National Debt Clock

Monday, September 28, 2009

Job Numbers not Improving

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2009/09/024602.php

The unemployment rate for young Americans has exploded to 52.2 percent -- a post-World War II high, according to the Labor Dept. -- meaning millions of Americans are staring at the likelihood that their lifetime earning potential will be diminished and, combined with the predicted slow economic recovery, their transition into productive members of society could be put on hold for an extended period of time. ...

During previous recessions, in the early '80s, early '90s and after Sept. 11, 2001, unemployment among 16-to-24 year olds never went above 50 percent. Except after 9/11, jobs growth followed within two years.

A much slower recovery is forecast today. [Heidi Shierholz, an economist with the Washington-based Economic Policy Institute] believes it could take four or five years to ramp up jobs again.

*****
"There is no assistance provided [in the Democrats' stimulus bill] for the development of job growth through small businesses, which create 70 percent of the jobs in the country," Angrisani said in an interview last week. "All those [unemployed young people] should be getting hired by small businesses."

There are six million small businesses in the country, those that employ less than 100 people, and a jobs stimulus bill should include tax credits to give incentives to those businesses to hire people, the former Labor official said.

"If each of the businesses hired just one person, we would go a long way in growing ourselves back to where we were before the recession," Angrisani noted. ..."

Obama Would Curtail Summer Vacation

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090927/ap_on_re_us/us_more_school

Students beware: The summer vacation you just enjoyed could be sharply curtailed if President Barack Obama gets his way.

Obama says American kids spend too little time in school, putting them at a disadvantage with other students around the globe.

The problem isn't lack of classtime, it's lack of quality class time. Increasing class time won't make students any more competitive international unless they are taught correctly and the right material. Also, what ever happen to powers not expressively given to the Federal government are relegated to state governments?

Who's Rummaging Through Your Garbage?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1216680/Council-spies-dressed-hoodies-rifle-residents-rubbish-waste-analysis.html?ITO=1490

The 'spies' were part of a week-long waste analysis study by the Northamptonshire Waste Partnership, a collaboration of eight local authorities working to reduce rubbish going to landfill. An external contractor was told to go through the bins of residents.

Residents of this street in Irchester, Northamptonshire, had received no notice about the council's plans to sift through their rubbish

Just 41% of Voters Nationwide Now Favor Obama's Health Care Reform

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_events/healthcare/september_2009/health_care_reform
It's not a communication issue, it's a substance issue.

As Scott Rasmussen, president of Rasmussen Reports, wrote recently in the Wall Street Journal: “The most important fundamental is that 68% of American voters have health insurance coverage they rate good or excellent … Most of these voters approach the health care reform debate fearing that they have more to lose than to gain.” A Rasmussen video report shows that 53% of those with insurance believe it’s likely they would have to change coverage if the congressional plan becomes law.

U.S. Commander of Afghanistan Only Talked to Obama Once

http://www.washingtontimes.com/weblogs/back-story/2009/sep/28/us-commander-of-afghanistan-only-talked-to-obama-o/

Meanwhile soldiers are unecessarily dying while Mr. Obama twiddles his thumbs.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Obamacare: Buy Insurance or go to Jail!

http://www.politico.com/livepulse/0909/Ensign_receives_handwritten_confirmation_.html?showall
http://www.politico.com/static/PPM110_090925_document2.html

Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) received a handwritten note Thursday from Joint Committee on Taxation Chief of Staff Tom Barthold confirming the penalty for failing to pay the up to $1,900 fee for not buying health insurance.
Violators could be charged with a misdemeanor and could face up to a year in jail or a $25,000 penalty, Barthold wrote on JCT letterhead. He signed it "Sincerely, Thomas A. Barthold."

Good Morning Sunshine!


Death Panels by Proxy"

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/sep/25/death-panels-by-proxy/
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2009/09/024589.php

"Too Technically Difficult for Ordinary People"

"Beginning in 2015, payment would be reduced by five percent if an aggregation of the physician's resource use is at or above the 90th percentile of national utilization." Translated into plain English, it means that in any year in which a particular doctor's average per-patient Medicare costs are in the top 10 percent in the nation, the feds will cut the doctor's payments by 5 percent.

