I Do Not Like This...

found on facebook:

 

Pretty much says it all...

Land of the Freebies, Home of the Enslaved...

Here is a must see video:

Paul Ryan's Proposed Budget Cuts...

Via reader LindaD, here's a somewhat itemized list of the cuts proposed by Paul Ryan if Romney wins the election.

PAUL RYAN'S PROPOSED BUDGET CUTS A List the Republican Budget will cut Notice S.S. and the military are NOT on this list. These are all the programs that the new Republican House has proposed cutting. Read to the end. * Corporation for Public Broadcasting Subsidy -- $445 million annual savings. * Save America ’s Treasures Program -- $25 million annual savings. * International Fund for Ireland -- $17 million annual savings. * Legal Services Corporation -- $420 million annual savings. * National Endowment for the Arts -- $167.5 million annual savings. * National Endowment for the Humanities -- $167.5 million annual savings. * Hope VI Program -- $250 million annual savings. * Amtrak Subsidies -- $1.565 billion annual savings. * Eliminate duplicating education programs -- H.R. 2274 (in last Congress), authored by Rep. McKeon, eliminates 68 programs at a savings of $1.3 billion annually. * U.S. Trade Development Agency -- $55 million annual savings. * Woodrow Wilson Center Subsidy -- $20 million annual savings. * Cut in half funding for congressional printing and binding -- $47 million annual savings. * John C. Stennis Center Subsidy -- $430,000 annual savings. * Community Development Fund -- $4.5 billion annual savings. * Heritage Area Grants and Statutory Aid -- $24 million annual savings. * Cut Federal Travel Budget in Half -- $7.5 billion annual savings * Trim Federal Vehicle Budget by 20% -- $600 million annual savings. * Essential Air Service -- $150 million annual savings. * Technology Innovation Program -- $70 million annual savings. * Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Program -- $125 million annual savings.. * Department of Energy Grants to States for Weatherization -- $530 million annual savings. * Beach Replenishment -- $95 million annual savings. * New Starts Transit -- $2 billion annual savings. · Exchange Programs for Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Their Historical Trading Partners in Massachusetts -- $9 million annual savings * Intercity and High Speed Rail Grants -- $2.5 billion annual savings. * Title X Family Planning -- $318 million annual savings. * Appalachian Regional Commission -- $76 million annual savings. * Economic Development Administration -- $293 million annual savings. * Programs under the National and Community Services Act -- $1.15 billion annual savings. * Applied Research at Department of Energy -- $1.27 billion annual savings. * Freedom CAR and Fuel Partnership -- $200 million annual savings.. * Energy Star Program -- $52 million annual savings. * Economic Assistance to Egypt -- $250 million annually. * U.S. Agency for International Development -- $1.39 billion annual savings. * General Assistance to District of Columbia -- $210 million annual savings. * Subsidy for Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority -- $150 million annual savings. * Presidential Campaign Fund -- $775 million savings over ten years. * No funding for federal office space acquisition -- $864 million annual savings. * End prohibitions on competitive sourcing of government services. * Repeal the Davis-Bacon Act -- More than $1 billion annually. * IRS Direct Deposit: Require IRS to deposit fees for some services it offers (such as processing payment plans for taxpayers) into the Treasury, instead of allowing to remain as part of its budget-- $1.8 billion savings over ten years. * Require collection of unpaid taxes by federal employees -- $1 billion total savings. WHAT THE HELL IS THIS ABOUT – a billion dollars for a no-brainer? * Prohibit taxpayer funded union activities by federal employees -- $1.2 billion savings over ten years. * Sell excess federal properties the government does not make use of -- $15 billion total savings. * Eliminate death gratuity for Members of Congress. WHAT??? * Eliminate Mohair Subsidies -- $1 million annual savings. * Eliminate taxpayer subsidies to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change -- $12.5 million annual savings WELL ISN'T THAT SPECIAL * Eliminate Market Access Program -- $200 million annual savings. * USDA Sugar Program -- $14 million annual savings. * Subsidy to Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) -- $93 million annual savings. * Eliminate the National Organic Certification Cost-Share Program -- $56.2 million annual savings. * Eliminate fund for Obamacare administrative costs -- $900 million savings. * Ready to Learn TV Program -- $27 million savings. * HUD Ph.D. Program. * Deficit Reduction Check-Off Act. * TOTAL SAVINGS: $2.5 Trillion over Ten Years   Oddly enough, I think most of this stuff is just a starting point.  Eliminate the Depts of Education, Energy, HHS, HUD, Homeland Security as well as various offices, agencies such as the EPA (can be consolidated into a much smaller more efficient entity).  Eliminate the duplicate offices that still exist. Replace those departments with block grants to the various states.  Furthermore, eliminate the strangling regulations that those departments, agencies and offices on the economy

Proving Media Bias

Tim Groseclose of Prager University has developed a formula to statistically, how mainstream media outlets are biased.  Here's the video.




Furthermore, he has a test that will give you your "Political Quotient", or where you stand on a scale of 1-100, 0 being far right conservative, most America's stand right in the centre at 50...where do you stand?   I'm fairly moderate, politically, since I'm far more libertarian than conservative but my PQ in this test is far right conservative,

Here’s my PQ: 0.6
Politicians with similar PQs are:
Michele Bachmann (R-Minn, 2007-09) PQ=-4.1
James DeMint (R-S.C. 1999-2009) PQ=5.1
This is because fiscally, I would like to see the size and scope of the federal government rolled back by a 50-70%.  Reduce the federal departments to Defense, Treasurey, Commerce, Justice and Transportation (because of the NTSB, and a couple of other effective agencies).  Terminate all those sucking off Uncle Sam's hind tit, and forcing them out into the work force...to do something productive.  Essentiall, I firmly believe most of the functions that the federal goverment has usurped, more properly, belong to the responsibility of the various states.

