Category Archives: In The News

LATEST UPDATE:11:30pm cst : “THE GREAT AMERICAN GOVT GONE MAD ACT OF 2009”

Contact Your US Senators & Congresswoman, In The News, US Congress Legislation February 12, 2009

4162This is outrageous, I have added extra comment where comment is due . . .

Update 12:45pm Eastern. Some new bullet points from Hill GOP staff outline what’s been added and removed:

· $9 billion for school construction was added back in (originally cut by Nelson-Collins)

 ($9 billion to force school construction that the schools do not want nor need)

· $5 billion increase for the state fiscal stabilization fund (originally cut by Nelson-Collins), making it a grand total of $53.6 billion

( State “PET” profect funding that had been removed like Pelosi’s pet project to save swamp mice in San Francisco) 

· $2 billion for neighborhood stabilization program, money for groups like ACORN

( oh yes, can’t cut those home modifications loans so those who never should have gotten home loans can be saved from forclosure for another 6 months)

· $1 billion added back for Prevention & Wellness Programs, including STD education

( I’m sorry, but if you are not responsible enough to abstain or practice safe sex, that should NOT be my tax problem)

· Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research was added back in, leading Americans down the path towards healthcare rationing (63 patient advocacy groups signed a letter voicing their concerns with this provision)

( the day the government tries to tell me or my doctor what kind of treatment I get, is the day I go to jail or die trying to fight it)

(BUT, NOT INFRASTRUCTURE)

· Money for highways and bridges was cut by $1 billion from the House-passed level

( so much for shovel ready projects, well we knew this wasn’t really a shovel ready profect in the way it was sold)

KEY POINTS:

· Tax relief to help middle class families and small businesses was sharply pared back in order to increase government spending. Public opinion over the last 4 weeks has shown that Americans overwhelming believe tax cuts, and not government spending, are a better way to stimulate the economy.

( I want to know when we actually voted on this and what proof they have for their conclusion, talk about living and governing from La-la Land)

· Approximately $75 billion in true tax relief was CUT from the Nelson-Collins package. So, while the overall size of the package may have gotten slightly smaller, the spending actually increased.

( And there you have it, the true test that complete Government Control is only a few short legislative votes away!!! BUH BYE  FREEDOM, It was great while it lasted!!!)

Are we really going to take this!!! NOT “I”

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MIDNIGHT UPDATE:

For the night owls who need some stimulus to put you back to sleep, I have the newest releases of the stimulus in the BOX.NET to the lower left. If you prefer to surf & read, please go to the following links for the Senate & the House of Reps . . .these are pdf files

Senate summary         Senate Legislation text

House of Reps summary          House of Reps summary part 2

House text part 1          House text part 2

 

If people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny.
Thomas Jefferson (1743 – 1826)

 

I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.
Thomas Jefferson (1743 – 1826)

 

Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have … The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases.
Thomas Jefferson (1743 – 1826)
 
The worst thing you can do for those you love is the things they could and should do themselves.

Abraham Lincoln (1809 – 1865)

DEVELOPING . . . Deal or “NO” Deal

Contact Your US Senators & Congresswoman, In The News, US Congress Legislation February 11, 2009

While the behind closed door deal was touted by Conservative traitors, public out cry for the non-stimulus and wails from Nancy Pelosi, that the money put back in wasn’t directed to more welfare, they are back to the drawing board.

The good news: there are cameras and we should have video of how this “behind closed door” process works.

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announce

Mark Levin discusses the seizing of the US Constitution and interviews Conservative Sen. Jeff Sessions from Alabama on the stimulus bill –1st 15 min of show. Then at 55:56, Mark goes into detail about the universal health care and hits many kep points in Daschle’s book

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UPDATE:

 

48 Hour Review Period After Conference?

Posted at 4:25 pm on Wednesday, February 11, 2009

An interesting resolution came from the House yesterday as they officially sent their representatives into conference with the Senate to resolve the differences in the two passed bill versions:

From yesterday’s Congressional Record, Page H1096:

Mr. LEWIS of California moves to instruct the managers on the part of the House that they shall not record their approval of the final conference agreement (as such term is used in clause 12(a)(4) of rule XXII of the Rules of the House of Representatives) unless the text of such agreement has been available to the managers in an electronic, searchable, and downloadable form for at least 48 hours prior to the time described in such clause.

