Last night, defying the will of a bipartisan majority of the House and Senate, Democrats voted to allow the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) to receive federal taxpayer dollars.
In September, large Congressional majorities in both houses voted to sever all ties between the federal government and ACORN. The Senate vote was 85-11; the House vote was 345-75. You'd think that those votes, which USA Today described as prohibiting "any federal funding for the community organizing group," would have settled the matter. You'd be wrong.
Months later, with the country's focus on jobs, healthcare, and the Global War on Terror, Democrats are moving to restore funding to ACORN. Last night, Rep. Tom Latham (R-IA) offered an amendment during deliberations on the Democrats' massive year-end appropriations bill to clarify the prohibition on federal funds going to ACORN or its subsidiaries. That amendment was shot down on a 5-9 party line vote as Republicans sided with taxpayers while Democrats stood with ACORN.
Rep. Latham's amendment is necessary to prevent taxpayer money from going to ACORN because the Obama Administration's Department of Justice has taken advantage of a legal loophole to allow ACORN to continue to receive federal funds -- despite the passage of the House GOP's Defund ACORN Act in the fall.
The American people and the Congress have spoken loud and clear: ACORN should be denied any taxpayer funds. Period.
ACORN has already received far too much money from the American people. An analysis of federal data by the Office of the Republican Leader staff determined that ACORN has received more than $53 million in direct funding from the federal government since 1994, and has likely received substantially more indirectly through states and localities that receive federal block grants.
Enough is enough. The American people are tired of seeing their tax dollars wasted on an organization accused of serious crimes -- and that's why House Republicans are stepping up efforts to defund ACORN once and for all.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
THIS IS SUCH B.S. I beleive I'll stop paying taxes!!!! Is this not TAXATION W/O REPRESENTATION???
#6
Every morning I awake and read about these corrupt jerks giving loaned money to more wasteful organizations, screwing up our Justice system, perpetrating a fraud, or finding a new way to control our lives.
The democrat party has absolutely nothing to do with America. It is merely a group of phoneys determined to rape the world of wealth and leave it in a weakened state.
Everything they do is the exact opposite of that they say they want to do. They are true scumbags and I would not piss on any of them if they were on fire.
#9
TW, I'm beginning to think even the election thingy no longer matters to the dunderheads, including O. They are giving everything American away, including our sovereignty and any future hope of prosperity. The nations will soon be as one, with a new global currency based upon carbon credits and a new government. Remember Pelosi's "I'm saving the planet" quip? They have either deluded themselves that they are acting in the greater good, "sacrificing" their jobs, or they really are so dense the they can't tell sh*t from shinola.
#11
After the new year I think I'm going to poke my head into the county registration office, to see if they can use any volunteer help verifying registrations a few hours a week. ACORN's tactics only work if nobody is checking on them.
OK, this is getting ridiculous. Barack Obama's trip to Oslo to pick up his Nobel peace award is in danger of being overshadowed by a row over the cancellation of a series of events normally attended by the prizewinner.
Norwegians are incensed over what they view as his shabby response to the prize by cutting short his visit.
The White House has cancelled many of the events peace prize laureates traditionally submit to, including a dinner with the Norwegian Nobel committee, a press conference, a television interview, appearances at a children's event promoting peace and a music concert, as well as a visit to an exhibition in his honour at the Nobel peace centre.
He has also turned down a lunch invitation from the King of Norway. What- pass up an opportunity to bow?
According to a poll published by the daily tabloid VG, 44% of Norwegians believe it was rude of Obama to cancel his scheduled lunch with King Harald, with only 34% saying they believe it was acceptable.
"Of all the things he is cancelling, I think the worst is cancelling the lunch with the king," said Siv Jensen, the leader of the largest party in opposition, the populist Progress party. "This is a central part of our government system. He should respect the monarchy," she told VG. What crackhead has been put in charge of etiquette and protocol over at State? I intend ask my smug Democratic friends their advice on how to apologize for this President's behavior when I am overseas.
Chalk up another 500 jobs to the list of jobs President Obama will need to create or save.
A Pittsburgh-based coal company, CONSOL Energy, will lay off nearly 500 of its West Virginia workers next year and its CEO blames environmentalists dead-set against mountaintop mining who have waged "nuisance" lawsuits for the job loss.
But CONSOL Energy's political problems are not unique to the mining industry, which has suffered under the Obama Administration. The Environmental Protection Agency is already holding 79 surface mining permits in West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee. The EPA says these permits could violate the Clean Water Act and warrant "enhanced" review. And, agency went even further in October, announcing plans to revoke a permit for the Spruce No. 1 Mine in West Virginia.
The latest setback for the coal industry was announced on Tuesday when CONSOL Energy said close to 500 workers would lose jobs at their Fola Operations location near Bickmore, West Virginia in February 2010.