This stems from the wording of the 10th Amendment of the US Constitution:

Amendment X

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

That's pretty straight forward wording.  If it's not specifically permitted to the federal government by the Constitution, those powers are reserved to the states and the people...That's my main opposition to National Health Care...if a state (like Massachusetts) desires to build a state health care system, they have every right to do so, and they can require their citizens to participate in that system...much like buying auto insurance if you own a car. 

But, I strenuously object to the federal government usurping that power to itself...as current law stands, under legal precedent, the federal government require everyon to purchase a GM car...that's a fair reading of the US Supreme Court's recent ruling on ObamaCare being legal under the "commerce clause" of the Bill of Rights...

Think about that for a moment...but I digress.  This is about media bias.  You can't read a newspaper, or watch TV news without being bombarded by the bias of JournoList members. POLITICO.com is unashamedly a propaganda arm of the Obama administration...with the NY Times/LA Times and WaPo not far away...

Via The BlogFather...

Fiscal Chart

Here's where your money is being spent.

HT Don Surber

The Numbers They Are Aweful!

From Steven Green of VodkaPundit, via Instapundit...these numbers speak for themselves.  I don't often reproduce entire blog posts, but these...speak for themselves...

“The numbers, they are awful.”

9.2% — unemployment rate for June.
0.1% — increase since May.
16.2% — underemployment rate for June.
0.4% — increase since May.
8% — conventional wisdom for the maximum allowable unemployment rate to win reelection.
15 — remaining BLS reporting months before Election Day.
255,000 — net jobs that must be created each and every month to reach 8%.
18,000 — net jobs created last month.
44,000 — downward revision to April and May job creation.
3,825,000 — total net jobs needed before Election Day.
2,100,000 — jobs created in the last fifteen months.
11.2% — unemployment rate if the labor participation rate was as high as it was in January, 2009.
290,000 — best monthly net jobs gain during Obama administration.
231,000 — real best gain, minus temporary Census hiring.
14 — months since best monthly gain.
1% — decrease in DJIA in the opening minute of trading, day that jobs figures released.
$1,200,000,000,000 — cost of ARRA “stimulus,” with interest.
1,900,000 — net jobs lost since ARRA was signed.
2 — quantitative easing programs since 2008.
~$2,000,000,000,000 — total of first QE program during Great Recession.
$600,000,000,000 — total of second QE program, just ended.
40% — increase in federal debt since January, 2009.
30% — increase in annual federal spending since January, 2009.
20% — decrease in federal revenues since January, 2009.
12% — decline in value of US dollar since January, 2009.
37% — increase in number of Americans on food stamps since January, 2009.
62% — increase in Misery index since January, 2009.
800 — days since the Senate passed a budget.
1.9% — last quarterly GDP increase.
2.5% — consensus projection for last quarterly GPD increase.
2.7% — official White House projection.
3.0% or better — GDP growth needed to dent unemployment.
3.6% — official White House GDP growth projection for 2012.
2.7% — IMF GDP growth projection for 2012.
30% — federal debt held by public as percentage of GDP, 2005.
60% — federal debt held by public as percentage of GDP, 2010.
180% — federal debt held by public as percentage of GDP, CBO estimate, 2035.

0% — odds of current path being sustainable.

Then toss in this graphic that shows that the recovery from the current recession is the slowest-worst in modern times:

and then this:

...and then think about our "elite political leaders" in Washington argueing whether or not to raise the debt ceiling!  They are quibbling over fake "spending cuts" (which aren't really cuts at all as has been demonstrated in the past few months) that at best cut fractions of a percentage point, while our economy struggles along, it's time to dump the leadership in the GOP, and start fresh.  They don't have the courage to do what needs to be done.

Bankruptcy 101

Bankruptcy 101


A Real Eye Opener



WHY is the USA BANKRUPT?



Informative, and mindboggling!





You think the war in Iraq was costing us too much? Read

this:



A friend of mine sent me some stuff on just how we as a nation are wasting money...the usual meme has been it's the illegal "foriegn wars" that have pushed us into bankruptcy.  The following is what we as a nation spend on illegal workers every single year.  EVERY YEAR. I think that the seven budgetary items below with help change your mind.  I have the URL's for checking those  facts below each item.

1. $11 Billion to $22 billion is spent on welfare to illegal aliens each year by state governments.
Verify at
http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer?pagename=iic_immigrationissuecenters7fd8

2.  $2.2 Billion dollars a year is spent on food assistance programs such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches for illegal aliens.
Verify at:
 http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.HTML

3.  $2.5 Billion dollars a year is spent on Medicaid  for illegal aliens.
Verify at:
http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.HTML

4.  $12 Billion dollars a year is spent on primary and secondary school education for children here illegally and they cannot speak a word of English!
Verify  at:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANscriptS/0604/01/ldt..0..HTML

5.   $17 Billion dollars a year is spent for education for the American-born children of illegal aliens, known as anchor babies.
Verify at
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANscriptS/0604/01/ldt.01.HTML

6.   $3 Million Dollars a DAY is spent to incarcerate illegal aliens.

Verify at:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/%20TRANscriptS/0604/01/ldt.01.HTML
http://transcripts.cnn.com/%20TRANscriptS/0604/01/ldt.01.HTML 

7. 30% percent of all Federal Prison inmates are illegal aliens.
Verify  at:
 http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANscriptS/0604/01/ldt.01.HTML
http://20w.drdsk.com/articleshtml
 https://webmail.east.cox.net/do/redirect?url

If you do the math, you'll find  that we're blowing $338.3 billion dollars each and every year...and that number is climbing with inflation.  By not spending that money, that would close almost one-fifth of the deficit.  That's a significant amount of money.  If we spent it in one year on securing the US-Mexican border, we'd not have to spend that money ever again...think about that.

