--would allow states to expand their "family planning" services through Medicaid. The country's recession is crippling families, and the Democrats' solution is spending billions of dollars on contraception? On yesterday's "This Week" program on ABC, George Stephanopoulos pressed Speaker Pelosi for an explanation.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Hundreds of millions of dollars to expand family planning services. How is that stimulus? PELOSI: Well, the family planning services reduce cost... The states are in terrible fiscal budget crises now and part of what we do for children's health... [is] to help the states meet their financial needs... [O]ne of the initiatives you mentioned, the contraception, will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government. STEPHANOPOULOS: So no apologies for that? PELOSI: No apologies. No. We have to deal with the consequences of the downturn in our economy.
In other words, children are a burden to the economy, and Pelosi believes it's the government's responsibility to eliminate them. More than anything, her comments underscore the shortsightedness of these liberal policies. All reports indicate that the global family is on the decline. Although America's birth rate isn't plunging like that of European countries, it has slowed. The reason we don't find ourselves in a "demographic winter" is largely because of the fertility rates of our immigrants, many of whom come from cultures that value life. Overall, the U.S. is hovering at its replacement level, which is hardly enough to finance the Baby Boomers' retirement. If Pelosi and her Congress continue to deemphasize the family, America will travel even farther down the deadly path of our European friends.
In the meantime, Congress continues to spend outside of its means, proving that the nation will need more children--not less--to help pay the bills for Social Security, Medicaid, and other government entitlements that Democrats hope to expand. Obviously, there's a practical danger in suggesting that babies are problems or "punishments" (as President Obama called them) instead of blessings that build bridges to the future. For a realistic look at real economic recovery, we encourage you to read FRC's just released tax policy proposal:FRC: Taxes in the Stimulus Package and the New CongressSee also:Heritage Foundation brief:What Is the Spending Multiplier on a Pack of Condoms?Tags:contraception, economic stimulus, Family Research Council, FRC, Nancy Pelosi, Tony PerkinsTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Yesterday, the Senate voted 60-34 to confirm Timothy Geithner as Treasury secretary. See:The B.O. Republicans who voted for Geithner Many Americans are suffering frustration over the double standard of special "grace" to Geithner who violated the law and now gets oversee the very agency (the IRS) that will enforce those same rules on the taxpayers.
Senate begins consideration of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) expansion bill (H.R. 2). Actions in the House continue to be irrational. President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit the Republican policy lunch today for a formal introduction as president and for a potential discussion of his economic proposals.
As the stimulus bill continues to be worked on in Congress, it’s becoming clearer that Democrats have overreached in crafting it. Despite admonishments from President Obama not to throw earmarks and pet projects in the bill, Democrats in Congress simply couldn’t help themselves, “larding up the $825 billion bill with $50 million in arts subsidies, $200 million for teacher bonuses and a whopping $15.6 billion worth of Pell Grants for college students,” as theLas Vegas Review-Journal put it yesterday.
Indeed, even the San Francisco Chronicle is skeptical of the spending projects in the House version of the bill. In an editorial today, the Chronicle wonders, “Are the shopping lists designed to reward political bases or genuinely get the economy rolling?” It notes that “One wish list approved by the Democratic-controlled House Appropriations Committee goes on for 12 pages.” The editorial concludes, “before the solutions are chosen, the administration must present a clear rationale for which items will qualify - and why - for an enormous spending plan that is supposed to lay the foundation for an economic recovery. That hasn’t happened yet.”
At least House Speaker Nancy Pelosi may have been embarrassed enough to consider dropping one of the strangest expenditures put forward: funding for birth control. The AP reports that “Democratic officials say House leaders are seriously considering deleting family planning funds for the low-income from an economic stimulus bill” after being asked by the Obama administration.
However, there remains the question of whether all this spending will actually get money into the economy in a timely fashion. A new CBO report out today shows that the Democrats’ bill won’t even meet the goals laid out by the Obama White House for timely spending. According to Reuters, the bill “will pour some $525.5 billion, or 64%, via spending and tax cuts into the ailing economy within 19 months,” but the White House target was 75%. Of course, the second half of 2010 is hardly the “swift and extraordinary action” on the economy Obama said he wanted yesterday.
On the Today Show this morning, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell noted, “Frankly, what’s developing here is [Obama’s] biggest problem is with his own party, the Democratic Party, which seems to be drifting away from what he said he wanted, which was for the package to include at least 40 percent tax relief and to be earmark-free.”Tags:US Congress, US House, US Senate, Washington D.C.To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Dr. Bill Smith (Ozark Guru): In the Arkansas Ozarks, we love fly fishing be for bass, trout or pan fish. But one of my delights is standing in the White River and enticing a trout to rise to my offered "nypmh" or "woolly bugger."
The same is true for us political junkies. We enjoy hearing rumors that a person is at least considering rising to the call to run for office. Jason Tolbert, a CPA, blogger, and videographer has kept his ear to the "concrete" for news about potential candidates. Previously, he broke news about Tim Griffin’s possible run for the Senateas the republican challenger to incumbent U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln.
Now Jason has done it again. He has identified that one of his former university friends, Mark Darr, has begun the initial stages of preparing for a campaignas a republican candidate to challenge incumbent Arkansas Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter. Also, Jason has heard rumors that two others who may be considering running for the position.
We hope that many others will rise to the challenge and come forward as republican candidates to challenge democrats state-wide at all levels from county offices, to the state offices, to candidates for Congress. And Jason, thank you for searching out and keeping us informed but don't forget that in the far northern reaches of the Arkansas Ozarks, the trout are waiting. And that's no rumor!Tags:Arkansas, Bill Smith, fly fishing, Ozark Guru, presidential candidates, RepublicanTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
The B.O. Republicans who voted for Geithner - Video of Inhofe’s statement
Hat Tip and Thank you to Michelle Malkin:
Here is the roll call vote on the [Tim] Geithner nomination:
And here are the 10 B.O. (Barack Obama/Bend Over) Republicans who sided with Obama and the Dems:
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Crapo (R-ID)
Ensign (R-NV)
Graham (R-SC)
Question: Where was GOP Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO)?