CEO Nicholas J. DeIuliis said the poor economy compounded by legal challenges by environmental activists forced CONSOL to slash jobs.
"It is challenging enough to operate our coal and gas assets in the current economic downturn without having to contend with a constant stream of activism in rehashing and reinterpreting permit applications that have already been approved or in the inequitable oversight of our operations," he said in a statement. "Customers will grow reluctant to deal with energy producers they perceive are unable to guarantee a reliable supply due to regulatory uncertainty. It inhibits the ability to remain competitive."
The Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, the Sierra Club, the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy and the Coal River Mountain Watch were the various groups active on the legal challenge CONSOL Energy refers to.
OVEC's Executive Director Janet Keating told the Washington Times she believes CONSOL Energy is using the lawsuit as an excuse to layoff workers, although she says "we don't hide the fact we don't like mountaintop mining."
"The price of coal has dropped in half and I think we are a convenient target, a convenient scapegoat," she said.
"This ruling does not even go into effect for 60 more days so doesn't that tell you something?" Ms. Keating added. "Suddenly, all the sudden they are issuing these layoff notices as if the world is ending."
District Judge Robert C. Chambers handed down the ruling in question on Nov. 24. He said the Army Corps of Engineers violated the law by not giving the public enough information during the public comment period for permits issued by the government, although he wrote the error "did not stem from any wrong-doing on the part of the mining companies."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2009 00:00 ||
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Coal mining is dangerous and coal is dirty stuff. It would be better if West Virginia built a few nuclear plants to sell electricity to some of their neighbors and got out of the coal business all together.
#2
Perhaps, but I suspect that would leave a lot of former miners looking for jobs somewhere else. Not as many jobs and a good many of the new jobs would require a college degree except perhaps the security guards.
#3
For a small fraction of the boodle that Robert Byrd named after himself, a replacement industrial base could have been built.
Posted by: abu do you love ||
12/10/2009 2:41 Comments ||
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#4
Maybe. An industrial base would have required easy access to raw materials or transportation and a skilled workforce or a targeted jobs training program that pays sufficiently well to allow miners to leave their jobs to join. And when you have all that the industry must be profitable after the cost of materials, labor and shipping.
Those factors aren't abundant in W VA. Transportation in particular is a problem. That's why Byrd was able to get a document processing center for the Feds set up there but not heavy industry.
#6
My nephew lost his job in July as an engineer for building/modifying coal-fired generating stations. Good thing Obama's saved or created so many jobs for these coal and coal-related workers. Oh, wait...., he hasn't (and can't - but he could at least get out of the way and let others create them.)
#8
I really believe that these enviros should be refused all products made from whatever they are trying to ban. Don't like coal? Cut off power and let them install solar cells. Don't need all those brightly dyed clothes either. Beside they prefer ugly hemp.
At a minimum, cut off the percentage of power that is fueled by coal. In Al Gore's case, he would be entitled to 40% of the average electricity use of a family, not the 20X he currently enjoys.
Posted by: ed ||
12/10/2009 9:32 Comments ||
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#9
Yes people would be out of jobs but some would have jobs. Jobs without the black lung. The other thing is you don't have to delete one before starting up the others. If kids in Highschool start to realize that the coal jobs are gone (or going away) perhaps they'll be better motivated to stick it out. Or join the Air Force as a friend of mine did to escape the mines.
#10
Not everyone can join the Air Force or run out and get a gummit job rjschwarz. Not everyone who works in the coal industry comes down with a chronic illness by the way, but most do eventually pay taxes, raise kids, and die.
#13
Y'know, we're not building new nuclear plants for much the same reasons (or should I say the same people) that we're shutting down coal operations.
I thought I read earlier that one of the recent coal projects being shut down was a gasification plant. In short, the sort of heavy industry abu was talking about.
#15
lotp, that's why chemical plants are located close to coal fields. Abundant water and plenty of raw materials. Most people have no idea how many things are made from coal. It's not just for burning.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
12/10/2009 13:50 Comments ||
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What's everyone bitching about? Bambi the candidate clearly stated he intended to bankrupt the coal industry.
It's about the only promise he shows any evidence of trying to keep. >:-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/10/2009 14:08 Comments ||
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Besoeker, certain industries fade and new ones grow to take their place. I believe the coal producing states should be moving away from an industry that is clearly a dead end. I also believe there are ways to transition to other jobs that don't require shutting down everything at once which is what will eventually happen to the coal industry the way things are going now.
#18
This is just another blip in the Trans-Appalachian depopulation, oops, Obama administration.
Consider what is happening to the eastern, non-agricultural half of the midwest - an area from Central Michigan, through Detroit and Ohio, across Western Pa. down through KY..
It's one thing to claim that industry evolves, jobs are lost and added by the "creative destruction and chaos of capitalism". This is a whole other category - the conscious and intentional de-industrialization of an area the size of most large nations.
It might work, but it's also the policy we explicitly rejected in post-war Germany.
