HUMAN EVENTS Article: SURPRISE! Dems Break Promise: Stimulus Bill to Floor Friday

Michael Kreyssig has sent you an article from HUMAN EVENTS ONLINE with the following personal message:



SURPRISE! Dems Break Promise: Stimulus Bill to Floor Friday
by Connie Hair

In a press conference Thursday, the House Republican leadership spoke candidly about being kept out of the House-Senate conference on the Obama-Pelosi-Reid so-called “economic stimulus” bill.  They confirmed they had not yet seen the text of the bill as of 4 p.m.

Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said he was unsure how many Democrats would vote with Republicans again on this bill but that he thought Republicans “may get a few” Democrats to side with them.  The fact that the Demos have now broken their promise to have the public able to see the bill for 48 hours may drive more Dems into the Republican camp.

“[I] don’t know, ‘cause they haven’t seen the bill either,” Boehner said.

“The American people have a right to know what’s in this bill,” Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind) told HUMAN EVENTS after the press conference.  “Every member of Congress -- Republicans and Democrats -- voted to post this bill on the internet for 48 hours, 48 hours ago. We’ll see if the Democrats keep their word.”

Actually -- as of 5:15 pm, the Democrats had broken their word. The stimulus bill -- which we still haven’t seen -- will be released late tonight and will be brought up on the House floor at 9 am tomorrow.

The following statement was released by Majority Leader Steny Hoyer at 4:57 p.m.:

"The House is scheduled to meet at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow and is expected to proceed directly to consideration of the American Recovery and Reinvestment conference report. The conference report text will be filed this evening, giving members enough time to review the conference report before voting on it tomorrow afternoon."

Meanwhile, at an earlier presser Thursday, Pelosi -- while talking about legislation regarding school construction funds -- said it was vital to see the language of a bill before making decisions.  ReadtheStimulus.org had the following quote:

“With all of this you have to see the language. You said this --- I said that --- I understood it to be this way --- you know, we wanted to see it in writing and when we did that then we were able to go forward."

"Around here language means a lot. Words weigh a ton and one person's understanding of a spoken description might vary from another's. We wanted to see it. And not only just I had to see it, I had to show it to my colleagues and my caucus. We wanted to take all the time that was necessary to make sure it was right."

Congressional members are also exchanging barbs via the popular social network Twitter.  Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) twittered, "Don't know when we're going to vote. Will the no votes delay vote just because they can? Speed is important. They know that."

House Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) twittered back, “Those in favor of speed over commonsense may just be afraid of letting the People know what they are ramming through.”


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Official Pork Thread

Some more figures of what is inside the latest Stimulus Package. Now remember two things.

1) The purpose of this bill is to "jumpstart the economy and create jobs.

2) The amount of money these departments/programs are recieving in this package, set's the benchmark for what they will expect to recieve from future budgets.

***************************************************

$2 billion for FutureGen, a near-zero emissions coal power plant in Illinois from which the DoE pulled funding last year after having determined that the project was inefficient.

$246 million as a tax break to Hollywood for movie producers buying film.
(What....hollywood doesn't have enough money?)

$650 million for the digital TV converter coupon fiasco.
(That many people still rely on rabit ears?)

$448 million to build the headquarters for the Department of Homeland Security.
$248 million for furniture for said DoHS HQ.
(Mahogany baby)

$600 million to buy hybrids for federal employees.

$400 million for CDC screening to prevent STDs.

$1.4 billion for rural waste disposal programs.

$125 million for the Washington sewer system.
(note to contractors: Make sure the pipes heading to teh capital are really really big)

$150 million for Smithsonian museum facilities.

$1 billion for the 2010 Census.

$75 million for smoking cessation activities.

$25 million for tribal alcohol and substance abuse programs.

$500 million for flood reduction projects on the Mississippi River.

$10 million to inspect canals in urban areas.

$6 billion to make federal buildings green.

$500 million for state and local fire stations.

$650 million for wildland fire management on forest lands.

$1.2 billion for youth activities including summer job programs.

$88 million to renovate Public Health Services HQ.

$412 million for CDC buildings and property.

$500 million for building and repairing National Institutes of Health facilities in Maryland.

$160 million for paid volunteers at the Corporation for National and Community Service.

$5.5 million for energy efficient initiatives at the Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration.

$850 million for Amtrak.

$100 million to reduce the hazard of lead-based paint.

$75 million to construct a security training facility for State Department Security officers.

$100 million to the Farm Service Agency to upgrade computer systems.

$200 million in funding for the lease of alternative energy vehicles for use on military

 installations.

