Barney Frank Erotica

Barney Frank's wet dreams come true: he'll have 1.3 million guys in fancy uniforms at his beck and call (lalalala Y-M-C-A... Y-M-C-A....) -- MAYBE. Cut the number of those to do the work. Reduce the number of tools to do the job. Cut their pay. Cut their benefits. Increase their health care costs. Just  Who the hell will want to enlist or stay???

(from the MOAA newsletter my emphasis [my comments] )

Legislators Urge $100 Billion Cut in Military People Programs

On Tuesday, Reps. Barney Frank (D-MA), Ron Paul (R-TX), and Walter Jones (R-NC) as well as Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) released a copy of their letter to the National Commission of Fiscal Responsibility and Reform requesting serious consideration of major cuts in defense spending. They expressed "an ongoing commitment to strong national defense," but said the ever-growing national debt requires a reduction in defense spending over the next 10 years. [funny how that time period just happens to coincide with the astronomical debt calculations for gov't forced health care... why not just repeal obamacare if you really want to save some money and reduce the deficit, you moron!]

Specifically, their letter endorses the recommendations of the Sustainable Defense Task Force, a group of analysts and scholars [anyone with military experience??] seeking to reduce military spending in procurement, research and development, personnel, operations [you mean, like WARS??] and maintenance, and infrastructure. The Task Force proposes a series of measures that could possibly save $960 billion between 2011 and 2020. ["could possibly"? you mean coulda shoulda woulda maybe might perhaps???]

That task force proposed reducing personnel costs by more than $100 billion during that period by cutting 200,000 military personnel, yielding a peacetime active duty end strength of approximately 1.3 million, recalculating military compensation to curtail pay raises, and imposing substantial increases in military health care fees.

MOAA finds it appalling that, in the midst of a decade-long, two-front war - when we are demanding far greater sacrifices from military people and families than we have in generations - any panel of so-called "experts" can conclude that the force is too big and that military people don’t deserve their current compensation package. [could not have said it better myself!!]

But I will finish with this message to Bwaney Fwanks: ARE YOU FRIGGIN' NUTZ?? (ok, I may have answered that already!)

New Veterans Caregivers Bill: A Small Rant (I Don't get it.)

Well, I do get the principle parts of the bill -- and good that the approximately 2,000 family members who care for the severely wounded in their homes day in and day out. Yeoman's work... and long overdue for recognition and compensation.

But this I don't get.

From Many Angles to Caregiver Bill

Expand VA services for 1.8 million women veterans currently receiving VA care or expected to enroll in the system. VA for the first time will cover up to seven days of newborn care for enrolled female veterans. Other initiatives will force changes to the VA health system to make it respectful of privacy and other needs of female veterans. VA is directed to launch a pilot for providing patient childcare services too.

OK, I know I'll take heat for this... but can someone explain this to me?? EXPAND services???  Do women veterans not get the same services as male veterans?? Is there some service (besides GYN) that doesn't apply EQUALLY to men? What do they want to expand?? I don't get it.

The VA is now going to provide childbirth services?? NURSERIES? Is childbirth now a combat- or service-related medical condition? The VA has a hard enough time attracting physicians and medical professionals to treat the GENERAL veterans' community and now they'll have to hire OBs???

Do women veterans have some additional privacy concerns that aren't being extended and/or that don't apply to men?? In every treatment area in our VA there are curtains and private examining rooms... it's not a shower room atmosphere. If there was a problem at selected facilities, did that require a piece of legislation -- and funding??

"Other needs of female veterans??" That's a rather nebulous phrase. WHAT other needs?? I'd like to know.

Filner said other parts of S. 1963 focus on VA health care “access for people who don’t normally have access. Like women. It’s time to think about childcare, privacy curtains, to think about respect, basically.”

"Access for people who don't normally have access... Like women??" Since when? Every veteran -- male or female -- has access to the VA if they meet the eligibility requirements. If the intent is to grant women veterans access under conditions that men cannot qualify -- well I object. STRONGLY object. If they want to expand access, then they should open the VA health care eligibility to ALL veterans and not just the combat- and service-connected disabled or the very poor. (Oh, you didn't know that access to VA health care is limited to certain classes of veterans?? Go HERE.) They certainly shouldn't be granting special privileges to veterans who just happen to be women.

Childcare services? The VA is going to provide babysitters?? (This from a woman with a VA-enrolled son who has a child.) Will the VA be taking charge of the child/children when the veteran has to be admitted?

Older veterans will find it refreshing, he said, to see children of women veterans, from time to time, in waiting areas of VA medical facilities.

“It changes the whole ambiance of the place,” Filner said. “It’s no longer a bunch of dying people. There’s life! And so… childcare not only helps the families with kids but the whole atmosphere.”

Ambiance??? Atmosphere??? Atmosphere???  Are you kidding me??? If you want children's ambiance go to the play areas at McDonalds or to Chuck E Cheeze or volunteer at a day care center. Jeez. What happened to finding your own childcare and being responsible for your child/children? 

This is nuts! I'm damn sure this isn't what the VA was set up to do. YES I know there are women veterans... and I know that there are areas of "special" in that topic, but the VA as a Nanny?? FFS.

It is high time that we accept that there is no way to meet every single need of every single veteran for things NOT connected to their service. If it's service-connected, we should spare no effort or funds. However, given the demands -- practically and financially -- on the VA for medical and psychological care for SERVICE-CONNECTED conditions, is this really the best use of the money?? Birthing and childcare?? Turning this esteemed veterans medical provider into a new welfare program is a tragedy. What other needs common to ALL veterans will be shortchanged or not be attended while these new women-only mandates are established and funded?? It's just plain crazy, I tell you.

Next they'll be mandating sex-change operations for transgender veterans. These new women-only measures are plain pandering and electioneering. I'm sure I could come up with a list of services to ALL veterans that should be expanded or improved rather than adding obstetrics, newborn care and babysitting services.

OK. rant end.