The Real Cost Of Illegal Immigrants

This is submitted by a teacher in Southern California, who asked for anonymity...to protect her job.  Furthermore, more than 900 teachers were recently laid off from the Los Angeles Unified School District. They are $650,000,000 over budget. These figures should make everyone stop and think about how the money there is spend, be you Democrat, Republican or Independent

"As you listen to the news about the student protests over illegal immigration, there are some things that you should be aware of: I am in charge of the English-as-a-second-language department at a large southern California high school which is designated a Title 1 school, meaning that its students average lower socioeconomic and income levels

Most of the schools you are hearing about, South Gate High, Bell Gardens, Huntington Park , etc.. where these students are protesting, are also Title 1 schools.

Title 1 schools are on the free breakfast and free lunch program.When I say free breakfast, I'm not talking a glass of milk and roll -- but a full breakfast and cereal bar with fruits and juices that would make a Marriott proud. The waste of this food is monumental, with trays and trays of it being dumped in the trash uneaten.  (OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK)

I estimate that well over 50% of these students are obese or at least moderately overweight. About 75% or more DO have cell phones.The school also provides day care centers for the unwed teenage pregnant girls(some as young as 13) so they can attend class without the inconvenience of having to arrange for babysitters or having family watch their kids. (OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK)

I was ordered to spend $700,000 on my department or risk losing

funding for the upcoming year even though there was little need for anything; my budget was already substantial. I ended up buying new computers for the computer learning center, half of which, one month later, have been carved with graffiti by the appreciative students who obviously feel humbled and grateful to have a free education in America ...(OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK)

I have had to intervene several times for young and substitute teachers whose classes consist of many illegal immigrant students here in the country less than 3 months who raised so much hell with the female teachers, calling them "Putas" (whores ) and throwing things, that the teachers were in tears.

Free medical, free education, free food, day care, etc, etc, etc. Is it any wonder they feel entitled not only to be in this country but to demand rights, privileges and entitlements?

To those who want to point out how much these illegal immigrants contribute to our society because they LIKE their gardener and housekeeper and they like to pay less for tomatoes: spend some time in the real world of illegal immigration and see the TRUE costs.

Higher insurance, medical facilities closing, higher medical costs, more crime, lower standards of education in our schools, overcrowding, new diseases etc., etc, etc. For me, I'll pay more for tomatoes.

Americans, We need to wake up. The guest worker program will be a disaster because we won't have the guts to enforce it. Does anyone in their right mind really think they will voluntarily leave and return?

It does, however, have everything to do with culture: A third-world culture that does not value education, that accepts children getting pregnant and dropping out of school by 15 and that refuses to assimilate, and anAmerican culture that has become so weak and worried about"political correctness " that we don't have the will to do anything about it.

If this makes your blood boil, as it did mine, forward this to everyone you know including your Congressmen and Senators.

CHEAP LABOR? Isn't that what the whole immigration issue is about? Business doesn't want to pay a decent wage.  Consumers don't want expensive produce. Government will tell you Americans don't want the jobs. But the bottom line is cheap labor. The phrase "cheap labor" is a myth , a farce, and a lie. There is no such thing as "cheap labor."

• Take, for example, an illegal alien with a wife and five children,

• He takes a job for $5.00 or 6.00/hour. At that wage, with six dependents, he pays no income tax, yet at the end of the year, if he files an Income Tax Return,  he gets an "earned income credit" of up to $3,200 free.

• He qualifies for Section 8 housing and subsidized rent.
• He qualifies for food stamps..
• He qualifies for free (no deductible), no co-pay) health care.
• His children get free breakfasts and lunches at school.
• He requires bilingual teachers and books.
• He qualifies for relief from high energy bills...
• If they are or become, aged, blind or disabled, they qualify for SSI. Once qualified for SSI they can qualify for Medicare. All of this is at (our) taxpayer's expense .
• He doesn't worry about car insurance, life insurance, or homeowners insurance.

Taxpayers provide Spanish language signs, bulletins and printed material. He and his family receive the equivalent of $20.00 to $30.00/hour in benefits.

Working Americans are lucky to have $5.00 or $6.00/hour left after paying their bills AND his.
The American taxpayers also pay for increased crime, graffiti and trash clean-up. Cheap labor? YEAH RIGHT! Wake up people!

THESE ARE THE QUESTIONS WE SHOULD BE ADDRESSING TO THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES FOR EITHER PARTY. 'AND WHEN THEY LIE TO US AND DON'T DO AS THEY SAY, WE SHOULD REPLACE THEM AT ONCE!'

This kind of this can be found at EVERY level of government.  The federal government has dozens of programs that overlap, and none of which operate at any level of efficiency.  I think that the time has come to force our governments to start thinking like business, instead of working on someone else's dime...the taxpayers are waking up and beginning to demand accountability. 

10 Ways to Reduce Government Spending

 Here are 10 suggestions to reduce the deficit produce a balanced budget.

1. Eliminate all ethanol subsidies (and ALL farm subsidies).
2. Eliminate all windmill subsidies.
3. Cut EPA’s budget 50%.
4. Eliminate the FCC.
5. Eliminate the NEA.
6. Eliminate public broadcasting money.
7. Eliminate the Dept  of Education.
8. Across the board 20% cut in funding.
9.  
10.  

I'm leaving spots 9 and 10 open for your suggestions.  Here are a couple of more.

But the best suggestion of all is that if (when) Congress fails to pass a balanced budget by the first day of the federal fiscal year, hold a special election 90 days later to replace all 535 of the worthless sonsabitches.  Another would be to end the full-time, year-round Congress.   Because they're there all year, they waste endless amounts of money.

US Funds Used To Renovate Mosques

American tax dollars are being used to renovate mosques in the Middle East.  We have had record deficits for the past 4 years thanks to the Democratic party, yet we're spending a billion dollars renovating mosques...doesn't this seem like an utter waste of money?  Follow the link to WSBTV's site for the video report.  Congress doesn't just need to cut spending, it must seriously reevaluate just what we're spending money on.