Update - Answer: Missed his plane, but would have voted against.
***
Sen. Jim Inhofe’s statement on the floor in opposition to Geithner says it all. Mark his words:
Tags:GOP, Michelle Malkin, Secretary of Treasury, Tim Geither, video, voteTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
In the fall, he told the Washington Blade what gay activists could expect under an Obama presidency. "I will continue to do what I’ve done throughout my career and in this campaign," he said, "speak out on behalf of the cause for … for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and 'transgendered') Americans." In April 2008, Obama told a gay-activist magazine: "I for a very long time have been interested in repeal of DOMA" (the Defense of Marriage Act, which is the only thing preventing same-sex "marriage" from spreading across the U.S.).
Obama stood against all three marriage-protection amendments in the November elections (California, Arizona and Florida), saying: "I support extending fully equal rights and benefits to same-sex couples under both state and federal law. That is why I oppose the divisive and discriminatory efforts to amend the California Constitution, and similar efforts to amend the U.S. Constitution or those of other states.” Gary Bauer, president of American Values responded: "Did you catch that? According to Senator Obama, if you try to make sure that marriage remains the union of one man and one woman in your home state, YOU are being 'divisive and discriminatory.' "
Obama has pledged support for special rights for homosexual employees, as well as the creation of a new class of crimes based on the victim's real or perceived gender identity. He wants to allow same-sex couples to adopt, guaranteeing those children will grow up without either a mom or a dad. More of his radical agenda is spelled out at WhiteHouse.gov.
Although Obama has pledged allegiance to the gay and "transgender" agenda, he refuses to support those who are dealing with unwanted same-sex attractions. His Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships will not provide funding to faith-based organizations if they are working to help people overcome unwanted homosexuality.
"When it comes to moral issues, it is clear that Obama is entirely committed to the radical left-wing ideology at the expense of the common-sense traditional values that have served our nation so well for so long," Bauer said. "Openly embracing homosexual 'marriage' is certainly 'change,' but it’s clearly not the kind of change that most Americans want." Tags:Barack Obama, CitizenLink, DOMA, gay agenda, LGBTTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Stop the Left's Multi-Billion Dollar Handout to ACORN & Other Liberal Allies - #Pork #TCOT #corruptlibs #diggcon #statebooks
Dick Armey, Chairman FreedomWorks: We knew it was coming, and it’s finally here.After weeks and weeks of anticipating when and how the newer, stronger Democrat-led Congress would first strike against our individual liberties and expand the size of our already bloated government, the wait is over and we now know what we are up against.This week both the House and Senate will be moving a massive $825 billion economic stimulus package full off wasteful spending, and worse still multi-billion dollar handouts to their liberal allies. Specifically, radical Left-wing groups such as the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) could have access to billions of dollars should this stimulus plan pass.
Take Action NOW! ACORN is an extremist organization that has come under close scrutiny lately for voter fraud activities. They have a notorious reputation for doing anything to get Democrats elected. Should your hard-earned tax dollars be used to make groups like this stronger?It’s pretty obvious what the Democrats are trying to do. They want to strengthen their grassroots backbone so that they can dig in, protect their majority in Congress, and clear the way to enacting their big-government agenda for years to come.In the name of Freedom, we can’t let them get away with this.
The stimulus plan being considered in Congress this week will do nothing to help spur the economy out of recession. What it will do is waste your hard-earned money and strengthen the hand of the Left. Despite all the talk on the Left of bipartisanship and “reaching across the aisle,” fiscally sound approaches to boosting our economy such as tax cuts and tighter spending controls were ignored by the Democrat leadership. Click here to TAKE ACTION and send an urgent email to your Representative and Senators urging them to oppose the stimulus plan. And use our toll-free hotline to Congress at (866) 928-3035 to be connected with the offices of your lawmakers and hammer home this message.
Nancy Pelosi's funding for contraceptives - nothing to do with stimulating the economy!
$650 million for digital TV coupons.
$600 million for new cars for the federal government - will they buy from Detroit Auto Industry!
$6 billion for colleges/universities – many which have billion dollar endowments.
$50 million in funding for the National Endowment of the Arts.
$44 million for repairs to U.S. Department of Agriculture headquarters.
$200 million for the National Mall, including $21 million for sod.
Tags:ACORN, action alert, Congressional Pork, Dick Armey, economic stimulus, Freedom WorksTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Update (6:10 pm): Geithner confirmed by 60-34 vote .
Senate reconvenes at 2 pm today. At 4 pm it is scheduled to begin debate on the nomination of Timothy Geithner to be Treasury Secretary with a vote expected around 6 pm. Following the vote on Geithner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid plans to move to the SCHIP expansion bill (H.R. 2). It appears that many republican senators are "talking the talk" but are not "walking the walk" and will most likely vote for confirmation. The same can be said for any democrat that has cried foul about anyone who has not but "might have" violated the law. Geithner knowing violated the income tax law even after having been advised otherwise and now appears to be the person that both Pres. Obama and Democrats in Congress want to be in charge of the IRS and the Treasury. What a great motivator for the rest of us and the banks to follow the law. But then again, Geithner will now have evidence his overcoming his personal lack of principles by forcing the rest of America to follow the laws he broke. Someone wake me up from this horrible dream - wishful thinking but could enough Senators serve the American people instead of Washington and Obama's political interests and vote "no" on this confirmation. A special thank you to Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) for clearly defining why no one should vote for the confirmation of Geithner.
As the Democrats’ massive $825 billion economic stimulus bill continues to be considered in congressional committees, several prominent newspapers are questioning the concepts behind the bill and the dubious spending Democrats are stuffing it with.
In an editorial today, The Wall Street Journal dubs the bill “a time machine” because “[t]hat may be the only way to explain how spending on public works in 2011 and beyond will help the economy today.” The Journal reminds readers of last week’s CBO report, which found that “a mere $26 billion of the House stimulus bill’s $355 billion in new spending would actually be spent in the current fiscal year, and just $110 billion would be spent by the end of 2010.” Of course, the inconvenient report was quickly removed from the House Appropriations Committee website, according to the WSJ.
