Thursday, December 10, 2009

Acorn Funding and the EPA


The American Spectator notes that "Congress -- and possibly Citigroup -- may be gearing up to start funding the organized crime syndicate ACORN again. The current federal funding ban expires Dec. 18. On Tuesday evening the House Appropriations Committee rejected on a party line vote of 9 to 5 an amendment offered by Rep. Tom Latham (R-Iowa) that would have blocked federal funding of the radical advocacy group. The amendment was needed because the Obama administration thumbed its nose at a provision in spending legislation that banned ACORN funding until the end of next week.

In a ruling revealed late last month by the Justice Department the Obama administration invented a loophole allowing the government to continue funding the president's friends at ACORN. Through the magic of legal interpretation, the language forbidding funding the group was transformed by Acting Assistant Attorney General David J. Barron into a requirement not "to refuse payment on binding contractual obligations that predate" the original funding ban."

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According to its October 2009 quarterly finance report, the Hillary Clinton for President campaign has one outstanding debt: $995,500 owed to Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates, LLC, which is run by Democratic pollster Mark Penn. According to The Hill today, the same firm received a $2.8 million stimulus subcontract "for media services and outreach to help prepare 'unready' households for the DTV transition" -- a contract that Republican Senators contend was "pure waste." This news is from the Washington Examiner.

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From Byron York come comments regarding :"The Billionaires Behind the Hate" is the title of a new report published by the Center for American Progress, which is the liberal think tank run by John Podesta, the former Clinton chief of staff who also ran the Obama transition and serves as an outside adviser to the Obama White House. The supposedly hateful billionaires in the article's title are brothers Charles and David Koch of Koch Industries, one of the nation's largest conglomerates. And what do they hate? The "progressive agenda." The Kochs, according to Podesta's group, are "responsible for a vicious attack campaign aimed directly at obstructing and killing progressive reform." First, they opposed the stimulus, financing "television and radio ads deriding the recovery package as simply 'pork' spending." Imagine that! Then, through the group Americans for Prosperity, they helped organize some of the first "Tea Party" protests.

From there, it was on to stopping environmental cap-and-trade legislation, and health care reform.

[One must assume here that The Center for American Progress, George Soros and Michael Moore, among others, traffic in "love" only - not a far left, Progressive, big government control, America as she is-hating agenda.] If you are looking for a sign that the White House, having gone through Rush Limbaugh, Fox News, Glenn Beck, and others, is flailing around in the search for new enemies to blame for its troubles, you can't do better than the new Center for American Progress report.
[Now that we have been introduced to a fine company, I wonder how many of us would like to boost their sales by knowing just what products they make? If you are one, you can find them at http://www.worldofkoch.com/ I plan to enrich them, myself! Just to get you started, here are some of the products: Vanity Fair, Brawney, Angel Soft, Quilted Northern, Sparkle, Dixie cups and Stainmaster carpet care. It occurs to me that most of these products are made to assist in cleaning up "messes", and we sure have one in Washington!]
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Politico reports that: In a bold but risky year-end strategy, Democrats are preparing to raise the federal debt ceiling by as much as $1.8 trillion before New Year’s rather than have to face the issue again prior to the 2010 elections. “We’ve incurred this debt. We have to pay our bills,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told POLITICO Wednesday.
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Fox News reports that a top White House economic official warned:

“If you don’t pass this legislation, then … the EPA is going to have to regulate in this area. And it is not going to be able to regulate on a market-based way, so it’s going to have to regulate in a command-and-control way, which will probably generate even more uncertainty.”

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The New York Times points out: Senate Democrats have provided few details about their latest health care proposal, but this much seems clear: Anyone who wants to buy the same health benefits as members of Congress, or to buy coverage through Medicare, should be prepared to fork over a large chunk of cash.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, a family of four earning $54,000 in 2016, when the health legislation is fully in effect, would be eligible for a subsidy of $10,100 to help defray the cost of insurance under the health legislation being debated by the Senate. By then, one of the most popular federal plans, a nationwide Blue Cross and Blue Shield policy, is projected to cost more than $20,000. Senate Democrats have been careful to say that their proposal is not intended to offer exactly the same benefits that members of Congress have.

Senators from rural states voiced deep reservations on Thursday about the Medicare buy-in plan, which they said would hurt hospitals, doctors and other health care providers back home.

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A New York Post Editorial points out: The Democrats' sweeping health-care plans may bankrupt the nation, but every American will be insured. Except for 24 million of 'em. No kidding: The Congressional Budget Office figures that by 2019, long after the new programs kick in, the reforms will trim the ranks of the uninsured by just 57 percent -- leaving another 43 percent, or 24 million residents, without coverage.

[Let's not forget that for the 3 or 4 years we will be waiting for this new plan to actually begin, we will all be paying premiums for it during that time, because it obviously needs a running start financially. Do you believe we can trust our government to actually put the money in a "lock box"? The Plan" has a curious starting date, chosen very well by Democrats - just prior to the next Presidential election...]

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