The Chicago City Council today approved, without a single dissenting vote, an ordinance that puts taxpayers on the hook for cost overruns if Chicago wins the 2016 Olympics.
Afterward, aldermen and Mayor Richard Daley gave themselves a standing ovation. The vote reauthorizes Daley to sign the Olympics host city contract in advance of the Oct. 2 vote in Copenhagen by the International Olympics Committee on which of four finalist cities gets the Summer Games in seven years.
#1
The Cook County Board under Todd Stroger haven't even weighed in on what taxes they'll need to 'enhance' the 2016 Games. They'll make Daley and the crew look like church mice in their money grab.
The homeless that live on Lower Wacker Drive probably are more concerned about this than the majority of Chicago's population.
They'll be 'scrubbed' from the landscape if this platinum-plated boondoggle actually comes to fruition.
The crack/junk/meth addicts will just move out to Barrington or something.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
09/09/2009 18:43 Comments ||
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#1
Question: The Social Security Trust Fund is busted (another Government fiasco) and how best to keep it afloat and to insure that the illegals and others don't miss out on their "spread the wealth" fair share?
Answer: Age Warfare ObamaCare style: ration and curtail medical services to the elderly, thus hastens their demise and take them of the Social Security roles.
#2
The airwaves here are absolutely flooded with lawyers promising to assist "personal injury claims folks" jump on the Social Security band wagon or get a free motorized wheel chair. The FREE GUMMIT CHEESE couldn't last forever.
The boss hears from two sources that Hillary Clinton is considering stepping down as Secretary of State this fall in order to run for Governor of New York.
#1
Clever. Assume she wins: perfectly set up to ride out the Bambi disaster. If he really tanks she can run in 2012. If not she's governor and her own person instead of a boot-licking, impotent Secretary of State.
And the confirmation hearings for a new SoS would be so much fun ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/09/2009 20:14 Comments ||
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#2
Why would the confirmation hearings for SoS be fun, Steve? Bambi will bring in one his henchmen, the Democrats in the Senate will approve, game over. The Republicans can whine and stamp their feet, but until they become the majority party again, there is nothing they can do.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
09/09/2009 22:00 Comments ||
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#3
Wait until the 2010 mid terms and then quit, no "Supermajority", no ramrodding.
Yes I expect the dems to lose big, the USA citizens will forgive much, but NOT arrogance.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/09/2009 22:46 Comments ||
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Hat tip to House Republican leader John Boehner and his staff. Take a gander at the 53 new agencies, panels, and committees tasked with health-care reform courtesy of Nancy Pelosi, President Obama, and H.R. 3200.
1. Health Benefits Advisory Committee (Section 123, p. 30)
2. Health Choices Administration (Section 141, p. 41)
3. Qualified Health Benefits Plan Ombudsman (Section 144, p. 47)
4. Program of administrative simplification (Section 163, p. 57)
5. Retiree Reserve Trust Fund (Section 164(d), p. 70)
6. Health Insurance Exchange (Section 201, p. 72)
7. Mechanism for insurance risk pooling to be established by Health Choices Administration Commissioner (Section 206(b), p. 106)
8. Special Inspector General for the Health Insurance Exchange (Section 206(c), p. 107)
9. Health Insurance Exchange Trust Fund (Section 207, p. 109)
10. State-based Health Insurance Exchanges (Section 208, p. 111)
11. "Public Health Insurance Option" (Section 221, p. 116)
12. Ombudsman for "Public Health Insurance Option" (Section 221(d), p. 117)
13. Account for receipts and disbursements for "Public Health Insurance Option" (Section 222(b), p. 119)
14. Telehealth Advisory Committee (Section 1191, p. 380)
15. Demonstration program providing reimbursement for "culturally and linguistically appropriate services" (Section 1222, p. 405)
16. Demonstration program for shared decision making using patient decision aids (Section 1236, p. 438)
17. Accountable Care Organization pilot program (Section 1301, p. 443)
18. Independent patient-centered medical home pilot program under Medicare (Section 1302, p. 462)
19. Community-based medical home pilot program under Medicare (Section 1302(d), p. 468)
20. Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research (Section 1401(a), p. 502)
21. Comparative Effectiveness Research Commission (Section 1401(a), p. 505)
22. Patient ombudsman for comparative effectiveness research (Section 1401(a), p. 519)