This instruction passed unanimously in a recorded vote. So in theory, talk of votes on Thursday or Friday this week are nonsense, unless the House decides to completely ignore this vote. There is some wiggle room to be had as the instructions specify that the text must be available to managers in the House, not the general public, but that still can’t be strictly true at least until final bill text is ready.

It would seem legitimate to expect the House to abide by this vote — and if it doesn’t, to ask why not….

hat tip: ReadTheStimulus.org

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Realistically, you can not blame this on just one party, this kind of mess is typical blundering breauracratic brilliance, and the reason under the Constitution, Article XIII, there is a clause that specifically stipulates there shall be “NO” lawyers elected or appointed to Congress. Too, bad that one is all but shavings.

So under this so-called stimulus, they are going to remodify the housing loan guidelines again in order that those, who shouldn’t have gotten home loans to begin with, can keep their homes for a few more months so we can start the process all over again?

I don’t re-call that housing loan modofication legislation was granted as a responsibility of Congress under the Constitution, do you?

 

 

I don’t get it, can someone help me out here?

(sorry sarcasm sneaks out once in a while)

 

 

 

 

BREAKING NEWS . . . Lawmakers Resolve Differences on House, Senate Stimulus Bills

Contact Your US Senators & Congresswoman, In The News, US Congress Legislation February 11, 2009

Just in from the Wall Street Journal…

By GREG HITT

WASHINGTON – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said an agreement on the stimulus bill was reached between the House and the Senate.

Congress and the White House have reached a tentative agreement on an economic-recovery package that would have a total cost of $789.5 billion over two years. The sweeping initiative is on track for final votes late this week on Capitol Hill.

continue reading here

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announce

Mark Levin discusses the seizing of the US Constitution and interviews Conservative Sen. Jeff Sessions from Alabama on the stimulus bill –1st 15 min of show. Then at 55:56, Mark goes into detail about the universal health care and hits many kep points in Daschle’s book

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No Matter How You Slice It . . .

Contact Your US Senators & Congresswoman, In The News, US Congress Legislation February 11, 2009

canblastStimulus poof2Bill . . . . . . . . “If getting rid of it was only this easy”

  bwirebar

 

With the “NOT” surprising vote of 61 – 37 in the Senate yesterday, we are headed for a very long battle to reclaim Constitutional legislation. I was very proud of Sen. Thune again as he stood up and fought for us. His office staff have been very polite, concerned and accommodating in directing me to the staff who can best address my concerns.

 

Sen. Johnson and Congresswoman Herseth-Sandlin still stand by their votes saying because of certain provisions aka earmarks for South Dakota, they don’t have a problem and feel the excessive spending is justified to get the bill passed and signed. This only leaves me to conclude that they feel the same as NY Sen. Chuck Schumer. Here’s a gem from the Senate floor: “the American people really don’t care” about pork spending Democrats laced throughout the bill.

 

 

 

 Well, Mr. Schumer, “I DO CARE”, especially the earmark legislation that has “NO” business being in there that sets the pace for Universal Govt Controlled Health Care by the year 2014.

 

Stimulus Bill page 444: “The utilization of an electronic health record for each person in the United States by 2014.”

This is only one line of many in the bill where is refers to “each person in the United States by 2014.

 

Now, MediaMatters, a left wing watchdog site to protect the liberals, is trying its hardest to dispel this and kill any objection quickly so those that say we don’t care about “PORKY” spending aka “HIDDEN TRUTHS” can ram this down that Americans throats before we would even know what hit us.

Daschle’s agenda since the Clinton era has been this very topic. His book, “Critical: What we ca do about the Health Care Crisis”, lays it out step by step on page 196, as how to get it slipped into an emergency/budget bill such as the stimulus, because he is tired of all the debate and just wants his way . . . a must watch . . . 