I guess we at least won't be exporting the coal to China.
#19
rjschwarz, there are no other industries to take the place of coal. I don't believe it's a dead-end industry, either. How will polymers be made without coal? Coal gassification is the #2 source for raw materials for polymers and certain pharmaceuticals. Oil is #1. If coal goes away what will replace it?
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
12/10/2009 15:30 Comments ||
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Are those industries located near coal mines? If not, why not Deacon? (honest question, not snark)
#21
Coal mines in Wyoming are so much cheaper to operate that we have almost continuous coal trains running back to the midwest to fuel generating plants (& maybe gassification plants too, I don't know.) You don't have to be close to the mine with your value-adding industry as long as the total cost to mine and transport is low enough.
WASHINGTON -- Black lawmakers who have held their tongues during most of President Barack Obama's first year in office are stepping up their demands that the nation's first black president do more for minority communities hit hardest by the recession. "Do more" equates to more Boodle.
While still careful about criticizing Obama publicly, they appear to be losing their patience after a year of watching him dedicate trillions of dollars to prop up banks and corporations and fight wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, while double-digit unemployment among blacks crept even higher. Don't bite the hand that feeds you the Boodle.
"Obama has tried desperately to stay away from race, and all of us understand what he's doing," said Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo. "But when you have such a disproportionate number of African-Americans unemployed, it would be irresponsible not to direct attention and resources to the people who are receiving the greatest level of pain." Fix for "pain" is more Boodle.
Dating back to Obama's campaign, many black leaders have pressed him to take more of a stand on the challenges facing minorities. Most voiced criticisms privately for fear of jeopardizing his candidacy or undercutting his popularity after his election. They also have tread lightly so as not to be at odds with their own majority-black constituencies, who strongly support Obama. But frustration has been building. "Frustration is building" means Boodle is running low.
The 42-member Congressional Black Caucus flexed its influence last week when 10 of its members held up a financial regulation bill backed by the administration until leaders agreed to add about $3 billion in foreclosure relief for struggling homeowners. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., later added $1 billion for neighborhood revitalization programs. Boodle running high again, thanks to buggering bum meister Barney the Boodle King.
More at link, but you've probably had enough already.
#3
"Black Lawmakers" have been the leading source of activity that has killed the Black community. Support for such stupidity as "ebonics", high school dropouts, unmarried mothers, absentee fathers, and other epidemics in the Black community have done more to destroy black people than anything the Whites have done in 400 years.
Technology is going up, up, and up. Requirements for low-skilled jobs are dropping even faster. The need to be able to communicate effectively, not only in the classroom but especially in the workplace, puts a virtually insurmountable barrier between success and the average black citizen. Finally, education has ALWAYS been the key to greater success. Today, blacks - 22% of the population - account for more than half of the high school dropouts. Political leaders, including the "Congressional Black Caucus", has done squat to address any of these issues.
This is one mess I can't lay at the feet of "President" O'Bumble. This goes all the way back to LBJ's "Great Society".
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/10/2009 23:23 Comments ||
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Not so, Glenmore. The same poll showed only 50% prefer Obambi. This after less than one year in office. The rest were most likely too degressed to give a rat's @$$.
At what point in 2010 do these numbers reverse? Can't be soon enough for me.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
12/10/2009 18:57 Comments ||
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Pat Toomey's (R) numbers are on the rise and Joe Sestak's (D) numbers are falling in a new Pennsylvania Senate poll conducted by Rasmussen (1,200 LVs, 12/8, MoE +/- 3%). Toomey now leads both potential Democratic foes in the 2010 contest.
General Election Matchups
Toomey 46 (+1 vs. last poll, 10/13)
Specter 42 (+2)
Und 9 (-1)
The primary sample of 442 likely Democratic voters has a margin of error of +/- 5%. Specter led Sestak by 16 in the previous RCP Average.
On health care, 44 percent support the Congressional plan while 53 percent oppose it. On the public option, 42 percent say they support creating one while 39 percent oppose. Sixty-two percent of Democratic primary voters support the public option.
#5
You write that, Nimble, as if it were a choice. Specter's like a scorpion, his political acts are all reflexive, instinctual. And they'll keep him from running only if he's dead or on his deathbed.
And I won't be comfortable about Toomey until he cracks 50%. Pennsylvania's always been a bit squirrelly about conservatives. Traditionally, we elect blustery Democrats or squish RINOs, what they used to call Rockefeller Republicans. Or, you know, Scrantons.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
12/10/2009 15:39 Comments ||
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Word tonight that Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA) has decided to retire took everyone from colleagues in Congress to the White House by surprise. Baird is the tenth Democrat to throw in the towel -- so far, not an unusually large number, but the type of number that, if it becomes a much larger number, turns into a trend that could spell disastrous consequences for the party's majority in the House. Two others Democrats have announced their retirements in as many weeks. Are Democrats bleeding? Too early to tell. Dave Wasserman of the Cook Political Report estimates that six of the open seats are competitive. Baird's certainly is -- the district has a blue tint to it, but it went for George W. Bush in 2004 and 2000. By the way: 12 Republicans are retiring; Democrats are going to play for three of those seats.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2009 00:00 ||
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Let's retire the elites and arrogant fools in Congress who don't listen to the American people.