23. Quality assurance and performance improvement program for skilled nursing facilities (Section 1412(b)(1), p. 546)
24. Quality assurance and performance improvement program for nursing facilities (Section 1412 (b)(2), p. 548)
25. Special focus facility program for skilled nursing facilities (Section 1413(a)(3), p. 559)
26. Special focus facility program for nursing facilities (Section 1413(b)(3), p. 565)
27. National independent monitor pilot program for skilled nursing facilities and nursing facilities (Section 1422, p. 607)
28. Demonstration program for approved teaching health centers with respect to Medicare GME (Section 1502(d), p. 674)
29. Pilot program to develop anti-fraud compliance systems for Medicare providers (Section 1635, p. 716)
30. Medical home pilot program under Medicaid (Section 1722, p. 780)
31. Comparative Effectiveness Research Trust Fund (Section 1802, p. 824)
32. "Identifiable office or program" within CMS to "provide for improved coordination between Medicare and Medicaid in the case of dual eligibles" (Section 1905, p. 852)
33. Public Health Investment Fund (Section 2002, p. 859)
34. Scholarships for service in health professional needs areas (Section 2211, p. 870)
35. Loan repayment program for service in health professional needs areas (Section 2211, p. 873)
36. Program for training medical residents in community-based settings (Section 2214, p. 882)
37. Grant program for training in dentistry programs (Section 2215, p. 887)
38. Public Health Workforce Corps (Section 2231, p. 898)
39. Public health workforce scholarship program (Section 2231, p. 900)
40. Public health workforce loan forgiveness program (Section 2231, p. 904)
41. Grant program for innovations in interdisciplinary care (Section 2252, p. 917)
42. Advisory Committee on Health Workforce Evaluation and Assessment (Section 2261, p. 920)
43. Prevention and Wellness Trust (Section 2301, p. 932)
44. Clinical Prevention Stakeholders Board (Section 2301, p. 941)
45. Community Prevention Stakeholders Board (Section 2301, p. 947)
46. Grant program for community prevention and wellness research (Section 2301, p. 950)
47. Grant program for community prevention and wellness services (Section 2301, p. 951)
48. Grant program for public health infrastructure (Section 2301, p. 955)
49. Center for Quality Improvement (Section 2401, p. 965)
50. Assistant Secretary for Health Information (Section 2402, p. 972)
51. Grant program to support the operation of school-based health clinics (Section 2511, p. 993)
52. National Medical Device Registry (Section 2521, p. 1001)
53. Grants for labor-management programs for nursing training (Section 2531, p. 1008)
Tonight, President Obama will try to convince the American public that injecting more government into health care will spur competition, enhance quality, and lower costs.
#1
Heh -- in my office, we have spent the last 30 minutes exploring what Number 4 is/does.
4. Program of administrative simplification (Section 163, p. 57)
#6
You ask Washington "What time is it?" and they figure out they need 53 committees, ombudspersons, programs, programs, pilot programs, exchanges, boards, registries, etc. tell you what kind of administrative structure you need to build a damned clock. No wonder nothing gets done in Washington and no wonder it costs us so much money. On top of that they exempt themselves from any regulations they create for the peons who pay the bills.
#7
#4 It'll be just enough when CA, AZ, NM and TX are returned to Mexico
Uh --- Dearest Ed --- ever been to Texas? The Alamo? Love 'ya fellow Rantburger --- but I don't think you will find many Texans willing to be ceded to Mexico.
That battle has already happened. You're smart, you know who won. The home of the Alamo, in the presence of the Alamo, had one of the largest gatherings for the April 15th Tea Parties....
Hours before President Obama was set to deliver a make-or-break speech on health care reform, a top Senate negotiator conceded the government-run insurance program so dear to the president's supporters cannot pass the Senate.
Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., who was trying to hammer out the details of a bipartisan compromise Wednesday with five other senators, announced that he would be moving ahead with or without Republican support.
But he made clear that the so-called "public option" would not be part of any deal with his name on it.
"The public option cannot pass the Senate," Baucus said. "I could be wrong, but it's my belief that the public option cannot pass."
Obama, who will address a joint session of Congress at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday, has indicated he wants a public option, but so far has not said he will demand it. He also has not said he will veto a package that omits a government-run health insurance program.
Baucus' assessment Wednesday afternoon is the latest blow to die-hard supporters of a government plan.
Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, has so far favored a system of non-profit cooperatives as an alternative to the "public option." A draft plan he outlined Tuesday included the co-ops. Baucus also said Wednesday that a so-called "trigger," which would keep a government plan on reserve in case private insurers don't meet certain benchmarks, has not been part of talks -- though many analysts consider a trigger a possible compromise.
The four partisan bills that have passed out of committee in the House and Senate include a public option.
Baucus said Wednesday he'll be moving forward, putting out a version of a bill next week with a mark-up scheduled for the week after that. He said he still wants and expects Republican support, but that the GOP will not hold him up.
"This is our moment. We've spent many weeks and months on this crucial issue, and now is the time to move forward," he said. "If there are not any (Republicans), I'm going to move forward in any event."
Baucus said earlier he wanted to have a deal to the president before the address, but even though the senators continued to meet that appeared less and less likely.
Watch President Obama's address to a joint session of Congress and the Republican response at 8 p.m. ET on FOX News Channel and FOXNews.com.
But others tried to take the pressure off the time clock. Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., a member of the Gang of Six, said the group wouldn't have any great revelation.
"It isn't 'get it done by 2 o'clock or it's not going to happen.' That's just not the way it works," he said.
"There is a sense of urgency but that has to be counterbalanced by the task of getting it done right, not getting it done quickly," added Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb.
Obama has spent much of the summer trying to drive back criticism -- loudly on display at town hall meetings across the country -- about government-sponsored health care reforms. He has offered explanations for what the program will not do but so far has said little about what he will insist be in the legislation.
His supporters hope he will lay it all out in his address to Congress, which is expected to go about 35 minutes.
In an interview that aired Wednesday morning on ABC's "Good Morning America," the president said he doesn't want a package that will add one dime to the deficit nor does he plan to stand on ideology. For him, time is of the essence.
"I think what the country is going to know is exactly what I think will solve our health care crisis, they will have a lot of clarity about what I think is the best to move forward. So the intent of the speech is to A, make sure that the American people know exactly what it is we are proposing, B, to make sure that Democrats and Republicans understand that I am open to new ideas, that not being rigid and ideological, but we do intend to get something done this year," the president said.
But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said "the only thing bipartisan" about the legislative debate so far is the opposition. He proposed tort reform and changing the way medical malpractice suits are resolved. He said that insurance reforms, like intrastate competition, portability and no exclusions for pre-existing conditions were all areas where the two sides could "rally a broad bipartisan agreement."
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs suggested that the Finance Committee could be the key to a deal.
Obama is hopeful that the committee "can get something done in a bipartisan way," Gibbs said.
"I think Senator Baucus has been working with this group of senators for almost a year on getting something out of the committee," Gibbs said. "So obviously we're hopeful that something can get done in that committee. That would obviously be an important milestone in this reform."
On Tuesday, Baucus circulated a proposal that would cost $900 billion over 10 years and guarantee coverage for nearly all Americans, regardless of medical problems. Fees on insurers, drug companies and others in the health care industry would finance tax credits to help expand coverage.
One provision would fine families up to $3,800 for failing to buy health insurance, essentially requiring that everyone have medical coverage, much like the case with car insurance. Obama rejected both a mandate and fines during his presidential campaign.
Gibbs said Congress is closer than ever to getting something done because the president let the committees write the final product rather than offering a plan of his own, a strategy that ensnared former President Bill Clinton's attempts for reform in 1993.
"I think if representatives and senators and the president listen to the American people, what they are telling them quite clearly is that we have to do something about health care. We have talked about this for decades," Gibbs said.
But concerns that the president isn't listening to the American people have Republicans wondering if compromise is within reach.
"I believe it would benefit the country more if Mr. Obama was coming to Capitol Hill to listen instead of to lobby for votes for a health care plan that will end up leading to rationed care, tax hikes and job losses. That's the message I heard from the 5,000 people who came to my town hall meetings in August, and it's a message the president needs to hear too," said Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
The president will have to contend with more than just conservative Republicans. If he demands a government-run system, he could lose fiscally moderate "Blue Dog" Democrats; if he does not insist on a government option, he may lose liberal Democrats.
"We will have a bill, it will be a good bill that will make sure that all Americans have access to affordable health care, and I believe it will have a public option," said Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
President Obama's nominee at the Department of Homeland Security overseeing bioterrorism defense has served as a key adviser for a lobbying group funded by the pharmaceutical industry that has asked the government to spend more money for anthrax vaccines and biodefense research.
But Dr. Tara O'Toole, whose confirmation as undersecretary of science and technology is pending, never reported her involvement with the lobbying group called the Alliance for Biosecurity in a recent government ethics filing.