Other newspapers note the grab bag of spending projects in the bill and wonder how they’re supposed to create jobs. USA Today asks, “[H]ow does adding $2.1 billion to let 110,000 more kids participate in Head Start jump-start economic activity? Or devoting $150 million to aviation safety research or $50 million to the National Endowment for the Arts?”
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s hometown paper, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, writes, “congressional Democrats are showing no remorse in larding up the $825 billion bill with $50 million in arts subsidies, $200 million for teacher bonuses and a whopping $15.6 billion worth of Pell Grants for college students.” The Review-Journal also wonders, “[H]ow does all this jolt the economy? How does this create the jobs needed to support a recovery?”
The Washington Post wrote yesterday, “For sheer irrationality, it would be hard to top the $4.19 billion the bill would give to the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, on top of $4 billion authorized last year. This program gives local governments money to buy and rehabilitate homes that have been foreclosed on -- thus giving lenders an incentive to foreclose on more houses.” Despite all this, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday “boldly defended a move to add birth control funding to the new economic ‘stimulus’ package, claiming ‘contraception will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government,’” according to Drudge.
The Wall Street Journal nicely sums up one of the key problems with the stimulus bill: “The spending portion of the stimulus, in short, isn’t really about the economy. It’s about promoting long-time Democratic policy goals, such as subsidizing health care for the middle class and promoting alternative energy. The ‘stimulus’ is merely the mother of all political excuses to pack as much of this spending agenda as possible into a single bill when Mr. Obama is at his political zenith.”Tags:Jim Bunning, Nancy Pelosi, Tim Geither, US Congress, US House, US Senate, Washington D.C.To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Tony Perkins, Family Research Council: Americans watched on television as President Bush's jumbo jet soared out of sight yesterday--and with him, a long record of protecting the unborn. Although the Obama administration is a little over 24 hours old, the new President has already set to work undoing years of pro-life and pro-family policy.
Minutes after Obama took the oath of office, the transfer of power was made complete on the White House website. The page, once home to a host of family values, now welcomes an extreme collection of anti-life, anti-woman, and anti-family agendas. Under the caption "civil rights," Obama pledges to fight for nationwide civil unions, repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, homosexual adoption, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, expanded "hate crimes," and over 1,100 costly same-sex benefits. He promises to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" as well as block a federal amendment to preserve marriage. In exchange for the support of groups like Planned Parenthood, the abortion business is also due for a rich payoff from the 44th president, including his support of abortion-on-demand, more funding for "family planning" programs, embryonic stem cell experiments, and tax-funded abortion.
This city may have changed overnight, but our values are enduring. We will continue to advance faith, family, and freedom in the next four years. See also:Associated Press: Celebration over, Obama plunges into workday one Tags:civil unions, Family Research Council, homosexual marriage, Mexico City policy, pro-life, Tony PerkinsTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Free At Last & The Right to Petition Protected One More Time
The following is an excerpt from today's article by Paul Jacob in Townhall. Paul is both a friend and advocate for freedom and citizen's rights. He was falsely charged by the Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson with “conspiracy to defraud the state” along with Rick Carpenter, a Tulsa political activist and Susan Johnson, head of National Voter Outreach. The three became known as the Oklahoma Three and symbolized the rights of taxpayers and suffered through the year and four monthly ordeal with dignity. In Paul's own words:
The Attorney General alleged that we willfully conspired to hire non-residents, non-Oklahomans, to circulate petitions on two ballot measures: One, the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, a measure to cap state spending; the other, a property rights measure called Protect Our Homes. Edmondson launched a media campaign, writing an op-ed and visiting a TV talk show to expound on how guilty we were.
We were innocent. Those actually managing the petition effort on the ground onsulted with state officials and were informed that it was indeed lawful for people to move to Oklahoma to work on the petition drive. The opinions of the regular enforcers of the law didn’t count, though. The state supreme court kept the Taxpayer Bill of Rights initiative off the ballot, ruling that anyone not intending to “permanently” reside in Oklahoma was not a resident. The court also tossed out the petitions of circulators whose residency status was challenged without ever affording those circulators an opportunity to defend themselves. One thing was certain: more than 15 percent of Oklahoma voters had very willfully signed to put the issue to a vote . . . a vote they were denied.
That wasn’t enough, however. The issue could always come back via a new petition drive. So could other issues. Soon, the Attorney General decided to go a step further, indicting the three of us on criminal charges. No one was charged as a non-resident circulator. Instead, the state took a swipe at
• one local political activist,
• the head of a major petition company that had worked on numerous conservative and libertarian issues, and
• me, an advocate for many national campaigns for term limits, property rights, spending restraint, and the like.
The prosecution was roundly blasted, right and left, by Steve Forbesand Ralph Nader, by the Wall Street Journal, Pulitzer prize-winning columnist Paul Greenberg and Tecumseh Countywide News in central Oklahoma. Most importantly, we were blessed with faith and trust that we would prevail in court, in the end . . . if we could afford to defend our rights for what might have been many years. We were under indictment for a year and four months, paid many legal bills, and still not even a preliminary hearing had been completed.
But just before Christmas, the federal Tenth Circuit struck down Oklahoma’s ban on non-residents circulating petitions, ruling the law an unconstitutional impediment to citizen petitioning. Not only did we not break the law, it wasn’t a law at all. In the last year, three federal circuits have overturned state residency restrictions, each time by unanimous panels.
Last Wednesday, Edmondson’s request for a rehearing by the Tenth Circuit was denied. On Thursday, he decided not to appeal the Tenth Circuit decision to the U.S. Supreme Court after all — and not to prosecute our case. Case dismissed. We’ve won a victory. The Oklahoma Three are free.