WARNING: This editorial includes discussion of topics that are sexually graphic. Under usual circumstances, we would never entertain these subjects or the rancid language involved. In this case, however, a very unusual exception must be made because the issues are central to the background of a senior presidential appointee at the U.S. Department of Education who is in a position to influence how and what our children are taught in our nation's schools. Thus far, out of fear or squeamishness, there has been public hesitance to examine closely the beliefs of this individual because many are afraid even to touch the risky content. Our scruples cannot be used against us when traditional moral precepts need to be defended. Simply, the deep level of depravity involved in this subject cannot be portrayed without providing a couple of examples to illustrate the inappropriate content. Please do not read any further if you will be offended by sexually graphic language.
The Obama administration is stonewalling serious inquiries about sexual filth propagated by a senior presidential appointee who is responsible for promoting and implementing federal education policy. Democrats clearly are terrified of ruffling the feathers of their activist homosexual supporters, who are an influential part of the Democratic party's base. This scandal, however, is not merely about homosexual behavior; it is about promoting sex between children and adults - and it's time for President Obama to make clear that abetting such illegal perversion has no place in his administration.
It is curious why White House officials and Education Secretary Arne Duncan believe it's worth it politically to continue taking arrows for defending Kevin Jennings, who is Mr. Obama's controversial "safe schools czar." The evidence suggesting he is unfit to serve as a senior presidential appointee is startling and plentiful. It was revealed this week that Mr. Jennings was involved in promoting a reading list for children 13 years old or older that made the most explicit sex between children and adults seem normal and acceptable. This brought up anew Mr. Jennings' past controversies, such as his seeming encouragement of sex between one of his high school students and a much older man as well as his praise for Harry Hay, a notorious supporter of the North American Man Boy Love Association.
But there is more. There are shocking new revelations this week of tape recordings from a youth conference involving 14-year-old students. The conference, billed as a forum to encourage tolerance of homosexuality, was sponsored by Mr. Jennings' organization and was held at Tufts University in March 2000. Mr. Jennings was executive director of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) from its founding in 1995 until August 2008. The conference sessions appear to have had less to do with promoting tolerance and more to do with teaching children how to engage in sex.
Andrew Breitbart's Biggovernment.com provides tapes of some of the sessions. Describing the subject matter as smut would be putting it lightly. The conference discussions were very graphic and cannot be relayed in full detail in a family newspaper. A few examples are sufficient to describe the depravity of the subject matter. During one session about oral sex, a presenter asked the 14-year-old students: "Spit or swallow? Is it rude?" In another session, the 14-year-olds are taught about a gross practice called "fisting," in which "the man leading the discussion position[ed] his hand and show[ed] 14-year-olds how to insert their entire hand into the rectum of their sex partner."
Teaching children sexual techniques is simply not appropriate. Unfortunately, it is part of a consistent pattern by some homosexual activists to promote underage homosexuality while pretending that their mission is simply to promote tolerance for so-called alternative lifestyles. It is outrageous that someone involved in this scandal is being paid by the taxpayers to serve in a high-powered position at the Education Department, of all places. At some point, Mr. Duncan, Mr. Jennings, Obama administration spokesmen and the president himself are going to have to start answering questions about all this. Refusing to do so won't make the issue go away.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2009 00:00 ||
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Kevin Jennings is now being called the "Pedo Czar".
#3
This has been floating around the web for several days now, with little attention, even here on the 'Burg. Good on the Washington Times for finally taking it on - it's toxic.
I glanced at some of material on the reading list. It's truly disgusting, involving highly deviant encounters between children and adults. The resulting confusion and mental anguish on the part of the children is not avoided, it's featured.
It's hard to understand our society. On the one hand, even a whiff of pedo brings down the wrath of the law, with people being branded for life for minor offenses, along with very active opprobrium on the part of many people, who spend their time harassing those so identified.
On the other hand, we have the sexualizing of children in the media and in commmerce. There is also a determined initiative to make sure our children are acquainted as early as possible with every variety of sexual experience, long before they have the maturity to handle the resulting ambiguities, and regardless of the desires of the parents.
This 'education' is justified as being part of safe sex training, but the actual message is one of tolerance and encouragement of these practices.
Now, I'm hardly a prude, having attended an ivy league school in the '60s, but I was quite surprised and annoyed when my school started teaching this stuff as part of freshman indoctrination - climb a mountain, meet the class, get a pep talk from the Dean, and an intimate group session on the proper use of dental dams and water sports.
