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POPSPages, Costs, and Agencies Added To The Obama/Pelosi Health Care Behemoth
“Additionally, this bill cuts critical Medicare and Medicaid funding by $628 billion, accounts for nearly $1.2 trillion in tax and fee increases and will explode the scope of government by putting the nation’s health care system in the hands of Washington bureaucrats. The $3 trillion price tag defies common sense " we simply cannot add all this new spending to the government rolls and claim to control the deficit. “If we continue to pile more and more debt on the next generation, they will never be able to get out from under it. The health care system needs reform, but this massive expansion of government, financed by our children and grandchildren, is the wrong way to proceed.” And listen…this is what our government believes will be the cost. But look at programs our government has run historically and you find decades of added costs and overruns that our forced onto the taxpayer. Insanity http://www.bizzyblog.com/2009/11/07/how-to-go-from-1200-to-2000-pages/
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POPSWall Street celebrates bonuses, schools beg for supplies We see stories like “Recession Pinches Back-to-School Budgets” http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/10/03/eveningnews/main5361456.shtml and “School budgets dip, class sizes grow” http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32156424/ns/us_news-education/ along with reports of Wall Street reaping fat bonuses after being bailed out with taxpayer dollars. Sure, the bailouts were necessary to keep the economy afloat. Or so we are led to believe. And while the wisdom of a Wall Street bailout is being debated there is no debate about whether or not our schools need more money. Should public schools needs be ranked second to Wall Street because schools don’t turn a profit? Actually, if your head is on straight, you can clearly see how schools do turn a profit, but you need to value education above making money in order to see it. If you do, here’s an online charity that connects you to classrooms in need: http://www.donorschoose.org/
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POPSU.S.Troop Funds $2.6 Billion Taken From Guns and Ammunition For "Pet Projects" Sen. Tom Coburn, Oklahoma Republican, called the transfer of funds from Pentagon operations and maintenance "a disgrace." "The Senate is putting favorable headlines back home above our men and women fighting on the front lines," he said in a statement. RELATED STORIES: • Michigan town lobbies for Gitmo transfers • Top Treasury posts stay empty in financial crisis • VA Dept. hospitals botched treatments Mr. Wheeler, who conducted the study, compared the Obama administration's requests for funds with the $636 billion spending bill that the Senate passed. He discovered that senators added $2.6 billion in pet projects while spending $4 billion less than the administration requested for fiscal 2010, which began Oct. 1. Mr. Wheeler said that senators took most of the cash for the projects from the "operations and maintenance" or O&M accounts. "These are the accounts that pay for troop training, repairs, spares and supplies for vehicles, weapons, ships and planes,
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POPSBaucus Healthcare Bill True Cost: $2 Trillion None was provided to them to make these estimates, so we still don't even know what's really in the bill! There are a host of other frauds being perpetrated on us right now by our government regarding health care. So let's get something straight about the high percentage of GDP (16-17 percent) devoted to healthcare in this country, because it is widely misunderstood. First, most of the excessive costs of American medical care are the result of government intervention. In fact proponents of socialized medicine anticipated that the costs of Medicare and Medicaid would create a crisis in health care, generating calls for reform. Their ready answer was just more of the same. We would all like to see costs of medical care come down. This country should move to reduce costs by removing the causes: excessive government intervention that distorts the market. The many ways government intervenes and the many solutions are beyond the scope of this essay, but that is the answer.
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POPSMere Sound and Fury Until Harry and Nancy Do Their Thing in The Dark Half of it will come from massive cuts in Medicare Advantage, while the other half will be generated by new taxes on high-end insurance, higher income taxes, and new levies on drugs and innovative medical devices. We will address these additional yellow flags on this page on Tuesday in Part 2. There is another reason why the CBO's preliminary analysis should be taken with a grain of salt, though this one wasn't mentioned in the report. Whatever the content of the Baucus bill once it is voted out of the finance committee, it will disappear into a legislative black hole as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and their key aides do what they did on the economic stimulus package back in February -- huddle together behind closed doors to write the final bill, which will then be presented as a fait accompli in the form of a conference report. Everything else is mere sound and fury signifying nothing until Harry and Nancy do their thing in the dark.
