Rep. [John] Campbell: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, (CBO Director) we'll -- and Dr. Elmendorf -- and we'll continue this conversation right now. First on health care, before I get to broader issues, you just mentioned that you believe -- or that in your estimate, that the health care law would reduce the labor used in the economy by about 1/2 of 1 percent, given that, I believe you say, there's 160 million full-time people working in '20-'21. That means that, in your estimation, the health care law would reduce employment by 800,000 in '20-'21. Is that correct?
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Fox Business writes: In an unprecedented and controversial move, the
White House has launched a new
program at the Department of Labor which will refer workers who have complaints about their bosses to a toll free number at the American Bar Association, where they can get a lawyer to work on their case on a contingency fee basis.
More than 40,000 workers annually contact the Department of Labor with complaints about their bosses. But Labor can’t get to all of them, an estimated 10%, because of budget constraints, the White House says. So the White House has instead launched a program for “unresolved complainants” with the ABA. Workers will now be provided a toll-free number that connects them with ABA lawyers nationwide who are experienced in things like alleged workplace abuses of
minimum wage, overtime and family medical leave laws.
[Once again playing to his base of those who got him elected, Obama has just ensured that attorneys never run out of clients.]-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Electronic devices used in Toyota gas pedals were accelerating “spontaneously,” prompting cars to lurch forward at uncontrollable speeds, causing untold hazards to millions of Americans who, in their innocence, own and drive Toyotas,
[or so we were told.]
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced that “Toyotas are unsafe,” and the Democratic Congress swung into action. Multiple hearings were held in which Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.) not only featured anecdotes of lethal acceleration, but accused Toyota executives of lying about the problem and deliberately concealing what they knew. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) referred to Toyotas as “killing machines.” Toyota was fined a record $48.8 million for what the Obama administration considered its inadequate response to the crisis—three recalls totaling some 12 million vehicles—and Toyota’s stock price and market share declined.
Toyota was fined a record $48.8 million for what the Obama administration considered its inadequate response to the crisis—three recalls totaling some 12 million vehicles—and Toyota’s stock price and market share declined. Well, as Emily Litella used to say on
Saturday Night Live, “Nevermind.” Toyota provided lawmakers with a preliminary report on the safety of its electronic throttle controls by an outside research firm to assuage concerns. But the report was roundly criticized." Fox News now writes
: Transportation officials and engineers with
NASA say two mechanical safety defects previously identified by the government -- sticking accelerator pedals and gas pedals that can become trapped in floor mats -- are the only known causes for the reports of runaway
Toyotas. Both issues were the subject of large recalls by Toyota.
There was NO electrical problem..... [I'm wondering - when will the Obama Administration give the $48 million back to Toyota - or will Toyota counter-sue for defamation and loss of income? After all, here was the mighty government of the United States, with absolutely no solid evidence, attempting to put their law-abiding, US job producing competitor (who does not allow Democrat-favored unions in their company) out of business. This action, if successful, would have been another key in Obama's "full employment for the attorneys who got me elected" agenda, for there would have been years of juicy lawsuits. Pretty slick way to increase market share for Obama motors.... Who could be next? Oh, that's right - Republicans now hold the House of Representatives!]-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Through the deal which say AOL buying Arianna Huffington, Arianna now controls all news produced by AOL!
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The Washington Times writes: The National Republican Trust spent nearly $100,000 last year to help Scott Brown win the
U.S. Senate seat of the late Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat, but now the conservative political group wishes it had that money back to help kick Mr. Brown out of office.
Saying the Republican senator is no different from a Democrat, the head of the group is calling for Mr. Brown to donate to charity or disgorge campaign money equal to how much the trust spent supporting him during the 2010 campaign.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jan/30/seeing-red-pac-is-down-on-scott-brown/
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American Thinker writes: The
White House cybersecurity adviser joined Commerce Secretary
Gary Locke to announce what amounts to a national ID card for the Internet.
