Date : March 10th, 2010Category : UncategorizedAuthor : Editor17 Comments
Obama has said that we are going to have a catastrophe if we do not pass this pork laden stimulus bill. Why is he using scare tactics?
Obama was one to complain about Bush’s spending, but look at the pork in this bill. The items include:
List of all the projects we need or else we will never recover!
$50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts
$380 million in the Senate bill for the Women, Infants and Children program
$198 million for Filipino World War 2 vets and their families
$300 million for grants to combat violence against women
$2 billion for federal child-care block grants
$6 billion for university building projects
$15 billion for boosting Pell Grant college scholarships
$4 billion for job-training programs, including $1.2 billion for “youths” up to the age of 24
$1 billion for community-development block grants
$4.2 billion for “neighborhood stabilization activities”
$650 million for digital-TV coupons
$90 million to educate “vulnerable populations”
$15 billion for business-loss carry-backs
$145 billion for “Making Work Pay” tax credits
$83 billion for the earned income credit
$150 million for the Smithsonian
$34 million to renovate the Department of Commerce headquarters
$500 million for improvement projects for National Institutes of Health facilities
$44 million for repairs to Department of Agriculture headquarters
$350 million for Agriculture Department computers
$88 million to help move the Public Health Service into a new building
$448 million for constructing a new Homeland Security Department headquarters
$600 million to convert the federal auto fleet to hybrids
$450 million for NASA (carve-out for “climate-research missions”)
$600 million for NOAA (carve-out for “climate modeling”)
$1 billion for the Census Bureau
$89 billion for Medicaid
$30 billion for COBRA insurance extension
$36 billion for expanded unemployment benefits
$20 billion for food stamps
$4.5 billion for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
$850 million for Amtrak
$87 million for a polar icebreaking ship
$1.7 billion for the National Park System
$55 million for Historic Preservation Fund
$7.6 billion for “rural community advancement programs”
$150 million for agricultural-commodity purchases
$150 million for “producers of livestock, honeybees, and farm-raised fish”
$2 billion for renewable-energy research ($400 million for global-warming research)
$2 billion for a “clean coal” power plant in Illinois
$6.2 billion for the Weatherization Assistance Program
$3.5 billion for energy-efficiency and conservation block grants
$3.4 billion for the State Energy Program
$200 million for state and local electric-transport projects
$300 million for energy-efficient-appliance rebate programs
$400 million for hybrid cars for state and local governments
$1 billion for the manufacturing of advanced batteries
$1.5 billion for green-technology loan guarantees
$8 billion for innovative-technology loan-guarantee program
$2.4 billion for carbon-capture demonstration projects
$4.5 billion for electricity grid
$79 billion for State Fiscal Stabilization Fund
Do we really need a $87 Million polar ice breaker? How is that going to stimulate the economy? I thought we were having global warming and the polar ice caps are melting. Is this just scare tactics or what?
FU – How is this a false list? This was posted on a web site by one of our press reporters. I cut and pasted.
Date : March 9th, 2010Category : UncategorizedAuthor : Editor5 Comments
(CNN) — On Monday, Congressional Republican leaders put out a list of what they call wasteful provisions in the Senate version of the nearly $900 billion stimulus bill that is being debated:
The Senate is currently the nearly $900 billion economic stimulus bill.
The Senate is currently the nearly $900 billion economic stimulus bill.
• $2 billion earmark to re-start FutureGen, a near-zero emissions coal power plant in Illinois that the Department of Energy defunded last year because it said the project was inefficient.
• A $246 million tax break for Hollywood movie producers to buy motion picture film.
• $650 million for the digital television converter box coupon program.
• $88 million for the Coast Guard to design a new polar icebreaker (arctic ship).
• $448 million for constructing the Department of Homeland Security headquarters.
• $248 million for furniture at the new Homeland Security headquarters.
• $600 million to buy hybrid vehicles for federal employees.
• $400 million for the Centers for Disease Control to screen and prevent STD’s.