Now they want to move this initiative down into grade school. I don't think it's so much about tolerance of "different lifestyles". It's about completely displacing parents, and becoming authoritative participants in a child's innermost thoughts.
Kevin Jennings has to go, preferably with Arne Duncan. But not too quickly - I'd like to see this dragged through the media for a few weeks. It deserves discussion.
Jimmy Carter's grandson is following the former president into politics with a run for the Georgia state Senate.
Democrat Jason Carter says he will run for an Atlanta-area seat that's being vacated by President Barack Obama's nominee to be U.S. ambassador to Singapore.
If David Adelman is confirmed as ambassador in January, a special election could be held in March for his Senate seat representing part of DeKalb County.
Jason Carter is the only person so far to say he'd run for the seat, a Democratic stronghold.
The 34-year-old said his grandfather, once the governor of Georgia, encouraged him to take the plunge.
But he said he doesn't feel much pressure to live up to his family's famous last name.
"To the extent that there's pressure, it is pressure to do the right thing, to maintain integrity that comes with the name," he said.
Carter is a lawyer who focuses on voting rights at an Atlanta firm. The 34-year-old former Peace Corps volunteer graduated from Duke University and the University of Georgia School of Law.
He said he wouldn't expect the former president to join him on the campaign trail much.
"The fact that Jimmy Carter is my grandfather, it gives me a profile and it gives me an opportunity. But in the end I still have to have relevant things to say," he said.
Jason Carter's father, Jack, ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate from Nevada in 2006.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2009 00:00 ||
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can any form of government stand 2 idiots from the same clan
Posted by: chris ||
12/10/2009 7:46 Comments ||
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The answer to your question starts with the letter "K".
NO!
DON'T DO THIS!
IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS GOOD AND DECENT IN THE WORLD, DO NOT ELECT THIS MAN OR ANYONE ELSE FROM HIS FAMILY TO ANY POSITION OF POLITICAL POWER!
Thank you in advance for your cooperation,
--Mike
Posted by: Mike ||
12/10/2009 11:04 Comments ||
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ALL THAT IS GOOD AND DECENT
Unfortunagtely, many if not most residents of Dekalb County (pronounced Deecab) have an entirely different concept of "good and decent" than you Mike.
The feds have spent millions in stimulus cash on "silly" projects, including left-leaning puppet shows, a martini bar, and a study of Viking civic life, according to a devastating new report.
One grant, for $25,000, went to The Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre in Minneapolis. The group puts on an annual May Day parade, and its current production is titled "The Puggles -- a Platypus Adventure."
Another $50,000 grant, to the Parks Department in Washington state, hosts Asian-style rod-puppet shows.
A $25,000 grant went to Philadelphia's Pig Iron Theatre, which calls itself a "dance-clown-theatre ensemble." The group is staging a production of "Welcome to Yuba City," billed as a "cowboy/clown odyssey presenting hilarious fragments of a mythic American desertscape."
The University of Massachusetts-Boston got a $95,000 grant to catalog Icelandic pollen to study "the role the arctic environment played in the evolution of civic life during the Viking Age."
The Foster Wine and Martini Bar in St. Joseph, Mo., got a $25,000 stimulus block grant for renovation, and a Brazilian steak house got $75,000.
Even the city's mayor says there are better uses for the money in the struggling downtown. "Any time you can get some money for an area that needs it, we're glad to receive it, but common sense says there's a lot of needs for stimulus money that go beyond another restaurant," Mayor Ken Shearin told The Post. "There's a lot of people needs and a lot of humanity needs that could use a shot in the arm that, in my opinion, would be more deserving than a Brazilian steakhouse and a Foster's bar."
And the Army Corps of Engineers spent $21,000 for mascot costumes, including Bobber the Water Safety Dog, which tells kids to be careful when they're swimming.
The dubious projects were unearthed by staff for Republican Sens. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and John McCain of Arizona. Coburn said: "$217 billion of this money's out the door, and at least 15 percent of it's pure waste." He said that blame "ultimately rests with Vice President Joe Biden," whom President Obama tasked with oversight.
"In his words, he's the sheriff," said McCain. A Biden spokeswoman didn't respond to a request for comment.
A $2 million grant went to extend an antique tourist train line, the Virginia & Truckee Railway, built during Nevada's silver mining boom. The line currently ends near Mound House, home to several legal brothels, including the Kit Kat Guest Ranch and the Moonlight Bunny Ranch, but would go to Carson City.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2009 00:00 ||
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I have yet to receive a reply on my request for money to inspect Scarecrows.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
12/10/2009 7:27 Comments ||
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Nor me for my request for a grant for a scientific study of the effects of staring at women's boobs and butts....
#4
The [train] line currently ends near Mound House, home to several legal brothels, including the Kit Kat Guest Ranch and the Moonlight Bunny Ranch, but would go to Carson City.
