Stimulus Plan: $115 Billion to Cover "The Poor Kids", More Pork, Less Stimulus. The Goal: Get Everyone On Public Assistance

This is "fiscal responsibility"? And before you cry foul, nobody is against providing government assistance for children to get health care.

It is not what the bill stands for, it is how much it will cost and another example of the Democrats Socialist Agenda of "trickle-up poverty".


From WaPo:

• President-elect Barack Obama will convene a "fiscal responsibility summit" in February designed to bring together a variety of voices on solving the long term problems with the economy and with a special focus on entitlements, he said during an interview with Washington Post reporters and editors this afternoon.
  "We need to send a signal that we are serious," said Obama of the summit
• 
  
• Obama said that he has made clear to his advisers that some of the difficult choices--particularly in regards to entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare - should be made on his watch. "We've kicked this can down the road and now we are at the end of the road," he said.

George Will mentions the questionable spending in his column.

• By a vote of 289-139, with 40 Republicans joining the majority, the House, in the process of reauthorizing the State Children's Health Insurance Program, doubled the funding, thereby transforming it through "mission creep." SCHIP's purpose, when it was enacted by a Republican-controlled Congress in 1997, was to subsidize state governments as they subsidize health care for families too affluent to be eligible for Medicaid but not affluent enough to afford health insurance. Because any measure acquires momentum when it is identified as for "the children," SCHIP was said to be for "poor children" or children of "the working poor."
  
• In 2007, President Bush proposed a $5 billion increase in SCHIP, the House voted a $50 billion increase but receded to the Senate's proposed $35 billion, which became the definition of moderation. That compromise, which Bush successfully vetoed, at first would have extended SCHIP eligibility to some households with incomes 400 percent of the poverty line ($83,000 for a family of four), and more than $30,000 above the median household income ($50,233). So people with incomes higher than most people's became eligible for a program supposedly for low-income people. Call that compassionate arithmetic.
  
• The new expansion, which is vengeance for Bush's veto, is mission gallop: It will make it much easier for some states to extend SCHIP eligibility to children from families earning up to $84,800. Furthermore, to make "poor" an extremely elastic concept, generous "income disregards" are allowed. Families can, depending on their state's policies, subtract from their income calculation what they spend on rent or mortgage or heating or food or transportation or some combination of these. So children in some families with incomes well over $100,000 will be eligible.
  
• Grace-Marie Turner, a student of health care policies, says this SCHIP expansion is sensible -- if your goal is quickly to get as many people on public coverage as possible, and to have children grow up thinking that it is normal for them to get their health insurance from the government. That is the goal.
  And this is the Congress with which the president will try to strike a grand bargain. Because of the 22nd Amendment, he may not be president long enough to get a Democratic Congress to agree to the shape of the table at which to bargain.
  
• If he does tackle the problem of the teetering entitlement system, he will do so at an unpropitious moment: Events are making reform more necessary while making it seem less urgent. A nation in which $350 billion was but the first half of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, and in which TARP is distinct from the perhaps $850 billion "stimulus" program, is a nation being taught not to take seriously sums with merely nine digits and two commas. Remember, just 15 months ago Bush vetoed SCHIP because of $30 billion, a sum that, from the TARP bucket, nowadays disappears into the thin air from which much of the almost $1 trillion of stimulus will be conjured.
  
• The theory of a grand bargain is that if every American faction is being nicked simultaneously -- if tax increases and benefit cuts ("cuts" understood, perhaps, as disappointing increases) make everyone surly at the same time -- there will be unity born of universal grievance, which will morph into a public-spirited consensus. Perhaps. On the other hand, George Kennan, diplomat and historian, said that the unlikelihood of any negotiation reaching an agreement grows by the square of the number of parties involved.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that toal costs of H.R. 2, the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009, to be in excess of $115 Billion over the next ten years.