Forget results. This provision makes no account for the results of care, its quality or even its efficiency. It just says that if a doctor authorizes expensive care, no matter how successfully, the government will punish him by scrimping on what already is a low reimbursement rate for treating Medicare patients. The incentive, therefore, is for the doctor always to provide less care for his patients for fear of having his payments docked. And because no doctor will know who falls in the top 10 percent until year's end, or what total average costs will break the 10 percent threshold, the pressure will be intense to withhold care, and withhold care again, and then withhold it some more. Or at least to prescribe cheaper care, no matter how much less effective, in order to avoid the penalties.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Who is Valerie Jarrett?

I first heard of her from the NEA conference call:
"We have about 20 folks and we work under Valerie Jarrett, she's one of our fantastic leaders."

Now I found this:
http://frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=36289
"Jones owed his elevation to another new factor: the unparalleled influence of Valerie Jarrett."

"The president makes no decision without her and has said she can 'speak for me.'"

“If you want him to do something, there are two people he’s not going to say no to: Valerie Jarrett and Michelle Obama.”

“I trust her completely…She is family.” Obama trusts Jarrett “to speak for me, particularly when we’re dealing with delicate issues.” When asked, he admitted he runs every decision by her.

NEA Conference Call: Who are Buffy Wicks?

http://biggovernment.com/2009/09/22/nea-conference-call-who-is-buffy-wicks/

"...Wicks had a very hard time finding a job but somehow she landed a job in the Obama White House. It’s unclear how she did that."

Wicks used to work for Wake Up Wal-Mart (wakeupwalmart.com), which is not a formal affiliate of ACORN but is an ACORN-sponsored spinoff group. The group works very closely with ACORN and is modeled after ACORN’s own anti-Wal-Mart affiliate W*A*R*N* (Wal-Mart Alliance for Reform Now).

U.N. Climate Summit Leaves Large Carbon Footprint

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/09/22/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5329380.shtml

It happens every autumn: midtown Manhattan becomes the motorcade capital of the world. Each foreign leader in town has a convoy of vehicles. Some of them, like President Obama's motorcade, are 20-to-30 vehicles in length. It's so long - it seems that when the front of it reaches the U.N., the back end is still back at his hotel.

Exacerbating the annual exercise in diplomatic gridlock are police actions, blocking intersections and closing streets for security to facilitate motorcade movements. It renders countless other vehicles immobile while waiting for motorcades to pass, their engines idling but still blowing exhaust into the midtown air

Does it undermine the goal of the climate change summit and cause the pledges of environmental concern to ring hollow?

Asked about it, White House climate change negotiator Todd Sterns had a suggestion.
"I think the U.N. should make a pledge to electric vehicle motorcades within five years," he said.


Right. As soon as all U.N. diplomats pay their parking tickets.


HAHAHAHAHA

FDIC Weighs Extraordinary Steps to Shore up Fund

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/FDIC-weighs-extraordinary-apf-3266069115.html?x=0

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is weighing several costly -- and never-before-used -- options as it struggles to shore up the dwindling fund that insures bank deposits.

The agency is considering borrowing billions from healthy banks.

The FDIC is going to bail itself out with money from banks which itself insures? Are you serious!

Iran Says Makes New Model of Nuclear Centrifuges

http://in.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idINLM24002120090922

Iran has built a new generation of centrifuges for enriching uranium and is testing them, the official news agency IRNA quoted its nuclear energy agency chief as saying on Tuesday.

"Iranian scientists have made a new generation of centrifuges that are currently undergoing necessary tests," Ali Akbar Salehi told a Tehran news conference as reported by IRNA.

"Chains of 10 centrifuges are now under test," he said, and the number in each chain "will be gradually increased."

Salehi did not say when the new model of centrifuge would be introduced to the production line in its Natanz enrichment plant but said it was stronger and faster than those now in operation.