. . . In Oklahoma, citizens are demanding reform. Legislation that would open up the state’s initiative system and make it usable again is under consideration. I’m not through fighting back, either. Working for Citizens in Charge Foundation, I’m more driven than ever to work with people all across the political spectrum to protect and expand the right of the people to check their government through initiatives, referendum and recall. It’s true: Some see the initiative as a threat. My goodness, citizen control of government might break out! We can always hope. And, as free citizens, work for that day. Tags:Oklahoma, Paul Jacob, Free At Last, Right to Petition, petitions, taxpayer protectionTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Rush Limbaugh sat down with Sean Hannity for an interview on Hannity on the Fox News Channel. Hannity interviewed Rush from the southern command center, Rushs studios, in South Florida. Hannity asked Rush for his general opinions on President Obama. Rush said the fact that Obama is historic is now irrelevant. Hes suspicious of Obama because the media has not vetted him and judge him based on how he says things, not what he says. Rush answered the question: Does he want Obama to succeed?
Tags:Barack Obama, Fox News, news, Politics, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, SuccessTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Dick Armey May Help Fight Increased Arkansas Cigarette tax
The Tobert Report identified that based on talk around the capital, former U.S. Congressman from Texas and House Majority Leader Dick Armey, Chairman ofFreedom Works, will be coming into town in February to lend a hand in fighting the Governor's proposed Cigarette tax. Evidently details are still being hammered out but he should be at the state capital on Tuesday morning of February 3 immediately followed by a lunch to raise funds for the Republican Party of Arkansas.
[T] he battle lines are being drawn in the fight over a proposed 56-cents a pack increase in the state cigarette tax to fund a statewide trauma system and other health-related programs, according to the bureau.
William R. Phelps, spokesman for Philip Morris USA owner Altria Group Inc., hit town today and began making the rounds with reporters in opposition to the increase. A rally in support of the tax hike proposal is scheduled for 11:30 am Monday at Arkansas Children’s Hospital.
The 56-cent tax hike, plus an as yet unknown increase in the tax on smokeless tobacco, would generate about $87 million a year. Gov. Mike Beebe wants the new revenue stream to pay for a statewide trauma system, community health programs and a Fayetteville satellite campus of the state’s Little Rock-based medical school. Look for the bill outlining the Governor’s proposal to be filed as early as Monday of next week. Rep. Gregg Reep will be a primary sponsor of the bill . . . The bill is expected to originate in the House and work its way down to the Senate.
The bill will be sent to the House Rules Committee, a committee that Speaker Robbie Wills controlled appointments to. With his avid support, the votes on that committee are likely sown up – at least that’s the consensus from tobacco lobbyists to whom we’ve spoken - but there is still a shortage of votes on the House floor. . . . the tax proposal likely had around 50 votes as of Thursday, but a supermajority of 75 votes will be required for passage in the House. Tax supporters say they feel good about the progress they’ve made on gaining commitments, but objections still exist. There are some Republican opponents of the tax increase; others question singling out smokers and expanding government.
One of the biggest sticking points revolves around rural legislators who see the approximately $28 million budget for a trauma center network being consumed by Little Rock area hospitals who will offer trauma center services. UAMS, Baptist Health and St. Vincent’s could all offer trauma services under potential guidelines for the program, according to one uncommitted but persuadable Delta legislator.
While the tax funding measure will originate in the House, the Senate will be the starting point for enabling legislation related to the trauma network. That bill should be filed in conjunction with the cigarette tax bill early next week. It will be carried by Sen. Tracy Steele and steered through the Senate Public Health Committee. . . . if approved by the House, would then have to be approved by a five-member majority of the Senate Revenue and Tax Committee. Presently, supporters say there are four “yes” votes for the tax on the panel. Three Senators remain as potential swing votes. Sen. Denny Altes is a firm “no” vote, according to supporters. Its fate on the Senate floor is unknown at this time, but it will need a supermajority vote of 27 of the 35 Senators for approval. Governor Mike Beebe has political capital as they say. He'll have to spend a chunk of it on the House and Senate floor votes.
Bill Smith, ARRA Editor: I concur with Isaac MacMillen, contributing editor of ALG News Bureau that Eric Holder is not "someone to be entrusted with the pivotal duties of upholding the law of the land." By Isaac MacMillen: Eric Holder, President Barack Obama's nominee for Attorney General, has a long and dubious record as a supporter of strong governmental intervention, questionable pardons, and onerous gun control. Throughout his history of government employment, he has continually put the broad interests of the American people on the back burner in deference to a narrow spectrum of special interest groups.
Eric H. Holder, Jr., has worked for the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section, as a DC judge; as U.S. Attorney for DC; and finally as deputy Attorney General under Janet Reno. For the past 8 years, he has remained out of public scrutiny in his work as a private attorney. But his nomination brings his past back into the spotlight. And that light reveals an enduring darkness.
• Many Americans remember the Elian Gonzalez incident in 2000, in which heavily-armed federal agents forcibly seized a 6-year old Cuban boy and returned him to Castro’s Cuba. Mr. Holder helped initiate the action, and was embarrassed when he was shown on national TV stating that agents had not taken the boy by force—while the shocking image associated with the raid appeared on-screen and infuriated Americans.
• Mr. Holder was in his role in the Justice Department during many of the controversial pardons issued at the end of the Clinton era. And that includes the pardon of two members of the Weather Underground terrorist group, both of whom were involved in the violent actions which characterized the 1960s group.
One of them, Susan Rosenberg, had been sentenced to 58 years in prison for possession of 700lbs of explosives and other illegal weaponry. She had also participated in a triple-homicide Brinks robbery. Upon hearing of her pardon, U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) voiced his opposition, calling it a “terrible injustice.” The other terrorist, Linda Evans, had sentenced to 40 years for her involvement in the robbery. Five more years were added to her sentence for her role in several bombings, including that of the U.S. Capitol.
Of particular note is the fact that Barack Obama himself brought up Bill Clinton's pardon of the two Weather Underground members when he defended his relationship with Weather Underground leader Bill Ayers in a Democratic primary debate.
• The infamous pardon of Marc Rich also fell under Holder's purview. While his apologists claim that he did not have enough time to fully evaluate Mr. Rich before approving the pardon, the fact remains that Mr. Holder's signature of approval was upon the document handed to then-President Bill Clinton. Additionally, he appears to have been swayed by influence and power in deciding to support Rich.