• $1.4 billion for rural waste disposal programs.
Don’t Miss
* GOP senators draft stimulus alternative
• $125 million for the Washington sewer system.
• $150 million for Smithsonian museum facilities.
• $1 billion for the 2010 Census, which has a projected cost overrun of $3 billion.
• $75 million for “smoking cessation activities.”
• $200 million for public computer centers at community colleges.
• $75 million for salaries of employees at the FBI.
• $25 million for tribal alcohol and substance abuse reduction.
• $500 million for flood reduction projects on the Mississippi River.
• $10 million to inspect canals in urban areas.
• $6 billion to turn federal buildings into “green” buildings.
• $500 million for state and local fire stations.
• $650 million for wildland fire management on forest service lands.
• $1.2 billion for “youth activities,” including youth summer job programs.
• $88 million for renovating the headquarters of the Public Health Service.
• $412 million for CDC buildings and property.
• $500 million for building and repairing National Institutes of Health facilities in Bethesda, Maryland.
• $160 million for “paid volunteers” at the Corporation for National and Community Service.
• $5.5 million for “energy efficiency initiatives” at the Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration.
• $850 million for Amtrak.
• $100 million for reducing the hazard of lead-based paint.
• $75 million to construct a “security training” facility for State Department Security officers when they can be trained at existing facilities of other agencies.
• $110 million to the Farm Service Agency to upgrade computer systems.
• $200 million in funding for the lease of alternative energy vehicles for use on military installations.
$2 billion earmark to re-start FutureGen, a near-zero emissions coal power plant in Illinois that the Department of Energy defunded last year because it said the project was inefficient.
• A $246 million tax break for Hollywood movie producers to buy motion picture film.
• $650 million for the digital television converter box coupon program.
• $88 million for the Coast Guard to design a new polar icebreaker (arctic ship).
• $448 million for constructing the Department of Homeland Security headquarters.
• $248 million for furniture at the new Homeland Security headquarters.
• $600 million to buy hybrid vehicles for federal employees.
• $400 million for the Centers for Disease Control to screen and prevent STD’s.
• $1.4 billion for rural waste disposal programs.
Don’t Miss
GOP senators draft stimulus alternative
• $125 million for the Washington sewer system.
• $150 million for Smithsonian museum facilities.
• $1 billion for the 2010 Census, which has a projected cost overrun of $3 billion.
• $75 million for “smoking cessation activities.”
• $200 million for public computer centers at community colleges.
• $75 million for salaries of employees at the FBI.
• $25 million for tribal alcohol and substance abuse reduction.
• $500 million for flood reduction projects on the Mississippi River.
• $10 million to inspect canals in urban areas.
• $6 billion to turn federal buildings into “green” buildings.
• $500 million for state and local fire stations.
• $650 million for wildland fire management on forest service lands.
• $1.2 billion for “youth activities,” including youth summer job programs.
• $88 million for renovating the headquarters of the Public Health Service.
• $412 million for CDC buildings and property.
• $500 million for building and repairing National Institutes of Health facilities in Bethesda, Maryland.
• $160 million for “paid volunteers” at the Corporation for National and Community Service.
• $5.5 million for “energy efficiency initiatives” at the Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration.
• $850 million for Amtrak.
• $100 million for reducing the hazard of lead-based paint.
• $75 million to construct a “security training” facility for State Department Security officers when they can be trained at existing facilities of other agencies.
• $110 million to the Farm Service Agency to upgrade computer systems.
• $200 million in funding for the lease of alternative energy vehicles for use on military installations.
Date : March 6th, 2010Category : UncategorizedAuthor : Editor15 Comments
• $2 billion earmark to re-start FutureGen, a near-zero emissions coal power plant in Illinois that the Department of Energy defunded last year because it said the project was inefficient.
• A $246 million tax break for Hollywood movie producers to buy motion picture film.
• $650 million for the digital television converter box coupon program.
• $88 million for the Coast Guard to design a new polar icebreaker (arctic ship).