Their plan is straightforward. Instead of logging onto
Facebook or one's bank using separate passwords established with each individual company or website, the
White House will take the lead in developing what it calls an
"identity ecosystem" that will centralize personal information and credentials. This government-approved system would issue a smart card or similar device that would confirm an individual's identity when making online credit-card purchases, accessing electronic health care records, posting "anonymous" blog entries or even logging onto one's own home computer, according to administration documents.
Officials insist this would be a voluntary program and deliver significant benefits to the public.
[Don't volunteer. It will be voluntary only for a while, I presume.] http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/01/the_dangerous_internet_passpor.html
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Big Government writes: Breitbart.com LLC announced today that its Chairman and CEO Andrew Breitbart and the head of Breitbart.tv, Larry O’Connor, have been sued in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia by a central figure in the Pigford “back-door” reparations case. The Pigford case involves over $2.5 billion in US taxpayer money and constitutes one of the biggest cases of corruption and politically-motivated fraud in the history of the United States. Mr. Andrew Breitbart revealed two hours of audio of Thomas Burrell, the head of the Black Farmers & Agriculturalist Association, Inc., teaching non-farmers in the South how to commit fraud in the Pigford “back-door” reparations case. This audio conclusively demonstrates how people have conspired to grow the class of Pigford claimants to 94,000, when in fact, there were only about 18,000 black farmers in the entire country during the relevant time period, and when there were never anticipated to be more than a few thousand potential claimants among those 18,000.
http://biggovernment.com/publius/2011/02/12/andrew-breitbart-on-pigford-lawsuit-bring-it-on/
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The Hill writes: A government spending bill authored by House Republicans that would block funding for the Environmental Protection Agency's pending climate rules is "irresponsible and reckless," a
"preliminary analysis" of the legislation being circulated by the administration says. "The impacts of some language would be far wider than they intend," the analysis, obtained by The Hill from a source in the administration, says.
[That's a good one! The power of the EPA is not far wider than intended, is it?] http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/143705-administration-pushing-back-against-house-gop-plans-to-cut-epa-budget
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Bloomberg writes: Representative
Alan Grayson, a Florida Democrat, chastised Inspector General
Elizabeth Coleman for what he deemed a lack of oversight of the central bank’s off-balance-sheet transactions.
“Do you know who received that $1 trillion-plus that the Fed extended and put on its balance sheet since last September?” Grayson asked.
Coleman responded by saying she didn’t know. “We have not looked at that specific area,”
The Fed has refused to identify the borrowers, loan amounts or specific assets submitted as collateral under 11 of the central bank’s programs. Officials have argued that doing so might set off a run by depositors and unsettle shareholders.
What have you done to investigate the off-balance-sheet transactions conducted by the Federal Reserve which, according to Bloomberg, now total $9 trillion in the last 8 months?” Grayson asked Coleman.
Coleman, who was appointed to the position in May 2007, said in the hearing [only] that she hadn’t seen the article.
A statement e-mailed by Coleman’s office said the Fed board’s inspector general doesn’t have legal authority to investigate the transactions that have swelled the central bank’s balance sheet.
[Apparently, no one has this authority! So they can do whatever they like.]
The video, which was linked on the Huffington Post Web site, “makes it perfectly clear that if the inspector general herself doesn’t know what’s happened to that money then we’re going to have to find out ourselves,” Grayson said in an interview yesterday.
[This only amounts to $30,000 of debt for every citizen of the US. Why worry? This testimony occurred in May, 2009.] http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aXk2cMkmSbQA
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In November, the Brotherhood's new supreme guide, Muhammad Badi, delivered a sermon entitled, "How Islam Confronts the Oppression and Tyranny."
"Resistance is the only solution," stated Badi. "The United States cannot impose an agreement upon the Palestinians, despite all the power at its disposal. [Today] it is withdrawing from Iraq, defeated and wounded, and is also on the verge of withdrawing from Afghanistan because it has been defeated by Islamist warriors."
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