If you don't think that we can't have an across the board cut of at least 10% in spending, then this country is in serious trouble.  Our government is wasting billions of dollars on programs that not only don't do what they are supposed to do, but just merely cutting spending across the board would bring some sanity to the budgetary process.  Ending earmarks  is just a drop in the bucket of wasteful spending...

Get NPR Off The Public Tit

Charles Krauthammer tells Nina Tottenberg of NPR that her network needs to get off the public dime.



via Newsbusters

Government Waste: American Bureaucracy Style

Here's  a partial list compiled by  David Steinberg,  of all the government agencies that are cited by the GAO as haveing overlapping and wastefull responsibilities:

The Biggest Government


In a century, Big Government transformed an essential and minimalized service, the Federal Highway Administration, into the Department of Where the F*** Do You Think You’re Going, and the above fog machine is just the genetics of one department. I noted earlier that the GAO had “found” massive amounts of redundancy; it was a poor word. The GAO simply took the time to report on the disgust. Any rational man could look at the following, which is nothing more than a collection of current federal agencies, and understand the waste is of a scale difficult to comprehend and inspiring of our worst tendencies to rage.

This is your Big Government, perhaps the biggest Big Government there ever could be. The problem is not one or several agencies, but the whole damned thing: believe it, it is true — this is the actual structure of the United States. See if you can spot the redundancies:

· Advisory Council on Historic Preservation· American Battle Monuments Commission · Architect of the Capitol · Botanic Garden · Capitol Visitor Center · Constitution Center · National Capital Planning Commission · National Cemetery Administration (Veterans Affairs Department) · Smithsonian Institution · White House Commission on the National Moment of Remembrance

· Archives (National Archives and Records Administration) · Administrative Committee of the Federal Register · Library of Congress

· Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) · Administration for Native Americans · National Indian Gaming Commission

· Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (Justice) · Bureau of Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade (Treasury) · Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) · National Drug Intelligence Center · Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP)
· Bureau of Justice Statistics · Bureau of Labor Statistics · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Congressional Research Service · Federal Interagency Council on Statistical Policy · National Agricultural Statistics Service

· Agricultural Marketing Service · Agriculture Department (USDA) · Marketing and Regulatory Programs (Agriculture Department) · Research, Education and Economics (Agriculture Department) · Risk Management Agency (Agriculture Department)
· Agency for International Development · African Development Foundation · Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Commission)
· Federal Highway Administration · Department of Transportation (DOT) · Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration · Federal Transit Administration · Maritime Administration · National Highway Traffic Safety Administration · National Transportation Safety Board · Research and Innovative Technology Administration (Transportation Department) · Surface Transportation Board · Transportation Security Administration
· Environmental Management (Energy Department) · Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) · Natural Resources Conservation Service
· Farm Credit Administration · Farm Service Agency · Land Management, Bureau of
· Export Administration (now the Bureau of Industry and Security) · Export-Import Bank of the United States

Below, how Big Government handles money:
· Commerce Department · Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States · Commodity Futures Trading Commission · Comptroller of the Currency Office · Council of Economic Advisers · Department of the Treasury · Disability Employment Policy Office · Economic Adjustment Office · Economic Analysis, Bureau of · Economic Development Administration · Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) · Economic Research Service · Economics & Statistics Administration · Engraving and Printing, Bureau of · Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity · Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board · Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council · Federal Financing Bank · Federal Reserve System · Financial Management Service (Treasury Department) · Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission · Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, National Commission · Government Printing Office (GPO) · Government National Mortgage Association · Mint (Treasury Department) · National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform · National Credit Union Administration · National Economic Council · Office of Management and Budget (OMB) · Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) · Small Business Administration (SBA) · Taxpayer Advocacy Panel · U.S. International Trade Commission · U.S. Trade and Development Agency · U.S. Trade Representative

And “health”:
· Administration on Aging (AoA) · Administration on Developmental Disabilities · Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) · Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry · Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Interagency Coordinating Committee · Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion · Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) · Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board · Civilian Radioactive Waste Management · Committee for Purchase from People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled · Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) · Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) · Health Resources and Services Administration · Indian Health Service · National AIDS Policy Office · National Council on Disability · National Institutes of Health (NIH) · Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) · Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission · Rehabilitation Services Administration (Education Department) · Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

And “Education”:
· Education Department (ED) · Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) · Federal Interagency Committee on Education · National Institute for Literacy · National Science Foundation

And energy:
· Energy Department (DOE) · Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy · Energy Information Administration · Federal Energy Regulatory Commission · Fossil Energy · National Laboratories (Energy Department) · Power Administrations · Science Office (Energy Department) · Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology · Nuclear Regulatory Commission · Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board

And your food:
· Food and Drug Administration (FDA) · Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services · Food Safety and Inspection Service · Food and Nutrition Service · Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration · National Institute of Food and Agriculture

And your retirement:
· National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare · Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration (now the Employee Benefits Security Administration) · Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation · Railroad Retirement Board · Social Security Administration (SSA) · Social Security Advisory Board

And “science”:

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) · National Ocean Service · National Weather Service (NOAA) · National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) · Office of Science and Technology Policy · Office of Scientific and Technical Information

And the border:

 Office of Refugee Resettlement · U.S. Border Patrol (now Customs and Border Protection) · U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services · U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement · Executive Office for Immigration Review

And this … this is how Big Government attempts to make everything better:

 Arctic Research Commission · Appalachian Regional Commission · Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (Access Board) · Chief Acquisition Officers Council · Chief Financial Officers Council · Chief Human Capital Officers Council · Chief Information Officers Council · Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee · Commission of Fine Arts · Commission on International Religious Freedom · Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements · Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) · Community Planning and Development · Corporation for National and Community Service · Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention · Council on Environmental Quality · Delaware River Basin Commission · Denali Commission · Domestic Policy Council · Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy · Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) · English Language Acquisition Office · Federal Citizen Information Center (FCIC) · Federal Consulting Group · Federal Executive Boards · Federal Geographic Data Committee · Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight · Federal Housing Finance Board · Federal Interagency Committee for the Management of Noxious and Exotic Weeds · Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer · Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service · Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board · Foreign Agricultural Service · General Services Administration (GSA) · Indian Arts and Crafts Board · Illinois and Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor Commission · Innovation and Improvement Office · Institute of Peace · Interagency Alternative Dispute Resolution Working Group · Inter-American Foundation · Interagency Council on Homelessness · Japan-United States Friendship Commission · Joint Board for the Enrollment of Actuaries · Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies · Joint Fire Science Program · Legal Services Corporation · Marine Mammal Commission · Merit Systems Protection Board · Millennium Challenge Corporation · Minority Business Development Agency · Mississippi River Commission · Morris K. Udall Foundation: Scholarship and Excellence in National Environmental Policy · Multifamily Housing Office · National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency · National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) · National Mediation Board · National Technical Information Service · National Telecommunications and Information Administration · Northwest Power Planning Council · Office of Compliance · Office of Government Ethics · Office of Personnel Management · Office of Thrift Supervision · Open World Leadership Center · Overseas Private Investment Corporation · Peace Corps · Presidio Trust · Regulatory Information Service Center · Rural Business and Cooperative Programs · Rural Development · Rural Housing Service · Rural Utilities Service · Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation · Southeastern Power Administration · Southwestern Power Administration · Stennis Center for Public Service · State Justice Institute · Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement · Susquehanna River Basin Commission · TRICARE Management · Trustee Program (Justice Department) · Western Area Power Administration · White House Commission on Presidential Scholars · Women’s Bureau (Labor Department)

This is what conservatives mean by Big Government...it's past time to trim ALL of the programs, offices, etc...and turn the dead weight manning them back to the private sector.

The Coming Collapse in State Budgets...

Here's a report by 60 Minutes (holy shit! an alphabet news agency reporting something bad about government) on the coming collapse in a number of large state's budgets.



Ed Morrisey, formerly of Captain'sQuarters, now of HotAir.com's take is that,  

The “ride to the rescue” in Porkulus didn’t produce any improvement in behavior. Instead of either facing the music and making cuts in expenditures — especially in reducing bureaucracies — the states used the Porkulus bloc-grant funding to paper over their budget gaps and punt on the hard decisions. The federal government shouldn’t have borrowed money to provide that fig leaf the first time, and they won’t get an opportunity for Round 2 fig-leafism with a GOP House.


That leaves the states on their own to do what they should have done years ago — cut spending and press for pension reform in the public-union contracts. Will the states finally take control of their budgets? If they don’t, prepare for another collapse in the banking sector.

My question is will state and local politicians do what's right and finally reign in spending or will they scream for Uncle Sugar to bail them out like GM/Chrysler and the banks?  I'm betting they think the the Fed's will bail them out.

via InstaPundit

Omnibus Spending Bill

Show to just how tone deaf the Democratic leadership in Congress, they have introduced an Omnibus spending bill the fund the federal government until October of 2011 (Fiscal 2011) that shoots past $1,200,000,000,000.00.  All of which will be funded...by bonds, you've got it, we'll have to BORROW the money!  Included in that bill are 6488 earmarks used as payoffs by corrupt politicians that total $8.3 billion dollars.  While that's basically chump change, it's corrupt chump change in a time we should be looking at fiscal austerity.

This is the bill that Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid refused to bring to floor before the election because they feared what the public's reaction would be...as if losing 7 seats in the Senate, and 64 in the House weren't bad enough.  They were afraid that the tsunami would have been worse if the public had been able to peruse this bill before hitting the polling booth.

The $1.2 trillion bill, released on Tuesday, includes more than 6,000 earmarks totaling $8 billion, an amount that many lawmakers decried as an irresponsible binge following a midterm election in which many voters demanded that the government cut spending.
"The American people said just 42 days ago, 'Enough!' . . . Are we tone deaf? Are we stricken with amnesia?" Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a leading earmark critic, said on the Senate floor, flipping through the 1,924-page bill as he pounded his desk.

The bill includes $18 million for two nonprofits associated with deceased Democrats, the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy and Rep. John P. Murtha; $349,000 for swine waste management in North Carolina; and $6 million for a rural Iowa school program named after Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa).

 While Mitch McConnell has agreed to a moritorium on earmarks...

the legislation includes provisions requested this year by McConnell, including $650,000 for a genetic technology center at the University of Kentucky, according to an analysis of the bill by Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan watchdog.

That's the height of hypocrisy...even for a jaded GOP leadership that no one in this country trusts.  On the plus side, John Boehner did release this: 

"If President Obama is truly serious about ending earmarks, he should oppose Senate Democrats' pork-laden omnibus spending bill and announce he will veto it if necessary. This bill represents exactly what the American people have rejected: more spending, more earmarks, and more big government. Republicans strongly oppose this last-ditch spending spree, a smack in the face to taxpayers at a time when we're borrowing 40 cents of every dollar we spend. Senate Democrats even go so far as to plow more than $1 billion into implementing ObamaCare, despite a growing national revolt against this job-killing health care law. . . .Senate Democrats should stand down so we can get to work on cleaning up Washington's fiscal mess"

The need to stop Washington’s job-killing spending binge may be lost on Senate Democrats, but it will be a top priority for the new Republican majority in the House. We have already banned earmarks and made a pledge to America to end the practice of omnibus bills like this disgrace and cut spending to pre-‘stimulus,’ pre-bailout levels. Instead of making reckless spending decisions in the waning days of the lame-duck session, Senate Democrats should stand down so we can get to work on cleaning up Washington’s fiscal mess.