 

 For MORE stimulating video, please go to my vodpod.

Last night while visiting with the daughter, who works at Sanford, she told me of a conversation she had with Dr. Scott Ekland. It seems he is not thrilled about this new legislation, so if the doctors are leery . . . one can only imagine how it is going to affect the patients.

 

No matter how you slice it, it comes down to the US Govt making the decision as to what is “deemed” appropriate care. I think it is time we stand up and make it known to them what we “DEEM” is “APPROPRIATE” legislation for a stimulus/budget bill.

 

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Proverbs 11:23-25 

 The desire of the righteous is only good,
      But the expectation of the wicked is wrath. 
 There is one who scatters, yet increases more;
      And there is one who withholds more than is right, 
 But it leads to poverty. 
      The generous soul will be made rich, 
 And he who waters will also be watered himself.

The 1st Step To Nationalized Healthcare..NOT A “Good Thing”

Contact Your US Senators & Congresswoman, In The News, US Congress Legislation, Youth Educational Material February 9, 2009
healing_the_sick0131
Much to my dismay, it seems that the 1st step to totally nationalize our health care system is well under way, and much to the detriment to our youth, but especially to the South Dakota elderly population.
 
Who do we have to thank for this? You don’t have to look too far, it is none other than our once Honorable Senator Tom Daschle, wo just recently brought great shame to his home state. Not by what he did to disguise income as a gift, but by waiting to see if he got a lucritive cooshy government appointment before he took action on it.
 
I know Sanford is on board getting things in place for this program, but I have not heard about Avera yet.
 
I also wonder if Sanford realizes the harm they will be imposing their esteemed staff and practitioners once they are made to only treat patients per national government guidelines lest they be penalized heavily. Not every technologically advanced item or system that is invented is done in good faith for the good of ALL people, this we have learned many times over. 
 
I now leave you with this article that explains rather simlply the plan Daschle had all along and is why he was NOT re-elected in 2004.
 
 Ezekiel 34:3-5 ~ You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals.

 
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Ruin Your Health With the Obama Stimulus Plan

 

Commentary by Betsy McCaughey

Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) — Republican Senators are questioning whether President Barack Obama’s stimulus bill contains the right mix of tax breaks and cash infusions to jump-start the economy.

 

Tragically, no one from either party is objecting to the health provisions slipped in without discussion. These provisions reflect the handiwork of Tom Daschle, until recently the nominee to head the Health and Human Services Department.

 

Senators should read these provisions and vote against them because they are dangerous to your health. (Page numbers refer to H.R. 1 EH, pdf version).

 

The bill’s health rules will affect “every individual in the United States” (445, 454, 479). Your medical treatments will be tracked electronically by a federal system. Having electronic medical records at your fingertips, easily transferred to a hospital, is beneficial. It will help avoid duplicate tests and errors.

But the bill goes further. One new bureaucracy, the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology, will monitor treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost effective. The goal is to reduce costs and “guide” your doctor’s decisions (442, 446). These provisions in the stimulus bill are virtually identical to what Daschle prescribed in his 2008 book, “Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis.” According to Daschle, doctors have to give up autonomy and “learn to operate less like solo practitioners.”

Keeping doctors informed of the newest medical findings is important, but enforcing uniformity goes too far.

 

New Penalties

 

Hospitals and doctors that are not “meaningful users” of the new system will face penalties.  “Meaningful user” isn’t defined in the bill. That will be left to the HHS secretary, who will be empowered to impose “more stringent measures of meaningful use over time” (511, 518, 540-541)

What penalties will deter your doctor from going beyond the electronically delivered protocols when your condition is atypical or you need an experimental treatment? The vagueness is intentional. In his book, Daschle proposed an appointed body with vast powers to make the “tough” decisions elected politicians won’t make.

The stimulus bill does that, and calls it the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research (190-192). The goal, Daschle’s book explained, is to slow the development and use of new medications and technologies because they are driving up costs. He praises Europeans for being more willing to accept “hopeless diagnoses” and “forgo experimental treatments,” and he chastises Americans for expecting too much from the health-care system.