Most of us are not going to ride the train line to the brothels but we are all getting screwed nonetheless.
The verdict is in and the House Judiciary Impeachment Subcommittee decided today in a 6-1 vote not to recommend that Gov. Mark Sanford be impeached.
The seven-member subcommittee voted unanimously in favor of censuring the governor. A censure has no practical affect, other than to publicly disparage Sanford.
"It says, we believe the governor's conduct was improper," Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Harrison said.
Rep. Greg Delleney, R-Chester, was the only member who voted in favor of impeachment.
Harrison and Reps. James Smith, D-Columbia, Walt McLeod, D-Little Mountain, David Weeks, D- Sumter, Garry Smith, D-Simpsonville, and Jenny Anderson Horne, R-Summerville, voted against impeachment.
The recommendation will be sent to the full 25-member House Judiciary Committee, which will meet at 10 a.m. next Wednesday.
Delleney said that he will continue to push the full committee to sent the impeachment bill to the House floor and force Sanford from office. The Senate would serve as jury.
"I am not giving up," Delleney told reporters after the first part of the subcommittee meeting.
"One thing is certain: impeachment is not akin to a recall. We can't impeach for hypocrisy. We can't impeach for arrogance. We can't impeach an office holder for his lack of leadership skills," Harrison said.
Harrison said that Sanford's alleged wrongdoings don't rise to the level of impeachment based on the fact that Harrison, a lawyer, says the executive power would have transferred directly to Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer had there been an emergency during the five days in June that Sanford left the state to be with his lover in Argentina.
Harrison said that Sanford should resign, a point echoed earlier by Rep. James Smith, D-Columbia.
"(Sanford) has fired at least one Cabinet-level official for conduct not as serious as this," Harrison said.
Weeks said the governor committed egregious offenses, but he doubts the wrongdoings rise to impeachment.
"We need to keep the bar high," Weeks said. "We need to be real careful how we open the door. ... Based on what I see it is very close call."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2009 00:00 ||
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At least he has better taste than Clinton, if not Kenndedy...
Democratic Senate negotiators struck a tentative agreement Tuesday night to drop the controversial government-run insurance plan from their overhaul of the health-care system, hoping to remove a last major roadblock preventing the bill from moving to a final vote in the chamber.
Under the deal, the government plan preferred by liberals would be replaced with a program that would create several national insurance policies administered by private companies but negotiated by the Office of Personnel Management, which oversees health policies for federal workers. If private firms were unable to deliver acceptable national policies, a government plan would be created.
In addition, people as young as 55 would be permitted to buy into Medicare, the popular federal health program for retirees. And private insurance companies would face stringent new regulations, including a requirement that they spend at least 90 cents of every dollar they collect in premiums on medical services for their customers.
The announcement came after six days of negotiations among 10 Democrats -- five liberals and five moderates -- appointed by Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) to work out differences between the two camps on the public option and other pressing issues. Appearing in the Capitol with Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), the leader of the liberal faction, and Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), representing moderates, Reid hailed the deal as a broad agreement that has the potential to "overcome a real problem that we had" and push the measure to final Senate vote before Christmas.
"Not everyone is going to agree with every piece," Reid said. But when asked whether the deal means the end is in sight after nearly a year of work on President Obama's most important domestic initiative, he smiled. "The answer's yes," he said.
According to a Democrat briefed on the talks, the deal represents only an agreement among the 10 negotiators to send the new package to congressional budget analysts, not an agreement to support its elements. One of the negotiators, Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.), quickly issued a statement criticizing the deal.
"While I appreciate the willingness of all parties to engage in good-faith discussions, I do not support proposals that would replace the public option in the bill with a purely private approach," he said. He added, however, that he will base his vote "on the entirety of what is in the bill, and whether I think the bill is good for Wisconsin."
Democrats must also win the approval of several key lawmakers who have not been involved in the talks, including Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Olympia J. Snowe (Maine), the only Republican who has voted in favor of the Democratic health initiative. If the Senate approves the agreement, it will face a huge obstacle in the House, where Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has fought hard to preserve a public plan in the face of opposition from House moderates.
If the deal holds, it will represent a major breakthrough on one of the most contentious issues of the health-care debate, settling a dispute between moderates wary of excessive government intrusion into the private sector and liberals determined to create a strong competitor able to curb the most egregious abuses in the private insurance industry.
"It may be different from what was previously included in the bill," said Reid spokesman Jim Manley, "but it accomplishes the same goals as a so-called public option."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
I don't buy that headline for a second. The Dems are pushing this by hook or crook.
#2
And private insurance companies would face stringent new regulations, including a requirement that they spend at least 90 cents of every dollar they collect in premiums on medical services for their customers.