• $448 million for constructing the Department of Homeland Security headquarters.
• $248 million for furniture at the new Homeland Security headquarters.
• $600 million to buy hybrid vehicles for federal employees.
• $400 million for the Centers for Disease Control to screen and prevent STD’s.
• $1.4 billion for rural waste disposal programs.
• $125 million for the Washington sewer system.
• $150 million for Smithsonian museum facilities.
• $1 billion for the 2010 Census, which has a projected cost overrun of $3 billion.
• $75 million for “smoking cessation activities.”
• $200 million for public computer centers at community colleges.
• $75 million for salaries of employees at the FBI.
• $25 million for tribal alcohol and substance abuse reduction.
• $500 million for flood reduction projects on the Mississippi River.
• $10 million to inspect canals in urban areas.
• $6 billion to turn federal buildings into “green” buildings.
• $500 million for state and local fire stations.
• $650 million for wild land fire management on forest service lands.
• $1.2 billion for “youth activities,” including youth summer job programs.
• $88 million for renovating the headquarters of the Public Health Service.
• $412 million for CDC buildings and property.
• $500 million for building and repairing National Institutes of Health facilities in Bethesda, Maryland.
• $160 million for “paid volunteers” at the Corporation for National and Community Service.
• $5.5 million for “energy efficiency initiatives” at the Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration.
• $850 million for Amtrak.
• $100 million for reducing the hazard of lead-based paint.
• $75 million to construct a “security training” facility for State Department Security officers when they can be trained at existing facilities of other agencies.
• $110 million to the Farm Service Agency to upgrade computer systems.
• $200 million in funding for the lease of alternative energy vehicles for use on military installations
The amtrack is my personal favorite… think that would be there if Biden wasnt in the picture?
How about …
246 million tax break for Hollywood movie investors in big budget movie projects over an 11-year period…job creating?
Date : March 6th, 2010Category : UncategorizedAuthor : Editor16 Comments
• $2 billion earmark to re-start FutureGen, a near-zero emissions coal power plant in Illinois that the Department of Energy defunded last year because it said the project was inefficient.
• A $246 million tax break for Hollywood movie producers to buy motion picture film.
• $650 million for the digital television converter box coupon program.
• $88 million for the Coast Guard to design a new polar icebreaker (arctic ship).
• $448 million for constructing the Department of Homeland Security headquarters.
• $248 million for furniture at the new Homeland Security headquarters.
• $600 million to buy hybrid vehicles for federal employees.
• $400 million for the Centers for Disease Control to screen and prevent STD’s.
Date : March 4th, 2010Category : UncategorizedAuthor : Editor2 Comments
These examples will give some idea as to why many feel that the Government is incapable of running anything…except maybe through your tax dollars! They seem to be able to run through THAT easily enough!
• $2 billion earmark to re-start FutureGen, a near-zero emissions coal power plant in Illinois that the Department of Energy defunded last year because it said the project was inefficient.
• A $246 million tax break for Hollywood movie producers to buy motion picture film.
• $650 million for the digital television converter box coupon program.
• $448 million for constructing the Department of Homeland Security headquarters.
• $248 million for furniture at the new Homeland Security headquarters.
• $600 million to buy hybrid vehicles for federal employees.
• $400 million for the Centers for Disease Control to screen and prevent STD’s.
• $1 billion for the 2010 Census, which already has a projected cost overrun of $3 billion.
• $75 million for “smoking cessation activities.”
• $75 million for salaries of employees at the FBI.
• $25 million for tribal alcohol and substance abuse reduction.
• $6 billion to turn federal buildings into “green” buildings.
• $1.2 billion for “youth activities,” including youth summer job programs.
• $160 million for “paid volunteers” at the Corporation for National and Community Service.
• $850 million for Amtrak.
• $100 million for reducing the hazard of lead-based paint. Lead based paint has been banned in this country for some time now.
• $75 million to construct a “security training” facility for State Department Security officers when they can be trained at existing facilities of other agencies.