 

Elderly Hardest Hit

Daschle says health-care reform “will not be pain free.” Seniors should be more accepting of the conditions that come with age instead of treating them. That means the elderly will bear the brunt.

Medicare now pays for treatments deemed safe and effective. The stimulus bill would change that and apply a cost- effectiveness standard set by the Federal Council (464).

The Federal Council is modeled after a U.K. board discussed in Daschle’s book. This board approves or rejects treatments using a formula that divides the cost of the treatment by the number of years the patient is likely to benefit. Treatments for younger patients are more often approved than treatments for diseases that affect the elderly, such as osteoporosis.

In 2006, a U.K. health board decreed that elderly patients with macular degeneration had to wait until they went blind in one eye before they could get a costly new drug to save the other eye. It took almost three years of public protests before the board reversed its decision.

Hidden Provisions

If the Obama administration’s economic stimulus bill passes the Senate in its current form, seniors in the U.S. will face similar rationing. Defenders of the system say that individuals benefit in younger years and sacrifice later.

 

The stimulus bill will affect every part of health care, from medical and nursing education, to how patients are treated and how much hospitals get paid. The bill allocates more funding for this bureaucracy than for the Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force combined (90-92, 174-177, 181).

Hiding health legislation in a stimulus bill is intentional. Daschle supported the Clinton administration’s health-care overhaul in 1994, and attributed its failure to debate and delay. A year ago, Daschle wrote that the next president should act quickly before critics mount an opposition. “If that means attaching a health-care plan to the federal budget, so be it,” he said. “The issue is too important to be stalled by Senate protocol.”

More Scrutiny Needed

 

On Friday, President Obama called it “inexcusable and irresponsible” for senators to delay passing the stimulus bill. In truth, this bill needs more scrutiny.

 

The health-care industry is the largest employer in the U.S. It produces almost 17 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product. Yet the bill treats health care the way European governments do: as a cost problem instead of a growth industry. Imagine limiting growth and innovation in the electronics or auto industry during this downturn. This stimulus is dangerous to your health and the economy.

(Betsy McCaughey is former lieutenant governor of New York and is an adjunct senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. The opinions expressed are her own.) To contact the writer of this column: Betsy McCaughey at Betsymross@aol.com

Last Updated: February 9, 2009 00:01 EST
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Proverbs 11:23-25 

 The desire of the righteous is only good,
      But the expectation of the wicked is wrath. 
 There is one who scatters, yet increases more;
      And there is one who withholds more than is right, 
 But it leads to poverty. 
      The generous soul will be made rich, 
 And he who waters will also be watered himself.

 

What? Another $1.3 Trillion for Bank Bailouts On Top of the Stimulus? ARGH!

Contact Your US Senators & Congresswoman, In The News, US Congress Legislation February 8, 2009 Comments: 2

bangheadagainstwallThis is beyond imaginable; I hope the airwaves and internet blast this all day today and tomorrow and crush Obama’s campaign for his SPENDULOUS BILL!!! This is not a “Recovery and Reinvestment Act”…this is more like an “ACT OF RAPE” on the American people.

 

BREAKING NEWS:

 

Bloomberg is now reporting that coming this Tuesday, the new Secretary of the Treasury, Timothy (tax-cheat) Geithner is going to unveil a bank rescue plan, consisting of asking Congress for an additional $1.3Trillion for the Troubled Asset Relief (TARP) program.  This is to be added to the already allocated (and spent) previous EESA funding for the TARP of $700Billion. 

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aOIOHVbliZdQ&refer=home 

For those of you not keeping track at home, this is a possible total of $2 Trillion of taxpayer money that could end up in the vaults of the banks that caused this mess in the first place.

 

At the same time this hit the wires, Larry Summers, who took Geithner’s place at the New York Fed, gave an interview to ABC News’ George Stephanopolis.  This is the opening exchange:

 

STEPHANOPOULOS: Let me ask about that financial overhaul. Originally, Secretary Geithner was supposed to give that speech tomorrow. Administration officials are telling me it’s now more likely on Tuesday?