What the GOP leadership must emphatically remember, the country didn't choose the Republican Party because we like an trust them, they were chosen because "they suck a little bit less" than the Democrats.  Here's some of the pork in the Senate version

• $247,000 - Virus free grapes in Washington State
• $413,000 - Peanut research in Alabama
• $125,000 - Fishery equipment for the Guam Fisherman’s Cooperative Association
• $349,000 - Swine waste management in North Carolina
• $277,000 - Potato pest management in wisconsin
• $246,000 - Bovine tuberculosis treatment in Michigan and Minnesota
• $522,000 - Cranberry and blueberry disease and breeding in New Jersey
• $500,000 - Oyster safety in Florida
• $400,000 - Solar parking canopies and plug-in electric stations in Kansas
• $165,000 - Maple syrup research in Vermont

Here's John McCain on the floor of the Senate, commenting about this bill.

 

 Basically, what it comes down to is this Democratically led Congress is telling America, and the just past election results, a resounding "fuck you."  They obviously haven't been listening, much less paying attention to what We The People want out elected representatives to do.

It's well past time to put an end to "lame duck" sessions, unless there is a pressing national emergency.  It's only been in the past 30 or so years that lame duck sessions have become the norm, and that norm has only been in the past 12 or so years.  Prior to the early 1980's, lame duck sessions were only called when pressing issues needed attention.  This Congress, and it's leadership, has ignored the will of the people long enough.  I believe that they don't think that we will remember what they've done in two years.  I don't think that they are taking the Tea Party movement seriously enough.  2012 is coming, and we WILL remember.

H/T Instapundit as always

UPDATE:  Congressman John Sarbanes answered with this:

Thank you for contacting me about deficits and the national debt. The national debt is a serious problem that requires our attention; I agree that we must act decisively to right our present fiscal course.

The irresponsible fiscal policies of the last decade left our nation on precarious fiscal footing as we slid into the worst recession in a generation. The impact of these policies cannot be reversed immediately and, without sustained economic growth, draconian spending cuts and tax increases will be required. That is why there has been general consensus among economists and policy experts that in the near term, as a response to the recession, targeted tax cuts and government spending are a desirable form of economic stimulus. Although balanced budgets must be an essential piece of any long-term economic strategy, the responsible use of short-term stimulus provides a much-needed "shot in the arm" for our struggling economy.

As the economy returns to sustainable growth, and once we have pushed closer to full employment, we must take a serious look at all elements of spending and tax revenue in order to return to fiscal responsibility. Last year, we made progress by enacting a statutory Pay-As-You-Go law to ensure that non-emergency spending or tax cuts are fully paid for elsewhere in budget. Pay-Go was applied during the 1990s and, along with strong economic growth, helped us achieve the budget surpluses of that decade. But the law was allowed to expire in 2002. I am also encouraged by the President's decision to create a national commission to make independent recommendations to the Congress about policies to get our fiscal house in order. The Commission's recommendations include tough choices about entitlements, tax revenue, and discretionary spending. Although I do not agree with every aspect of this proposal, these recommendations serve as a starting point as we begin to debate a comprehensive deficit-reduction package in the coming months. Make no mistake, enacting measures that will truly improve our fiscal condition will require shared sacrifice and real tradeoffs between government services and tax policy. I will come to this debate with the perspective that our budget policies should reflect our nation's values— ensuring opportunity and strengthening communities, promoting private enterprise and innovation, and sharing the costs of government equitably. I look forward to your continued input on this issue and I will keep your views in mind when the Congress considers relevant measures.

Again, I appreciate hearing from you. Please do not hesitate to contact me about other issues of concern to you in the future.

Sincerely,

John Sarbanes
Member of Congress

and I...being an angry Tea Partier answered him thusly: 
message dated 12/15/2010 6:01:44 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, md03ima@mail.house.gov writes:

"The irresponsible fiscal policies of the last decade left our nation on precarious fiscal footing as we slid into the worst recession in a generation. The impact of these policies cannot be reversed immediately and, without sustained economic growth, draconian spending cuts and tax increases will be required."

But when Nancy Pelosi took up the Speaker's gavel in 2006, she said she would be a good steward of "The Peoples" money...yet on her watch, and yours, you have added 1/3 to the national debt, with over $4 trillion dollars added in the past 23 months. How can you justify wasted 1 trillion on 'stimulus' that was now acknowledged by the White House to be an abject failure? How can you justify a two year average deficit of $1.4 trillion dollars per year? Answer that, without political wishy washyness and explain in simple language how...

Richard A. Vail
Pikesville, MD 21208
ravail136@aol.com
http://thevailspot.blogspot.com/

The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.--Thomas Jefferson

 

It's time to find a candidate who can oppose this sort of political corruption and do so while not being "captured" by the corrupt Washinton DC system.

Most Expensive Public School In History

Here's a report on the most expensive public school in history.  It's in Los Angeles, and cost $578,000.000.00, yep 578 million dollars.

Obama's Failed Stimulus Package Cost More Than Entire Iraq War

Here are some facts about Mr. Obama's spending when compared to the cost of the Iraq War, but first, a graph showing the costs of both:

• Obama's stimulus, passed in his first month in office, will cost more than the entire Iraq War -- more than $100 billion (15%) more.
• Just the first two years of Obama's stimulus cost more than the entire cost of the Iraq War under President Bush, or six years of that war.
• Iraq War spending accounted for just 3.2% of all federal spending while it lasted.
• Iraq War spending was not even one quarter of what we spent on Medicare in the same time frame.
• Iraq War spending was not even 15% of the total deficit spending in that time frame. The cumulative deficit, 2003-2010, would have been four-point-something trillion dollars with or without the Iraq War.
• The Iraq War accounts for less than 8% of the federal debt held by the public at the end of 2010 ($9.031 trillion).
• During Bush's Iraq years, 2003-2008, the federal government spent more on education that it did on the Iraq War. (State and local governments spent about ten times more.)