At the time of the Holder-approved pardon, Marc Rich, was living in luxury as a fugitive from charges of tax evasion and illegal deal-making with Iran during the Iranian hostage crisis. His pardon came after his wife contributed large sums to the Clinton library and Democratic Party, causing many Republicans—and Democrats—to cry foul. Senators Charles Schumer and Russel Feingold joined then-Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle in voicing concern that the politics of money had played a role.
Mr. Holder's supporters would like to claim that his involvement in many of these controversial last-minute pardons was minimal. But part of Mr. Holder's job was to oversee pardons. At best, this makes him inept; at worst, complicit. Even the liberal site Salon.com is forced to admit that “[t]hough Holder wasn't the driving force behind the Rich pardon, the assembled facts nonetheless demonstrate that his involvement in that process was substantial, continuous, and concerted.”
But Eric Holder's pardon problems are not confined to the midnight-before-inauguration. The former assistant AG also drew fire for his role in granting clemency to FALN terrorists. The 16 members of the Armed Forces of National Liberation, a Marxist-Leninist Puerto Rican terrorist group, that set off over a hundred bombs in American cities, resulting in American fatalities. A report by the House Committee on Government Reform raked the Clinton Administration over the coals for its decision to free FALN terrorists, citing numerous highly-questionable elements of the whole procedure—including the fact that the FBI and other government agencies joined victims in opposing clemency. Mr. Holder coldly ignored their pleas.
Leaving the Justice Department didn't improve Mr. Holder’s performance. After his departure in 2001, he made millions of dollars defending the questionable actions of dubious corporations. He performed private work for a company under threat of investigation for paying off terrorists, and later defended a massive drug company against the Justice Department. Mr. Holder also gave advice to Global Crossing, “in connection with legislative and regulatory issues arising from a potential sale to an Asian purchaser as Global Crossing emerged from bankruptcy.” He did so on the heels of a government report accusing Global Crossing and Enron of having “used a complex deal brokered by a third company to sidestep accounting rules.”
Senator Arlen Specter and formerAttorney Generation Edwin Meese III penned an article slamming Eric Holder for his role in the “Holder Memorandum,” which effectively denied white-collar employees their constitutional rights against self-incrimination and for counsel. The memo allows federal prosecutors to force a company to waive its right to counsel in exchange for investigation “cooperation” credit. The measure, which they label as “draconian,” has been adapted by other agencies, forcing Congress to attempt to intervene.
As bad a job as Mr. Holder has done in the past, the worst may be yet to come. Despite President Obama's insistence that he supported the 2nd Amendment, his nominee for attorney general has a history of extreme opposition to gun ownership—or at least when it isn't heavily regulated. After the 9/11 attacks, Mr. Holder penned an Op-Ed in the Washington Post arguing for gun control, lest terrorists get their hands on them. More recently, he signed an amicus brief in the Heller vs. DC case—which was based on arguments that even the liberal Supreme Court justices thoroughly rejected. Also disturbing for gun owners is the fact that, during Mr. Holder's tenure at the Justice Department, the “background check” system repeatedly “broke down.” This hurt the gun market, as sellers were obligated to perform background checks before completing sales. And it deprived gun buyers of their Second Amendment rights.
Gun opposition, questionable legal jobs, approval of downright-controversial pardons, politicization—members of the Senate on both sides of the aisle believe is not the kind of track record America needs in its next attorney general. An attorney general who routinely puts politics above principle and personal gain above the public weal is not someone to be entrusted with the pivotal duties of upholding the law of the land. Tags:Attorney General, Barack Obama, Eric Holder, nomineeTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
White House: As promised to pro-abortion groups, the AP is reporting that President Barack Obama will sign an executive order today ending the ban on federal funds for international groups that promote or perform abortion. The current presidential executive order known as the "Mexico City policy" bans U.S. taxpayer money from going to international family planning groups that either offer abortions or provide information, counseling or referrals about abortion. Why waste U.S. Taxpayer funds promoting abortion overseas?
Previously, Obama signed three executive orders and one presidential directive that mandate that interrogation techniques in the Army Field Manual be used by all intelligence and law enforcement services; call for a task force to look at closing the detention center in Guantanamo Bay within the year; and order a strategy to be developed for handling detainees in the future. The presidential directive also orders a stay in the case of Ali Al-Marri, the only person being held by the military as an enemy combatant on U.S. soil. In addition two other executive orders were signed that 1) revoked an executive order which makes presidential records secret for up to 12 years after leaving office, and 2) established a ban on executive branch personnel (his staff) from accepting gifts from lobbyists and implements so-called "revolving door bans" to restrict personnel movement between related public and private sector jobs within certain time frames.
Congress: Yesterday, the Senate passed the Ledbetter bill (S. 181) by a vote of 61-36. Prior to passage, the Hutchison substitute amendment failed 40-55 and six other Republican amendmentswere voted down by majority Democrats. Now trial lawyers can sue retroactively for "civil rights" violatons without regard to statutory limits. Senators also confirmed by unanimous consent the nominations of Susan Rice to be UN Ambassador, Lisa Jackson to be EPA Administrator, Shaun Donovan to be HUD secretary, Mary Schapiro to be a member of the SEC, and Rep. Ray LaHood (R-IL) to be Transportation secretary.
The Senate is in recess until 2 PM on Monday. At 4 PM Monday, the Senate is scheduled to begin debate on the nomination of Timothy Geithner to be Treasury secretary, with a vote expected around 6. Following the vote on Geithner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said he wants the Senate to begin working on the SCHIP expansion bill (H.R. 2).
At 1 PM today, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell will give a speech to the National Press Club discussing the role of Republicans in the 111th Congress. Sen. McConnell will call on President Obama and Democrats in Congress to work with Republicans to address the looming crisis in entitlement spending. He’ll also remind reporters why bipartisan cooperation has been difficult over the last several years. In particular, he will note, “I think reporters too often confuse being conservative with being partisan.” Politico points out that Sen. McConnell will also call out Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) for sitting “at the negotiating table with me” on the financial rescue bill and then turning around and running ads against him and other Republicans for supporting the bill. Reporters would also do well to recall that five of the newly-elected Democrat senators who ran against the bailout last fall subsequently voted for it last week, as detailed by Mary Katherine Ham in the Weekly Standard.
