The federal government is unlikely to recoup all of the billions of dollars that it has invested in General Motors and Chrysler, according to a new congressional oversight report assessing the automakers' rescue.
The report said that a $5.4 billion portion of the $10.5 billion owed by Chrysler is "highly unlikely" to be repaid, while full recovery of the $50 billion sunk into GM would require the company's stock to reach unprecedented heights.
"Although taxpayers may recover some portion of their investment in Chrysler and GM, it is unlikely they will recover the entire amount," according to the report, which is scheduled to be released Wednesday.
The report also recommended that the Treasury Department act with more transparency and provide a legal analysis justifying the use of financial rescue funds for the automakers. The report was prepared by the Congressional Oversight Panel, which is overseeing the federal bailout programs.
In all, the government has invested $74 billion in the nation's auto industry, including $12.5 billion into auto financing giant GMAC and $3.5 billion into auto suppliers, according to the report.
The panel said the government may have averted economic catastrophe by taking on the rescue. The automotive industry represents about 6.5 percent of the manufacturing jobs in the United States.
"Preserving portions of Chrysler and General Motors might have resulted in savings for the government in other ways," the report said.
GM issued a statement Tuesday night saying that it was a stronger company than it was before its bankruptcy filing and government rescue. "We are confident that we will repay our nation's support because we are a company with less debt, a stronger balance sheet, a winning product portfolio and the right size to match today's market realities," it said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/10/2009 00:00 ||
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#4
I sent a short congratulatory e-mail to the Oversight panel's chairwoman, Elizabeth Warren when she was first apointed. She responded with a warm thank you. As I recall she'd been in the job for a couple of weeks and indicted she was still trying to find funding for computers, telephones, and administrative help.
Ms. Warren's report concerning the 'unlikely' recoup should come as no surprise to anyone. I look for her to be...stepping down soon. Barry does not like bad news.
#5
I seem to recall that GM's market capitalization was around $4 billion just prior to being taken over by Uncle Sam. That means someone could have bought the whole company, declared bankruptcy and gone through the whole process for only $4 B. Why did Uncle have to spend $50 B?
#6
The US could recoup all the money and more if the auto companies (especially GM) were allowed to renegotiate with the unions and eliminate the feather-bedding. They were (still are?) paying laid off workers years after they were laid off and paying them benefits!
GM's health and pension bennies were the best I have ever experienced. I have often said that GM is a health and pension management company that makes cars on the side.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
09/10/2009 11:17 Comments ||
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Gov. Jennifer Granholm has released a plan to cut spending by more than $550 million while raising a similar amount in additional revenue through a combination of tax increases and reduction of business tax breaks.
The governor put out written details Tuesday on how she would close a $1.8 billion gap in the general fund in the budget year that starts Oct. 1. Michigan faces a budget shortfall of at least $2.7 billion, but Michigan will be able to fill some of its budget shortfall with federal recovery money.
Granholm's plan includes reducing some business tax breaks, including the film credits.
It also would reduce an increase in a tax credit for the working poor, increase liquor license fees, expand the 6 percent sales tax to live entertainment, service contracts and vending machine sales, raise the cigarette tax rate to $2.25 a pack, among other changes.
Her comments came after several Michigan business organizations said Tuesday they want lawmakers to cut spending and improve government efficiency rather than raise taxes.
The pro-cuts coalition called for pooling health care plans and raising the share of costs for public employees, cracking down on Medicaid fraud, consolidating school administration and several other changes. The pro-cuts coalition includes the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, the Small Business Association of Michigan and other groups.
Just last week during a stop in Troy, Granholm said that Michigan doesn't need a tax increase now. "I'm not in favor of new taxes. We don't need a tax increase. People in the state are having trouble paying their bills," Granholm said to reporters during a visit to Compact Power.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/10/2009 00:00 ||
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Ijust spent a week in MI for Mom's 80th birthday and what i saw tells me that there isn't a lot of extra money available to the population there to give up in new taxes. along most roads folks has all sorts of items sitting with a for sale sign on them. some were mundane, some kind of funny, some kind of sad, but all reeked of various levels of desperation. lots of motorized toys, both ground and water-based. something tells me that there will not be a lot of demand for them. if you are in the market for a 60's era muscle car, drive down any MI highway and you can pretty much take your pick. and lots of vintage JOhn Deere tractors out there also. just couldn't figure out how to get them in my suitcase, and Mrs. Ret wasn't keen on driving them back to the Pacific NW....