So how did our fine representatives come up with the figure of 90 cents of every dollar? Why not 92, 52 or 86 cents? Answer: because they dont know and they really dont care. This is another arbitrary mandate imposed on private business by people that have never ran anything other then a political campaign. Some might say this is simply another sweetener to get the liberals on board. Others may suggest its further proof of the Trojan horse that will drive Private Insurance Companies out of business. Either way, if this regulation is adopted the result will be an immediate reduction in the Health Insurance labor force. In other words, real people will be sacrificed for mythical benefits. Oh well, rumor has it that the Federal government soon will be looking to hire people with an experience in Health insurance. And if that doesnt work out maybe a career change is in order. Hopefully theyve heard about all those high paying green jobs?
#3
I don't buy that headline for a second. The Dems are pushing this by hook or crook.
Already done:
If private firms were unable to deliver acceptable national policies, a government plan would be created. In addition, people as young as 55 would be permitted to buy into Medicare, the popular federal health program for retirees.
Pushing Medicare eligibility down to 55, even if it's a buy-in rather than straight entitlement program, will vastly expand the legions of Medicare users since Medicare will be able to offer far superior rates to private sector plans via its ability to legally mandate that health care providers accept below market (and often below cost) rates for services provided. No private sector plan will be able to compete with that and the explosion of persons "choosing" Medicare will "prove" the "desire" on the part of the American People for government-run health care.
Meanwhile a smaller private sector market will be left to pick up the tab for all of these new Medicare users via the massively increased costs health care providers will be forced to pass along to the legal victims in this game (private insurance companies & their customers) who will be forced to subsidize an even-greater number of Medicare users than they do now. The resultant explosion in private sector costs (see e.g., the same issue as it unfolded over the past couple of decades) will "prove" the "superiority" and "cost benefit" of government run care.
And of course since that mechanism won't work fast enough for the lefties the regulatory state will step in with policies similar to those found in the most leftist states right now: mandates for coverage of massively expensive treatments necessitated largely by poor lifestyle choices (e.g., AIDS treatment, treatments for drug abuse & alcoholism, etc.) and treatments of increasingly questionable utility for problems formerly not defined as such (see e.g., the constant redefinition of previously normal behaviors as abnormal by the APA and their ile and the mandates that insurance providers pay for treatment of same in some states). Layer these new mandates on layers of added overhead for serving the new bureaucracy and the unavoidable price spike necessitated by a massive increase in Medicare users who must be subsidized and this concept will not only guarantee the death of private health care in the US, it will hasten the same by years if not decades.
#4
AzCat has it spot on. Lowering eligability to age 55 is the new, backdoor scheme. Medicare reductions on the older, retired folks, open door for those still young enough to work and earn but won't.
Any investors out there heard when the Scooter Store might go public?
The SCOOTER Store sells freedom -- or at least a motorized scooter or wheelchair -- to senior citizens and other persons with physical limitations. The company sells power chairs and outdoor scooters, including products made by Pride Mobility and other third parties, through a network of retail and distribution facilities across the continental US and Puerto Rico. It also sells other durable medical equipment, such as wheelchair lifts and home ramps. Owners Doug Harrison (CEO) and his wife, Susanna, started The SCOOTER Store in 1991 in response to an increasing elderly population and a fragmented scooter and wheelchair industry.
Nearly $6 million in stimulus money was paid to two firms run by Mark Penn, Hillary Clinton's pollster in 2008. Federal records show that $5.97 million from the $787 billion stimulus helped preserve three jobs at Burson-Marsteller, the global public-relations and communications firm headed by Penn.
Burson-Marsteller won the contract to work on a public-relations campaign to advertise the national switch from analog to digital television. Nearly $2.8 million of the contract was issued to Penn's polling firm, Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates, according to federal records.
Federal records also show that a former adviser to President Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign received nearly $70,000 from that contract to help alert viewers in difficult-to-reach communities that their televisions would soon no longer receive broadcast signals.
The adviser, Alfredo J. Balsera, who heads a public-affairs firm based in Coral Gables, Fla., helped craft Obama's Hispanic advertising message.
Republicans on Tuesday criticized the federal spending on the advertising project as a waste of taxpayer dollars. They noted that the advertising campaign took place on May 5, only 39 days before the digital television transition was scheduled (June 12)
GOP Sens. John McCain (Ariz.) and Tom Coburn (Okla.) held a news conference Tuesday to blast 100 "wasteful" projects funded by the $787 billion economic stimulus package Congress passed earlier this year, concluding that at least $7 billion of the $217 billion spent through November was wasteful and mismanaged
The GOP senators highlighted the direction of the stimulus funds on the same day Obama outlined a new series of proposals for creating jobs that Republicans view as another stimulus measure. The proposals include tax cuts for small businesses, tax incentives for employers to hire new workers and infrastructure spending.
The need for additional measures has raised questions over the efficacy of the stimulus package passed earlier this year.
White House officials have said the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated the stimulus helped to create 1.6 million jobs. White House aides also have noted that the national employment report for November showed dramatic improvement compared to early this year.