Reacting to the announcement out of the White House yesterday, Sen. McConnell said, “I am committed to working with the new Commander in Chief to ensure that the symbolism of the Executive Order directing the closure of the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay does not lead to action that imperils the American people, either through the release of terrorists on American soil or into the wider world. Our first responsibility is to protect our nation.” Already this task looks difficult, given the report in The New York Times today that a Saudi detainee released from Gitmo in 2007 has returned to the Middle East to become “the deputy leader of Al Qaeda’s Yemeni branch. . . . The Yemeni branch of Al Qaeda has carried out a number of terrorist attacks over the past year, culminating in the assault on the American Embassy in Sana on Sept. 16.”
Meanwhile, Democrats have been pushing ahead with their $800 billion plus stimulus package and have allowed very little Republican input, as Politico and The Washington Post discuss today. The Post story details growing GOP problems with the Democrats’ stimulus plans: “Sen. John Thune (S.D.) said the nearly $1 trillion price tag would add too much to a federal deficit that is already predicted to top $1.2 trillion for 2009. . . . some key Democrats are pushing to add pieces that would result in fewer Republican votes. [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi (CA) and Sen. Richard J. Durbin (IL), the No. 2 Democratic leader in the Senate, support including changes to bankruptcy laws that would allow judges to modify loans on primary residences, which they say would help alleviate the housing crisis. Republicans and the banking industry have vehemently opposed this because it might cause mortgage interest rates to rise.”Tags:Barack Obama, confirmations, economic stimulus, executive orders, trial lawyers, US Congress, US House, US Senate, Washington D.C., White HouseTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Yesterday the Senate voted 94-2 to confirm Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. I guess all all the Republicans now "love" former Sen. Clinton except for two [thank you Sens. Jim DeMint (R-SC) and David Vitter (R-LA)] .
Today, Congress gets back to "work" [Spending our money and that of our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren's money]. Democrats in both chambers are pushing things that are giving Republicans a great deal of concern. In the House, the Appropriations Committee considered Democrats’ $825 billion stimulus package, despite a report from the Congressional Budget Office that “less than half of the $355 billion that House Democrats want to spend on highways, bridges and other job-creating investments is likely to be used before the end of fiscal 2010,” per the The Wall Street Journal.
The Senate today resumes consideration of the Ledbetter bill (S. 181). After an hour of debate, senators are scheduled to vote on a substitute amendment to the bill by Sen. Hutchison (R-TX) at 11:30. Amendments from Sens. Specter (R-PA) and Enzi (R-WY) could also be voted on today. CongressDaily describes the amendments in a story today: “Judiciary ranking member Arlen Specter offered two proposals. One would allow businesses to better defend themselves against discrimination claims, while the other clarifies that the Ledbetter legislation applies only to pay discrimination. “Health, Education, Labor and Pensions ranking member Michael Enzi has offered two amendments that would reinforce the Supreme Court's decision. And Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, offered a substitute bill that would require women to prove ‘a reasonable suspicion of discrimination’ before they would be allowed to proceed with claims that date beyond six months.”
At apress conference yesterday Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell noted troubling issues with the proposed stimulus bill: “[T]he CBO has issued a report on the appropriations portion of the House Democratic stimulus package, which indicates that less than 40 percent of the stimulus will be used in the first 18 months. I would remind everyone that I think Speaker Pelosi had it right when she said a stimulus package ought to be timely, temporary and targeted. . . . There is a substantial portion of the package that the House Democrats have approved that actually increase spending permanently. And we all know that permanent increases, when we’re looking at a $1.2 trillion deficit this year before we even pass the stimulus, is something we need to think very seriously about the appropriateness of doing.”
The Wall Street Journal notes that in committee yesterday “[s]ome Republicans argued that the plan doesn’t contain enough safeguards on how the money is spent,” a concern all the more pressing in light of another Wall Street Journal story today. The Journal reports todaythat Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), chair of the House Financial Services Committee, went out of his way to assure that TARP funds went to a small Boston bank that “was under attack from its regulators for allegations of poor lending practices and executive-pay abuses, including owning a Porsche for its executives’ use.” According to the WSJ, “Mr. Frank, by his own account, wrote into the TARP bill a provision specifically aimed at helping this particular home-state bank. And later, he acknowledges, he spoke to regulators urging that [the bank] be considered for a cash injection.”
Meanwhile, Politico reports that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid met yesterday with Al Franken, the Democrat candidate in the still-unresolved Minnesota Senate race and raised the possibility of seating Franken before the election contest in Minnesota has been resolved. Senate Republicans would not react favorably to such a move. At the press conference, Sen. McConnell emphasized that “It remains the view of every single member of my conference that the Minnesota Senate race will indeed be decided in Minnesota and not in Washington.”Tags:economic stimulus, confirmation,Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State, US Congress, US House, US Senate, Washington D.C.To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
American Spectator Weighs in Choice for RNC Chairman
Quin Hillyer posted on AS' Streetcar Linethis morning an article titled "Would All Be Well With Blackwell? that details excelent supporting points for the selection of Blackwell as the new new RNC Chair." The following extract of Hillyer's article shared this morning in hopes that you will pass them on to your three State RNC delegates that will be voting for the next RNC Chairman. We need a new voice for the Republican Party:
by Quinn Hillyer: Nobody in the race for chairman of the Republican National Committee has attracted as many high-profile conservative movement supporters as has former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell. And it's true that conservatives have a host of good reasons to be high on Blackwell. But while Blackwell clearly would re-energize the movement, he is not rightly seen as appealing only to conservatives. This is a man with a history of winning elections and a comprehensive plan for helping his party win plenty more of them, at all levels of government.
