Pretty Simple

Saw this on a sign at one of the Tea Parties.

Last Year's Business

Associated Press (01.06.09) :: "President-elect Barack Obama vowed Tuesday to bar lawmakers' pet projects from his massive economic stimulus plan and to bring unprecedented accountability to federal spending." Source

TIME/CNN (02.26.09) :: "On Tuesday evening, when President Barack Obama declared before a joint session of Congress that "we passed the recovery plan free of earmarks," House Democrats, led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, popped out of their seats like jackrabbits for a standing ovation. On Wednesday, those same House Democrats, led by Pelosi, passed a budget with, by some counts, nearly 9,000 earmarks, worth an estimated $7.7 billion." Source

Associated Press (03.02.09) reported today ::

President Barack Obama will break a campaign pledge and sign a budget bill laden with millions in lawmakers' pet projects, administration officials said.

Administration budget chief Peter Orszag and White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel both downplayed the $410 billion spending bill and signaled Obama would hold his nose and sign it. Orszag said: "We want to just move on. Let's get this bill done, get it into law and move forward.

Said Emanuel: "That's last year's business."

Source

Translation: We lied. We know we lied; you know we lied. Now that that's out...let's move on. YOU need to get over it."

SCHIP and My Responsibility **UPDATED**

Yesterday, Prez BO signed into law, legislation that would expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, also known as SCHIP, to cover an additional 4 million children. SCHIP is a program that was created by the federal government to cover individuals that have incomes too high to qualify for state medical assistance but cannot obtain private insurance.

The additional cost of this legislation will be approx $34 billion over the next five years. To pay for this program, the law will impose an ADDITIONAL 62 cent federal tax on cigarette sales, bringing the total tax to just over $1.

As Americans, we must do our part to help fund this new legislation. It would be unfair for current smokers to bear the entire cost of this program. Therefore, I proprose that non-smokers such as myself, pick up the habit immediately. If I can manage to acquire a pack-a-day habit, this will mean a contribution--toward the new legislation--of $226.30 per year. In five years, that's $1131.50. At that rate, we only need 30 million new smokers to make this thing work.

That's not a lot to pay or ask for the health of our children, is it? Come on, America! Let's get PUFFIN'!!!

(NOTE: Be sure to file this one under "sarcasm.")

PS : Does anyone else find it ronic that they want to fund SCHIP with a cigarette tax...and the "spendulus" package contains $$$$$ for smoking cessation programs?

A Better Plan

I received the following from a friend; I have no idea where he got it, but it dang sure sounds like a better plan than the bovine excrement that we got crammed down our throats today. Take the time to honestly read it.

When a company falls on difficult times, one of the things that seems to happen is they reduce their staff and workers. The remaining workers need to find ways to continue to do a good job or risk that their job would be eliminated as well. Wall street, and the media normally congratulate the CEO for making this type of "tough decision", and his board of directors gives him a big bonus.

Our government should not be immune from similar risks.

Therefore: Reduce the House of Representatives from the current 435 members to 218 members and Senate members from 100 to 50 (one per State). Also reduce remaining staff by 25%.

Accomplish this over the next 8 years. (two steps / two elections ) and of course this would require some redistricting.

Some Yearly Monetary Gains Include:

$44,108,400 for elimination of base pay for congress. (267 members X $165,200 pay / member / yr.)

$97,175,000 for elimination of the above people's staff. (estimate $1.3 Million in staff per each member of the House, and $3 Million in staff per each member of the Senate every year)

$240,294 for the reduction in remaining staff by 25%.

$7,500,000,000 reduction in pork barrel ear-marks each year. (those members whose jobs are gone. Current estimates for total government pork earmarks are at $15 Billion / yr)

The remaining representatives would need to work smarter and would need to improve efficiencies. It might even be in their best interests to work together for the good of our country?

We may also expect that smaller committees might lead to a more efficient resolution of issues as well. It might even be easier to keep track of what your representative is doing.

Congress has more tools available to do their jobs than it had back in 1911 when the current number of representatives was established. (telephone, computers, cell phones to name a few)

Note:
Congress did not hesitate to head home when it was a holiday, when the nation needed a real fix to the economic problems. Also, we have 3 senators that have not been doing their jobs for the past 18+ months (on the campaign trail) and still they all have been accepting full pay. These facts alone support a reduction in senators & congress.

Summary of opportunity:

$ 44,108,400 reduction of congress members.

$282,100, 000 for elimination of the reduced house member staff.

$150,000,000 for elimination of reduced senate member staff.

$59,675,000 for 25% reduction of staff for remaining house members.

$37,500,000 for 25% reduction of staff for remaining senate members.

$7,500,000,000 reduction in pork added to bills by the reduction of congress members.

$8,073,383,400 per year, estimated total savings. (that's 8-BILLION just to start!)

Big business does these types of cuts all the time.

If Congresspersons were required to serve 20, 25 or 30 years (like everyone else) in order to collect retirement benefits there is no telling how much we would save. Now they get full retirement after serving only ONE term.

Hope...With This Stimulus Package?!

How in the world does President BO expect me to have "hope" when he is proposing his current stimulus plan? $825 BILLION for what?! Much of the money won't even be spent for years, so how is that supposed to stimulate the economy NOW? Why not stimulate the economy via massive tax cuts that would almost immediately put spendable dollars in Ameican's pockets? Quoting columnist Thomas Sowell:

Using long, drawn-out processes to put money into circulation to meet an
emergency is like mailing a letter to the fire department to tell them that your
house is on fire.

Hope? I just hope middle class Americans like myself can financially survive the next four (maybe eight) years. What amazes me is to hear BO make comments like (paraphrasing here) "I want to make America a better place for my daughters." With this stimulus plan, I don't see it.

There is SO MUCH waste on things we don't NEED such as funding for the National Endowment for the Arts, not to mention money appropriated to organizations that actually already have a surplus of cash. And need I mention, the stimulus package includes money for BO's beloved ACORN!--why would we give those people another dime?!

So, just how much is $825 Billion (just shy of $1 Trillion)? Presient Reagan illustrated it best:

...the best way to understand a trillion dollars is to imagine a crisp, new stack of $1000 bills.

• If you had a stack four inches high, you’d be a millionaire.
• A trillion-dollar stack of $1000 bills would measure just over 63 miles high.
• In $20 bills, a trillion dollar stack would be 3150 miles high. That’s about the distance between DC and Trujillo, Peru.

If you can stand it, here are some of the details of he stimulus package. WARNING: It ain't pretty.
How Big is Obama's Stimulus Package?
Breakdown of the Obama Stimulus Package
More Stimulus Facts