A famous community organizer once said, The only way to upset the power structure in your communities is to goad them, confuse them, irritate them and, most of all, make them live by their own rules. If you make them live by their own rules, you destroy them. Impossible demands can irritate modern leftists in ways nothing else can, whether its by banning Lucky Charms cereal because its racist against Irish people, calling Planned Parenthood saying you want to donate money for black abortions in the name of Margaret Sanger, or making Sen. Snowe sign an oversized bailout check for a billion dollars to Amtrak, in her own office.
The scenario we posed the ACORN Housing employees in Baltimore is due to the application of similar power tactics. We gave ACORN a taste of its own medicine. ACORN was alleged to be thug-like, criminal, and nefarious. This criminal behavior was evidenced by a video of Baltimore ACORN community organizers breaking the locks on foreclosed homes. Instead of railing against their radicalism, it is best to bring out this type of radicalism. Hannah Giles and I took advantage of ACORNs regard for thug criminality by posing the most ridiculous criminal scenario we could think of and seeing if they would complywhich they did without hesitation.
Additionally, instead of focusing on foreclosure itself, which has become seemingly as politicized as abortion, we focused on crimes more difficult for the left to defend: trafficking of young helpless girls and tax evasion. The first group represents the severely disadvantaged, the second a threat to the distribution of wealth. (more at the link)
Posted by: Tango Charlie ||
09/10/2009 15:19 ||
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No more birther fun, please. Future 'birther' posts will be deleted by mods just as fast as we delete 'troofer' posts. It's fun to mock them but it gives the Burg a whiff of an unsavory atmosphere that we really, really do not want.
#1
Was there an offer to split $20 million attached the the "birth certificate"? AFAIK, the British write their dates as DD/MM/YYYY, not MM/DD/YYY. At least it wasn't in Times New Roman font.
Posted by: ed ||
09/10/2009 1:59 Comments ||
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#2
I thought we weren't having anymore of it?
IMHO. There is no chance of the One being born in Kenia, because Kenian Muslim descent was invented by the Davis family to get Barry into Harvard.
Abstract: Results indicated that sufficient agreement was found between the infant and adult footprints to allow the U.S. State Department to accept the individuals identification as a U.S. citizen and approve the application of a U.S. passport. The case came to the authors when a young woman who had sought refuge from the Iraq war in Australia requested a U.S. passport and claimed to have been born in the United States. As proof of U.S. citizenship, the individual only could produce an invalid birth certificate with two infant footprints. Once the birth certificate was authenticated, the authors were asked to compare the footprints of the infant to the adult woman to further corroborate her status as a U.S. citizen. Due to poor recording practices that resulted in smudged and over-inked footprints, the only area available for possible friction ridge comparison was one small area directly below the big toe of the right foot. This area was photographically enlarged and compared to samples of the adults footprints, which were obtained using a powdering and lifting technique. The equipment used was standard black fingerprint powder, adhesive labels, and gel-lifters. The comparison was difficult and problematic due to the poor clarity and limited quantity of friction ridge detail in the infant footprint. Transparent tracing paper was used to trace the enlarged comparable areas of both the infant and the adult footprint. The tracing noted the overall friction ridge shape and flow and the relative location and relationship of the friction ridge characteristics in each record. Since the research literature turned up no other such infant-to-adult footprint comparisons, the authors would be interested in hearing from researchers who have made such comparisons. Figures, references
#5
Kenya: Acute Watery Diarrhoea Kills Eight in Coast Province
allafrica.com Jun 18, 2009 3 related
Mombasa An outbreak of acute watery diarrhoea (AWD) has killed eight people and infected 21 others in Kenya's Coast Province, according medical sources. Over the past two weeks two deaths were reported in Mombasa, three in Kilifi District and three others in health centres in Malindi District. "We are still receiving more patients from various parts of the province who have been diagnosed with the ailment. However, we are doing everything possible to provide the necessary treatment needed," Helton Maganga, chief administrator at the Coast Provincial General Hospital, the largest referral hospital in the province, told IRIN on 18 June. Maganga said a special ward had been set aside to cater for the AWD patients. The outbreak was... [read full story]
#6
Not that this document is real, but if Ms. Dunham/nee Obama wrote down her birth-date the 'US way', and it was transcribed by a "low-rung transcription person" (who only type what they're given and don't correct 'errors'), I could see the birthdate being entered in the form it was.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
09/10/2009 10:09 Comments ||
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#7
Then I see the hand written dates after the signatures at the bottom. Those would NOT be correct.