First, to be clear: The list of conservatives who have endorsed Blackwell's campaign is more than impressive. Former Reagan Attorney General Ed Meese. American Conservative Union Chairman David Keene. Former presidential candidate and supply-side economic champion Steve Forbes. Focus on the Family Chairman James Dobson. Legendary conservative direct-mail guru Richard Viguerie. Former Reagan Budget Director James C. Miller. Eagle Forum President Phyllis Schlafly. Club for Growth President Pat Toomey. American Spectator Publisher Al Regnery. Family Research Council President Tony Perkins. Media Research Center President Brent Bozell. Virginia National Committeeman and conservative youth trainer extraordinaire Morton Blackwell (no relation to the candidate).... And on and on the list goes.
Even longer than the list of prominent conservative backers is the list of impressive items on Blackwell's résumé. In elective office, he has been mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio State Treasurer, and two-term Ohio Secretary of State. In appointive office he has been U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights Commission, an undersecretary (under Jack Kemp) of HUD, and on official commissions for the Department of Labor, on retirement savings, and on tax reform. He has won awards for his work in government finance and in technology. And he has served on more boards and been given more honorary degrees than most people would do in several lifetimes. . . .
What's impressive about Blackwell this year is how quickly he produced an absolutely superb "Conservative Resurgence Plan" to remake the RNC. Read it for yourself. At first it comes across as just a gathering of important-but-predictable promises: Raise more money, use technology better, yada yada yada. But after a while you realize it's a whole lot more. Blackwell provides not just platitudes but details. And they all make sense.
He lays out a plan to meld good, old-fashioned precinct politics -- including neighbor-to-neighbor, door-to-door (not just by phone) work, the way we all once did it when the organization charts were kept on paper hanging from easels -- with every last bit of modern technology, which Blackwell's plan cites by name and with obvious familiarity. He focuses on the importance of governorships and state legislatures for the crucial redistricting battles coming after the 2010 census -- an issue he knows well because he served three years as chairman of the official national Census Monitoring Board.
He pledges a revenue-sharing system, along with all sorts of other help, for state Republican parties. And he spends a great deal of space explaining why it is so important to appeal to young voters and to re-build the ties between the RNC and the national College Republicans -- historically the proving grounds for so many party leaders. Indeed, the four top current national officials of the CRs have all endorsed Blackwell, as have the CR chairmen in 13 states.
Blackwell also plans greater consultation (within federal law) with outside conservative groups. And, finally but of utmost importance (this is a pet issue of mine!), Blackwell quite rightly insists that the RNC should make greater efforts at candidate recruitment. "We must no longer relinquish control of federal candidate identification solely to the NRSC and NRCC," he writes. The problem with the senatorial committee and the congressional committee are that both are mostly incumbent protection bodies rather than candidate development bodies -- with the added weakness that they often do a bad job of actually protecting Republican incumbents! And no wonder: Every two years, a new senator or representative takes the helm of the two committees, and tries to oversee them while also handling full congressional duties and worrying about their own re-elections as well. The Republican National Committee chairman darn well ought not leave candidate recruitment to such weak reeds.
"The most important factor in evaluating a potential Republican candidate is whether he/she has integrity and agrees with our philosophy of limited government, traditional values and a strong defense," Blackwell's plan continues. "If someone doesn't agree with the Republican philosophy of government, it hardly matters whether or not they make a good candidate on other levels. Once we are assured that they agree with our party philosophically, we should evaluate important factors such as their ability to appeal to voters for the office for which they are running, their ability to raise the resources necessary to be competitive, their ability to represent our party admirably on the national stage, and importantly, whether they are free from the corruption that plagued our party in recent years." Hear, hear. . . .
Tags:candidate, Christian Conservative, conservatism, Ken Blackwell, Republican National Committee, RNC, RNC ChairmanTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Where Are the 'Hard Choices'? The Heritage Foundation Comments On Obama's Speech
Conn Carroll, Morning Bell, The Foundry: Just like all his other speeches, President Barack Obama’s inaugural address delivered lofty rhetoric yesterday, but as is often the case with Obama, the speech provided more heat than light when it came to tough issues. Seeking to set a tone of accountability, Obama said:
Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. … The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act. … The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works.
The “bold and swift” action the president is referring to is the currently priced $825 billion economic stimulus package that the House introduced last week. Everybody expects that number will only go up after the Senate introduces their own bill, but let’s crunch the numbers on Obama’s plan as is. If Congress passes an $800 billion, two-year stimulus bill, the deficit in 2009 could stand at $1.31 trillion and could be $1.27 trillion for FY 2010. As a percent of GDP, the FY 2009 deficit will be 9.2% of GDP, and the FY 2010 deficit will be 8.7% of GDP. Moving to the total obligations of the federal government, if the stimulus passes our national debt will be $13 trillion in FY 2009 (92% of GDP) and $14 trillion in FY 2010 (95% of GDP).
Obama seems to believe that deficit spending will expand the economy. If that were true, then the current $1.2 trillion deficit — the largest in history — would already be rescuing the economy. It’s obviously not. So why would $800 billion more of the same suddenly end the recession? How is borrowing and spending money at faster rates a change from our past “collective failure”? It is not.
Obama’s deficit spending stimulus is the exact opposite of making “hard choices.”As Politico points out today, while “Obama frequently talks of the need to transcend partisanship … In fact, there are few examples of him making decisions during the campaign or the transition that offended his own party’s constituencies.”
If the president is interested in ushering in an age of what works, he could suspend the Davis-Bacon “prevailing wage” rules for all infrastructure stimulus spending. A 2008 study by Suffolk University and the Beacon Hill Institute found that Department of Labor estimates for the “prevailing wage” in cities are about 22% above the actual wages paid in these cities and that taxpayers could save almost 10% in federal building costs if they were suspended. If Obama spends $400 billion on infrastructure, he could save taxpayers $40 billion. But the unions that Obama is beholden to would never allow this.
Our country is facing tough economic times, but they are no worse than Ronald Reagan faced in 1982. Reagan did make some unpopular choices, but those choices set the stage for 20 years of economic growth. We sincerely hope President Obama chooses a similar path.Tags:Barack Obama, Davis Bacon, deficit spending, Heritage Foundation, National Debt, presidential inauguration, speechTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
by Gary L. Bauer, Campaign for Working Families: A number of commentators made the point yesterday that there was such goodwill for President Obama that there were no demonstrators at the inaugural. Of course there weren’t. Conservatives and Republicans don’t demonstrate. The 60 million Republican and conservative voters who didn’t vote for Obama wouldn’t dream of trying to disrupt his day. It is the political Left that acts like children when it loses. It’s the Left that tried to turn both Bush inaugurals and both Reagan inaugurals into fiascos.