• $110 million to the Farm Service Agency to upgrade computer systems.
Need more? Then how about:
* $1 million to pay for the removal of Mormon crickets in Utah.
* $1 million on covered garages for people’s bicycles in Portland, Oregon.
* The City of Redmond, Washington wants to spend $11 million to build a bridge connecting two adjacent portions of Microsoft headquarters.
* $200,000 for gang tattoo removal in Southern California.
* $800,000 for little-used John Murtha Airport in Johnstown, Pennsylvania airport to repave a back-up runway; the ‘Airport for Nobody’ has already received tens of millions in taxpayer dollars.
* Nevada non-profit gets $2 million weatherization contract after recently being fired for same type of work.
* $1.15 million for installation of a new guard rail for the non-existent Optima Lake in Oklahoma.
* Town of Union, New York, encouraged to spend a $578,000 grant it did not request for a homelessness problem it claims it does not have.
* Nearly $10 million to renovate an abandoned train station that hasn’t been used in 30 years.
* Senator Tom Harkin’s nearly $2 million earmarked for swine odor research in Iowa.
Someone should tell Senator Harkin that pigs aren’t the only thing that stinks here!
SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Senate on Monday pushed aside a veto and unanimously approved a landmark ban on “pay-to-play” political donations, after former legislative colleague Barack Obama interceded to jump-start the stalled ethics initiative.
The measure prohibits entities that do more than $50,000 in state business from giving political donations to the elected officials who control their contracts. Gov. Rod Blagojevich vetoed the bill last month, and the House this month voted to override his veto.
Monday’s 55-0 Senate veto override means the ban will take effect Jan. 1.
“Hallelujah!” said state Sen. Christine Radogno, R-Lemont, during brief floor debate over the long-sought legislation. “This is indeed a great day.” The chamber later broke into applause after the override vote.
The vote is a stinging rebuke to Blagojevich, who had vetoed the ethics bill while offering what he said was a superior alternative. Critics said that move was actually designed to kill the reform and keep in place an unrestricted political system that Blagojevich has used to raise millions of campaign dollars.
For Obama, a former Illinois state senator and now the Democratic presidential nominee, the vote likely averts what had been shaping up as a possible public relations headache for his presidential campaign.
The ethics bill was being stalled primarily by Blagojevich and Senate President Emil Jones, both Obama supporters and fellow Chicago Democrats. The two Illinois pols already have been featured in one recent national Republican commercial that tries to tie Obama to Chicago’s famously shady political culture.
After the House overrode Blagojevich’s veto, Jones, a Blagojevich ally, prompted howls from reformers by hinting he might not call the bill in his chamber until mid-November, if at all.
On Wednesday, as the controversy grew, Obama phoned Jones and pressed him to call the bill. Jones later issued a statement saying he would call the Senate in to deal with the issue, “only at the request of my friend Barack Obama.”
Blagojevich’s alternative ethics package had contained additional restrictions, including bans on legislators taking side-jobs in their local governments, and more straightforward requirements for approval of legislative pay raises. Reformers had feared those additions would make the package too controversial to pass and endanger the whole reform initiative, and some alleged that was the whole point.
In a compromise Monday in connection with the veto override, Blagojevich’s provisions passed the Senate Executive Committee as a bill that could now advance through the legislature separately.
In a written statement, Blagojevich lauded the committee passage of those provisions as “real reform.” He played down the override of his veto, saying, “The General Assembly didn’t really move the ball forward.”
The issue of political contributions from state contractors has long been a controversial one in Illinois, but there are no rules against it, as long as the donations aren’t made specifically as payback for the contracts. Former Gov. George Ryan is serving a federal prison term for crossing that line. His crimes included steering state contracts to major campaign contributors.
This year’s federal trial of political fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko, who raised money for Blagojevich and Obama, included allegations of similar things going on around Blagojevich’s administration. Testimony alleged that Blagojevich associates sought a political donation from a contractor in exchange for a promise of state business. Blagojevich himself hasn’t been accused of wrongdoing.