After 'Inappropriate' NEA Conference Call, White House Pushes New Guidelines

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/09/after-inappropriate-nea-conference-call-white-house-pushes-new-guidelines.html

White House officials say they are enacting specific steps to make sure such a call never happens again.

Buffy Wicks, Deputy Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, was also on the call, and thanked the artists "for being on the call and just a deep deep appreciation for all the work you all put into the campaign for the two-plus years we all worked together.”

Today White House officials are meeting with the chiefs of staff of the executive branch agencies to discuss rules and best practices in this area, a conversation during which they will be told that that while White House lawyers do not believe that the NEA call violated the law, "the appearance issues troubled some participants," Burton said. "It is the policy of the administration that grant decisions should be on the merits and that government officials should avoid even creating the incorrect appearance that politics has anything to do with these decisions."

Doesn't happen again or doesn't become front-page news again?

U.S. to Push for New Economic World Order at G20

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE58G34Z20090921?sp=true

The United States envisages the IMF playing a central role in a process of "mutual assessment" by making policy recommendations to the G20 every six months. ''

Where exactly in the Constitution does it say that deferring to extrenal bodies is acceptable?

Nuke Agency Says Iran Can Make Bomb

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9AP714G0&show_article=1

Experts at the world's top atomic watchdog are in agreement that Tehran has the ability to make a nuclear bomb and is on the way to developing a missile system able to carry an atomic warhead.

Wait, I thought Biden said Iran wasn't a threat?

Eastern Europe Grumbles About Downgrade in US Ties

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090917/ap_on_re_eu/eu_eastern_europe_missile_defense

Scuttling a missile defense shield in the Czech Republic and Poland helps smooth relations between the U.S. and Russia. But at what price?

Some of America's staunchest allies are the East Europeans — and on Thursday, they expressed dismay at what many see as a slight after decades of their support for the U.S.
Among them were some famous names, including Lech Walesa, the former Solidarity leader and Polish ex-president. "I can see what kind of policy the Obama administration is pursuing toward this part of Europe," he said ruefully, adding: "The way we are being approached needs to change."

"The Americans are not interested in this territory as they were before," he said. "It's bad news for the Czech Republic."

But a prominent Czech legislator suggested the rebuff would have consequences should Washington ask for troops — or anything else.

"If the administration approaches us in the future with any request, I would be strongly against it," said Jan Vidim, a lawmaker with the conservative Civic Democratic Party, which had supported the missile defense plan.

U.S. Scraps Missile Defense Shield Plans

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/09/17/united.states.missile.shield/index.html

The Obama administration will scrap the controversial missile defense shield program in Eastern Europe, a senior administration official confirmed to CNN Thursday.

But he [Vice President Joe Biden] did explain the logic of doing so, saying Iran -- a key concern for the United States -- was not a threat.

Poland and the Czech Republic had based much of their future security policy on getting the missile defenses from the United States. The countries share deep concerns of a future military threat from the east -- namely, Russia -- and may now look for other defense assurances from their NATO allies.

House Votes to Deny all Federal Funds for ACORN

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090917/ap_on_go_co/us_congress_acorn

WASHINGTON – The House voted Thursday to deny all federal funds for ACORN in a GOP-led strike against the scandal-tainted community organizing group that comes just three days after the Senate took similar action. "ACORN has violated serious federal laws, and today the House voted to ensure that taxpayer dollars would no longer be used to fund this corrupt organization," said second-ranked House Republican Eric Cantor of Virginia.

The vote, on a provision attached to a student aid bill, was 345-75, with Democrats supplying all the "no" votes.

Apparently "mad-man" Beck was on to something...

Obama Helps Strengthen General Electric-Putin Ties

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Obama-helps-strengthen-General-Electric-Putin-ties-59644627.html

"Shortly after the pullback on the shield programme was announced, Russia's government said Prime Minister Vladimir Putin would meet several U.S. executives on Friday from firms including General Electric, Morgan Stanley as well as TPG, one of the world's largest private equity firms"

Story of Stuff: The Liberal Worldview


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/11/education/11stuff.html?_r=3&em

"So far, six million people have viewed the film at its site, storyofstuff.com, and millions more have seen it on YouTube. More than 7,000 schools, churches and others have ordered a DVD version, and hundreds of teachers have written Ms. Leonard to say they have assigned students to view it on the Web."