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POPSPuerto Rico: Massive Layoffs and a Scramble to Resist Critics say the layoffs, together with unprecedented budget cuts, will have a devastating impact on workers and their families—in addition to crippling many government agencies, including those that provide basic services and serve vulnerable groups, such as battered women and the elderly.
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POPSObamacare 'Wrap-Up' Guts Conservatives Amendments The wrap-up amendment expands powers granted to a brand new Medicare Commission endowing these bureaucrats with the ability to raise premiums on Medicare prescription drug coverage at will. Democrats had worked out a deal with hospitals in secret negotiations over the summer to exempt them from the extensive plans for cuts in Medicare rates. This “carve out” would exempt hospitals from these reductions but the CBO estimated the provision would add $11 billion to the overall cost of the bill. No problem for Dems, just rack up another $11 billion in stealth cuts to Medicare for an offset. Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) offered an amendment that was agreed to in the committee markup without objection to shield veterans from increases in the cost of their medical care and reductions in access to treatment. In the wrap-up amendment, Democrats voted to gut the veteran protections, without the customary consultation to the amendment’s author, reducing the amendment to mere . . .
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POPSCalifornia going down the drain?
Sitting propped up against a lamp post, waiting for her number to be called, is Debbie Tuua, 33. It is her birthday, but she has taken a day off work to bring her elderly parents to the Forum, and they have driven through the night to get here. They wait in a car as the heat of the day begins to rise. "It is awful for them, but what choice do we have?" Tuua says. "I have no other way to get care to them." Yet California is currently cutting healthcare, slashing the "Healthy Families" programme that helped an estimated one million of its poorest children. Los Angeles now has a poverty rate of 20%. Other cities across the state, such as Fresno and Modesto, have jobless rates that rival Detroit's. In order to pass its state budget, California's government has had to agree to a deal that cuts billions of dollars from education and sacks 60,000 state employees. Some teachers have launched a hunger strike in protest. California's education system has become so poor so quickly that it is n
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POPSReform Health care doesn't need to be reformed. The tax code, yes, allow people to purchase their own health insurance. Tort law, yes, reform it so doctors don't have to practice defensive medicine.
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POPSDisney World Package - Top 3 Tips For Finding Disney World Packages on a Budget Use the Disney Dining plan. I did not use this with one of my earlier trips to Disney and that was a big mistake. When you use the Disney Dining plan you are able to eat more food and save literally hundreds of dollars. Food at Disney is very high priced, so when you use the dining plan, it cuts your meal costs in half. I highly recommend the Disney Dining Plan, you will be able to eat all of the wonderful Disney foods without the guilt of paying high prices for it. You will be so glad when you see all of the delicious foods. This really cuts costs at Disney World.
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POPS Podesta Says Value-Added Tax ‘More Plausible’ as Deficits Grow a Washington-based public policy group, is convening a meeting of economic policy experts Sept. 30 to discuss the long- term fiscal deficit. The Congressional Budget Office estimated in August that the budget deficit will be 11.2 percent of gross domestic product, the highest since World War II. Clinton, facing a deficit of 4.2 percent of GDP, pushed Congress to raise taxes on the wealthy to help trim the shortfall. “He passed it without a single Republican vote,” Podesta said. “It led to the longest period of growth in the United States history.” Ending Tax Cuts Podesta said Obama will begin by ending the upper-income tax cuts enacted under his predecessor, President George W. Bush. “Then you have to look at whether that gets you far enough of the way,” he said. On health care, Podesta expressed optimism that Congress will pass a health-care bill in the next couple of months even though so far none of the measures has won Republican support and Democrats . .