A recent St. Louis Post-Dispatch analysis of 50 of the top service contractors in the state found that fully half of them are major Blagojevich donors.
The ethics bill is HB824.
That’s nice Smitty! He was in the US Senate when he helped this one go through. Read the article. He did it for selfish reasons!
“For Obama, a former Illinois state senator and now the Democratic presidential nominee, the vote likely averts what had been shaping up as a possible public relations headache for his presidential campaign.”
On Wednesday, as the controversy grew, Obama phoned Jones and pressed him to call the bill. Jones later issued a statement saying he would call the Senate in to deal with the issue, “only at the request of my friend Barack Obama.”
On FOX Chicago Sunday (April 26, 09), Rep. Greg Harris — one of the General Assembly’s two openly gay members and the chief sponsor of HB 2234, a state civil unions bill — thoroughly refuted the …
Senator Bill Brady on Rezko, Obama, Cross, Watson, McKenna, Proft, Blagojevich, Kjellander, Kass, Cellini, Dillard, Cronin, Millner, George Ryan, Taxes, Fees, Jobs and Mentally Ill Shooters.
The President speaks at the signing of a bill that will increase the VA budget, help fund the post 9/11 GI Bill, and dramatically increase funding for veterans health care. October 22, 2009. (Publ…
Recently the United States House of Representatives introduced HR 3200, America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009. There are a number of things that disturb me about this bill but the one thing that causes the most concern is that it calls for a STAGGERING $44.9 billion in cuts to Medicare payments to skilled nursing facilities such as The Tillers! By the way, this is in addition to the $16 billion in regulatory cuts already imposed by the centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) effective August 1, 2009.
As an owner and administrator of a skilled nursing facilities with 37 years of experience, let me explain what this means. If these cuts to the Medicare program become reality it will be a devastating blow to our nation’s skilled nursing facilities and to the older adults we serve. I predict that some facilities may have to close their doors because they cannot remain financially viable. The best case scenario is that skilled nursing facilities would have to reduce staff and cut back on services, not just a little, but substantially. Ten of thousands of jobs would be eliminated and the quality of care would go out the window. Our industry is far from perfect, but any positive gains we have made in recent years would be wiped out. The consumer would be the biggest loser. This bill in its current form is a slap in the face to millions of individuals who depend upon the services provided by our nation’s skilled nursing facilities under the Medicare program. It is a form of indirect taxation on any adult who is Medicare eligible.
It is ironic that HR 3200 is titled “Americas Affordable Health Choices Acts of 2009.” There nothing “affordable” about this bill, especially if it means almost $45 billion in Medicare cuts. Health care reform that takes dollars away from one group to give to another is not really health care reform at all. Bills like HR 3200 lack common sense and good judgment. Many people think health care reform is needed, but at whose expense? Our elderly population is the “backbone” of America, they are the HISTORY and FOUNDATION and this bill (if passed) will put them out into the streets along with hundreds of thousands of Healthcare workers – have you seen the staggering numbers of the unemployed? In Illinois it is a little over 12% – that is astronomical. Now I believe in REFORM, but charity begins at home and that is where the American Heart Is, at home, take care of the USA prior to sending billions and trillions of foreign aid, do we get aid from other countries? NO, we allow immigration to our country, our doors are open, our schools are open and it’s time to stop this, I have been trying to get assistance to continue my own education and I cannot even get assistance because I am a woman, living in the USA, divorced, single and living paycheck to paycheck without any government assistance. Sometimes I lay awake at night wondering if I’ll be able to eat or get to work, etc…………..there comes a time when you have to say NO, but passing this bill will be and will have a devastating effect on the ECONOMY FOR THE WORSE.
Donna A. Reavis
Healthcare Social Worker
Ways & Means Member Peter Roskam (R-IL) discusses the need for a stimulus bill that will create jobs with Alexis Glick on Fox Businesses’ “Money for Breakfast”