A White House spokeswoman on Tuesday responded to the GOP report by saying Coburn's previous reports on stimulus spending have been filled with "false or misleading claims."
"In the end, even if there are a few unwise projects, it is only a handful out of the over 50,000 projects that have been approved to date," said Liz Oxhorn, a White House spokeswoman. "The real question here is whether Recovery Act critics will at long last acknowledge that well over 99 percent of the projects are sound, effective and working as promised."
McCain and Coburn did not show any indication that they knew two Democratic political strategists received funding through the grant.
A review of federal records by The Hill revealed Penn and Balsera received money from the economic stimulus program.
Burson-Marsteller, which Penn heads as CEO worldwide, won the $5.97 million contract through Young & Rubicam. (Burson-Marsteller has been a part of Young & Rubicam Brands since 1979.)
A contract award summary posted on Recovery.gov, the government website that tracks stimulus spending, states Burson-Marsteller was awarded a competitive contract by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to help prepare "unready households for the DTV transition."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2009 00:00 ||
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(CNSNews.com) -- The debate on the Senate floor Tuesday about whether to add an amendment to the Senate health care bill that prohibits the use of federal funds for abortion has led some senators to compare a woman getting the procedure to a man who gets a prescription for a sexual enhancement drug such as Viagra or Cialis.
They have also referred to these drugs as part of reproductive health care for men.
"Imagine if the men in this chamber had to fill out a form and get a rider for Viagra or Cialis and it was public." Sen. Barbara Boxer said during debate on the Nelson-Hatch amendment. "Forget about it. There would be a rage in this chamber."
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) also used the comparison, saying that he wanted his daughters and granddaughters to have access to all "reproductive health care."
"What if we were to vote on a Viagra amendment and it had the same limits would apply for abortion?" Lautenberg said during Tuesday's debate, adding that the reaction would be "outrage."
Boxer, Lautenberg and other Democrats opposed the amendment that Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) introduced on Monday which would explicitly ban any federal dollars from being used for abortion. They said that it would discriminate against women by limiting access to abortion while allowing men access to "reproductive health care services," including drugs like Viagra and Cialis.
But Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), co-sponsor of the amendment, said during the debate that the majority of Americans do not support using federal dollars to pay for abortion under any circumstance, especially those who are morally opposed to the procedure.
"Why should people of conscience be forced to participate in any aspect of abortion?" Hatch said.
Nelson rejected the claim by Democrats that the amendment would prohibit women from using their own money to pay for an abortion or an insurance policy that covers abortion or requires them to get a special rider to have it covered in their insurance.
"It only ensures that when taxpayer dollars are involved, people aren't required to pay for other people's abortion," Nelson said.
In a narrow vote of 54 to 45, the Senate on Tuesday evening rejected Nelson's amendment -- a move that could prompt him to fulfill his threat to filibuster the bill unless it includes restrictions on taxpayer-funded abortion.
Seven Democrats, including Sen. Robert Casey of Pennsylvania, voted in favor of the amendment, while two Republicans -- Maine Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins -- voted against it.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2009 00:00 ||
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They do have a point. Both are related to Life. One to enhance the quality of and possibly start a new life and the other to end one.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
12/10/2009 7:45 Comments ||
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Boxer is the most pathetic public servant alive...well, if we consider harry reid alive, then he's number one.
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.
Last night, defying the will of a bipartisan majority of the House and Senate, Democrats voted to allow the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) to receive federal taxpayer dollars.
Barack Obama's trip to Oslo to pick up his Nobel peace award is in danger of being overshadowed by a row over the cancellation of a series of events normally attended by the prizewinner.
WARNING: This editorial includes discussion of topics that are sexually graphic. Under usual circumstances, we would never entertain these subjects or the rancid language involved. In this case, however, a very unusual exception must be made because the issues are central to the background of a senior presidential appointee at the U.S. Department of Education who is in a position to influence how and what our children are taught in our nation's schools. Thus far, out of fear or squeamishness, there has been public hesitance to examine closely the beliefs of this individual because many are afraid even to touch the risky content. Our scruples cannot be used against us when traditional moral precepts need to be defended. Simply, the deep level of depravity involved in this subject cannot be portrayed without providing a couple of examples to illustrate the inappropriate content. Please do not read any further if you will be offended by sexually graphic language.
The feds have spent millions in stimulus cash on "silly" projects, including left-leaning puppet shows, a martini bar, and a study of Viking civic life, according to a devastating new report.
The verdict is in and the House Judiciary Impeachment Subcommittee decided today in a 6-1 vote not to recommend that Gov. Mark Sanford be impeached.
(CNSNews.com) -- The debate on the Senate floor Tuesday about whether to add an amendment to the Senate health care bill that prohibits the use of federal funds for abortion has led some senators to compare a woman getting the procedure to a man who gets a prescription for a sexual enhancement drug such as Viagra or Cialis.