Hey! Mr. President & Congress! Listen Up (Healthcare Forum)

First, the big mistake in this "forum" stuff IS THAT YOU DID NOT INCLUDE CONSUMERS.

Since I wasn't invited, here's some of my thoughts.

1. If you want to immediately reduce the impact of health care costs, reduce -- and then eliminate - the threshold for tax deductibility of medical expenses. Not everyone -- in fact very few -- Americans have access to pre-tax Medical Expense Accounts. Why should only SOME citizens have access to tax-free money for medical expenses?? Let us deduct ALL of our medical expenses from our income. Yes, that will have an income consequence for the Feds, but if the goal is TO HELP AMERICANS AFFORD HEALTH CARE, this is step one.

2. Pres. Obama IS WRONG. The government does NOT have to legislate the minimum standards for health insurance. The government simply needs to require full disclosure and let the consumer choose. The government decided to protect investors this way when they required companies to include in their proxy statements and annual reports a STANDARD FOR DISCLOSURE. Companies are required to compare their performance to comparable companies in terms of return on investments and disclosure of compensation, etc.

Same thing would help ME -- as a CONSUMER -- to choose MY insurance and how much I want to pay for it. Pick the 10 most common and/or 10 most expensive health conditions and make the insurance companies tell me whether they cover it FULLY. Make every insurance company tell me IN READABLE TYPE what the lifetime limit on the policy is. Tell me how much of my premium is used to cover administrative costs -- including executive compensation.

Yes, let me shop for insurance anywhere in the country, but give me a way to compare the coverage AND LET ME CHOOSE. That's the American way. I don't need no stinkin' "protection" from the Feds. If a company covers two days for childbirth and that is disclosed when I buy the policy, that's it. Let ME decide what I want, when I want it and how much I'm willing to pay for it.

Let me choose the coverage I want -- like well-care and preventative care -- and eliminate certain coverages I don't need. I do not need Obstetrics coverage and I don't want to pay for it. I get the idea that this is part of spreading the risk & spreading the cost... but then do something to LIMIT my exposure -- like meaningful tort/litigation reform.

There should be two types of coverage: HEALTH coverage for well care and routine care and the hospitalization and catastrophic coverage -- for surgeries and long-term treatments. Now we don't have a choice -- these are all rolled in... separate them and let me shop separately. Maybe I want to cover my own routine care and only want catastrophic coverage? Let ME choose.

3. The high risk pool for those with pre-existing conditions. Yes, it's abhorrent... but if you require each health insurer to assume a certain number of those policies -- as they require auto insurers to do for high risk drivers -- then everyone in the U.S. will assume a fair portion of that risk. That's fair to me. No one gets dropped and no one is denied insurance and everyone assumes some of the risk.

4. Community-based health care. No one is talking about that. Where I live, there are two LARGE community health clinics. People who cannot afford (or choose NOT to buy health insurance) can use the community health clinics. What you pay is based on what you can afford. Many people who have insurance  also use the clinics. They are full service. They are principally funded by tax dollars but also by charitable contributions and donations of time from health care professionals and the community.

5. Fraud and waste. Exactly WHY does it take THIS health care proposal to address that?? If this is a problem, deal with it NOW. If you cannot agree on anything else, carve this out and JUST DO IT.

All of these should be separate pieces of legislation. If one works, great. If one doesn't, it gets dumped or tweaked.

If I hear one more person -- from the President to the Congresscritters tell me one more time that this is such a complicated issue -- implying that we are uninformed or too stupid to figure this stuff out -- I am going to shoot my television!!

 

=============================================================

 

So I watched the health care forum... mostly political theatre and posturing... but, Mr. President, besides the not-even-thinly-veiled threat that either the Republicans do it your way or you'll do it without them...  if you are the President of ALL the people, why did you only ask the Republicans if they could compromise?? Isn't the very definition of compromise for BOTH sides to give & take?

Vigilance: The Good Kind

Over at PBS - Point of View, I blog about the necessity of being vigilant in protecting the warrior legacy:

It is important for all of us — citizens who truly support the troops and who honor our veterans — to become active and remain engaged in protecting the warrior legacy. As we head into a new year, I implore everyone in the military, veterans, their families and the general public to learn about proposed and pending legislation and to be energetic in communicating their opinions to their Senators and Representatives. This is important not just at the federal level, but at the state levels as well. 

As state and federal legislators look to reduce spending or find funding for pet (read: pork) projects, military and veterans programs will be looked at as likely sources for cuts, because of their relative size to other budget commitments. Our watchfulness will be vitally important to the roughly 1.4 million personnel on active duty, the additional 900,000 members of the Reserve and National Guard and the 23.2 million military veterans in the United States.

Please go over and read all of it and bookmark some of the links to military and veterans organizations -- and to your legislators -- that are provided.

You should also take the time to read the contributions by the other bloggers at the PBS/Conversations - On Coming Home blog... and leave your comments!

Congressperson Ann Kirkpatrick's "Town Hall"

Updated 8/8/09: HERE is video. As you will see from this video, she is in the entryway of a grocery store and the crowd is a bunch of white-haired gents and ladies. When one woman directly asks Rep. Kirkpatrick a question on health care, Kirkpatrick tells her she's not going to answer any questions on that. When the woman tells her that these people all want to know (and the people clap signaling their agreement with the woman), Kirkpatrick simply walks out. So much for the wild, swastika-bearing organized mob... (and kudos to the guy who calls after her, "You're our employee!") And note, these senior citizens don't get "unruly" until she has left.

This is all about the news/gossip reports about how Ann Kirkpatrick's "Town Hall" meeting in Holbrook, AZ was supposedly overrun by a group of organized thugs. Not true... According to people who were there, she simply canceled the event when a crowd showed up. (Transcript here.)