$50 million in funding for the National Endowment for the Arts 

$726 million for the "after school snack program".

Republican Senator Questions Where Bailout Money is Going (Mobile Post)

A while back I mentioned how I thought it was suspicioius that Lehman Brothers was allowed to fail, but AIG was not. I refferenced Secratary Paulson's ties to AIG via Goldman Sachs. Now the Republican Senator is also questioning where the bailout money is going.

By JIM MYERS World Washington Bureau - 11/16/2008He criticizes Henry Paulson for changing the $700 billion bailout plan. WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe said Saturday that Congress was not told the truth about the bailout of the nation's financial system and should take back what is left of the $700 billion "blank check'' it gave the Bush administration. "It is just outrageous that the American people don't know that Congress doesn't know how much money he (Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson) has given away to anyone,'' the Oklahoma Republican told the Tulsa World. "It could be to his friends. It could be to anybody else. We don't know. There is no way of knowing.'' Inhofe's comments, unusually pointed even for a senator known for being blunt, come on the heels of Paulson's shift in how he thinks the bailout funds should be spent. Last week the Treasury secretary announced he was abandoning his plan to free up the nation's credit system by buying up toxic assets from troubled financial institutions. Instead, Paulson wants to take a more direct action on the consumer credit front. "He was able to get this authority from Congress predicated on what he was going to do, and then he didn't do it,'' Inhofe said. "So, that's enough reason right there.'' Inhofe recalled earlier comments opposing Paulson's plan because the administration's point man did not have answers for a number of questions. He also recalled questioning the rush to get the bailout passed. "I have learned a long time ago. When they come up and say this has to be done and has to be done immediately, there is no other way of doing it, you have to sit back and take a deep breath and nine times out of 10 they are not telling the truth,'' he said. "And this is one of those nine times.'' Inhofe has laid out his legislative plans for this week on the bailout package in a letter to his Senate colleagues. He wants to freeze what is left of the initial $350 billion — reportedly $60 billion, but Inhofe concedes he does not know for sure. Then he wants a provision requiring an affirmative vote by Congress before Paulson can get his hands on the second $350 billion of bailout money. Current law lays out a scenario where President Bush submits a plan on the second half of the funding. Lawmakers have 15 days to disapprove it, but Inhofe questions that wording. "Congress abdicated its constitutional responsibility by signing a truly blank check over to the Treasury Secretary,'' he wrote. "However, the lame duck session of Congress offers us a tremendous opportunity to change course. We should take it.'' In the interview, the senator said his plans can provide "redemption'' for those senators who supported Paulson. Inhofe's plan appears to be a long shot at this point. Senators originally approved the bailout plan by a 74-25 vote. He does not know how much support he has among his Republican colleagues, and he concedes Democratic leaders could block it. Bush also could veto it if it were to make it out of Congress. Neither Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office nor the Treasury Department commented. Reid, D-Nev., wants to use the upcoming lame duck session to push economic issues such as extending unemployment benefits and aid to the nation's ailing auto industry. Inhofe opposes both. "You don't stimulate the economy by giving away more money,'' he said. In response to concerns expressed by some that allowing even one of the big automakers to fail would be too much of an economic hit for the nation, Inhofe said reality must be accepted. "If we keep on nursing a broken system, then we can't expect to have a different result come later on,'' he said. "I just think we have to draw the line someplace, and the time is here.'' Jim Myers (202) 484-1424 jim.myers@tulsaworld.co

Fanny and Freddy's Investment in Lawmakers

Published by Lindsay Renick Mayer

When the federal government announced two months ago that it would prop up mortgage buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, CRP looked at how much money members of Congress had collected since 1989 from the companies. On Sunday the government completely took over the two government-sponsored enterprises, and we've returned to our data to bring you the updates, this time providing a list of all 354 lawmakers who have gotten money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (in July we posted the top 25). These totals are based on data released electronically from the FEC on Sept. 2 and include contributions to lawmakers' leadership PACs and candidate committees from the floundering companies' PACs and employees. Current members of Congress have received a total of $4.8 million from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, with Democrats collecting 57 percent of that. This week we also wrote about how much money lawmakers had invested of their own money in the companies last year--a total of up to $1.7 million.

All Recipients of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Campaign Contributions, 1989-2008.

Mikes Note: Barak Obama is number two on this list, and has only been in the Senate for 4 years.


See the Complete list of who recieved Money

451 Pages of Pork

And John McCain voted for them. So much for vetoing any bill that had earmarks in them and making the person who put them in there "famous".

I think John McCain may have lost my vote. I am tempted to right in Ron Paul next to every person on the Ballot who voted in favor of this bill.

