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POPSIt's a wonderful life working for the government The policy aim, Democrats say, was to maintain public services and aid. The political aim, although Democrats don't say so, was to maintain public-sector jobs -- and the flow of union dues to the public employees unions that represent almost 40 percent of public-sector workers. Those unions in turn have contributed generously to Democrats. Services Employee International Union head Andy Stern, the most frequent nongovernment visitor to the Obama White House, has boasted that his union steered $60 million to Democrats in the 2008 cycle. The total union contribution to Democrats has been estimated at $400 million.
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POPSObama's health insurance is deadly fiasco I don't usually comment on US health care, BUT to be *forced* to pay private profit-making company for inadequate health coverage, with premiums increasing as I age, would make me very riled. And the policy won't do any good for the image of Obama, the Federales, or the health insurance industry. Where is Ralph Nader and a third Party when you need them? Couldn't he get together with Ron Paul -- the ultimate coalition. Howard Dean seems to understand what's going on, but he's an MD. If I were an American, then I would want to try something different. Anything! Why aren't people organising?
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POPSStatement by the National Right to Life Committee On The New Reid "manager's amendment" to H.R. 3590
This seems to envision a system under which the OPM director would administer multi-state plans that cover elective abortions, and perhaps even possess authority to require such plans to cover elective abortions, as long as the director also ensured that there was one plan that did not cover abortions (except types of abortions also funded by the federal Medicaid program). This would be a sharp break from the policy that has long governed the Federal Employees Health Benefits program, which is also a program administered by OPM, under which private plans are completely prohibited from covering elective abortions if they wish to participate in the program. The Reid manager's amendment contains a new section providing that a state "may elect to prohibit abortion coverage in qualified health plans offered through an Exchange in such State if such State enacts a law to provide for such prohibition.
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POPSCompletely Reckless, Completely Irresponsible “And they want to rush this bill through by Christmas — one of the most significant, far-reaching pieces of legislation in U.S. history. They want to rush it. “And here’s the most outrageous part: at the end of this rush, they want us to vote on a bill that no one outside the Majority Leader’s conference room has even seen. “The final bill we’ll vote on isn’t even the one we’ve had on the floor. It’s the deal Democrat leaders have been trying to work out in private.
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POPSSingle-payer health care plan dies in Senate The House already has approved its version of the health care bill, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Wednesday she was confident a final compromise would be signed into law before Obama's 2010 State of the Union address.
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POPSBlackwater In the News.........Again
More information on the perils of "outsourcing" military and intelligence agencies' responsibilities below: "“It became a very brotherly relationship,” said one former top C.I.A. officer. “There was a feeling that Blackwater eventually became an extension of the agency.” Representative Rush D. Holt, chairman of the House Select Intelligence Oversight Panel, said in an interview that “the use of contractors in intelligence and paramilitary operations is a scandal waiting to be examined.” ... Mr. Holt said that the use of contractors in such operations “got way out of hand.” He added, “It’s been very troubling to a lot of people.” That gave Blackwater greater influence over C.I.A. clandestine operations, since company personnel helped decide the safest way to conduct the missions. “We keep finding functions that have been outsourced that common sense, let alone U.S. government policy, would argue should not have been handed over to a private company,” he said. “And yet we do it again
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POPSThe Real Fat Cats Are Not on Wall Street Why should PUBLIC Employees make almost twice as much as their private sector counterparts? After all it is OUR MONEY they are using to pay themselves. Think about it the next time our taxes are increased. They cry POVERTY and NO MONEY and yet they continue to HIRE new employees and increase their pay rate at twice the inflation rate. When was the last time you got a pay raise at TWICE the inflation rate? Do you get an automatic COST OF LIVING increase every year? I think not. Time to give all these public employees pink slips. These public employees are not exactly feeding from the dumpsters around town either. They are treating themselves to the best of everything.