First, I was not AT that "Town Hall" meeting... or at any town hall meeting because -- according to my conversation with Ann Kirkpatrick's office earlier this week -- she is not holding any town hall meetings... just small hand shaking or photo ops. I have been trying (along with a number of other private citizens we know) to get Ann Kirkpatrick to hold a meeting ANYWHERE in the state to answer questions about the president's & congressional health care proposal. She has refused... she and her office telling me OUR representative prefers small "Chats with Ann". (see the list HERE.) No one organized me to call. I didn't receive a robocall encouraging me to call or attend anything. We have attended Town Hall meetings in the past held by Senator McCain and information meetings held by Senator Kyl and the former Congressman... and it was important to us to have the opportunity to ask questions of our ELECTED REPRESENTATIVE.

Rep. Kirkpatrick is limiting her "chats" to areas remote and far off the beaten path -- AND SHE IS HOLDING HER "GET TOGETHERS" IN THE LOCAL GROCERY STORES!!! Her office told me that her only appearance in my area was an invitation only press conference to talk about TARP funds but it was a short visit and there would be no opportunity for questions FROM THE PUBLIC. They did tell me that I could drive the two hours from the most populous town in this county -- where she will NOT meet with constituents -- to attend one of the small gatherings in either Payson, Winslow or Holbrook in one of two neighboring counties... BUT she had no intention of addressing the health care issue at any of them. SHE was coming home to discuss infrastructure projects and public safety (as in fire and police). Note in the transcript referenced above, the woman says of Kirkpatrick, "She didn't want to answer any questions..."

When I asked why she wasn't scheduling any meetings in the immediate Prescott area, her staff informed me that the Congresswoman "already heard enough from the people in the Prescott area and didn't see a reason to meet here." Pardon me?? So I asked the staffer, "You mean because the people of Prescott are informed and communicate regularly, the Congresswoman is penalizing us?" Of course, her answer was, "No, of course not..." After registering my strong disapproval at Ms. Kirkpatrick's lack of communications with her constituents, I asked her staffer to relay a message to my representative: "NO on H.R. 3200!"

Now let's look at Ms. Kirkpatrick's tactics at staying as far away from the maddening crowd while she's home this summer. Holbrook and Winslow are in Navajo County. Payson is in Gila County. Prescott is in Yavapai County. I'm sure the choice of Ms Kirkpatrick's "chats" had nothing at all to do with the fact that Navajo county is 44% registered Democrats to 32% Republican (she won the county) and Gila County is 44% to 36% Democrat/Republican (she won the county) and whereas Yavapai County is 46% Republican to 26% Democrat (she lost the county)? (/sarcasm).

Now you would think that a Congressperson would want to reach as many of her constituents as possible? (Population HERE.) Holbrook has a population of approximately 5,100, Winslow has 9,900 and Payson has 15,500. Prescott (alone) has 42,700; add Prescott Valley and Chino Valley (which border Prescott on either side), there are an additional 38,500 and 11,100, respectively. But Ann, who made exceptionally few campaign appearances in Yavapai County her entire congressional campaign, doesn't feel the need to talk with the people of Prescott or Yavapai?

The whole health care issue is THE topic everyone is talking about and everyone (including me) wants to talk about it... and people everywhere want to talk to their elected (as in YOU WORK FOR US) representatives... and I can't blame people one bit if they showed up at an event that is publicized on their Congressperson's website and where her staff directed people to go... and they get boisterous and perhaps even irate when she DOESN'T SHOW UP AND CANCELS THE EVENT???

Taxed Enough Already Protest - Prescott

Prescott, AZ -- Everybody's Hometown (and Arizona's Christmas City)! The Protest started with a prayer to the Almighty asking that He impart on our elected officials real wisdom to deal with this economic problem... wisdom which has escaped them all so far!.Then there was the singing of the National Anthem and the Pledge. There were 4,000 people at the height of the TEA Party -- and people were riled up throughout. The cold temps may have kept people away, but there was an exuberant bunch on hand. We live in horse & cow country and while no one was suggesting we string up the horse thieves, the sentiment was not lost on this crowd. The crowd was filled with veterans and conservatives -- and the joke of the night was just how dang proud we all were to fall in one or both of those groups! I could not get my pics or videos to post up at PJTV... so I'm putting some up right here!

Two Alligators

Two Alligators were sitting at the side of the swamp near the lake. The smaller one turned to the bigger one and said, 'I can't understand how you can be so much bigger than me. We're the same age; we were the same size as kids. I just don't get it.'

'Well,' said the big Gator, 'what have you been eating?'

'Politicians, same as you,' replied the small Gator.

'Hmm. Well, where do you catch them?'

'Down the other side of the swamp near the parking lot by the Capitol.'

'Same here. Hmm. How do you catch them?'

'Well, I crawl up under one of their Lexus cars and wait for one to unlock the car door. Then I jump out, grab them by the leg, shake the shit out of 'them and eat 'em!'

'Ah!' says the big Aligator, 'I think I see your problem. You're not getting any real nourishment. See, by the time you finish shaking the sh*t out of a Politician, there's nothing left but a butthole and a briefcase.'

Loose Lips... & Ships??

This just makes me (and the DH) absolutely head spinning CRAZY!

WASHINGTON - For the third consecutive year, a classified Pentagon assessment has concluded there is a significant risk that the US military could not respond quickly and fully to any new crisis, the Associated Press has learned.

[snip]

Senior military officials spoke about the report on condition of anonymity because it is a classified document.

What part of CLASSIFIED did they not understand??!! (Not confidential... not embargoed info to be published at some later time -- but CLASSIFIED!!!) Find the "senior military officials", try them and then HANG them or put them IN FRONT of a firing squad. I bet that would end these "anonymous" leaks PDQ. It's not that I think the information that was leaked (or at least published) is not something we all know (generally), but let's start with the PRINCIPLE of classified... Perhaps we need to dumb down the instructions: CLASSIFIED means SECRET information that you do not discuss with the media, the public or anyone that does not have the appropriate SECURITY clearance (as in secure... as in keeping us safe...)