First handwritten date appears to have some 'corrections' in the '8'.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
09/10/2009 10:29 Comments ||
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#8
Obama and crew are probably letting this fester because it gives some of the wackier folks something to do rather than devote their energy to something that may actually cause problems.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
09/10/2009 1:26 Comments ||
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#2
Florida is rapidly becoming the new Zimbabwe California. Many suspect they will soon announce a state income tax which will bring a new migration North.
A majority of South Carolina House Republicans have joined other state officials in calling for Gov. Mark Sanford to resign because of his extramarital affair. At least 60 of the state's 73 House Republicans have signed a letter urging Sanford to resign, one day after Republican House Speaker Bobby Harrell publicly urged the Republican governor to step down, The (S.C.) State reported Wednesday. A majority of state Senate Republicans signed a similar letter in June.
"Governor you have lost the support of legislators who have supported you through thick and thin," Deputy Majority Leader Bruce Bannister said in a statement.
Harrell said Tuesday the governor needs to resign "for the good of our state," The (S.C.) State reported. "What has become clear is that Governor Sanford's issues will continue to dominate our state as long as he remains in office," Harrell said in a news release.
Sanford has refused repeated calls for his resignation. Some House members have said if the governor does not resign he should be impeached.
The State Ethics Commission is investigating Sanford, who this year acknowledged the extramarital affair after returning to South Carolina from a secret trip to Argentina. The investigation is expected to take as much as eight weeks to complete.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/10/2009 00:00 ||
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Sen. Christopher Dodd has decided against succeeding his friend Edward Kennedy as chairman of the Senate panel focused overhauling the nation's health care system, a Senate aide confirmed Tuesday.
Dodd's decision means that he will continue to lead the Senate's banking committee and focus his efforts on pushing through a major overhaul of federal banking regulations.
Better lobbyist money at the banking committee ...
And considerably less political risk -- something like 87% of Americans don't want the government messing with health insurance.
The job of chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee was expected to fall to Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa, the next most senior Democrat on the panel.
The aide spoke only on condition of anonymity ahead of Dodd's announcement of his decision, expected Wednesday.
Whether Dodd would succeed Kennedy, who died last month of brain cancer, was the subject of much speculation on Capitol Hill in part because the move would have left the financial reform effort in the hands of Sen. Tim Johnson. Johnson, whose home state of South Dakota has attracted the credit card industry because of its business-friendly usury laws, is seen as considerably more moderate than Dodd. He also is still recovering from a brain hemorrhage, prompting some lobbyists and aides to question whether he was up to the physical demands of being chairman.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/10/2009 00:00 ||
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The governor should be allowed to name an interim replacement to the late Edward Kennedy's vacant Senate seat because it would help ensure health care overhaul legislation gets passed, Democrats told a packed Statehouse public hearing Wednesday.
Before he died last month at age 77 of brain cancer, Kennedy had asked lawmakers to allow Gov. Deval Patrick, a Democrat, to name a temporary senator to fill the seat until voters can choose a permanent replacement during a special election, set for Jan. 19.
Senate Democrats, including U.S. Sen. John Kerry, support the change, in part to improve the chances of passing President Barack Obama's health care overhaul plan.
Kerry, testifying before state lawmakers and hundreds of supporters and critics, invoked the memory of Kennedy, who had said that expanding health care to all Americans was his life's work in the Senate.