We're doomed.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Up to a Million March to US Capitol to Protest Against 'Obama the Socialist'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1213056/Up-million-march-US-Capitol-protest-Obamas-spending-tea-party-demonstration.html

As many as one million people flooded into Washington for a massive rally organised by conservatives claiming that President Obama is driving America towards socialism.

The size of the crowd - by far the biggest protest since the president took office in January - shocked the White House.

Demonstrators massed outside Capitol Hill after marching down Pennsylvania Avenue waving placards and chanting 'Enough, enough'.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

US Tire Duties Sparks Potential Trade War With China

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f67c6fe6-a024-11de-b9ef-00144feabdc0.html

A full-blown trade row erupted on Sunday night between the US and China after Beijing accused Washington of “rampant protectionism” for imposing heavy duties on imported Chinese tyres and threatened action against imports of US poultry and vehicles.

Trade relations between two of the world’s biggest economies deteriorated after Barack Obama, US president, signed an order late on Friday to impose a new duty of 35 per cent on Chinese tyre imports on top of an existing 4 per cent tariff.

Smoot hawley what?

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Second Video Shows ACORN Washington DC Office Helping Pimp & Prostitute



U.S. to Impose Tariff on Tires From China

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/11/AR2009091103957_pf.html

In one of his first major decisions on trade policy, President Obama opted Friday to impose a tariff on tires from China, a move that fulfills his campaign promise to "crack down" on imports that unfairly undermine American workers but risks angering the nation's second-largest trading partner.

The decision is intended to bolster the ailing U.S. tire industry, in which more than 5,000 jobs have been lost over the past five years as the volume of Chinese tires in the market has tripled.

The tire tariff will amount to 35 percent the first year, 30 percent the second and 25 percent the third.

Although a federal trade panel had recommended higher levies -- of 55, 45 and 35 percent, respectively -- the decision is considered a victory for the United Steelworkers union, which filed the trade complaint.

Whoppie, 5000 jobs, someone is getting a kickback here...

Census Bureau severs ties with ACORN in 2010 count

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9ALCUJO0&show_article=1

The Census Bureau on Friday severed its ties with ACORN, a community organization that has been hit with Republican accusations of voter-registration fraud.

WH on Health Care, Illegal Immigrants

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/09/11/2065287.aspx
  • Undocumented immigrants would not be able to buy private insurance on the exchange. Those who are lawfully present in this country would be able to participate.
  • Undocumented immigrants would be able to buy insurance in the non-exchange private market, just as they do today. That market will shrink as the exchange takes hold, but it will still exist and will be subject to reforms such as the bans on pre-existing conditions and caps.
  • Verification will be required when purchasing health insurance on the exchange. One option is the SAVE program (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements) which states currently use to make sure that undocumented immigrants don't participate in safety-net programs for which they are ineligible.
  • There would be no change in the law that requires emergency rooms to treat people who need emergency care, including undocumented immigrants. There is already a federal grant program that compensates states for emergency room costs associated with treatment of undocumented immigrants, a provision sponsored by a Republican lawmaker.
We'll See.

US Shifts Policy, Willing to Meet 1-on-1 With North Korea

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/09/us-shifts-policy-willing-to-meet-1on1-with-north-korea.html

The US shifted its policy today, saying it is now willing to meet one on one with North Korea if that is helpful to bring Pyongyang back to the nuclear negotiations.

US envoy Stephen Bosworth got the green light from the other members of the 6-party talks, negotiations to rid Pyongyang of its nuclear program, during meetings in the region in recent days.