On the other hand, if the report really isn't classified in the sense that those in the military or the [professional] Intelligence community might understand (that would exclude DiFi HERE and HERE among other places calling her out) but is, instead, only confidential until sent to Congress (whose members can't keep a secret and haven't the wherewithal to parse through more than the media's opinion of legislation and all things governmental (the Congressional Recovery Assistance Program, for example) and this report has been leaked to underscore the stupidity and folly of calling for budget cuts to force readiness initiatives in the DoD budget... well, then OK. But CLASSIFIED?? CLASSIFIED??

And lastly, the truly important part of the assessment isn't that the military is stretched thin, but these:

The assessment finds that the United States continues to face persistent terrorist threats...

and

This year's assessment finds many of the same global security issues as previous years - ranging from terrorist organizations and unstable governments to the potential for high-tech cyber attacks.

and

"This is a chairman who looks around the world and sees - right now, today - immediate, near-term problems like North Korea, the larger questions of Pakistan and its future, Iran and what is going on there, Russia and Georgia, Venezuela, which has a close relationship with Russia and is buying arms all over the place, and Cuba," Goure said.

In case you can't suss the message in those quotes: you cannot get rid of crime by getting rid of the police or reducing the weapons available to them. I was going to say that it was not a suggestion that the U.S. be the policeman of the world, but then it occurred to me: "If not us, then who??" (Just a gentle reminder that WE ARE THE GOOD GUYS! even if imanutjob, hugobaby, vladimir, et al. don't seem to think so.)

A SOVIET AMERICA

Our friend CJ at a Soldier's Perspective (h/t Greyhawk) has a MUST READ posting of some of the things in the Congressional Recovery Assistance Program (as Mike Huckabee so aptly calls it)... and a friend sent this to me this morning:

THE STIMULUS IS A STEP TOWARDS A SOVIET AMERICA
Written by Senator Tom Coburn
Tuesday, 10 February 2009

[Senator Coburn recently gave this speech on the floor of the Senate]

We are going in exactly the wrong direction. We ought to be standing on the principles that made this country great.

There ought to be a review of every program in the Federal Government that is not effective, that is not efficient, that is wasteful or fraudulent, and we ought to get rid of it right now. We ought to say, Gone, to be able to pay for a real stimulus plan that might, in fact, have some impact.

I would be remiss if I didn't remind everybody that next week we are going to hear from the Obama administration wanting another $500 billion. Outside of this ["stimulus" bill], they are going to want another $500 billion to handle the banking system.

I want to make sure the American people know what is in this Stimulus bill. I think once they know what is in this bill, they are going to reject it out of hand. Let me read for my colleagues some of the things that are in this bill.

The biggest earmark in history is in this bill. There is $2 billion in this bill to build a coal plant with zero emissions. That would be great, maybe, if we had the technology, but the greatest brains in the world sitting at MIT say we don't have the technology yet to do that.

Why would we build a $2 billion powerplant we don't have the technology for that we know will come back and ask for another $2 billion and another $2 billion and another $2 billion when we could build a demonstration project that might cost $150 million or $200 million? There is nothing wrong with having coal-fired plants that don't produce pollution; I am not against that. Even the Washington Post said the technology isn't there. It is a boondoggle. Why would we do that?

We eliminated tonight a $246 million payback for the large movie studios in Hollywood.

We are going to spend $88 million to study whether we ought to buy a new ice breaker for the Coast Guard. You know what. The Coast Guard needs a new ice breaker. Why do we need to spend $88 million? They have two ice breakers now that they could retrofit and fix and come up with equivalent to what they needed to and not spend the $1 billion they are going to come back and ask for, for another ice breaker, so why would we spend $88 million doing that?

We are going to spend $448 million to build the Department of Homeland Security a new building. We have $1.3 trillion worth of empty buildings right now, and because it has been blocked in Congress we can't sell them, we can't raze them, we can't do anything, but we are going to spend money on a new building here in Washington.

We are going to spend another $248 million for new furniture for that building; a quarter of a billion dollars for new furniture. What about the furniture the Department of Homeland Security has now? These are tough times. Should we be buying new furniture? How about using what we have? That is what a family would do. They would use what they have. They wouldn't go out and spend $248 million on furniture.

How about buying $600 million worth of hybrid vehicles? Do you know what I would say? Right now times are tough; I would rather Americans have new cars than Federal employees have new cars. What is wrong with the cars we have? Dumping $600 million worth of used vehicles on the used vehicle market right now is one of the worst things we could do. Instead, we are going to spend $600 million buying new cars for Federal employees.

There is $400 million in here to prevent STDs. I have a lot of experience on that. I have delivered 4,000 babies. We don't need to spend $400 million on STDs. What we need to do is properly educate about the infection rates and the effectiveness of methods of prevention. That doesn't take a penny more. You can write that on one piece of paper and teach every kid in this country, but we don't need to spend $400 million on it. It is not a priority.

How about $150 million for a Smithsonian museum? Tell me how that helps get us out of a recession. Tell me how that is a priority. Would the average American think that is a priority that we ought to be mortgaging our kids' future to spend another $150 million at the Smithsonian?

How about $1 billion for the 2010 census? So everybody knows, the census is so poorly managed that the census in 2010 is going to cost twice what it cost 10 years ago, and we wasted $800 million on a contract because it was no-bid that didn't perform. Nobody got fired, no competitive bidding, and we blew $800 million.

We have $75 million for smoking cessation activities, which probably is a great idea, but we just passed a bill, the SCHIP bill, that we need to get 21 million more Americans smoking to be able to pay for that bill. That doesn't make sense.

How about $200 million for public computer centers at community colleges? I mean, did we talk with Dell and Hewlett-Packard and say, How do we make you all do better? Is there not a market force that could make that better? Will we actually buy on a true competitive bid?

No, because there is nothing that requires competitive bidding in anything in this bill. There is nothing that requires it. It is one of the things President Obama said he was going to mandate at the Federal Government, but there is no competitive bidding in this bill at all.