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POPSJail Inmates Help Run County's Animal Shelter The inmates clean cages and care for the animals. They come in close contact with the public, but so far it hasn't been a problem. There are plenty of security measures in place, including cameras that watch over inmates at all times."I don't think it's a concern. We do have our correction officers here," Radebaugh said.At least two officers are present when the inmates are working. There are six to eight inmates at the shelter at a time.Curtis has enjoyed the couple of weeks he's spent at the shelter and the little bit of freedom that has come with it."It makes it go a little bit faster because you are out," he said."They'll come out and be productive members of society," Radebaugh said.Meanwhile, they're helping a county department during a sluggish economy. Related: Puppy raising program starts at South Florida prison http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/features_lifestyle_animal/2009/09/puppy-raising-program-starts-at-south-florida-prison.html
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POPSCongress has the votes to pass a public option And passing it with 51 votes in the Senate - a majority - abides by the same rule Republicans used to pass the Bush tax cuts and fund the Iraq war. Any bill passes with 51 votes unless the minority party filibusters it. Bills with significant budgetary impact can be shielded from a filibuster by the reconciliation process
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POPSJob-Killing Policies Could Doom Democrat Hopes: By Michael Barone There was something to these arguments. But it's also true that job creation accelerated in 2004 and kept going for another three years. Perhaps, although Democrats would not like to admit it, the Bush economic policies had something to do with that. And perhaps the rather different policies of the Obama administration and the Democratic Congress may help Summers' gloomy predictions come true. Tax policy is one example. The Bush tax cuts are scheduled to expire next year, and the Democratic Congress will surely allow income tax rates on high earners to go up to 39.6 percent again, or even more if it enacts the administration's proposed policy of limiting high earners' charitable deductions. These increases will produce revenue that the government needs to reduce the enormous budget deficit, though surely not as much revenue as static economic models indicate. But they will also depress economic growth to some non-trivial extent, and thereby depress job creation.
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POPSJewelry engagement rings If you are looking for jewelry engagement rings, then you are in the right place. For more information, please visit our webiste.
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POPSSchwarzenegger Challenges Mother Nature To A Fight The governor ultimately decided against his plan - although he did successfully put out a small fire by squeezing it between his bicep. Instead Schwarzenegger is going straight to the source. "Mother nature will pay. I will grab her puny ankles and shake her until money falls out." At that moment Schwarzenegger turned to a camera and said, "now that's change we can believe in."
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POPSDo Tax Cuts Starve the Beast? No. indeed, the point estimates suggest that tax cuts increase spending. The results also indicate that the main effect of tax cuts on the government budget is to induce subsequent legislated tax increases. Examination of four episodes of major tax cuts reinforces these conclusions.
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POPSState Legislators In Now-Infamous Solitaire Photo Identified During the long debates at the state Capitol, legislators often work on their laptop computers - as seen in the photograph. Sometimes they are answering e-mails from constituents, while other times they are researching important information on pending bills. Other times, they are playing solitaire. When asked Tuesday about the photo by Capitol Watch, Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell laughed and said, "I think if they'd spend less time playing computer games and more time looking for spending cuts, then we would have been out of here a lot sooner.'' Republican Tom Foley, who is running for U.S. Senate against incumbent Democrat Christopher J. Dodd, said, "I was disheartened to see a Hartford Courant front page photo showing members of our Democratically-controlled legislature playing solitaire on their computers while debate was occurring on a new state budget that raises taxes and contains no net reduction in spending. This is not a time for the Democrats who control . . .
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POPSHow the Senate's 'reconciliation' process works It's protected from filibuster for the sake of doing critical business, but can only be used if a) the matter has a large budgetary impact, and b) it can't be shown to increase the long-term deficit. If a deficit is projected, the matter must include a sunset provision. An example: Bush tax cuts of 01 were passed by reconciliation but, since a deficit was the projected result, had to be renewed after 5 years.