Naming an interim replacement to Kennedy's seat would give Democrats a critical 60 votes in the Senate. Patrick, who would name the interim senator, is a strong supporter of Obama.
"We are closer than ever to providing health care coverage to every man, woman and child in America," Kerry told lawmakers. "None of these big challenges will be decided by huge margins. ... These are times again when every vote will count."
Kerry, Patrick and other supporters of the change also say that naming an interim senator will let the state maintain two voices in the Senate and aid in constituent services.
In written testimony, Patrick, who is recuperating from hip replacement surgery, said he supports both the special election and the interim appointment. He said if he is allowed to make the appointment, he would extract from that individual "a personal commitment to me not to be a candidate in the upcoming special election."
Patrick pointed to the anticipated Senate debate on Obama's health care initiative, "framed in large measure around the bipartisan model we developed here in Massachusetts," as a key reason to appoint an interim successor to Kennedy's seat.
He also urged Massachusetts lawmakers not to get stuck in past debates on how to fill Senate vacancies and consider what's best for the state now.
"As elected officials, our job, especially in times like these, is to look past partisan or parochial interests to the best interests of the Commonwealth," he said.
Republicans, vastly outnumbered in heavily Democratic Massachusetts, called the proposal a power grab.
They point out that just five years ago, when Kerry was the Democratic nominee for president, the Democrat-controlled state House and Senate changed the law to block then-Gov. Mitt Romney from naming a fellow Republican to fill Kerry's seat if he became president.
Previously, the governor had been allowed to appoint a replacement until the next general election.
"It's a bad idea, it's clearly something that's meant for political gain by one party. You live by the sword, you die by the sword," said state Sen. Scott Brown, R-Wrentham, who is considering running for the seat. "You can't tell me that someone who's in that position temporarily isn't going to be actively campaigning for some person."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/10/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
As for what the Dems will do when that happens in a state with a GOP guv? Well, I guess they'll drive off that bridge when they come to it.
#2
Democrats have always believed that "rules are for Republicans" and that they are above the law. I started losing respect for them under Johnson. By Clinton it was completely gone. Now they are parodies of bad gangster movies.
#3
"Kennedy had asked lawmakers to allow Gov. Deval Patrick, a Democrat, to name a temporary senator to fill the seat until voters can choose a permanent replacement during a special election, set for Jan. 19. break the law, which was passed to apply only to Republicans anyway."
There - fixed.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/10/2009 22:03 Comments ||
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Despite a constitutional requirement that a budget be in place by June 30, the impasse remains, giving Pennsylvania the distinction of being the only state without a fiscal plan.
After 67 days, why can't our elected officials figure out a solution? This rift between Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell and the Senate Republicans is as simple as is gets. One side truly cares about the welfare of Pennsylvania citizens, and the other cares about his legacy.
The Senate, which happens to be the only Republican legislative body north of Virginia and east of Ohio, has done a stellar job of adhering to its Party principles by refusing to raise taxes. Period. Its leaders, including Sens. Dominic Pileggi, Joe Scarnati and Jane Orie, have stood stronger than most political analysts predicted, and continue to win the support of the people because of their convictions.
These leaders have articulated the position that government, just like Pennsylvanian families, must tighten its belt, especially when times are tough. Of course some cuts are tough to swallow, but in large part, many spending programs should have never been passed in the first place. Over-bloated budgets, increased bureaucracy, and reckless spending all have to be reigned in, and that's exactly what the senate is doing. Its bottom line is that restoring fiscal sanity to Harrisburg must be the cornerstone of any budget deal.
Most important, the Senate innately understands that you cannot tax your way out of a recession and into prosperity. It's that simple. And that idea, anathema to Ed Rendell, is why there is no budget deal.
Mr. Rendell sees it differently. His vision is to further burden his constituents by increasing tax rates (he wants to raise the personal income tax by 16%), expand existing taxes (he has proposed widely expanding the scope of the sales tax), and enact new taxes (he had proposed high taxes on natural-gas extraction of what could be Pennsylvania's next booming industry -- the Marcellus shale fields).
Oh, and he wants to increase revenue by allowing video poker and table games throughout the state.