SUMMERS: Yes, I think there’s a desire to keep the focus right now on the economic recovery program, which is so very, very important.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So Tuesday it is.

 

Full Transcript here:  http://www.abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/story?id=6830708&page=1 

 

This just goes to prove that a politician will say anything to get elected . . . 4 minutes of priceless video. If Obama really wanted to do what was right, he would have stuck to his so called values and principles in this video . . .

 

 

 

 

Reagan’s 2nd Inaugural Address, January 20, 1985, 4 yrs after our country’s greatest recession . . . 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Peter 5: 1-3   ~   To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.

 

2 Peter 2: 2-3 ~ Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

 

 

The “American Government Gone Mad” Recovery Act of 2009 – A Breakdown of What We Know So Far

Contact Your US Senators & Congresswoman, In The News, US Congress Legislation February 8, 2009

4161The stimulus bill (H. R. 1) that left the House at 820 billion and quickly gained weight in the Senate to the tune of an additional 120 billion has now been relieved of that added pork and then some, but it is still NOT enough. My figures show it currently at 714, 516, 050 billion, however natl media is reporting it near 780 billion. Some of the appropriations are still held up in the Senate and have not made it to the final tally column yet. Those items listed are showing as [up for discussion]. I have placed the Excel Speadsheet in the BOX.NET widget for easy download.

What I can clearly see, from this extravaganza of a “Government Spending Spree”, is the fact that nearly 2/3 of the spending in this bill will not even hit the economy until late 2010 and in some cases, not until 2015 or later. 

Thus, I can only conclude the we should all be: “Looking for tax increases and interest rate increases” in the near future as we did under the Carter & Clinton Administrations. Now, there’s a plan for jump starting the economy we “CAN’T” believe in.

200+ years of history have repeatedly proven that this type of spending does nothing to stimulate ANYTHING BUT GOVERNMENT. I wonder how many years we will have to endure? 2 or 4? I am praying for the lessor of the 2 evils.

UPDATE:   It seems that Senate leader “Dirty” Harry Reid is refusing to allow a vote on an amendment to the stimulus, SA 239, cosponsored by GOP Senator Jeff Sessions and Democratic Senator Ben Nelson.  This amendment would require any entity that recieves funds from this pkg to use the federal E-Verify citizen check system so that none of the funding would go to illegal immigrants.

The House passed their version of the E-Verfy amendment by a vote of  407-2, so what happened and why did it not make it into the Senate bill?

“Dirty Harry, I have a question for you:  Did you forget you were working for US CITIZENS? There is still time for you to do what is right by the people of the United States of America. The time has come for you to either stand with us or resign”

Senator Harry Reid: 1-800-459-1887  or  1-202-224-3542  don’t be afraid to let him know how you feel about the E-Verify issue.

UPDATE #2: 

Back during The Great Depression, President Herbert Hoover ordered the deportation of ALL illegal aliens in order to make jobs available to American citizens that desperately needed work. 

Harry Truman deported over two million Illegal’s after WWII to create jobs for returning veterans. 

Then again in 1954, President Dwight Eisenhower deported 13 million Mexican nationals!  The program was called ‘Operation Wetback’ so that American WWII and Korean veterans had a better chance at jobs.  It took 2 Years, but they deported them!  Now, if they could deport the illegal’s back then, they can sure do it today!!  lf you have doubts about the veracity of this information, enter Operation Wetback into your favorite search engine and confirm it for yourself. 

Reminder.  Don’t forget to pay your taxes… 12 million Illegal Aliens are depending on you.

hat-fedoraHat tip to Mar, thx for another tidbit of history revived!