Here are some of the earmarks placed in the bill:

New Tax earmarks in Bailout bill
- Film and Television Productions (Sec. 502)
- Wooden Arrows designed for use by children (Sec. 503)
- 6 page package of earmarks for litigants in the 1989 Exxon Valdez incident, Alaska (Sec. 504)

Tax earmark “extenders” in the bailout bill.
- Virgin Island and Puerto Rican Rum (Section 308)
- American Samoa (Sec. 309)- Mine Rescue Teams (Sec. 310)
- Mine Safety Equipment (Sec. 311)
- Domestic Production Activities in Puerto Rico (Sec. 312)
- Indian Tribes (Sec. 314, 315)
- Railroads (Sec. 316)
- Auto Racing Tracks (317)
- District of Columbia (Sec. 322)
- Wool Research (Sec. 325)


Wooden arrows, Race Tracks, and Wool research?! That's where the problems with our economy started?

Please...

More On Henry Paulson History with Goldman Sachs

He joined Goldman Sachs in 1974, working in the firm's Chicago office for Manmeet Taneja. He became a partner in 1982. From 1983 until 1988, Paulson led the Investment Banking group for the Midwest Region, and became managing partner of the Chicago office in 1988. From 1990 to November 1994, he was co-head of Investment Banking, then, Chief Operating Officer from December 1994 to June 1998;[8] eventually succeeding Jon Corzine (now Governor of New Jersey) as its chief executive. His compensation package, according to reports, was US$37 million in 2005, and US$16.4 million projected for 2006.[9] His net worth has been estimated at over US$700 million.

Source: Wikipedia

Jim McGovern Votes in Favor of Bailout

Jim McGovern who is our state rep in Washington voted in favor of giving private businesses 700 Billion dollars of your tax payer money. Of course I am pretty sure he is running unopposed, but you can still withhold your vote for him this November.

Did the Treasurey Secreatary Bail out AIG to save his old Boss?

New York Times

Two weeks ago, the nation’s most powerful regulators and bankers huddled in the Lower Manhattan fortress that is the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, desperately trying to stave off disaster.

As the group, led by Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr., pondered the collapse of one of America’s oldest investment banks, Lehman Brothers, a more dangerous threat emerged: American International Group, the world’s largest insurer, was teetering. A.I.G. needed billions of dollars to right itself and had suddenly begged for help.

One of the Wall Street chief executives participating in the meeting was Lloyd C. Blankfein of Goldman Sachs, Mr. Paulson’s former firm. Mr. Blankfein had particular reason for concern.

Although it was not widely known, Goldman, a Wall Street stalwart that had seemed immune to its rivals’ woes, was A.I.G.’s largest trading partner, according to six people close to the insurer who requested anonymity because of confidentiality agreements. A collapse of the insurer threatened to leave a hole of as much as $20 billion in Goldman’s side, several of these people said.

Days later, federal officials, who had let Lehman die and initially balked at tossing a lifeline to A.I.G., ended up bailing out the insurer for $85 billion.

The Bailout

"In the world I see - you are stalking elk through the damp canyon forests around the ruins of Rockefeller Center. You'll wear leather clothes that will last you the rest of your life. You'll climb the wrist-thick kudzu vines that wrap the Sears Tower. And when you look down, you'll see tiny figures pounding corn, laying strips of venison on the empty car pool lane of some abandoned superhighway."

Corporations are human beings.

That was not a joke. It is a fact that the supreme court of the united states ruled as truth in 1886. It was based off of the 14 Amendment of our Constitution.

"No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge theprivileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.'"

That was supposed to free the slaves.

I bring this up only because Corporations fought for the right to be recognized as human. Humans make mistakes, and they make badge choices. And when those bad choices lead to bad ends...you face it...and sometimes you hit rock bottom.

These corporations did not make mistakes, they made piss poor decisions, and they knew it. They also knew that there was a good chance the government would save them. After all, we have been bailing out the airlines and the rail services for years. What was they line fed to us then?

"We need the transportation for the economy"

Well, now that line is being shoved down our throats again.

Please, I really need that credit card company screwing me around...yes please...bail them out with my money. I'll pay them twice a month. That's fine. And that insurance company that takes my money every month for years and then refuses to pay when I actually have a claim. Yes...send them more of my money please.

1 Trillion Dollars!! Maybe we are so complacent about this because we aren't wired to think that big. But trust me....it big. But hey, our national debt is already at 10 trillion dollars....what's another trillion right.

My friends if this bailout plan goes through, the country that has been spreading democracy around the world for the last decade will take a giant leap into the cesspool of Socialism.

Mark my words.