What Mr. Rendell doesn't get is that the way to increase revenue for state coffers is by creating a business-friendly state. Instead of trampling on the backs of already-weary Pennsylvanians, which only causes more flight of our best and brightest people and companies, he should be pushing to attract business and the high-paying jobs that come with it.
But when a state has the reputation of having one of the worst business and legal climates in the country, the facts speak for themselves.
Pennsylvania was once the leading industrial powerhouse in the country, a magnet for companies to locate here, and with them, the best and brightest workforce America had to offer. Our children were educated here, and actually stayed in Pennsylvania because of the jobs that were created by a booming economy. But now our biggest export is our children.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/10/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
the gov sounds like a Washington State (or Oregon) Politician, he should take a lesson
If you think Senate majority leader Harry Reid might lose his reelection bid in 2010, you're not the first to envision that result. In fact, Las Vegas Review-Journal publisher Sherman Frederick predicted back in May 2006 that "in 50-plus months, Nevada voters will march to the polls and replace Sen. Harry Reid, thus ending one of the longer, more powerful political runs in state history." At that point, Democrats had not yet taken control of the Senate.
There was some eye-rolling at Frederick's column when it was published, as it's hard to predict a political environment four years down the road. But 39 months later, that prediction looks pretty reasonable.
As recently as December, liberals were saying that talk of a Reid defeat was a "ridiculous fantasy," citing a lack of serious Republican challengers and the traditional advantages of incumbency. But Reid's numbers have been lousy all year long, with the recent Daily Kos/Research 2000 poll most clearly sounding the alarm. That one showed Reid losing to two potential GOP challengers, Danny Tarkanian, son of former UNLV coach Jerry Tarkanian, and Nevada GOP chairman Sue Lowden. Reid's favorable/unfavorable numbers are a miserable 36/52, including a 39/48 split among women and 28/57 among independents. A Mason-Dixon poll in August found similar results, with Tarkanian and Lowden ahead of Reid by wide margins among independent voters: Tarkanian by 32 percentage points, Lowden by 22.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/10/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
09/10/2009 10:10 Comments ||
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withthe recent Daily Kos/Research 2000 poll most clearly sounding the alarm.
Research for the Kos Kiddies was thumbs down? That's serious.
#4
The thing that keeps me up at night is the old saw, 'you can't beat something with nothing'. Really bad recruitment on the part of the Nevada GOP could always give him the opening he needs to sleaze through for another six years of mendacious mediocrity.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
09/10/2009 20:55 Comments ||
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The number of animals and plants protected by the federal Endangered Species Act is about to increase dramatically. For Cass Sunstein, radical animal-rights activist and nominee for the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) Administrator job, that means he will be better positioned than ever to make livestock farming a thing of the past.
How are the two things connected? Our director of research appeared on the Fox News Channel yesterday to explain to Glenn Beck's audience how much influence Sunstein may soon have over what we eat:
Cattlemen in this country own and manage most of the lands that are covered by the Endangered Species Act, that are subject to control. So you ask: Why is Cass Sunstein's hatred and animus toward meat eating such a big deal? It's because he'll be in a position to be able to use the Endangered Species Act to put cattlemen out of business. And then the price of your steak goes up. And then the price of your cheeseburger goes up.
It's not only cattlemen who could be at the business end of Sunstein's ridiculous anti-meat philosophy. Environmental activists groups sued over the Endangered Species Act in 2006 to divert water to a habitat for a three-inch bait fish in California -- taking the water away from drought-stricken farmers and costing the California economy more than 60,000 farming jobs. Imagine what would happen if activists didn't have to sue to get what they wanted, but could just pick up the phone instead.
The future "regulatory czar" has made no secret of his coercive tactics to get Americans to eat less meat. His grand plan is to make meat more expensive to produce, which will in turn make it harder for American families to afford. Similarly unpopular tactics have been attempted in the drive to get people to drink less soda. While Sunstein couches his plans as a "nudge," we'd say it's more like a shove.
Hug your cheeseburgers tonight, because they too are about to become an endangered species.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/10/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Sunstein, and people like him, should be taken to Oahu, and given a nudge off of Nuʻuanu Pali.