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POPSSTUPID NATION By Rich Lowry Stupid enough to think increased preventive care will save the government money, just because President Barack Obama constantly repeats it despite all the independent studies to the contrary. Stupid enough to believe that a program with no cost controls that can be discerned by the Congressional Budget Office will control costs. Stupid enough not to worry that Obama's proposed superteam of technocrats operating outside normal political controls " the so-called Independent Medicare Advisory Council " will resort to rationing when costs continue to spiral upward. Stupid enough to consider it wise to use several billion dollars in cuts from Medicare to create a new entitlement rather than to forestall Medicare's own looming insolvency, currently projected for 2017. Stupid enough not to notice that the "public option" was explicitly designed by the left as a stealthy path to single-payer, even as liberals continue to talk and write about its ultimate purpose openly.
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POPSObama Bankrupting U.S. Faster Than He Estimated: Gee, What A Surprise Letting people keep more of their money -- to pursue entrepreneurship, invention, innovation and investment -- is the only antidote to a diseased economy. Cutting taxes, a mechanism that has proven so effective, so often, I can't believe anyone would even try to dispute them... cutting taxes lifts all boats. Tax cuts are the opposite of a "stimulus" package. They are a rallying cry for economic expansion. Tax cuts, however, are anathema to Democrat Statists who seek control of your private property. They who seek to control the size of your cars, how much energy you can consume, how much water your toilets can flush, what kind of light bulbs you can buy... anything and everything related to your privacy. Interestingly, it never ends with Democrats. They always want more control of you and your private property. Now it's your physical well-being -- socialized medicine and control of your body. And, after that, they'll want more.
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POPSPork-Barrel Orgy at Home, Obama Hammers Defense Waste Speaking to an audience of military veterans, President Barack Obama called for cutting wasteful defense spending and for reforming the way defense industry does business. “Every dollar wasted in our defense budget is a dollar we can’t spend to care for our troops or protect America or prepare for the future,” he said Monday. Obama really let if fly when he talked about the need to reform the “defense establishment,” calling wasteful defense spending an “affront” to the American people and the troops. Using a similar approach the administration has used in its arguments to pass health care reform, Obama singled out “special interests, contractors, and entrenched lobbyists” who oppose changes to the status quo. “They’re putting up a fight. But make no mistake, so are we.” He vowed to cut any weapons program that doesn’t support the troops in the field or underperforms. http://www.dodbuzz.com/2009/08/17/obama-hammers-defense-establishment/
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POPSHealth Care Coverage dropped for 60,000 children This is what happens when you overspend on social programs you cannot afford to start with. Our country is in debt over it's ears and we are now trying to pass a one trillion dollar health care plan we also can't afford.
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POPSThe Mystery is Why People Put Up With It Hence the massive sales tax hike … with the tax expanded to cover already heavily taxed booze … that was enacted once the hacks figured out that the people in the fog either don’t care or are too befuddled to notice. The fog itself is no big mystery. It’s pumped out of big fog machines operated by local unions, the hacks themselves, and the above mentioned broadsheet. The mystery is why people put up with it. But people get the government, and the fog, they deserve.
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POPSLancashire cutting bus routes This is happening right across the country. The sound idea of pensioners riding free on empty busses has been badly abused, not by pensioners, but by officials who cannot organise a piss up in a brewery. No Lancashire breweries? Okay! What elderly passengers need is certainty, a strict timetable and a recognition that they have paid for everything that this govenment offers as privilege.
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POPSCongressional Democrats do talk & spend period It would take almost $16,000 more from every household in America to balance the budget just this year. To grab this money from top income-bracket earners, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), we’d have to hike their tax rates to between 80% and 90%. The CBO noted earlier this year in its budget report that “ igh tax rates would slow the growth of the economy, making the spending burden harder to bear.” Like kids, Congress can break anything if they mess with it long enough.
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POPSExecs still get raises as UC cuts staffing, pay More: "These are outrageous actions, taken at the same time as UC has been pleading poverty, giving layoff notices, forcing staff and faculty to take furloughs and hinting at more student fee increases," said library assistant Kathy Renfro, chairwoman of the UC Berkeley Labor Coalition. The next time our union calls for a picket, I am SO there. :mad:
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