The Hill has more on Senate Republican opposition to the bill and what Harry Reid's definition of bipartisan is:

• If Reid continues that strategy with the SCHIP bill, the economic stimulus package and other measures, Republicans may not be able to see their ideas included in the final legislation but they will be able to get Democrats on the record voting against their priorities.
• 
  
• Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) predicted the SCHIP bill would sail through the Senate and said he welcomed Republican opposition to expanding health coverage for children.
• “This bill is going to absolutely steamroll right out of here,” Rockefeller said.
• “I almost can’t wait” for the political debate, Rockefeller said. “It’s going to pass. Just go ahead and vote against kids and then run for reelection.”

What a great example of Democrat tactics. "It's for the children!". Nice try at a smear campaign. But not so fast Jay.

• “The turn of events with reauthorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program is disappointing and unfortunate,” Finance Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said after last week’s markup. “Today, the spirit of bipartisanship for the well-being of low-income children is disappearing before our eyes.”
• 
  
• The Finance Committee, like the House, voted to repeal a law that requires documented immigrants to wait five years before they can enroll their children in SCHIP. Under the language passed by the House and headed to the Senate floor, states can opt to waive that restriction.Republicans strongly object, saying opening the program to more immigrants, even those who legally reside in the United States, weakens protections against illegal immigrants receiving benefits.
• 
  
• Republicans proposed limitations on covering children from families with incomes higher than three times the federal poverty level...

Frankly, there's not much left to say about this bogus Economic Recovery plan.

US Attorney Subpoenas Obama Friends David Axelrod, Valerie Jarrett, Rahm Emanuel and Tony Rezko

Everyone covered the "Cuckoo" Blago press conference on Friday, and everyone knows that Governor Blagojevich will be on The View on Monday, but who is talking about this on the news?



From Doug Ross:

• On Saturday morning, the list of subpoenas served by the U.S. Attorney's office in the Governor Rod Blagojevich case was made public. The list included one major surprise for the new administration.
• 
  
• A veritable "who's who" of Obama staffers, surrogates and affiliates were among those served with subpoenas. Put simply, within one week of President Barack Obama's administration taking office, it is already under significant legal scrutiny that will -- at a minimum -- take precious time away from dealing with the country's monumental economic and foreign policy challenges.
• 
  
• And, once again, the mainstream media is AWOL, unwilling to report on this very newsworthy story.
• 
  
• Among those served with subpoenas were:
• 
  
• David Axelrod, Obama's "Karl Rove" and the biggest surprise on the list. Obama's team issued a report in December that said his staff had no "inappropriate contact" with Blago, so the inclusion of Axelrod is a bit of a shock.
• 
  
• Valerie Jarrett, Blago's "Senate Candidate 1", a real estate management executive and political hack of the first order. Her ties to failed and fraudulent real estate deals in Chicago were the subject of numerous investigations and should have instantly disqualified her for any public office.
• 
  
• Rahm Emanuel was already deeply involved in the case with some reports describing as many as 21 conversations with Blago's office during the period in question.
• 
  
• Tony Rezko, Obama's first advocate, fundraiser and adviser, was convicted last year on numerous charges related to kickbacks, and is now awaiting sentencing. Rezko is "cooperating with authorities, FBI Agent Daniel Cain said in an affidavit."

***

We'll say it again! Why do you suppose Blago keeps mentioning these people in all of his public appearances? Is he "Cuckoo" or is there method to his madness?

Only The Obama Knows For Sure!

Another Pelosi Broken Promise: Still No Ethics Probe For Rangel, "Nobody's Home" in Washington

We asked for this two weeks ago. We need answers from the new "transparent" and "ethical" New World Order in the Federal Government. Where is the ethics probe, Speaker Pelosi?

From The NY Post:

• Nobody's home at the House ethics committee that's supposed to be investigating Rep. Charles Rangel.
• 
  The panel created on Sept. 24 to probe the Harlem Democrat's alleged ethical lapses has been virtually disbanded, after meeting only twice in four months on the matter, The Post has learned.
  
• Of the four congressmen named to look into the powerful Ways and Means Committee chairman, only one remains - Alabama Republican Jo Bonner. The three others left the Rangel probe last month when they were "rotated" off the 10-member Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.
  