#6
Since vegetarian diets are deficient in many ways maybe the next republican government should "nudge" vegetarians back to healthy omnivorous eating.
#7
So Sunstein make hamburger unavailable to the people, while his boss dines on imported Waygu beef. With that scenario, he better be prepared to add House and Senate Democrats to the endangered species list.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
09/10/2009 16:11 Comments ||
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#17
Another nudge, which is coming, is the EPA has designated methane gas as harmful to the atmosphere therefore it can be regulated like carbon dioxide. Try $350 on a head of cattle, grass fed, dairy, or feed lot. I have spent most of my life in cattle country and this is devestating.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/10/2009 19:01 Comments ||
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#19
How about feeding them to endangered species?
Win-Win situation
Posted by: European Conservative ||
09/10/2009 19:07 Comments ||
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#20
Who the hell told you that, 746? It isn't true - a quick google found a recent statistic that 31% of Indians are vegetarians.
Vegetarianism isn't particularly healthy for human beings, but the necessary discipline which the vegetarian diet requires in order to avoid malnutrition can result in an apparent superior state of health compared to your average fatass undisciplined American. But that's the discipline, not the vegetarianism. It's important to not confuse cause with correlation.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
09/10/2009 21:02 Comments ||
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#21
It takes serious infrastructure to support a population of vegetarians, too, as a Jain friend of mine found to her dismay when her husband was posted to Beijing as a corporate ex-pat.
Arrest warrants have been issued in Miami for 11 people suspected of falsifying information on hundreds of voter registration cards last year.
The FBI and state authorities were making arrests Wednesday. The workers being sought were hired to register voters by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN.
Prosecutors say they were first notified by ACORN about problems with workers in June 2008.
Republicans and conservative activists have accused ACORN of fraud in voter registration drives around the country. ACORN officials say the Florida case proves the organization is committed to an honest process.
The case involved nearly 900 fraudulent voter cards in the Homestead area.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/10/2009 00:00 ||
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A lot of my progressive friends are having a hard time understanding why folks on the other side of the aisle are so angry and behaving like, well like leftists.
Last week I went to a town hall held by Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown. Since the Senate went on recess I've been blogging, calling the senator's office and writing opinion pieces for my local paper asking him to have a public meeting in my county. At first the Senator was having stealth get-togethers with supporters and then went back announcing them on his website as "public forums."
At one of his stealth meetings on the Ohio State campus in Columbus, a few conservatives got wind of the meeting and tried to get in but were told the Senator wasn't holding town halls. This was documented on video here.
The Senator was so afraid to face conservative voices he went to Afghanistan. While I fully support him visiting out troops he has never been a supporter of the war or given our troops what they need to win in Iraq or Afghanistan. It's a strange kind of guy who would rather face bullets from the Taliban than a few harsh comments from conservative voters.
Finally the Senator announced a "public forum" on healthcare. It was to be held on a college campus in the middle of an urban area. I was told by his lead press flack that the meeting was to be open with no reserved seats -- first come first served. Later I received an announcement from the President's PAC, Organizing for America, directing supporters to show up an hour earlier than the time published on the Brown website.
When I arrived at the town hall there were already many folks in union t-shirts seated up front. There were also several sections of seats reserved for students who were bussed into the meeting. The meeting was scheduled to last 90 minutes. When the meeting started the Senator announced there would be several "invited" speakers who would talk for five minutes each, after which the Q & A would begin. The five speakers took almost 55 minutes! That left just 35 minutes for the questions.
Before the meeting started we were told if we wanted to ask a question to put our names on a 3×5 card and pass them to the middle of the aisle. Being the nice guy I am, I collected the cards from our row and passed them to the staffer collecting them.
When the Q & A began the Senator pulled five names from the cards to come forward and ask questions. The guy who was sitting next to me was called even though he had not handed me a card! When he got to the mic he gave a long sob story about his problems and the Senator gave a scripted answer which I had heard him use before. In all, only three questions were asked that did not agree with the Senator. Three questions in 90 minutes of what had been purported to be a fair and open public meeting on health care.