Actually, there was one demonstration yesterday, but not from our side. Even in victory, the Left couldn’t restrain itself. When President Bush and Mrs. Bush were introduced at the Capitol, the crowd of liberal Democrat VIPs with the close, up-front seats, in one final display of ignorance and classlessness, booed the outgoing president. Not satisfied with that insult, a mocking chant started, “Na Na Na Na, Hey, Hey, Hey, Goodbye.” These are the “tolerant” people who want us to close ranks now – behind their agenda. (By the way, to see how these eco-conscious "progressives" left Washington after their victory bash, click here.)
But the lack of grace doesn’t end there. For decades Democrats have played the race card against Republicans and conservatives. If we opposed quotas, we were bigots. If we thought welfare or subprime mortgages needed reforming, it was said we hated black people. The list goes on and on. But Pastor Joseph Lowery just couldn’t help himself. He had to play the race card again.
He did it with this little prayer/poem: “Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around … when yellow will be mellow … when the red man can get ahead man, and when white will embrace what is right.”
A mixed race man had just become the 44th president of a nation that is 67% white – something that has not yet happened in any of the “progressive” European nations, which we are always told are more “enlightened” than we are. But to Lowery and the Left, if you are white and conservative, you still haven’t “embraced what is right.”
As a matter of fact, to these ideologues, if you are black, brown, yellow or red AND conservative, you are the problem. Seriously, would the media have been in a similar state of euphoria if the man sworn in yesterday had been J.C. Watts, Ken Blackwell or Clarence Thomas? What a contrast Lowery’s racist poem was compared to the “controversial” Christian Pastor Rick Warren, who with grace reminded the audience that God loves us all. (Presumably even Republicans and conservatives!) Tags:Gary Bauer, liberals, presidential inauguration, promoting racismTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Obvious the above photo is rather hard to view - the situation is more than trashy! Also note all the plastic bags which they could have used to haul out their own trash. TexasFred sent the following humorous comment which could explain the attitude of those in attendance. Not counting Gov't Officials,
There were 2.7 million people at the inauguration in Washington D.C.
18 of them missed work.
For those insulted that "progressives" could not pick-up their own trash, you are a "Real American." If you are insulted by Texas Fred's joke, after viewing the photo, --- study the photo again. Then if you are more bothered by the joke than the reality presented by the photo, send your comments and we will let other readers educate you.Tags:TexasFred, presidential inauguration, Washington D.C., Washington MonumentTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
President Barrack Obama asserted yesterday in his inauguration speech that it is no longer whether government is too big or too small, but whether government "works." Most readers know that those who created our Federal system of government wanted it limited in scope because the knew that "Big Government" creates problems, limits individual freedom and eventually become tyrannical in its actions towards its people. Jesse Benton, Senior Vice President, Campaign for Liberty visited Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) yesterday to get his response on emails concerning Obamas's inauguration speech. A few of Dr. Paul's comments from the following video:
President Obama is not calling for less government but for government that "works" no matter what the cost. He in fact is calling for a "lot more government." Conservatives know and want "individual liberty with the full belief and confidence that freedom does work, that markets work and that big government is the problem." At issue is "can the government create prosperity, can it regulate the market place, can it be a central economic planner, can it be empire builder, and can it police the world. ... What is coming is a strong ideological belief that government can run things." "If it isn't socialism, it is fascistic and it is inflationary and its control and it is loss of liberty, so we should not be feeling reassured by any words that we heard in the inaugural address."
You may need to turn up the volume.
Tags:Barack Obama, big government, Ron Paul, videoTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
The Senate reconvened at noon today and proceeded to executive session to consider the nomination of Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) to be Secretary of State. Three hours of debate are scheduled, with a vote expected at 4:30 PM. Following the vote, the Senate will resume consideration of the Ledbetter bill (S. 181) .
Yesterday the Senate confirmed by voice vote the nominations of Steven Chu as Energy secretary, Gov. Janet Napolitano (D-AZ) as Homeland Security secretary, former Congressional Budget Office director Peter Orzag as director of the Office of Management and Budget, Sen. Ken Salazar (D-CO) as Interior secretary, retired Gen. Eric Shinseki as Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and former Gov. Tom Vilsack (D-IA) as Secretary of Agriculture.
From Senate & News Sources: With the new president sworn in, attention is turning to the stimulus legislation being pushed by his congressional allies to address the nation’s economic downturn. House Democrats recently unveiled a massive $825 billion spending bill, which was supposedly designed to pump money into the economy. However, a report from the Congressional Budget Office this week reveals that “[l]ess than half the money dedicated to highways, school construction and other infrastructure projects . . . is likely to be spent within the next two years, . . . meaning most of the spending would come too late to lift the nation out of recession,” according to The Washington Post.
Further, The AP reports, “Overall, only $26 billion out of $274 billion in infrastructure spending would be delivered into the economy by the Sept. 30 end of the budget year, just 7 percent. Just one in seven dollars of a huge $18.5 billion investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy programs would be spent within a year and a half.”
Wall Street also appeared to be skeptical of the stimulus plan. Alan Sinai, chief economist at Decision Economics of Boston, told The Boston Globe, “The message from Wall Street is ‘Show me.’ Stimulus heavily oriented towards government spending has a checkered history.”
Last year, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared that economic stimulus spending should be “timely, temporary, and targeted.” If the CBO report is accurate, it looks like the proposal being put forward by Democrats is anything but timely. If it includes money for dubious projects Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has criticized as “mob museums and waterslides,” it would be hard to consider it targeted. It appears that Democrats need to spend a little more time considering something that would actually have a stimulative effect on the economy.Tags:confirmations, US Congress, US House, US Senate, Washington D.C.To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Tags:President, George Bush, GWB, Thank you, video, January 2009To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
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