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POPSFeds Get Huge Pay Hikes While Taxpayers are Loosing Jobs
Okay folks it is time for some straight talk. We the people need to take back our country from the thieves and robber barons occupying capital hill. We can not longer sit back and allow this outrageous behavior to continue. We need to get to the polls and vote out all the incumbents and replace them with FISCAL conservatives and strict constitutional candidates. This country was made great by adhering to the founding principles outlined in the Constitution which safeguards the rights of the citizenry, and restricts the powers of the federal government. Today as we watch the daily newscasts we are being assalted by an out of control federal government with an insatiable appetite for more and more of our hard earned money which they squander on useless pork barrel projects designed to buy votes and nothing else. IN addition they continually vote themselves hefty pay increases and benefit packages and then give us the bill. It is high time congress gets a pay cut!
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POPSHypocrisy Abounds at Climate Change Summit This hypocrisy will once again be on full display at the United Nations summit on climate change which will soon take place in Copenhagen. As world leaders gather to try to find ways for the rest of us to cut emissions, they themselves will be flown in private jets and driven in limos. So far more than twelve hundred limos have been ordered for the event with more expected, and according to airport officials in Copenhagen more than one hundred and forty private jets have already been chartered for the event in which the world is supposed to take a hard stand against emissions. So as our fearless leaders gather to lecture the third world and normal citizens of western countries how they are killing the planet, they themselves will be creating more than forty thousand tonnes of emissions, which is the same amount a city of 500,000 would produce in the same amount of time. Sometimes irony and hypocrisy aren’t strong enough words.
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POPS10 Million Could Lose Employer Coverage Under Senate Health Bill, CBO Says It comes in the middle of a heated debate in the Senate over whether and how the government should enter the market with its own insurance plan. "If you like what you have you can't keep it," the Senate Republican office said in an e-mail highlighting the CBO report and keying off the president's refrain. Though some of those who lose their coverage would be eligible for government subsidies to buy insurance, some would not, according to the CBO. For instance, a family of four making more than $88,000 would not qualify for subsidies and could face even higher premiums in the private market. http://bit.ly/5afKcA
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POPSPublic option out A healthcare reform bill may come at the expense of the public option that many regarded as its most satisfactory feature.
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POPSThe Teachers' Unions that Stole Christmas But I remember reading where a professor received a grant to study volcanic activity in S. America under the Stimulus Bill. It makes sense that the NEA and teachers' unions would not support anything that would send children to private schools. The public education system is in such rapid decline that no thinking person wants their child there and no politician or wealthy person who can afford a private school would do otherwise. And the public schools that DO have some good teachers are losing them because of the stress and work load.
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POPSCarbonhagen I thought these world leaders cared about the environment. Guess not.
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POPSThe Uncertainty Economy One big difference between Washington and private markets is that politicians think everything they do is free-standing. Markets, however, combine all the potential costs of Washington's policies and then decide whether to invest, or not. Consider what private decision-makers see in their future: A 2,074-page, trillion-dollar health-care bill to redesign 17% of the U.S. economy. A carbon tax"cap and trade"that remains an Obama priority ahead of the Copenhagen climate summit next month. A falling dollar and gyrating commodity prices, with no idea where those prices will go next. Democratic liberals are talking about an income tax surcharge to pay for any commitment in Afghanistan. Card check, to expand unionization of the private economy, remains a priority. Domestic discretionary spending in fiscal 2010 is set to rise at 12.1%, with inflation near zero. Nurturing a fragile economic recovery into a durable expansion requires policies that restore public confidence and reassure
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POPSThe Federal Student-Loan Takeover Gets Booed in Academia But before the bill has even come to the Senate floor, federal officials have been making unsolicited contacts to schools urging them to accept this "public option." In October, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan sent a letter to schools nationwide offering to help them "in taking the necessary steps to ensure uninterrupted access to federal student loans by ensuring your institution is Direct Loan-ready for the 2010-2011 academic year." Schools got the message. The leader of a large university recently refused to discuss the issue with us on the record, fearful that the feds are taking names. Rep. John Kline (R., Minn.) has asked the Department of Education's inspector general to investigate efforts by officials to encourage outside groups to advocate for the ban on private lenders. He wants to know if department staff violated a federal law against lobbying with appropriated funds, among other possible offenses. WSJournal http://bit.ly/6P78Lb
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