This is why we are angry, my Progressive friends. I didn't want a protracted debate. I didn't want to change the Senator's mind. I just wanted to be heard by my elected official, not lied to by his press secretary and treated like a rube at the county fair.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/10/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
When I arrived at the town hall there were already many folks in union t-shirts seated up front.
Their fear is so great, you can probably expect the same thing in the ballot box when the doors open on election day next year.
The ethics spotlight on House Democrats is intensifying amid predictions from political analysts that Republicans will pick up many seats in next year's midterm elections.
Few are going so far as to say that the GOP will win back the House, but ethics controversies are key to the rise of the minority party in the lower chamber. Republicans capitalized on Democratic ethics woes to win the House in 1994 and Democrats turned the tables on the GOP in 2006, catapulting Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to Speaker.
Republicans are planning to use ethics as a weapon in the 2010 election.
Democrats didn't need any more bad news during an unusually bruising healthcare debate during the August break, but House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) attracted more headlines when he failed to disclose at least $650,000 -- and possibly millions of dollars -- in assets on required congressional forms.
Newspapers across the country -- including The Washington Post -- have called on Rangel to give up his Ways and Means post while the ethics committee evaluates the many ethics allegations that have been detailed in various media accounts.
Some Democratic aides have tried to downplay Rangel's problems, claiming that most voters are paying attention to healthcare reform and are unfamiliar with the controversy swirling around the House lawmaker.
However, there are signs that the Rangel controversies are extending well beyond the Washington Beltway. Late last week, Rangel ranked No. 10 in a list of popular Yahoo searches, after the U.S. Open, the swine flu vaccine, Vice President Joe Biden and movie director Guy Ritchie.
"Allowing this to linger without resolution for this long is not healthy or good for anyone," said Mary Boyle, a spokeswoman for the government watchdog Common Cause. "It's not good for Rangel, it's not good for the public and it's not good for Congress as an institution."
To make matters worse for Democrats, two central players in a defense earmark prosecution are set to be sentenced this fall. That will likely prompt new waves of media attention to Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), who requested the earmark at the heart of the case.
Pelosi has said she will take no action against Rangel or any other member unless the ethics committee recommends punishment or a prosecutor brings criminal charges.
As minority leader, Pelosi did not wait until formal charges were filed against then-Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.). But after an FBI investigation reportedly turned up $90,000 in Jefferson's freezer and triggered concern from some House Democrats about the upcoming 2006 midterm elections, Pelosi removed Jefferson from the Ways and Means Committee. Jefferson was indicted on corruptions charges in 2007 and convicted this year.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/10/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
GUESS WHICH ONE.......
Even if you arent a sports fan this is very interesting!
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
36 have been accused of spousal abuse
7 have been arrested for fraud
19 have been accused of writing bad checks
117 have directly or indirectlybankrupted at least 2 businesses
3 have done time for assault
71repeat71
cannot get a credit card due to bad credit
14 have been arrested on drug-related charges
8 have been arrested for shoplifting
21currently are defendants in lawsuits,
and
84have been arrested for drunk driving
in the last year
Can
you guess which organization this is?
NBA Or NFL
?
Give up yet?
Scroll down,
Neither,
it's the 535 members of the
United States Congress
The same group of Idiots that crank out
hundreds of new laws each year
designed to keep the rest of us in line.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/10/2009 16:22 Comments ||
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#2
Tax evasion is missing on the list. That would get a lot of them. Joe Biden said it was a patriotic duty to pay your taxes. The hypocrisy of it all.
Electing Republicans doesn't do any good if they are the other side of the same coin. Government needs a good house cleaning.
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.
The federal government is unlikely to recoup all of the billions of dollars that it has invested in General Motors and Chrysler, according to a new congressional oversight report assessing the automakers' rescue.
Sen. Christopher Dodd has decided against succeeding his friend Edward Kennedy as chairman of the Senate panel focused overhauling the nation's health care system, a Senate aide confirmed Tuesday.
By Jim Geraghty
The ethics spotlight on House Democrats is intensifying amid predictions from political analysts that Republicans will pick up many seats in next year's midterm elections.