  

ATR: 14 Ways to Reduce Spending

The organization American's for Tax Reform has come up with 14 ways to reduce spending by the federal government.  It's a shame that none will be implemeneted...

1. Resurrect the “Byrd Committee.”
2. Give the public five days to read bills before a floor vote.
3. Put every federal transaction and contract online in real time.
4. Term limit appropriators.
5. Sitting Congressmen and Senators should not be able to name buildings or other monuments to themselves, and none should be named for them while they are still living.
6. Block grant education funding and welfare to the states.
7. Freeze the salary and benefit levels of federal employees.
8. Require all eligible federal employees to compete for their job with a private sector bidder.
9. Only hire one new federal employee for every two that retire from government employment.
10. Repeal the Davis-Bacon Act.
11. Reform farm subsidies along the lines of the 1996 “Freedom to Farm” Act.
12. Leave defense cuts on the table.
13. Stop using “emergency” spending loopholes to get around budget rules.
14. Freeze discretionary spending at 2007 levels.

 

Bailouts Reach $3.7 Trillion Dollars

The federal government has spent $3,700,000,000,000.00 on bail outs so far in this presidency...from Reuters,

"Indeed, the current outstanding balance of overall Federal support for the nation's financial system...has actually increased more than 23% over the past year, from approximately $3.0 trillion to $3.7 trillion -- the equivalent of a fully deployed TARP program -- largely without congressional action, even as the banking crisis has, by most measures, abated from its most acute phases," the TARP inspector general, Neil Barofsky, wrote in the report.  The total includes Federal Reserve programs and a myriad of asset guarantees, including Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. protection for bank deposits.

...so much for the recovery summer.  Eventually, the government will run out of our great-great grandchildrens money and stop throwing good money after bad.  Keynesian economics doesn't work.  It didn't work during the depression, and it hasn't worked now.  By all measures, except those used by this administration, the stimulus spending has utterly failed to do what it was designed to do...and is only making matters worse.

It's time for the government, and the US Congress to stop spending money like drunken sailors.  We can't afford it, and our decendants whom will ultimately end up footing the bill can't afford it either.  Ours will be the first generation who leaves the country in significantly  worse shape than we received from ourt parents generation.  That should be enough of a reason to stop such profligracy, but I doubt it will.

Stimulus Package Failed To Help Economy

Just 25% of voters nationwide believe the economic stimulus package created jobs and voters are counting on decisions made by business owners more than government officials to create the jobs needed by the nation.  The new survey found that just 29% believe last year’s economic stimulus plan has helped the economy while 43% believe it hurt. Not surprisingly, there is little appetite for another round. By a 69% to 15% margin, voters believe tax cuts is a better way to create jobs rather than more government spending.  Ultimately, though, voters are looking to the private sector to create jobs. Sixty-five percent (65%) say that decisions made business owners seeking to grow their business will do more to create jobs than decisions made by government officials. Just 23% expect the government officials to have a bigger impact.

This just goes to show that very few Americans  believe that the government can do anything economy to grow the economy.  On the other hand a majority believe that the government can actually hurt the economy by spending more money.

What Ailes the Country?

The root economic collapse are not simple. They stem from several sources, but primarily within Congress and a few Senators and Congressmen who insisted 12-14 years ago that owning a home was a "right" and must be extended to the broadest possible base. Another root cause is...again Congress, only this time, their ability to spend money without having to make commensurate cuts elsewhere in the budget. A third root cause of our economic woes is related to and a subsidiary dividend of the first two issues: Credit, or rather the lack thereof.

A number of years ago, Congressman Barney Frank, (D-MA4) along with Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Christopher Dodd (D-CT) decided that home ownership was a right that must be extended to everyone in the United States...regardless of their ability to pay the resulting mortgage. They insisted that Fanny May and Freddie Mac, the publicly owned/financed mortgage guarantee corporations must begin issuing subprime home loans. Wikipedia defines subprime loans as follows:

"Subprime lendings evolved with the realization of a demand in the marketplace for loans to high-risk borrowers with imperfect credit.[2] The first subprime was initiated in 1993. Many companies entered the market when the prime interest rate was low, and real interest became negative allowing modest subprime rates to flourish; negative interest rates are hand-outs, such that the more you borrow the more you earn.[citation needed] Others entered with the relaxation of usury laws.[2] Traditional lenders were more cautious and historically turned away potential borrowers with impaired or limited credit histories.[2] Statistically, approximately 25% of the population of the United States falls into this category.[citation needed] In 1998, the Federal Trade Commission estimated that 10% of new-car financing in the US was provided by subprime loans, and that $125 billion of $859 billion total mortgage dollars were subprime.[2]

"In the third quarter of 2007, subprime ARMs only represented 6.8% of the mortgages outstanding in the US, yet they represented 43.0% of the foreclosures started. Subprime fixed mortgages represented 6.3% of outstanding loans and 12.0% of the foreclosures started in the same period.[3]"

Thus in a nutshell, subprime loans are those that are granted to people with poor credit, who have in the past shown that they are irresponsible and defaulted on loans in the past. An additional criteria of subprime home loans was that they were often granted with little or no money as down payment and the loans often exceeded 125% of the value of the home...thus more money was given than the borrower's ability to pay back and was greater than the value of the property in question. Thus the borrower has little or no incentive to remain in the property if the ensuing housing bubble bursts...

When the credit crisis of 2007-8 began to perk up into the greater economy, it stemmed from increasing foreclosure rates of those very borrowers who should never have been granted loans in the first place. Then, as credit began to dry up, it effected all other sectors of the economy but most significantly, automotive sales and construction, as those industries are based heavily on the availability of credit lines, first in auto loans, and secondarily in construction firms being able to borrow the funds necessary to construct homes, commercial property, etc. Without easily available credit, those two industries are bound to fail in a rapid manner...and fail they did.