We have $10 million to inspect canals in urban areas. Well, that will put 10 or 15 people to work. Is that a priority for us right now?

There is $6 billion to turn Federal buildings into green buildings. That is a priority, versus somebody getting a job outside of Washington, a job that actually produces something, that actually increases wealth?

How about $500 million for State and local fire stations? Where do you find in the Constitution us paying for local fire stations within our realm of prerogatives? None of it is competitively bid.

Next is $1.2 billion for youth activities. Who does that employ? What does that mean?

How about $88 million for renovating the public health service building? You know, if we could sell half of the $1.3 trillion worth of properties we have, we could take care of every Federal building requirement and backlog we have.

Then there's $412 million for CDC [Centers for disease Control] buildings and property. We spent billions on a new center and headquarters for CDC. Is that a priority? If we are going to spend $412 million on building buildings, let's build one that will produce something, one that will give us something.

How about $850 million for that most ``efficient'' Amtrak that hasn't made any money since 1976 and continues to have $2 billion or $3 billion a year in subsidies?

Here is one of my favorites: $75 million to construct a new ``security training'' facility for State Department security officers. We already have four other facilities already available to train them. But they want theirs. By the way, it is going to be in West Virginia. I wonder how that got there.

So we are going to build a new training facility that duplicates four others that we already have that could easily do what we need to do. But because we have a stimulus package, we are going to add in oink pork.

How about $200 million in funding for a lease - not buying, but a lease - of alternative energy vehicles on military installations?

We are going to bail out the States on Medicaid. Total all of the health programs in this, and we are going to transfer $150 billion out of the private sector and we are going to move it to the Federal Government. You talk about backdooring national health care.

Henry Waxman has to be smiling big today. He wants a single-payer Government-run health care system. We are going to move another $150 billion to the Federal Government from the private sector.

We are going to eliminate fees on loans from the Small Business Administration. You know what that does? That pushes productive capital to unproductive projects. It is exactly the wrong thing to do.

We are going to spend $524 million for information technology upgrades that the Appropriations Committee claims will create 388 jobs. If you do the math on that, that is $1.5 million a job. Don't you love the efficiency of Washington thinking?

We are going to create $79 billion in additional money for the States, a ``slush fund,'' to bail out States and provide millions of dollars for education costs. How many of you think that will ever go away?

Once the State education programs get $79 billion over 2 years, do you think that will ever go away? The cry and hue of taking "our money" away, even though it was a stimulus and supposed to be limited, it will never go away. So we will continue putting that forward until our kids have grandkids of their own.

There is about $47 billion for a variety of energy programs that are primarily focused on renewable energy. I am fine with spending that. But we ought to get something for it. There ought to be metrics. There are no metrics. It is pie in the sky, saying we will throw some money at it.

Let me conclude by saying we are at a seminal moment in our country. We will either start living within the confines of realism and responsibility or we will blow it and we will create the downfall of the greatest nation that ever lived.

This bill is the start of that downfall. To abandon a market-oriented society and transfer it to a Soviet-style, government-centered, bureaucratic-run and mandated program, that is the thing that will put the stake in the heart of freedom in this country.

I hope the American people know what is in this bill. I am doing everything I can to make sure they know. But more important, I hope somebody is listening who will treat the ``pneumonia'' we are faced with today, which is the housing and mortgage markets. It doesn't matter how much money we spend in this bill. It is doomed to failure unless we fix that problem first.

Failing that, we will go down in history as the Congress that undermined the future and vitality of this country. Let it not be so.

Too late... too late, America...

Three dead bodies turn up at the mortuary, all with very big smiles on their faces. The coroner calls the police to tell them what has happened. The Coroner tells the Inspector:

"First body is a 72 year old Frenchman. He died of heart failure while with his mistress. Hence the enormous smile."

"The second body is an Irishman, 25 years of age. He won a thousand euros on the lottery and spent it all on whiskey. Died of alcohol poisoning, hence the smile."

The Inspector asked, "What of the third body?"

"Ah," says the coroner, "This is the most unusual one. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, 66, struck by lightning."

"Why is she smiling then?" inquires the Inspector.

"Thought she was having her picture taken."

people will never knowingly adopt socialism

If we forget history, we lose a very valuable tool!

Norman Mattoon Thomas (November 20, 1884 - December 19, 1968) was a leading American socialist, pacifist, and six-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America.

The Socialist Party candidate for President of the US, Norman Thomas, said this in a 1944 campaign speech:

"The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism. But, under the name of 'liberalism,' they will adopt every principle of our socialist program, until one day America will be a socialist nation, without ever knowing how it happened." He went on to say: "I no longer need to run on the Socialist Party ticket because the Democrat Party has now adopted our platform."

As the Wall Street Journal opinesabout the "stimulus" bill,

There's $1 billion for Amtrak, the federal railroad that hasn't turned a profit in 40 years; $2 billion for child-care subsidies; $50 million for that great engine of job creation, the National Endowment for the Arts; $400 million for global-warming research and another $2.4 billion for carbon-capture demonstration projects. There's even $650 million on top of the billions already doled out to pay for digital TV conversion coupons.

and

$600 million more for the federal government to buy new cars. Uncle Sam already spends $3 billion a year on its fleet of 600,000 vehicles. Congress also wants to spend $7 billion for modernizing federal buildings and facilities. The Smithsonian is targeted to receive $150 million; we love the Smithsonian, too, but this is a job creator?

Another "stimulus" secret is that some $252 billion is for income-transfer payments -- that is, not investments that arguably help everyone, but cash or benefits to individuals for doing nothing at all. There's $81 billion for Medicaid, $36 billion for expanded unemployment benefits, $20 billion for food stamps, and $83 billion for the earned income credit for people who don't pay income tax. While some of that may be justified to help poorer Americans ride out the recession, they aren't job creators.