S.C.'s Wilson Rakes In $750,000 in Less Than 48 Hours; Opponent Tops $1 Million

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/capitol-briefing/2009/09/scs_wilson_rakes_in_750000_in.html

A senior GOP official said Wilson, who apologized to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel after the health-care speech but has since refused a more public apology, has turned his own previous sleepy campaign machine into an Web-friendly effort.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

ACORN Baltimore Prostitution Investigation

Transcript: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/11078409/Complete-ACORN-Baltimore-Prostitution-Investigation-Transcript
Story: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,549001,00.html



'Public Option' Unlimited But Paid For, Leaving Number-Crunchers Perplexed

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/09/10/obamas-case-public-option-holes-analysts-say/

Health care policy researchers are contradicting President Obama's claim that a government-run health insurance program would be self-sufficient and could rely on premiums, saying it's not possible to insure up to 30 million people with better coverage and reduce costs at the same time.

"The numbers don't hold up," Grace Marie Turner, president of the Galen Institute, a think tank devoted to health policy, said Thursday.

In his case to the joint session of Congress Wednesday night, Obama cited the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office to contend that less than 5 percent of Americans would sign up for a so-called public option.

The July report by the CBO projected that 6 million people would enroll in a government-run program, considerably fewer than the 100 million estimated by The Lewin Group, a health care policy research group, or the 47 million predicted by the left-leaning Urban Institute.

The CBO offered its figure as part of an evaluation of one of the four congressional health bills floating through Congress right now. Asked whether a public plan would draw a significant number of Americans covered by private insurance, the congressional budget arm acknowledged that larger companies were not included in the assumptions.

"There's a cap on what you pay in in premiums. There's no cap on what you receive back," Pelosi added.

"I don't know what government program is self-sufficient," Moffit told FOXNews.com. "It's conceivable. It's theoretically possible. You can imagine an alternative universe not run by [Democratic House leaders] Henry Waxman, Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer where such a thing exists. But on planet Earth, it's highly unlikely."

Read the Union Health-Care Label

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203440104574400571702189240.html

Tucked away in thousands of pages of complex new rules, regulations and mandates are special privileges and giveaways that could have devastating consequences for the health-care sector and the American economy at large.

The Senate version opens the door to implement forced unionization schemes pursued by former Govs. Rod Blagojevich of Illinois in 2005 and Gray Davis of California in 1999. Both men repaid tremendous political debts to Andy Stern and his Service Employees International Union (SEIU) by reclassifying state-reimbursed in-home health-care (and child-care) contractors as state employees—and forcing them to pay union dues.

The current House version of ObamaCare (H.R. 3200) goes much further. Section 225(A) grants Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius tremendous discretionary authority to regulate health-care workers "under the public health insurance option." Monopoly bargaining and compulsory union dues may quickly become a required standard resulting in potentially hundreds of thousands of doctors and nurses across the country being forced into unions.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus has suggested that the federal government could pay for health-care reform by taxing American workers' existing health-care benefits—but he would exempt union-negotiated health-care plans. Under Mr. Baucus's scheme, the government could impose costs of up to $20,000 per employee on nonunion businesses already struggling to afford health care plans.

U.S. Consumer Credit Falls by a Record $21.6 Billion

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601068&sid=anUy8clF_AVk



Wednesday, September 9, 2009

U.S. ‘Unlikely’ to Recoup Auto Outlay, Panel Finds

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32751671/ns/business-washington_post

Doctor's Refuse to Save Premature Baby Because Against the Rules

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1211950/Premature-baby-left-die-doctors-mother-gives-birth-just-days-22-week-care-limit.html

They ignored her pleas and allegedly told her they were following national guidelines that babies born before 22 weeks should not be given medical treatment.

She said he was breathing unaided, had a strong heartbeat and was even moving his arms and legs, but medics refused to admit him to a special care baby unit.

I kept asking for the doctors but the midwife said, "They won't come and help, sweetie. Make the best of the time you have with him".'

She cuddled her child and took precious photos of him, but he died in her arms less than two hours after his birth.

IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT AMERICA, IS THIS REALLY WHAT YOU WANT!