• The dormant investigation won't be jump-started until three incoming ethics committee members are assigned to the Rangel probe later this month.
  
  

This is a great example of why "limited government" is the preferred choice. They just don't get it. The Post added:

• Critics say the shuffling of committee members will delay an already lackluster probe.
  
• "It will clearly slow things significantly to bring the new members up to snuff," said Norman Ornstein, a congressional analyst at the American Enterprise Institute.
  
• "The lack of any visible activity, such as interviews with many principals or visits to the Dominican Republic or any progress report, are all discouraging."
  
• The probers should have been required to stay on the investigation to avoid further delays, said Ken Boehm, chairman of the National Legal and Policy Center, an ethics watchdog group.
  
• "Four months after the investigations started, there is no investigative subcommittee, no public hearings, and no sign of any progress whatsoever," he said.

Republicans had asked Mr. Rangel to step down last September.

Speaker Pelosi's initial response was in defense of Rangel, whom she called "a very distinguished member of the House of Representatives".

Less than a week later, Speaker Pelosi quietly asked Rangel to step aside.

In November, Pelosi said a House Ethics Committee report would be finished and released by January 3rd.

But then in early December, Pelosi said that she "I don't foresee" him losing his post.

On January 3rd, Rangel again denied any wrongdoing...
...and the report was nowhere to be found.

Rangel continues his chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee in the new, 111th Congress.

ACORN and The Stimulus Bill: Democrats and Obama Pay Back Their Corrupt Friends, Totalitarianism In The Making? $4 Billion To Fund Voter Fraud

National Review noted prior to last fall's election the shady, if not corrupt and illegal relationship between Barack Obama and his community organizer bedfellows at ACORN.

• ACORN, the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now, is essentially a Marxist shakedown outfit. One of its main rackets is election fraud — but it can also be very helpful if you happen to be a Leftist activist who finds himself needing, say, to foment a riot, vandalize public property, shut down legislative hearings or opposition conferences, harass the families of elected officials, extort leave-us-alone pay-offs from banks, promote illegal immigration, or the like.
  
• Like ACORN, Obama is a community organizer in the Saul Alinsky radical mode, and he goes way back — two decades back — with the organization. He represented ACORN as a lawyer, taught “organizing” to ACORN’s up and coming rabble-rousers, colluded with ACORN in Chicago “get out the vote” projects, funded ACORN when he sat on the boards of left-wing charities, and exploited ACORN’s enthusiastic support when he won his senate seat in 2004 — a victory the “non-partisan” ACORN can’t help itself but claim credit for.

It should not come as any surprise that ACORN supports the Congressional "spending bill", aka economic stimulus package.

The Obama/Pelosi/Reid plan is brilliant in its simplicity. They are buying our country. Beneath all the rhetoric, is there plan to divide and conquer, as Rush pointed out yesterday.

Their groundswell of "boots on the ground", aka Obama's Army, will use voter intimidation, illegal fundraising schemes and general fear-mongering of the American people to not only ensure passage of Obama's socialist agenda but to make it as difficult as possible for anyone to oppose the Totalitarian rule of the 21st Century Democrats.

Yes, The "T-Word", read this definition closely. Notice anything that sounds familiar? This is happening right in front of us!

• Totalitarianism (or totalitarian rule) is a concept used to describe political systems whereby a state regulates nearly every aspect of public and private life. Totalitarian regimes or movements maintain themselves in political power by means of an official all-embracing ideology and propaganda disseminated through the state-controlled mass media, a single party that controls the state, personality cults, control over the economy, regulation and restriction of free discussion and criticism, the use of mass surveillance, and widespread use of terror tactics.

From John Boehner's statement: "ACORN Could Get Billions from Democrats' Trillion Dollar Spending Plan "Job Creation" Bill Offers Taxpayer-Funded Bonanza for Organization Reportedly Under Federal Investigation"

• Washington, Jan 23 - The House Democrats’ trillion dollar spending bill, approved on January 21 by the Appropriations Committee and headed to the House floor next week for a vote, could open billions of taxpayer dollars to left-wing groups like the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). ACORN has been accused of perpetrating voter registration fraud numerous times in the last several elections; is reportedly under federal investigation; and played a key role in the irresponsible schemes that caused a financial meltdown that has cost American taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars since last fall.
  