As I said to my [Republican] Senators and to my [Democrat] Congresswoman (who should be ASHAMED for voting FOR the friggin' "plan"),

"NO! NO! NO! A TRILLION TIMES NO!!

and if you want to know how those politicians who want to spend a TRILLION DOLLARS think, it's just like these Verizon employees who do not know the difference between CENTS and DOLLARS!! (or who just don't care)



Here is a place to find your Senators' fax numbers and emails just in case you'd like to tell them to JUST SAY NO

YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK???

in my email from Congress.org:

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THESE BILLS?

More than 500 bills have been introduced in the House and more than 200 in the Senate in the 111th Congress. What is on the minds of Members of Congress that they feel need to be addressed?

Here are a few examples:

H.R. 15 creates a nationalized system of free health care.
My Comment: I guess by "free" they mean hospitals, doctors, pharmacies, etc. will be providing their services for free? Yeah. That's what I thought.

H.R. 414, the Camera Phone Predator Alert Act, requires cameras in cell phones to make an audible sound to alert others (such as in locker rooms) when a picture is taken.
My comment: Um, ok. I get the reasoning... but do we not have better things to be legislating?

H.R. 346 repeals the automatic payraises Congress receives.

My comment: It's about time. When they have fixed the messes they got us into -- i.e., when they have EARNED a pay raise, then they should get one.

H.R. 390 addresses "college football playoff games" while H.R. 187 says let Cubans play American baseball.

My comment: Um, ok. I get the reasoning... but do we not have better things to be legislating?

H.R. 227 states that human life begins at fertilization.
My comment: Danger! danger! danger! Danger, Will Robinson! Danger! This is definitely NOT the type of thing that ANYONE should be legislating. Not likely to get passed by the Democratic-controlled Congress anyway...

H.R. 254 moves voting to the weekend.
My comment: Maybe more working people will take the time to vote??

H.R. 113 requires anything funded by an earmark to be audited. Perhaps things like H.R. 202, which creates a "Museum of Ideas."
My comment: this should not only require an "audit" but it should require that each earmark be voted on its merits and not be tacked on to any other spending item.

H.R. 116 ends political "robocalls" if you are on the "Do Not Call" Registry, while Senate bill S. 30 wants there to be caller ID honesty.

My comment: Um, ok. I get the reasoning... but do we not have better things to be legislating?

H.R. 126 would limit citizenship at birth only to those who have at least one parent who is a citizen or legal resident. H.R. 160 would limit Social Security benefits to only legal citizens or residents.
My comment: Absolutely friggin' about time for both these measures... but, again, neither likely to be passed by the socialist Democratic-controlled Congress.

H.R. 155 would ban taxes on unemployment benefits for two years, while H.R. 162 bans taxes on Social Security benefits.
My comment: Makes sense to me... it's not like people are getting rich on unemployment benefits.

H.R. 87 says "Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is," and invites those who like to pay taxes to voluntarily pay extra taxes. Or how about just a "Fair Tax" as called for in H.R. 25.
My comment: Yeah... maybe Ashton & Demi would like to make this part of their Presidential Pledge initiative???

H.R. 70 would make it a hate crime to display a noose with the intent to intimidate. And H.R. 40 explores paying reparations to African-Americans.
My comment: This is always so friggin' preposterous. I didn't own any slaves. My family immigrated (legally) after slavery was banned. Besides, they have been receiving reparations for more than 40 years via minority preferences and quotas ... and any scholarships, grants, etc. paid to the African-American should be deducted from a "reparation". They should also have to prove they were personally damaged by slavery.

S. 213 would create an Airline Passenger Bill of Rights.

My comment: This is long overdue. I have said for the longest time that every airline ticket is a contract with an airline: I pay you to get me from point A to Point B within a reasonable time frame. If they can't do that, I should get my money back. Period. And it should be illegal to hold passengers on a grounded plane. If they did this off the plane, it'd be called kidnapping.

And Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is back in the swing of things. He's introduced S.151, a bill to protect Indian arts and crafts.
My comment: oh, john, john, john.....

And just one other little note on the "Stimulus Plan"... what's the price tag now? $850 Billion? Let us do a little math. Mr. Obama says that this stimulus plan would "create or save 3 million to 4 million jobs over the next TWO YEARS. $850,000,000,000 / 4,000,000 is $212,500 PER JOB! Maybe we should just pay $50,000 to each unemployed American?? It'd be cheaper.

Also note, that at least 5 million jobs, and probably many more, will have been lost during this economic downturn. So even if the new Administration's most optimistic projections bear out, unemployment in December 2010 will still be higher than it was in December 2007.

Just sayin'.

HOW THE NEW PRESIDENT AND HIS CONGRESS CAN HELP 99.9% OF AMERICANS -- NOW!!

OK, I think this is the biggest SCAM EVER! Have you looked closely at your credit card bills recently? Have you read those annoying notifications about "Amendment to Your Account Agreement" that are in typeface so small you need a magnifying glass to read or that is tucked in with all the advertisements they stuff in with your bill?

One of our sons brought this to my attention when the minimum payment on his credit card more than DOUBLED -- and in looking at his interest rate, he realized that it had almost tripled. So, knowing that he had not missed any payments, had no late payments, had not exceeded his credit limit (in fact, they recently DOUBLED his available credit line to an amount that approaches his annual salary!), he called Citibank and was told the interest rate was being increased "due to market conditions". He asked the customer service rep (who obviously was reading from a prepared script), "WHAT market conditions?" And she said, "General economic conditions..." When my son told me his conversation, I was just simply incensed! So I went to the web sites of a number of credit card companies and found that ALL of them are FLEECING AMERICA -- Citibank, Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America -- even USAA which is supposed to be a financial association for the benefit of the members (past & present) of the Armed Forces and their families! Not all are charging exorbitant new rates -- but all have increased their rates: some rates were effective January 1... some will be effective in February!