Obama to Endorse Public Plan in Speech

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125240777810092069.html#mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLETopStories

Surprise, surprise...

Congressman Wants all 'Czars' to Testify

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/57849-congressman-wants-all-czars-to-testify

Good, it's called checks and balances.

Boehner: GOP leaders haven't met Obama for health talks since April

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/57859-boehner-gop-leaders-havent-met-obama-for-health-talks-since-april

Earlier this year, GOP leaders sent a letter to the president in May stating that they would like to work with the administration to find "common ground" on healthcare reform.

But the administration responded with a tersely worded letter indicating that they had healthcare reform under control.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Van Jones: A Radical, Anti-War Record Producer as Well?

http://www.verumserum.com/?p=8166
Jones at 3:45

Obama's Education Speech

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/09/07/raw-data-obama-speech-american-school-children/

We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don't do that - if you quit on school - you're not just quitting on yourself, you're quitting on your country.

Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.

Good message, but way to guilt trip the kids. I ask, is it really your duty as a citizen to provide solutions for the country? I would argue it is not because you have the freedom to choose what to do with your life. If you want to give up, that's your choice. Are you letting yourself down, sure, the country, not so much. If you are the kind of person to drop out of school, I don't want you anywhere near solving our most difficult problems.

I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work -- that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you're not going to be any of those things.

Again, good message however, if those are the things you are good at, you shouldn't be shooting down kids dreams. It's dreaming big that makes America great.

You'll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free.

Disagree, freedom flourishes when government stays out of the way. The insinuation here is that the more education you get the better you will be able to solve problems. The problem isn't lack of intelligent people, the problem is that too many people think they are intelligent enough to solve problems through the government.

I'm working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn.

The problem isn't the lack of books, equipment, or computers, i.e. more money is needed. The problems are the poor curriculum and the lack of a proper incentives system for teachers. Study after study has shown that an increase in money to education does not yield increased benefits Therefore, the problem lies elsewhere.

Airline Terror Trial: The Bomb Plot to Kill 10,000 People

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/6153243/Airline-terror-trial-The-bomb-plot-to-kill-10000-people.html

The al-Qaeda cell plotted to cause mass murder by detonating home-made liquid explosives on board at least seven passenger flights bound for the US and Canada. The plot had the potential to be three times as deadly as the 9/11 attacks of 2001.

When the men were arrested, one of the plotters, Abdulla Ahmed Ali, had a computer memory stick in his pocket which highlighted seven flights from London to six cities in the US and Canada, each carrying between 241 and 286 passengers and crew.

Free Market Solutions to Healthcare Costs

http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/healthcare_/2009/09/08/257439.html

If you pay the mechanic $1,000 to fix your transmission and it breaks again next week, the garage should find and fix the problem for free. So if you get an infection following open-heart surgery because the doctor forgot an antibiotic, why are you charged extra to clear up the wound?

At Geisinger Health System in Pennsylvania, pay a flat fee for bypass surgery and you'll get essentially a 90-day warranty on your heart fix. Complications? The hospital has to eat the cost. It gambled that following a checklist of best practices would help patients recover faster and cost less — and so far, it's winning the bet.

When Bush Sr Spoke to Students, Democrats Investigated, Held Hearings

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/When-Bush-spoke-to-students-Democrats-investigated-held-hearings-57694347.html

Democrats, then the majority party in Congress, not only denounced Bush's speech -- they also ordered the General Accounting Office to investigate its production and later summoned top Bush administration officials to Capitol Hill for an extensive hearing on the issue.

With the Post article in hand, Democrats pounced. "The Department of Education should not be producing paid political advertising for the president, it should be helping us to produce smarter students," said Richard Gephardt, then the House Majority Leader. "And the president should be doing more about education than saying, 'Lights, camera, action.'"

Senate Must Raise Debt Ceiling Above $12T

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/57493-senate-must-raise-debt-ceiling-above-12t

The Senate must move legislation to raise the federal debt limit beyond $12.1 trillion by mid-October, a move viewed as necessary despite protests about the record levels of red ink.