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Partially cut:

• $3.5 billion for energy-efficient federal buildings (original bill $7 billion)

• $75 million from Smithsonian (original bill $150 million)

• $200 million from Environmental Protection Agency Superfund (original bill $800 million)

• $100 million from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (original bill $427 million)

• $100 million from law enforcement wireless (original bill $200 million)

• $300 million from federal fleet of hybrid vehicles (original bill $600 million)

• $100 million from FBI construction (original bill $400 million)

Fully eliminated

• $55 million for historic preservation

• $122 million for Coast Guard polar icebreaker/cutters – does this mean they finally are admitting that “Global Warming” is a myth they created?

• $100 million for Farm Service Agency modernization

• $50 million for Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service

• $65 million for watershed rehabilitation

• $100 million for distance learning

• $98 million for school nutrition

• $50 million for aquaculture

• $2 billion for broadband

• $100 million for National Institute of Standards and Technology

• $50 million for detention trustee

• $25 million for Marshalls Construction

• $300 million for federal prisons – Now how is this going to affect their goal of closing Gitmo? hmmm

• $300 million for BYRNE Formula grant program

• $140 million for BYRNE Competitive grant program

• $10 million state and local law enforcement – nothing like totally elimaninting funding to hire more law enforement to keep our communities safe. What kind of message is this sending?

• $50 million for NASA

• $50 million for aeronautics

• $50 million for exploration

• $50 million for Cross Agency Support

• $200 million for National Science Foundation

• $100 million for science

• $1 billion for Energy Loan Guarantees

• $4.5 billion for General Services Administration

• $89 million General Services Administration operations

• $50 million from Department of Homeland Security

• $200 million Transportation Security Administration

• $122 million for Coast Guard Cutters, modifies use

• $25 million for Fish and Wildlife

• $55 million for historic preservation

• $20 million for working capital fund

• $165 million for Forest Service capital improvement

• $90 million for State and Private Wildlife Fire Management

• $1 billion for Head Start/Early Start

• $5.8 billion for Health Prevention Activity

• $2 billion for Health Information Technology Grants

• $600 million for Title I (No Child Left Behind)

• $16 billion for school construction

• $3.5 billion for higher education construction

• $1.25 billion for project based rental

• $2.25 billion for Neighborhood Stabilization

• $1.2 billion for retrofitting Project 8 housing

• $40 billion for state fiscal stabilization (includes $7.5 billion of state incentive grants)

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1 Peter 5: 1-3   ~   To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.

RNC Chairman Michael Steele Delivers Weekly Republican Address February 7, 2009

In The News February 7, 2009

US Senate Works Weekend Overtime on Stimulus Bill

In The News, Youth Educational Material February 7, 2009

It never ceases to amaze me the arrogance of politicians when they forget that they are mearly humble servents, sent to serve the people. God bless our elected officials who are holding firm and continuing to battle for the preservation of our nation and future generations. Though they may not always get it right and we do not always agree with their decisions, they are proving that the precious trust we placed in them is not all lost.

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  • FEBRUARY 7, 2009, 6:22 P.M. ET

Obama and Senate Republicans Bicker Over Stimulus

 

 

Associated Press

 

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama and Senate Republicans bickered Saturday over his economic recovery plan after states and schools lost billions of dollars in a late-night bargain to save it.

The $827 billion measure is likely to pass next week despite stiff opposition from the GOP and disappointment among Democrats, including the new president who labeled it imperfect.

“We can’t afford to make perfect the enemy of the absolutely necessary,” President Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address, sounding a note of pragmatism that liberal followers rarely heard on the campaign trail.

Still, the popular president — six in 10 voters approve of his performance so far — scolded Republicans with a pointed reminder that Democrats, not Republicans, were victorious in November.

Hours later, the Senate convened a rare Saturday session to debate a compromise forged between GOP moderates and the White House late Friday, a rare burst of comity aimed at securing passage of the bill with a few Republican votes joining the Democratic majority.

The compromise stripped $108 billion in spending from President Obama’s plan, including some destined for projects that likely would give the economy a quick lift. Yet it retained items that probably won’t help the economy much at all.

Among the most controversial cuts was the elimination of $40 billion in aid to states, money that economists say is a relatively efficient way to pump up the economy by preventing layoffs, cuts in services or tax increases.