Here is how this scam works: virtually every single credit card charges interest based on a formula of the Prime Rate -- that is, the rate the banks borrow money from the Federal Reserve -- PLUS some percentage... the lower your credit rating, the higher your "+ %" is. Now these banks -- which have received hundreds of millions -- nay BILLIONS -- of our tax dollars from our noble (and I use that word loosely) Congress supposedly to permit these banks to continue loaning money to people (that would be you and me.) Well, these banks are borrowing money from the Federal Reserve at the insanely low rates of 0.25 - 1.0 % which has resulted in wonderfully low interest rates on credit cards -- benefiting the people who need the help most!

Now these same banks are telling you and me that "due to market conditions" that the "+%" is being increased -- doubled and even tripled! WTF?? And it's not just future purchases -- the new interest rates are on the entire balance! So if you made a purchase (stimulating the economy with your purchase) on a credit card at a nice low interest rate that you figured you could afford the payments, that purchase will also be assessed the new interest rate! And, yes, you can "opt out" and keep your low interest rate -- but you have to agree to either cancel the card or not use it again -- if you do, your use signifies your "agreement" with the new interest rate!

First these banks get OUR money via the Congressional bailout, next they are permitted to borrow OUR money from the Fed (remember, government doesn't have any money of its own -- ALL its money comes from US via taxes!) at ludicrously low rates and now they want to SCHTUPE us by telling us THAT MARKET CONDITIONS DEMAND AN INCREASE in these rates? WHAT market conditions? GREED is not a market condition. The banks bad mortgages and their over extension of credit to those who were/are not creditworthy are NOT market conditions for which the public should be paying!! Propping up the banks' share prices for the benefit of their stockholders are NOT market conditions for which the public should be paying! I understand that banks are entitled to make a profit and to pay their LEGITIMATE administrative expenses -- but since when was 8% (of loaned money) not a reasonable profit? When did it become acceptable to set 13, 14, 15% to be "reasonable" profit levels?? And please don't tell me that the new credit card reform will help -- that bill (which would actually stop SOME of this) isn't effective FOR 18 MONTHS (August 2010!) -- by that time, more people will be bankrupt or in default and interest rates will already be so high what would be the point??

Seriously, if the Congress intends to give MORE of my money to the banks, I think the minimum condition to receiving this money should be that these banks accept the terms of that legislation NOW!!

If the new President and people like Ted Kennedy, Harry Reid, Barney Frank, Nancy Pelosi, et al. REALLY want to help the American people through these hard economic times, this is as good a place as any to start.

And lest they think this somehow benefits the "rich" -- I remind them that the "rich" have other resources and do not carry the significant portion of the country's revolving debt -- the POOREST people of our country are hurt far more by these banking practices! Not to mention that this is seriously NOT the way to stimulate the economy! This is an outrage and if they don't know it, they SHOULD!!

I encourage every one of you to copy & paste this and SEND IT IMMEDIATELY to your Congressperson and Senators. This is an OUTRAGE! THIS is the place we HOPE for CHANGE!

GGGGRRRRRR.

Trillion $$$ Bailouts???

Obama team gives bailout more scope
U. S. government's controversial US$700-billion rescue package...
the next US$350-billion...
The fund ended up taking US$250-billion...
Congressman Barney Frank... demand that more than US$40-billion

Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008

authorizing the... Secretary of the Treasury to spend up to US$700 billion

Obama team: 'Urgent' need for bailout money
the second half of the $700 billion financial bailout

Who'll want a bailout next?
Hustler publisher Larry Flynt and Joe Francis of the "Girls Gone Wild"... need for assistance — about $5 billion worth.

so all these casual references to billion dollars here... billion dollars there... added $20 billion in pork here... (Read the 2008 Pig Book which identifies 11,610 projects at a cost of $17.2 billion in the 12 Appropriations Acts for fiscal 2008) made me wonder

How many zeros in a billion?

This is too sad to be funny. The next time you hear a politician use the word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about whether you want the 'politicians' spending YOUR tax money.

A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of its releases.

A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.

B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.

C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.

D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.

E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it.

and that TRILLION dollar bail out??

one trillion = one thousand billion.
A THOUSAND BILLIONS.

so while you're rubbing your hands in glee (or dismay) about what's in a bailout for you?? Remember "The government cannot give anything to anyone that it does not first take from someone else."

What's on YOUR List??

From the Military Officers Association of America

TOP 8 GROUPS MOST DESERVING OF A GOVERNMENT BAILOUT

If our country can afford almost $1 trillion in bailouts for firms whose financial troubles were caused by their own mismanagement or recklessness, what about those in the uniformed services community suffering grievous circumstances imposed on them by the government through no fault of their own? Here are MOAA’s nominees for those most deserving a government bailout. Add your own views and nominations in the “rate this item” forum at the bottom of the list.

8. Currently serving uniformed services families – the only large group of employees denied use of Flexible Spending Accounts to deduct out-of-pocket health and dependent costs from income and payroll taxes. Who needs a child care tax break more than a family whose sponsor has been deployed?

7. Employers of Guard/Reserve personnel -- who deserve tax breaks to help ease the burden of hiring temporary replacements for ever-more-frequently deployed staff members. The government that imposes these requirements on them, and expects them to keep hiring Guard/Reserve members, needs to do more to assist them.

6. Guard-Reserve members deployed since 9/11 – whom the government has acknowledged deserve a reduced retirement age in return for frequent active duty callups, but has denied credit for those called up (for multiple combat tours in hundreds of thousands of cases) between 2001 and 2008.

5. Military families (again) – who’ve suffered terrible family separations because of past government resistance to manpower increases, despite predictions of a long war. Now, some congressional leaders have proposed cutting back on manpower increases, when the only possibility for relief is to accelerate them.

4. Severely disabled retirees with less than 20 years of service – who forfeit most or all of their military retired pay to fund their own VA disability compensation. Congress passed legislation to assist the combat-disabled, but a glitch in the law stymied relief for many. And a 100% non-combat disabled retiree has no relief.