Democrats in control of Congress, including then-Sen. Obama (Ill.), blasted President George W. Bush for failing to contain spending when he oversaw increased deficits and raised the debt ceiling.

Teenage Unemployment Rateat 25.5%

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/04/oh-what-a-time-to-be-young/

Monday, September 7, 2009

U.S. Unemployment Rate Jumps to 26-Year High of 9.7%

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/unemployment-rate-jumps-to-26-year-high-of-97-2009-09-04

U.S. payrolls have dropped by 6.9 million to a total of 131.2 million since the recession began in December 2007, the government data showed. Unemployment has increased by 7.4 million during the recession to stand at 14.9 million.

An alternative measure of unemployment that includes discouraged workers and those forced to resort to part-time work rose to 16.8% from 16.3%, marking the highest on record dating back to 1995.

Van Jones Resigns

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/healthcare/la-na-van-jones7-2009sep07,0,6923895.story

Chalk one up for Beck!

Milton Friedman on Greed

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Environmental Racism?

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2008/10/qa-van-jones

Well, the only reason that we have the unsustainable accounting that we have right now is because incinerators, dumping grounds, and sacrifice zones were put where poor people live.

The civil rights movement took several decades. The women's rights movement took several decades. Other environmental movements are taking several decades.

You may have noticed there's this jackass in the White House that's not letting anything happen, whether you're talking about health care or getting out of the war or fixing the energy crisis or solving global warming or getting the economy to work. So right now nothing's happening.

You've got to put a price on carbon; that's got to be a top priority for the new administration.

That's going to be called "green-collar work" or "green work"—we're going to fight over the definition.

White House Withdraws Call for Students to 'Help' Obama

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/09/03/white-house-withdraws-students-help-obama/

The Obama administration is rethinking its course recommendations for students ahead of President Obama's address to the the nation's schoolchildren next week, rewriting its suggestions to teachers for student assignments on how to "help the president."

Who's running this show, seriously? Do you just throw radical stuff out there and see who complains and then back off of it? What are thinking?

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Monthly Mortgage Rate Resets

President Obama to Address Students Across America on September 8, 2009

Announcement: http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/academic/bts.html

Classroom Activities (preK-6): http://www.ed.gov/teachers/how/lessons/prek-6.pdf
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/10582301/President%3C

Classroom Activities (7-12): http://www.ed.gov/teachers/how/lessons/7-12.pdf

Article: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/09/02/critics-decry-obamas-lesson-plan-students/

Obama Advisor Van Jones: Republicans are "Assholes"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yt66eWnjoTo

Under fire, President Obama Shifts Strategy

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/26672.html

"Obama is considering detailing his health-care demands in a major speech as soon as next week, when Congress returns from the August recess. And although House leaders have said their members will demand the inclusion of a public insurance option, Obama has no plans to insist on it himself, the officials said."

And Obama thought the town halls were insignificant. Results like this just don't happen, way to go 'teabaggers!'

MA Pandemic Bill Allows Health Authorities to Enter Homes, Detain Without Warrant

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=108604

A "pandemic response bill" currently making its way through the Massachusetts state legislature would allow authorities to forcefully quarantine citizens in the event of a health emergency, compel health providers to vaccinate citizens, authorize forceful entry into private dwellings and destruction of citizen property and impose fines on citizens for noncompliance.

If citizens refuse to comply with isolation or quarantine orders in the event of a health emergency, they may be imprisoned for up to 30 days and fined $1,000 per day that the violation continues.

Lest we forget the 4th amendment:
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

NEA Conference Call Transcript

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/11665651/Full-NEA-Conference-Call-Transcript-and-Audio


Full NEA Conference Call Transcript and Audio -

Van Jones in His Own Words

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,545360,00.html





"And our Native American sisters and brothers who were pushed and bullied and mistreated and shoved into all the land we didn't want, where it was all hot and windy. Well, guess what? Renewable energy? Guess what, solar industry? Guess what wind industry? They now own and control 80 percent of the renewable energy resources. No more broken treaties. No more broken treaties. Give them the wealth! Give them the wealth! Give them the dignity. Give them the respect that they deserve. No justice on stolen land. We owe them a debt."