  
• House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and other Republicans are asking a simple question: what does this have to do with job creation? Are Congressional Democrats really going to borrow money from our children and grandchildren to give handouts to ACORN in the name of economic “stimulus?”
  
  Incredibly, the Democrats’ bill makes groups like ACORN eligible for a $4.19 billion pot of money for “neighborhood stabilization activities.” Funds for this purpose were authorized in the Housing and Economic Recovery Act, signed into law in 2008. However, these funds were limited to state and local governments. Now House Democrats are taking the unprecedented step of making ACORN and other groups eligible for these funds:

• The House Democrats’ trillion dollar spending bill also includes $1 billion for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program. CDBG funds are given by the federal government to state and local governments which often contract with nonprofits for services related to the purpose of the grant.
  
  ACORN knows how to secure CDBG funds. Audit reports filed by ACORN’s headquarters with the Office of Management and Budget show that ACORN spent $1,588,599 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program funds from FY 2003 through FY 2007. It is not clear from these records when or from what source the funds were awarded to ACORN. It is also not clear whether ACORN chapters or affiliates have received CDBG grants on their own.

Let Freedom Ring adds this perspective.

• What stimulative purpose will giving $4,190,000,000 to ACORN and like-minded organizations serve? I’d argue that it doesn’t and that it wasn’t intended to have a stimulative effect. I’d argue that the most likely reason this money is in the Pork-O-Rama bill is to pay off longtime political allies. (Corrupt allies at that.)

Is this really the change you thought you were getting?

Look, we understand the Obama Infatuation. We don't agree with it, but we get it.

We understand Bush Derangement Syndrome. We don't agree with it, but we get it.

We understand many Americans are bleeding-heart anti-war types. We don't agree with it, but we get it.

We understand the economy is pretty bad.

We understand the desire to "change" but you had other choices. Yet, you chose to place the most Liberal Senator in Washington in charge of the country.

We hope for the best because we are Americans. We are Patriotic.

But if President Obama gets everything he wants, we all deserve what we asked for. Not just the Red States, or just the Blue States, but all of us in The United States.

***

(Hat Tip Gateway Pundit.)



Michelle Malkin has a wealth of information on "Obamacorn".



Atlas Shrugs gives us these links to more on ACORN/Obama links.



Prosecute ACORN With RICO Immediately
Sordid Financial Details of ACORN’s Corrupt Network


ACORN’s White Horse Obama to the rescue By Andrew C. McCarthy


More ACORN FRAUD


Obama: ACORN will “Shape the Agenda” When I’m PresidentObama's campaign paid ACORN $800,000 (more here)The Weekly Standard:



The Cleveland Leader reports that Barack Obama lied about his involvement with the group ACORN ....


DEFUND ACORN


OHIO MAN BRIBED BY ACORN ACTIVISTS TO REGISTER TO VOTE 72 TIMES - New York Post (hat tip aug)


1 VOTER, 72 REGISTRATIONS ACORN PAID ME IN CASH & CIGS' NY Post


OBAMA'S ACORN ORG:VEGAS OFFICE RAIDED


Barack Hussein Obama's Ties to Bill Ayers and ACORN are Exposed by Stanley Kurtz on "Fox and Friends"

The Stimulus Battle: The Sunday Talk Show Edition, Dems Have Skewed Definition of Bipartisan, GOP Outraged Over Spending, Broken Promises

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Sunday said he will vote against the $825 billion stimulus plan in its current form, arguing that the measure’s spending component would not jumpstart the economy.

“If it’s the plan I see today, put me down in the ‘no’ category,” Boehner said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press”. “I think a lot of Republicans will vote ‘no’ because they see this as a lot of wasteful Washington spending padding the bureaucracy and doing nothing to create jobs and save jobs.”