3. Military widows whose sponsors died of service-related causes – thousands of whom must live on an annuity of $13,000 a year because their VA survivor benefits are deducted from their Survivor Benefit Plan annuities. Congress’ “first-step” relief action provided a mere $50 extra per month.

2. Separated wounded warriors – Thousands of wounded or potential PTSD/TBI victims were separated with low-balled disability determinations, “personality disorder” or disciplinary discharges that limited or denied benefits. Programs are changing now, but those already separated since 9/11 deserve reconsideration.

1. Caregivers for wounded warriors – hundreds of mothers, fathers, siblings, spouses, and other loved ones have had to quit their jobs, sell homes, and cash in retirement funds – to provide full-time care to severely wounded servicemembers. The government owes training, respite, and compensation to those who never dreamed that a loved one’s wounding could put their own livelihood at such risk.

I would add: Reimbursing all those wounded servicemembers who received an artificially low disability rating from the services prior to Jan. 1, 2008 and who were/are required to pay back (some still are!!) the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, etc. disability severance payment from their VA disability allowances -- in effect, funding their own medical separations from the service!!

Just wondering what would be on your list?

Also, as Mrs. Greyhawk reminds us, let us not forget the Reality of Valour-IT

x-posted at Milblogs

Summary of FY09 Defense Authorization Act

Summary of FY09 Defense Authorization Act


Active Duty Issues

- Pay Raise: 3.9% pay raise effective Jan 1, 2009

- End Strength: Army +7K USMC +5K Navy -2.8K USAF -12.5K (did not restore previously proposed cut for USAF, even though SecDef has stated that the planned USAF cut will not be imposed)

- Paternity leave: 10 days authorized for new military fathers, in addition to normal leave

- Maximum reenlistment period: Raised to 8 years vs. 6

- Warrant Officer mandatory retirement: Change to 30 years as WO vs 30 yrs (applies to Army WOs only)

- Sabbatical Program: Authorizes 20 officers and 20 enlisted members per service per year to take up to 3 years off from active duty to pursue personal/professional goals (participants to be paid 2 days’ basic pay per month and keep TRICARE eligibility, but will receive no retirement credit for sabbatical time and will owe 2 months’ active duty upon return for every month of sabbatical)

- Increase in Service Academy Enrollment: Authorizes up to 4,400/yr per academy starting 2008/09 academic year

- Meal Charges in Hospitals: Permanently bans charging hospitalized troops

- Temporary Lodging Expense Allowance: Raises maximum daily amt per family on CONUS PCS from $180 to $290

- Family Separation Allowance: Authorizes payment to both member spouses with dependents if both are assigned remotely

Military Family Issues

- Spouse PCS Weight Allowance: Authorizes 500 lbs for professional items

- Spouse Education: Authorizes programs to help spouses with degrees/credentials/licenses to pursue portable careers

- Impact Aid: Authorizes $35M to assist schools with high proportion of military children, with additional $15M for schools in BRAC/unit movement areas and $5M for schools attended by severely disabled military children

Guard/Reserve Issues

- Education: Requires honorable discharge for Guard/Reserve members to use education benefits resulting from active duty (effective 1/28/08 for members who haven't used any of their entitlement)

- TRICARE Reserve Select Premiums: DoD must recalculate (and presumably reduce) premiums for 2009 and beyond and base them on actual costs for previous year (2009 costs to be based on costs for 2006 + 2007) (GAO previously estimated that Guard/Reserve participants were overcharged by 45%-72%)

- G/R Medical/Dental Readiness: Services may provide free health/dental care to any SelRes/IRR (if subject to involuntary recall) they deem appropriate and may waive dental copays for Guard/Reserve personnel to facilitate/ensure readiness

- Transition TRICARE: DoD may temporarily continue active duty TRICARE coverage for separatees who enter SelRes (continue for 60 days if less than 6YOS; 120 days if 6+YOS)

Health Care Issues

- TRICARE Fees: Bar increases in pharmacy copays or retiree fees for FY09

- Preventive Care:
(1) Waive TRICARE copays/deductibles for beneficiaries under 65 for colorectal/prostate/breast/cervical screening, annual physical, vaccinations and other services authorized by SecDef (those over age 65 to be reimbursed for copays rather than waived due to budget technicality);
(2) establish TRICARE Prime pilot project in three geographic areas to test monetary and nonmonetary incentives to encourage healthy behaviors;
(3) Establish smoking cessation program for all under-65s (refund copays for over-65s);
(4) Test a “preventive health services allowance” payable to up to 1500 active duty members in each service ($500/yr single, $1000 family to purchase preventive services); (5) Authorize SecDef discretion to pursue other innovative programs (e.g., G/R medical/dental readiness and/or stipend for G/R families to continue employer care for families when activated)

- ECHO Payments: Raise TRICARE payment cap for active duty children with special needs from $2500/mo to $36K per year, allowing carryover month-to-month

- ECHO for Retiree Children: Require Sec Def report on providing limited temporary transition coverage upon retirement

Retiree/Survivor Issues

- Concurrent receipt: No provisions

- SBP: Authorize inclusion survivors of members who died on active duty among eligibles for modest new special survivor allowance

Wounded Warrior Issues

- DoD/VA Senior Oversight Committee (SOC): Extend SOC authority for 1 yr, with SecDef report by Aug 31 with recommendation on continuation

- Disability Determinations: Disqualifying condition is to be deemed service-connected unless there is "clear and unmistakable" evidence it existed before service entry and wasn't aggravated by service

- Centers of Excellence: Establish centers for hearing loss/auditory injuries and for traumatic extremity injuries/amputations

- Bonus Treatment: Bars recoupment of any paid amount and requires full repayment of unpaid balance within 90 days for member who dies or is separated/retired for combat-related injury/illness

Other Issues

- Decorations: Requires SecDef to replace decorations on one-time basis upon request by recipient or next of kin

- Salute: Authorizes military/vets not in uniform to salute flag during national anthem