"What about our immigrant sisters and brothers? What about our immigrant sisters and brothers? What about people who come here from all around the world who we're willing to have out in the field, with poison being sprayed on them, poison being sprayed on them because we have the wrong agricultural system. And we're willing to poison them and poison the earth to put food on our table, but we don't want to give them rights and we don't want to give them dignity and we don't want to give them respect?"

"The white polluters and the white environmentalists are essentially steering poison into the people of color communities."

Obama Propaganda Through NEA?

http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/pcourrielche/2009/08/25/the-national-endowment-for-the-art-of-persuasion-patrick-courrielche/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzNBo3VnhWg

"It felt to me that by providing issues as a cynosure for inspiration to a handpicked arts group - a group that played a key role in the President’s election as mentioned throughout the conference call - the National Endowment for the Arts was steering the art community toward creating art on the very issues that are currently under contentious national debate; those being health care reform and cap-and-trade legislation."

We were “selected for a reason,” they told us. We had played a key role in the election and now Obama was putting out the call of service to help create change. We knew “how to make a stink,” and were encouraged to do so.

“This is just the beginning. This is the first telephone call of a brand new conversation. We are just now learning how to really bring this community together to speak with the government. What that looks like legally?…bare with us as we learn the language so that we can speak to each other safely… “

Seller, Beware: Feds Cracking Down on Secondhand Sales of Some Products

http://www.kansascity.com/444/story/1395184.html

If you're planning a garage sale or organizing a church bazaar, you'd best beware: You could be breaking a new federal law. As part of a campaign called Resale Roundup, the federal government is cracking down on the secondhand sales of dangerous and defective products.

The commission's Internet surveillance unit is monitoring Craigslist and other "top auction and reselling sites" for recalled goods. If the agency discovers that a recalled product has been sold online, it will try to find and inform the buyer, Wolfson said.

Nancy Lothrop, a mother of two in Monroe, Wash., was surprised to learn that she might be violating the law by selling about $200 worth of Polly Pocket dolls and accessories on Craigslist that her 12-year-old daughter no longer wants.

Dealers Still Waiting For Clunker Cash

http://www.keloland.com/NewsDetail6162.cfm?Id=89419

During the month long program, Billion Automotive sold close to a thousand vehicles but has only been reimbursed for 272 of them. Vern Eide sold over 200 cars and has only been paid for 27 of them, and that's fueling lots of concerns in the auto industry.

Billion Automotive cashed in during Cash for Clunkers, but owner Dave Billion is still waiting for the rest of his money from the government run program, $3.2 million.

"I wonder how long they'd wait if I owed them $3.2 million. I think they'd be at my door or at least my banker's door," Billion said.

"We had a situation where we had a submission, they rejected it for multiple reasons. We didn't see anything wrong with it, so we resubmitted it. They rejected, we resubmitted it. They rejected it, seven times and finally they paid it, and we never changed a single thing on it," Billion said.

Health-Care Anger Has Deeper Roots

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125176363081674373.html

"A lot of the anxiety we face here has less to do with health care and everything to do with the overall state of the economy and government," said Rep. Anthony Weiner, a New York Democrat.

"I have seen a level of dissatisfaction and even anger that I haven't experienced in the years that I've been a member of Congress," Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican, told an audience at a health-care meeting in Kansas City on Monday.

Snafus in the federal "cash for clunkers" program -- which gave people rebates to trade in gas-guzzling cars for more fuel-efficient new vehicles -- highlighted how disorganization can hamper government plans. It was the bloodiest month for U.S. troops so far in the war in Afghanistan. Attorney General Eric Holder poked a potential hornets' nest by appointing a prosecutor to investigate Central Intelligence Agency interrogators. And White House budget forecasters said they now project $9 trillion of additional federal debt over the next decade, adding $2 trillion to an earlier estimate.