The alliance has spent more than $500,000 lobbying Congress and federal agencies -- including Homeland Security -- since 2005, congressional records show.
However, Homeland Security officials said Dr. O'Toole need not disclose her ties to the group on her government ethics form because the alliance is not incorporated: "There's no legal existence so she wouldn't have to disclose it," said Robert Coyle, an ethics official for the Department of Homeland Security.
Analysts say the lack of disclosure reflects a potential loophole in the policies for the Obama administration, which has boasted about its efforts to make government more transparent. They also question lobbying laws that allow such a group to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars without the public knowing exactly how much money each of the companies that belongs to the group contributes, though such arrangements are permitted under the law.
"You're not allowing the public to know the full background of this nominee," said Judy Nadler, a senior fellow at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University in California. "It shouldn't matter whether it's incorporated or not."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2009 00:00 ||
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But Dr. Tara O'Toole, whose confirmation as undersecretary of science and technology is pending, never reported her involvement with the lobbying group called the Alliance for Biosecurity in a recent government ethics filing.
One must wonder if she also forgot to report her Alliance for Biosecurity earnings to the IRS?
Ted Kennedy didn't leave behind only a 46-year legislative record - he also left behind a bulging, $4.5 million campaign war chest.
The hefty sum means that, even in death, Kennedy remains the 10th most well-financed senator in the nation - even though his next election wasn't until 2012.
Now - as a bevy of Bay State politicians consider running for Kennedy's vacant seat - the question becomes what happens to all that money.
"His family gets to decide what to do with the money," said one Democratic source.
The reality is that federal law severely limits what the Kennedy clan can do with Uncle Ted's campaign kitty.
Here's one thing they can't do: transfer it to a member of the family who may choose to run for his seat, including his widow, Vicki.
The late senator's campaign can give the maximum federal donation - $2,000 - to any candidate (Kennedy or non-Kennedy), but that's it, Federal Election Commission officials say. The same goes for Kennedy's political action committee, the Committee for a Democratic Majority, which has another $11,000 cash on hand.
There are other options, however.
The family can donate the entire sum to a certified charity, an option that seems most likely. That would include the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate, a new think tank he organized in his final years - or brother John F. Kennedy's presidential library.
The family can also transfer every dime to the Democrats' House or Senate fund-raising teams, which in turn could use the money to buttress campaigns in Massachusetts or elsewhere.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Mary Jo Kopechne could not be reached for comment.
Posted by: Mike ||
09/09/2009 8:09 Comments ||
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#2
Now THIS is a taxable moment!
"His family gets to decide what to do with the money,"
How about those 'crushing' estate taxes to punish the rich the lefties so love? [do I really have to write - One set of rules for me and another set of rules for thee?].
#3
The fact of the matter is that the fortune Ol' Joe Kennedy stole has been seriously whittled down over the years. Teddy tried to slam on the brakes, but the fortune is paying the entire upkeep of maybe forty different people, several estates, and a bunch of other expenses.
Ol' Joe's estate was about $500M in the 1980s. They sold his major asset, an enormous building, for $625M.
However, much is riding on who gets the purse strings, now that Teddy is slow-roasting.
(Bloomberg) -- New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine finds himself in the most precarious situation of his political career: trailing his challenger by as many as 10 percentage points just two months before Election Day as residents vent frustration for the state's financial and corruption problems.
Corzine, a Democrat and former chairman of Goldman, Sachs & Co., seeks to make voters look beyond their economic woes and recognize his efforts to create jobs, expand health care and improve public education. Republican Chris Christie, a former U.S. attorney riding a reputation as a corruption fighter, will continue blaming Corzine for the state's 9.3 percent unemployment and the highest property taxes in the nation.
"The only way Corzine can win this is to make Christie the greater of two evils," said Jennifer Duffy, senior editor at the nonpartisan Cook Political Report in Washington. "And what Christie needs to do is to deflect that as much as possible and keep the spotlight on Jon Corzine and his record."
Corzine, 62, is the only U.S. governor seeking re-election this year. While Virginia has a gubernatorial race, the state's chief executive, Tim Kaine, isn't seeking another term. Both races are seen as a referendum on President Barack Obama, who has campaigned for the Democrats.
Support for Obama and his policies declined over the summer, making it harder for Corzine to ride the President's coattails. Fifty-one percent of New Jersey voters approved of the job Obama is doing in a Sept. 1 poll by Quinnipiac University, down from 60 percent approval in a July survey.