Enter Congress...Congress in it's infinite stupidity, led by Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, and the Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, jumped into the fray with the Toxic Asset Relief Program (TARP) which was supposed to buy up foreclosed properties and keep various "too big to fail" banking/lending houses on Wall Street solvent. Not coincidentally, AIG, was the most seriously endangered...it also happened to be the administrator of Congressional retirement funds...

These companies were deemed to important to be allowed to fail through normal marketary forces, i.e. they followed bad business plans and were rewarded for their stupidity, while small houses who followed economically vaible plans were punished by being forced to pay higher taxes and fees to partially fund the $750,000,000,000.00 plan (which has now ballooned beyond a trillion dollars). Unfortunately, most of these funds have been dispensed by the administration in a manner other than that which was mandated by Congress. Secretary of the Treasury, Timothy Geithner has used these funds to a slush fund in order to bailout GM and Chrysler to the tune of almost $100,000,000,000.00 so far.

Following the election, a victorious Barack Obama, with his enablers, Messer's Reid and Pelosi, settled upon a plan to spend another trillion dollars as a "stimulus package" to jump start the economy. Mr. Obama, in failing to show any leadership at all, delegated the formulation of the "package" to Congress...who larded it with pork typical of an emergency spending bill. It has been shown, that spending in Democratic districts has been more than 2-1 that of GOP held seats regardless of actual need in those districts.

However, in a recent study by Lauren Cohen, Joshua Coval and Christopher Malloy of the Harvard University Business School in their study, 'Do Powerful Politicians Cause Corporate Downsizing?' they discovered, much to their surprise, that massive government spending in Congressional districts (a convenient size for the purposes of their study) had the effect of eliminating jobs and a reduction in research expenditures in the private sector. In other words, they concluded that the stimulus package wouldn't stimulate the economy, it would have the direct and negative effect that it has had. Thus, unemployment has remained at 25 year highs...with a U6 rate of 17-20%. which is well above the U3 rate of 9.9%.

Once more enters Congress, which has passed in the past two years, record sized government budgets that will double the national debt within five years. Additionally, each year's projected deficit has exceeded $1,300,000,000,000.00 for last year, and 1,600,000,000,000.00 for this year, though that figure is been altered upward several times over the past few months as revenue received by the IRS has continued to slide.

There are several options available to alleviate our current economic woes. Unfortunately, this administration and Congressional leadership is deeply wedded to a flawed Keynsian economic model and won't implement any of these ideas. First off, a steep reduction in business taxes would release the private sector from an onerous burden and enable it to reinvest funds in expansion. Secondly, reducing or eliminating the Capital Gaines Tax would encourage further investment in the private sector. In the past, reducing taxes has been followed almost immediately by rapid expansion of the economy. The Reagan tax cuts of the 1980's led to the longest period of economic growth in our nation's history. Unfortunately, Congress as it is presently constituted will not implement either of these proposals, despite the fact that reducing taxes encourages economic growth, which leads to higher tax revenues.

Lastly, if Congress in a fit of sanity that's not envisioned in the near future, would not pass spending bills that increase spending without commensurate decreases' in other areas. This won't happen as our political class refuses to make the difficult decisions needed to eliminate deficit spending prefering to "kick the can down the road," and avoid having to make any hard decisions now.

Eliminating those governmental departments that are unnecessary or have become "jobs" programs, such as the Dept of Education, Health and Human Services, Commerce, as well as Energy. None of these departments are really necessary and don't actually perform well or efficiently in the sectors that they are purported to regulate. By eliminating them, nearly 25% of the overall budget would be eliminated and that unnecessary spending could be saved with an overall savings of nearly $1,000,000,000,000.00 per year. Yet, none of this will occur as Congress and this Administration want to have their cake and eat it too...

However, neither party has shown the political fortitude needed to tackle this growing list of economic problems.  Both seem to be enamoured of government expansion.  It's merely a matter of the rate of expansion that is the root issue.  In 2002-2006, the GOP expanded the scope of government to an unprecendented degree...but then, the Democratic Party took control of the reigns of government, in 2006, an began to pass budgets that exceed even those.  Once a Democrat took over the White House, the scope of government expansion sky rocketed.

Last year, compensation of government employees exceeded that of the private sector.  Addtionally, the numbers of people who no longer produce actual goods or services exceeded those in the productive private sector.  This sort of growth cannot be sustained.  In a business, if the administrative side begins to out number that of the productivity based side the business fails (i.e. GM, is an excellent example of this).  Government has now achieved that magic number.  What happens when governments reach this point?  Look at Greece, Spain and Portugal.  These three countries are bankrupt and can no longer afford the level of governmental spending that they have been following for several decades.  Greece's GDP is now exceeded by it's level of debt and is on the verge of defaulting on it's debt payments.   Our own government is predicted to reach this point in 2020...if not sooner.

The time has come for us as a nation to make those hard choices that are necessary in order to remain the ecnomic powerhouse that we have been for the past 160 years.  We have allowed our political class to spend money like drunken sailors without regard to the consequences to the future.  Social Security, which should have been able to sustain itself for another 50 years, has been through accounting tricks, systematically looted by Congress, both Democrat and Republican controlled, for more than 60 years, virtually since it's inception.  Medicare/Medicade, which were supposed to be capped at $40,000,000,000.00 spending now waste at least that much yearly.  We have allowed ourselves to be duped by politicians into believing that we can continue to spend money we don't have.

The time has come for us, as a nation to clean house and regain some measure of fiscal sanity.  In November, we must remove from office, thos incumbents who have shown that they are unable to look towards the future of our nation, and only look towards enriching themselves at the public trough.  Remember November!