Boehner added this statement as well, which helps explain the fundamental difference between the two parties:

“If we allow American families to keep more of what they earn, they’re going to save it, invest it, or spend it. All of which are good for the economy. And our plan would allow American families, joint filers, to keep almost $3,200, up to $3,200 of their money. They can help multiply the economy, get the economy moving again if the money’s in their hands, and this is why we have Democrats and Republicans in this country because we do look at these things differently. They believe that all of this spending is going to help, some of it on infrastructure if you can get it out the door quick enough will help. But spending $200 million to fix up the National Mall, $21 million for sod, over $200 million for contraceptives, how is this going to fix an ailing economy? … And right now given the concerns we have over the size of this package and all of the spending in this package, we don’t think it’s going to work. And so if it’s the plan I see today, put me down in the no column.”

Well said, Mr. Boehner. But unfortunately, the American people vested too much faith in the Democrats during the past two election cycles. Speaker Pelosi and Senator Harry Reid will claim they are seeking GOP input, but in reality, in goes in one ear and out the other.

Their claims of bipartisanship are simply claims, with no facts to back it up.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Sunday that Democrats would review Republican proposals to amend their $825 billion stimulus package and touted the process as bipartisan.



“We will take some,” Pelosi said on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” when asked about the GOP proposals. “We will judge them by their ability to create jobs, to help turn the economy around, to stabilize the economy and to see how much they cost. But we’re open to them and we'll review them and it all has to be done right away because our bill has to come to the floor this week.”


Is she seriously saying this? Since when has she been concerned about how much something will cost? She is so full of crap, it's disgusting. As far as creating jobs, Ms. Pelosi, remember there is no guarantee that your plan will create one single job!


From The Hill:

Pelosi argued that the process used to craft the bills has been one of bipartisanship, even if Republicans did not vote for the stimulus in committee.

The GOP wants the legislation to focus more heavily on tax cuts while the Democratic proposal currently includes a greater spending component.
Pelosi noted that she was unapologetic for some of the spending provisions in the measure, such as funds for family planning services that House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) criticized Friday.

Vice President Biden on Sunday said the American economy will “get worse before it gets better,” and defended a Democratic stimulus proposal against GOP attacks that it focused too heavily on spending.

Biden said the plan offered by Democrats would likely change as it wends its way through Congress. But he said that the package was already the product of bipartisan negotiation. Speaking on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Biden said the administration has “compromised ahead of time” and that it was now concentrating on “trying to get money out the door as rapidly as we can.”
Republicans argue that offering more tax breaks is a better way to provide the economy the quick injection of cash that it needs.

But Biden criticized one particular piece of the GOP plan, an exemption of taxes on unemployment payments. While Biden said the proposal is a “good idea” in general he said it would take a year to have an effect. The Democratic proposal to expand benefits would have a more immediate impact, he said.

***

Looks the VP didn't see the Congressional Budget Office estimates of the stimulus bill. If he is serious about “trying to get money out the door as rapidly as we can," then it seems pretty clear that they should take a completely different approach.

From Fox News:

• The $825 billion Democratic proposal sets aside $358 billion for new infrastructure projects.
• 
  Even though House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said such spending should be timely, temporary and targeted, the CBO analysis found that the current bill is none of those things.
• 
  It found, for instance, that of the $358 billion in new spending only $26 billion would be spent by the end of this fiscal year. And only another $110 billion -- about a third of the total -- would be spent by the end of 2010.
  
• The report found another $103 billion would be spent in the third year, meaning even by the end of 2011, only two-thirds of the money would be helping to create jobs.
• The other third, $118 billion, would not be spent until after the next presidential election.

It's very frightening that the Democrats seem on the verge of spending over $1 Trillion of tax payer money and mortgaging our future, yet they have no idea what the impact will be, cannot guarantee any results and are completely "misunderestimating" the facts.

And voices of reason, like Rep. Boehner, are being completely ignored.

2010 cannot come soon enough. We need to get more conservatives in the House to balance out these cooks before they ruin our future.