Obama, first lady Michelle Obama, Sasha Obama and a friend walked to Marine One on Saturday, on their way to Camp David for the first time.

Negotiators left in the package $70 billion to address the alternative minimum tax to make sure families wouldn’t be socked with unexpected tax increases averaging $2,300 or so. The problem was going to be fixed later in the year anyway, and congressional economists say fixing the AMT problem helps the economy by surprising little.

While publicly supportive of the bill, White House officials and top Democrats said they were disappointed that so much money was cut, including almost $20 billion for construction and repair of schools and university facilities. Those funds would have supported many construction jobs.

The $827 billion package debated in the Senate on Saturday included President Obama’s signature tax cut of up to $1,000 for working couples. Also included is a tax credit of up to $15,000 for homebuyers and smaller breaks for people buying new cars. Much of the new spending would be for victims of the recession, in the form of unemployment compensation, health care and food stamps.

President Obama himself acknowledged that the bill was far from perfect but said it would be too dangerous to leave it lifeless on the table. He and his advisers have grown more assertive in recent days, reminding Democrats that voters gave them the White House, the House and the Senate to bring change, not partisan gamesmanship.

“In the midst of our greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression, the American people were hoping that Congress would begin to confront the great challenges we face,” President Obama said in the address, released before he made his first trip to Camp David, the presidential retreat in the Maryland mountains.

“That was, after all, what last November’s election was all about,” he said.

Republicans characterized President Obama’s rhetoric as arrogant.

“Democrats have controlled both branches of government for less than a month. And you have to wonder if all that power has gone to their heads,” Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said in the GOP’s weekly address. “For the last two weeks, they’ve been trying to force a massive spending bill through Congress under the guise of economic relief.”

President Obama made an aggressive push for House and Senate lawmakers to work quickly to resolve their differences. The White House plans a major public relations blitz: A prime-time news conference Monday, several trips outside Washington next week and an address to a joint session of Congress later this month.

He had hoped to sign economic legislation on his first day in office, but instead he has spent his first three weeks in office wrangling with a reluctant Congress, including fellow Democrats.

After weeks of losing a public-relations fight with Republicans, President Obama’s aides considered any forward movement of President Obama’s legislation a victory toward fixing the economic crisis that has left 3.6 million Americans without jobs.

Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, the Republican’s No. 2 in the Senate, criticized Obama as misrepresenting Republicans’ concerns and accused the president of using “dangerous words” in describing the emergency.

“This is still a very big spending bill,” Sen. Kyl said on the Senate floor as an afternoon session got under way. “You can’t fix it by simply shaving a little bit off.”

The Senate headed toward a vote early in the week. If, as expected, the bill passes lawmakers will need to resolve the differences between the Senate and House bills before sending a final package to President Obama.

Copyright © 2009 Associated Press

First let us take a look back to past wisdom of what could happen if government gets too big…

 

Now fast forward to today.  There are 8 key points in this US Senate debate session that are key to understanding the difference between Capitalism which our founding fathers build this great nation on and what liberal socialists want to do, to further hinder it so that government may reap more control over our personal lives…

start 1:14:17,    then jump to Sen. Graham 2:03:05,    then to Sen Coburn 3:13:55,    then Sen Schumer for a good look at what socialism is 3:49:00,    then Sen Wicker & Sen Inhofe 3:52:45,    then Sen Thune 6:12:20 and 8:51:37, then Sen Coburn really hits on the specifics of the ramped wasteful spending in the stimulus bill 9:52:10 

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1 Peter 5: 1-3 ~ To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.

2 Peter 2: 2-3 ~ Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

President and Mrs Bush return to Texas Jan 20, 2009

In The News, Youth Educational Material February 7, 2009

As we move on, let us remember to thank God, our military and our parents for their unconditional love. Let these lessons of the past be the guiding force for generations to come, so that our children and grandchildren will have a firm foundation, should they be called to lead.

1 Peter 5:5-7

Likewise, ye younger, be subject unto the elder. Yea, all of you gird yourselves with humility, to serve one another: for God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time; casting all your anxiety upon him, because he careth for you.