Challenger's Lead
This month's poll had Christie leading Corzine, 47 percent to 37 percent, and 60 percent disapproving of Corzine's job performance. The survey of 1,612 likely voters had an error margin of 2.4 percentage points. "Jon Corzine is continuing to take the beating of a bad economy, any incumbent would," said Ben Dworkin, director of the Rebovich Institute of New Jersey Politics at Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. "He should be worried, but he still has a shot."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2009 00:00 ||
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'Cuz DAGWOODS = BLIMPY HOAGIES are beautiful things.
* ION NOT NUU JOISEY, BHARAT RAKSHAK > US FEDERAL RESERVE SAYS ECONOMY STABLE OR IMPROVING IN MOST OF THE USA.
#2
It seems our government is comepletely out of touch with the people. "My town hall meeting for you" as if he is doing everyone a favor with his grace at the event. "I'm not going to let you tell me how to run MY congressional office" Again, its "HIS" office, not the peoples. This is how our revolutionary war started. Frightening stuff here.
Notice it seems she is asking to for thie mic and the guy won't give it to her.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
09/09/2009 4:52 Comments ||
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#3
More on (or should it be moron) Baron Paul Hill - Democrat - Indiana at the link.
#6
I'm really disappointed. That vid should have gotten a lot more views. Hopefully 100x more saw it embedded elsewhere and via shares.
Personally, I'm surprised I only found it yesterday after noticing later that it had been posted last week.
Geez...and I thought the mail was slow...
(CNSNews.com) - The "corrected" lesson plans the U.S. Department of Education is suggesting that schools around the country use to turn President Obama's speech to students today into a "teachable moment" still call for teachers to read books about Obama and to post quotations from Obama in large print on classroom walls.
The Department of Education created two "menus of classroom activities" for use with the president's speech. One is designed to guide Pre-K through 6th grade teachers, and the other is designed to guide 7th through 12th grade teachers.
The "menus" caused some controversy last week because the original version for Pre-K through 6th grade suggested that students, "Write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president." In the corrected version, the guide now calls for students to: "Write letters to themselves about how they can achieve their short-term and long-term education goals."
However, the corrected Pre-K through 6th grade "menu" currently posted on the Department of Education Web site and linked from the White House Web site suggests that teachers of Pre-K through 6th grade classes read books about Barack Obama in order to "build background knowledge" for instructing students about the president and his speech.
The first point on the Pre-K through 6th grade lesson plan says: "Teachers can build background knowledge about the President of the United States and his speech by reading books about presidents and Barack Obama."
The "menu" for 7th through 12th grade suggests that teachers post "large print" quotations from Obama's speeches about education on their classroom walls.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/09/2009 00:00 ||
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Nice Picture of a Roads Scholar - This is an example of what supported the Big O in the 2008 election. People who are social burn-outs, likely from the stuff they smoke in their flutes.
#4
Pulled my daughter out of a library reading class. She is a little too young to know, but she got a 'Going Green' workbook. One of the pages was a What is Wrong with this Picture type of question. Woodland critters all playing with a factory spewing smoke in the background. Apparently, the answer "No road leading to the Factory" was not the right answer.
And have to agree with BA4846 - the Road Scholors I know/knew now either look like the pic or are teachers. So in that spirit: ...by reading books about presidents and Barack Obama."
Is that saying Barack Obama is not a President? Yeah, teach me more of that.
And a point, just so ya know, you can break a kids heart by explaining how a panda is the most worthless animal in the world; its an age of style over substance in the classrooms and its why kids go to college to take high school level classes.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Hours before President Obama was set to deliver a make-or-break speech on health care reform, a top Senate negotiator conceded the government-run insurance program so dear to the president's supporters cannot pass the Senate. 
Ted Kennedy didn't leave behind only a 46-year legislative record - he also left behind a bulging, $4.5 million campaign war chest.
(Bloomberg) -- New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine finds himself in the most precarious situation of his political career: trailing his challenger by as many as 10 percentage points just two months before Election Day as residents vent frustration for the state's financial and corruption problems.
(CNSNews.com) - The "corrected" lesson plans the U.S. Department of Education is suggesting that schools around the country use to turn President Obama's speech to students today into a "teachable moment" still call for teachers to read books about Obama and to post quotations from Obama in large print on classroom walls.
